Our Adoption Trek to Kazakhstan and Back

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-23T16:49:00.004-06:00

Hello again, dear friends! Another year has come and gone and once again it is time to send out our Christmas Wishes to all.

David and Kate continue to grow and mature. This year David started High School and it won't be long before Kate joins him.

We hope this brief note finds you well and send you our warmest wishes for a prosperous 2012.

Sincerely,

Bill, Cathe, David, Kate and Bob

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T16:43:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas to all our friends! We hope that this year has been good to you and that 2011 will bring you further joy in your life.

Merry Christmas from Bill, Cathe, David Kate and Bob

So there we were, just minding our own business when…

2010-10-03T23:01:00.007-05:00

Three years ago today we arrived, completely unannounced, at the Northern Kazakhstan Regional Boarding School. October 3rd, 2007 was just a regular Wednesday for the students, who were unaware that we had arrived. Usually, arrival of a new family was big news and generated a lot of activity, but we had arrived during school hours.

So... while we were meeting with the Director, Assistant Director, and staff Social Worker, along with our attorney, translator, and the Department of Guardianship rep ("the D.O.G. Lady"), David and Kate were both immersed in their studies when The Call came.

David came to the Director's conference room first (he was in Language Arts class, Kazakh we think), but we had to wait a few minutes for Kate to arrive. She was in PE and some of the other girls had done their best to spruce Kate a bit, even getting a bow in her hair, though it was obvious she had been playing hard.

Fast-forward to today... Both have grown over 9 inches in height since coming home. We won't even talk about shoe sizes. They're both active in sports and doing well in school. Still not the best students, but definitely holding their own, which is amazing considering that they got a late start in school and have had to learn a whole new language as well. David has mastered the "Art of Eye-Rolling," while Kate has mastered the "Hair Ball Sound." Basically, completely normal for their age group, and solidly in the middle of the pack.

Knowing now what they didn't know then, would they choose to pick us again? Well, that answer depends on teh day of teh week. Homework isn't easy... Tests are no fun... And, we're not the Fairy Godmother or Fairy Godfather. But you know what? We're doing well and unless someone mentioned it, you wouldn't know that we weren't always a family. What do the kids say??? In true teenager fashion, both say, "Yeah, I suppose!"

Merry Christmas to All!

2009-12-25T19:12:00.010-06:00

Dear Family and Friends;

Hard to believe Christmas has already come again. 2009 has been a very busy year for us as we continue to grow as a family and we're looking forward to 2010.

We pasue for a moment to give thanks for all we have been given and pray for a great year to come. This year, for the second time in a row, our Christmas travel plans were derailed by blizzard conditions on the east coast, leading us to travel directly north to Michigan. The change in palns wasn't all bad as it did lead us to take a short side trip to visit another family who was in Petropavlovsk this summer. We met their son during our trek two years ago, so it was a small reunion to see him again.

Below is our annual Christmas photo and letter. Cathe had a lot of fun with the Jib-Jab "Elf Yourself" web site, even getting Bob into the action!

And what about Bob? What's he doing while we're on our annual winter trek? Well, he's chillin' at the Berry Hill Doggie Spa and Gardens! When we broke the news that he wouldn't be coming with us, it only took him a moment to grab his shades and favorite ball:

Our 2009 Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas, Greetings and Salutations! 2009 has been a year with many peaks and valleys, but we can thank the Lord that there were far more peaks to celebrate.

Bill is still working for a small defense contracting firm based in the Memphis area. Not quite the same level of excitement as working for a bigger company at a military base, but the commute is great (just two lights and a school zone) and there was no move involved with taking the job. It’s a program/project financial analyst position, so Bill is always up to his eyeballs in numbers!

Cathe is now in her sixth year teaching at the same school, a new record given all our prior military moves. This year her role has expanded to include more staff development duties and came with a new title, Elementary Instructional Technology Specialist. Although the new title didn’t come with a raise, it continues to bee both challenging and rewarding. This year she was invited to present at a Discovery Educator Network event, and loves the embroidered polo shirt that came as a presenter’s gift!

Although Stephen completed his active duty military obligation in the spring of 2008, he has been on the rolls in the Individual Ready Reserve (non-drilling status). He recently received notification that he is to report to Fort Jackson, SC in January for re-activation and possible deployment. Please keep him in your prayers.

Meanwhile, David and Kate are adjusting to the full school workload with no special accommodations. We are very proud of the huge progress they have made in just the two short years they have been home. Reviewing the monthly marks on the kitchen doorway, Kate has grown over seven inches while David has grown over eight. The neighbors have accused us of putting MiricleGrow in their orange juice!

It has been a blessing to see and stay connected with old friends and extended family. This year we have even gotten to visit a few of David and Kate’s friends from their old school in Kazakhstan. We hope to see you, talk to you or at least share a few e-mails with you in the coming year.

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

Getting to see another old friend from Petropavlovsk

Happy Anniversary and Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T16:00:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

The Thanksgiving holiday has an extra special meaning for our family as it also marks our family homecoming anniversary. November 21st, 2007, the day before Thanksgiving, we welcomed David and Kate home. This year November 21st also marked "National Adoption Day."

Wishing you all the best at the beginning of the Advent season!

Bill, Cathe, David, Kate, and Bob

Has it only been two years?

2009-10-03T19:14:00.007-05:00

Fall has already arrived and the days are quickly becoming shorter. We're over half way through the first marking period and sprots activities are keeping us very busy.

Today, October 3rd, 2009, is a very significant date for us: Two years ago today, the four of us met for the very first time. That Wednesday morning, Bill, Cathe, Masha, Sasha and the "D.O.G. Lady" packed into Sasha's Lada and headed to the Petropavlovsk Regional Boarding School.

The scarriest part for us was that we were going into this visit 100% "blind." After arriving in Kazakhstan and meeting with the Department of Guardianship representatives in Petropavlovsk, we had traveled 250 km cross-country to the small town of Saumalkol to visit the Airtau Orphanage. Circumstances didn't work out so we headed back to Petropavlovsk for a fresh start. All we had at that moment was the confidence that God had a child or children waiting for us "out there somewhere" and we just had to find him, her, or them.

Talk about trust: There we were in a stranger's car with a lot of cash in our pockets, out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and having no idea where we were actually going. We would challenge anyone in that situation to tell us with all certainty that they didn't have all their trust in God, that He was leading them where they should go!

Meanwhile, David and Kate were getting started with their school day and were completely unaware that a significant change was about to take place.

What came together that day is nothing short of a miricle. We will forever hold a debt of gratitude for what Masha, our translator, Tatiana Tokareva, the RBS Social Worker, and RBS Director Kokpenov did in matching David and Kate with us. On the home front, Scott our house sitter and Anne our Social Worker also pulled off an amazing feat by providing us with a Homestudy Amendment, increasing the recommended adoption age range so that there would be no questions regarding our court application.

We find it nearly impossible to comprehend that it has now been only two years since the day we came together for the first time as a family. So much has taken place and we have done so much catching up that it seems to be now as it has always been. There have been challenges, but nothing extraordinary. And we're sure there will continue to be challenges. That's part of any child's process of growing up.

There comes a point in time when a blog changes from the topic of adoption to recording life's events. Like many families whose blogs we followed during our preparations and travels, we have decided that this is a good point in time to wrap up our adoption blog since our family has now transitioned from Adoption-mode to Facing Life's Challenges-mode. Although we plan to fill in a few details, and perhaps an occasional anniversary note, this will be our last regular entry.

We want to thank our family and friends who encouraged us through the peaks and valleys of the adoption process, sharing the joys and giving us the leg-up when we needed it the most.

For those considering adoption: Do your homework and DO consider adopting an older child or children. We had the opportunity to go through all the early reader books and quickly progress to higher level books as we helped the chrildren thrugh the early stages of learning English. We also were able to do a lot of activities right away and enjoy each others company. Perhaps this is a big part of what makes it hard for us to believe that only two years have passed since we worked our way through the age levels at an accelerated pace. We don't feel that we missed out on anything, rather that we have experienced much more since the children could share their experiences with us as well.

We found tremendous support and a wealth of information through several Yahoo Groups such as Kazakhstan_Adoption, PAKK (Parents Adopting Kids from Kazakhstan), and our regional group, PVPK. There are also groups set up for each state. The first place we found and started reading was Kazakh Adoptive Families (http://www.kazakhadoptivefamilies.com/).

Groundhogs and Daffodils

2009-02-27T12:14:00.011-06:00

Here we are, just posting our February update and it's almost time to begin working on our March entry.

Before starting this draft, we looked back to last year's February entries to see how they compared. It would be very easy to cut and paste those entries with only a few minor changes in the details. Funny enough, some things change and others don't!

One change which we were happy to see was a non-repeat of last years Night of the Tornados. During the anniversary week of that event, we did experience unusually warm weather and a few minor thunderstorms, but thankfully nothing like last year. Being from more northern climates, we're still not used to that sort of weather in mid-February. We're still on the temperature roller-coaster though: yesterday hit 72, today's high will barely hit the 60's and we're expecting snow flurries in the morning... Daffodils began popping right on schedule around the 14th and this week we are seeing the start of flowers on the bradford pear trees. Although Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter (or to quote Bill Murray, "I'm predicting Spring on March 21st"), the signs of spring are beginning to show in Memphis.

A little side project Bill has been working on for the past six months has been to check weather readings and sunrise/sunset times and compile the list in an excel file. The last daytime high temperature in Petropavlovsk above freezing was on December 7th and the shortest day, December 21st, only offered 7 hours and 12 minutes of daylight. Of course, the big trade off comes in summer when the days in Petropavlovsk can be over 17 hours long!

In honor of Groundhog Day, "День сурка," which also happens to be Kate's "Half-Birthday," our friend and Cake Man Extraordinaire presented us with yet another masterpiece. Kate got into the spirit of things while helping bake a big batch of cupcakes to take to school for her celebration. The Groundhog cake was greatly enjoyed during Super Bowl Halftime at a neighbor's party. (David and Kate thought the 3-D commercial was pretty neat!"

Academics have been a challenge which David and Kate have taken on and continue to amaze us. Granted, there is a lot of parental pride in this statement, but also much humor. Kate is still a bit confused, but David is quickly grasping the absurdities of the English language. Recently, David has been dealing with synonyms and homonyms and we had a good laugh when he simply stated, "English is crazy! How can "pound" be how much something weighs at the same time as hitting something?" Welcome to our part of the world!

Despite all the challenges, David scored another academic success this month: His Science Fair project was selected as one of a few to represent his school at the county level. We are extremely proud because the project was truly David's work with only a little parental assistance. Drawing on Wikipedia and his Большая книга экспериментов (Big Book of Experiments), he put together an excellent Water Wheel project.

Sports and Scouts continue to keep us busy. David just earned the rank of Tenderfoot and is well on his way to Second Class Scout. His basketball team wrapped their season with a 12-1 record as the league champions for their age/category. The following Tuesday David started tennis and Kate's basketball season began. Tomorrow, we'll be back in the swing of shuttling between games, practices, etc. They're also looking forward to the lengthening days so they will have more time to enjoy scooters, bicycles, and a new Rip-Stick skateboard.

In addition to school and sports, both are also learning about charity and service to the community. Tonight is the first of this year's Lenten Fish Frys and they will be earning service hours by helping set up and run the event. Last weekend, we trekked downtown to the FedEx Forum to enjoy the annual "Soup Sunday" fundraiser for Youth Villages. We had a very interesting discussion one afternoon last summer when the kids wanted to know why we went all the way to Kazakhstan instead of just going to the Detsky Dom not far from our home. Since they had been placed at the Priute Shelter Home before going to the Regional Boarding School, they quickly understood the difference.

While at the FedEx Forum, both took a few minutes to pose for photos, Kate with the "HAPIBUG," and David trying to get an early start on the soccer season... 8-D

Be sure to periodically check the Antares Orphans blog, http://antaresorphans.blogspot.com/, and last, but not least, we want to put in a plug for Kazapalooza (http://kazapalooza.blogspot.com/) which will be held at the Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN this year (June 5th-7th, 2009). Although geared mostly toward younger children, Cathe REALLY wants to see the Grand Ole Opry. Anyway, do check out their web site for more information.

Happy New Year and Merry (Orthodox) Christmas!

2009-01-07T20:32:00.019-06:00

Happy New Year and a Very Merry Orthodox Christmas to everyone!

Although this is "technically" David and Kate's second Christmas at home, they both said that it seems like their fist since last year was just a blur and they had been home such a short time.

With many takes and some help from a neighbor, we got some great Christmas photos, and even "Bob the "Rein-dog"got into the spirit of things. (doesn't he look happy?!?!?)

Our ambitious travel plan was waylaid by wintry weather. Due to winter storms, we had to delay departure by a day and cut out the DC portion of our trip. Instead, we visited the St. Louis Arch en-route to Michigan. They both thought that the Arch had to be something out of a sci-fi movie instead of being something they could actually visit. We even made the trip to the top and enjoyed the view!

Although we had planned to visit the Smithsonian since "Night in the Museum II" was filmed there (expected release May 2009) and Ночь в Музее (Night at the Museum) is one of their favorite films, we'll have to save that for another trip... Instead, we enjoyed wandering through the Museum of Westward Expansion. David did his best Grizzly impression, but Kate wasn't thrilled with Lewis and Clark's 19th century "Laptop Computer."

By the time we reached Ft. Wayne, Indiana it had started to snow and the roads were getting slick. David and Kate got to witness firsthand what happens when someone is driving too fast and hits their brakes... While stopped at a traffic light, we watched a car slide through sideways then overturn when it hit the snowbank. A true testimate to the effectiveness of seat belts, the driver climbed out unscratched, despite his car being a total loss. After a short delay while waiting for the police to arrive, we were back on the road and arrived safely.

Both enjoyed playing in the snow and building snowmen, but David was disappointed that the snow wasn't deep enough for him to do the back flips he loved to do in Petropavlovsk. Kate's snowman looked great Christmas Eve when grandpa's little tree was lighted up, but even better at sunrise on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was an exciting event, and both could hardly wait to empty their stockings to see what Santa left. They didn't quite understand the "Lump of Coal" (chocolate of course!) that they each got, but all the adults had a good laugh!

In addition to the gifts and all the great meals (Cathe's mom loves to cook and puts out an incredible Christmas spread!), we brought along a gingerbread house kit. We all had fun decorating it, but Kate could hardly wait for the most important part: Eating it!

Sadly, it was time to head south all too soon. Fortunately, vacation wasn't over yet... We still had New Years to look forward to and a visit by Cathe's brother and his family. We didn't go to visit Elvis, but did have fun feeding the local ducks (an armada arrives as soon as they hear the rustling of bread wrappers). As you can guess by Kate's lighter attire, it is MUCH warmer in Memphis than Michigan!

We also wandered down Beale Street and took in the sights.

Meanwhile, Bill has been checking the weather daily in Petropavlovsk (enter "Petropavl, KZ" in the MSN weather page for current readings) and has gathered a few interesting factoids:

On December 21st, sunrise in Petropavlovsk was at 9:47 am, sunset at 5:03pm (7 hrs, 16 min)... Memphis was 7:05 am and 4:52 pm respectively (9 hrs 47 min)
First day in KZ with readings below freezing: Sep 28th (Oct 28th in Memphis)
There has not been a temperature reading above freezing since Dec 7th when the high was 34F. (Dec 27th reached 71F in Memphis)

As they would say in Petropavlovsk, "что за холода!" (it's cold outside!). No wonder they keep the buildings so warm as a defense against the winter cold. 8-)

Our 2008 Christmas Card

2008-12-16T22:26:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-11-21T20:01:00.010-06:00

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!

2008-11-02T16:58:00.018-06:00

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

2008-10-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

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

2008-09-26T17:45:00.008-05:00

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?

2008-09-05T07:07:00.016-05:00

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

2008-08-02T20:44:00.014-05:00

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!

Hot July in Memphis!

2008-07-26T20:37:00.013-05:00

July has been Hot and Dry!

Well, not much rain, but VERY humid. There is little if any breeze in the afternoon, and you're drenched in sweat as soon as you leave the comfort of the air conditioner. After all, it is summer in the Midsouth.

Again, we have to ask ourselves: Where has the time gone? All we can say is that it's flying by and there are only a few more weeks of summer vacation left, but we're going to pack in as much fun as we can!

Once the temperatures started hitting 90+, both the kids started complaining about how hot is is here. Taking a daily look at the temperatures back in Petropavlovsk is still a habit. Daily highs there are usually only slightly warmer than the Memphis lows, but this past week they have been hitting the low 90's while we have been hitting the 100 degree mark. Stifling! Another interesting Petro factiod is that on June 21st sunrise was at 4:42am and sunset at 10:06 pm. That also accounts for how short the days were in November when we were getting ready to come home. Despite the complaints about the heat, we don't seem to recall hearing them complain about how cold it was in January (at least not in Memphis!)... 8-D

We took in several fireworks shows in honor of the 4th. Several suburbs coordinate their shows so that there is opportunity to see more than one. Bellevue Baptist put on a great show June 29th. We met up at the school parking lot where Cathe teaches and had an unobstructed view. Several other families and friends we know took advantage of the show, so everyone had fun while waiting for the show to begin.

There have also been a few opportunities to dress up for dinners and church events. David and Kate like to come to an occasional event, but when given a choice a pizza and a good movie usually wins out over boring adult conversation. Fortunately, we have a couple high school students and an ever growing social network, giving us the opportunity to get out for some occasional mom and dad time.

We are truly amazed at how much progress the children have made and how much they have changed in such a short time. Looking back at photos from October and comparing them to today's photos, it's as if years have passed as we have grown into a family. Even Bob is happier to have someone to always play with!

In addition to playing with friends and savoring the occasional invitation to go swimming, we have also taken in a few baseball games. David took a few minutes to have Rocky Redbird sign his baseball cap.

This past Tuesday, July 22nd, we had the honor of taking Masha and Svetlana (our translator and attorney from Kazakhstan) out to the ball game as well. They came to the states to meet with some agency representatives and to visit as many families as they could fit into their busy schedules.

Although we know how much progress the children have made in just 8 months, we don't see the day to day growth since see them every day. Both Masha and Svetlana were beyond amazed! They have stayed in touch with many families over the years, so they have see children blossom in their new families, but never so much change over such a short time.

In addition to the baseball game, we went across the street to look at the Peabody Hotel fountain where the ducks swim every day. The ducks actually live in a penthouse on the hotel roof and are brought down to the lobby at 10 am. The red carpet is rolled out, defining a path from the elevator to the fountain. When the doors open, the ducks waddle down the carpet and hop into the fountain. The process is repeated in reverse at 5 pm. Masha had to try on the duck footprints for size before we headed up to the roof to see the ducks and take in the evening view.

The highlight of Svetlana's visit was a "reunion dinner" at Grisanti's on Thursday before her return to Kazakhstan. (Masha will be traveling around a little more before heading home). Lynn, who was Masha's first client, came as did Amy who has used Svetlana's services when adopting from Pavlodar. There was also a couple whose dossier is now at the MFA, hoping to receive their Letter of Invitation any day now. Svetlana's daughter and Katya who translates in Uralsk were also with us. It was really a neat event and we took well over two hours out of our hectic schedules to visit and relax.

Stray observation:

Remember the "For Men" chocolate bars we mentioned back in October? (Oct 5th and 27th posts have photos...)

We were in the "World Market" store by the mall and found the Yorkie Bar ("It's not for girls"). Both are made by Nestle'. Yorkie has a Wikkipedia entry and you can even Google a "For Men" tv advertisement.

Grand Slam!

2008-06-13T22:36:00.010-05:00

Hey Ken Griffey Jr: Watch out! Kate is getting a head start on your record!

Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck?

Kate was batting 1.000 today with two base hits when she scored a Grand Slam Home Run for her third at-bat. It wasn't quite enough to win the game, but she did win the day's game ball!

Here she is, right after telling grandpa all about it.

Both Kate and David are adjusting to the Memphis climate, which is quite a bit warmer than they were used to in Petropavlovsk (and it's only June!)... Though the past few days have been quite a bit warmer back in Petro, hitting the mid 80's all week. Maybe it's due to the very long days they're enjoying: Sunrise today was at 4:44 am, and sunset at 10:03 pm...

That sure is a lot better than the cold and short days back in November!

13 Going on 30

2008-06-12T21:57:00.011-05:00

June 11th we celebrated another milestone: David's 13th birthday! Although shamelessly using the title to a recent movie, it's very applicable since he is maturing beyond his years.

First came many Birthday cards. He was impressed with one that Bill bought in Kazakhstan since the picture on the front even looks like David, but REALLY liked the ones which came with money or gift cards.

As quickly as he and Kate mstered the art of gift cards, you would never suspect that they weren't born in a mall somewhere! David has also dubbed Toys-R-Us as "Toys for Us!" (afterall, the backwards "R" is "Ya" in Russian, which means "me")

In all honesty, David was overwhelmed and thought that all the gifts were just too many.

