Appointment Day

Up at 8:00 AM, a little hard to get to sleep last night, but then slept very well.

We had breakfast with Pierre, Julie and Jennifer. The embassy did not receive Jennifer’s medical clearance, so they will have to wait at least one more day. It is possible that if it comes in tomorrow morning, they may be able to expedite the visa and still catch their plane in the afternoon. keep praying, please.


Oksana was kind enough to take us out to the Botanical Gardens to keep us pleasantly distracted this morning. The lilacs, tulips and peonies are in bloom and the extensive grounds are just beautiful (and aromatic).


Sasha picked us up at 2:00 as planned. We had time for a cup of coffee near the state department office before our appointment. Then right at 3:00 Tetiana called us in for our appointment. She was our translator. We were taken to an office where we met the psychologist who would help us find suitable children. She asked to see our passports – John had them at the ready.



She asked us a few questions about what we were looking for. We recited the “one or two children, up to the age of three years, girls or boys, but keeping siblings together would be a good thing”. They asked if we would be willing to open up the age margin. John told them “not much”. Then she sat at her desk with a very large binder and started paging through. First she said they had two brothers, 11 and 5 years old. We said no. Then she asked if we were approved for only two children (yes), because she had a sibling group of three children. She looked through her binder some more, then said she would go to see if another psychologist had other files. She wasn’t gone too long and came back with papers for two children. They had just received these referrals today.

Nick is 3 years old, his brother Denis is 18 months. Their mother relinquished parental rights and they have been at the orphanage since January 2006. The courts recommended them for adoption. They are “healthy”, just delayed because the mother didn’t do much with them.

Tomorrow we take an overnight train to Kharkov to meet them on Thursday!!!!

We were out of there in thirty minutes, and on our way back to the hotel Sasha was making plans for our travel to and stay in Kharkov. Another man named Sasha will be accompanying and translating for us to/in Kharkov.

God is so very good! We are waaaaayyyy excited!