Part 26 We can see the Finish Line

Hopes are high here in Ukraine. After the completion of our first court date we finally had a timeline to the End. No more waiting around without a plan or schedule. There are a few variables but they are so minor that they should not change the homecoming of Illiah.
Today Victor arrives in Berdyansk, he will be arriving around 6pm. We are excited to see him and to talk through all the details for the remainder of our trip.

Tomorrow is our Final court date. 10am in Zaporishia so we will have to get picked up @ 5:15am. The Director changed her mind and decided to come to the second court date. I am not sure why when she is still on vacation. She could have sent anyone from the Orphanage. Both Victor and I are nervous about the Director being involved after the last episode. I can only hope we do not have a repeat. We will pick her up @ 5:30 am then go to pick up Illiah. I pray she will be ready and not delay our arrival.

The last court hearing was only 30 min. This one is scheduled to be a couple of hours as the Judge reads through all the documents. Anything can happen here but there are no red flags at this point that would make us think the court should not go according to plan. By the end of tomorrow the Judge will officially declare Illiah as our son and approve the issuance of a new birth certificate. Then we Part ways...

I get on the Train with Victor and head for Kiev. After the overnight train ride we go to the Embassy to file all the paperwork for Illiah's Visa and Passport. Then @ 1:30 I fly to London. I have to spend the night in London as it was the only reasonable airfare available. Side note: anyone considering international adoption should look at using Golden Rule Travel they are a non profit travel agency that specializes in Missions trips and Adoptions. They have been able to find me flights at 50% of what I was able to find.

Friday Morning I leave London and will land in Dallas @ 3:40pm. "God Bless America"

Meanwhile Heidi, Jackie and Illiah will head back to Berdyansk where they will wait out the 10 day waiting period, Actually it will be more like 12 since the 10 days falls on a Sat and the courts are not open on Sat, Sun or Mon.

On August 25th Illiah leaves Berdyansk and heads back to the Orphanage in Zaporishia (the summer camp is over). On August 31st Heidi and Jackie will go to Illiahs home town with Victor to get Illiahs new birth certificate. Then head to Zaporishia to meet with the Director and sign him out of the orphanage. At this point Illiah is ours and never returns to the Orphanage. They will then get on the train for Kiev. There are a couple of days worth of Paperwork to finalize in Kiev but Friday morning the 3rd of September they should board a plane, connect in Frankfurt and then home to Dallas.

Then the trumpets sound, the crowd cheers and the fireworks explode as the Berlins are finally together again. It helps to make the time go faster when you know there is an end in sight.

We just got back from the beach, My last time to deal with the unpleasantness of the beach but also my last time to wrestle, play catch and throw Illiah and his brother around. For a moment I am sad but then the next time I see Illiah he will be our son and on American soil.
Tonight I will go to the Camp for the last time and play Soccer with all the kids. The camp has been interesting as of late, I have been going by myself because when Jackie and Heidi go they get surrounded and some of the boys get out of hand and say some inappropriate things. There are many wonderful kids at the camp but there are also the bad eggs. We have seen two fights in the last week both of which Illiah stepped in to break up. It is a hard life for these kids and there is certainly a pecking order. Illiah is boisterous and bossy when he is with his peers but when the older kids are around he is very quiet. He seems to be pretty street smart as to what conflict should be avoided.

After spending almost 6 weeks with Illiah it is interesting to see how a child that is not your flesh and blood can share so many similarities, London has certainly shown me this as well over the years. For starters I bite my nails(I know bad habit) Illiah also bites his nails. I don't like the carbonation in bottled sodas so I shake them up to reduce the gas, Illiah does the same thing with every soda. Even though Illiah is in a dirty Summer camp he is always the cleanest kid at the camp, He also does not like germs. Every time he shares a beverage with another kid he wipes off the lip of the bottle just like Heidi would do. Of course he is strong willed and super competitive which is nothing like his Mom and Dad Ha Ha. He is a leader among his peers, out spoken and opinionated. In fact I was pretty sure before but now I am positive he is definately a Berlin!!
He also share something with London. Illiah has great discernment when it comes to selecting friends. There are not a lot of people that Illiah likes at the camp and many of them he says they are bad. all of the kids Illiah hangs around with are sweet and kind. London has always done a great job of selecting friends to the point of ending friendships if her friends start to involve themselves in the wrong things. I can't wait to see Illiah and London take care of each other.

Two weeks from today Heidi and Jackie will sign Illiah out from the Orphanage forever.