Decisions

Before we left we were asked to make the decision whether to adopt the children or not. Of course we said yes! We signed the paperwork and stated our decision to the Ministry of Education and the Court. We were then given a court date of June 15th. Wow- that was quick! We will be traveling (most likely a different route this time) on June 9th. We will spend three weeks in an apartment in Kaliningrad. We must spend 5 days with the kids visiting their orphanges before court, go to court on the 15th, and then spend 10 more days (actually 14 or so because of all the paperwork processing) in Kaliningrad until the court decree is final. We may or may not have the children with us during that time. Most likely we will. Then we travel to Moscow for two days to finalize everything and obtain their visas at the Embassy and then we will return home July 3rd- just in time for Independance Day! By the way- The day after the 10th day- the court decree is final is exactly 9 months to the day that they were conceived in my heart. God is a God of meaning and confirmation and planning isn't He? We also were given the option to change their birth date and place of birth. We have declined. We had to write down their new given names so the court documents could be prepared. We decided on Jones Ellis Jones because it is totally unique and close to Joey's name and Ellis which means "The Lord is M God." For Masha we have chosen Mollie Joy. Mollie stems from Mary & Maria along the same lines as Masha and it means "wished for" and Joy because of the joy that she brings, J=Jesus first, O=Others second, Y=Yourself last, and also similarity to Joey's name as she is proving herself to be Daddy's girl.