Our Court Day Adventure

I really didn't feel like blogging today; I feel I have run out of interesting things to say. So I was trying to get my mom to write about court today, but she wouldn't. She keeps this journal and writes in it every day so why can't she write something for my blog? Instead, she will tell me, "You should write that today was very special". I told her I can't because it just isn't the same not coming from her. Oh well. Alex then shamed me into blogging. Wendy posted a comment that she might give me the title of "Ukraine Queen Blogger" and he told me that I need to work to earn that title. So here goes, Alex and Wendy!

"Why do you want to go to America, rather than staying here in the Ukraine?" the judge asked Katya. "Because", Katya replied, "I will have a family there and here I don't have a family." She couldn't have answered this question any better. Court today went really well, despite the fact that it lasted over an hour-and-a-half. I think it could have gone just as well if it were only a half-an-hour and we could have all gotten out of there sooner :)

But it really did go very well. Last night, Oksana had prepped us for some of the weird questions that the judge might ask, such as: "Aren't you afraid that your husband will leave you and go back to his first wife?" (I loved this question, Amy!), or "Aren't you afraid that a woman will come along and steal your husband from you?" (I believe this question was asked of Leslie Soderberg). But we really didn't get any weird questions. When the judge first had us stand up, I was holding Tony and the judge joked, "Oh, I thought there were only two applicants but I guess there are three!" The judge seemed to love the fact that we had brought so much family with us. She asked us why we had decided to do this, since it was only required that Alex and I be here. Alex replied, "Because they are our family." The judge responded by saying that input from the other member's of the family is important and perhaps the court could learn from this...

She asked us why we had decided to adopt Katya and we explained that Katya had come to our house last October through a hosting program and we had fallen in love with her and wanted her to become part of our family. She asked us what we loved about Katya and we responded that she has such a bubbly personality and is so happy.

Then she moved on to my mom. She really liked my mom. She asked my mom why she had decided to come with us, whether it had been her idea or Alex and mine. My mom and I both responded at the same time that it had been a mutual decision. She asked my mom what she thought about us adopting Katya and adding another member to our family. My mom responded by saying that she loved kids - that she had eight of her own - and that we have already bonded with Katya and that Katya is already a part of our family. She told the judge that Katya will be her eleventh grandchild. Then the judge asked Alex what he thought about his mother-in-law. Alex responded by saying that she was the best mother-in-law that he could ask for; that we loved taking her on family vacations and that she always remembers his birthdays and makes him birthday cakes. The judge then asked my mom if she had the best son-in-law and my mom responded with a "Yes" and a "thumbs up"!

There was a radio reporter in the courtroom, which I believe had something to do with some of the questions that the judge asked (and the length of the proceedings). While the judge was asking Katya questions, she kept joking with Katya that she was like a "pop star" because Katya stood up every time the judge addressed her, smiled, was polite, and would wait until the judge finished her question completely before answering. I think the judge was acting a bit like a "pop star" herself for the radio reporter. I guess they do a radio show about foreign adoptions. The reporter was very nice and nobody seemed to act like the purpose of his show was to put foreign adoptions in a bad light so when he wanted to interview us afterwards, we agreed. He asked pretty much the same questions that were asked in court, with a couple of new ones, such as: "What do you want Katya to be when she grows up?" and "Do you like to travel?" and "Do you like the Ukraine?". I thought his questions were weirder than the ones the judge asked us...

At the end of the proceedings, the judge told Katya that she needed to always respect and obey us (Ha! We will see how well she follows that advice!). It was a beautiful day and we are now counting down the days when we can bring her home with us. Yeah!!!