I have had some people asking what is going on, what next? I was waiting to post until I got some news and I just heard from our facilitator last night.
At this point the first passport is secured and the second one was applied for yesterday. We will probably not get that passport until May 13 as there are a couple of holidays in Ukraine the first part of May.
Yes the 10 day wait after court is up and yes we could go and get Anna now but this adoption situation is different than most because of all the crazy passports. The orphanage director is keeping Anna at the orphanage until we return around May 13 or 14.
Peyton and I are looking forward to going back and getting Anna out of the orphanage. We can't wait for her to be home and be together as a family; where she is loved and wanted. Our facilitator told me something yesterday that really made me just stop and think; when she went to get Anna's birth certificate it had not been applied for until she was 6 years old. That is the age she was when she came to the orphanage. Why did no one apply for it sooner? She was part of a "family" for 6 years yet no one acknowledged her birth? I know it is not for me to ask what or why. I won't pretend to know what her mother was going through. Spending all the time I have in Ukraine and with what I have seen that can never be unseen, I can only imagine. Survival. I am so thankful to her birth mother who chose life. That choice is giving me the privilege and honor of being her mother.
~Tina
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
I Have Another Daughter
First, sorry this post is so late for those of you that are following and were wondering what happened today. We have either been in court or in a car all day.
The court hearing started at 10 am today and Anna was so nervous; head down, not talking much. Just so intimidating for a girl who has never been in or around a courtroom and only knows what others have told her and not always good things. In the small room was the judge and on each side of her were town witnesses. Also there was the judge's secretary, the prosecutor, the social worker, the attorney for the orphanage and our facilitator, Peyton and I. The judge started the hearing and all of the adults in the room had to state their name, address and birthdate. Then the judge proceeded to read through the documents and had me stand and answer some questions. We were told she would ask a lot of questions but I didn't think it was that many. She asked a lot about our finances since I am not working outside the home and would we be able to provide for ANOTHER child. Later on in the hearing she asked again about our finances. I guess I finally said enough to satisfy her.
The hard part was the judge wanted to ask Anna some questions but she seemed so closed off with her head down and all. So the judge asked why her caregiver (Katerina) wasn't there and the judge scolded the orphanage attorney about how he does not work closely with Anna and why wasn't her caregiver there. So at 11:15 the judge called a recess and made the orphanage attorney call Katerina and get her there before she asked Anna any questions. So 30 minutes later we started back and the judge started asking Anna questions. The judge really didn't like that our facilitator was translating so I didn't get a lot of what was asked. The normal questions like name. birth date and do you want to be adopted and go to America. After a little bit Anna was done answering questions and just burst into tears. At that point I didn't know what was going on but she finally said she was scared of the lady sitting on the right side of the judge. She was a very tall and big woman and looked like she might be on a roller derby team. She pretty much was glaring at Anna the whole time so I can see why. I think her nerves had gotten the best of her. The judge was nice enough to not ask anymore questions of her but did ask Katerina several questions. Then the judge allowed Anna and Katerina to leave the room. Once again I had to stand and answer more questions. After that the judge read aloud the rest of the documents in my dossier and at 1:15 we were done and asked to come back at 2:30 for the verdict.
We then went and ate lunch with Anna and Katerina and then back to court we went. We stood while the judge read her verdict aloud; four pages. Oh my goodness I thought it would never end. But finally what you all have been waiting for, I have another daughter!
Anna Joy Bell
Peyton and I are so excited and we can't wait to get Anna home with our family. This is going to be quite an adventure I can already tell. But I am up for the challenge. Some days I forget all we had to teach Peyton and Caleb at first. : )
So the next step is all the passports which I explained in my last post. We should know more on Friday when the orphanage attorney starts the passport process.
We are heading home early tomorrow morning. We are sooo tired but what an exciting day!
