Greetings from Kazakhstan July 22, 2005

Ivan is taking a snooze, so we thought that we would say hello from Almaty!

(Ok, so this was written while Ivan was taking several different snoozes)

As you know we had court Monday July 18. Our group looked spectacular all dressed up for court. We are all so used to seeing each other in t-shirts and flip-flops we hardly recognized each other as we assembled on the front steps of the hotel. We piled into the van, affectionately known as the chariot and off we went to the courthouse. We stood outside of the main entrance and enjoyed the cool morning as we waited for our last minute instructions from our coordinator and translator.

Curtis and John went first because Curtis had prepared their long statement in Russian (with our translator’s help) and our coordinator felt that this may help loosen the judge up a bit. So at 10:01 Curtis and John were whisked into the courthouse. The rest of us stayed outside and paced. This was the day that we had all been praying for and it was finally here. Now we just wanted it all to go as planned. At 10:25 or so, Curtis and John came out of the court house beaming and we all sent up a loud WOO HOO until our translator told us to hush. Apparently the courtroom was on the first floor and the window was open. Our translator did not want the judge to have any reason to get tough about anything so we quickly dropped the congratulations to a whisper. Next up was Lorraine and Alan…both lawyers and very comfortable in the courtroom. They went in looking rather pale and came out about 20 minutes later looking completely exhilarated. Next up were Eugene and Bridgett, then Mary and Austin and finally it was our turn. As we waited to enter the courtroom we said a prayer of thanks for getting us to this point and then we were whisked into the courtroom.

Joe stood at the podium and read the first half our long statement to the judge and prosecutor. Our translator translated as we spoke. Then Charlotte read her half of the statement. Then Joe stood up again and read the short statement that basically informed the judge that we would like to change Ivan’s name on his birth-certificate but we would like to leave the place of birth as Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. Then the orphanage director, Dr. Natalia spoke. She told the judge all about Ivan’s medical information and testified that we had fulfilled the 14 day visitation requirement and that she recommended that we be allowed to adopt Ivan. Then the lady from the Ministry of Education spoke. She informed the judge that she had reviewed our dossier and that we were approved to adopt by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then it was time for the prosecutor and judge to question us. Each couple was asked different questions with one exception. We were all asked if the wife would continue to work. Charlotte told the judge that she did not intend to return to work and that she would care for the child full time. Then he asked Joe what his job title is and what it entails. He also asked us how long we had been married. The prosecutor did not have any questions for us, so we were asked to leave the courtroom while the judge made his decision. No sooner had we left the courtroom, we were being asked to return for his ruling. The judge announced that we were now officially Ivan’s parents and that we could legally change his name to Ivan Marshall Tew. We both looked the judge in the eye and said thank you in Russian and a hint of a smile crossed his face for the first time during the whole proceeding. Joe had tears of joy streaming down his face as we left the courtroom. We said another prayer of thanks for all that the Lord has done for our little family and went outside to tell the group the good news. Then it was picture time.

Since we had to return to court the next day to request that the 15 day appeal period be waived, we all wanted to get out of our nice clothes so that they wouldn’t get too dirty. No one knew that we would have to appear twice, or we would have packed two court outfits. However, most folks wear outfits two days in a row here, so we fit right in.

We had our usual afternoon visit on Monday and there was a new air about all of us. The kids picked up on it b/c we all had a great time that afternoon in the playroom. Unfortunately, Ivan had developed a little cold, cough and fever overnight. Nothing really serous, but he tired quickly as we played. We left that afternoon and headed back to the hotel. We were hoping to have our celebration dinner at the Italian place that we had all enjoyed so much earlier in the trip. Charlotte was already planning to order a bowl of the soup that she missed out on last time. However, when our translator called to make a reservation they were booked for the night. So, we had to revamp the plan. Our translator suggested one of her favorites, Shanghai.
Our dinner was filled with a lot of toasting, congratulating and just joy all around. We were all rather surprised to learn that not only did Shanghai serve Chinese food, they also served Tex-Mex. It was quite a menu. We started by ordering some nachos for the table. They were fried wonton wrappers topped with ground beef, cheese and a sliced tomato. They were really good! Charlotte and Mary ordered some nice French Red wine while everyone else ordered beer. Joe ordered a Chinese noodle soup and mutton with a mandarin orange sauce. Charlotte ordered the peppered salmon with lemon drizzle. Everything was wonderful and we all left full and happy. On the way home we saw the most silvery moon that we have ever seen. It kept peaking in and out of the clouds, but honestly it was the most shimmering moon any of us had ever seen. It was a wonderful ending to our Gotcha Day!