One of the most thoughtful gifts came from our neighbors Carl and Suzie a few doors up: Two Harry Potter books and "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" (sequal to Charlie in the Chocolate Factory) in Russian. (http://www.adoptedfromrussia.com/ is a great resource!)

In addition to the books, cash and gift cards, David scored a few other cool gifts like a tennis racket, a couple games for his Nintendo DS, Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little (also in Russian) and a couple gag gifts which parents everywhere will appreciate: socks and pajamas (we decided not to embarass him with new Панталоне (underwear)).

Before long, it was time for cake and singing. Cathe found a guy a few years back who makes custom cakes as a hobby. Who knows, he could give the "Ace of Cakes" team a good run for their money!

Last, but not least, was a very thoughtful card that Kate picked out. Her inscription: "To a great brother. I love David." She really appreciates all that he did for her during their though years and really shows it.

Citizenship Certificates and School

2008-05-31T22:04:00.004-05:00

Great News: After several months and MANY calls to USCIS, bot David and Kate now have their certificates!

A process that should have taken 6 weeks or less ended up taking almost 6 months.

After finally working our way through the phone tree, clerks and supervisors on several occasions, we were finally referred back to the adoptions desk at our local USCIS office in Memphis. From there, both the Mesquite, TX and Buffalo, NY offices were put in touch with one another and the paperwork was finally re-routed to the right desk for processing.

Anyone else who runs into issues should refer to the Child Citizenship Act and ask to speak to a supervisor if the clerk isn't knowlegeable on that topic.

Meanwhile, school's out for summer and both David and Kate are lining up their summer activities between camps, lessons, sports, and just plain relaxing in the a/c. Both did amazingly well in school. We are VERY proud about their accomplishments and just how far they have come in such a short time!

We've had a few hot days, definitely nothing like what it will be like in August, but both are complaining about how hot it is in the Memphis area. Since Petropavlovsk is on the same latitude as Hudson Bay, it just doesn't get as hot there. In fact, we've been watching the temperatures and noticed that the highs this past week were pretty close to the lows in Memphis.

The days are much longer there though! Today's sunrise in Petropavlovsk was at 4:52 AM and sunset at 9:50 PM (17 hours of daylight). That's quite a difference from last November when we left Petro and the days were very short (less than 8 hours of daylight). We'll have to remember to make notes on June 21st and December 21st to compare...

May Flowers

2008-05-27T22:27:00.010-05:00

Happy May!

And a Happy Kazakhstan People's Unity Day (May 1st) and Victory Day (May 9th).

May has been a busy month for us and now it's almost June. May 1st we celebrated our anniversay and Bill's retirement from the Navy Reserve. May 23rd was the last day of school and we enjoyed a relatively quiet Memorial Day weekend at home.

We celebrated the weekend with a cookout, a pool party, and some yard work to take care of the flowers we planted last month. With all the rain we've had, they're doing pretty good too!

Along with the rain, we put a little fertilizer on the flowers and bushes and they're growing like crazy. So are the kids! Since October David has grown 2 1/4 inches and Kate has grown 1 3/4 inches.

In addition to putting on a few inches, they're both filling out and very athletic. David wrapped up a great baseball season and was recognized as the team's outstanding rookie. Kate enjoyed her basketball season as one of the team's top scorers and could hardly wait for softball to begin.

Here she is, back-peddling to make a catch. All the time spent playing catch with David has paid off! Both David and Kate were happy school was over, but happier yet for all the summer activities and sports get-togethers. David is anxiously awaiting baseball and swimming lessions while Kate is looking forward to tennis and swimming.

Until then, we're all just "chillin' out" and sliding in a little humor!

April Showers Bring... and Lots of Rained-Out Games!

2008-04-30T21:13:00.003-05:00

Where has April gone?

Since we haven't posted for a month, we just want to let everyone know that all is well and the kids are doing "Simply Marvelous!"

Between Tax preparation, on-going issues with USCIS, sports (both kids), rained-out baseball games and life in general have kept us VERY busy this month. Throw in Bill making a major job change to put the icing on the cake, and it becomes easy to understand why this month's entry is short.

Life has been so busy that the camera memory chip is about full and both batteries are about drained. Remember the TV commercial where a boy is paused in mid-leap into the swimming pool because his mom hasn't downloaded the pictures? Life has been like that. Not in a bad way, just BUSY! Kate's basketball season has ended and we have a couple weeks off before she starts softball. Meanwhile, David plays a mean game of baseball, especially for a kid who didn't know what the game was just four months ago!

Both David and Kate are making fantastic progress in language and academics. We still have a few areas to work on, but they are picking up English fast enough to make people wonder if they're the same kids we brought home.

We'll post another update soon!

Hittin' the Wall

2008-03-29T14:50:00.005-05:00

We've now reached the point where basic communication skills in English are fairly well established. We knew we rounded the corner the first time Kate yelled at David in English. Now, hearing one yell at the other in English is now a very common occurrence, but we still have a loooong way to go for fullest comprehension.

It's also interesting to observe how the communication tide has turned in the past couple months. Since Kate didn't have much of a background in English to start with, David had to do a lot of translating for her, at least in the beginning. However, she started learning new words more quickly and now does the same for him on occasion.

Our Franklin translator and pocket Russian-English dictionary still get a lot of use (and will for a long time), but what happens when the words start getting bigger and either a) the Russian-English dictionary doesn't have a direct transliteration or, b) you don't know the Russian word that it translates to?

Google translator does an outstanding job and Wikipedia has many articles in Russian, but we're occasionally running into completely new subjects with big and unfamiliar words... (we had a telescope project for Kate two weeks ago which ended up being quite a challenge!) Perhaps Homer Simpson put it best with his, "Doh!" 8-D

Both children are meeting the challenges with positive attitudes, and it's hard to believe we've been home just four months. Kate is now picking up English faster than David (granted, third grade doesn't have many big words, unlike fifth grade!) and David hates to see the big dictionary coming out because it means that "Pops" is going to start asking questions and he won't wiggle off the hook easily, especially if he has been trying to take a shortcut or two by guessing at words/meanings rather than looking them up.

While their vocabularies have been growing, so have their bodies. Since our first height measurements in October, David has grown a full 2 inches and Kate 1 1/2 inches (we've started marking the kitchen doorframe to keep track of "progress"). Thank goodness for children's clothing and uniform sales at church! Only a few items have worn out before being "retired," and those were due to rough and tumble play. The sad part is that the really nice court outfit and boots we got for Kate just four months ago no longer even comes close to fitting!

The good new is that the flowers and trees are all budding, the temperatures are heading back up and spring is just around the corner. We even noticed that daytime temperatures in Petropavlovsk even reached the 40's this past week! Soon it will be spring time there too.

Doctors, Dentists, Daffodils, and Snow!

2008-03-23T16:06:00.019-05:00

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Life with two energetic kids sure is busier than we were used to. It's amazing how quickly the social calendar fills up, especially when we also have to balance such mundane things like doctor and dentist appointments and sports practices, all on top of homework and our own schedules.

Reflecting on our time in Kazakhstan, we are just as amazed today at what we can accomplish in a very short time, just as we were with what Masha could pack into our short visits to the RBS. It's definitely a tag-team effort that keeps us busy from 6 am 'til 9 pm.

We're finally finished with doctor's appointments and booster shots, at least until it's time for the next round of sports physicals. Still a few more dentist appointments to go though. Now that we're almost done with all the basic work, we're understanding that the kids thought the dentist was going to pull a lot of their teeth (at least the ones with cavities). We had joked about that, but didn't think that the kids thought we were serious, especially after their first appointments. Despite the misunderstanding, there was no fear or reluctance for them to go, another sign of their building turst. (For the last two months we have had a standing 4pm appointment on Tuesdays with the dentist).

In the few years we have lived in the Memphis area, we have noticed daffodils popping up around St. Valentine's Day, at least those on south-facing hillsides. This year was no different. February's several warm days led to a question: Does it ever snow in Memphis? Some mornings brought heavy frost, but nothing like they had been used to in Petropavlovsk. Although we said that it does snow sometimes, their serious doubt was plainly obvious. Friday March 7th erased that doubt.

A robin had to take shelter under the bushes while Bob took time to make several high-speed laps of the yard while enjoying the snow.

Also, Cathe got her long-awaited wish for a snow day, or at least half of a snow day.

Meanwhile, Kate and David took advantage of the storm to build a snow family, representing all of our family members, including Bob with his favorite purple ball. They even made sports versions of themselves, complete with basketball and baseball equipment!

Both David and Kate are participating in spring sports and doing very well. Although David had never played baseball, he is catching on quickly and has gotten a few hits. Kate is quickly catching on to the rules of basketball and has become a strong team player.

In addition to team sports, Kate won the first round of a basketball free-throw contest for her age category and only lost round two by one basket. We're very proud of her!

Last, but not least, we want to wish you all a very Happy Easter!

Night of the Tornados

2008-02-12T22:00:00.009-06:00

It has now been a week since several tornados came through our area, as well as Arkansas, Mississippi and Kentucky. Due to several lines of storms, it was a very long evening for us. Although there was loss of life and property during the storms, we came through unscathed.

Since the storms made national and international news, we have been pretty busy answering e-mail and phone calls, reassuring everyone that we are ok.

During the first round of storms, Bill was "stuck" at the Navy base since a funnel cloud had been spotted just a couple miles to the south. The gates were closed and everyone was directed to take cover in the center of their buildings. As soon as the gates re-opened, he headed home and was greeted by the children saying, "Not good Papa!" (chastizing him for driving home during the continuing rain and lightning), but all were glad to see him since he had been out of contact with no cell phone signal while taking cover.

A major storm cell had passed directly over our home, the same one which produced the tornado that damaged Hickory Ridge Mall, dropping pieces of insulation and roofing materials in the area around our home. Later news reports indicated that those pieces were from the mall 15 miles south of our home and had been carried by the storm, attesting to its strength. All the while, storm sirens had been wailing and Bill was constantly shifting from the front porch to the tv for the radar update, then to the back door, keeping an eye out for approaching tornados. Although several funnel clouds had been spotted in our area, fortunately none came close.

Both children were both nervous and excited during round one, but not afraid. David asked what was going on and Cathe explained that there were tornados in the area. Both wanted to know if we would get to see one. "We hope not," was our reply. We asked if they had tornados in Kazakhstan. "No." "How do you know about them?" "We saw 'Night of the Tornados' on TV." Geez!

Then much like being in the eye of a hurricane, the sky cleared and the winds died down around 6 pm once the first line of storms passed. Between storms we were even able to get out and vote in the "Super Tuesday" primary.

Around 8:30 pm the second line of storms arrived, along with the renewed wailing of the storm sirens. There was a little hail and a few strong thunderstorm cells, but much less severe than the first round. Both children slept in Kate's room, along with Bob, while we stayed up until the storms passed.

Shortly after midnight the storms passed and quiet returned.

The Groundhog Groove

2008-02-02T16:27:00.000-06:00

Happy Groundhog Day!

It was sunny and relatively warm in Memphis today, so I'll assume that the groundhog saw his shadow. But 6 more weeks of Memphis weather won't be all that bad, especially compared to Petropavlovsk! Right now it's 59 degrees in Memphis, but only 1 (at least positive) degree in Petro!

If you're familiar with the movie starring Bill Murray, then you'll better understand today's entry. As he re-lives Groundhog Day, he gets another chance to "get it right." We have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Although we still have a long way to go, especially in the language department, we have genuinely settled into a routine in which we're all comfortable with each other. As we settle into "normalcy," we're also getting into the "normal" life routine of raising two energetic kids, so "routine" doesn't always mean one day is the same as the previous though.

The past week was an especially interesting/challenging one for us. Without a doubt, the honeymoon is over and we're all comfortable with the fact that we're a family. Although we faced a few minor challenges, it's great to see that the children are getting very comfortable with us, their new surroundings, and themselves. We're seeing both children blossom and their individual personalities emerge.

Unfortunately, just as they are getting comfortable with their new environment, their schoolmates are also getting comfortable with them, which was part of the problem.

As it turns out, David is our more mischievous child and laughs out loud when he sees something that he thinks is funny (pretty normal for a 12 year old boy). So... he becomes the focus of attention when the adults arrive to see what's up. A couple of the other boys in his class have picked up on that and are taking advantage of him. Worse yet, he's trying hard to fit in so he goes a little further than he knows he should. Two demerits in one week. 8-( (Five in a marking period will result in detention)

We asked if he knew what he did wrong. Yes. We asked if what he had done would have been ok at the boarding school. No. Ok, Почему? (pucheemoo, why?) "I thought it would be funny." At least we have something better than, "I don't know" to work with.

Meanwhile, Kate started out as our little banshee but has now settled down and is starting to get into the "girlie" things. She also wants to play soccer and basketball, and even won a free-throw challenge last week.

Although the past week has been a little more challenging, it's nice to know we have achieved another milestone in coming together as a family.

Citizens or Permanent Residents???

2008-01-31T21:35:00.000-06:00

With all the new travel rules going into effect, we want to get our kids new US passports as soon as possible, but have run into a few snags. Instead of the expected US Citizenship Certificates, we received Permanent Resident Cards (Green Card). It's a little frustration, but we'll work through it...

Before leaving the US Consulate in Almaty, Kazakhstan, we were given sealed envelopes containing all required copies of documents to give to the USCIS rep at the port of entry as well as having IR3 visas placed in the childrens' passports. Paperwork was collected and we expected to have the certificates by early-mid January. But that's not what happened...

After working my way through the USCIS phone tree (MANY layers of menus), I was able to finally reach a live person at the USCIS National Customer Service Center at: 1-800-375-5283.

Despite my instance that USCIS had made an administrative error in issuing Permanent Resident Cards instead of Citizenship Certificates for our new son and daughter, the phone agent did not understand that there was anything in error but at least did open a Trouble Ticket with an estimated completion date of March 1st (they’re running about 30 days behind right now, probably due to the need to fix all the processing errors…). By the way, the new Green Cards are pretty impressive.

While on hold, I tried all sorts of combinations of IR3, adoption, I-600, etc. into teh USCIS "Search" box and did find information on the “Child Citizenship Act Program Update” on the USCIS web site (text and direct link to the page pasted below) which clearly indicates that children entering the US on IR3 visas are automatically US Citizens and should receive their Certificates of Citizenship within 45 days of arrival instead of a Permanent Resident card. (Just like the folks at the US Consulate in Almaty said).

It didn’t help with the phone agent today, but should get us back on the right track as well as helping anyone else who has done all the I-600 pre-processing.

Here's the link: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1fb596981298d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=d6f4194d3e88d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD

And the text of the article:

Child Citizenship Act Program Update

The USCIS has reengineered its processing in order to streamline the production of Certificates of Citizenship for certain children adopted abroad. Streamlined processes have been developed for newly entering IR-3 children who are automatically U.S. Citizens when they arrive. These newly entering IR-3 children will receive Certificates of Citizenship within 45 days of their arrival instead of receiving a Permanent Resident Card and then filing theN-600 for a Certificate. (Please see our Fact Sheet for additional information)

Background
The Child Citizenship Act, which became effective on February 27, 2001,amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to provide U.S. citizenship to certain foreign-born children-including adopted children-of U.S. citizens. Specifically, these children include:
· Orphans with a full and final adoption abroad or adoption finalized in the U.S.,
· Biological or legitimated children,
· Certain children born out of wedlock to a mother who naturalizes, and
· Adopted children meeting the two-year custody requirement.

This legislation represents a significant and important change in the nationality laws of the United States. The changes made by the CCA authorize the automatic acquisition of citizenship and permanently protect the adopted children of U.S. citizens from deportation.

In general, children who are younger than 18 years of age and have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen whether by birth or naturalization will benefit from this new law. Under the CCA, qualifying children who immigrate to the United States with a U.S. citizen parent automatically acquire U.S. citizenship upon entry; children who live abroad acquire citizenship on approval of an application and the taking of the oath of allegiance.

Frequently Asked Questions about the CCA

1) Does my child qualify for automatic citizenship under the CCA?
Under CCA, your child will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship on the date that all of the following requirements are satisfied:
· At least one adoptive parent is a U.S. citizen,
· The child is under 18 years of age,
· If the child is adopted, a full and final adoption of the child, and
· The child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant

2) Do I have to apply to USCIS for my child's citizenship?
No. If your child satisfies the requirements listed above, he or she automatically acquires U.S. citizenship by operation of law on the day he or she is admitted to the United States as an immigrant. Your child’s citizenship status is no longer dependent on USCIS approving a naturalization application.

3) What documentation can I get of my child's citizenship?
If your child permanently resides in the U.S, you can obtain evidence of your child’s citizenship by applying for a Certificate of Citizenship. You will need to file form N-600 (Application for Certificate of Citizenship) and submit it to the local USCIS District Office or Sub-Office that holds jurisdiction over your permanent residence. You can also apply for a U.S. passport from the Department of State.

If your child permanently resides abroad, your child does not qualify for automatic citizenship under the CCA. However, you can apply for citizenship for your child by filing form N-600K (Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322). You can submit this form to any USCIS District Office or Sub-Office in the United States.

4) Will USCIS automatically provide me with documentation of my child's citizenship?
At the present time, USCIS is not able to automatically provide most parents with documentation of their foreign-born child’s citizenship. However, USCIS has implemented a streamlined process for newly entering IR-3 children and their families that will ensure they receive a Certificate of Citizenship within 45 days of entering the United States. Additionally, USCIS has implemented procedures to expedite processing of pending N-643 cases. If you previously filed an N-643 application and have not received your child’s Certificate of Citizenship please contact the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 . Please have the following information when you call: your child’s A-number and the location and date you filed the application.

5) What forms do I file and what are the fees?
If your child permanently resides in the U.S., you can apply for evidence of citizenship by filing form N-600 (Application for Certificate of Citizenship). If you are filing on behalf of an adopted minor child, the fee is $420 (all other applicants must pay $460).

If your child permanently resides abroad, you can apply for citizenship by filing form N-600K (Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322). If you are filing on behalf of an adopted minor child, the fee is $420 (all other applicants must pay $460).

6) Where should I file the forms?
If your child permanently resides in the U.S., you can file form N-600 (Application for Certificate of Citizenship) at the USCIS District Office or Sub-Office that that holds jurisdiction over your permanent residence.

If your child permanently resides abroad, you can apply for citizenship by filing form N-600K (Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322) at any USCIS District Office or Sub-Office in the United States. You and your child will need to travel to the United States to complete the application process

7) Is automatic citizenship provided for those who are 18 years of age or older?
No. Individuals who are 18 years of age or older on February 27, 2001, do not qualify for citizenship under the CCA, even if they meet all other criteria. If they wish to become U.S. citizens, they must apply for naturalization and meet eligibility requirements that currently exist for adult lawful permanent residents.

8) Will USCIS publish regulations on the CCA procedures?
The USCIS published interim regulations specific to the CCA in the Federal Register on June 13, 2001. The USCIS is reviewing comments received from individuals and organizations and is in the process of drafting the final regulation.

9) What resources are available to answer questions about the Child Citizenship Act?
For more information about the CCA application procedures and forms, you may contact our National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 . USCIS has also made available field guidance and public materials to all information officers and other front line staff to aid them in answering questions.

Green Eggs & Ham

2008-01-26T21:47:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

We have now been home longer than we were in Kazakhstan. A significant milestone in our life and family!

Time is passing quickly as we settle into our new life and new routines. Although there have been a few moments of frustration, mostly due to the still present language barriers, we have been making an amazing transition into a solid family of four.

One important family routine has been our Bedtime Story. Both David and Kate love the one on one time and we are quickly plowing through the entire Dr Suess collection. One of the current favorites is "Green Eggs and Ham." In fact, they enjoyed that particular story to the point that breakfast last Saturday morning was indeed Green Eggs & Ham! (it's amazing what you can do with a little butter and food color!). Bill warmed up the frying pan while Cathe went upstairs to wake the kids. They were already awake and their noses had already picked up the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. The looks on their faces when they saw what was on their plates was absolutely priceless! In typical kid fashion, they expressed their amused disgust at what they saw, but only hesitated a moment before devouring the meal.

School has been going very well. We are truly thankful for the warm acceptance both received from their new teachers and fellow students. They are getting very good at sounding out words and are beginning to comprehend many of the more complex concepts. We have a lot of catching up to do, but they are both enthusiastic and eager to learn. We have even worked in items from their background which is helping score additional points. (David had a Social Studies project to create a poster to advertise the "New Colonies in America," which he wrote out in Russian)

One of the things the care givers kept stressing before we left Kazakhstan was that neither was one of the best students. Although Bill was concerned about holding both back a grade, we both agree that it was the best thing we could have done to give them a solid foundation in their new environment. Not only do they have to learn English, they have to learn American history to catch up with their peers. Both are very bright and learning new concepts at an exceptional rate. Although they are a year older than most of their new peers, we would recommend that anyone adopting older children take a little time to access current progress and place thier children based on academics rather than just age. We're quickly discovering that their previous academic performance was most likely just due to their need for one-on-one family time with academics. That approach is also helping us work through maturity and social skills.

