Court Date!

One year ago today, on a 97 degree day in Petropavlovsk, we were dressed in our finest suits, standing sweaty palmed in front of a Kazakh judge.  We answered question after question as the sweat rolled down.  There were smiles and laughter shared during the court proceeding, nods of approval, and even a highly acceptable "um hmph" uttered by the judge as she surveyed our photo album replete with more than 100 photos of the precious child we were begging to be given the privilege to love, to grow, to nurture, to raise, and to share in the joys and sorrows of every day life.  After only a few moments wait, a sense of relief and joy and peace filled us as a positive verdict was read, and we knew that every bit of hard work over the past 13 months finally came to fruition.