Wednesday, December 27th

We need to recap the last few days that were so hectic, but we will start with today. It was very special because we got to see Alex's play. It was very nice, and all the kids in the orphanage had parts in it. Alex and his four year old classmates dressed up as bunnies, and some of the older classmates were all kinds of other strange characters that we didn't know. Santa Claus visited, but they call him Grandpa Frost here, and also Mrs. Pig, the three piglets, the big bad wolf, and who knows who else. There are no references to Christianity whatsover from their Communist days. The performance went on for an hour and a half, and it never really got boring. There was constantly someone doing something in Russian. Afterwards, we went back to Alex's (also known as Sasha) room, and he recognized us, and started yelling, "there's my momma and pappa." We got to see him receive his New Year's present with his classmates, and then we got to hang out with him for a while. It was a great time with him and it has been a nice day.

Other than our time seeing Sasha, we have been running here and there and all over the city trying to get our court date for this week. The last two days have been stressful and taxing on us, and especially on our translater, Igor. We have gone from the orphanage director, who wouldn't let us make copies of the paperwork for her at her orphanage, to a notary, who had told us he would prepare our paperwork, but later decided he didn't have time, to the court clerks, who told us they could get us a court date this week, but later changed their minds also. After hours and hours of work, we have managed to get through all hurdles, but one, the head judge. There is really no one we have found that can help us with this man who said, "if the American's really want to adopt this boy, then they can wait until after the holidays." The only bright spot we have found in working with the courts is that they start up on Jan. 3rd instead of the 9th (like everything else), or at least that is the latest we have heard - everything changes depending on who you talk to. So, that is where we stand now. We have felt everyone's prayers for us and are at peace with whatever happens with the court date because the important thing is that we will be adopting Alex.

P.S. To answer one of the questions posed to us, we will only be adopting Alex. We would love to take several of them home with us, but the way the system is setup, it is just not going to work out for us to adopt anyone else at this time. It's okay, though, I think Alex will keep us busy for a while!