2 Hearts for Hope gives back and DAY BEFORE COURT!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I LOVE YA , TOMORROW, you're only a day AWAY!!!!

Tatiana is pickin us up at 9 for court at 9:30 tomorrow. So, that is 11:30 pm for those of you on east coast time (in Florida, for example) or 10:30 pm for those of you on central time (in Texas, for example). So, for those of you who say prayers before you to to bed, please include the Serra's in that list of those you'd like to bless. :)
When ya'll wake up on Wednesday morning, court will be DONE and we'll hopefully be home and have posted about it already. I will do my best to be quick about it so no one gets nervous (like, um Alysa!!!another blogger friend who as of Monday's court hearing in Aqtobe, is now mommy to her lil cutie, Kairat!!) Alysa and I are hoping we'll be in Almaty at the same time so we can go shopping together because we feel sure we can find things there that Leeza and Kairat don't have yet.
Congrats to Alysa and I hope our court hearing goes as easy and smooth as hers.
The court process in Kostanai is different than the other ones I've read about.
We don't have to make a speech (yay!), nor do we have to show dated pictures of our visits with Leeza. We will bring our laptop though to show the judge pictures of us with Leeza. Let's see Judge, how long you got? I have over 100 pictures taken everyday since August 1st, minus the Tuesday last week that I sat on my camera and broke it. LOL

We had a great visit with Leeza. I think she is feeling better but now we think she is cutting another tooth. Everything is back in her mouth and she's laughing hysterically one minute, then crying the next minute. She was a mommy's girl today.
She crawled a great deal today ON ALL 4'S! I was so proud of her! She just started doing that,but she definitely favored the army crawl. Today, she favored all 4's and she was going to town in the music room. She was in many layers today too, so her mobility was rather limited as well. Wait until she doesn't have to wear 3 and 4 layers...I think she's gonna fly!!







After our visit, we presented the 2 suitcases full of donations from 2 Hearts for Hope that my pack mule brought back with him, plus we donated our suitcases too. :) The head nurse, accountant,the head teacher were present, with us and Tatiana. Tatiana explained about what 2 Hearts for Hope was, and how much we all love the children of Kazakhstan. They were SO excited! Stacy also sent us a check for $150 for formula and bottles. They head nurse explained they need diapers of all sizes more than they need formula and bottles, so they are going to contact a person they know who can give them a discount on a large purchase, and we will use the money to give them diapers from 2 Hearts for Hope. It was really wonderful to be able to present this to them. THANK YOU AGAIN KIM AND STACY! I am excited for this to be our family charity when we get home to keep raising money for these adorable children! All the ladies had all kinds of questions about Sean. They wanted to know his grade,and his age, and how he was able to miss school. We explained that his wonderful teacher has been sending the work, and that Sean is leaving Thursday, after court. We told them that we felt Sean is learning way more in Kostanai than he could learn in school. They were suprised that he is only 10, and thought he was 12. They were so nice and gracious and said thank you many times over. They wished us well in court but said we had nothing to worry about. They also asked when we'd be back to adopt again.....














Joe is going to be a pack mule once again on trip 3, but this time, with toys and books for the head teacher. She really admired the toys we brought for Leeza. We told her that we'd be happy to bring back anything she needs. Thank you Maria for offering to shop. I told the ladies that Joe offered, but he is a man, and not as good of a shopper as I was. I told them that my girlfriend has offered to help!! I just can't see Joe going up and down the aisles of Wal Mart or Target buying kid toys. :) She would really like toys that make noise, and stacking cup like toys. She said she will show us which of Leeza's toys she would like more of! Isool (i think that is how you say her name) is so nice. She gave Sean a book today, in english, and she wrote the Russian in, and gave him a piece of candy too. I thought it was just to let him read and give back, but she would not take it back.

After that, we went to lunch and had soup and salad, and then went to the bookstore. Leeza now has 8 new books in Kazakh, Russian and English. Three of the books are hardback, and the rest are paperback, including a coloring book. The hardback books are Kazakh fairy tales. I am so excited we found these! Tatiana said the woman who sold them to us will probably not have to work for a month after our purchase. HA!
Once we asked for what they had in Russian, Kazakh and English, they kept bringing them to us. Of course, I could NOT turn any of them down. I think she will enjoy having them when she's older, and Sean will also enjoy reading them. The hardback books are beautifully illustrated too. I'm excited to share them with her!

Next post: After court! Thank you so much for all your support. We really appreciate it more than you can ever imagine!!!
Stay tuned.....Serra family, party of 6, coming soon....