Court Date

Today we went before court to get approval to adopt our children. We were in a tiny room, with a very large judge (width-wise, not height-wise). We went in with the other American couple who are here, our translator, our coordinator, a representative from the orphanage, and two people who we think were lawyers representing the children. The judge asked us a few questions, such as why we wanted to adopt from Kazakhstan, if we were going to be able to take care of the children, and then he wanted to see pictures of our homes. Then we went out of the room briefly, and came back in and he told us he had approved our adoption. Yeah!!!

Now, by Kazakh law, there is a mandatory 15 day waiting period, so we are all going to go home to the US. The other mom, Christy, and I will come back in a couple of weeks to finish the paperwork. If everything goes ok with our flights this weekend, we'll be home late Sunday night.

The reality of Ethan being our son started to sink in around 10 minutes after court. I am very, very excited. Can't wait to bring him home! Can't wait to have everyone meet him.