Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! After a long 5 months and 19 days, we were so excited that today was the day that we were set to see Victoria!! After getting a pretty good night’s sleep, we settled into the restaurant for a late breakfast at shortly after 10am. Understanding that we were to leave at noon to visit Victoria, we thought we had plenty of time. Well, in the middle of this relaxing meal, the hotel manager came over and told us that our driver was ready and outside waiting for us. “Really?” we replied. Turns out we misunderstood. Apparently, we were to see Victoria at noon (about an hour or so drive away), not to leave at noon. OK, so we scrambled to get the final things ready for our visit…remembering to run back in for our camera at the last second. We could never replace pictures from such a visit, so not having the camera on a day like this would have been a huge bummer.
On the way to the orphanage, we picked up Lana, our translator. Upon arriving at the orphanage, we looked toward the front door and saw a group of young children dressed in snow suits. “How cute”, we thought. Much to our surprise, as we exited the vehicle, we saw that this was Victoria’s group and there she was dressed in a red snow suit and a cute pink hat. She ran directly to Sharon and hugged her. The children asked Victoria who we were and she replied “my parents.”
As we spoke with the caregiver, she mentioned that Victoria was excited that we were coming today and she had drawn mommy a picture. We could not wait to see this, but first we had a chance to play outside for a while. The weather was mostly sunny and around 40, so we took the chance and walked with Victoria over to the playground. She was a little quiet at first (not that we could blame her after all this time). So, we settled in with some bubbles and some time on the swings.
After a half hour or so, we headed inside were we watched Victoria and her group (about 12 children) remove their jackets, sweaters and snow pants. Each child folded their items and placed them into the closet. What a sight this was to see! Haha.. Oh yeah, Victoria appears to be taller and, much to our delight, they have let her hair grow!
Victoria then went to her room and brought mommy the picture that she had drawn for her. What a sweet moment that made mommy and daddy very happy. It was just short of Victoria’s lunch time, so we colored with her and spoke with the caregiver. During this conversation, we were told that Victoria is aware and excited that she will be coming home (well, to the hotel first, of course) with us soon.
After she ate, Victoria brought us to a large playroom within the orphanage where we played for an hour or so. At around 2pm, Irina arrived with Ludmilla, the court appointed Social Worker (who would be speaking in court to state that she personally observed us with Victoria). Ludmilla was a very pleasant woman who watched us for a while, then asked us some questions about ourselves (our home, our jobs, our families, children in the family, our desire to adopt, etc.). During this questioning, we were set on the floor with Victoria playing with cube puzzles (which she loved).
At about 3pm, our time with Victoria for the day had ended. Victoria gave each of us a big hug and a kiss before we had to head back to the hotel. Afternoon traffic in Vlad was nearly at a standstill. So, it took us every bit of 1.5 hours to get back to the hotel. Lana used this time to speak with us about our impending day in court (oh yeah, we still have that tomorrow! Haha…). Back at the hotel, we were ready to pass out.
It is now about 11:00pm and we are ready to head to bed. Tomorrow is our court date (4pm). Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers on this monumental day! We are as ready as we can be. Important to get some rest and try to shake this jet lag, so we can be at our best.
On the way to the orphanage, we picked up Lana, our translator. Upon arriving at the orphanage, we looked toward the front door and saw a group of young children dressed in snow suits. “How cute”, we thought. Much to our surprise, as we exited the vehicle, we saw that this was Victoria’s group and there she was dressed in a red snow suit and a cute pink hat. She ran directly to Sharon and hugged her. The children asked Victoria who we were and she replied “my parents.”
As we spoke with the caregiver, she mentioned that Victoria was excited that we were coming today and she had drawn mommy a picture. We could not wait to see this, but first we had a chance to play outside for a while. The weather was mostly sunny and around 40, so we took the chance and walked with Victoria over to the playground. She was a little quiet at first (not that we could blame her after all this time). So, we settled in with some bubbles and some time on the swings.
After a half hour or so, we headed inside were we watched Victoria and her group (about 12 children) remove their jackets, sweaters and snow pants. Each child folded their items and placed them into the closet. What a sight this was to see! Haha.. Oh yeah, Victoria appears to be taller and, much to our delight, they have let her hair grow!
Victoria then went to her room and brought mommy the picture that she had drawn for her. What a sweet moment that made mommy and daddy very happy. It was just short of Victoria’s lunch time, so we colored with her and spoke with the caregiver. During this conversation, we were told that Victoria is aware and excited that she will be coming home (well, to the hotel first, of course) with us soon.
After she ate, Victoria brought us to a large playroom within the orphanage where we played for an hour or so. At around 2pm, Irina arrived with Ludmilla, the court appointed Social Worker (who would be speaking in court to state that she personally observed us with Victoria). Ludmilla was a very pleasant woman who watched us for a while, then asked us some questions about ourselves (our home, our jobs, our families, children in the family, our desire to adopt, etc.). During this questioning, we were set on the floor with Victoria playing with cube puzzles (which she loved).
At about 3pm, our time with Victoria for the day had ended. Victoria gave each of us a big hug and a kiss before we had to head back to the hotel. Afternoon traffic in Vlad was nearly at a standstill. So, it took us every bit of 1.5 hours to get back to the hotel. Lana used this time to speak with us about our impending day in court (oh yeah, we still have that tomorrow! Haha…). Back at the hotel, we were ready to pass out.
It is now about 11:00pm and we are ready to head to bed. Tomorrow is our court date (4pm). Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers on this monumental day! We are as ready as we can be. Important to get some rest and try to shake this jet lag, so we can be at our best.
Thanks so much for keeping this blog!! Its awesome to be able to following how things are going. How adorable Victoria seems!! I just love the picture she had for Sharon.
ReplyDeletePrayers for your Court day tomorrow! Can't wait to have the 3 of you home again.
Love,
Chrissy
How exciting this must have been!!!! And to know Vika was thinking about you guys as much as you were thinking of her...that had to be the best!
ReplyDeleteGood luck in Court!!!! Soon, you will have your little girl with you. Enjoy the rest of your trip!!!
Can't wait to hear more!
Love, Angie
Hey guys! I think it's great that Vika is so excited to see you and is calling you her parents! I will be praying that all goes well at court and your time alone with Vika is the best! Good luck with everything and we can't wait to see your family when you're back in the US! Love ya, Julie, Brandon & Logan
ReplyDeletegood luck to all of you and I can't wait to see more pictures, I just replayed the orig video, wow! how wonderful, she will be very lucky. This has been a very exciting story, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteNancy