Morning weather report: 33, feels like 29. Projected high: 49 Cloudy with scattered drizzle (that won’t be helping temperatures much!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 48, heading to just 51 with light rain. Watering those fall flowerbeds!
Yesterday evening was spent reading all of the wonderful congratulatory e-mails from friends and family. In a very short time both of our electronic in-boxes were brimming with notes welcoming Kate and David to the family and circle of friends. We just wish that we had broadband instead of dial-up so we could quickly answer all of your notes! We just want to let all of you know how much we appreciate reading them.
After court the kids had to go back to school and we had a LOT of paperwork to sign. Cathe’s observed that the paperwork signing was almost like a house closing! We were signing Powers of Attorney, Birth Certificate Applications, Passport Applications, Visa Applications, certifying copies of our passports, and a few other things.
Since Svetlana’s train back to Pavlodar wasn’t until 8 pm, we headed over to the Black Jack Café for the best coffee we have had since leaving the states. Both Cathe’s Café Mocha and Bill’s Latte were primo. There is a pretty extensive list of different coffees to try, so we’ll just have to go
back and work our way through the menu! We just hadn’t noticed how much we missed just stopping for a quick cup of coffee and thought of a comment from Cathe’s sister-in-law made after taking a trip from the Seattle area to visit Nashville… “They just don’t have enough coffee shops there!” Debbie, if you’re reading this and we suspect you are, you would have a VERY hard time finding a coffee house in Kazaskhstan! We also saw a brand new Hummer H3 parked in front of the Black Jack.
Then we went to a place right next door to the Black Jack, called the CMAK (Smack) store… Masha told us we could buy “prepared” foods there, so we immediately equated it to a place in the Memphis area called “Super Suppers.” You can go into Super Suppers and prepare a whole week’s worth the meals so all you have to do is pop them into the oven. CMAK is similar except that everything is already cooked, then placed in a refrigerated display case. We picked up a roasted chicken, some potatoes, some Golubtsy (cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice), and some of the carrot and garlic salad we have come to like. We even bought a small pot pie that was recommended by Masha. Enough food for two feasts!
Suzanne and Hilton got our message about yesterday’s favorable court outcome and brought us flowers to celebrate. What great friends we have made through the Yahoo Groups and since arriving in Petropavlovsk! We only wish we could have rented a huge banquet hall so we could celebrate with all of our friends around the world who have been following our adoption quest.The children were excited to see us today too. Since they did not have school, we arrived at the RBS a little before noon. Not one child was out at the gate or in the courtyard. (It was pretty chilly) But the second the car stopped, Kate came running out to greet us (she had been looking into the courtyard and had seen our car pull in). Once in side RBS Cathe leaned over to Kate and asked her “What is my name? Kate looked over at her and said “Mama?” Bill and Cathe looked over and said “Da!” Kate looked over and rapidly said to Masha “The court will allow Mama and Papa to be our parents?” and Masha smiled and said “Da!” Kate scurried to go find David which only took a couple minutes to round him up, who was playing soccer in the back 40 behind the orphanage. It was obvious by David’s expression Kate told him the good news. After a cold weather gear check we were on our way back to the apartment.
Kate, Cathe and Masha stayed at the apartment to answer a recent e-mail from her new friend Kate in Memphis while Bill and David went shopping for fresh bread and salad items to complete our family celebration lunch. David was very impressed that Bill quickly navigated his way around the Iceberg store then stopped in to see Sasha the Kabob Guy then over to see The Fruit Lady (we need to ask her name next time so we can add it to the list). David wanted to carry all the bags, but soon tired. He was amazed at what we accomplished in just a few minutes and all so close to the apartment. Too bad the great stores are all so far away in the states. It’s really nice to cover all the basic needs in such a short walking distance.
After lunch we walked over to Constitution Avenue to see if there were any special programs to honor the day. Nope. But there were some pretty banners and the tulip flags were back. Then we spied the Park through the now almost bare trees: the rides were running! Although we had just planned to walk the length of Constitution Avenue then go back to the apartment for a while to 
watch TV or a movie, we couldn’t resist the siren’s song and soon were standing in line to buy tickets for the motorbike ride for David and the “Roller Scooter” ride for Kate. We also had to try out the bumper cars again.
On the way back to the apartment we passed several small stands selling sunflower seeds. Each time, the kids tried, in their most pitiful voices, “Пожалуйста!” (pleeeeeese!). We resisted the pleas, knowing that there was cake awaiting our return to the apartment. It sure was hard turning down Kate, especially in a cute pose, but we resisted their pleas and our urge to give in!We can see how much the children have opened up to us in such a short time. They are slowly letting their personalities and feelings out. We still have a long way to go, as the Judge reminded us yesterday, but we are definitely on the right road. Communication will be a little tough at first, but both are trying very hard and are picking up several words. As soon as they start meeting new friends, language will come quickly. They’re also letting us get to know little bits and pieces of their past, which will help us grow as a family.
Although we had a long visit today, the time was too short and went by quickly. The ride back to the RBS was mostly quiet. We could sense the children’s sadness at having to return, but know the days are numbered and soon they will not have to go back at the end of the day.
P.S. While dropping off the kids we saw Olivia and Julia who will be leaving for Almaty this weekend, en-route to their new forever family in Salt Lake City. Congratulations Guy and Deb and Family!
P.P.S. We have taken over 1400 pictures since arriving. Thank goodness we won’t have to print all of them!
P.P.P.S. That projected high of 49 was a bit over optimistic. We saw a few flurries mixed in with the occasional drizzle, so the actual high temperature was more likely 39 instead of 49…
No comments:
Post a Comment