Parents Again!

 Court was at 11:00 am here in Moscow.  We were dressed and ready.  Our facilitator/driver and translator prepped us on how to answer questions.  Court was a relatively small room in an enormous beautiful building in Moscow City.  The judge seemed young (around 30s) and was very serious.  Never smiled never really looked up from his/our paperwork except to get an answer from us for his questions.
Willem had to take the stand and answer questions like "why do you want to adopt from Russia?" "Have you been given all the information about Dima" "do you like him" then I had to take the stand and answer similar questions.  Our translator was standing with us so it wasn't too intimidating.  Then the director of Dima's orphanage went up and said we were good with him.  Dima likes us, etc...  A public defender for Dima was also present who said stuff like we tried to find him a home here in Russia.  This family is suitable and we see no reason not to allow him to live with them.  The judge went away to his chambers for about 10 minutes then came out and said that Dima was now Kasen Dmitry Mast....Ours.
It is absolutely crazy and surreal to me that this is all happening but we are overjoyed.  We walked out and said something along the lines of  "holy smokes we are parents of 4 kids"  and our translator, who i adore, laughed and said yes you guys are crazy!  :)

Willem and I have talked about what it will be like for Kasen to leave the orphanage.  He has never known a mother.  He has only had the walls of that orphanage and the people there and the other children there.  We feel he has had great care.  He is smart, articulate, social and that is not always the  case for kids institutionalized all their lives.  It pains us to know that his trip home with us and adjustment will likely be scary for him.  We know that we are much better for him than staying where he is but still we have questioned in the back of our minds are we what is best for him.  Today we felt like God was telling us YES after we learned the following...
We were told by the orphanage director that the government decided last week that Kasen's orphanage will be closed!  The orphanage houses 40 kids and the government says that an orphanage should hold more like 140 kids and that they are planning to close his orphanage to instead use it as a Hospice facility for children.  The children of his orphanage will be scattered among orphanages in the city.  Everything Dima has known would have come to an end anyways had we not adopted him.  He would be with new caretakers, new kids,  and much more crowded facilities.

Our hearts are broken about the kids there.  We were told that there are no other healthy kids left at that orphanage and that the children moving to new orphanages will likely never be adopted.  On top of that the orphanage has had a reputation of being good with children with intellectual disability specifically Down's Syndrome.  The kids with Down's were not separated from the healthier children but instead kept with them so that they can be stimulated and strive towards new goals.  There was a greater caretaker to child ratio than most and this all benefited those children.  I am sad particularly for these kids and ask you to pray for them...
Kasen Dmitry doesn't know how lucky he is and I suspect we don't know how lucky we are to have him either....but we can't wait to learn!
We see him tomorrow morning and will say goodbye for the last time.  We will return Sept. 16 to bring him home!!  Thank you again for all the prayers!
Below are pics of the day...it was gorgeous!