A Very Long Day!

Monday, June 5

Well, what a day. If you are checking in for an answer about what happened today with Sasha and Garrett, the short answer is they got the birth father’s signature. Yeah! We are most happy about that. We hope and feel we have all we need for court tomorrow at 10:00am.

The long part of it was the long, drawn out process to get the signature. The boys left at 8am this morning along with Galina, Marina’s assistant. They drove to Timertau and picked up the Vice Principal of Sasha and Stella’s Orphanage. They then drove back to Karaganda and drove outside of town 25 minutes to the jail out in the boonies. They had to stop several times to ask for directions to find it and then when they finally found it they had to stop several times to find the administration office which is a separate building. The jail looked extremely old and rickety with an old wooden fence for the interior then wire fences with holes in it. It did not look like a maximum security prison at all. There were little bitty guard towers sprinkled around with one guard in each of them. It was raining and drizzly which added to the drama. Garrett says it looked like it was 100 years old.

They stopped at the Administration office and both ladies got out leaving Garrett, Sasha and the driver in the car. After 45 minutes they came back out with a document in hand. Galina, who speaks very limited English said “good”. Garrett took that to mean they had what they needed. Oh, to have Nastya with him… He said he would have paid her double to have had her with him for the day. Thinking they were leaving, instead they headed for the jail where the two ladies got out of the car and went in. Minutes went to half hours to hours that they were gone. After two hours a lady came out and asked for “Keller, Alexander”. Sasha got out of the car and went in with her. He was gone for about an hour when they all three came out and this time they had a document signed with a seal on it. Very official looking. Looks good. This could be it. Let’s go!

Back to the Administration Building they go for another 30 minutes and they came out and sat in the car for another 30 minutes talking until the phone rang then they both went back in for another 30 minutes. Finally they left and drove back to Timertau, another hour, to the orphanage where the ladies got out and went in for about 30 minutes and then the Principal and Galina came out and they followed the Principal to a building somewhere and waited while the Principal went in for a while. She came back said hello and then Garrett and the gang drove over to the courthouse and Galina went in while Sasha and Garrett waited another 30 minutes. Finally she comes back and they head back for home…or so they think but they made 2 more stops where she got out and was gone for a while. Finally, at 5:30pm they got home having had no food, or water, or bathroom break. Nine and a half hours in all!!! What a day.

Boy, do we miss the English language and cell phones! The whole time they are gone I do not get a single phone call. I started calling at 12:30pm looking for them because I heard 3 hours from Marina. I hear through another that they are waiting at the jail still. So after lunch Stella and I decide to “go magazine” and get a few treats for the boys figuring it is a trying day at best. We left a note figuring they would get back any time. We got back around 3:30 and of course they are not back yet so Stella watches a movie and I read. At 5:15 I have reached my limit. I start calling every number on my list finally getting our English teacher on the phone. She is surprised they are not back yet and promises to see what she can find out and asks me to call back in five minutes. Meanwhile, Stella is whining and crying “Papa, Sasha.” So Garrett and Sasha come in exhausted, hungry and tired. We still do not know exactly what went on all day but hope to get some details sometime soon.

One thing is for sure there is good reason as to why Marina and everyone else does not like to go through this whole mess. I am also grateful that Garrett was along for moral support if nothing else for Sasha. It is a relief to have it done and to know we are one step closer to the end of this process. Tomorrow is another step. Thank you for your prayers for today. We are believing for favor tomorrow as well with the judge and everything. We are doing good but feeling a little weary and there is a whole lot of June still left. We are off to bed to get up early and start all over again. We love you all.