"There's No Place Like Home!"

This is what Nastya said just after the girls were proclaimed our children!!

Kateryna Grace Potts

and

Anastasiya Joy Potts

What an amazing, beautiful, glorious day this has been! Court went great although I must admit that we were both very nervous :) We couldn't help it - we suddenly realized the magnitude of this moment and couldn't help but being nervous. It didn't help matters that we couldn't understand what was being said until after N translated it for us. And we weren't completely sure what should be said or not said... But I guess we did alright! The judge was very kind and even cracked some jokes. In other cirmcumstances we might have cracked a few back but we were too worried that a wrong word might send a wrong message or be offensive.

So, an overview: We sat outside the small courtroom awaiting our turn for about 20 minutes. We were called in and told where to sit (one row up and to the right of the girls). N sat behind us and the orphanage director and adoption inspector sat behind her. There was one judge, two jurors (normal citizens), and a court reporter. Official things were done like looking over passports, verifing the the identy of us, N, the Orphanage Director, and the Regional Adoption Inspector. The judge then orally reviewed our case file, including our entire dossier as well as local reports about the girls. Then Zach was asked to stand and present to the court for why he was willing and able to adopt these girls. He stated that were financially able and physically able to provide a loving home for these girls. He discussed that we love them and that we desire to provide them a loving family. He talked about our great extended family support and expressed our commitment to maintain the girls dual citizenship and file yearly reports. He ended with saying that we planned to help the girls maintain their use of their language so that they can one day return and visit if they so choose. I think everyone really appreciated that. Then it was my turn. The judge jokingly asked me if my husband forced me to sign the paperwork :) I said of course not. He asked what else I had to add and I talked about what a blessing these girls were to us and how thankful we were for the opportunity bring them into our family. I got a little tongue tied for a minute and continued with our plans to educate the girls and care for their needs. The judge asked me if I wanted girls since we already had two boys and only one girl. I took him seriously and said that we would have been happy with boys too but just love these girls. Then I realized he was joking when he asked when we were returning for another boy! I felt kinda silly :)

So as we are sitting here writing this post, I am saying, "Man we really should have prepared more last night and had better answers - we were kind of unsure about what to say." Zach responds, "This is just like in college - when you made a 90 you wanted a 100 and I was just happy to get the 89.5 needed to ensure an A!" Okay so maybe I am a perfectionist and he's a slacker!!! Ha!

Back to court: The judge and the jurors leave to discuss the verdict. Don, ton, ta, don... They return!! Okay, I know in my head that it will be fine but I'm still thinking, "What if we gave a wrong answer and they don't like us!" So, he begins to read the court judgment. It goes through all the same stuff again - our family, our finances, our application to adopt, etc. Then, and this was the hardest part where I began to really tear up, he said things about their family history and ended with, "And no one in Ukraine wants them." My heart broke completely and I cried out silently, "We want you!! We want you!!"

We said our thank yous to the judge and others and headed out. We spoke for awhile to the orphanage director, who we found to be a gracious, kind man. We told him what an excellent job he is doing running the orphanage (and this is so true) and he responded with, "Thank you, but there is no replacement for a loving family." That's when Nastya chimed in, "There is no place like home." Oh how right you are sweet girl!