Although we have not experienced any major issues, we have had to frequently pause to explain that certain behaviors are not proper. In some respects, our children are old beyond their years. They have seen and experienced things that will have life long effects. In other ways, they are immature, having missed out on early years of just being able to be kids. There are also learned behaviors from their time in the orphanage system which also need a little retuning.

The colder weather these past few weeks has kept us indoors more than we would like. We all like to be active outdoors and the kids are trying to wear out their new bikes. There's another quickly learned skill to share! No problem getting them both to wear helments, but we still have to work on proper methods for stopping (brakes instead of dragging shoes). Thankfully it won't be long before the days get longer and we can get back outside. Although winter is shorter in the mid-south, we are stuck with a lot of in-between weather: cold and rainy. It has given us more opportunity to work on English and academics though. When we asked if they missed winter in Kazakhstan, both quickly replied, "No!"

January has been a good month and we're looking forward to the new successes awaiting us in February.

The First 90 Days

2007-12-31T18:58:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! We've been a little quiet of late since we're trying to keep up with two energetic new additions to the family.

Today's post marks a couple milestones for us: The anniversary of our first posting (30 Dec 2006), and that today is the 90th day that we have known our children.

We wanted to get this post up today to mark those milestones, but being New Year's Eve, it won't be finished today. Besides, we have to sort through all the photos from the past month and pick put some great ones to post.

Ninety days. Is that all? It almost seems like more than that since we have been home, but a quick check of the calendar proves it correct. 9 am on October 3rd is when we all met for the first time. We had only a slight advantage over the children since we had glanced at their school folders, although we couldn't understand much of what was written there.

Wow!

It's harder to imagine that we have been home just over five weeks now, just 40 days. It hasn't been all peaches and cream. There have been a few tears and several time-outs, but all in all, the past few weeks have been remarkable. Hopefully the pace keep up once the kids discover that the flood of parties and presents quickly comes to an end once we move into January. We look forward to a day in the not too distant future when they can truly communicate their thoughts and impressions to us.

Meanwhile, we had a great Christmas and had a chance to visit both sides of our family:

In front of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, DC along with Granpa B.

The deer in Grandma P's front yard.

Decorating a gingerbread house and getting a little help from Bob (who insisted the kids were not opening their gifts fast enough!)

We'll post some more updates soon!

To our friends who have completed their adoptions: We hope your families are coming closer and growing together.

To our friends who are still working on the adoption process: May 2008 bring you to realize your hopes.

And to everyone: May 2008 be a Safe, Prosperous and Happy New Year for you!

P.S. Don't forget Antares Orphans, www.antares-orphans.com

A busy first week back home

2007-12-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

Dec 2nd, 2007, Day +11

Has it only been 11 days since my last entry in the trek journal? In some ways it seems like more. In other ways, less. Sorry about the long post, but we have a lot of catching up to do.

Perhaps the one thing which makes it harder to gauge time is that our internal clocks are still working to fully adjust to the 12 hour time difference, but we’re almost there. We’re sticking to our “Early to rise and no nap” rule, so Kate and David have done better than we have. Our “problem” is that once the kids are in bed, we still have a few things to do before retiring for the night, which put blogging at the bottom of our To-Do list.

Our first week and a half home has been mostly great, with just a few 10 minute Time-Outs, and no major issues (knocking on wood, plastic, glass, and anything else to ensure things continue to go in that direction!). We didn’t waste any time getting engaged with “routine” activities at home. It helps to have other kids to play with in the neighborhood when the weather is nice. Regardless, we have all been busy and ready for bed early in the evening, even Bob (our exuberant golden retriever).

In an effort to “catch up” on our blog (no entries since returning), we’ll forego most of the details and hit as much as possible in outline form.

Thursday: Thanksgiving, Church, playing with neighbor kids, and dinner (strange foods)
Thanksgiving Day morning, we went to church where Kate and David received Monsignor’s welcome. He was talking about being thankful for what we Americans enjoy and that some people had even more to be thankful. Both were a little embarrassed, but enjoyed the extra attention. Rather than our usual family crowd, we enjoyed a smaller feast with just the four of us plus our neighbors across the street, Kevin and Andrea. The kids were real troopers and tried most of the foods on the table, but ended up eating mostly mashed potatoes with gravy and cranberry sauce. Perhaps there were just too many choices.

Friday: Meeting more neighbor kids, Doctor, I-Hop, and shopping (Terrible Twos)
The weather Friday morning was pretty nice, so we spent a bit of time outside hanging Christmas decorations while the kids played with neighbors. One family gave them both bicycle helmets and another gave them razor scooters, so there were a lot of kids out and about. The fun couldn’t last all day though. We had an afternoon appointment with Dr Lana Yanishevski at Laurelwood Pediatrics. Who’da thunk that we could find a Russian speaking doctor who would be available on the day after Thanksgiving so we could get our TN School Immunization Records up to date in time to start school on Monday? By the time we got through the exam, shots, and blood drawing, we had been at the doctor’s office for two hours. As a reward for their excellent behavior, we took the kids to I-Hop before hitting Target for some clothes shopping. Most of the “Black Friday” shoppers must have tired early, so we were able to get a decent parking place and shop without the frenzy we had seen on the news channels earlier in the day.

Saturday: First play date & more “strange food” leftovers
Saturday was cooler, but we still made it our for a play date at the park. Soccer and Football were the main activities, but both kids did try tennis. After a lot of ball chasing, they went back to the more familiar sports. Dinner was an adventure. Neither could remember which foods they did or did not like on Thursday, so there were many changes from the previous list.

Sunday: Church, Trying on new clothes, Divide & Conquer
Church again! It will be an interesting conversation some time in the future when we can discuss their first impressions of America and Americans. As far as they know, we don’t work (after all, we took all that time off for the adoption trek), we eat a lot (many big feasts), and we go to church a lot (we also took them to church while in Petropavlovsk). After church, we spent some time going through the various school uniforms and other clothing which friends have given us. There is no doubt that they like their new school uniforms more than their old ones!

We really appreciate that since we are trying to build full wardrobes from scratch. Lastly, it was time for Cathe and I do split up and tag team with the children. When they get tired (or tired of whatever we want them to do), they begin cutting up in Russian, so it becomes hard to stay focused on task. We made though, and even got both children cycled through the shower so they would be ready for their first day of school in the morning.

Monday: First day of school & First day of homework
What a day! Both kids were real troopers and both classes welcomed them enthusiastically. In addition to dictionaries, Google Translator was a real help.

Tuesday: Health Insurance and Social Security registration
Two more big steps forward! (Had to get the kids enrolled in the health insurance plan since we already had their first doctor’s visit!)

Wednesday: First school Mass, Rough day at school for the kids (Learning new rules and about how kids here play.)
We were reminded that although things are going very well, we still have many items and behaviors to address. Cathe got a frantic page from Kate’s teacher at lunch time. Kate’s lunchbox was in the cafeteria, but no Kate. Panic was short lived. It turns out that Kate had just made an unannounced trip to the bathroom. Meanwhile, out on the playground, David was caught up in some Monkey-See/Monkey-Do activities and made a few minor social faux pas. Kids are kids everywhere. A couple boys convinced him to do a couple slightly embarrassing things and got a couple laughs at his expense. Fortunately, that came to an abrupt end before any feelings were hurt.

Thursday: Early morning meeting at school, Working out with Google Translator
Thursday morning was our first meeting with the Principal and all of the other teachers to assess how things have gone the first few days. We discussed which classes the kids would be accountable for as well as what our expectations for the remainder of the marking period are. We are truly blessed to have such a supportive group of people to work with while we help the children adjust while they learn a new language and culture.

In addition, we shared some of our tips and techniques for communicating, including our “50 Questions” via Google Translator approach. Both Kate and David are very bright and are catching on quickly. They also know that they have to be constantly on best behavior since mom works just down the hall and will surely hear about anything going on. It was a long day. To celebrate, everyone had ice cream after dinner except Cathe (she went to bed early).

Friday: Meeting more neighbors, Meeting up with Lynn, and Artwork on Antares Orphans
Another great day! Since it was nice outside, a lot of folks were out for evening walks to look at Christmas decorations. We were still hanging a few wreaths, but paused to greet everyone passing by. One little girl from around the corner really impressed us. She had seen the stork sign in our yard, so she learned how to say “Welcome to our neighborhood” in Russian. Kate and David were very pleased. Just as we were wrapping up, another Memphian who had adopted from Petropavlovsk arrived. Masha had also been her translator and had sent a small package back with us.

After Lynn and her boys left, I was browsing the Antares Orphans web site (http://www.antares-orphans.com/) since we intend to sponsor a couple children with Kate looking over my shoulder. She was excited to see photos of several children who she recognized. Clicking through the activities page, we were also pleased to see her entries in the annual Artwork Contest.

Saturday: Clothes shopping, yard work, Bartlett Parade
It was a busy Saturday for us. Cathe and I tag-teamed with the kids to get more than a few things done. Since the weather was pretty warm, it gave us a chance to plant winter flowers and replace a couple shrubs which didn’t make it through the hot, dry summer. David got some brownie points for helping vacuum up leaves for a neighbor who is out of town, then continued on to vacuum up the fallen leaves in our front yard. He was excited to use our lawnmower and bagger.

After planting fall flowers, it was time to get ready for the Bartlett Christmas Parade. Neither Kate nor David had been to a parade before, so they though the marching bands and floats were pretty “Glasna” (I think that means “cool!”). He duly informed us that he wants as drum set for Christmas and wants to join the band. We’ll address that topic later!

Meanwhile, we saw several floats unique to the Midsouth: Several Elvis’ and floats made from boats: Just hang some lights on your pontoon boat and pull it along!

Sunday: A rainy afternoon, movies
After church, we swung through Costco to pick up a few things. They have now added Churros to their growing lists of things they like. While Bill was catching up on the monthly bills (and two months of data entry into Money), the kids cycled through a couple activities. Although unusually warm, it was a rainy day, so no playing outside. Instead, we watched a couple movies: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Although the language was a bit beyond their understanding, the physical comedy in both got several laughs.

We still have a long way to go, but we’re all working hard to make it through the tough spots.

The Longest Day

2007-11-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

Day 57 - Finally Back Home!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we're home. We'll be busy with the holiday and unpacking, so it may be a day or two before our next post.

Have you ever wished for a couple "extra" hours in a day? We got them today while traversing 12 time zones en-route from Almaty to Memphis, making the actual calendar day today 36 hours long for us. Unlike our two-night trip to Kazakhstan, we took off from Almaty in the morning daylight and landed in Memphis in the waning evening light, a little over 20 hours later, but still the same day.

We were up at 4:30 am for a 5:30 am pickup. The flight delayed a few minutes leaving Almaty due to fog, but made up for lost time on leg 1 to Amsterdam.

During our 3 hour layover in Amsterdam, we had our first McDonalds experience: Blizzard Ice Cream treats! (we were too well fed on the plane to eat anything else).

Leg two to Memphis was a long one since we were burning the candle at both ends and in the middle by then, landing safely in Memphis at 4:50 pm (local). After a brief trip through customs and immigration, we headed to the baggage clain, then toward the front door where we had an official greeting team awaiting our arrival, finally arriving at home just before 7 pm.

It's great to be home!

Thanksgiving day will henceforth have an additional special meaning for us.

Exit Visas and Empty Pockets

2007-11-20T10:19:00.000-06:00

20 Nov 07, Tuesday, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Day 56. Major events of the day: Waiting for “The Call,” Consulate Appointment, Settling Bills and Packing

Morning Weather Report:
Almaty weather: 30, feels like 30, with a projected high of 44. Probably the clearest morning we have had so far.
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 58, and heading up to 72. Unseasonably warm. Hopefully the good weather will hold out a few more days!

The weather is turning cooler in Almaty. There is a strong breeze blowing from the south over the mountains. We can still see the mountains, but the clouds are moving in. The forecast for the next few days is not too bad, but it is getting cooler. Although the 4pm high of 50 exceeded the forecast, the winds from the south (over the mountains) are bringing a dampness .

After getting back to our apartment late last night after having dinner and visiting with Suzanne and Hilton, the children went right to sleep with only one request for a bedtime snack (Dad declined the request). Soon there were sounds of peaceful deep breathing and I was able to catch up on a little correspondence before calling it a night myself.

This morning’s wake-up call went smoothly as well, without too many “duck-and-cover” attempts by the kids. David actually hopped right out of bed and plugged himself into cartoons while I checked e-mail. Kate was a little slower to rise, but also got up without too much complaint. The sounds of activity and cartoons was more alluring than the call of her pillow, so she too was up and at ‘em.

The rest of our morning was spent doing laundry and some packing. As soon as everything is dry (I pushed the drying rack next to one of the radiators to help speed the process), I’ll finish the process. The hardest part is to distribute heavier souvenir items between bags while getting everything in. Although Cathe and I emptied one suitcase when we distributed gifts, we acquired many other space-consuming items. It’ll be a challenge for me (Cathe’s much better at this part than I am), but I think I’ll squeeze everything in while preventing breakage.

Not much of a morning walk today since I wanted to be around to get the confirmation call that we had our 3 pm US Consulate appointment set. After getting used to having an A++ team in Petropavlovsk, I have to express my disappointment in consistency of communications since arriving in Almaty. So we waited, watched some TV, checked e-mail for updates, waited, and watched some more TV.

I have a nice, but mostly unread book which I could easily spend a few hours progressing on, but my schedule is not the children’s. After being in a regimented environment with strictly adhered to schedules, my schedule is now driven by theirs. It’s sort of like the first couple weeks we were in Petropavlovsk when Cathe and I were adjusting to being 11 hours out of sync (now 12 with the end of DST). Just when I thinking things are settling down, we suddenly have a wrestling match, or balloon fight, or two hungry kids. I’ve already warned Cathe that I get the first couple weeks “off” since she has been enjoying a lot of peace and quiet!

Finally, we received a call that we would be picked up at 2:30 to go to our appointment. We could have walked over since the US Consulate is now located in the brand new high-rise bank building next to the Ramstore. We checked in and I headed to the cashier’s window to pay up another $760 ($380 x 2) for entry visas. Thankfully they accept plastic, because our once fat cash supply has dwindled after almost 2 months on the road. It’s a good thing that I brought more than recommended since we were initially going to a small remote village or we would have run out of cash. Although I only tried a few ATMs, all rejected my cash card.

A couple minutes later I heard our names called and we went to Window 3 for our interview. Since our Dossier and supporting paperwork were thoroughly complete (more complements to the Petro Team a la Masha!) we only took a few minutes with Jeff, the VERY helpful Consulate representative, and the process was done. Both children now have shiny new immigrant visas installed in their passports!

After returning to the apartment to drop off paperwork, we headed right out the door in hopes of ice skating and internet connectivity at our favorite local venue. I got a good signal and connected right away, but sadly for the children, it was time to “defrost” the skating rink. Apparently they add a little water each evening to dress the ice, then melt it back once a month since they don’t have the equivalent of a resident Zamboni. Instead, we each had some ice cream and a Domino’s Donut (which bears an uncanny resemblance to Dunkin’ Donuts, down to the color scheme).

Back at the apartment, we celebrated with a feast in an attempt to clean out the last of our grocery stores. I considered the full plate of bread left at the end of our meal as “complements to the chef”! At least we have a good starting point from which Cathe and I can work in a greater variety of foods in search of the same results.

The last business transaction for the day was to settle the bill for our Almaty stay with Oleg. Everything was ok except an additional expediting fee on top of what was already worked into our fee schedule. We’ll have to do some checking there, but at least we’re ready to head home.

On that note, I’ll wrap today’s entry and get this post online (using the last of my Nursat minutes) then back to work on packing while trying to get the kids to sleep after an very expensive day.

A Night at the Museum

2007-11-19T14:04:00.000-06:00

19 Nov 07, Monday, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Day 55. Major events of the day: A Night at the Museum, Meeting up with Suzanne & Hilton, Waiting for Passport Registration and dinner at the American Bar & Grill

Morning Weather Report:
Almaty weather: 25, feels like 19, with a projected high of 49. A cold, crisp start to the day, but the sun’s rays are pretty warming. I bet the UV index is up though. The sunshine feels very warm!
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 57, and heading up to 70. Hopefully some of that weather will be around when we return!

Ok, we didn’t spend the night at the museum, but we did walk by when going over to meet Suzanne and Hilton for dinner. It was really well done with white and colored lighting. It’s a good thing that it gets dark early this time of year or we would be missing out on a lit of neat scenery! Though not up to re-doing some of our day time marathon treks, there are a few places I would like to see at night. The Little Eifel Tower was neat to look at too, with its own changing colored lights. Ночь в Музее (Night at the Museum) has quickly become one of the kids’ favorites.

We enjoyed a nice quiet morning around the apartment without having to rush off somewhere. The kids really enjoy our breakfast routine. Forms were filled out and paperwork was reviewed last night with Oleg, so today would be a day of waiting and rest. Our main plan of the day is to meet up with Hilton and Suzanne who arrived from Petro yesterday along with their new son. We have really enjoyed their company through our process and know they have felt the same.

The Nursat iCard I bought Saturday is working out well, filling in for those times when I cannot find a good signal at the Ramstore. The rates are a little expensive by US standards, but are a lot better than paying a big phone bill at the end of a stay (and 15-25% less expensive too). The purchased units can also be used for phone calls home (~$0.35/minute). I had heard about the phone card while in Petro, but never used it. Families traveling to Kazakhstan in the future should consider getting one. I could have saved a little on the connection bill and can also call home at rates far better than Kaztelkom… Anyway, I was able to chat online with Cathe for a few minutes this morning before she went to bed. Being 12 hours out of sync is a real pain at times though.

This morning while I was catching up on e-mail, the kids were drawing and coloring quietly. The past 8 days for the three of us being completely on our own has been a real growing and bonding period. The only thing missing is Cathe, but we stay in daily contact and occasionally get a good enough connection to actually talk back and forth without too much delay. Google Translator is really working well for us. Both kids were happy to have a note from mom waiting for them after breakfast. The more I observe and learn about our kids, the more impressed I become. They are also having a lot of fun with me and my limited Russian, but occasionally I totally surprise them with side comments. I am still having a lot of trouble with “kid chatter” though, but try not to let it be too obvious by answering back in English when I’m totally lost as to what they’re asking/saying. They’re very bright and are catching on quickly. I have now been officially dubbed “Niz Nika” by the kids, which means, “The man who doesn’t know.”

We finally contacted Hilton and Suzanne and arranged to meet at the Ramstore just after lunch time. Both Kate and David were happy to see them and to know that we are keeping in contact. It’s also fortunate that our annual Christmas travel loop will allow us to stop and visit for a little bit over the holidays as well. Without good people and good friends, the last two months would have been much more difficult. Meeting other wonderful people during our adoption trek allowed us some “time out” when we could think of other things than just our adoption process and it was nice to have “outside” conversations so Cathe and I didn’t “get tired of each other.”

I have to say that we have been blessed with two absolutely wonderful children. Hilton and Suzanne arrived a couple minutes before we did and cornered a good table. We chatted for a few moments then both pulled out laptops to check the connections (the standing agreement I have with the children is Internet Connection for me = Ice Skating for them).

Then we noticed there was only one person on the ice and he was definitely not skating. Today was rink cleaning/Ice repair day, so no skating for the kids regardless of connectivity. 8-( The gods must have been frowning on us all, because neither Hilton nor I could connect. Kate didn’t mind since she was helping Suzanne with her new toddler, but David was distraught. He handled it well and helped entertain the youngster while the adults chatted. They also had a new baby “to play with.” Kate did a most wonderful job with helping out while the guys chatted. Even though the rink was closed, I have to say that I think both kids did better at being patient and non-complaining than most other kids their ages.

We have enjoyed many dinners with them as well as comparing notes on various things we had seen or done. Today, we were all happy just to be in a food court where everyone could get what they wanted without having to go too many directions. We also saw “Domino Donuts” whose packaging bears an uncanny resemblance to Dunkin’ Donuts. The food court also offers many choices. Looks like the old Mc John’s has been replaced by BURGER.

We had some fun trekking through the supermarket area as well. I didn’t see "BARF" soap (Hilton tells me it is a dishwashing detergent), but I did see “Mr. Proper” general purpose cleaner. Perhaps you will recognize the packaging.

Back at the apartment there was a note on the door to call Oleg. Houston, we have another paperwork problem. The Kazakhstan Dept of State wants a Power of Attorney saying that Cathe approves of everything I am doing before they will release the children’s passports. If the passports are not registered and released, then we cannot complete our US Consulate visit (Embassy has moved to Astana). I hope that the modern marvel of internet communication will save us any further delay. Cathe wrote a quick POA and had it notarized, then e-mailed it to me. Hopefully the government will accept it. Otherwise, Kate, David and I will be “stuck” here a while longer with the added expense of changing plane tickets ($200 each) and extended apartment rent at $110 per day. Keep us in your prayers that all the roadblocks come down quickly and we can proceed home.

