Wednesday August 22, 2007

Hello everyone:
Wednesday was a very eventful day. Angelina had us on the road by 8:15 AM. We initially went to the regional office in Donetsk where we met with local officials, who were very nice and very helpful and promised to work very hard to get the "Conclusion" completed by the end of the day. From there we went to the orphanage. When we arrived at the orphanage there was construction inside and outside going on. All the kids are at camp in the forest. We met with Olga and started the paperwork process and in the middle of the paperwork Sergey came in. He was SO HAPPY to see us and we were elated also. Someone had driven to camp to pick him up. He got up at 4:00 AM. During the paperwork process we discussed his name and he wanted to change it. We thought Sergey Thomas, he thought Sergey Samuel. So he is Sergey Samuel Jones. He really likes the name Sam. In the afternoon we went to see the notary in Gorlovka and completed more paperwork. During the afternoon the regional office in Donetsk called and the "Conclusion" was completed. Angelina's driver took us back to Donetsk, picked up the "Conclusion" and took it back to Angelina, who put it on the train to Kiev Wednesday evening so it could be registered Thursday. Angelina will meet the judge Thursday to see when court can be held. It was a busy day, but the most significant thing that happened today is the orphanage is closed for construction until October 1, so Sergey had no where to stay other than with us at the hotel, therefore we have Sergey with us already, even though that is not usual protocol!!! Sergey's English is even better than the last time we saw him and our Russian (even though quite limited) has really helped breach the communication barrier. Needless to say we do not understand everything, but, for the most part we communicate well. For this we are very thankful. Hopefully the judge will have an opening next week for court - prayers please!
Rex, Liz and Sergey