A Better Day

So things are looking up for us in the little Ukrainian town of Radomishle. We went this morning to see the judge, that is our translator Svieta went (we’re not supposed to see him before the trial) and he actually set our court date for next Wednesday, December 27 at 9am. This after telling us yesterday we’d have to wait till January 10. Whatever made him change his mind, we’re grateful. Svieta said he was actually in a good mood about it. She started off telling him if he didn’t move the court date up, we love these kids so much we’d flood his office with tears. He laughed and told his assistant they’d better give us a date or there’d be an international incident. The only stipulation is that the relatives who’ve signed off on the kids had to be in court too. We arranged that today, everyone agreed to be there. So if all goes well …

Our caveat is that there has been a bump in the road at every turn so we are cautiously euphoric. We do love these kids so much and they are worth everything we’re going through and more. But we know we’re not out of the woods yet. Still, if court goes well next Wednesday, we’ll have another 10 days of waiting for the (final) court decision. At that point we get the kids (!!!) and we stay here a few more days to get their new birth certificates and passports. Then it’s off to Kiev for more paperwork at the American Embassy. And then the newly expanded Gold family can go home …

Today we spent a good part of the morning visiting with Sasha. He was full of life as usual, and we spent a lot of time pushing him around on the bike and the tractor and the truck and the wagon … He’s just a love and the best of every visit is giving him a big hug and watching that little imp smile creep up on his adorable little face. In the afternoon we visited Nastia. They told us she cried because we couldn’t make it yesterday, and that was hard to hear. Of course she was very happy to see us and we had a great visit playing cards and coloring. We try to make learning English fun and every day we work on something. She’s such a beautiful child, on every level. Michael and I always marvel when we leave her at what a special girl she is. We tell her that too.

And that’s pretty much it. After a dinner of potato vareneki and meat palmeni and grietchka (kasha!) which we prepared at home, we came here to touch base with the world as we know it. Tomorrow we’ll post some more pictures. And tonight, the world seems right again, even on this unpredictable side of it. Thanks to everybody for your love and support. We couldn’t do this without you.