One of Oleg’s partners came over and collected a few more documents. Thankfully, I brought my own copy of all of our Dossier’ documents, although not translated or apostilled. The scanned POA plus my new extended visa (original one expired last Saturday) will do the trick.

Hearing nothing further from Oleg by 7pm, we headed down the hill to meet up with Suzanne and Hilton at the American Bar & Grill (thanks again Kathy!). Their son was finishing his dinner as we arrived. It’s amazing how regimented the children’s schedules are at all age levels. The baby was cranky at the exact time he should have been in the process of being fed. Go figure! My schedule (our schedule) has revolved around the stomach schedules Kate and David have been accustomed to. The big time change we will be going through in a few days will throw them completely out of sync!

Today I saw another new side of our children: Both are very caring and outgoing toward younger children. Kate wanted to help with the baby as did David. Although I know that there are some areas we will have to work on as a family, there are others in which they truly amaze me.

Keep us in your prayers that our latest paperwork issue is quickly overcome.

Apples Are From Kazakhstan

2007-11-17T21:32:00.001-06:00

18 Nov 07, Sunday, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Day 54. Major events of the day: American Burgers, Orthodox Church, and up to Kok Tobe

Morning Weather Report:
Almaty weather: 41, feels like 38, with a projected high of 46. Another crystal clear morning which turned into a foggy/hazy afternoon
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 50, but heading back to 68. The Memphis low was warmer than Almaty’s high!

It’s a long entry, ‘cause we had a adventurous, fun, and busy day…

Yesterday evening after dinner, we headed back out to do a little more shopping. I had seen a computer store across the street from the Ramstore and figured I could pick up some keyboard stickers so we could set the computer up so the kids can type to their friends. In addition to a set of stickers (~$3.50), I picked up a keyboard for about $8. Now that’s a deal! (Another thing I learned recently is that it’s easy to set up the computer for Cyrillic by just going to System Help and typing in “Language.” A few keystrokes later and David was typing a note to Cathe in Cyrillic.)

After picking up the keyboard and stickers, we made another visit to the Ramstore. In addition to milk, we needed new shoelaces for David. He had been leaving them untied and was stepping on the ends, eventually stretching them to the breaking point. We scouted the entire store then found a 12-pack of assorted laces which we were able to make work. While on the wild goose chase, Kate found a Golden Retriever notebook which bears a striking resemblance to Bob, our Golden Retriever. We added two to the shopping cart.

Today’s trekking adventure started at high noon. After a quick lunch, we were on our way out the door. I had an optimistic route in Google Earth, wanting to find a couple churches along the way. Kathy from Louisiana also told me about a place to get a good hamburger (David keeps asking for Gam-boor-gher, but really means any meat and cheese sandwich, which he really likes). We were also hoping that the funicular would be operating and we could go up to the city overlook.

Zig-zaging our way from the apartment, David kept asking “Ice, Papa, ice?” meaning he wanted to know when we were going to the Ramstore while Kate wanted to know when we were going back to the apartment. I responded “Maybe” to ice skating, but “Yes” to ice cream. Neither was thrilled with my plan for more walking today and I had a near revolt on my hands! If either had known their way back, I’m sure at least one would have disappeared. We passed by an open trench where some work on the steam pipes was obviously in some stage, and noticed a cat comfortable curled up (there was still ice on the puddles when we left the apartment). Not too long after that, we passed a Big Apple and had to stop for a picture.

We walked by a movie theater which is showing some high-class American movies which accurately depict our culture. In addition to the movie billboards was another camel. I’m beginning to think that Almaty must have done something like Chicago and other major cities by setting up displays of fiberglass statues following particular themes (Chicago’s was Mickey Mouse) decorated by various well known, and lesser known, artists.

This one was interesting because it was painted with a pair of painted-on jeans shorts on which had a Beatles ticket sticking out of the back pocket. It was odd enough to take a picture of (besides, digital “film” doesn’t cost anything). I would learn more of its significance later (the Robbins book also mentioned the Beatles and how youngsters in the 60s and 70s would listen to their music although it was officially banned by the government at that time as being “subversive”).

Had it not been for Kate’s request to find a restroom, we would have missed the American Bar & Grill, which Kathy from LA had mentioned (Louisiana, not Los Angeles). Turns out that the restaurant is in the upstairs area over the movie theater lobby. You would have never guessed it from the main street side. The kids picked from the kiddie menu while I has the “Classic Hamburger.” Kathy was right, it’s just like something from Fudruckers, and the fries were great. The kids liked the décor and I had to admire the Heinz Ketchup.

One goal accomplished, my next sight to see was the Russian Orthodox church in the middle of a park area. I knew we were close when we saw several wedding processions. You have to admit that they really do weddings and receptions with style in Kazakhstan. We saw another Lincoln limo and a Rolls Royce limo and headed into the park. The church is absolutely beautiful. Anyone visiting Almaty should stop by to see it. Inside is just as ornate. As we were enjoying the interior decorations, a priest came into the main area and began a wedding mass. Although we did not find the church we were looking for, we did attend church today! The gift shop also has very reasonable icons available for purchase. We added several to our souvenir collection today.

After Mass, we saw our first Christmas/New Year’s tree of the season. I’m sure they’re popping up everywhere back home since we’re just a few days from Thanksgiving. We can hardly wait to be home! Another of today’s goal’s accomplished!

Up to this point, the kids had been great. Now we were back on the verge of rebellion again, with Kate wanting to know if we were now heading back to the apartment and David alternating between Ramstore (ice skating) and a trip up the mountain. When either asked, “Which way?” I could honestly point in the direction we were traveling because everything was now on the way back to the apartment. Fortunately, the Gondola cars came first, but unfortunately they were not in operation due to the winter schedule. However, the bus was in operation! So, for 500 kzt each we could get a ride to the top (but as we found out later, that’s each way, but more on that later).

The view, despite the foggy haze, was spectacular. Although we could not see much of the city below, the Tien Shin mountains rise to the east and south of the city, giving a rugged, snow-capped view. We’ve now seen them early in the morning when the air is clear. The first thing we did was have our picture taken in front of a big bronze apple. An interesting side note is that tulips and apples are though to have originated in Kazakhstan. Since the “Silk Road” trading route passed through southern Kazakhstan, both items made their way to Europe. Google the topics for some interesting reading.

The kids were still insisting that the wanted to go back down so they could go ice skating, but we made up for that by going on the bob-sled run. It’s like a roller coaster, but you get to control the speed with a brake. The track snakes down around the nearest tower. No loops, but it is a really great ride!

There are also shops at the top, so I picked up a few more souvenirs, including another hat. The kids had fun with the shopping, but that all changed when we discovered the petting zoo. There are several varieties of birds and animals on display. I really enjoyed seeing the falcons while Kate and David enjoyed feeding the deer.

Then I had my second “Beatle Sighting” of the day in the most unlikely of places. Life-sized bronze statues of the Fab Four on top of a mountain in southern Kazakhstan. Who’d a thunk it?

Back to the bus tickets… We waited for the shuttle bus to come and shoved our way onto the first one, presented our tickets, and were told, “You need to be on the other bus.” Oh. So we got off and waited a few more minutes while enjoying a nice sunset. Then the bus came and we were informed that we had purchased one-way tickets. I was thinking it must be something like the Egyptian camel rides and decided against shelling out another 1500 kzt to ride back down. Besides, I had been taking a few things in on the way up and noticed that there was a bus station at the bottom of the hill which had buses passing right in front of our apartment, so I turned down the driver’s offer to sell us tickets on the spot. Advice to other Almaty visitors: Catch either the #95 or #99 bus for 40 tenge, then spend the 200 or 400 tenge for the small bus to take you to the top. A great deal for less than $5…

When I turned down the driver’s offer of tickets, David was miffed. He thought that we would be walking all the way back to the apartment. He and Kate were getting tired, cold, hungry and cranky by this point, but I weathered their storm. Besides, it was literally all downhill fro this point! Instead of the 1500 kzt ride back to the tram terminal which would have been followed by a 20 minute up-hill hike, we ended up with a total of 80 kzt expended which got us within 200 yards of our apartment (40 for me and 20 for each child since they’re half-price). Ok, so I wasn’t such a bad dad after all, and I save a few bucks on top of that.

Just as I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, Oleg called. He wanted to come over to put the finishing touches on our paperwork for the US Consulate interview. Now all we need are the children’s passports and we can go home.

Out and About

2007-11-17T21:32:00.000-06:00

17 Nov 07, Saturday, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Day 53. Major events of the day: Another long walk, Connected!, and Another Dinner Milestone

Morning Weather Report:
Almaty weather: 30, feels like 30, with a projected high of 47. Sunny, with a good view of the mountains to the south.
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 46, but heading back to 68. That’s a little nicer than the first week of October when we met the kids!

This morning started out cold and crystal clear. Although sunrise is earlier here and it does get light earlier than Petropavlovsk, the sun doesn’t peek over the mountains until about an hour after official sunrise. Once the sun’s rays reached us, temperatures quickly warmed up and it felt much warmer with the sunshine, so we headed out on our day’s adventure a little after 10 am. There was still a little ice in some puddles, but it didn’t last long.

Since the kids were “just the right amount tired” last night at bed time, I want to keep up the walking routine the next few days to keep everyone’s activity level up. At first, Kate was keeping up, but wasn’t happy with our adventure since she didn’t understand we were just sight seeing. After the second or third “neat thing,” she brightened up and started asking, “Where next?” knowing the promise of a coveted visit to the Ramstore would be our last stop before going back to the apartment. Reviewing our trek on Google Earth, we covered at least 4 miles along the way. It’s a good thing they don’t know it’s exercise!

As we were starting out, I took a picture of our apartment building (our 2nd floor apartment is barely visible over the construction barricade) to catch the evolution of the city. In front of and to the right is a much older two story apartment building. Behind us is an ultra modern high rise, and several more buildings under construction. I don’t think our apartment building will be here much longer before being replaced.

My intended mission today was to find where the gondolas “land” so we can go up to the city overlook. We had seen one of the towers and a gondola car from the SOS Clinic window, so I had a rough idea where we needed to look. Along our path we saw a lot of road construction. In fact, the road close to us doesn’t even show up on Google Earth. The main road (the non-existent one) bypasses major intersections by going under them. Traffic congestion here is on par with New York, and there is a lot of gridlock. It’s very understandable to see why our driver took a long way around to avoid some of the intersections which we have seen on our walking adventures. In addition, we saw one of the local gas station chains called SINOOIL (at first glance I thought the sign said, Sin Oil), where regular is priced at 85 kzt/liter, which works out to about $2.70/gallon.

Continuing on, we found the local Боулинг (bowling) center. From the sign, I would guess that they also cater to children with the “Cosmic Bowling” sessions. Given the building activity around the center, I don’t think it will be there much longer before being re-zoned. It’s in a prime location, near the financial and up-scale fashion district.

Finally, after actually walking completely around it, we found the Funicular station. We could see a few vehicles out front, but the gondola and cables didn’t appear to be working. Sad, because I would have really liked to have taken the kids up to the overlook. A bit of fog and haze had moved in since we began our walk, so I suppose it was ok after all because we wouldn’t have had a good view. We’ll keep that on our “Things to Do” list since we have three more days to fill with activities before we leave (including the day we’ll visit the US Consulate to get entry visas!).

On continuing trek toward the much anticipated visit to the Ramstore we walked through the gardens outside the performing arts center, ok, the now empty flower beds where things will be planted again in the Spring, and saw another camel statue. Photo opportunity!

Hilton and Suzanne, new adoptive parents and now our new friends from Virginia, have a friend who has a Hummer back home. While in Petropavlovsk, I saw a few and got a few great shots of a brand new H3 in front of the Black Jack Café. Today we saw a wedding procession comprised of a Hummer Limo and not less than a dozen Land Rovers, all decorated with flowers and ribbons, waiting to turn onto the road leading to Republic Square where we had seen a procession of limos yesterday. Since Cathe and I didn’t get many pictures from our wedding, maybe we’ll do something similar for one of our milestone anniversaries!

Finally, we made our way to the much anticipated Ramstore. I’m not sure who was hoping more for a good internet connection, me or the kids. Both crowded close as I pulled the laptop out of my bag and hit the power switch. Despite all the activity around us, it was as quiet as Get Smart’s “Cone of Silence” around our table. As soon as David saw the “connected” icon in the system tray he immediately launched into his rendition of the Happy Dance. Even though we had trekked well over three miles by this point, both were eager to hit the ice for an hour, and I was happy to have a connection! (I did buy a Nursat iCard today, so I have 7.5 hours of dial-up time to use from the apartment at 175 kzt/hr (~$1.50/hr)). Plopping down at a rinkside take I went to work, and they went to skating.

After I was done synchronizing my e-mail and updating yesterday’s blog entry, and the kids were further worn out from skating, we headed to the store to pick up a few groceries. Both kids are really getting into the shopping routine and are paying more careful attention to what we select since they know it will end up on the table as THE choice of the day. Side note: both Cathe and I agreed that we will make one menu selection for the particular meal, like it, love it, hate it, whatever. We also know that tastes, both ours and the kids’, will take a little adjusting as they venture into the unknown realm of perhaps too many choices. Anyway, we selected some more tomatoes and cucumbers to make a salad, as well as a sack of potatoes, and headed back to the apartment (Cathe: Slug bug silver, parked in front of the store).

As I prepared dinner, I knew that some of the kids’ favorite food items were on today’s menu. My suspicions were confirmed when we were clearing the table and most of the four pieces of bread were still on the plate. That has been our most visible sign of what they do or do not like since they are pretty good about not complaining about things they helped pick out. One of our family ground rules is that the kids need to tell us when there is something they do not like. Another ground rule is that they need to at least eat a small portion of anything we prepare since they may end up liking it anyway. For example, Kate indicated that she didn’t like cheese. But, as it turns out, she really didn’t like a particular type of cheese which was often cut thicker than she likes. Kate devours the type Masha helped us pick out, which is a softer and milder variety. The tomato and cucumber salad also goes quickly. It’s nothing more than sliced cukes and diced tomatoes with some Lowery’s Seasoning Salt (there was a jar in the cupboard) and mayonnaise stirred up together. We will be making that dish often at home!

Thus ends today’s journal entry. It’s nice to be able to know there are only a few more days until our flight home!

A view toward the southwest. I count at least 10 construction cranes in my limited view, and it was a nice sunset.

Passports & Visas

2007-11-16T22:04:00.000-06:00

16 Nov 07, Friday, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Day 52. Major events of the day: Happy Birthday Stephen! First real view of the mountains, A long walk, Passports & Visas!, and A visit to the SOS Clinic

Morning Weather Report:
Almaty weather: 30, feels like 30, with a projected high of 45. A sunny, but hazy day.
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 34, but heading back to 56. Forecast has pretty good weather for the next few days. Save some nice weather for our return!

First things first: Happy Birthday Stephen! We’re all looking forward to your visit in December!

Since it was a nice day, I wanted to get out for a walk and some sight seeing. Our apartment is only a couple blocks from the old Parliament building, and there are some photo opportunities. Using Google Earth, I plotted out a course which will wear some little feet out while taking us through Republic Square and a few other sights. By the time I was ready to initiate the trek, it was still a little cool, but sunny. We also had a pretty good view from the back window in the apartment.

We went a different way than on any of our past treks to the Ramstore, working our way down to Republic Square to see the Golden Man statue. Looking back to the south, past the Parliament building, you could see the mountains and one of the many construction cranes. Somehow I even caught a large bird in the frame (it really isn’t an add-in). It would be nice to think it is an eagle, the bird on the Kazakhstan flag. If not, just imagine that it is. While in the square we also paused at a camel statue with a lot of graffiti on it. I wasn’t sure what it was all about at the time, but when we passed by the statue en-route to the SOS Clinic later in the afternoon, there were at lest half a dozen limos and many wedding parties taking pictures. Maybe it is one of the local equivalents to the ribbon trees in Petropavlovsk…

Continuing north on a nice pedestrian walkway, we passed several consulates. I did not see a sign for the US Consulate, but we were really close. I’m told that it is in one of the high-rise towers close to Republic Square. That’s where we will go for our entry interview and visas. Although it was only one block, it was a lot longer than one block in the states, at least a quarter mile. Looking at the shops, we were in a ritzy area which could have easily been transplanted into any large city in the US. Not only did I want to make sure they would be adequately tired to go right to sleep, I also wanted to see the small-scale Eifel Tower we had seen while heading to the apartment.

Remember my comment about the leaf sweepers in Petropavlovsk and how someone could make a mint opening a franchise to sell leaf blowers? Well, it looks like we had better hurry, because one of the leaf sweepers we saw today was equipped with a leaf blower. His pals didn’t have one yet, so there’s still an opportunity! I don’t think the concept is fully developed yet… He was blowing the leaves out of the grass so his buddies could sweep them up. It’s a start though.

As we were walking, the winds shifted and a cold fog came rolling down the hillside, forcing us to zip up our jackets. Up to that point, we had been pretty warm, especially since we were walking at a very brisk pace. Cathe is going to have a workout keeping up since the kids were pressing me to a fast pace which I usually don’t reach unless I’m walking alone. We probably covered 3 miles, with some of that being up-hill, so I hope it does the trick.

The one thing which kept the kids on track during our walk was a promised visit to the Ramstore to get some groceries, including ice cream. Some little things end up being big motivators! I must have planned the route perfectly because then we were about 300 yards from the store, the kids asked, “How much longer?” Although it was still out of sight, I pointed ahead and told them it was just past the next big building. Viola! Spirits immediately lifted, and they wanted to walk even faster. They got to rest their tired feet, and I got to check e-mail.

Good news this afternoon: Masha obtained the children’s passports and got their visas (Thank you Masha)! With a fax in hand, we went to the SOS Clinic for the required check ups. Kate was fine, but David needed one more shot to bring him up to date. The doctor even filled out the US forms which will suffice for school registration, so the kids shouldn’t need much when we get back.

The past two days I have hit home runs in the dinner department. Yesterday we had the equivalent of hot dogs along with mashed potatoes and cucumber-tomato salad. Today we bought a smoked/roasted chicken (didn’t know it was smoked though) and made mashed potatoes and salad again. I know the kids liked it because by the time the plates were clean, there was still a lot of bread left (that’s the touchstone). We’re going to do just fine in the food department.

This past week, and especially the past five days, have been super bonding days. We’ve had our downs, and the children have learned about time-out, but we’ve also had some great ups. We have been forced to figure things out and to work together to communicate. I am truly amazed at how far we have come in such a short time.

Connected at Last!

2007-11-16T21:53:00.000-06:00

15 Nov 07, Thursday, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Day 51. Major events of the day: Connected at Last! & Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Since I didn’t get a connection until later today, it’s the mid-afternoon weather update…
Almaty weather: 43, feels like 40. Overcast, haze, damp, drizzle, rain and sleet. Yep, does sound like a wintry day in Seattle! (Gene & Deb: can you confirm?)
Last Petropavlovsk update: “17, feels like 10.” More snow predicted for the next few days there
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 34, but heading back to 56. Forecast has pretty good weather for the next few days. Save some nice weather for our return!

Today’s entry is quite late due to connectivity issues (lack of). The weather these past two days has been dreary, but we have been able to get out between drizzle sessions and missed a couple light rain showers.

Two treks to the Ramstore today. We needed more milk and I wanted to try connecting again. The kids really like to ice skate, and ask when we’re going back. Kate still sticks close to the wall, but is not doing bad. David takes off across the ice and tries a few tricks, but still needs a little work on the fancy stuff (most of his spin-outs ended up including a power slide on the knees). They are going to be pretty scary on rollerblades (watch out neighborhood!). Anyway, we reached an agreement: if I could get an internet connection, they would get to ice skate for an hour. Sadly, they didn’t get to skate this morning.

We returned to the apartment with our bags of groceries. All the contents made it back safely too. Yesterday’s shopping adventure didn’t go quite as well though. One thing about our kids is that they want to help with and be in the middle of everything. I was having a hard time supervising grocery bagging while paying the bill. At least I made sure the eggs and potato chips were in a bag, with the eggs on the bottom as well as ensuring the bread and rolls were in their own bag. It was good up to that point. I was carrying the heavy liquid items while the kids each had two light bags. Proper weight and balance was achieved for our up hill trek back to the apartment.

Unfortunately, I was busily navigating through the lunch time crowd, especially by the bus stop, and didn’t notice how they were swinging and twirling the bags as we walked along until we were nearly to our destination. So, we had an opportunity to discuss being gentle with things when we arrived at the apartment. The bread was fine, but two eggs, a banana, and a bag of chips suffered significant injuries along the way. It’s normal “kid stuff,” and nothing malicious, so I want them to continue being helpful. However, it’s stretching the bounds of my limited Russian and pantomime (and their patience with me) to slow them down enough to show the way to do things without breakage or damage. (things like tossing a sack of potatoes into a bag, on top of the bread…)

By the way, the Ramstore grocery store has a member discount card, just like Kroger or many other stores back home, which gives you a price break on several items. I saw the little “price break” signs but figured we wouldn’t be here long enough to make much difference. I changed my mind this afternoon when I noticed the 2/3 of the items were items which would be discounted if I had The Card, so we headed to Customer Service. As it turns out, all I had to do was ask the cashier and pay the requisite 200 kzt to obtain one. No paperwork, muss, or fuss. Our first purchase saved 400 kzt, so we’re ahead from day one and have another souvenir.

