HALLELUJAH

Ok...so long night last night....well at least for Christa. Let's just say she had some sort of upper AND lower G.I. issues. I'm wondering if it had to do with all the partying we did for her 19th b-day. This included her puking her guts out in the van on the ride home last night, which of course as those of you who know me know that it sent me into fits of gagging. Of course, I then had to be the freaking gentleman and carry her nasty puke bag to the dumpster. She's better now, but it has been a long day for her. Of course the day she chooses to get sick is the one day that neither Abby nor I could stay home and help since it was.....(drum roll)....COURT DAY!!!!!!

Abby and I got all prettied up and headed on down to take our usual van ride, only today we didn't go all the way to the orphanage. We stopped off at the courthouse to meet with the judge and the prosecutor, so we could be scrutinized and tested to see if we were worthy parents for little Millie. We arrived at the courthouse, which the lobby seemed like any small town courthouse in the U.S. We sat down as a pair of nervous wrecks and waited. The head pediatrician at the orphanage had not arrived nor had our adoption coordinator. After the longest 30 minutes of our lives, they finally called us into the courtroom. This was a small wood floored room with a judges bench, prosecutors and defendants benches, some benches for either a jury or for spectators, and a large metal cage. That's right...I said a large metal cage. I'm guessing that this is for when they have uncooperative defendants. For the record, neither Abby nor I were asked to enter the cage. Let the questioning begin.

I was the 1st one to undergo the inquisition. They started by asking my full name, birth date, and place of employment. Then proceeded to ask why we wanted to adopt, and why we chose Kazakhstan. They asked about my hobbies and since one of the answers was hanging out with my family, they asked what Ben likes to do when we hang out. They asked what we had observed about Millie in the 3 weeks we had been with her. I told them how she's been growing more and more attached to us and every day she was more and more interactive with us. Then Abby was on the chopping block. She was asked probably twice as many questions as I was, including...and I quote...."Do you have any diseases that you could pass to the baby?" The answer was no. She was also asked how long we had been working on the adoption, if she had any education since she is strictly a "homemaker." They asked why she wanted to adopt, and also asked if Ben had any illnesses, to which the answer was also no, then the judge asked..."He's never been sick???" Abby said, well he's had colds like any child, but nothing serious. She also asked Abby if we were aware of her medical condition, which are VERY minor things that she will quickly grow out of, basically that she's under weight and slightly under developed. She then moved on to asking the pediatrician a series of questions such as, How is the babies health, did she have an HIV test and yes it was negative. She also asked about our interactions with her, and she said that we were very warm with her, and she could tell we sincerely desired to be good parents. The judge mentioned that Millie has such big eyes, and is so beautiful that she was surprised no one local had adopted her. The pediatrician said, " She is Ukrainian and the village that we are in is strictly Kazak families and most Kazak families prefer to adopt Kazak babies." WE ARE SO BLESSED that she ended up in this village...GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!!

The Prosecutor said that she had no reason why we should not be able to adopt this baby, then....the moment of truth....The judge said....I have gone through the paperwork and after studying this case, I also find no reason that this family should not be able to adopt this baby. You're request has been granted.

HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLEEELUJAH!!!!!! (come on...sing it with us!!!!)

So on this, the 12th day of the 9th month, in the year of our Lord 2006, we officially became the parents of Millie Nadya Scheuchzer. More importantly, Millie has a family. We don't officially take custody until the 28th of this month as there is a mandatory waiting period to allow us to change our minds...which as you all know is ridiculous, but we must wait as these are the rules of Kaz. In the meantime we will continue to visit her everyday until we can bring her home to the apt., then HOME FOR GOOD!!!!!!

Here are a few more pics...keep praying for us. Ben still has a touch of the poopy pants, and we're all getting over various crud that we seem to be passing around amongst ourselves in the apt. Also Pray for Stephanie and Eva to have safe travels back to Astana as they're leaving us tomorrow.

Love you all and miss you more everyday....love to hear from you...anything in English is a gift from God these days....
Mike, Abby, Ben, and Millie Scheuchzer!!!!!

P.S. I did discover something called Scrunchy Marshmellow Dreams, which is a perfect knock off of Lucky Charms....Praise God for the little things, right?!?!?!

P.P.S Notice the hole in the toe of Millie's fleece outfit that she had to wear outside in 80 degree weather.