Introducing Dennis Jack Reed!!!

Today was apparently a good day. After all, we had our court date, and he's our son now. Our coordinator had even "won over" the heart of the judge and jury to waive our 10 days...
But this is never waived and has never been waived in Kramatorsk. Even now. The heart, or lack of such, of the prosecutor was not won over. He essentially said that if the judge ruled illegally to pursue with the "immediate decision", then we would be fighting the prosecutor for the next few MONTHS. He was against it the whole time and logic and reason and compassion was not going to pursuade him.
Nevertheless, Dennis is ours and we can show his pictures now and so here are a few...
As to what exactly the next few days and weeks look like, we aren't certain yet--we are waiting to see if tickets to Kiev are available, flight date changes, etc. But it is entirely possible that we are going to return immediately (as soon as practical that is) to home in California to relieve family and friends that have been holding down the fort as well as to get John back to work. John may have to take another week off mid July to return to Ukraine to get Dennis.
But none of this is certain yet and we'll keep options open and communicated later as known...

This is an early one of him and the balls from the ball pit that always made him smile.

This is a good one of the three of us...

Checking to hear Dad's heart beat...

Napping in mama's arms after a great long nature walk...

Ditto but dad's arms this time...

And the star of this blog!!!
--JR

Arrived safely

Our dossier made it safely to Ukraine! Let the translation begin!

On another note, thank you for all of your comments about court attire. I can put the clothes thing behind me now.

Now are any of you willing to share where you found the best deals on plane tickets? Which airline did you fly? Did you use a travel agent or did you buy tickets off the internet? Are there any direct flights from any big cities in California? Is it better to buy one way tickets or change the dates on a regular ticket? We are happy flying coach, and if there is a Ukraine airline, we are fine flying with them too. I just want a good deal ----- translation, I am cheap.

Lastly, I am excited to report that I have firmed up childcare for two weeks for five of the kids. Someone had asked me what we were going to do with all the kids when we travel. It is hard to leave them, but I know they will be in good hands. Thanks to this blog, they will be able to get regular updates.