Court is complete.

Carl and I were up this morning at 4am. We talked, got our paperwork ready, reviewed our answers, prayed, got showered, Carl fixed his coffee (thanks, Walton's!) and then went for b'fast. Irina, our agency representative, picked us up along with Daniel and Stacy. We headed for the courthouse at 9:30. Daniel and Stacy went first. It took them a mere 30 minutes. They were approved for adoption! Yea! They are returning to LA tomorrow and will come back in 10 days to get their little girl. Carl and I were up next. We were escorted into a small room with a judge, prosecutor (representing the state), a court reporter, our social worker and a translator. Carl had to answer the majority of the questions. It was hot in that tiny room and I was sweating within 5 mins. I tried to remember not to cross my legs - Irina told us not to. Our translator talked at the same time as the judge so it was very hard to follow her words...but we managed. By law we were required to give short, uncomplicated answers to the judge's questions so obviously Carl got an A+ in that area!!!! They asked us everything - how long we've been married, how many previous marriages, how much do we earn, what do we do for a living, why do we want to adopt, why Russia, why Danil, why special needs, are we ready, can we afford it, when will we have surgery, what if he has more problems, are we prepared, do we have experience with other special needs children, do we know how to feed and care for a cleft palate baby, what is our education, are we working in our field, do we want to have him re-examined in Russia before we take him....(the answer was "no" to the last one). The judge gave an overview of EVERY document in our file and then ended by reading the two letters from our surgeon and the orphanage director - both requesting that the 10-day waiting period be waived.

So when the judge finished, the prosecutor only had two questions - do we have medical insurance and when will we have his surgery. She read a statement indicating that she was not opposed to the 10-day waiting period being waived.

Then the social worker stood up. She read more information to the judge about us and she said she also felt it was in the best interest of the child to waive the 10-day waiting period.

We were asked to sign that we understood the proceedings and then asked to leave the room for 30 seconds. We came back in and the judge read a statement that we were approved and the 10 day waiting period HAS BEEN WAIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The social worker and the translator both smiled. They knew this was a big deal and we knew it!!!!!!!!! We get to come home early!!! Tomorrow Irina will take us to the orphanage - and Danil will come to stay with us in the hotel! If all goes as planned, we can be on a plane on Monday or Tuesday to Moscow and on a plane to Dallas by the end of next week!

All we can say is thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who has been praying for us since we started down this path to adopt Danil. God has heard our pleas and He has given us yet another blessing. Tomorrow begins a new chapter of our life - the chapter that starts with a sweet little boy hopping back into our arms - this time for good. We are just amazed.