four new Quintero’s

Sorry that I failed to write in the blog on the most impotent day of the adoption yet.  The day was very busy, so I am writing this on the flight from Frankfurt to Chicago.

As is usually the case for days like this, we did not go to bed till after midnight.  Even after going to bed, I could still hear Alona and Maya giggling.   In the morning they said that they had not slept much because they kept talking and laughing.  Vika mentioned that she had trouble sleeping and she kept waking up every hour during the night.

With six people needing to get ready, and four of them being girls, I decided to just get up at 6 am and get out of the way.  I never want to be accused of impeding progress.  Vika fixed Alona’s and Maya’s hair.  Kolia dressed himself.  His hair was cut way short at camp, so need to comb his hair.  It is actually a good look for him.  We might just have him keep it this short.  We managed to get everyone dressed and feed by 8:15 am in a 1 bathroom flat.  We should be able to do great at home then.

We were allowed into the court room at about 9:20 am.  This was a new judge, so Oksana was not sure what the style of the proceedings would be.  It was actually very simple.  The judge asked very basic questions and most our answers were just yes or no.  Only the prosecutor gave us a though question.   She stated that we knew that the 3 siblings had older twin brothers.  These are the siblings that we had to do separation from.  She then asked why we had not elected to adopt them.  I looked at Oksana and I said that we did not know they had twin brothers before hand, and I really do not know how to answer that question.  Oksana then answered the question.  I never asked her what she had said, but the prosecutor did not have any more questions after that.  The judge and jury stepped out, and then came back after about 30 minutes.  He read all the official stuff and decreed us parents of Viktoria Caroline, Maya Lene (she picked Lene), Helen Maria, and Nikolas David Quintero.  Wow, the rush of emotion that runs through you when they read that out load is amazing.

 In naming the children, we tried to stay as true to the original as possible.  With Vika and Maya, we kept their Ukrainian names.  For Alona and Kolya, we simply changed their Ukrainian name to the American version.  So names were not difficult to come up with.  We then dashed off to the notary, lunch, passport photos, other errands, and got in a van to take the kids back to camp at 5 pm.  It took a while to drop them off because they refused to let us leave.  It is a rather tough way to end such a significant day by being dropped off at a camp that they just hate.  We had not planned it this way, but they told us that we could not keep the kids with us during the waiting period.  What can you do?

We got back to Zhytomyr at about 8 pm and we met up with our friends Joni and Jodi from New Braunfels who had just met their kids at the same camp this morning.   We visited for a short while, but there are always a million things to talk about in these types of encounters, and never enough time.  We had to get packed and ready to be picked up at 1 am to head to the Kyiv airport for our 5:30 am flight.  Mike Mullins, who is here with Michelle adopting their Alona, will be flying back with us.  Michelle will be stay for the 10 day waiting period.

Vika's cabin



Alona's and Maya's cabin




Alona and Kolya




Tanya, Lety and Yana




Camp Director & kids




leaving camp for the apartment




Vika doing Maya's hair





Alona and Letty getting ready




Vika outside court





the family after court

Please pray for wisdom, wisdom, patience, and more wisdom as we prepare to bring our God given new children home.  We know that it will be though.  Those of you that have adopted know that it is not the though work of raising five children that is intimidating, it is all the unknowns that these kids bring with them due to their tough lives.  Every child will be different, and each will have their unique issues to work through.  We can only do it with God’s help.

James 3:17

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.