Surprise!

Gotcha!

And now, officially introducing for the first time, Helena Zorich!  Yep.  The minister signed our papers yesterday and our official adoption ceremony was today.  When we get back to the United States we will adopt her again and officially change her name to Hannah Lee Zorich.

Today we got up at 6am to leave at 8am for the town of Smederevo.  Hannah's birth parents live in this town and their center for family services was in charge of her case, so they were the officials for our ceremony.  Then, because Hannah was born in Belgrade, our translator went all the way back (45 km) to get Hannah's new birth certificate.  Once she had that she came all the way back again so we could apply for Hannah's passport in Smederevo.

A view of Smederevo from atop the fortress

The ceremony was so nice and intimate.  We were in a conference room with J, our translator, the center supervisor, their lawyer, the assistant director, and another assistant.  They had drinks and some yummy pastries and goodies for us.  Alexander had Pepsi and pizza rolls at 9am.....he was a happy boy.  Everyone got to say a few words to us about how happy they were for us and for Helena.  We read over the documents to make sure everything was spelled right and we signed the forms and it was done.  She was ours.  The supervisor had written a very nice verse for us about how wonderful it is that was are able to adopt Helena and give her a good home and he wished us the very best.  It was a lot more eloquent than that, but that was the overall idea.  We then received congratulations from everyone (you kiss the cheek 3 times in Serbia) and they gave me a HUGE beautiful bouquet of flowers, some gifts for Hannah and some gifts for Alexander. 

Red roses and Stargazer Lillies - the same that were in my wedding bouquet

Cars and puzzle pieces for Xander

 After the ceremony we had to wait for the birth certificate to come back so we spent the next couple of hours having a tour of the town.  We went inside the beautiful St. George Serbian Orthodox church, climbed the 15th century fortress built by Đurađ Branković, walked through the town square and strolled along the Danube River walkway. 

Atop the fortress, and the Danube river

Fortress Wall

We found the 300 Fitness Club.  If you join, you will look like this!

We then took the documents to the police department to apply for Hannah's passport.  When we were done we went to eat at a newly opened restaurant called "View".  It sits right on the Danube and we had fish soup and 3 different kinds of fish that were caught from the river.  One kind of fish (I forgot the name!) came whole and we just had to pull the spine out and eat the rest of the fish - there were no other bones.  All of the food was delicious, even the home made seasoned croutons and the Schwepps Bitter Lemon drink I had.  Seriously, how do we get this stuff in the states?!  After the fish was completely gone, we were all full, but somehow Baklava got ordered and I was elected to eat it.  I'm still not sure how that happened, but I was willing to make the necessary sacrifice. 

Fish head - yum!

The Danube from the restaurant 'View'

We were all so tired on the drive back to Belgrade, but I was mesmerized by the beautiful scenery and resisted the temptation to close my eyes so I could see what was next.  So many times I wish I could have taken a picture of the beautiful hills and trees, vineyards and orchards, homes, and tractors driven by little, old men with their wives riding on the trailer hitched on the back.  Alexander, however, slept almost the entire way.  Now he is wide awake and playing with his new toys (a red car and some neat puzzle pieces he can build with).  John is in bed asleep.  He didn't fall asleep until after 4am, so he was running on less than 2 hours of sleep today.  I'd say he did very well and is deserving of a long, peaceful night's sleep.  And he'd better enjoy it because tomorrow we go to get Hannah for good.  Anybody have any successful ideas of how to get a 2-year old to sleep without the aid of a crib? :) 

It was one of my favorite days ever - not just here in Serbia - and we are so grateful for all those who made the day wonderful for us.  It will be another day that we will not forget.

Right now we are smiling at the realization that we are no longer wethreezees.  We are now a family of four and we're going to need another email address to go with it.  Let the ideas begin!

And to our little miracle daughter, whom we have waited for so very long - GOTCHA!