And Now for "The Big Surprise"...

I hope you all got to read my last blog entry that was made on Game Day (Go Gamecocks!!). Steve was so excited about watching USC's victory over Alabama on the Internet that he was bursting with joy and did a "victory blog" that moved my entry to an "older post" section. If you did see it, this new entry will open right where it left off. If you didn't, you need to go the bottom of this entry and click "Older Post" twice to get to "The Big Day..." entry so today's post will make sense.

After our hug-fest with Tatyana at our first meeting in the director's office, all of us remained giddy with reunion joy, including Tatyana. The deputy director asked us to sit down and began to talk and for several minutes it was challenging to listen to our interpreter because we couldn't stop looking at Tatyana nor could any of us remove our Cheshire cat smiles!! The director continued to share sage advice, positive comments about Tatyana and even acknowledged all the red hair in the room :-). Tatyana then returned to class and I am sure her attention span was nil for the rest of the day. The deputy director told us to return during visiting time (standard for all adoptive parents) from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.

We went back to our hotel room high on the love that had filled that room once Tatyana entered. We had to wait for Sergei to run an adoption-related errand so Summer decided to respond to a great email she got from her 5th grade class. Her teacher, Mrs. Palen, was very excited about Summer's trip to Ukraine and she has been sharing these blog entries and photos with the class. She had decided to let the class come up with questions for Summer about her trip and Ukraine. This email had individual questions from just about every class member and Summer sat down and answered all of their questions about the weather here, the food, Tatyana, etc. Hello, Mrs. Palen and everybody in the 5th grade class at Pleasant Hill Elementary! Summer really enjoyed receiving this email and responding to all your questions! (See photo of Summer responding to the class email.)

Sergei then returned to take us to a notary's office for signatures on some of our adoption papers. (Notaries in Ukraine are different because they actually receive training similar to lawyers and are about just as high on the legal totem pole.) I only share this errand with you because we waited and waited at this man's office. Once we got into his office, we understood why because he actually hand writes all of his notary certifications in a book. And this man was impeccably dressed and had an essence of class and power - like he stepped out of a "Godfather" movie. (See photo of Sergei and "Don Corleone.")

Sergei then hurriedly drove us to the orphanage because we were now 45 minutes late. I knew Tatyana would be anxiously awaiting our arrival. We walked back into the dauntingly cold and dark building and followed the directions we'd been given to meet Tatyana. We walked up several flights of stairs and into her dormitory hall. We saw no one so we just started walking. As as walked, we looked into various open doors and saw mostly empty rooms but suddenly I looked in one and there was THE woman, Larisa, who made all of our Skype calls with Tatyana possible since her departure in January. This wonderful woman would take Tatyana to her home (and a couple of her other friends who had been hosted in America) and allow them to Skype with their host families. And now, here she was in person and no longer just a face on Skype! We instantly recognized each other and she said "Sunny!" in her beautiful Russian accent. She hugged all three of us as if we were family! She is a wonderful woman of great grace and charm and she describes her love for Tatyana as that of a mother for a daughter.

Our voices must have carried because I suddenly see a group of girls appear down the hall and out of the group runs Tatyana light a bolt of lightning. She hugged each of us with such great enthusiasm and joy! It felt SOOOOO good! We met two of her friends whom we have heard so much about, Christina and Olga. Christina is one of her two roommates. Larisa followed all of us to a recreation room where we took photos. (See photo of, left to right, Olga, Larisa, Christina and Tatyana followed by a photo of Christina, Summer, Larisa, Tatyana and Steve.) After this, we went to Tatyana's room and were alone with her. She showed us cards we had mailed her (yea, she actually got them!), framed photos of us on her nightstand and the bear we made her at Build-A-Bear in Columbia that has a voice recorder in it with our voices telling her we love her and which she had been telling us on Skype that she plays every night before she goes to bed - aw-w-w-w-w! (See photo of Tatyana and Summer with bear.)

We then talked about her life in America, Lexington High School (she'll be in the 9th grade there) and then came "THE BIG SURPRISE..." I wanted to confirm one of our Skype conversations a few weeks ago during which we discussed what her name would be in America. When I first asked her, she said "My name in America, Tonya Jewell," which is her nickname in Ukraine. I said fine and to be thinking about a middle name as this is common in America. On our next Skype call, I kept calling her "Tonya" trying to get used to it when she suddenly looked at the camera and said, "Why Tonya?" I reminded her of our last Skype and she replied, "Say Tatyana." I was surprised but thought perhaps she had been stressing before that she wanted to be a "Jewell." During our next Skype, she announced she wanted her middle name to be "Sara" because she likes that name. I told her I loved it! I then said, "So, in America, your name will be "Tatyana Sara Jewell." She confirmed. During today's conversation in her room, I wanted to confirm one last time what her name will be in the U.S. and I said, "Your name in America - Tatyana Sara Jewell and we call you Tatyana. Yes?" She hesitated so I asked, "Would you rather be called Tonya?" She shyly smiled and after a moment said, "Sara." Surprised, I replied, "Sara?" She said yes. So, Sara it is!! Sara Jewell - and better yet, we are now Steve, Sunny, Summer and Sara!!!!!!!!! The Four S's. Love it!!!!!! I really can't help but think that was part of her thinking as well :-).

A BIG Day indeed! And a BIG Surprise as well - albeit a very pleasant one! My next post will reveal why Steve stopped saying "Hi" to Ukrainians...so read the next blog for the rest of the story...

Sunny