She said, "Yes"

Well, this will probably be a long one...
Today has been amazing. Our alarm clock didn't go off, so we woke up a little late and rushed around. The driver and translator came and picked us up at 10:00 for our appointment at the ministry of education at 10:30. We had to wait our turn (there were 4 other couples ahead of us). Then, we entered the office of the Minister of Education (about a 32 year old severely depressed woman). She was a former classmate of our translator and even she was "afraid" of her. When we got out of the office she told us she had a difficult time even spelling the words when she had to write a statement on our behalf. Well, once inside we were read Anya's official data bank file. Not much news to us, since it was all information collected in 2004. Things we did learn were that her parents were born in 1963 and 1965 and that she was removed from the home due to neglect. She was brought to the orphanage in December of 2004. Since that time she has had no visitors and no contact from anyone. They do not have record of either parents dying or of any siblings. She does have a grandmother who has not wanted to take care of her. It was all a little strange to hear out loud in such a matter of fact fashion and I had to just hold back tears and remember this was a formality. We signed the official referral and were given permission to visit Anya.
We left from there and went to register our visas. A process I'm very glad we had an interpreter for because it wasn't very easy to find or understand. Sometime tomorrow afternoon we will have something in email that says we are allowed to be here (I never quite understood what happens before that time if we are stopped by the police?). On the way to the orphanage, we stopped at about 5 flower shops before our translator was pleased with the selection and picked out flowers for the Director of the orphanage and for the State Social Inspector. We then proceeded to the orphanage. The orphanage is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea and about a 1.5 hour drive from St. Petersburg (much further than we had thought). The drive was beautiful and when we arrived to the town I was very pleasantly surprised. It is a vacation destination for those who live in the city. They have their "summer houses" there and it is a wonderful place. I am so glad Anya has lived there! It is quiet and peaceful with gardens and beaches and a small old-fashioned amusement park (something like Conney Island, I would think.... only on a very small scale). The orphanage is directly next to the school and it does look very much like an orphanage. It has an iron gate fencing the outside (reminded Jack of "Annie"). We were both very relieved, however, once inside. Everything was very well taken care of and the condition there is actually much better than our apartment here! We were taken to a room with the Director, The Inspector, and Social Worker (three older ladies). We had been told they would be very harsh ladies, but we actually found them to be very kind and they laughed a lot. At first, they really grilled us with a lot of questions like, "You are very young and might have more biological children. How do you know you won't change your mind about adopting Anya?" and "How do you plan for Anya to learn English?... Do you have other friends with Russian children?... Do you have a Russian Orthodox church Anya can attend if she wants?" It was a bit intimidating at first, but then we were told that this was all to prepare of for the questions in court and things then calmed down. They all looked at the photo album of pictures from our home and asked a lot of questions about it and if Anya would be allowed to have her own room. We laughed a lot and were able to ask questions about Anya. They gave our coordinator a copy of her birth certificate, which we will receive translated soon. Much to our surprise, in the middle of the meeting Anya just walked into the room. She was wearing a dress we bought her at Christmas, had shoes on I sent to her for her birthday and had a hair clip in her hair I had put in her luggage before she left. She ran toward us and I just hugged her and cried a little, but tried to keep back the tears. She was invited to join us around the table and then they grilled her about her time with us, what we were like, why she liked being with us and then at the end they asked her several times if she was sure she wanted to be adopted by us... if she was sure she wanted to live in America... if she was sure she wouldn't miss Russia... if she was sure she wanted to leave her school and her friends. Each time she confidently said, "Yes!". We were told later that the Director told everyone (in Russian) that Anya was a child who was very picky and didn't always make up her mind easily, but that once she did she was very certain and it would be a forever decision. The director also said that she had been hosted twice before and had not decided she wanted to stay with those families, but this time she had chosen us. They were all very happy for her!
Anya also told us later that she had attended the Orthodox church in town and lit a candle praying for us to come quickly (it was translated "she had a vision we were coming"... not sure exactly what that means).
After the meeting with the officials, we were asked if we were sure of our decision and knew we wouldn't change our minds. We then signed the official referral stated that we accepted. Thus the wait for court proceedings begins.
Anya left the meeting in the middle of it... she was told to go do something. We were then led up to the 3rd floor to her room. It was very nicely decorated and very well kept. She had pictures of her previous host families and her and we also met Nastya her roommate (who is having surgery on Monday). Anya told us that Nastya is the only thing she will miss in Russia. Anya introduced us to several friends and showed us around. She has a room connected to hers with 3 other girls in it and then across the hall there is a common room with a TV and bookcases and all of their artwork. She was very proud to show hers off. On the bookcase was the album of her trip to our house. There are 9 girls in her "group" and it seems they have a designated caregiver for that group of girls - sort of a house mom. Anya seems to be doing well and was very excited for us to be here. She only found out on Tuesday that we were coming and they did not tell her why. She thought we would have Faith & Caleb with us and was shocked that we had left them at Belle's house. She does understand now why we came and is very happy. I think she understands that there will be quite a wait until we are back, but she gave us each some rocks off the beach to remember her by and to have as keepsakes of her "motherland". The Director said Anya was very bright and does very well in school. She said she is a little behind on her knowledge, but only because she was neglected as a child - not because she cannot learn. She said she has a very "flexible" mind and that if given the proper attention she could really develop. They also said she is growing very fast and is very busy. The social Inspector commented after Anya left the room that she was a little "funny looking" but that in time she might grow into it and look like a model. They were a little harsh, but well meaning I think. They also said she had too many teeth and we needed to take her to a dentist.
I will have to write more about our visit with Anya later. This is much too long already and we need to run to the market. Today has been wonderful! Praise God that everything has gone so well.
Please pray: That the letter from the National data bank will be received in record time. They cannot go to the judge for a court date until it is in and they said the shortest time is 6 weeks. Also, pray that the judge will waive the 10 day waiting period. They said it has not been waived in the past 12 months for anyone (this will mean making a 3rd trip here). Also, the expense will be growing and we need God to miraculously intervene to help with the finances. Even now, we have to make a painful decision about how much time to spend with Anya. All of our proceedings took us 11 hours today from the time we were picked up until we were dropped off. The fees for the driver and translator alone were $290 (which doesn't include buying them lunch). In order to bring Anya to do anything in the city (which is expected and Anya has asked to do) we automatically have to pay for driver/translator for 6 hours (2 trips there and back) plus whatever time we actually spend doing anything. So, this is very difficult. We are trying to cut costs on everything else in order to be able to spend the most time with Anya possible. She didn't understand why she couldn't come back with us tonight to our apartment and just stay with us while we're here. We are praying about what to do and really looking for God to let us know what to do financially while we are here and on our next (and possibly 3rd) trips. We would really like to be in a hotel next time (it would save us quite a bit of trouble... more about that later) and we would just feel a little more comfortable. But, we'll see.
On a side note, the St. Petersburg "football" team beat Manchester last night for the European Cup and the city exploded - literally! The streets were total gridlock of people and cars yelling and honking horns. There were people everywhere drinking excessively waving flags and there were fireworks going off in the city. The street our apartment looks over is the main drag and it was just crazy. We video tapped some of it! We finally tried hard to go to sleep at 3 AM, but the party was still going on. I don't know what time it finished, but by 8:15 this morning it seemed back to usual and the streets had been cleaned up.
Okay, we've got to run to the market for a couple of things. We will write more tomorrow. We are going to be picked up at 9AM (Anya gets to skip school for us to visit).
Love you all... wish we had pictures on here. She is a beautiful sight!
Jack & Stephanie