Our 2008 Christmas Card

Christmas, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas, Greetings and Salutations from Memphis, Tennessee! 2008 was year of big adjustments all around! Our BIG NEWS this year to report is that Bill retired from the United States Navy in May and returned to civilian life.

Cathe is now in her fifth year teaching at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School and enjoys her role as the Computer Resources Teacher. She was also recently asked to be part of a Leadership Team, under the Catholic Schools Office, for Computer/ Technology teachers. Although she hasn’t had much time for quilting, she has been keeping up with the neighborhood Book Club.

Stephen returned safely from Iraq and finished his Army enlistment in June. He likes the Fort Lewis Washington area so he decided to stay and found employment at the base motor pool. It’s a long way from Memphis, but we hear from him often!

David and Kate have been a true blessing to our family. Their energy and spirit have transformed our formerly quiet house into a busy home. Throughout the year we experienced many humorous moments as we sorted out differences between English and Russian and when one or the other was at a loss for words but creatively got the point across (such as buying new shoes for mama’s car)! Every day we see something new in what they understand of our complicated English language. Kate and David have quickly adapted to the changes and challenges their new environment and school brings with enthusiasm and good humor. Academically and socially they are doing great. In January Kate was the first to start after school activities with Basketball. Who knew this “soon to be not shy” girl could be a powerhouse on the basketball court? David, not to be outdone by his little sister, picked up his first baseball in March. Everyone took notice when David was at bat, and we all laughed when he momentarily stood at home plate after a good hit before he realizing that he needed to run to first base. Kate followed with softball and she caught on quickly, hitting several homeruns and even a Grand Slam! Then came soccer season. Wow! They both are talented athletes and every soccer game was very enthusiastic and incredible experience.

Meanwhile, Bob has enjoyed the increased activity levels in our home and loves to help wake up David and Kate each morning with puppy kisses. He tries his best to time-share with everyone, and now has puppy beds throughout the house.

With the warmest wishes for this Christmas Season, С Рождеством всех!

Bill, Cathe, David, Kate, & Bob

Lemonade Stew, Green Beans, and Happy Anniversary!

Ok, we're said it many times before, but we have to say again just how fast time is flying and how well Kate and David are doing. They continue growing like weeds and have changed a bit since we first met just a little over a year ago.

This week we celebrate our first year together at home, but we will still consider Thanksgiving Day as our anniversary since it was on the eve of that day last year we finally made our way home. National Adoption Day also happens to fall on November 17th, just a few days before our anniversary. But before that, we do have a few funny anecdotes to share.

Last weekend was David's first camp out with the Boy Scouts. Bill went along too, dusting off (and squeezing into) his old Assistant Scoutmaster uniform from when our older son Stephen was working on his Eagle Scout requirements. It was a bit colder than usual and there was even some light rain Friday night when they were setting up, but overall things went well. At least until Saturday night's dinner... It was already dark when dinner was being cooked, so David didn't notice that the "water" he was adding to the stew had a slight color to it. Fortunately, the stew was still edible, and one scout said that it reminded him of German Potato Salad since it had a slight sweet/tangy flavor. It won't be added to our outdoor cookbook though...

While Bill and David were roughing it, Cathe and Kate were back home appreciating the warm and dry conditions while discussing a little about impressions of a first year at home. Cathe asked about things the children might have heard since we had heard about all the rumors kids shared about people coming to adopt them just for body parts (sounded like one too many slasher movie plots...) and all that. Kate didn't miss a beat when she told Cathe that she never believed those stories since we were too nice, but she was worried that we might be trying to poison her and David with green beans... You really have to wonder what was going through their minds as they embarked on their great adventure with a couple strangers from a far off land.

Another really neat item to note is that one of our favorite programs, The Amazing Race, visited Kazakhstan. Although they didn't go all the way to Petropalvlosk , the stopover was Almaty. We recognized several sights and enjoyed some of the Kazakh heritage displayed with the horsemen, eagle, and apple orchards. Every time they showed signs or someone was speaking, David and Kate strained to recognize or understand anything. What's "neat" about that? Well, we happened to have been in the exact spot where the pitstop scene occurred and had also seen many of the snapshots they show in the opening sequence. After Almaty, the cast headed off to Moscow. No familiar sights there, but they listened intently for familiar Russian phrases, getting a few laughs at non-translated comments...

Here are a few Almaty sights also shown in the program. The Russian Orthodox church was in a couple views, and the statue was where the Pit Stop welcome took place.:

We saw this statue on one of our walk-abouts, which served as the pitstop marker for the race.

Our Almaty apartment was in the small building in front of the new building, which also was shown in a few panoramic shots of Almaty during the episode...

Soon it was time for our family celebration. Our cake man came through once again with a real winner! He is absolutely amazing and goes into great detail to make sure things are exactly right. He even counted the rays coming from the sun in the Kazakhstan flag, no detail too small!

Our first year has been a good one, with its interesting times. We also asked David and Kate to share what they find most interesting: Build-a-Bear Workshop (Kate), Costco (David), and both really like Toys-R-Us, especially since the "R" is reversed into a Russian "Ya," meaning "Me." Applying the Russian meaning, David and Kate have re-named the chain to "Toys-For-Us!" Gotta love their logic!

Happy Republic Day, Anniversary, and Halloween!

October? Where did it go?

There wasn't one weekend where we didn't have something going on.

Since we traveled up to Michigan for Cathe's HS reunion over Columbus Day weekend, soccer season was cut short. Both David and Kate had great season's and they're already looking forward to next year. To make up for missing the last two games, we loaded up Bob and the kids and headed to Sheridan's for frozen custard. Bob LOVES Sheridan's because they make vanilla "Puppy Cones" which he now consumes in a single bite! He couldn't wait to show us just how happy he was!










We had a great trip, although it was much too short. On the way north we notices the leaves changing from green in Memphis to brightly colored as we ventured into Kentucky, Indiana, then Michigan. Although we have passed close to Mammoth Cave, we had never stopped. Since the kids had never been in a cave, we got an early start so we could stop on the way up, this time visiting Diamond Caverns. Kate had been covering the topic in her science class and both had seen pictures in their science books in Kazakhstan, so they were pretty excited.







It was a steep descent into the cavern. Thank goodness for strong hand-rails!










The view was spectacular and we're looking forward to our next spelunking adventure!


As we continued our journey north, we decided to make a quick pit stop and noticed a Russell Stover candy shop. Our chocolate connoisseur could not resist the opportunity to pose with a sign sporting what is now her favorite slogan!







When we finally arrived in Michigan, we packed a lot of activity into a very short time. Between visiting an apple orchard and pumpkin patch, we also ventured through a corn maze. While Kate relaxed with cousin Elizabeth, David dug worms and demonstrated his angling prowess, catching several sunfish and a northern pike.


Although Fall has oficially arrived and we have seen some heavy frost, we have not seen early snow flurries as we did in early October last year in Kazakhstan. There was no snow, but driving through the mid-south countryside, we did see snow-white fields of cotton waiting to be harvested. Kathe thought it was pretty neat, but David was not impressed. "We saw that in Kazakhstan, " he said.


Kazakhstan Republic Day arrived quietly as we celebrated our one year anniversay of becoming a family with a pizza feast. Was it really just a year ago that we were sitting in the courtroom telling the judge just how much we wanted to be a family with these children? On the other hand, the memory of the judge puting the children through the questioning process and David being absolutely at a loss for words seems like just yesterday. Not once since have we seen our children at a loss for words!

And how could you wrap up October without mentioning Halloween? Both David and Kate knew about Halloween, although it isn't celebrated in Kazakhstan. David also wanted to tell us about all the scarry movies they had watched before coming to America. We told them we would watch scarry movies, but nothing like what they had watched before (we often preface the statement, "In Kazakhstan..." so anyone overhearing us doesn't think we sit our kids down to watch the Saw series). We'll go with more "thill" and a lot less "gore." Early on, they picked their outfits for Halloween: Kate would be the Easter Bunny (does she know that the Easter Bunny doesn't do the Fish Face?!?!?), and David would be a doctor, "Trick-or-Treat Specialist" to be more specific (and asked to have that specialty embroidered on his scrubs too, just in case it would help him get more candy and make up for lost time in the Trick-or-Treat department... It did!).

Another part of Halloween which they had not participated in before was Pumpkin Carving. Both were very proud of their artistic results! They looked awesome sitting outside the front door , greeting all comers. Lastly, David, being the good brother, constantly reinforced with Kate that they had to look both ways before crossing the street so they didn't get squashed like a ghoulish display in a neighbor's yard depicted. (Kate took several looks to be sure that the foot sticking out from under the tire wasn't real!).

Since our first measurements last October, both children have filled out and put on several inches in height. David is now 4 1/2 inches taller and Kate has grown a full 3 inches. It's funny to see them sporting original sets of pajamas which are now "high waters." They continue to amaze us with how much they have learned in such a short time and how well they are doing in school. We are VERY proud of them and hope that we can keep up!

They Picked Us

Yes, it’s true. We traveled half way around the world to find the children who would pick us to be their parents. As Bill’s colleague Sam said: “You have to be absolutely out of your minds to do this.” In retrospect, Sam was right. But we would do it again without hesitation.

One year ago today, October 3rd, 2007 at 9am Petro time neither they nor we knew anything about one another. After arriving in Kazakhstan on Friday September 28th, we spent the weekend in Petropavlovsk seeing the sights with Masha before traveling to Volodarskoye in search of our children, but they were not at the Airtauskiy orphanage so we returned to Petropavlovsk knowing that the two children God intended us to find were there somewhere. We just had to keep looking.

It’s absolutely amazing that we ended up where we did since it was such a long way from where we started. We first considered adopting an infant from China several years ago, but put that on hold due to an upcoming move from Illinois to Tennessee. Things were quiet for a little bit, then Cathe brought the subject up again and we started the process all over. Since Russia and Ukraine had suspended adoptions while they did complete process reviews, those countries were off the possibilities list. While we were waiting for them to re-open their adoption process, our former agency told us about Kazakhstan (Kaza-where?). After a little research and decided to press ahead with Kazakhstan. During the Home Study process we thought about adopting an infant, but decided that it would be better for us to adopt one (ONE) toddler in the 3-5 year range. As the process dragged out, that became two, a 3 and a 5. Then a 6 and an 8. Then 10 year old twins. Then we actually brought home a 10 and a 12. God walked us through many small steps in preparation for where we would end up. Had someone told us point blank that, no matter what we thought we wanted, we were going to bring home two older children, we would have pulled the plug on the entire process, especially after all the headaches and speed bumps we encountered along the way. Without a doubt, God’s intervention ensured that we found the two children we were supposed to bring home. Had we traveled as soon as our former agency led us to believe, we would have never met them.

Several years ago one of us read a quote (though we don’t remember which one of us) which essentially boiled down to something about an advantage that adopted children have in getting to pick their new parents instead of the pure luck (and in their case, misfortune) associated with birth parents. Although we went to Kazakhstan for the one and only purpose of adopting a child or children, it was more important to us that they a) wanted to be adopted, and b) wanted to be adopted by us. We would know when it was right.

After our flase start in Volodarskoye, we couldn’t sleep, so we stayed up all night talking. On the way to the RBS that Wednesday morning, Bill talked with Masha (in German so they could talk freely) about what we had stayed up all night long discussing. Sasha was driving, and the D.o.G. Lady (we still get a chuckle from that abbreviation for Dept. of Guardianship) was in the front passenger seat, while the two of us along with Masha were sandwiched in the back seat of Sasha’s Lada.

