October 9th:
I was able to touch base with a couple of guys from church last night after I woke up at 2:00 am so I could talk to Rachelle and Andrew via Tango.
I was able to finally fall back asleep around 4:30 am just for my alarm to go off a couple of hours later. I Tango'd Rachelle again as she was winding down before bed. It is really nice to be able to talk to her while I am over here. Apparently the "Unlimited Data Cards" that I thought that we bought were in fact limited. Our conversation was cut short and I was unable to reconnect to the wifi. Looks like I will be buying another one and may have to cut down on the video calling and switch to the old fashion version of phone call or text message.
After getting ready, Sasha and I loaded up to go to the Orphanage to work on finalizing some documents. I was able to see a copy of Vanya's Birth Certificate. We arrived at the Orphanage shortly after 8:00 am and had to wait for the Director and the Orphanage Lawyer. Upon their arrival, Sasha worked diligently with them while I sat in the background without a clue of what they were saying. There was time where they brought the two of us coffee and bread. After we were done, Sasha went looking for them. I was actually in the Directors office for close to 30 minutes by myself. The DIrector would come in and great me, get something from her desk and off she would go.
In the background I could hear that some of the children were enjoying music time. They were singing along with the teacher and it was a pleasant sound filling up the hallways.
Sasha and one of the Orphanages Lawyers went with us to a Local Building to start some of the finalization process. After we were done there, we dropped her back off at her office for a short period so we could go check on the status of Vanya's Passport. Unfortunately we found out that it will not be ready in Luts'k until tomorrow, Wednesday. Just like that our plans changed to picking up the Passport in Luts'k mid morning tomorrow, then we will come pick Vanya up and head to Kiev.
After running a couple of other errands we went and picked Yulia back up. We had to stop at the Courthouse where Rachelle and I had our Adoption Hearing. They went in while I waited out in the car. The last time we were there is when the Judge officially approved our adoption of Vanya.
When they got back, off to Luts'k we were headed to finalize another document. This is where things started getting interesting, to say the least. The people who were in charge denied our request stating that BOTH PARENTS had to be present to complete this process. Uh, a little difficult to do that with Rachelle not here. The place we were at was essentially the same as were we were earlier, just in a different town. The good thing, if there was one is that this is just a formality, not a requirement and won't hold up the process of me bringing him home.
Not taking "No" for an answer, we went up to the Manager and after a brief discussion, she then in turn put him on the phone with someone. Sure wish I could have understood that conversation. The lady from downstairs came barging in with a piece of paper, handed it to Sasha and then off she was just as fast as she got there. At first glance it appeared that due to the body language of Sasha and Yulia that we were stuck, meaning that the Office where we were earlier should not have approved our document. We were turned away again.
We went back to the car and picked up the Temporary Power of Attorney that Rachelle and I signed during the beginning of this process. Then we went to the Office where the Lawyers were to plead our case. The head lawyer appeared to have already had his mind made up without listening to what Sasha and Yulia had to say. He was saying that BOTH PARENTS need to be here unless I have a document showing that Rachelle signed over Power of Attorney to me. CRAP!!! I have a copy of that, back HOME!!! That was one of the original documents that was inclusive in our Dossier. But since the Court process was done, neither Sasha, Rachelle or I thought that we would need it for this. There were many things that Sasha was able to do in our absence with the Temporary Power of Attorney Rachelle and I signed at the beginning of this entire process, but this ONE GUY is saying that this will not work. I began to Pray asking Favor over this situation. That something that was able to work previous, should be able to work again. That the Holy Spirit would move over this gentleman, or that Sasha and Yulia would be able to say it in a way where he would approve of the situation. There were also two other Lawyers in the office. I prayed that their influence would also be used to change this situation. Finally after about an hour it happened, he changed his mind! He approved that Sasha could sign for Rachelle using the Temporary Power of Attorney and that I could sign for myself. Thank you JESUS!!!
Then back to the original office we were, with the Lawyers signature in hand approving of our request. However the person that we met with first was not there initially, so Sasha and Yulia had to explain the entire scenario for like the 5th time. We had been trying to get this process done for practically six hours...
On the way back from Luts'k, we stopped back by the Orphanage to deliver a copy of the approved documents. When we pulled up, the kiddo's were heading outside to play. I was standing there and Vanya walked up to me and threw his hands up. What an AWESOME feeling that was!!! All of the stress from the day started fading away. Sasha and Yulia went on inside as Vanya and I played out in the Courtyard. He grabbed my hand taking from place to place until he noticed that one of the tricycles had been abandoned. So off we went, him riding it and me pulling it from the handle bars. His feet were on the pedals moving it, but at first he was letting me provide all of the power. I slowly backed off until I just had my finger on the handle bars and he just pedaled away. We got to play for probably 20 minutes or so, then it was time for me to leave once again. He kept pointing at the car and I told him that we would come back and pick him up tomorrow. That this should be the last night he stays here if everything goes as planned tomorrow. I picked him up and gave him a HUGE Hug...
Sasha and I were exhausted to say the least. I was very thankful and expressed that to both Sasha and Yulia. They would not take "No" for an answer.
I was able to get Wifi again when we got back to the Hotel. I called Rachelle telling her of the above events that she missed while she was sleeping. However she wasn't sleeping much. Andrew was up and down again all night. I guess he knows that something isn't the same when I am not there.
The plan is that we will go pick up the Passport mid morning tomorrow, go pick Vanya up from the Orphanage and then head to Luts'k.
OK, NO MORE SURPRISES!!!
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