IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!

Carey and I are the proud new parents of Julia Adeye Schwenzer and Sergey Aaron Schwenzer!!

Court went well. The judge asked us some questions pertaining to where we live and why we want to adopt 2 more children and why we are interested in adopting children with special needs. Our lawyer and translator let the judge know that we love children and feel that we are the last hope for these little ones. Then a whole lot of documents were read by the judge. Then the judge asked us one last time what our request is. We told her that we wanted to adopt Julia and Aaron and stated what we wanted their names to be. Then she left with the jury (two older gentlemen who sat on either side of her during the proceedings) and said she would be back in 10 minutes with her decision. One of the two jurors looked over our way and gave us the thumbs up as he left the courtroom. 10 minutes later the judge and jurors returned and the same juror gave us a big smile and another thumbs up. I was feeling confident, but still nervous until I heard the decision read. The judge read the decision, which was a 3 and a half page, single spaced, small type document. It took quite a while to read. Finally, she got to the last paragraph which was the actual decision, and Tatyana, our lawyer, turned to us and said the judge is satisfied...which was to say we could adopt them into our family and they could take our name! Carey, who had been calm as a cucumber up to this point shed a few tears of joy after the decision was read. We received many congratulations, hugs and handshakes from everyone in the courtroom, including the jurors. I couldn't stop smiling. I was so stressed out before the appearance. It's just so amazing to think that those kids are ours now. Yay! Спасибо тебе, Боже!

Now we can't wait to get them home...the ten day waiting period has begun. We will be taking a train ride back to Kiev this evening and going to the embassy tomorrow to fill out several forms and have them notarized. Then we head home on Thursday. Carey will head back here the following Wednesday to finalize all the paperwork and bring our "newborns" home. Carey's good friend Aimee is going back with her for this two week trip to help her get them home. I can't wait to meet them at the airport and scoop them up and take them home. What an amazing journey it will be for them. And us!

Until next time...до свидания