The News....
Sorry to keep you all waiting... yesterday was a mad rush and we barely got to eat.
First the news, then the details.
The News
They're ours!!! We are the happy Mom & Dad to ...
The names in parenthesis will hopefully be added once we get to the States. For now, they are Lena Joy and Christopher Anton. We'll call him 'Anton' or 'Christopher Anton' for a while to see if he takes to 'Christopher'... if not, we'll just call him Anton. :)
The Details
Court was scheduled for noon. We had to have everything packed and ready to swing back by the apartment and grab our bags. We were ready and even downstairs (outside) waiting around the time Luda said she'd be calling us... several minutes later, when she called, plans had changed and we needed to walk to the orphanage to meet her.
Now, when I say walk to the orphanage, what I mean is cross two busy streets, then trudge through a sandy median, walk down a sandy path amongst the weeds, cross a little street, and then follow the driveway/road to the orphanage gates. This is what we've done every day (and enjoyed it immensely). But usually I have on my Converse tennies. Yesterday we were dressed for court. Jeff & Carson had on button-down shirts and ties. I was in dress slacks. Jeff had his Doc Martins and I had strappy sandals. Not exactly trudging-through-sand attire.
But we did it. I tried to get as little sand in my sandals (ironic?) as possible, all the while thinking, well, I guess it didn't really matter that I couldn't get my flat iron to work, since the wind is whipping my hair about.
We waited at the orphanage, where our awesome driver Roman picked us up....
Fast-forward through sitting and waiting for the social worker, driving fast through crazy traffic, thinking we were going to be late, then having to stand outside the courthouse and wait another 15 minutes while we tried (in vain) to keep Carson out of the dirt, and then went inside and waited outside the court room another 30 minutes.
At about 12:30 we were whisked into a tiny office where the judge, two witnesses, a court secretary, a social worker, the orphanage psychologist, the prosecutor (!!), our facilitator, and the 3 of us Hazletons were squeezed around a large desk.
The proceedings began. Luda translated like mad. (She is awesome.) The children's info was stated... when and where they were born, how they were abandoned, and that no one had ever visited them. I already knew all of this, but I had to fight back the tears as it was read in court.
We were asked lots of questions about our home life, our town, our ability to care for the kids... our income... why we wanted to adopt... why Ukraine.... our concerns about the kids' HIV status...
It lasted about an hour, and thankfully, my prayers were answered and Carson slept through most of it!!!
Then it was done... we waited out in the hallway for the 'decision.' Ten minutes or so passed, and we were called back into the courtroom and asked to stand. The decision (about a page of formalities) was read and Luda translated. We were granted our request and as Luda was finishing translating she congratulated us and gave me a huge hug ( I love her!!)
And that was it! It was so surreal. I am on cloud nine and I still get teary-eyed thinking about that moment where all our hard work paid off.
We left the courthouse, and I was still processing it all as the mad rush continued... we had to drop off the psychologist, go by the notary, and get to the train station. Our 'express' train was a fun experience. We conversed with Luda most of the way (again - love her!) and watched a ridiculous Russian sitcom on the overhead televisions. (We could mostly tell what was going on, and Luda filled in the blanks for us.)
We made it to our swank little apartment in the heart of Kiev about 11:30 last night and I was thrilled to find that we had fast internet, and we thoroughly enjoyed our video chat with our girls back home.
Thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers!
Carson, my friend Andrea, and I will return to Ukraine the first week of September to finish out the process and bring our children home! :) {Meanwhile, we are still not fully-funded, so please pray for us about that one.}
Stay tuned!
Shannon
First the news, then the details.
The News
They're ours!!! We are the happy Mom & Dad to ...
Christopher Anton (Viktor) Hazleton
&
Lena Joy (Abigail) Hazleton
The names in parenthesis will hopefully be added once we get to the States. For now, they are Lena Joy and Christopher Anton. We'll call him 'Anton' or 'Christopher Anton' for a while to see if he takes to 'Christopher'... if not, we'll just call him Anton. :)
The Details
Court was scheduled for noon. We had to have everything packed and ready to swing back by the apartment and grab our bags. We were ready and even downstairs (outside) waiting around the time Luda said she'd be calling us... several minutes later, when she called, plans had changed and we needed to walk to the orphanage to meet her.
Now, when I say walk to the orphanage, what I mean is cross two busy streets, then trudge through a sandy median, walk down a sandy path amongst the weeds, cross a little street, and then follow the driveway/road to the orphanage gates. This is what we've done every day (and enjoyed it immensely). But usually I have on my Converse tennies. Yesterday we were dressed for court. Jeff & Carson had on button-down shirts and ties. I was in dress slacks. Jeff had his Doc Martins and I had strappy sandals. Not exactly trudging-through-sand attire.
But we did it. I tried to get as little sand in my sandals (ironic?) as possible, all the while thinking, well, I guess it didn't really matter that I couldn't get my flat iron to work, since the wind is whipping my hair about.
We waited at the orphanage, where our awesome driver Roman picked us up....
Fast-forward through sitting and waiting for the social worker, driving fast through crazy traffic, thinking we were going to be late, then having to stand outside the courthouse and wait another 15 minutes while we tried (in vain) to keep Carson out of the dirt, and then went inside and waited outside the court room another 30 minutes.
At about 12:30 we were whisked into a tiny office where the judge, two witnesses, a court secretary, a social worker, the orphanage psychologist, the prosecutor (!!), our facilitator, and the 3 of us Hazletons were squeezed around a large desk.
The proceedings began. Luda translated like mad. (She is awesome.) The children's info was stated... when and where they were born, how they were abandoned, and that no one had ever visited them. I already knew all of this, but I had to fight back the tears as it was read in court.
We were asked lots of questions about our home life, our town, our ability to care for the kids... our income... why we wanted to adopt... why Ukraine.... our concerns about the kids' HIV status...
It lasted about an hour, and thankfully, my prayers were answered and Carson slept through most of it!!!
Then it was done... we waited out in the hallway for the 'decision.' Ten minutes or so passed, and we were called back into the courtroom and asked to stand. The decision (about a page of formalities) was read and Luda translated. We were granted our request and as Luda was finishing translating she congratulated us and gave me a huge hug ( I love her!!)
And that was it! It was so surreal. I am on cloud nine and I still get teary-eyed thinking about that moment where all our hard work paid off.
We left the courthouse, and I was still processing it all as the mad rush continued... we had to drop off the psychologist, go by the notary, and get to the train station. Our 'express' train was a fun experience. We conversed with Luda most of the way (again - love her!) and watched a ridiculous Russian sitcom on the overhead televisions. (We could mostly tell what was going on, and Luda filled in the blanks for us.)
We made it to our swank little apartment in the heart of Kiev about 11:30 last night and I was thrilled to find that we had fast internet, and we thoroughly enjoyed our video chat with our girls back home.
Thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers!
Carson, my friend Andrea, and I will return to Ukraine the first week of September to finish out the process and bring our children home! :) {Meanwhile, we are still not fully-funded, so please pray for us about that one.}
Stay tuned!
Shannon
Comments
Katrina
Carlene's soon to be momma :)
www.operationorphannomore.blogspot.com
hugs!!
I think I know you...you look SO familiar! Were we at MLC together by chance back in 2003? My husband and I were missionaries in Nepal for two years with the IMB. We are now living in northeastern Uganda and are in the process of adopting two children too, one of which is HIV+. Glad I found your blog!! Excited for you guys on your two new kiddos :)
Blessings,
Kristi