Very long, but GREAT day...

Today started with our "0fficial" meeting with the orphanage director, the inspector, assistant to the inspector and the girls. It was a very easy meeting. The girls wrote their petition to the court which states that they wish to be adopted by us. They were also asked if they wanted to change their names. Yuliya immediately said, "Julia Diane Tanner". Zhenya wanted to take my first name as her middle name and she chose the first name of Jenna because it is similar to her given name. So..."Jenna Joy Tanner" it is!

We spent a little time looking at the library and crafts at their orphanage and then left for a very fast & bumpy taxi ride to Tokmak. It normally takes 1 1/2 hours to travel to Tokmak from Berdyansk, but our taxi driver got us there in 50 minutes!

The inspector that Victor worked with in Tokmak had never processed paperwork for an adoption before, so it took about 1 1/2 hours for him to explain everything to her. It is actually to our advantage that this is their first time. Victor told them that he needs their paperwork within 1 or 2 days, when actually (by law) they have 10 days to complete everything. Victor is GOOD! After he met with the inspector, we ALL piled into the VERY small taxi (6 adults and Katelyn) and traveled to the orphanage. I saw Oleksander (our youngest prospective adoptee) standing by a nearby tree with his head down, but a large grin on his face...it seems that he is VERY shy. We exchanged and hugs and then Vitaliy (the 12 year old) took me by the hand and led us into the director's office. These boys are precious and they were so delighted to see us. Yuliya (guess I need to get used to "Julia") had visited them and shared pictures of us. They indicated that they want to be adopted into our family. They were then asked to write their petitions to the court, at which point Oleksander started crying. The director took him outside and when she brought him back in, she explained that he was crying because he is a slow writer and he was afraid that we would not want him because of that. As you can imagine, I started crying and then assured him that his writing ability would not change our desire for him to become our son. We were asked to help them with their names. Oleksander chose "Alexander (Alex) Bryan Tanner" and Vitaliy will now be "Victor James (V.J.) Tanner". As you can see, all of the children chose names that are very similar to their birth name.

My heart was broken as all of the other children stood at the door of the director's office and watched as two of their friends were being visited by people who want to adopt them. I would absolutely take all of them if I could. Please, please, please encourage your friends considering adoption to remember the older children. They truly have no hope unless someone takes them out of their environment and gives them a loving home. All of the children followed us outside to the taxi, we said our goodbye's and then traveled back to Berdyansk.

Next steps...our facilitator, Victor, will go with us to the notary tomorrow to finish up the paperwork for the girls, and then we will have a little more work to do to complete the paperwork for the boys. Once that is done, all of the paperwork will be sent to Kiev and we will wait for a court date.

Love,
Bryan, Joy & Katelyn