We're Official

May 26

We had court this afternoon, and we are now officially the parents of Colin Patrick. The major hearing lasted somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. We lost track of the time. Both the judge and the prosecutor asked a lot of questions, most of which were directed at Jeff. The majority of the questions I was asked were about Riley and Colin and my job at the church. It seems there was some confusion as to what exactly a nursery coordinator does. One person was under the impression that it was similar to the director of an orphanage, so I had to explain that we went to a large church and that coordinating workers and caring for the kids just during services was a big enough job to warrant a paycheck. 

We brought a photo album with pictures of Riley, our families, and our home to show to the judge. Everyone seemed interested in the photos of our cats. They seem to be the favored pet in Russia. I was even asked how I thought the cats would adjust to another child in the house. I replied that the two younger ones would be just fine and that the older cat would continue to hide under the bed as always. This brought a chuckle from everyone. 

There were several people in the courtroom to testify on behalf of Colin including the social worker from the orphanage who also testified at Riley's proceedings and a representative from the Ministry of Education. The judge left the courtroom to deliberate after all the testimony was given, and then came back to pronounce our adoption "granted on the grounds that it is in the best interest of the child." It was a relief to hear the verdict even though we had little doubt of the outcome given out previous adoption. We have been told that I can return around the 16th of June to bring Colin home. There is a mandatory 10 day wait period (that's ten business days) after Russian court decrees so we will go home to be with Riley during this time. We leave for home tomorrow.