Soon we were in the Director’s office, starting over. Masha went into high gear and explained what we had discussed to the Director, Assistant Director, and RBS Social Worker. Without hesitation, the Director pulled his Big Book from the shelf and went to work to help us find our children. We only looked at one set of information cards and decided they were the ones we wanted to meet. A quick call from the Director brought the children to the office. Kate had come from Gym class and obviously had a little help getting a bow in her hair before coming. David, on the other hand, was in English class (how prophetic!), so he was ready to come running (although we learned later that he hoped our initial meeting wouldn’t take too long because it was almost time for his gym class).

We have since learned that David and Kate also had a false start once before we came. They met another American family who had come to Kazakhstan, but it wasn’t meant to be. That family ended up adopting another boy named Igor (congratulations and best wishes, wherever you are!). David tells us that it was hard for him since he wanted a family so much. They had both waited and wished for a family for so long that they thought it would never happen for them. At first Kate would often ask David if we were really their American family and had come to take them home. David wasn’t 100% sure, but told her not to ruin it because we seemed to be nice people.

So, here we are, one year later. In some ways it seems like yesterday, but in other ways it seems like another lifetime ago.

Happy Meeting Anniversary David and Kate! We love you and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Мы любим вас. Любовь, мама и папа.


Family Portrait #1.................Family Portrait #2

Waxing Poetic and Thinking Back

Happy September 26th!


Ok, so it's not a holiday for everyone, but it is a significant day for our family: One year ago today, in fact exactly as today's entry is coming together, we were at the Memphis airport boarding our 7:25pm flight to Amsterdam, the first leg of our trek to Kazakhstan.

Where did September go? With the days getting shorter, there is less time in the evening to do outdoor stuff. Between soccer practice and Boy Scouts, we have activities three evenings a week. Last weekend and this weekend we have soccer games both Saturday and Sunday (at least there is only one game each day this weekend!).


Academics have been a challenge this month. Both children are doing very well overall. Unfortunately, they are good at giving the impression of full comprehension even when they're not 100% sure what they're supposed to do. Thank goodness our school uses Ed-Line so we can keep up with assignments, even when our two forget to write everything down. Whenever we get a little frustrated with having to repeat instructions, all we have to do is think back to when Stephen was their age to realize that they are 100% normal, especially when it comes to using the dictionary (they would rather try to guess the meaning of a word than break out the big book, but usually end up looking up the word anyway...). Their grasp of English and the rate at which they're learning is absolutely amazing.

One of the things Bill added to our blog while in Kaz was "The Morning Weather Report" since so many people were asking what it was like in Petropavlovsk (all the pictures of people in heavy coats with hats and gloves should have been the first clue...). Anyway, we added Petropavlovsk as one of the weather sites on our msn page, along with Baghdad since Scott (our house and Bob-sitter during our time in-country is over there for a few more weeks). Back to the weather: it's interesting to note that yesterday, Sept 25th, the length of daylight in Perto and TN was both 12 hours. Back in June the days in Petro were almost 18 hours long but soon they'll be MUCH shorter.

Apryl Brock has been sending us a few pictures of David and Kate's friends. The Antares Foundation which helps provide support for the North Kazakhstan region orphanages has been very active this fall and has several events they're working on. We helped support the Back-to-School efforts. They're also working on a Siblings Reunion activity to bring children together for a day when they are placed in different orphanages (Hilton and Suzanne have provided some great support for that effort!). Be sure to visit the Antares blog at: http://antaresorphans.blogspot.com/


During our trip, we came to enjoy the "For Men" chocolate bars. Despite instructions to keep out of the hands of women, Bill did share. We also heard about the "Women's Ice cream," but never found it. Here it is!


What about Bob? He was at home, sadly laying in his bed, waiting for us to come home with his new children... He's much happier now!

Where did the Summer Go?

Wow! September! Where did the summer go????

Although we are in no way complaining about the Memphis temperatures getting back to a more humane range, we sure could use some more summer. It just seems to go a lot faster than it did when we were children. Fortunately there is still a weekend or two to get in a little more swimming before it gets too chilly.

