Introducing our new son!

On Saturday the 22^nd, Brandon, Kimberly, Grace, and Hanna boarded our 2 hour flight to Kiev from Treviso.  It was an early morning flight and the only one from Italy to Ukraine on that day.  We had a 6 hour wait in the Zuliany airport before we were picked up and taken to the train station.  Thankfully the airport had free Wi-Fi which helped make the wait not seem so long. It was snowing pretty good when we arrived and Hanna was thrilled to see, feel, and play in the snow.  Kim found a soft bench in a restaurant and happily snored through a much needed nap.  

The train ride was nice.  This is of course our opinion as most people have nothing good to say about the 14 hour train ride.  We have VERY low expectations…so in our case we were pleasantly surprised.  We were in a small room that had 2 bunk beds.  The motion sickness patches that Kim had prescribed to her, worked wonders and Grace did well with Dramamine.   We were able to get some sleep. 
The morning of the 23^rd, we arrived in Simferopol and were picked by two drivers to accommodate all four of us and our luggage.  We were taken directly to the apartment to freshen up and then an hour later we were packed into one car and taken to the orphanage.  Vitaliy was thrilled to see us and Mom got the first hug!!!  Grace and Hanna invited him into their arms and he accepted hugs from his sisters for the first time.  We spent some time indoors and then went outside to play on the ice covered driveways.  Afterwards we were able to engage in our first family snowball fight!  Grace and Hanna became instant targets in the snowball fight but they LOVED it!  The other boys at the orphanage were thrilled to play along with “Vitalik’s seesters”.  Then it was time for us to leave.  We slept pretty well that night and woke up early for our court appointment.  

Another family that is here adopting came and stayed with Grace and Hanna during the court time.  That was a HUGE blessing because we weren’t really sure that it would be a problem if we brought them along.  Thank you!!
We went to the court house and Vitaliy was already there with a representative from the orphanage.  He looked happy and nervous, same as us.  We were given the run down on what we would be asked and suggested responses to such questions.  Then it was time to go in.  There was a judge, dressed in a suit, two jurors, a prosecutor, the court cleric, our adoption facilitator, the representative from the orphanage, Vitaliy, Brandon, and Kim.  The atmosphere was serious but not cold.  We were asked to state our intentions and we heard many of our documents read out loud.  They asked about our daughters and what they thought.  We told them that they met him in person the day before and that they had their first snowball fight.  This lightened the mood of the room when everyone laughed.  Then they spoke with Vitaliy and asked him if he knew what was going on.  He looked so nervous but would soften when we smiled at him.  In the court, while he could hear they basically listed family members that have lost their rights to parent him and no family that would care for him.  Then they asked him if he wanted to be adopted and he replied, “Yes, I want a family”.  Kim had to keep her composure.  One of the jurors was in tears. 
It was so sad and so sweet at the same time.  We were there to be his new family but only because he had none.  This is the same situation the other 200 orphans are in at his orphanage.  They just long to be a part of a family.  The want to be loved. 
We were asked to leave the room to await the decision.  We offered Vitaliy a snack we brought for him and he was much more relaxed not having adults staring at him.

After about 10 minutes we were ushered back in and the judge announced us as Vitaliy’s new parents! 

His name will be changed to Vitaliy Neal Thompson.  We are now in the 10 day window of appeal.  We will return to Ukraine the 8^th of January to finalize the paperwork, get his new passport and birth certificate, and most importantly him.  Today has been the best Christmas Ever!  We will spend Christmas day with our new son tomorrow.  Thrilled to be a family at last.