Also like Kroger, the candy, gum, and a small selection of movies and CDs are right there at the registers for parents to contend with. We’ve picked up a couple more movies to add to our collection of “computer-only” movies in Russian. (if you look carefully, many, but not all, have an English soundtrack or at least English subtitles) Today’s addition was В Гости к Роъинсонам (“Meet the Robinson’s”). Since it was a rainy afternoon, I figured it would be better than just watching Jetix (the equivalent of Cartoon Network, and just as annoying to anyone of teenage years or beyond. They got a big laugh at Cathe’s favorite part where a dinosaur is trying to reach the hero but can’t because he has a big head and short arms (watch the trailer online and you’ll laugh too).

Around 4:30 we headed back to the mall to try again. This time I promised ice cream regardless of success or failure to establish a connection, but with the same “no connection, no skating” clause. When they saw the little “Connected” icon in the system tray, both were ecstatic. So be warned, internet connectivity at the Ramstore costs 1400 kzt/hour, but you get two free kids tickets to the ice skating rink. 8-)

While the kids were skating, I received an e-mail saying the kids passports had been delayed a day, which means we won’t be done tomorrow and will have to stay the weekend. Adding to that, the KLM flights leave at 8:10 am, but there’s no flight on Tuesdays so we need extra prayers to avoid further delays. Hopefully the weather will clear up for the next few days (forecast looks good) so we can see the mountains and maybe make a trek up the cable car to get a bird’s eye view of the city.

We stayed up a little than usual, at least for the kids. I was able to get a connection a little after 10 and stayed connected for an hour (this post wasn’t ready then). Although their bed time has been 10-ish, there was an interesting program on Animal Planet (I think it’s called Meerkat Manor) which they were enjoying (and very quietly). Then it was bed time and I had two tired and overtly cranky kids on my hands. Kate wanted to be a Tae-Bo expert and David wanted to be the camera man. Once they actually got to bed, things were ok. It just took a few minutes longer than I would have liked, but they sensed when my patience had nearly run out and didn’t press too far. They didn’t appreciate the 8 am wake-up call, but there wasn’t any grumbling. We’ll try to be active today so tonight I can slide bedtime back to 9 pm (sneaky dad at work! I’m learning a few tricks from Laura in Virginia).

Still Lost, But went to the Museum!

2007-11-15T04:13:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, Nov 14th
Second Day of Internet withdrawals! And I thought dial-up was painful!!! At least I'm only 1 day behind in posting (today) which I hope to catch up soon.

Day 50. Major events of the day: A Day in the Museum of Kazakhstan

No connection, so I’m winging the weather report:
Almaty weather: Feels like mid 40’s. Overcast, haze, damp and early drizzle, very reminiscent of Seattle this time of year.
Back in Petro: Probably a lot colder than here! Temperatures up there have bee running about 20 degrees cooler.
Meanwhile back in Memphis: I bet it’s a lot warmer, even if everyone back there thinks it’s cold.

Still overcast, a little foggy and intermittent drizzle, but we could see some of the foothills, and saw the funicular cable car which goes up one of the foothills east of the Ram Store on our morning visit. Well, we saw the towers and cables, but didn’t see it in operation. If the weather clears up a bit I want to take the kids up for a view. I bet it would be spectacular with the snow-capped mountains to the south. (The sign says: "I Love Almaty")

Our first morning trek was to the Ram Store to see if I could get a connection. Nope. Both kids REALLY wanted to ice skate again, but I gave the thumbs-down. Had I gotten a connection, I probably would have shelled out another 1400 kzt for them to skate (children’s rate for 1 hour, with skates, for both… Very reasonable!). We took a different route back to the apartment so I could seek out a place to exchange some dollars. It sure didn’t take long to burn through the last batch I exchanged. I have collected a sandwich bag worth of small change, but I want to get as close to zero as possible. Most of the stores in the mall take credit cards, but the ATM rejected my cash card.

Once you get used to having something, such as Internet access, going without can be a hard thing. Even dial-up, as painful as it is, is better than being disconnected from everyone. When Nikolai dropped us off, I neglected to get a contact phone number since I have Oleg’s cell number, except that when I try to call it from the apartment, I get a recorded telkom message telling me I cannot connect for some reason. Unfortunately, I focused my Russian studies on the phrases and objects I would need to know for basic communication with the kids (which is going fairly well, at least mostly when someone isn’t pouting because she isn’t getting her way, but I won’t mention which of the two kids she might be)!

The Museum of Kazakhstan was very interesting. There’s a pretty good natural history section with a couple dinosaurs and other small fossils and an excellent pre-historic man section before moving into historic migrations, trading routes and so on. There’s a very nice display upstairs on the political history of Kazakhstan back to the 1800s when Russia began colonizing, but mostly focusing on the last 15 or so years since Kazakhstan gained its independence from Russia. Definitely a worth-while visit, and I could have spent far longer looking over the displays if the children would have let me (Cathe will have help from now on!).

Spending my early years in the DC area, I visited many times but didn’t really appreciate all the museums. I have probably visited more and seen more of each museum since moving away, especially during the ten years I lived in Virginia Beach, less than 4 hours away. Although I have now come to really appreciate museums, when younger, I wanted to rush through to see the interesting stuff and found reading the placards boring.

Since arriving Monday and pointing out the Museum to the kids, they wanted to watch Ночь в Музее (Night at the Museum) again (and again). The kids have been alternating between “Gum-Gum” (wanting a piece of gum) and “Yum-Yum” (wanting a snack) to the point of absolute nuisance. It had calmed down a bit, then they saw a small statue at the museum. I’ll suffer a few more days until they wear that out. Oh, remember I mentioned exchanging money earlier in this post? Well, we hit the museum gift shop on the way out. So much for the “extra” cash! We did end up with some nice souvenirs though.

Anyway, sleep (maybe lack of) and boredom is beginning to catch up with the kids. It’s raining outside, so no evening trip to try to find a connection. Maybe we’ll try a game or at least some flash cards after dinner. They will definitely be ready for school and friends by the time we get home!

"Lost in Almaty"

2007-11-15T04:10:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, Nov 13th
Ok, we weren't "Lost," but we have lost connectivity, thus this post is two days late (posted on Thursday from the Ram Store)...

Day 49. Major events of the day: “Yes, we have no connection,” Hamburgers and Ice Skating

Almaty weather: 33, feels like 33, and headed to 49. Overcast, haze and some drizzle.
Back in Petro: 10, feels like -5. Projected high: 22 (It warmed up from yesterday, but it’s still *COLD* up there!).
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 64 with thunderstorms, and heading back to a high of 74

The first thing I noticed this morning was that it got light before 8, much earlier than in Petropavlovsk. A quick check of the weather info confirms a sunrise of 7:41 am instead of 8:49. Sunset is at 5:30 pm, 6 minutes later than Petro. So our trip south not only took us to warmer weather, it also gave us an extra hour of daylight. Almaty is at about the same latitude (43N) as Milwaukee. Petropavlovsk is 12 degrees further north (55N, and about 900 straight-line miles away), about the same as Hudson Bay. Apparently that “little” distance makes a lot of difference!

Fortunately, I was able to “sniff” a wireless connection long enough to say “Hi” to Cathe before losing the connection. I can “see” several wireless routers, but can’t find a connection. This post will just have to go up a little late.

Since arriving yesterday, we’re back in the waiting mode, hoping the children’s new Kazakhstan passports and exit visas will be issued quickly. Keep us in your prayers that the paperwork is done. If it is, then we can get our exit interview with the US Embassy and get the children’s entry visas by Friday and catch a plane over the weekend. If we don’t get our exit interview by Friday, then we’ll be “stuck” due to flight schedules. It’s not all bad since there are things to see as long as the weather holds, but we would much rather be home!

In the mean time, maybe we will actually get to see the mountains. Today was overcast and hazy, so we can’t even see a hint of an outline (which we did at sunset yesterday). Cathe and I had only a brief glimpse of the snowcapped peaks to the south as we were on the YAK-40 heading to Petropavlovsk. I could see the faintest outline from our apartment, so the view must be spectacular on a clear day.

Last night, Kate didn’t take long to become as snug as a bug in a rug (literally), while David took command of the TV & DVD player remotes. In addition to our growing collection of movies at home, we have acquired several more here. The kids still have trouble sitting through more than a half hour at a time, but are getting better. Also, I’m becoming more accustomed to their activity and eating habits. Their lives were on a tighter schedule than the military, with specific start, and more importantly, finish times for everything. It didn’t take me long to understand the start times part, but we’ll have to work on finish times as not everything always goes per the planned schedule and a later start will usually mean a late end… Any parent who has suffered through, “Are we there yet?????” will understand perfectly. It may be a while before these two understand, “We’ll be done when we’re done.” 8-D

We’re completely on our own in Almaty, and definitely missing Masha and Sasha. It was nice to have local expertise to help us along. At least we’re close to the Ram Store mall, so it almost feels like home to me. Observing the kids, I am amazed that they are not totally overwhelmed with it all, especially the mall part. Maybe that’s because it’s only a bunch of stores and there’s not much exciting to do there? (we’ll wish for these days/years not too far in the future!).

During our morning adventure, we walked by the Presidential Palace (Almaty was the capitol before it moved to Astana 10 years ago). Daily walks will be part of our routine for a) something to do, and b) to ensure the kids are tired enough to go right to sleep at the appropriate time in the evening. Our kids are having a fun week with no school on top of being on school holiday last week. I’m sure they will be ready to go to school right away after being bored! Anyway, we hadn’t ventured more than a block from our apartment before Kate had a double-barreled inquisition from one of the babushkas (older woman/grandmother): Not only did she ask Kate why she wasn't wearing a hat (it was close to 50 outside), but also wanted to know why she wasn't in school. No questions for David who was only wearing a fleece, not even a coat... Maybe she figures boys are tougher?

Our first pass through the Ram Store was fun, but we missed a few items, napkins and matches, so we planned for another mid day pass through the Ram Store after going to visit the National Museum. Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Tuesdays, so we couldn’t go in. We did walk around the grounds and the kids posed for a picture with a camel statue out front. We never saw a camel in Petro, but understand there are many camels in the southern parts of the country, especially to the west. We’ll just have to postpone that activity until another day. We did go to the supermarket and are going back this evening for hamburgers and to upload today’s entry.

Since I only have 3 minutes to get my shoes and jacket on, I had better stop for now!

Disappointment! One of my major ulterior motives in going to the Ram Store for burgers was to tap into the wireless network. Signal… Connected… No internet! 8-(

At least the kids had their first burger & fries combo. The burger was close but not quite what we’re used to. Fries were great though. Пепси is Pepsi, nothing new there but the combo came with a little stuffed toy! Kate, usually the pickier eater of the two devoured her burger and most of the fries. I was surprised that David didn’t seem to be as thrilled, but he ate his as well. Wait ‘til they get a couple “real” burgers!

After dinner, it was time to hit the ice so Dad could check e-mail. At least that was the plan! Both Kate and David did much better on the ice today. I think a lot of it was due to lacing the skates tighter (both had them were too loose at first, and I suspect that was the root cause for much of yesterday’s control issues). While the kids were skating, and amidst the every-other-lap, “Papa, smotree!” (Watch me daddy!) I booted up the computer and anxiously waited. Try as I might, even with a re-boot, I couldn’t reach the outside world. E-mail and this post will just have to wait a little longer, but since you’re reading it, I must have had some luck!

Balmy Almaty

2007-11-12T03:51:00.000-06:00

Monday, Nov 12th
Day 48. Major events of the day: Flight to Almaty, New Apartment, The Ram Store adventure!

Petro weather: 3, feels like -9. Projected high: 20 (It’s *COLD* out there campers!). Thankfully, Almaty will be much warmer.
Almaty weather: 55 and sunny when we arrived, but cooling through the afternoon.
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 58, and heading back to a high of 73 (I’d trade, even if the forecast is for rain most of the day!)

We’re now in Almaty! One BIG step closer to home, but still a few important steps to go. (Updated post)

Just a partial post to let everyone know we have arrived in Almaty. No connectivity in the new apartment, but you can access free wireless in the Ram Store food court (thanks for the heads-up Hilton!). I won’t be on as much for the next week, but at least I won’t run up another $150 connectivity bill! Besides, after paying another $50 for 15 kg in excess baggage (Masha called it “Buying a ticket for your luggage”), the budget is a little slimmer.

Almaty is nice so far. Our new apartment is 5 minutes from the Ram Store and 7 minutes the Kazakhstan Museum of History (we plan to go there tomorrow), as well as the Presidential Palace (Almaty was the capitol before it moved to Astana 10 years ago). It was hazy when we first arrived, so we couldn’t see the mountains, but got a glimpse in the very late afternoon sun when we walked back from the store.

According to Kazakhstan family & marriage law, we are now officially recorded as their parents. However, before they can leave the country and come home, they need a) a passport, b) an exit visa, and c) an entry visa. Passports and exit visas are in work back north, so now we will work on preparatory requirements for the entry visa: Medical checks and application to the US Embassy. Please keep us in your prayers that the passports and exit visas are issued quickly. Since KLM flights leave in the morning and there is no flight on Tuesday, we’ll be “stuck” until next Wednesday if we miss a beat.

Anyway, back to the events of the day. Although the kids slept well again last night (the early to rise and NO nap rule seems to be working), I was up late sorting paperwork and packing. I couldn’t get to my packing since every couple minutes either Kate or David needed some help. I was also “shrinking” things in space bags (great invention!). The doorbell rang right on schedule and we piled into Sasha’s still frozen car (this morning was VERY cold). We started on our way when I decided to do a last nose/bag count. No one had the computer bag, which also contained all of the kids’ new documents. DOH! Fortunately, we were only a few blocks away. That could have been ugly! Back on the road, headed in the right direction at 8:15 it was still dark. It wasn’t until we had nearly reached the airport that we got any real light.

We almost checked in without incident. Unfortunately, the baggage limit is 20 kg/person. According to the scale, we were 15 kg (33 lbs) over. I think the scale was a little sensitive, but hauled out my shrinking wad of Tenge and paid the equivalent of another $50 overage fine. Security was quick and easy, but we had to stand around for a few more minutes in the unheated airport, waiting for the boarding call. We were then led across the very cold, and breezy, tarmac out to the plane. Although I expected to fly on the AN-24 (twin engine turboprop), we were walking out toward a YAK-40 parked about 150 yards from the terminal. Fortunately, our plane was behind the one we could see.

In some ways I am glad Cathe and I had opportunity to fly on the YAK-40 on our way to Petropavlovsk, mostly so we could get that life experience out of the way and not have to repeat it. For anyone ever planning to travel from Almaty to Petropavlovsk, both Cathe and I recommend holding out for the flights with the AN-24. It’s a non-stop flight, and you even get an in-flight meal, which for us was a small tomato and cucumber salad, cheese & crackers, and a selection of cold cuts, all to be topped off with a moon pie! Although it’s called a Choco Pie, it’s the same. It went well with the instant coffee included with lunch.

Arriving in Almaty was a much different experience than arrival in Petropavlovsk. The city has grown out to the airport, with lots of modern buildings and lots of new car dealers. (I only saw one in Petro, with very limited selection). Lots of variety, and lots of cars on the lots. The city was also more European, but had a very American mid-day traffic jam, complete with some gridlock. Fortunately, I had viewed Almaty in Google Earth before so I could get a close-up view. No way I could have judged distances based on our stop and go trek.

The Ram Store was a nice experience. Completely modern mall, complete with an ice skating rink in the center by the food court. The first few months will be quite an experience while the kids want to try everything, with mixed results. They’re having an interesting time with choices, and I’m having an interesting time gauging not only yes and now, but having to meter out a lot of Maybe’s and Later’s. (I have to be specific with how much Later I mean or after what specific event we will do the next thing, eat, snack, etc). Based on all of the positive and supportive comments I am receiving form the “experienced” adoptive families, it’s “normal,” and I had better get used to it, ‘cause that the way things are going to be for a while. After bellies were full, we wandered around the levels and noticed that “Bee Movie” is playing and they’ll soon have their own “Starbuckish” coffee place.

Excitement over, we headed into the supermarket which is part of the store and stocked up on groceries for the next few days and even found real peanut butter! Not as good as Jiff, but much better than the teddy bear stuff we were able to find in Petro (which wasn’t bad, just a lot thicker, and only $5... That and some of the great local bread will take care of many snacks!). Given our pursuit of peanut butter while in Kazakhstan, Masha must think we Americans are obsessed. I explained that it's very "kid friendly" and good for you and offered her a taste, which she turned down. The kids peel apart their sandwiches and devour the peanut butter side first, so I know we're ok in that department.

Too many choices! Finally I had to say, “You want that? You’ll have to carry it back to the apartment!” Talk about drama! You’d think the kids arms were going to fall off by the time we traveled the long, and really uphill, block back to the apartment.

Back to that Kazakh quote about the worst things in life: We’re back to waiting!

Last Night in Petro

2007-11-11T12:20:00.000-06:00

Day 47. Major events of the day: Veteran’s Day, A good night’s sleep, Church, Farewells, Packing and Last night in Petropavlovsk

Morning weather report: 5, feels like -6. Projected high: 21 (Not much different than yesterday, and again colder than the forecast. They’re *REALY* trying not to scare away the tourists!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 56, and heading back to a high of 68 (save some of that weather for us!)

First, Happy Veteran’s Day to all our friends, family and all the service members who gave us the freedoms that we enjoy in our country. A friend sent me this definition of a veteran: A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, National Guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check, made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life." Take a moment today to thank a veteran for what he or she has done/is doing to insure those freedoms.

Today’s entry was begun in the quiet darkness of morning at 7:30 am. Sunrise wasn’t until 8:45 this morning, so it was still pitch dark outside. Last night was a complete change from the night prior. In fact, it was so quiet that I woke up a few times wondering if everything was ok. It was. Since the kids let me sleep, I let them sleep a bit too, waiting until 8 am to issue their wake-up call. Both rolled out of bed without complaint, although by 11am there were a few pleas for a nap because “it’s so boring here” and “we’re tired.” Go figure after the prior night’s adventures! Laura in Virginia sent a quick note saying that my approach is similar to hers, and encouraged me not to let up. We all have to start somewhere, and the kids have to understand that there has to be a give and take balance.

Right after breakfast, the kids asked again, “When will we be going to Almaty?” As soon as I said, “Tomorrow” and pointed to their suitcases both sprang into action. It was only 9 am, but they had to pack because we’re leaving tomorrow. Ignore for a moment that we still have laundry to do as well as shuffling through our things to decide which back will get what. It was fun to watch the process, which we will repeat again in hopefully less than a week, but not more than 10 days.

This afternoon Masha came over to bring a few things and to help me figure out the phone bill with Ivan (that’s really the landlord’s name). (Kathy, I have your books. Lynn, I have your tea.) A month of dial-up internet for the small sum of 17,660 kzt (not including the last two days). That’s about $150. Just as we were finishing up settling that bill, the phone rang. It was Kaztelkom saying that they noticed we had been spending a lot of time online and had a special deal to offer on DSL. Since we’re leaving tomorrow morning, we decided to pass, though it would have been nice a month ago! The bill was quite a lengthy print out!

Next order of business was hat shopping. Since our nephew’s name is Zack, we had to find an appropriate Kazakh hat for him, so we headed to the big market. Success! Not only did we find one for Zack, but David and I also now have souvenir Kazakh hats. Kate was *NOT* a happy camper though. Our little princess was miffed that none of the shopping was about her, so we did a little more looking and found a nice hat & scarf set. It’ll be a little warm for Memphis, but nice for Christmas in Michigan. Also, as a thank you gift for Masha, we bought another hat for her from the four of us. She and Kate posed for a picture sporting their new hats as well.

We didn’t have time to go back to the apartment before it was time to go to church. Masha wasn’t with us to confirm, but even I think this week’s priest was easier to understand (the last two weeks we had a priest from Poland who I could not understand at all, but felt a little better when Masha said she had trouble understanding him as well). It was a very nice service, especially now that the Sisters recognize us as regulars. My only regret today was that we did not have a chance to tell them we are leaving, though I suspect they know the purpose of our trip.

After church, we had to pick p a few “last day” supplies at the Iceberg as well as bid farewell to Sasha the Kabob Guy. He made two fresh kabobs for us as the three of us huddled next to his fire for a hint of warmth. Although it had been a sunny afternoon, the sun was going down and there was a breeze which whisked away any hint of warmth.