~Tina
The court hearing started at 10 am today and Anna was so nervous; head down, not talking much. Just so intimidating for a girl who has never been in or around a courtroom and only knows what others have told her and not always good things. In the small room was the judge and on each side of her were town witnesses. Also there was the judge's secretary, the prosecutor, the social worker, the attorney for the orphanage and our facilitator, Peyton and I. The judge started the hearing and all of the adults in the room had to state their name, address and birthdate. Then the judge proceeded to read through the documents and had me stand and answer some questions. We were told she would ask a lot of questions but I didn't think it was that many. She asked a lot about our finances since I am not working outside the home and would we be able to provide for ANOTHER child. Later on in the hearing she asked again about our finances. I guess I finally said enough to satisfy her.
The hard part was the judge wanted to ask Anna some questions but she seemed so closed off with her head down and all. So the judge asked why her caregiver (Katerina) wasn't there and the judge scolded the orphanage attorney about how he does not work closely with Anna and why wasn't her caregiver there. So at 11:15 the judge called a recess and made the orphanage attorney call Katerina and get her there before she asked Anna any questions. So 30 minutes later we started back and the judge started asking Anna questions. The judge really didn't like that our facilitator was translating so I didn't get a lot of what was asked. The normal questions like name. birth date and do you want to be adopted and go to America. After a little bit Anna was done answering questions and just burst into tears. At that point I didn't know what was going on but she finally said she was scared of the lady sitting on the right side of the judge. She was a very tall and big woman and looked like she might be on a roller derby team. She pretty much was glaring at Anna the whole time so I can see why. I think her nerves had gotten the best of her. The judge was nice enough to not ask anymore questions of her but did ask Katerina several questions. Then the judge allowed Anna and Katerina to leave the room. Once again I had to stand and answer more questions. After that the judge read aloud the rest of the documents in my dossier and at 1:15 we were done and asked to come back at 2:30 for the verdict.
We then went and ate lunch with Anna and Katerina and then back to court we went. We stood while the judge read her verdict aloud; four pages. Oh my goodness I thought it would never end. But finally what you all have been waiting for, I have another daughter!
Anna Joy Bell
Peyton and I are so excited and we can't wait to get Anna home with our family. This is going to be quite an adventure I can already tell. But I am up for the challenge. Some days I forget all we had to teach Peyton and Caleb at first. : )
So the next step is all the passports which I explained in my last post. We should know more on Friday when the orphanage attorney starts the passport process.
We are heading home early tomorrow morning. We are sooo tired but what an exciting day!
~Tina
Monday, April 11, 2016
She was Happy
We left Kiev this morning and travelled to Zhytomyr to talk with the passport office. Then we went to the hotel, got settled and then had lunch. Oh and when we got our first room at the hotel we were able to get in with the key but we couldn't get it to work to unlock the door to get out. Oh my goodness. Our facilitator called to see where we were as we were supposed to meet her in the lobby. I told her what was going on and she said she would talk with the girl at the front desk and send someone up. So I again tried the key while saying a little prayer and well, it worked that time. So we decided it would be best to move to another room and now we have no key problems.
We arrived at the orphanage around 3 and spent some time talking with the director because there is so much to work out since Anna is turning 16 in the middle of the 10 day wait after court. We have court tomorrow so the 10 days hasn't started yet but we are assuming we will get a favorable answer from the judge. So Anna has to have 3 passports; yes I said 3. Normally it is just the one with the visa to be able to enter the US. Anna has to get a Ukrainian passport when she turns 16. Then after that comes back in about 10 days since the 10 day wait will be up she has to get another Ukrainian passport with her new name in it. And, when that one is done in about 10 days then we can apply for the passport that we need. But wait, there are several holidays at the beginning of May so we will not return to pick her up until May 10 or 11. God's timing!
When Anna came into the director's office she was excited to see us. She smiled and hugged us tight. The director said she had been in her office every day asking when we were coming back. I loved hearing that as I was a little worried after last time. We spent a little time talking with her through the facilitator. We brought her a little goody bag with lotion, shampoo, chapstick, candy, notepad, bracelet and barrettes. My kiddos had also made her some birthday cards. She was a little shy and didn't want to open it at first but our wonderful facilitator talked her into looking through it. I helped her put the bracelet on and she is so polite and said thank you. We talked about what she likes to do (not many choices in the orphanage). She doesn't really like sports. She likes to clean and cook. She also likes to draw. We walked outside for a little bit and saw some of her friends,. They were excited to see us as always. We then had to leave to get to the court building by 5 to turn in paperwork.
