March 2nd - Day 20: Court - It's official! We are Emil's
forever family!
The day began with Dave putting the
finishing touches on his speech before the judge. I was glad Dave was in
charge of the speech ... we were told that the judges like people to be brief
and to the point and Dave is much better at that than I am! We got all
dressed up and spiffy-looking and Igor picked us up to go to the judge's
office. It's so nice to be in the helpful, knowing, capable hands of WPA's
partners over here. As were entering the
building, the guard exchanged
some words with Igor and didn't seem to want to let us in. He started to
make a phone call and then Igor said something that somehow convinced him that
he should let us through. Thanks, Igor! Upstairs, we waited in the
reception area with the baby house director and had an opportunity to show her
the pictures of where we live and of our extended family. (As much as she
is probably grateful for Emil's future, I imagine that some part of her must be
sad that he will be so far away.) Within a few minutes, the Andrews came
out of the judges chambers all smiling and weeping! It brings tears to my
eyes even as a write this to have had the honor to see them be approved to be
Alexander Artur's parents. This is such a huge dream come true for them
and he is a very, very lucky boy! We didn't have a chance but to exchange
a few quick hugs and congrats/good luck before we were led into the room.
We took our seats and the proceedings began right away. Everything went
just as Olga had said, Dave did a fantastic job with his speech, and I mustered
a few words through tears as well. The
prosecutor voiced her approval of
the adoption but not of immediate
execution. The judge had the final say,
however, and he said "yes" to
Emil Paul Sander with his Daddy and Mommy
both! EMIL IS OURS!!! WE ARE
HIS FOREVER FAMILY! We felt
such a flood of emotion ... relief, gratitude,
joy and excitement! We quickly thanked the judge and practically ran out
of the room, sobbing tears of joy! We had a brief opportunity to get a
picture and give Olga, Masha, and the baby house director hugs in the reception
area and then went home to share the great news with Uncle Robin and Big Sister
Sierra before going to the Records Department to pick up Emil's new birth
certificate with our names listed as his parents. From there, we went to
the baby house to visit OUR SON! The picture, I think, says everything
about what that moment was like and Masha did a great job capturing it! It
was like Emil knew he now had a family! He was just giggling with glee as
soon as he saw us, like he never had before. While she had no logical
explanation for it, Masha said that that happens a lot with families and their
babies after court. As she said, "It's like they know!"
Officially, we could have picked Emil
up from the baby house today. I never imagined that I wouldn't want to do
that, but after hearing the opinion of the baby house director and local
facilitator, we decided to wait until we're on the way to the airport on
Friday. They recommend waiting so that the babies have one less transition
to go through. That makes a lot of sense to us although it feels a little
weird, especially since court ended up being today instead of tomorrow and we're
not leaving for Almaty until Friday. We'll get to visit Emil tomorrow
morning as usual and then again in the afternoon when we will have an
opportunity to say goodbye to the baby house staff and thank them all.
Then, Friday morning we'll pick Emil up on the way to the airport! We can
hardly believe it!
After the afternoon visit, Dave,
Sierra, and I went back to the Museum of History (Dave had missed it the other
day). I was glad that I could point some things out to him that I had
learned about and to be able to take some pictures.
We took Olga, Igor, Masha and Aliya
out to dinner to the Camelot to thank them for everything they've done for us
these last two and a half weeks. (Phillipich, the other driver and Igor's
father, couldn't make it.) It was a great meal and a nice opportunity to
just hang with them and talk. They are such incredibly special people and
we are all starting to get emotional about parting in a couple of days. We
will miss them all very much.

In front of court
house
Happiness, tears, and relief!

Holding Emil's new birth
certificate
Comfy transport for a toddler

Children's Hospital #2 - Where Emil
was taken
after
Close up of hospital
he was born for
tests and initial vaccinations

Dave and Sierra in front of Museum of
History
Dave looking at map of the Silk Road
Kaz
clothes
Man playing dunbar (sp?)

Everyday clothing

Yurt used by
nomads
Igor's grandfather (upper left); Manchuk (lower left)

Antique Kazakh jewelry

Emblem of
Kazakhstan
"Paka Paka" to our Uralsk angels - Igor, Olga, Masha, Aliya