Thursday, December 6, 2007

The Rieben's are now a family of 7!

We had our court appointment this morning and, as you can see by the title of this post, things went well! Richard and I were up and ready by 8 am this morning and Masha came by the hotel to pick us up around 8:30. Masha's car had been having some problems so it was at the mechanic's and she had asked a friend to drive her to Artemovsk. Unfortunately her friend's car was not big enough to transport all of us to the courthouse (Richard and I, Masha, the social worker and the orphanage lawyer) so we had to do shifts. Eventually we all made it. . . . just in time to spend the next 45 minutes waiting for the prosecutor to show up. After calling the prosecutor for the third time, he finally decided to send his assistant.

The assistant prosecutor arrived around 10 am (an hour after our court appointment) and spent a few minutes running around talking to various people and gathering paperwork. As we stood and watched the prosecutor running to and fro, Masha said what we were all thinking. . . ."That woman has a mustache!" I'm not sure if it was the timing of the comment or nerves, but at that moment maturity slipped away from me and I could not suppress my laughter!

Eventually we made it into the courtroom. A "jury" (two random women who had been sitting in the hall) was invited to join us in the courtroom and the judge read through our application (which was basically a condensed version of our homestudy). She then directed questions at Richard. She asked him if we understood Evan's medical condition and if we were prepared to support him. She asked him if our children understood what was going on and how we thought they would react to having a new brother with special needs. She then turned the floor over to the jury for questioning and they asked Richard why we had decided to adopt. Next up for questioning was the prosecutor who asked Richard if we had researched Evan's medical condition to which he responded that we had. She then asked Richard if he had ever been in drug rehad or been under psychological care (I guess that she thought he must be insane or on drugs to be adopting a child with special needs with young triplets at home)???? Masha told us after court that when the prosecutor asked this question that it had taken everything in her to suppress her laughter and that she was afraid she was going to "ruin everything" by laughing. Richard responded to this question with a simple, "Who? Me!? No!"

Once Richard had been grilled, it was my turn. The judge asked me if I felt I would be able to give all of my children the time and attention that they need once Evan is home, since he will need a lot of time and attention. She then asked me if I was prepared to handle his medical needs to which I responded in the affirmative. She asked the jury and the prosecutor if they had any questions for me. They did not. She then asked the social worker, orphanage lawyer and the prosecutor if they were in support of our adoption. . .they were. She then granted our petition! She told us that the adoption would become final after 10 days and that we could take legal custody of Evan at that time! So. . .on December 17th I will return to Artemovsk and take legal custody of our son! I cannot wait!

After court we checked out of our hotel and went to the orphanage to share the news with Evan and say good bye. It was a bittersweet moment! We were elated that our adoption had been granted, but sad to say good bye to our sweet little man. It has only been a few hours since we left Artemovsk and I already miss him so much!

We left Artemovsk and drove to Kramatorsk where we had the request for Evan's passport signed and notarized. Our plan was to take the overnight train from Kramatorsk to Kiev, but unforunately, we were not able to get tickets (very long story, don't want to bore you with all of the details). So, we are currently in a hotel in Kramatorsk. We will be taking a cab to Donetsk at 3 am and flying from Dontesk to Kiev at 5 am tomorrow morning! Once in Kiev, Richard will go to the Embassy to sign some paperwork and then we will spend our last night together in Ukraine before heading home on Saturday morning.

It has been a wonderful journey and once again, we have seen the hand of the Lord at every turn! Another testament to me that, if you allow the Lord to lead you, He will take you amazing places!

So my friends, I am happy to report that the Rieben Family of 6 is now officially, the Rieben Family of 7. . .and boy does it feel good!

15 comments:

Scott C. Roberts said...

Praise the Lord! I cried when I read your post! What an awesome adventure! God is so good! Can't wait for you to have all 7 of you under one roof! Hope you have a smooth trip home! Jennifer

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Val and Rich! We are so excited for you!!!! We met Josh at church last week -- what a sweetheart.

Love, Aimee, Doug, Calvin, Owen, Barrett & Xander

liesel said...

I've enjoyed being a part of it too. Thanks for blogging. I'm looking forward to seeing that video you told me about! :)

Shelley said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
I told you they asked crazy questions at court! We too(me & Xander) flew out of Dontesk....much better than the train, faster too.
Tell Masha that Shelley & Robert said hello.
I can't wait to see the first complete family photo. Boy are you going to have fun getting FIVE children to look at the camera all at once! Congratulations again! I'm so happy for your family & for Evan!

Anonymous said...

I love what Shelly said, about now getting 5 to look at the camera all at once :-) Celebration time for ALL of us-- I am so happy for you. Yes, it must have been hard leaving him -- and I really had fun reading the court proceedings and all that led up to it! Congratulations to you both!! What a wonderful thing the Lord hs done.

Chris and Virginia said...

Congratulations!! We were hoping the judge would waive the 10 waiting period; guess not this time.

Have a safe trip home.

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! We are so excited for you! The two of you are so amazing...I feel like I have learned a ton about faith and trust in the Lord just from watching you go through these adoptions. We can't wait to meet your new sons this next spring or summer. Congrats again! Love, Sarah

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your triplet blog for a long time and this one since you started it, but I have never commented. I can't express how happy I am for you guys. My Dh and I have decided that we want to adopt a little boy in the next few years. I hope our experience turns out as wonderful as yours.

Kimberly and the GA Guinn Trips
www.guinnfamilyhome.com

Anonymous said...

I don't know y'all, I started reading your blog cuz I used to live in Uzbekistan, but I've been reading your blog and every time I see those 2 beautiful boys, my eyes fill with tears. All 5 of your kids are so blessed to be in such a special family. God bless you guys!

M said...

I have chills reading this....how special. Thank you for sharing your journey of these precious boys.

CONGRATS!!!

Stephanie said...

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations on the exciting new addition to your family!

adoptedthree said...

First a HUGE congratulations!!

Second thanks for giving me a huge belly laugh today!! I could just hear Masha saying what she said with her accent!!!! Too funny!

Call me when you get back please!!!

Kelly said...

SO thrilled to know everything went well in court and you are on your way home. I know those ladies at the baby house will take good care of Evan every day until you are back, and of course talk to him about you and his new family EVERY chance they get! By the way, there are several women with mustaches in Artemovsk...though I have seen no bearded ladies on my trips! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Maybe if I leave my tweezers at home I will feel more at home when I'm there in January!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Glad everything is moving along and I'm sooooo excited that you will get to have Evan with you for Christmas! What an extra special year this will be with your two new little guys.

Ute said...

Gratulations! You will have a amazing Christmas this year. Enjoy!

Ute