Tomorrow at 10 am we will have court, take Anna out to lunch and get her passport photo taken. We then will head back to Kiev as we fly home on Wednesday. If I had known it was going to be so long before we can come back I would have planned differently.
The following photos are what we took in Kiev yesterday. They were having a street fair and these first 2 photos are of some artwork that was on display.
~Tina
We arrived at the orphanage around 3 and spent some time talking with the director because there is so much to work out since Anna is turning 16 in the middle of the 10 day wait after court. We have court tomorrow so the 10 days hasn't started yet but we are assuming we will get a favorable answer from the judge. So Anna has to have 3 passports; yes I said 3. Normally it is just the one with the visa to be able to enter the US. Anna has to get a Ukrainian passport when she turns 16. Then after that comes back in about 10 days since the 10 day wait will be up she has to get another Ukrainian passport with her new name in it. And, when that one is done in about 10 days then we can apply for the passport that we need. But wait, there are several holidays at the beginning of May so we will not return to pick her up until May 10 or 11. God's timing!
When Anna came into the director's office she was excited to see us. She smiled and hugged us tight. The director said she had been in her office every day asking when we were coming back. I loved hearing that as I was a little worried after last time. We spent a little time talking with her through the facilitator. We brought her a little goody bag with lotion, shampoo, chapstick, candy, notepad, bracelet and barrettes. My kiddos had also made her some birthday cards. She was a little shy and didn't want to open it at first but our wonderful facilitator talked her into looking through it. I helped her put the bracelet on and she is so polite and said thank you. We talked about what she likes to do (not many choices in the orphanage). She doesn't really like sports. She likes to clean and cook. She also likes to draw. We walked outside for a little bit and saw some of her friends,. They were excited to see us as always. We then had to leave to get to the court building by 5 to turn in paperwork.
Tomorrow at 10 am we will have court, take Anna out to lunch and get her passport photo taken. We then will head back to Kiev as we fly home on Wednesday. If I had known it was going to be so long before we can come back I would have planned differently.
The following photos are what we took in Kiev yesterday. They were having a street fair and these first 2 photos are of some artwork that was on display.
~Tina
 |
| a CHAIRy tree |
Sunday, April 10, 2016
We are back in Kiev
We are back in Kiev. Our flights have been great this time with no delays! I keep reminding myself why we are doing this, as I think I am done with all these loooong flights; especially without Gary.
Here are a a couple of pictures, one from the KC airport and the other is in the Detroit airport. My boys would love watching and riding on this rail car.
Tomorrow (Monday) we travel to Berdychiv and then to the orphanage to see Anna. I am believing for a good reaction from Anna. It has been about 3 weeks since we saw her last so I'm not sure what has transpired since we left. So many things come against these orphans when they are in the process of being adopted. I know God's will for her will prevail.
We have court on Tuesday at 10 am Ukraine time. I know everyone back home will be in bed but if you could say a few prayers we would appreciate it. Thank you to everyone who is supporting us through this. Some days it's a lonely road to travel.
~Tina
Here are a a couple of pictures, one from the KC airport and the other is in the Detroit airport. My boys would love watching and riding on this rail car.
Tomorrow (Monday) we travel to Berdychiv and then to the orphanage to see Anna. I am believing for a good reaction from Anna. It has been about 3 weeks since we saw her last so I'm not sure what has transpired since we left. So many things come against these orphans when they are in the process of being adopted. I know God's will for her will prevail.
We have court on Tuesday at 10 am Ukraine time. I know everyone back home will be in bed but if you could say a few prayers we would appreciate it. Thank you to everyone who is supporting us through this. Some days it's a lonely road to travel.
~Tina
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