Day Four-And the verdict is...

Yes!!! The judge granted our petition to adopt our son!! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!! Today has been an emotional day. I got very little sleep last night. The jet lag caught up with me. I was awake at 2:30am and I couldn't go back to sleep after that. I sat in the bathroom so I wouldn't wake JJ up reading the Bible and praying. Then I played some scrabble on the Ipod. Then I gave up and decided to get ready for the day. JJ woke up soon after. We ended up watching a movie just to take up some time before breakfast. The hotel in Archangelsk has a nice breakfast buffet and it is included in the price of your room. Today I tried a boiled egg. I've decided I needed to study some Russian rules of etiquette before traveling. If I was at home I would have tapped the egg on the table, but somehow that didn't seem polite in a restaurant in another country. I managed to break it open with my spoon and it was very good. JJ tried an omelet which was also tasty. Our friends joined us for breakfast. We had a nice talk about St. Petersburg. They have been there before so they gave us lots of advice. She let me borrow her curling iron. I had a problem using my straightening iron. We have a convertor, but I guess my straightening iron would be not be converted. After it had been plugged in a little while the room began to smell. The poor convertor may never be the same. So, I didn't have nice looking hair for court, but I guess it didn't matter. We finished our speech preparation. We asked the bellhop to take our picture together. Then we waited. Our driver came soon and off to the court building we went. It was actually a short drive. We had been told to greet the court security guards and then wait in the downstairs lobby. Our friends had their court hearing first. It was so hard waiting. I sang quietly in the car to calm myself and remind myself who was in control, but I didn't sing in the court building. It seemed like forever, but soon our translator and our friends came downstairs. The judge had said yes to them! They will be bringing home a little boy and a little girl. They reassured us that everything would be alright. We were led upstairs to a very small court room. We had seen pictures, but I was surprised at how small the room truly was. Soon the judge arrived. We had some legal formalities and then JJ gave his speech. He did such a good job. Then it was my turn to talk. The other representatives of the different government agencies spoke on our behalf. It was nice to have everyone on our side. After the judge had heard everyone he left for a few minutes to deliberate. He came back and read the legal proclamation. It was long and I kept waiting for him to say that our petition had been accepted. Finally, as he was almost to the end of the court's decision he said that we were going to be his parents. I started to cry. I couldn't help myself. The judge left and then we all left. Our translator took our picture outside the court building. We came back to the hotel and had a celebration lunch with our friends and fellow new parents. They had to leave early in the afternoon for their flight. We have rested some now and I rearranged all our luggage. We are leaving some things here while we go to St. Petersburg. We will return to this hotel when it is time to pick up our son. I cannot comprehend the magnitude of this day. I am so grateful and full of emotion. I hope I can do as Mary did and ponder these things in my heart for the rest of life.

Here is the picture the bellhop took of us in the hallway of our hotel before we headed to court room. Doesn't JJ look handsome? Maybe I'm prejudice, but I think he looks super cute. He never wears a tie, so you know today was an important occasion.

We were so happy after the judge's decision. What a wonderful moment!