Happy Adoption Day!!!!!

One year ago today Stacey and I "defended" ourselves in an Ukrainian court room for the privilege of being Micah Coy Yankey's parents. It was not the intimidating experience that some folks have described. I am sure that it varies from court to court and from judge to judge. I still remember rather vividly walking down the hallways of what looked like an abandoned building and turning into the "courtroom". Luckily, we had met most of the people that were in the room before and knew that they were there to help us. The judge asked us several questions about who we were and why we wanted to adopt Coy. I don't remember exactly what I said but it was something to the effect that we had been given much and that we wanted the opportunity to share what we had been given with others. I didn't want to offend them by giving them the impression that these rich Americans could do so much better than their system, but lets face it, the resources that we have available to us far exceed what they have in every way. I have my suspessions that Sveta did not translate my words verbatim but instead said what she thought the court would want to hear. I don't know for sure. Eitherway, it worked out for the good. We were so glad when that part was over because it meant that the official countdown to the return home with Coy had begun.

Since today was Coy's Adoption Day, we tried to make it special for him. Seems like Stacey and I had heard or read something from James Dobson about giving adopted children another special day in addition to their birthday to let them know that their adoption is a good thing and not something to be ashamed about. So we decided to make Coy's adoption day a special day for him. We let him pick where we went to eat and then we went to the dollar store to get him a mylar balloon. He picked Ci Ci's Pizza for lunch and then picked out a Garfield Birthday Balloon. It made it home but as soon as we got home, he went outside and he took it off of his wrist and let go. Needless to say, we learned a lesson about helium balloons and letting them go outside.

When I think about Coy and where he came from and where he is now, I can't help but think that he is better off now. I know we are better off now. We try to help Caleb and Katie appreciate where Coy has come from and why we are so lucky to have him in our family. Caleb gets it. Katie, I think, is still having trouble at times. If you hadn't seen it though, I can understand not completely appreciating it.

What A Year

I have a lot to post about tonight but I don't know how much energy I will have to post it.

A year ago this week, we met Coy for the very first time. It blows me away that it has been a year already. It seems like he just got here but it also seems like a lifetime ago that we were in Ukraine. Time is funny like that I guess. More on that in a minute.

I had a really neat experience earlier this week. I traveled to Madison Wisconsin for work and while I was on my trip, God worked it out for me to meet a couple of folks that are in the middle of their own international adoption. I remember being where Mark and Shannon from Texas are in the process. They are busy filling out paperwork to hopefully adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. But I know that the paperwork seems almost endless and that the waiting period and the expenses are daunting and I think that they were looking for a little assurance that they are following God's will. I was traveling on the same day on which we left to go to Ukraine last year and I was reading Hungarian Rhapsody for like the third time and looking for some encouragement that we did the right thing by bring Coy to our home. Their plans did not originally include the Milwaukee airport and neither did mine but I firmly believe that God's plan was for all of us to be there the other night. I got to share a little with them about Coy's adoption and they got to share a little with me about their adoption. Their reason's for adopting seemed to be very similar to ours. They, unlike us, already five children. The oldest is in college, the youngest, three years old. However, God is tugging at their heart and it is something that they can't deny, even if they can't rationalize it to the world in which we live. It was great to meet them and I wish them well. God didn't create American children, or European children, or African children, we give them that label. He just creates His children and they are all His children, regardless of where they are born. If you get a chance, please pray for Mark and Shannon and for their upcoming adoption.

As I was flying back to Louisville from my trip, it brought back a flood of memories from our trip. I remember walking back up through the terminal with Coy in tow knowing that Caleb and Katie and other loved ones were waiting for us at the end of the gates. I remember the utter exhaustion from having been gone and going through the emotional roller coaster that was bringing Coy home. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The stats go something like this: Coy has grown almost 6 inches since we brought him home. He was not small for his age like you might expect orphans could be because of the lack of nutrition and physical development. He is still a good eater. He has gained about five pounds or so but he is still as solid as a rock. His English continues to improve. Stacey said that a clerk at Kohls was able to understand something that Coy said the other day. That is a HUGE step forward. Most strangers have no clue what he is trying to say.

Baseball and soccer are both in full swing now. That keeps us busy. And since I have been traveling a lot recently with my job, it doesn't leave a lot of time for posting or taking new pictures. I hope you will be patient with me while the posts seem to slow down.

We have completed Coy's annual report for the embassy but we have not sent it off yet. I am wanting to include some photos with it but I just haven't sent any to the photo store yet. We will need to complete it and mail it in during the next month.

This video is from one of our visits to Coy's orphanage. I have posted it before. I went back and read and watched some of the posts and video's from we when adopted Coy. It helped me to remember so many of the details of the trip, even if they weren't in the post. In my mind, I could go back there and remember some of the sights and smells and sensations, even if I couldn't describe them in the posts.
This second video is from one of our first visits with Coy. At this point, we have already decided to adopt him (we did that as soon as we saw him). But it is the first time that we have visited him since we made that decision. Here is a photo of that same scene. Sveta is with us because we have absolutely no idea how to communicate with him. That banana really helped though. I don't think a stranger would get very far with him with a banana today though. Anything that looks like candy could be a different story though.