Lastly, we also had to pay a visit to the Skif to see Suzanne and Hilton before heading out of town. And also to return the Robbins book which turned out to be some interesting reading. I’m sure Cathe won’t let me buy my own copy (yet) because Christmas isn’t too far away. (full title and cover picture are on our 2 Nov entry). We had to get one last group pose with our new friends who are now practically extended family. I really understand how our neighbors, Rick & Laura, feel about their “Cruise Friends.” When you find people who are going through the same sorts of ups and downs far from home, you form an instant and lasting bond. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other often over the coming years. Not to be outdone, David had to give their tripod a “test fitting” as well.

It’s late, so I had better get this post on the wire and finish packing. Tomorrow we will be in Almaty. I have no idea what the connection situation will be like, so don’t worry if it’s a little later than usual.

P.S. The kids have been in bed almost two hours and not one peep! Maybe I will get another good night’s rest!

The First Night and The First Day

2007-11-10T11:29:00.000-06:00

Day 46. Major events of the day: The First Night and The First Day

Morning weather report: 3, feels like -9. Projected high: 21 (Forecast has lows listed in the teens… but it just a little colder than that)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 50, and heading back to a high of 65 (that’s more like it!)

Last night was quite the celebration! We went to dinner with Ann & Miguel and Suzanne & Hilton. Friday night at our favorite Italian place, complete with Stairway to Heaven and Dust in the Wind on Guitar & Accordion. I have to say that the musicians did a super job! We only wish Cathe were here instead of home. But she’s busy making final arrangements for our return, so it’s nice to have all the bases covered.

The food was great (as always) and presented an interesting experiment in likes and dislikes. I suspect that tastes were probably affected by partially full bellies. The next few weeks will be an adventure for Cathe and I since Kate and David want to try everything, and will need to adjust to the different spices!

Rewinding to the afternoon: We hadn’t been at the apartment more than a few minutes before our little drama queen went to great lengths to convey just how hungry she was. (Carl & Kevin: We’re going to have some serious Pictionary competition on the girl’s team now) We had some mid-afternoon sandwiches and chips along with a few glasses of juice (on top of their last lunch at the RBS just a little over an hour before). The experience of having options is new and exciting, so they don’t want to miss a moment or opportunity!

Much effort will be required to adjust stomach schedules and taste buds since the orphanage offered many small meals throughout the day instead of the three we are accustomed to in the US, and there are fewer spices used. Back to dinner… Due to the number of planned attendees, Hilton had phoned ahead so some pizzas and other dishes were ready when we arrived (instead of the usual hour-long wait). The kids had fun with the Spaghetti Bolognaise while I enjoyed Cathe’s favorite, Penne Italia. Kate really connected with Ann from Belgium. To seal their new friendship, Kate traded her mood ring for Ann’s bracelet. We all had a lot of fun watching all of the moods of Kate shine through while she enjoyed being the center of attention!

Something else I have to mention is that the children are *VERY* accustomed to schedules, so I need to give a specific time for each event. Otherwise, they pester me with “Papa, when?” every few minutes. (After all, “Later” means you can ask again in 10 minutes, right?) I also learned that when I give a time, I had better be ready as well, because they won’t let me off the hook either, even if I’m running late because I had to interrupt my task to help either of them with something. Trying to post our blog entry last night was a perfect example. I told the kids we would be leaving for the restaurant at 6 pm, but I was still in the final throes of getting blogger to upload the latest pictures (without luck). By 6:15 I had the text uploaded but postponed the pictures so we could doubletime over to the restaurant. They were only a little flustered, but all that was forgotten once they saw the spread.

And last night! Now *THAT* was an adventure. Imagine two highly hyped kids who have just experienced something more significant then Christmas. Now imagine you’re the very tired parent trying to get them to go to sleep. It was a long night for me, and I’m sure, a longer night for them, but it didn’t last long enough! I suffered wake-up calls every two hours through the night. And based on photographic evidence (gotta love our little Paparazzi!), they seemed to have let me sleep a bit as well. In return, I had the pleasure of giving an 8 am wake up call and didn’t let anyone doze off for an afternoon nap.

Back to food: This morning was our first adventure with cold cereal. Neither was very impressed with the very healthy, but bland, whole grain Muesli that I’ve been eating since arrival. They did give it a try, but we didn’t get much further than that. Hopefully Raisinbran and Frosted Mini-Wheats go over better. Thank goodness for yogurt and Raspberry jelly! Breakfast was salvaged.

Although we’ll be heading for Almaty Monday, we had to replenish some groceries (the kids go through a lot of bread!). Heading out the door at 10:30 am we were greeted by some pretty chilly temperatures, but that didn’t slow down the kids at all and despite the short night, their batteries have recharged. After one last stop at the local bookstore to pick up a copy of “Garry Potter” for David and a copy of “Nina the Adventurer” for Kate, we headed to the Iceberg. I’m not going to miss that store, but will need to swing by and see Sasha the Kabob Guy one last time before we leave.

Back to the apartment to meet with Masha and receive our translated paperwork. The true weight of what Cathe and I have just done really sank in when I was handed the children’s new birth certificates which list us as their parents. Now that’s heavy burden, but it’s one which we are prepared to take the rest of the way! (Pray for us!!!!)

After Masha’s brief stay, we were all back out the door heading toward the Northern Kazakhstan Museum on Constitution Avenue. Cathe and I really enjoyed our first visit and today was no different with Kate and David. First, David grew some new antlers, then we moved into the natural history area and got a nice view of the full-sized Yurt on display. Next we moved upstairs to the political history section, with a wealth of memorabilia documenting the country’s status under the USSR, then finally to the nation’s independence, posing with the flag and seal of Kazakhstan.

Since it’s Saturday, the most popular day of the week for weddings, we had opportunity to see several couples coming to the town square for photos and spotted the white Town Car limo we had seen last weekend. While taking a couple photos, the black Town Car limo appeared. I really feel for the bride. I was dressed in my nice parka, with a ski cap, scarf, and gloves. There she was in her silky, short-sleeved wedding dress, trying not to look cold while the videographer did his work.

The day was topped off with another dinner adventure, this time a small affair with Suzanne and Hilton at the Slovenian Inn, our “other favorite” restaurant. Hopefully we will see them in Almaty next week. If not, definitely whenever we pass through Richmond. (Thanks for the Sudoku game! You guys are the greatest!) Walking back to the apartment, I could tell it was getting cold again (even this afternoon’s 20 degrees felt “warm” after this morning’s low!) since my face was tingling. Thank goodness the wind wasn’t blowing!

Keep praying that all the paperwork comes together so we can be home in a week!

We are Theirs!

2007-11-09T06:21:00.000-06:00

Day 45. Major events of the day: End of Waiting Period! (Wahooooo!), Paperwork, Lunch with the Director, Plane Tickets, and Dinner with Friends

Morning weather report: 0, feels like -9. Projected high: 19 (What happened to the forecast? Didn’t they adjust projections up yesterday? Maybe they don’t want to scare away the tourists?)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 50, and heading back to a high of 68 (that’s more like it!)

Today was a very hectic day! Many things to accomplish, and we haven’t even gotten to dinner time yet! On top of our tasks, Gary from Spain arrived yesterday to pick up his daughter, Anastasia, and departed today. It was enough to keep my head spinning, so Masha and Sasha really had their work cut out today!

I was up at 7 and tried to be as quiet as possible to let Gary and Anastasia sleep a little longer. They were both worn out from all of yesterday’s adventures. Gary joined me for a cup of coffee at 7:30 and wondered why I was up so early since it was still pitch dark outside (he thought it must have been 5am at the latest). Masha rang the doorbell at 9 and they were on their way to the airport.

Next, there were release papers to pick up from the court, take to the Dept of Ed for a little more processing then over to the Dept of Vital Statistics to have their new birth certificates issued and to submit passport applications. While Sasha carted passengers to the airport, Masha was busily doing the legwork for our family’s paperwork.

The doorbell rang at 12:30, and this time I was greeted by Masha who was wearing a grin that would rival the Cheshire Cat. She had our new birth certificates in hand! When she was told that there was a new procedure and that it would take 4 days to process the birth certificates, she applied some serious charm and pleaded since my visa will be expiring very soon (and that’s something else we need to work on!). She must have applied just the right charm, because she has them in hand!

We had a couple minutes to see the kids before our 1 pm lunch with the Director. They had been prepared to wait one more day and were speechless when I announced that they get to leave the RBS today (unless they wanted to wait until morning)! There was much scurrying and scrambling while I headed off to meet the Director and staff for lunch (they decided not to stay another day).

Lunch was a small affair, but it was a very nice touch to cap off our adventure. In attendance were Masha, Bill (me), the Director, Dinara (Asst Director), Ludmilla (our favorite teacher), Tatiana (the Social Worker), and Larissa (Asst Director). Although the Director did bring out a bottle of cognac and there were several toasts, I was fortunate that we went to lunch instead of late tea since there would have been more than just a few toasts. Along with the toasts were several questions regarding our need for assistant caregivers at home. Were it not for their commitment to the school, I think several would have volunteered to help us on the trip home.

Now that new birth certificates, showing our names as their parents, have been issued we could work on flights. Air Astana's online schedule didn’t look good, nor did the information at the travel agent’s office, so we decided to take the last three seats on Monday’s flight. We’ll do as much as we can, but we’ll still be waiting on passports before we can finish the process.

Officially released and about to hop into the car!

After a brief stop at the apartment for showers and a change of clothes, we’re heading to dinner at the Italian restaurant to celebrate with Ann & Miguel (from Belgium) and Suzanne and Hilton (from Richmond). Fortunately, we all (except the children) have eaten at this restaurant, so keep your fingers crossed since it will be my first un-assisted dining adventure with the kids. We’re now officially their parents, so there’s no turning back! Here they are showing off their new documents!

P.S. Cathe: Slug-bug Silver! (so there are at least two: this one and a yellow one)

Final Countdown

2007-11-07T03:45:00.001-06:00

Day 44. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 15 of 15! (Wahooooo!), Snow, Lights and The Last Day of Waiting!

Morning weather report: 13, feels like 0. Projected high: 21 (Brrr!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 35, and heading back to a high of 55 (we had those temps in Petro at the beginning of October!)

The good news is that temperature forecasts have edged up a little for the next few days! Overnight lows are now forecast as 11, 11, 11, 14, and 17 for the next 5 days instead of lows in the single digits. Unfortunately, the highest forecast temperature over the same 5 days is 26 on Sunday. Pretty likely that the rides at the Park will not be running this weekend! I’ve promised to take the kids back to the Donner Café this weekend instead.

Last night I had planned to finish reading the Robbins book on Kazakhstan so I could give it back to Hilton, but around 6 pm (when it was already dark outside), the power went out. It has done so on a couple infrequent and thankfully brief occasions. Cathe and I suspect it has something to do with our neighbors in the apartment next door because as soon as the lights would go out we could hear the wife yelling at the husband who would then go out into the hallway, flick his lighter, dig in the electrical box, and then the lights would come back on. He would go back into the apartment, and more yelling, mostly her, would ensue and then all would be happy once again. We couldn’t tell whether he was getting the tongue lashing for a) having done something himself, or b) not having made sure that there was adequate power for the wife’s needs. Either way, it sounded like something right out of the Honeymooners, just in Russian.

However, last night the power didn’t come back on after a few minutes, nor did I hear the Honeymooners going toe-to-toe. Since I was online and the laptop was running fine on battery power, I continued to work by the light from the screen. Then an hour went by, with no noise from next door and still no lights. The Honeymooners must have been out for the evening… I couldn’t call Masha since the cordless phone base station needed power, so I sent an e-mail. Another hour had passed when an e-note from Suzanne popped into my in box. A quick response outlining my plight quickly brought help in the form of an e-mail from Masha. Suzanne called Masha’s cell phone, then Masha called her dad’s cell phone, but he was still at the train station waiting for a package and the train was running late, but he could probably come by 9 pm, then Masha summarized it all in an e-mail back to me, all before my battery ran out.

By the time my laptop reached 7% power remaining and was starting automatic shutdown around 8:45 pm, I looked out the peep hole in the door and noticed the little 15 watt hallway light was on. The power panel cover looks pretty harmless, so I decided to have a look into the electrical box. What a mess of wires, switched, fuses, and circuit breakers! But wait! Two of the three circuit breakers had tripped, so I took a chance and reset them. Viola! Power was restored to the apartment and the lights came back on. At least I got to read another hour or so before deciding to call it a night.

Today was another early visit, and we stayed on campus today. Masha, the cruise activity coordinator extraordinaire, had figured out how to juggle a day full of conflicting activities necessitating covering quite a bit of territory to accomplish. Gary from Spain is coming back today to pick up his daughter Anastasia, so Masha and Sasha needed to gather up all of her paperwork and head out to Poludino to fetch her (as Masha says) before Gary’s flight arrives. A quick follow-up call from Masha confirmed that I wouldn’t mind going earlier for my visit with Kate and David while she made the hour trek (each way) out to Poludino and back, giving me about 2 1/2 hours on my own to communicate with the kids. (Cathe and I met Gary and his wife Susanna in the Almaty airport as they were going home for the Waiting Period and we were just arriving.) Sounded easy enough!

David, having more experience with English, knows many words and is well on his way toward forming complete sentences. Kate, who has less experience is quickly picking up words, but is less confident in trying to use them and is further frustrated when David chimes in before she has a chance to answer. Deciding not to go deep on academics today, I was satisfied when the each successfully ran through the basic Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why cards and let them focus in their interest areas. While David hit the keyboard, our little gymnast, dancer, fashion model, paparazzi, banshee went to work in front of and behind the camera, trying to keep Dad’s attention, with the help of one of her favorite friends.

Once I had explained tomorrow’s plan (which makes for a VERY full day), they were both happy, especially when I mentioned visiting the Air Astana office to buy our tickets from Petropavlovsk to Almaty. They have both played with Google Earth and have seen how far it is from just Petro to Almaty, and know that Memphis is a loooong way from Almaty, but I don’t think the full scale of our coming journey has sunken in just yet. “Ok, so you’ve got a lot of paperwork and some plane tickets to buy tomorrow. When do we get to go back to the Café?” was the next question. Gotta love kids and their priorities! After that, they both settled into their favorite activities until Masha’s return signaled the end of another days visit.

A quick walk to the Iceberg after returning form today’s visit confirmed that cold weather (at least to us) has officially arrived, as indicated by the frost patterns on the balcony enclosure windows! Now it’s time to just sit back and relax while the final hours of our Post Court Waiting Period pass into history.

Snow and Cold!

2007-11-07T03:45:00.000-06:00

Day 43. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 14 of 15 (Only 1 more to go!), Snow, Pictures and Shopping.

Morning weather report: 29, feels like 22. Projected high: 29 with falling temperatures and a dusting of snow!
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 32 (Freeze warning in effect!), and heading back to a high of 55 (sounds more like the end of lawn mowing season for those Bermuda grass lawns!)

Another cold morning, this time with a light dusting of snow. It’s coming down in a fine powder, covering everything in a thin layer of white. Definitely a good day for a very brief picture and shopping outings, but not much else than a quick return to the apartment to warm back up. Since today was a non-visiting day, I worked my way through more of the Robbins book. (It had a slow start, but is now very interesting, so I’ll probably finish it tonight).

Reviewing the blog before starting today’s entry, I noticed that it didn’t look like yesterday’s post posted, so I read along. Ah! The 12 hour time difference caused the entry to fall on Monday back home (or whatever time zone, probably Pacific, the Blog Repository is retained). I had posted earlier than usual since we had a morning visit. It’s there!

The Leaf Sweepers were back out in force this morning, but this time they were attacking the light snow which fell overnight. Tools of choice: Brooms made of bundled twigs and wooden snow shovels. I did see a few using coal shovels though. There was also a bobcat tractor outfitted with a sweeper going down Constitution Avenue, making much faster work than the Leaf Sweepers. I also saw one of the city plow trucks. Like in the US, it had a blade on the front, but it also had a sweeper underneath to push any un-plowed slush to the curb, and it was spreading sand in the intersections from the back. A very practical, multi-function vehicle!

Despite the cold, I did walk the length of Constitution avenue and take a couple nice photos with snow. Maybe I’ll get lucky and see a little more snow before departing. After all, if it’s going to be this cold, there might as well be some snow to pretty things up! I don’t know if it will help the overall exterior appearance of my apartment building though. It looked better when the trees still had leaves.

Mid-day temperature check: 26, feels like 15! Brrr! Good news is that the mud and puddles are freezing. Bad news is that any sidewalk that wasn’t swept earlier now had a polished layer of compacted snow and is VERY slippery. Some of the women are still wearing their stylish high-heeled boots, despite the treacherous conditions. Most I observed today were wearing more appropriate wet-weather boots, probably more to protect their investments than anything else.

When I first went outside, I was tempted to go for a longer walk today since the calm in the apartment complex courtyard didn’t feel so bad. Rounding the corner of the building, I walked right into the north wind and decided to keep my afternoon walk shorter today. Wind chill factor has a way of helping you decide such little things! But I still got a reasonable walk and some gift and grocery shopping done. The cold wasn't so bad once I got moving. My Columbia Parka is really doing its job! Perhaps I’m just not used to it since the cold doesn’t seem to deter even the little children from going to the playground!

It’s nice to have an occasional “down day,” but I sure do miss the kids and will be looking forward to another early visit. Two last quick items: 1) Congratulations to Elizabeth from Richmond who had court today, and 2) Keep Ann from Belgium in your prayers since she has court tomorrow.

One last Post Court Waiting Period day to go! Then things will get REALLY busy as we wrap paperwork and begin working our way home. The next two weeks are going to be hectic!

Global Economy

2007-11-05T05:10:00.001-06:00

Day 42. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 13 of 15 (only 2 more to go!), Another early visit, Studies, and A little info about the Holidays.

Morning weather report: 34, feels like 23. Projected high: 39 with rain all day. (definitely an in-door activity day!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 33 (Getting close to the freezing mark!), and heading back to a high of only 55 (sounds more like Petro weather back in October!)

Yesterday I really got a first-hand view of the impact of the global economy here. On the way to the RBS, we were behind a Japanese car (Toyota) with Russian license plates, in Kazakhstan, followed by a Russian car (Lada), driven by Kazakstani’s of Russian descent (versus the more Asian Kazakhs) with an American in the back. (Sorry about the blurry picture, we were bouncing along the road and the lighting wasn’t all that great) On the way back today, I spotted a car with German license plates from Tübbingen, a town I remember from my past trips to Germany, further exemplifying the globalness of the local economy. We have even spotted a few Hummer H3s and a Cadillac Escalade, along with other vehicles from around the world. A couple weeks ago I also spotted a SUV with Temporary Tags from Virginia. Now that’s global!

Today has been rainy and getting colder. We topped out at 38 around noon, and the temperature has been falling since. Masha indicated that today’s weather is “more normal” for the fall than the “unusually warm” weather we have had up to now. “But it’s not cold yet!” she says. (I’m glad we won’t get to see the REAL cold temperatures of January and February! High temperatures through the weekend are not forecast to get above freezing, with a few nights dipping into the low single digits. Tomorrow light snow is predicted. Outdoor activities will be limited to a few brisk walks to the market.

There were a few questions from home regarding Christmas and how it is celebrated here. We already knew that Orthodox Christmas is observed on January 7th instead of the Christian Christmas on December 25th, but weren’t sure what people here do to observe the holiday. I asked the kids if they knew what Christmas was, and they quickly answered, “To celebrate the birth of Jesus.” Right on the mark there!

Masha was kind enough to fill us in on how the holidays are celebrated in Kazakhstan:

In Kazakhstan, New Year’s is celebrated more then Christmas. Around December 20th we decorate the house and buy a New Year’s tree. All the stores are decorated much like in the US. Ice City is also built in December on Constitution Avenue in one of the open squares.

For New Year’s Day, we visit with guests. Some people celebrate with a big dinner in restaurants while others celebrate at home. Every family makes their favorite family dishes. There is nothing special for the New Year and Christmas, but many families make PELMENI (meat in dough, boiled or steamed), which is really popular here. There is also plenty of wine, vodka and champagne to help celebrate...

Children have parties at school and go to events at the theater. Santa Claus is called DED MOROS ("Grandpa Frost"). He always comes with his grandchild who is called SNEGUROCHKA (SNEG means "snow") They bring gifts to the kids, so on January 1st, the children find presents under the New Year's tree. Christmas is on the 7th of January and is more of a quiet family holiday. We stay at home with our closest family and friends, but don’t give presents to each other.

Thank you, Masha!

Today’s visit was focused on the basics. After a quick snack of favorite sandwiches (Kate loves PB&J, while David enjoyed his Ham & Cheese), we got down to the business of covering the basic “Who, What, Where, When, How & Why” terms. Since we will be on our own in just a few days, we are trying to make the most of Masha’s assistance in building communication skills.