Tuesday we all met outside looking a little rumpled, but just as dashing as the day before. We jumped onto the van once again and off we went to the courthouse. We arrived at 8:45, but the judge and prosecutor were not there yet so we waited. It started to rain, so we all hopped into the van to stay dry. Our translator went inside several times to make sure that they were not waiting on us. Finally, about 9:20 the judge and prosecutor were ready to roll, so we all piled into the lobby of the courthouse and waited to be called. We went in the same order as Monday, so we were last again. Curtis and John, who were first, got the full treatment. They entered the courtroom and read their statement about why they wanted the 15 day appeal period waived. The judge listened intently and asked that they leave the courtroom while he and the prosecutor consulted about the decision. A few minutes later, they were asked to return to the courtroom where the prosecutor read the official statement about the purpose of the appeal period. Then the judge said that he would approve the waiver of the appeal period. The rest of us did not get this much of a production and by the time that we went in, we just read our statement then the judge said that he would make his ruling immediately and the appeal period was waived! As we assembled back in the van our translator told us that things had sped up because the judge was running late and he has another case that was starting soon. We were all just thrilled to be done with the legal proceedings and to know that we were officially parents and that we would be getting to leave Ust on Wednesday as we had hoped.

Our next stop in the rain was at the equivalent of the Register of Deeds office. We signed the last piece of paper for the Kazak Gov’t stating that we are now official Ivan’s parents!! The lady helping us was so wonderful and congratulated each couple as they signed. She even offered to let Austin and Mary look at the book they had signed when they adopted Maria in Oct 2002. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick change and then to the orphanage for quick visit. Ivan was not feeling great so we just took it easy and snuggled a lot. It was still raining so we were all in the playroom.

The afternoon visit was really short for us. When we arrived his caregivers told us that he was sleeping and that they wanted him to sleep for at least another 30 minutes. We were fine with that and used the time to talk to some of his caregivers with our translator. We tried to find out what pacifies Ivan when he is upset, but they said that he rarely gets upset. This may sound like a crock, but to tell you the truth, so far it is true. He gets frustrated sometimes, and he cries and whimpers, but overall he is fairly even tempered. We know that this will change as he learns that we are here to comfort him and that he is no longer one of 10 children in a group. They stressed that he LOVES to be held and we let them know that we already know this from first hand experience. We learned that he loves fruit, especially bananas and apples. Each one that we spoke to also told us that he is the slowest eater in the group. Too funny. We were also told that he had not been in that group very long. From the information that we gathered we are guessing that he joined this group shortly after his first birthday. We asked as many questions as we could think of. Then we asked our translator to tell them how much we appreciated all that they do for the children and that their love shines through every child that they care for.
It was still raining as we left that afternoon, so we decided to stay in and eat at the hotel. We met in the upstairs lounge area for drinks and snacks at 7. Curtis and John surprised us all with a bottle of Moldavian Spumanty. It was pretty good and we all enjoyed toasting one last time before the children entered the picture 24/7. We laughed and traded stories until about 10. We then said our good nights and all tried to sleep before one of the biggest days of our lives, the day that we would get to take the kids with us forever.

More to come tomorrow…We have a child to look after! Love you all and can’t wait to get home with the newest T!

Love,
Joe, Charlotte and Ivan