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| [7:28 pm] |
| Subject: SHE'S OURS!!!!! |
| Mood |
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 jubilant |
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And in the case of Kazakhstan vs. Straus, the court finds for…. us! It’s official! Asella is finally a real-live Straus child. Yippy!!!! The court gave its approval this morning and it is all set in stone. Congrats to all. You now can officially say you have a grand daughter, grand niece, not-so-grand niece, 2nd cousin thrice removed, new neighbor, friend of a friend, and so on. Take your pick. Here’s the skinny on court today:
It was back in the same room, with more or less the same cast of characters. Eugene was in a pinstripe suit though, so that was a bit disarming. We again got to go first, which was nice because we just wanted to get it over with. Even though we did a dress rehearsal last week, we still were quite nervous, because there was always a chance of another weird curveball or some random news story that puts folks on edge. Thankfully though, today was much easier. The mean state’s attorney lady was mostly quiet, and the judge did most of the talking. All I had to do was tell them a little about myself, which is easy, because I was there. Sarah also had to talk today, also telling them about herself, and she got a few follow-up questions about her child development degree and her teaching background. The only slightly odd question came from the judge who asked, “You’re only 30, isn’t that a little young to be doing this?” Sarah said, “Yes, but 30 is the new 45.” No wait, that’s a misquote. She politely reminded the judge that we’ve been married for 8 years, been together for 15 years, and are quite well prepared and ready, thank you very much. Oh, and the orphanage director asked us about a big earthquake in Las Vegas in 2003. Um… huh?
One funny anecdote that came from last week’s court session was a reply I gave to a question the attorney asked about whether or not we are able to have biological children. Apparently my response was, “We’ve never tried.” Turns out they all had a quiet laugh at our expense, as Eugene translated that word for word. A few nights ago he told us about this and suggested we come up with another way to phrase that if they asked us this today. They did not.
After the brief Q&A, the orphanage director spoke at some length about all the progress Asella has made since we showed up to claim her, attributing our visitations to her rapid developmental growth. She said lots of nice stuff about us, so that made us happy. The board of education lady then said she supported the adoption. The state’s attorney had no objections, the judge agreed, and that was that! Congratulations, it’s a girl! Slightly different kind of labor pains, but we have just had a baby. And Sarah cannot hold it over my head that SHE was the one that had to go through labor, not me, so there’s that! We brought a 10 photo powerpoint slideshow with us to show the judge and attorney, but they declined, stating that “it is no longer relevant.” These people are not getting a christmas card. Irina (the orphanage director) did want to see though, and she was very pleased.
Now what? We are now in the 15 day waiting period until “Gotcha Day.” I’m guessing they give Asella 15 days to change her mind about all this, but don’t quote me on that. Though she’s officially our daughter, we cannot take custody of her until May 5th. After that, all bets are off. She will live with us in the apartment in Kostanai until we have to travel to Almaty (probably the 10th), and we’ll have her there with us until we come home. She becomes a U.S. citizen as soon as we get through immigration in Denver. She will also retain her Kazak citizenship until she turns 18, at which point she has to decide which country’s nationality she wants to retain.
Here we are outside the courthouse. Usually pictures like these depict folks who just got married. We just had a baby!
To celebrate our stunning victory, we raced home and ate some granola bars, savoring the sweet taste of crunchy judiciary goodness. Actually we had to get home to change into something more suitable for visiting our daughter, which we did shortly thereafter. So, for the first time in America, coming at you, live in your office, living room, or internet capable refrigerator, as sanctioned by the high court of Kostanai in the Republic of Kazakhstan, may I present to you, the Straus Family, Denver/Kazak branch.
Since court is now done, DJ is done as well, so after the orphanage visit he headed to Almaty and will fly out to Frankfurt at 3 am tomorrow morning. It’s been fun hanging with him and we’ll try to get together with Kim on a regular basis so that she’s not feeling lonely. We had a very good dinner at Dolce Vita, our favorite “Italian” place. They may rival Knick Knack for food quality and value. The weather is cool and pleasant, so we walked there and back.
That’s it for now. Happy Thursday.
Sarah, Darren and Asella Straus |
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