We slowly reviewed the basic questions and how to ask for the things that we will need such as, I’m hungry, I’m tired, Can I have something to drink, Where is the bathroom, and so on. More than a few pouts when we didn’t let up on the drills until we had reviewed everything, but we made it through. Kate and David are quickly catching on and understand that we have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks.

Finally we worked our way through the flash cards and notes and got to do a quick e-mail check to see what new questions friends and family have been asking. Kate and David already feel like they know some of you and are looking forward to meeting in person.

Alas, it was once again time to head back to the RBS, but we did get in one more photo. Kids are kids everywhere!

Respect Me

2007-11-05T05:10:00.000-06:00

Day 41. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 12 of 15 (only 3 more to go!), A morning visit with the Director, Rain, Snow Flurries, and Cold!

Morning weather report: 44, feels like 39. Projected high: 44 and rainy (we’re at the high temp today!) Temperature will drop toward 30 throughout the day, with gusty winds as a cold front passes through.
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 44, but heading back to a high of 77 (break out the swimsuits!)

This morning stated out very dreary with rain. Fortunately, it’s warmer than originally predicted so at least we didn’t have the sleet that had been forecast (it’s still in tomorrow’s prediction though). Cold, rain/sleet then snow is forecast for next two days, with temperatures predicted to dip into the teens by Wednesday and not break the freezing mark the rest of the week. Brrrrr! None of the trees have any leaves left.

We had a fun discussion on the way back to the RBS yesterday, discussing nicknames. Specifically, some of the ones in their Family Group. For example, one boy is called “Fish,” because he’s always making a “fish lips” face when any of the girls walk by. Then David was asked whether he had a nickname. A little squirming, but no response. Kate was quiet on that one too, so I suggested “Poochy-mu” (Почему is Russian for “Why?”) in honor of all the questions the judge asked him. We nearly ran off the road since we were all laughing so hard (even Sasha)! It’s nice to know that we all have a good sense of humor.

Today we broke routine with a morning visit, so Sasha and Masha picked me up at 10 am, shortly after the rain stopped. Since the kids are now on school break (Nov 4th – 12th), coupled with a brief water outage this morning, breakfast was served a bit later than usual so I got to venture down “The Forbidden Hallway” as Cathe calls it, to see them at breakfast. It’s the hallway with the cafeteria, where David and Kate would quickly disappear at the conclusion of our late afternoon visits earlier on in our adoption process, never to be seen again, or at least until our next daily visit, since 5 pm is snack time (dinner isn’t until 8 pm). I was able to catch a couple quick photos before retreating to let them finish.

While waiting for the kids to finish breakfast, I met up with the Director. Last time I had seen him was a brief moment the day the TV crew was at the RBS filming a Republic Day celebration. Anyway, I kept missing him this past week and I wanted to drop off a small gift Cathe and I brought for him. Good thing I saw him today since he also wanted to invite me to tea on Thursday. My presently not-so-full calendar social calendar will be completely full after that!

Since the weather was blustery, we headed back to our favorite spot during the Bonding Period, Ludmilla’s classroom. Kate wanted to show off her “Best Student” award. (I’ll have to ask which subject it is for) and David could hardly wait to dig out the computer. Not so fast! It was time to play a few flashcard games and a few other kids joined in. (There were a couple grumbles to the effect of, “Papa, we’re on school break! Why do we have to study more?” but they didn’t last long once we started having fun)

We have mastered the alphabet with the exception of the occasional slips with letters which have identical counterparts in Cyrillic (but are pronounced differently), so today’s drill was a little different. First we went through the cards and named the picture that was on each to represent the letter. Then we played a game of High-Low in which I held up two cards and the kids had to indicate which comes first. I did my best Regis Philbin imitation with a, “Is that your final answer?” approach before marking the score. David started out strong, but the girls caught up after a couple trick questions. Over eagerness was David’s demise as the girls took a moment longer to think before responding. Up to now, we had focused on teaching Kate the ABC song since David knew the letters. We’ll have to work a bit more on alphabetical order to help with dictionary drills.

After a few more pleas to dig out the computer were met with “Позже” (later), Kate happily got work in her coloring book while David and I did some more work in the picture dictionary. He’s really good at matching the English word to the right object or action, so I covered up the text and started pointing to objects. Not a happy camper! After 15 minutes, he begged for a break and took a quick picture of me in a stern, School Master pose. With that, our lessons were over for the day.

FINALLY the computer came out of the bag so I could show Kate and David some new pictures Cathe sent from home (thankfully compressed so I could download them over dial-up!). Yesterday some very good friends from church came over and helped rearrange some furniture to complete preparations for the children’s arrival. In short order they converted our guest room into a suitable little girl’s room for Kate (we had already painted and decorated, but left adult-sized furniture in place for Scott, our house sitter). Then David’s new Captain’s Bunk was set up and the transformation was complete. Both kids were VERY happy with the results. (Thanks guys for all the help!)

Two hours had flown by, and it was time to go. It was an interesting change visiting in the morning instead of the late afternoon. You have a completely different perspective on the day’s schedule. “Getting the daily visit out of the way” isn’t exactly the right term, but it’s close. Once you wrap up a morning visit, there is still a lot of day left to do something. Too bad it had to be on a day with crummy weather!

In just two hours, the temperature had dropped, the wind had picked up, and there were snow flurries in the air. Masha and Sasha took me over to the Big Flea Market so I could get one more unique Kazakhstan souvenir: KZ stickers. While there, I also picked up a “Caution: Woman Driver” sticker which has “Respect Me” written at the bottom (my dictionary also offers and alternative term: “Admire Me”). The rest of today will be spent reading more of the book on Kazakhstan. Tune in tomorrow for a fresh update!

The Longest Day (So Far!)

2007-11-04T08:31:00.000-06:00

Day 40. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 11 of 15 (only 4 more to go!), A long day, Lunch at the Apartment, Church

Morning weather report: 31, feels like 22. Projected high: 45 and mostly sunny
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 38! (breaking another “barrier”!), but heading back to a high of 70 (it was barely that warm in the Botanical Garden greenhouse and felt HOT!)

After my “False Call” last week, our friends back in the US have finally ended Daylight Saving Time. Since Moscow adjusted DST last week, I didn’t think about it until all of the “gentle reminders” poured in (it was almost like I had called a false BINGO or something!). Memphis is now 12 hours “out-of-sync” with Petropavlovsk, so I can finally adjust my dual time zone watch. Of course, that means I have a little more time to update the blog in the evening and to chat with Cathe, but I also get an extra hour in the morning (her evening) to chat before bed time. It’s nice to be able to stay in touch over the thousands of miles between us.

The days are getting much shorter and the weather forecast is indicating much colder weather coming in just a few more days. This morning I went for a walk down Constitution Avenue at 10 am but the sun was still very low in the sky. The bare trees left very long shadows. By 6 pm when we dropped off the kids, it was already getting dark. Today reached a whopping 45 degrees, but it still felt warm so we unzipped our jackets. I suppose it is all relative to how cold it gets overnight. The next two days will top out in the 30s, but after that we’re not even going to break the freezing mark for a while. Maybe I will get a little use out of my new Russian hat before heading home after all!

Two milestones to report today: 1) We can now count on one hand the number of days the kids have remaining at the RBS before their last trip back! 2) Today was the longest visit so far, seven whole hours!

The intent today was to begin transitioning to more of a “normal” sort of routine we would see at home instead of going somewhere or having some big event. One thing that several adoptive families have mentioned is the importance of forming a family routine. Coming from an environment where they are surrounded by other kids and something is always going on, it’s going to take some time. It’s also a good time to begin transitioning from trying to pack in as much fun as possible during short visits to the reality of 24 x 7. Despite the lower-scale level of activity, I’m still pretty worn out!

The kids were at the gate this morning, anxiously awaiting our arrival. They started jumping up and down as soon as they spotted Sasha’s car turning into the driveway. It’s nice to know that they are just as excited to see me as I am to see them. Sasha stopped at the gate and the kids piled in, only momentarily disappointed that we first had to go to the office to sign them out for the day. After a few minutes we were on our way back to the apartment and they wanted to know what was planned for the day. Talk about high energy, short attention span! They want to do everything. Now! 8-D (Did I mention that I’m really worn out today???)

Although no one was home, the kids insist on pressing the door buzzer every time we come to the apartment, just to make sure their arrival has been properly announced. It has become our arrival ritual. Not sure how they’re going to handle things at home since we usually come in through the garage. Maybe they’ll take turns running to the front door to let Bob know we’re home…

After a small snack (they were too excited this morning to eat much breakfast, so they were a bit hungry), it was time to prepare some lunch. Yesterday I prepared some Krab Salad, one of our favorites since arriving, along with some kielbasa and potatoes. The kids had already spotted some cookies Masha brought today, so I had to keep practicing my, “No. We’re going to have those later,” line. A few pouts and pleas of “Папа, пожалуйста” (daddy, pleeeeeezzzzzeee!) didn’t render the desired effect, they finally accepted the fact that Dad wasn’t going to budge and they would just have to wait a while. (Don’t worry Cathe, your turn IS coming!)

One thing I did discover today is that we will have to slowly work spices into their diets. Even a little garlic and paprika on the potatoes resulted is a large amount of bread and milk being consumed. Fearing I had over done it a bit with the spices (Cathe always accuses me of doing that), I checked with Masha who kindly reassured me that everything was fine and that they’re just not used to spices. Since Cathe and I consume a fair amount of garlic and onions, we’ll have to ratchet back a little (lot), at least at first!

An interesting side note is that Cathe had dinner with our neighbors back home last night and also made Krab Salad as well as our second favorite, Carrot Salad. Now knowing that the kids aren’t used to garlic, I understand why they politely turned down second helping of Carrot Salad last time we had it as a family: There is a LOT of garlic in the recipe, which is why Cathe and I like it so much! Despite the kids taste buds needing a little adjustment, we now know what we’ll be taking to future pot-luck suppers! (I also hear that Carl REALLY likes the “For Men” chocolate and Kevin is refusing to share any with Andrea since, It’s For Men! and has the "Not for Womem" symbol on the back!)

Even before the lunch dishes were washed and put away, David and Kate began looking for something to do. David is happy to spend hours typing on the computer and quickly opened the laptop while Kate took command of the TV and remote in the master bedroom. It didn’t take her long to get very comfortable.

David happily relinquished control of the keyboard when I told him we had new pictures from home. I don’t know how Kate heard me over the local version of Cartoon Network, but she immediately appeared as well. The kids REALLY enjoyed seeing new pictures from home and even had a chance to glance at the blog entries and the pictures we have been posting. The wanted me to be sure to tell everyone back home just how much they’re looking forward to meeting everyone that they’re excited to know that Bob has just as many neighborhood friends as they will soon have. They really want to meet Nikki and Klaus too.

After computer time, we headed outside to enjoy the last “warm” day we will see for a while. Swings and feeding the pigeons were big hits. I’m sure we’ll be making many trips over to the Bartlett Performing Arts Center to feed the ducks and geese.

Last event of the day was to go to church. It was a packed house today and they’re starting to understand a little more about what church means to our family. They wanted to know if we would still be coming here on Sundays or if we would to another church at home. Again, thanks to Masha for clarifying the time-distance relativity factor! Kate and David are now just as excited about meeting our church family as they are about their new school and all of our extended family!

We’re all counting down their last few remaining days at the RBS.

Fashion Models and Botanical Gardens

2007-11-03T02:46:00.001-05:00

Day 39. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 10 of 15 (only 5 more to go!),

Morning weather report: 38, feels like 32, with light sleet in the am. Projected high: 45 and sunny
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 45 (today’s high temp in Petro!), heading back to 69

Since arriving, the temperatures have taken a significant dive and the number of daylight hours has decreased. Today’s sunrise was at 8:29 am and sunset will be at 5:43 pm, giving us less than 9 hours and 15 minutes of daylight. We’re still more than a month from the shortest day of the year, Dec 21st. Does anyone who was here remember how short that day will be? How about June 21st?

The long range forecast indicates there is some wintry weather heading this way. Thursday’s projected high is in the low 20s… Brrrrr! But today was warm again, warmer than projected, reaching into the upper 40s.

Kate was a real fashion model today. She had a pair of rose-colored sunglasses, so she could always see the world that way. David had to give them a try too, but they didn’t work as well. Not the fashion statement he’s looking for, I suppose. 8-D

The first question from both the kids came before the car doors were even closed: Where are we going today!?!?!?!? They pouted a bit when I explained that we were heading to the Botanical Gardens. “That’s boring! We REALLY want to go to the Park!” We have already been there two weekends and had a lot of fun on the rides, but it was time for something different today. I’m not sure exactly what Masha said, something like, “Your Dad has seen the Park and would like to do something different.” They weren’t the happiest campers, but decided that it was ok to do something dad wanted to do for a change, even if it would be boring for them. They’re really GREAT kids!

It would be very easy to miss the gardens since the signage leaves something to be desired. Sasha turned into a non-descript alley and dropped us at a little gate with a sign no bigger than an 8.5 x 11” piece of paper. Their glum attitudes quickly disappeared as soon as we saw several wedding parties that had come to the gardens for pictures. Then their elevated ho-hum attitudes turned into glee when we saw the duck and goose pen. The geese were VERY vocal and seemed annoyed that no one brought them bread today. One even tried to take a bit out of a gent’s coat as a gentle reminder to bring bread next time!

All the outdoor flowers had withered due to the successive days of heavy frost. Masha kindly told the children to be patient because there were some indoor displays and live birds and fish for them to see as well. The kids handled it well, and we proceeded inside to pay. Admission was reasonable, 600 kzt for all four of us, including the extra 100 kzt for the picture permit. From that point on, the kids were excited since there really was a lot for them to see, including a wedding party taking pictures around one of the fountains.

First we went to see the animal displays so the wedding group could finish its pictures. The botanical garden’s animal display was ok, but animal display at the Northern Kazakhstan Museum is definitely better. We went into the hot house and looked at a few of the flowers, well past their prime. They grow all of the flowers for the outdoor display here, so they are gearing down for winter. Then into the tropical greenhouse where things were much nicer. We had fun at the fountain when the kids noticed the Koi and were impressed when I leaned out and put a coin on the top of the center statue. They each tossed one and made a wish for good luck. They were further impressed when I pointed out a lemon tree and banana tree.

We worked our way through, taking many pictures. Today was a real photo-shooting opportunity. The best part came when I found a palm tree where people write their names and the date they visited. (Hilton and Suzanne and a couple other families know about all the graffiti!) And we added our own mark for good luck. We only wish Cathe were here to enjoy this part as well, though we left our whole family mark.

Next, we went upstairs. David enjoyed the mounted animal heads in the stairway and wanted to know if we could get a reindeer head for over our fireplace. (I didn’t mention the “discussion” Cathe and I had on one trip to Michigan when I found a HUGE moose head in an antique store… I still think we need something over the fireplace!) Upstairs offered many more neat things to see. There was an intricate model of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, made out of matchsticks. There were also several displays of children’s artwork from local schools. Both Kate and David paused at one very nice work done by a fourth grade student from the Northern Kazakhstan Children’s Home. They were amazed that some students had done such nice work which was now on display for all visitors to see. Masha helped me explain that they too will have opportunities to have their future work displayed once we’re back home.

As we headed back outside, David remarked that he thought the trek to the botanical gardens was going to be BORING, but that he really enjoyed the visit. Kate added a quick, “Да, тоже.” (Yes, me too).

Back outside, Kate paused under a “Ribbon Tree” where newly married couples add a bow (like the one on the way to the airport). She told us that some day she will add a bow when she gets married. (Maybe we’ll start the tradition back home in MANY years?)

We ran into yet another wedding party, this time one using one of the two Lincoln Towncar limos in town (sorry, someone already beat us to that franchise opportunity). Sasha said the other one had come and gone while we were inside. The kids didn’t pause to hear him since they were fascinated with the one parked by Sasha’s car.

After a brief atop at the apartment for a few snacks and some more paperwork (will it EVER end?), it was again time to make the long, quiet drive back to the RBS. Each day it gets a little harder to make that trip, but thankfully, we won’t be making that trip many more times.

While waiting for tomorrow’s visit, I’ll be plowing through a few more pages in the Christopher Robbins book. It has been an interesting, quick read, providing more insight into the history of Kazakhstan. Thanks Hilton for giving me a little something more to do during the non-visiting hours of each day!

How many pictures?!?!?!?!

2007-11-02T05:52:00.000-05:00

Day 38. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 9 of 15 (only 6 more to go!), 2,237 Pictures, and a little Sight Seeing

Morning weather report: 21, feels like 15. Projected high: a 37, but clear
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 42 (Brrrr!), heading back to 62 (better break out the winter jackets! (wanna trade?!?!?))

Before posting I did a quick check on the number of pictures we have taken in the past 38 days: 2,237! Granted, not all of them are "keepers," but if we do keep 1 in 10, then we have over 200 great shots. Several people have said that you just can't take enough pictures to document your stay in Kazakhstan. I have to agree. Be sure to bring a couple memory chips. Blank CDs and DVDs are pretty reasonable "over here," so you can back up those memories. Our camera also takes movies, which eat up some space, but help capture some of the sounds along with the sights. We passed on bringing a video camera in favor of upgrading our still camera. I think we made a great choice...

Two weather updates: 1) This morning’s low was a little colder than the projected 29 I expected. It was COLD. 2) This afternoon I went for a walk dressed for the projected 38, but ended up taking off the hat (knit one, not fur one!) and unzipping my coat half-way. I actually worked up a sweat during my two hour brisk stroll since I was a little overdressed. Doing a quick check of MSN weather before I started writing revealed “48, feels like 45.” I’ll believe that.

Heavy frost the past two mornings coupled with yesterday’s light snow has knocked the last of the leaves off the trees. Taking advantage of the “warm” afternoon, the leaf sweepers were out in force (anyone want to go together to send a shipping container full of leaf blowers for next fall? Sasha can be our in-country rep!).

With the exception of the botanical gardens and picnic spot, I think I’ve been by just about all the points of interest annotated on Jim & Jen’s map (thanks guys!). I’ll have a few more to recommend adding as well. Today I mostly wandered over to get a few pictures of places I had seen in passing. There’s an old Russian house which is now an art museum and is very picture-worthy. I hope to take the kids there, or at least to the Kazakhstan museum before we leave. I also took a few quick shots of the Dept of Vital Records where the kids’ new birth certificates will be prepared and filed (it’s also the place where we got their passport photos). Across the street is a nice piece of artwork, surrounded by a crumbling façade. Masha tells me that it the wedding chapel where most couples are married.

From there, I headed over to the big flea market and made a lap of the perimeter in search of the German restaurant that Suzanne and Hilton mentioned. Didn’t find it, so I headed back toward the Iceberg to pick up some groceries, and “Shazaam!” as Gomer used to say. Right past the Jaguar children’s clothing, there it was. I’ll have to come back and try it, but tonight is a Shashlik night and I already planned to see Sahsa the Kabob Guy for some more of his fare.

After a quick trip through the Iceberg and a side-trip to see Sasha, I headed back to the apartment to post the day’s events. The rest of my evening will be spent reading more of a book called, “In Search of Kazakhstan: The Land That Disappeared” by Christopher Robbins (not the Winnie-the-Pooh guy!). It has a 2007 copyright and mentions the wrong impressions Americans have of Kazakhstan, specifically due to a recent comedy movie. It is an interesting read so far and will probably only take a day or two to plow through. I’ll give a brief review when finished.

Tomorrow the kids are coming back to the apartment and I’m cooking dinner! Cathe and I really enjoyed the days when we could sit down to eat together at our apartment, “the place where we’re staying until we all go home.” Until tomorrow, До Завтра!

Hats, Snow Flurries, and English Lessons

2007-11-01T07:36:00.000-05:00

Day 37. Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 8 of 15 (only 7 more to go!), Hat Shopping, Snow flurries, and Language Lessons

Morning weather report: 26, feels like 26. Projected high: a 39 with fog (we won’t even hit 40 today!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 54, heading back to 75 (missing that weather!)

This morning was COLD! Even Masha and Sasha added another layer today. Since I had not been wearing a hat up to this point, they figured it was time to help the hapless American find something to keep him from freezing his Голову. Although there wasn't any accumulation, a very fine power was coming down when they picked me up for our shopping trek. Since Nov 1st is the "typical" date of the first snowfall in Petropavlovsk, Sasha commented that the weather had arrived right on schedule!

A few days ago I had mentioned that I wanted to get a hat after seeing several gents wearing their traditional Russian hats (yes, it’s true. They don’t just wear them in the movies! Sasha wanted to steer me toward a very practical hat like his, a leather cabbie hat with a fold-down flap to keep ears and neck warm when it gets really cold (-20 to -40 in Jan & Feb). It only took a moment to explain that I brought a nice knit cap (which fits in perfectly with the locals), so I’m fine in that department since I don’t plan to be here when it’s THAT cold. (I just don’t wear it since my hair stands up when I take it off.)

