On May 15, Amy and I went to the US Embassy in Sofia for our Interview to get Zoya's Visa to enter the U.S. approved. As soon as the interview was complete, we were told her visa would be ready the next day. As of about 4pm Sofia time, May 16, Zoya's passport included her Visa and was picked up at the US Embassy. About an hour later we met up with Maya, our Bulgarian adoption representative, who had Zoya's passport and we had a celebretory dinner. At the dinner, we received all the final documents regarding Zoya! Our adoption is complete! PRAISE GOD!!!!!
Now that I have shared all the great news, I would like to share our experiences over the last couple days with Zoya. In short, they have been great!! As mentioned before, Zoya is quickly getting more and more comfortable with Amy and I as her parents. She is such a joy!! Her laugh is very contagious, so I tickle her as often as I can!!
We did however have one of those moments all parents experience with their children, and that is a deliberate disobedience to something that has been repeated over and over. Amy and I (and Ivan) have explained to Zoya that when we are walking near streets and especially when we are crossing a street, that she must hold one of our hands. Zoya does not have much experience around cars and traffic. The village she is from may only have a few cars, and with the exception of the orphanage worker's cars, I never saw another vehicle. The first busy street we crossed, Zoya almost broke out of my grip and she put herself in danger of being hit by a car. Therefore, since then we have been adamant that she hold one of our hands. Well yesterday, Amy and I along with Zoya were returning back to the apartment from lunch and I pointed out a dog sleeping on the sidewalk. Zoya has not been around many animals/pets, so she is fearful of them, so when I pointed at the dog, she yanked her hand out of my hand and darted across the street. Fortunately, the car coming down the street was about a 1/4 a block away and Zoya was not in dire danger. However, it scared Amy and I to death. As all parents should do, we had to really get onto her about how that was not a good thing and she could have been seriously hurt. So we punished her by taking away some of her toys and gave her a stern lecture. At the end, we requested that she apologize, but at first she did not quite understand what we were trying to say (again, the language barrier was in play). Eventually, Amy got the point across, but Zoya decided to be a little stubbarn and would not apologize. She could also sense that Amy and I were not pleased with her disobedience. We gave her the option, apologize or go to bed. She refused to apologize. As Amy, took Zoya to her room, she started to realize our displeasure and started to weep (this is something Zoya does not do...cry. Even the orphanage stated she rarely cries, even when she gets hurt). Zoya, then decided it was time to apologize to me for braking away from my hand and being disobedient. Zoya came up to me and as she started to apologize she started to cry uncontrollably. You could legitamately see the sincerity in her apology!! As an orphan, you can tell she, as with other orphans, have it in their mind that they would be taken back to the orphanage if their paremts were unhappy with them. Her teary apology broke my heart!! I gave her a major hug and had to fight back my own tears. Amy and I then explained that the reason we have rules is to protect her! We want to protect her because we love her!! While it was a tough situation, it was a major milestone for all of us!
Today, May 16th, we explained to Zoya that today is our last day in Bulgaria and we are headed to America tomorrow. Zoya has been non-stop excited!! She cannot stop talking about it! I think every stranger that walked by was told that she is headed to America!! The excitement in her face and heart have been awesome to see!!
While today is our last day in Bulgaria and Amy and I are so excited to get Zoya home and to be with our two beautiful boys, Stephen and Coen, it is also bitter sweet. We are also leaving behind new friends. Ivan, Mihaela and Maya will all be missed!! We have joked that we will start the adoption process to adopt Ivan, but looks like we will have to pass as Mihaela, Ivan's girlfriend says no!
We are so happy though to be headed home. We miss our family so much and we cannot wait to show off our newest family member, Zoya Angelova Hollis!! She will fit in perfectly as God has placed us all together to be a family! Zoya is a gift from God and we will cherish her forever!
Stephen and Coen; we love you and can't wait to introduce to you, your new sister. Along with Mom and Dad, your job as big brothers are to protect and love her!
We are headed home!!!!
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