Court

We woke up today to a beautiful snowy Valentines day.

Court was at one so we spent the morning shopping in the open market. Alina has been admiring this purple coat for weeks. We decided to buy it for her for Valentines Day since her orphanage coat is stinky and hammered. We hid it at the apartment for her to find after court and headed to the court house.

We waited outside for the judge with four inspectors, two directors, two jury people and our translator.

Finally the judge was ready and our court started.

We got the prosecutor Luiba was hoping to avoid. She was pretty tough. She asked Jeff and I lots of questions about being able to take care of Zhenya.

They told me he would have to be home schooled because he is too sick for school.

There were lots of questions raised about rather he would be better off in a family or in the special orphanage. There were questions about rather he would even be able to travel to the U.S.

They gave poor Alina a rough time about why she said no to the Hinkson's and why now she wanted to come to America.

Her director stood and talked in her behalf. She told the court how Alina's aunt had promised to adopt her and that is why she told the Hinkson's no. She said her aunt had not been back to visit since the Hinkson's left. She described how sad Alina had been, and how sorry she was for saying no. The cute director told the judge that she thinks God is giving Alina a second chance at a family, so he better say yes.

After an hour and a half court was finally over and the judge decided that yes Zhenya would be better off in a family and yes Alina deserves a second chance. The judge made me promise to let Alina see her brother in America. I told him no problem, we love the Hinksons.

What a perfect gift for Valentines Day. We are officially adding two new Rasts to the family.

Sitting in court I felt certain that Heavenly Father knows these two kids perfectly and he had a plan for them all along. It is humbling to realize the miracle of it all. Yes, it will be hard, because most right things are but I know loving these two kids is going to bring me so much joy.

Alina was so happy today. I got lots of cute hugs. Zhenya didn't come to court, so we didn't get to see our new son.

Alina was super excited about her coat. We exchanged Valentine's gifts and had a great evening together.


When I told Alina goodbye tonight, I showed her on the calendar when the official 10 day wait would be over and when I would come back from Germany to get her. I told her how much I loved her and how much I would miss her. She told me, " I will miss you for 10 days but then after that we will always be together."














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