Roman James Weaver!!!!!

Greetings Family & Friends...

It is Thursday (27th) here in Tulchyn and we are overjoyed to share with you that as of Wednesday, December 26th at approximately 2:20 pm we became the proud parents of Roman James Weaver!!

We had our "day in court" yesterday at 2 pm, but we were not able to update yesterday as the internet cafe was closed by the time we had time. Svetlana arrived Christmas evening and we were so glad to see her--please pray for her as she has not been feeling too well. She informed us that our court appointment would be at 2:00 and so yesterday we got up and went to see Roma like normal. Then we came back and got ourselves together for the walk to the court house.

We crossed over the "main street" here in Tulchyn and found ourselves on some muddy back alley-type road and walked through an old gate to a very OLD building--it did not look at all like a courthouse, but it was! :) The judge was ready and waiting for us...we met our translator (an older gentleman named Michael--he was cute!) and the social worker and headed into the courtroom. It really looked like a courtroom--complete with a makeshift jail cell and everything! The whole proceding took less than 30 minutes and the judge was very gracious to us and granted us permission to be Roman's parents after asking us 2 questions: 1) Why did we want to adopt a boy such as Roman w/so many needs and 2) How much money did we make?! ha...ha...ha...Jim responded to the judge w/such love in his voice describing how we had even learned of Roman and how our hearts had fallen in love "with such a boy" and how it was our greatest joy to be his parents! It was great! The prosceuting attorney had no objection to our adoption--and that was it! Short and sweet. By the way, the judge was not able to grant us a waiver of our 10 day waiting period--which we were prepared for. There are good reasons for this 10 day waiting period given all of the corruption in some of the courts in Ukraine.

As we were leaving the courtroom a group of men walked in--a police officer, a guy in a suit and a guy in handcuffs! They put him right in the holding cell...Svetlana became anxious immediately and told us to hightail it out of there--and so we did.

After we returned to our flat we began to make preparations for my return home to Delaware and Jim's stay here in Ukraine. Here are our tentative plans: 1) We will return together to Kiev on January 3rd to meet w/some officials at the U.S. Embassy. This is a very important meeting as I have to make sure that all of my documents needed for Roma's sake are complete and that all power of attorney has been given to Jim. 2) Our brother-in-law, Matt (Wendy's husband) will arrive in Kiev on Saturday the 5th at approx. 10 am. He will take my place and help Jim complete the process and bring Roma home. 3) I will fly out of Kiev on the 5th and arrive in Philly on the same day in the evening. Once home I have a lot of work to do to get things in order for Jim & Roma's homecoming and try to help the children prepare for their new brother and how life will be different. 4) Jim and Matt will head back to Tulchyn on the 5th. 5) On January 8th the 10 day waiting period is over and Jim & Matt will go w/Svetlana to a Roma's birthtown to acquire a copy of his birthcertificate. 6) On the 9th (or maybe late on the 8th) Jim, Matt & Svetlana will head to Vinnytsya to secure a passport for Roma. 7) HOPEFULLY on the 10th they will all--including Roma--head to Kiev for all the U.S. Embassy appointments--doctor, visa, etc. 8) And, they should leave Ukraine for the U.S.A. on Thursday, January 17th!!! This would put Jim and Roma home not quite 10 days ahead of last year's schedule.

This sounds pretty straightforward, but it is not in any way shape or form. First, there are a lot of details for us to take care of before I can leave... a lot! Please pray for each detail and that we would be able to complete everything before I leave. Second, this decision for me to travel home has been a very painful one! We both know that it is important for me to return home and care for the kids, but Roma is very attached to me and my heart just aches thinking about not being w/him every day. This decision has not been an easy one. Third, Jim and Matt have a lot to do starting on the 8th and they will need energy and patience as they go from place to place and then take Roma from the only home he has ever known. It will be emotional for sure! Fourth, traveling to Kiev is a long trip and Roma has never been to such a city or traveled for so long...it will be an adventure, but it has the potential to be very hard! Please pray now for Roma's heart and the changes that are just around the corner. Pray for Jim to have the strength he needs and for Matt to be a great source of encouragement for Jim.

We are headed to Ruslan's today for dinner and also to have some documents notarized and translated. We are looking forward to fellowship w/them and are so grateful for their willing hearts to come alongside of us.

We ended up staying in Tulchyn for Christmas, as we were unsure of exactly when the court appointment would take place--too much up in the air. It was nice...we went to the orphanage and then rested for a bit and then counted the hours down until we could call home. After all of our phone calls, Albina (owner of the flat we are staying in) came over with a wonderful meal for us! It was very nice...we were missing home, but felt such peace. Thanks for your prayers.

Whew...this is a long update! Hope you all are well...We love and miss you! Keep pressing on!

Love,

Jim & Karen