School started August 18th, but Cathe had to be back on the 11th to begin setting up her classroom and attend all the requisite meetings. This year, setup was a little more stressful since her classroom had been painted and new carpet installed so she couldn't start early. David and Kate wanted a few more days off, but were very excited about getting back to school and seeing their friends. They also have been following the Antares Orphans blog (http://antaresorphans.blogspot.com/) to see what their friends back in Petropavlovsk are up to. (Monday September 2nd was their first day back at school). And there is no escape from school uniforms!

Summer was also a time for many visitors. In addition to Masha, Svetlana, Katya, and "the younger Masha," Cathe's sister and niece visited from Michigan, Hilton, Suzanne and Darryn visited from Richmond, Virginia, and Paul came from Baltimore, Maryland. It was a busy time for us, but nothing compared to the very busy schedule "The Masha's" maintained while trying to visit as many families as possible. This past summer was also an opportunity to grow more as a family and for David and Kate to further prepare for school. No time to be bored!











Now that school has started, so has fall soccer. Both our athletes are off to a great start with their teams winning their first games today. However, Kate almost didn't make the starting line-up. Since she was in such a hurry this morning, Kate grabbed the first two cleats she found in her size. Unfortunately, only one was for soccer. (We recently learned that softball/baseball cleats aren't allowed for soccer since they have an "extra" cleat in the front). Fortunately, we were early and there was enough time for "Pops" to run home and pick up the misplaced soccer cleat.

As Paul would say, in his most Homer Simpson-ish voice: "Doh!"

In addition to keeping busy, both David and Kate have been busily growing. Each month we have been marking the kitchen door frame as they grow. But all the growth isn't just in height. On the top is one of Kate's new shoes from last October. We bought them a half-size large so they would last. The bottom shoe is one of Kate's new PE shoes, also just a half-size large for her current foot size. We hope it lasts until the spring semester!

This month has also been a nostalgic one for us as parents since we have been thinking back on what we were doing just one year ago "today." We had just worked out our travel dates and tickets and Bill made one more trip up to Nashville to have another set of documents apostilled.

What does any of this have to do with the two pictures to the left? Well, that's a very special tree for us. Our "stick tree" started as a volunteer in one of our flower beds about the time we made our decision to pursue adoption in 2006. In March of 2007, Bill transplanted it to the front yard. At that time it was about as tall as a broomstick and had no branches. By the time we left for Kazakhstan, it was about 7 feet tall and had some stubby branches. Now it is at least 10 feet tall and filling out nicely. (All the prayers and fertilizer are having the same affect on our tree as they have had on the children).

So, as the summer winds down, we are still on the look-out for fun things to do. Two weekends ago, the Animal Planet Expo visited Shelby Farms while Paul was visiting. Both our youngsters made their "fashion statements": Kate in her typical "easter egg" colors, and David wearing a "homework protest shirt" advising teachers to save trees by reducing the amount of homework (thus paper). He has such a great sense of humor! Too bad it won't save him from homework!

If I had a Half-Birthday, it would be Groundhog Day

Happy Birthday Kate!

Since we now have all the summer months covered, so our cake man has been BUSY!

Although he only makes cakes part time as a hobby, he delivered another winner. Just a couple ideas and a choice of flavors is all he needs. If anyone needs a GREAT cake guy, just send us an e-mail. Duff (the Ace of Cakes guy) had better watch out if our guy decides to go full time!





After cake and ice cream, Kate opened her many presents, then the the girls watched "Enchanted" (Kate's current favorite movie).




















Thursday we went downown to see "Sleepless in Seattle" at the Orpheum. It's one of Masha's favorite films, so when Cathe found out that it was being shown on the big screen at the very ornate, art deco theater, we had to go. All summer long they show classic movies on Thursday and Friday evenings. If you time it just right, you can watch the ducks at the Peabody at 5, get a bite to eat, then catch the 7pm show.

Meanwhile, David and Kate are trying to squeeze in just a little more fun before summer ends. David's not very happy that only a few days of summer vacation remain, but Kate is excited about getting back to school!