Today was a historic moment in the UEC’s life. We finally got the document we have been pursuing for almost 4 years. We were supposed to pick it up today if all went well with the final check. We arrived, not too much of a line, and then Sergiy was told that there is one more check. The woman he had been working with was on vacation so we were concerned that things might not work out today. We then had to go to a lawyer’s office and have them check a police database to make sure that the UEC’s apartments are not in this database of stolen apartments (or something like that). So here we go hoping to get another document to add to the piles and piles of documents we have been collecting for four years. The first place we went—most everyone was on lunch. The second place couldn’t do it because a tax payer ID code (that we didn’t have to have when we bought the place) was required to do the search in the database. This guy, though, recommended another place that would do it without the code. He told us not to tell anyone that he told us to go there. So we went there. The place looked fine to me, they looked at everything, and hankfully, they accepted the fact that I could read Russian otherwise we would have had to do an official translation.

So we got the document (for abour $40) that says that our apartments are “clean” and returned to the government office. With one more signature and another copy of my passport and visa, we got it!!! We finally got it!!! I think I am still in a little shock. We have spent so much money, so many prayers, and had so much anxiety about all this. We had heard that we might have to pay $1000’s in “expedition fees” to get it, but God blessed our patience and we got it.

It’s wonderful for Vitaly since he will be taking over Sergiy’s job in June and it would have been difficult for him to take this over. It also means we don’t have to spend time and money on bureaucracy and we can do something better with our time.

Ah, a day in the life.

We posted some wedding pictures at the UEC's website.