Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Court on Monday...

Well, we found out that court will be Monday (although nothing is ever etched in stone in Kazakhstan). We have to stop at the court tomorrow morning to file our papers. We are glad that we are about to reach another milestone. Tomorrow (Thursday) is Day 15 of the bonding period. We continue to pray hard for the 15 day waiting period to be waived.


Stephen’s cold is still hanging around. Some days he is just out of it and tired. Today was a great day and he gave Daddy a lot of attention! I think he knows that Daddy is sad he won’t see him for a few weeks. He is such a sweet little angel. We are growing tired of going to the orphanage. An hour and a half is far too short and you are stuck in a tiny room. After a while it feels like Groundhog’s Day II – lol.

We wrote our speech for court. In all honesty it seems a bit excessive and redundant. Everything we are saying is right there in the million page dossier we spent months preparing. We have to introduce ourselves, tell about our age, jobs, marriage, finances, feelings about the child, etc… We had to keep a journal for each day of the bonding period and take a photograph of all three of us together each day to prove to the court that we actually went through the bonding period. Our translator now has to translate the journal entries and our speech into Russian for court. We were told that court is about 45 minutes to an hour.

So, that is all that is new here. I will post after court on Monday!!!

11 comments:

Beckie said...

We will be praying all goes smoothly on Monday and your 15 days is waived.

Gail said...

WOW!! You are almost finished, with the first trip anyway. I too will be praying for a good court and that it IS on Monday.
Gail

6blessings said...

Congrats on the court date. I will be praying that all goes as you desire. Glad things are going more smoothly now.

Deb said...

I'll be praying for Monday to come fast.

The 5 McGills said...

Good luck at court. I'm sure all will go well. I know exactly what you mean about being in Ground Hog Day! We felt the same way. Can't wait to see pictures of Stephen.

Unknown said...

Great news about court! Our judge in Ust was great. He listened to the facts, heard from us, the coordinator and the MOE rep, the baby house doctor and that was it. There were no tough questions and the prosecutor did not ask any questions or dispute anything. It was a lot easier and faster than we anticipated. We did not have our 15 days waived, but we will pray that they will understand your circumstances and do so for you.

I know all of us reading your blog cannot wait to see pictures of your little Stephen.

Anonymous said...

You are half-way there! We can't wait to see pictures of your little guy. God bless you all.
Shari

petunia said...

Oh my goodness...I had been following along before your trip and have been away from your blog since that last countdown day - fully expecting a different story. I read the passage from the 4th...you were angry...and challenged God to show His hand. and (unlike you) I got to fast forward to the passage today. SO seeing the hand of God...boy, what a hard week and a half you had to go through...
I am so thankful God has brought you through the flood, fire and tempest to this point. It's amazing the strength that He gives us in the times that seem that our hearts would just break. He has brought you to Russia to find Stephen....not Stas like you thought. His WILL not ours right? As hard as that all was....you have the baby you were meant to raise....Praise the LORD!

keoghclan said...

Best of luck in court guys. It is nerve wracking but it will go fine. Your in country team sound like they have you prepared anyway. Keeping our fingers crossed that the 15 day waiting period gets waived.

We know what you mean about ground hog day - I remember after a while feeling so disconnected from the outside world and feeling that Almaty Kazakhstan was the world!! Trust us this time will pass.

Regards

The Keogh's in Toronto

Thad and Ann said...

I'll be praying that every thing goes well & that they would waive the waiting period.
Hugs-
Ann

Anonymous said...

Wow, a speech? We didnt have to do that. We just had to answer a ton of questions that were nerve wracking enough. And it was long.......over an hour if I recall correctly. Good luck and YEAH!!!! Love, Tam