More Bad News for Us!

I had hoped that our next blog post would be good news but we received horrible news yesterday.

Last Friday, our attorney told us that the judge would be making a determination for our case end of this week or early next week.  She said the judge and her staff are taking pity on us and trying to process our case quickly.  They also made the decision to NOT call the procolor which would add more time to our case.  We were so excited and thinking we would be home in time for David's birthday.  

Yesterday, the president of the orphanage asked us to come there to meet with her and our attorney.  They had horrible news.  The attorney went to the court on Monday and the judge was ready to sign everything off.  Her Superior judge decided that our case needs to go back to court #9 (judge who is against adoptions) because that's the court we started in.  This means our case will drag on for a long time down here so we've made the difficult decision to come home on June 11th.  David will be returned to the orphanage until our case can be approved.  Once approved, we would need to return to Colombia for 2-3 weeks to finish everything.  This is very frustrating as this judge has denied adoptions in the past and the adoptions that he's approved, he does his best to drag them out as long as he can.  We have no idea how long it will take but the last couple this happened to wasn't able to return for 8 months.  

We are going to try to contact Amy Klobuchar's office since she has done a lot with Adoptions and helping get children home.  Maybe her office can help hurry the judge up.  There are so many inconsistencies in the court process down here as each judge does their own thing and makes up their own rules. 

Anyway, Sohrab will be coming down here next Thursday so he can spend David's 1st birthday (June 8) with us.  We'll have Friday - Sunday together as a family and then we will travel home together on Monday June 11.  It's been very difficult and the next 1.5 weeks are going to be extremely hard for all of us.  We know the orphanage will take good care of David but it will be so hard on him to go back to that environment after 3.5 months with us.  

We are very sad and confused with everything.  We are going to try to enjoy our last days with David and hope to have a nice birthday party for him on June 8th.  We told Gustavo last night and he said he had cried when he got to school because he knew David would be going back to the orphanage.  He is going to be so sad but at least summer is here so we can keep him busy with activities and friends.  

On a happier note, Gustavo will go to school for another week as he loves going there.  His last day will be next Tuesday.  He has a field trip to the zoo this Friday which he is excited about.  He falls asleep on the bus every day on the way home.  I still can't believe how much he has grown up since being here.  He definitely could use a nap in the afternoons but is doing pretty well without them.  It is going to be hard to enjoy our last days here but we are going to try to have fun.  Our apartment has a party all day and night this Saturday which we are looking forward to.  There will be a lot of kid activities, food and a dance.  

Nergish arrived a week ago and it's been nice having her here to help with the kids and daily chores.  It was nice having her here for the bad news yesterday as it would have been extremely hard to hear on my own.  She will stay until the 11th and we will all fly home together.  

For now, we'll enjoy the few days we have left with David and hope the judge has a heart and doesn't drag out our case forever.  He will most likely add extra steps to punish our attorney for pulling our case from his court but hopefully, our government can ensure our case moves along.  

We are looking forward to being home and seeing everyone again.  You'll see a lot of tears but we'll get through it as a family together.  I can't wait for the day to come to post some good news here!!