After explaining to Masha that I really wanted something that would be more of a souvenir than something I would wear here or at home, we headed off to the big market. The market is a little like a flea market in some areas (you can buy a lot of re-cycled car parts, tools, bicycle parts, and handicrafts), in others it is full of small shops, some indoors, some outside, where you can buy all sorts of clothing and who knows what else. First we went to a really nice shop which had top quality, genuine mink hats. I tried on a couple for size, but had to pass since they were so expensive (I’m sure they are worth every nickel, but they ranged up to several hundred dollars for the best ones).

After thanking the gracious shopkeeper, we headed to a smaller shop/stand around the corner which had excellent quality rabbit fur hats which were more in line with the budget. One with genuine fold down flaps was about $100, but they also had ones which look the same, but the flaps aren’t functional. Finally settling on the $50 model, I took a couple minutes to try on some of the others as well. Despite all of the interesting situations Masha observed while shopping with us, she never did more than smile and offer kind recommendations to steer us in the right direction. Today she let loose some serious laughs as I went through the styles, so I must have been completely out of character, especially when trying on a fox hat which made me look like Chevy Chase in “Spies Like Us.” She did like the one I selected and said, “Now you look like a real Russian.” (Except that I continue to wear my faded jeans and docksider shoes instead of the darker clothing and pointy-toed shoes the locals favor.) At least my dark blue Columbia parka fits in, and is perfectly suited to the weather (I had to zip the fleece liner back in a couple days ago once temps started hitting the low 30s).

Next we were off to look for women’s hats. Now that’s a tough one! Women’s hats, boots, and jackets are high fashion in Kazakhstan. Since many people live in small apartments or houses, they tend to have fewer things (due to space limitations), but tend to be much more dressy than most Americans. There were too many to choose from, everything from very nice fur hats, to poofy 1970’s disco-style hats (which in my humble opinion look like a large melon) to close-fitting, stylish hats. Since Cathe admired one of Masha’s hats, we went to a shop selling those and I selected a nice black one with scarf. Masha was kind enough to model it for us.

Even with all the laughs and a few photos, our shopping adventure was less than 45 minutes end-to-end, so I still had some time to prepare today’s activity for the kids: Naming common household items in English. Armed with a pad of sticky notes (thanks Masha!) and a marker from the Zebra store (great place to get greeting cards, across the street from our apartment and only a few doors down from the Birch Store), I scouted around the apartment jotting down English names of things from the front door, bathroom, living room, and bedroom areas, and arranged them in categories on the coffee table.

You should have seen the looks of dismay after “fetching” the kids and returning to the apartment after their long day of school. The last thing they wanted to do was more homework! (kids are kids everywhere!) They had some pretty long faces and Kate tried her best pouty pose when they noticed that the computer was put away and the coffee table held an array of brightly colored sticky notes, English-Russian dictionary, and a couple note pads. Their dismay quickly turned into curiosity when we explained the purpose of today’s exercise. I also dropped a few hints about a “surprise” at the end of the drill. (Masha helping David on the first few).

The stickies were written only in English. The kids had to look up the English name, write in the Russian name, and place the notes in the appropriate location in the apartment. After working a few easy ones like Door and Window, they got a little harder. Perhaps the hardest thing is that there are a lot of similar letters between the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets which are completely different (e.g. our “C” is an “S,” and our “P” is an “R” in Cyrillic), but they got the hang of it and their curiosity turned into excitement as they proceeded from one item to the next and we worked our way through the apartment.

Last stop was the kitchen. David figured out the refrigerator, cabinets, and drawers while Kate handled the stove, oven and freezer. Kate had the last word, “Ice Cream Cone,” thought about it for a minute then went back to the freezer and labeled the treasure. There was only a momentary pause while she figured out the meaning of the last one, and ran back to the freezer to pull out the treats, which were quickly enjoyed by all.

We had a few minutes left before our appointed return to the RBS, so Kate went exploring and asked about the hats, insisting that I model mine. She giggled when I came out of the bedroom wearing Cathe’s new hat, then just had to try on my new hat. She really looks “High Fashion” wearing the oversized men’s hat with her Tennessee Titans shirt!

Sadly, our time was up. I won’t be seeing them tomorrow, but we are working on plans for the weekend to celebrate the end of their school term, their last in Kazakhstan before going home.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T06:43:00.000-05:00

Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 7 of 15 (only 8 more to go!), Happy Halloween!, a quick visit, and DVD formats

Morning weather report: 30, feels like 25. Projected high: a whopping 41 and “fair” (although the noon temperature is projected to be only 37)… Good thing they don’t trick-or-Treat here ‘cause they would have to buy extra large costumes to fit over their coats!
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 47, heading back to 71 (Great trick-or-Treat weather!)

Hello again from dreary Kazakhstan! The weather these past two days has been colder and a little foggy. There’s a definite feel of snow in the air. It won’t be long before I get to see how they handle snow removal around here…

Pretty quiet day overall. With Cathe back home and now 11 hours out of sync, we only have a short time to chat. It is nice to know that everyone back home is right here with us during the looooong process.

Many e-mails have been flying back and forth, keeping us informed on everything going on back home. You really have to love the modern marvel of instantaneous, world-wide communication, even at dial-up speed. Being able to stay in almost-real-time touch with friends and family has really helped the time go by quickly. Kate and David have also enjoyed receiving questions from the other students too. They’re just as excited about meeting all of you as you are to meet them.

It’s odd to think that Cathe’s getting ready to start her first official day back at school while I’m just returning from another daily visit with the kids. Despite the distance and the time difference, it’s nice to know that we can stay connected. For everyone who has been asking, AOL Instant Messenger works flawlessly. We have even been able to use the audio connect feature to actually talk back and forth ($3/hr internet versus the cost of a phone call). It’s not quite telephone quality and there is about a half second delay, but it sure nice to hear a voice on the other end of the wire.

In addition to missing out on the most excellent Shashlik prepared by Sasha the Kabob Guy, she’s also missing her favorite Russian Sitcom, “Счастливый Вмѐсте” (“Happy Together”) and Al Bumpkin’s version of the “He Man Woman Haters Club,” on TNT.

Happy Halloween to all of our friends back home! It’s not celebrated in Kazakhstan, so we had to resort to our own scary picture (Sorry George, those aren’t masks!). Be sure to save us a piece or two of candy when we come knocking a little late...

Cathe didn’t mention it before, but “pre-kids” we have been taking Bob around the neighborhood. All of his doggie friends give out nice puppy treats. Be sure to bring your pet if you’re in the neighborhood! Next year Cowboy Bob will be joined by Princess Kate and Pirate David. (Bob says that he can hardly wait for his kids to come home)

On to the days events: I began the afternoon by going to lunch with Elizabeth at the Slovenian Inn. It’s a really great place to eat and has an English menu to help us out a bit instead of taking the Wheel of Fortune approach and just picking something that looks good in Cyrillic. Elizabeth is adopting twin girls from the RBS and received word last night that her court date is next Wednesday. (Please keep her in your prayers too)

Today was an “off-day” for visitation, so the kids were surprised when I arrived (compliments to Elizabeth’s driver). David was REALLY disappointed that the computer was not in my bag and Kate cringed when she saw the flash cards coming out. They’re both doing very well with their English studies, but don’t want more school right after the school day (normal kids!). They searched my bag better than any TSA rep ever would, perhaps hoping I had hidden the big computer in a small pocket. Then the hidden treats were discovered (it is Halloween after all) and their attention quickly re-focused when I told them that treats would be delivered AFTER studies. Flashcard drills complete, the kids went into momentary bliss while quickly consuming their treasures.

Yesterday the kids wanted me to bring Ночь в Музее (Night at the Museum) so their whole Family Group could watch it. Tomorrow they want me to bring Гаппи Поттер (Harry Potter). They saw our bring-along stash as well as the ones we purchased while here. They must think we’re Blockbuster or Netflix! (Yet another franchise opportunity!)

Thanks to a question from Apryl who adopted from Petropavlovsk last summer, I discovered that DVDs here have a special “Region Coding” embedded on the disk (Copyright police in action!). I was already aware that the TV format here is PAL instead of NTSC (US TV format). However, I didn’t know that the region coding further restricts viewing. By making a quick change to the computer setting it’s no problem to watch the movies on the computer. However, there is a finite number of format changes allowed, four to be exact. Heads up for folks planning to take movies home in Russian format (World Region 5): if you want to switch back to watch US movies, that counts as another change. After your four total changes your system locks on the last selected format. We did buy two DVDs which play without having to change the code, but the rest of the multi-lingual DVDs won’t. There are some multi-format, no-code players available for those who really want them, but in the mean time, we’ll just change the computer in our family room but leave dad’s laptop on US format.

One exciting piece of news is that the kids have a semester Nov 4th – 12th, so they will get to move to the apartment as soon as our 15 day wait is over and not miss any school here. Saturday will be their last day of school in Kazakhstan. They’re ready for a break, but they are excited about coming to their new school and making new friends soon.

That was the day in a nutshell. Check back tomorrow for new updates!

Passport Photos and Meeting the Kids

2007-10-29T07:12:00.001-05:00

Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 6 of 15 (only 9 more to go!), Pictures, Passport Photos and Dinner

Morning weather report: 32, feels like 32. Projected high: a whopping 42 and sunny
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 51, heading back to 73 (we haven’t seen those temps in Petro for several weeks. Welcome home Cathe!)

We’re finally into the single digits of remaining waiting period! Back to that Kazakh quote about Chasing and Waiting: Visits fly by but this waiting seems like it will never end!

After trekking through Almaty and Amsterdam and doing battle with Customs in Memphis, Cathe finally arrived at home shortly after 7 pm (local) last night (Tuesday morning in Kazakhstan), following a very looooog two day adventure.

At first I didn’t think there would be much to write since the day started off so quietly. Then I reviewed today’s pictures and though back over the events of the last 24 hours and realized there really was a LOT going on today.

Last night was not a good sleeping night since there was so much on my mind and I was wondering how Cathe was doing along the way. No frantic phone calls or e-mails, so I had to assume all was well. Gotta love being in the Information Age though! Waking up several times through the night, I just had to do a quick update on FlightView to see where the plane was and get an update on the latest ETA in Memphis. Cathe’s friend Erica was all lined up to meet her at the airport, so that was not a worry (Thanks again Erica, and everyone else who volunteered to meet Cathe!). Finally, unable to stay in bed any longer, I logged back on a little after 6 am but there was still no word.

Around 7 am Scott, our great house sitter, sent an IM saying that Cathe had arrived home just after 7 pm. Relief from worries! We had a quick chat during which Cathe announced she could only stay on a minute because they were heading to Macaroni Grill to celebrate her return. I’m actually surprised she didn’t just go for something like McDonald’s, which is NOT in Petropavlovsk (anyone looking for a great franchise location???).

I have to insert a special thanks to Scott. He has been taking care of Bob (our over-exuberent and relentless ball-chasing golden retriever), and our home while we have been off on our adventure. Wednesday he will be heading home for a short vacation before deploying to Iraq for a year. Please keep him in your prayers. Thank you Scott!

Next order of business was to sort through the hundreds of photos taken during our farewell party at the RBS. The staff and Family Group were kind enough to line that up early so Cathe could be there too. Both of our digital cameras were nearly filled and both batteries were pretty close to red line! If the party had gone just a little longer, we wouldn’t have been able to capture the moment! The kids had asked for prints to share with their friends, so I felt obligated to comply with their request. Finally, 75 pictures were selected and it was time to head to the Iceberg store to get them printed.

There’s a new store being built adjacent to the Iceberg, but no telling exactly what it will be. Despite being under construction, there is an enclosed market area on the first floor which is up and operating. Lights, but no heat! By the way, fruit prices have really gone up in the last week due to colder weather. Hopefully the Fresh Market will stay open for a few more weeks or maybe move inside the under-construction building. Even at the higher prices, fresh produce is still a pretty good value and has a lot more flavor and aroma than what we get back home. (Cathe: Dinara says, “Hi”)

Before I knew it, 2:30 arrived and it was time to go get the kids. Today was Passport Photo day and they needed a quick shower and wardrobe swap to look their best (we also had to go mini-portraits which will go in their file with the Ministry of Education). Kate nearly went into meltdown when I sent her back upstairs to get her new jacket and the clothes we bought for her which needed to be washed. She swapped beds and lockers the other day and had to sort through her locker to dig out the clothes we bought for her. Not a happy camper for a few minutes, then all was well again. She thought her “cute pout” routine would convince dad that we should skip that part and GO! Both were excited about showers at the apartment since mom left some really good smelling shampoo and Kate loves the big fluffy robes and using the blow dryer (not sure which she loves more!).

First we went to the Dept of Vital Statistics for passport photos (that’s also where their new birth certificates will be issued). I was amazed at how close it is to the apartment, Iceberg, and even the Baby House. Next we went to a small photo studio close to the Donner Café. Masha had a laugh when I misunderstood how much the pictures were. When she whispered the price, I figured we were paying portrait studio prices and would be getting something substantial (could have sworn she said 5,000 Tenge which is about $45). The photographer thanked me for my generosity, but only needed 500 Tenge for the two pictures (glad there are a lot of honest people here!).

We were back at the apartment before 4 pm, so we got to spend a little time with Suzanne and Hilton who are adopting a baby. They wanted to meet the kids, so we got together and had a little fun. On court day, they brought us flowers which came in a crepe paper cone. The flowers have now withered away, but we kept the cone and had fun with it today.

Kate tried it on for size (much too large!) then David changed things up a bit and ended up looking like something out of Dr. Seuss.

Before long, 5 pm arrived and we had to take the kids back before they turned into pumpkins.

Dinner was a gastronomical delight. Suzanne, Hilton and I walked over to see if Sasha the Kabob Guy was still open for business. Although he was wrapping up for the day and his fire was dying out, he gladly fanned it back to life and tossed on three kabobs for us (he had to send one of his buddies back to his truck for more, but was glad to do so since we’re regulars). Those, some fresh bread, and a bottle of Pepsi Light completed the feast. (And Cathe thought I would be jealous about her trip to Macaroni Grill! Who’s jealous now? 8-D )

Another day down, and one day closer to coming home!

P.S. The trees along Constitution Avenue are now pretty bare, but the Leaf Sweepers are still in action. They sure could use Leaf Blowers here! (Another franchise opportunity?)

Travels and Lessons

2007-10-29T07:12:00.000-05:00

Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 5 of 15, Back to Memphis (Cathe), Doubling up on Russian Lessons (Bill)

Morning weather report: 38, feels like 32. Projected high: a whopping 43 with chance of rain
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 46, heading back to 68 (save some of that weather for us!)

Days are getting shorter. Sunrise this morning is 8:19, sunset is 5:54, 9 hrs, 35 minutes of daylight. When we arrived, days were still over 12 hours long. According to “Weather Underground,” tomorrow will be another 4 minutes shorter. That happens when you’re at the same latitude as Hudson Bay. Walking around outside this afternoon was also noticeable cooler than any other days and the air had a damp feeling.

Not much to report today. Due to the weather I stayed in except for a short trip to the market this morning. I didn’t want to be far from the phone in case Cathe needed to call from Almaty. It was a day to double up on Russian lessons (Rosetta Stone) and catch up on e-mail.

When we arrived at the RBS, David was at the gate waiting. Although I didn’t visit yesterday, he wanted to tell me that he knew what I was doing instead. One of his teachers had seen me taking pictures on Constitution Avenue and told the kids this morning.

Kate was upstairs when we arrived. The girl’s room in her Family Group had been rearranged and she was puting away all her things. She decided to take the bed closest to the door since she will be leaving soon. (They would have come today if we had let them!)

Two Big questions of the day was: “Is Mom home yet?????” and “How long until we go??????” Masha helped me explain that we have to complete the waiting period then there are a few days in Petro to get new birth certificates and passports (tomorrow is Passport Picture Day!). They were a little disappointed, but happy at the same time. All of their friends are excited as well.

Our visit today was mostly a review of basic English words and some dictionary drills. David was making fun of my reading glasses and tried them on for size. Kate was a handful! She wasn’t excited about the flashcard drills and REALLY wanted for us to go upstairs to use the Karaoke DVD (their Family Group has been giving it a real workout these past couple days!). Thankfully, Masha was patient and helped explain that we would do the word drills THEN go upstairs. We finally got through the drills toward the end of our visit.

Kate showed off a couple pictures she had drawn which were on display in Ludmilla’s classroom (where we spend most of our time together). We also gave Ludmilla a small gift of appreciation for her letting us use that room. Then we trotted upstairs so they could show me all of the changes in the girl’s room and then to their family room where a couple boys were watching one of the movies we bought for them. It’s nice to see that they really appreciate the gifts.

Sadly, our two hours had run out and it was time to go. (two hours really flies by when we’re having fun). Soon there won’t be any more comings and goings.

Time to get this post on the wire and track the final leg of Cathe’s trek home. More tomorrow!

Update: According to http://www.flightview.com/, Cathe’s flight is now on its way to Memphis.

A Day in Almaty (Cathe), Sightseeing in Petro (Bill)

2007-10-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 4 of 15, A Day in Almaty (Cathe), Sightseeing in Petro (Bill), and Not Quite Daylight Saving Time (Moscow - Yes, US - Not Yet)

Morning weather report: 39, feels like 33. Projected high: 45 with light rain throughout the day (so much for sight-seeing!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 49, heading back to 68 and sunny (can you send some of that weather back this way?!?!?)

No visit with the kids today. 8-( Masha and Sasha had to go to a town 30 miles away to have a Judge make some corrections to a document we will need to finalize the adoption. Since Thursday was a holiday, banks, post office, government, courts, etc. were closed. However, to make up for the closure, government was in session today despite it being Sunday. Suzanne and Hilton also had court today and are now proud adoptive parents. Congratulations!

It’s funny how you get out of touch with little things back home like when Daylight Saving Time adjusts. Especially when you’re somewhere that’s on a little different schedule. Last night, Moscow time changed in observance of the end of Daylight Saving Time. Since the train and airline schedules follow Moscow time and Russia does observe Daylight Saving Time (we were two hours ahead of Moscow and are now three hours ahead), we didn’t think about it. Soooo, after several friendly reminders from everyone back home who let us know that the “adjustment” doesn’t occur in the US until NEXT weekend, we won’t change our dual time zone watches until then.

This will be a topic for later research… We wonder how long it took for other countries to start doing Daylight Saving (no “s” on the end) Time and whether or not they will also shift their “adjustment” dates. Masha tells us that Kazakhstan used to observe Daylight Saving Time, but stopped last year… Maybe it just got too complicated?

Now that it has been mentioned, we recall all the fuss over the change this past spring when the adjustment was moved up two weeks and the “fall back” date was moved back a week. Newer computers/operating systems got an update to make the change, but older systems didn’t. Since our laptop has Vista, which takes all that into consideration, we didn’t see a pop-up notice telling us that our time was adjusted. So, as Cathe would say, “Bob’s your uncle.” (Google the phrase to read all about that)

It’s a small world and things seem to work for a reason. With Cathe’s flight being moved up, she got a direct flight to Almaty on a “newer” AN-24 instead of the decrepit YAK-40 we flew up in (comfort was spared in favor of utilitarianism) which makes one scheduled stop in Kokshetau along the way (although our flight up did make an unscheduled stop in Karaganda. That was fun!). According to Cathe, the AN-24 was a little more comfortable (the YAK-40 seating didn’t make that standard too difficult to exceed!) and the total flight was almost two hours shorter.

Oleg was there to greet her, right on schedule. Fortunately she was there because the two little girls who were on the same flight would have been waiting with Oleg for the day. Instead, they spent the day with Cathe, giving her some “young child refresher training.” They wanted to show every one of their treasures, press every button and look in every drawer/behind every door in the hotel room. Since their English is very limited, Cathe also got a little Russian workout too.

Meanwhile back in Petro, Bill did a LOT of walking today, taking pictures of many interesting sights listed on Jim’s map (Thanks again Jim and Jen!). There are many statues and memorials scattered throughout the city, mostly WW II. There are also a few remnants of the former Soviet society, with the remnants of the Hammer & Sickle logos. He also found the New Car dealer which specialized in Chevrolet, Lada, and Skoda. For 2.5 million Tenge (about $21,000) you can get a brand new Skoda sub-compact. The price tags for the nicer vehicles were not visible through the window for some reason…

For dinner, Bill, Suzanne & Hilton, and Anne from Belgium (also adopting) got together at the Italian restaurant to celebrate the new parents. Tomorrow Bill will be back in the visit routine. After three consecutive weekends of off-campus adventures, we bet they’re raring to go!

Seen around town:

Russian and Kazakh WWII monuments.

WWII monument and Opera House

A prominent H&S and a mosiac over the car dealer signifying the friendship between Russia and Kazakhstan and their membership in the USSR

The "Famous" Doner Cafe. (Don't tell Hannah-Barbarra about copyright infringement of Tom & Jerry!)

The Old Water Tower and some ever-present steam pipes. This time they're covered in spray-on foam instead of asbestos!

Off to Almaty & Hangin’ out in Petro

2007-10-27T09:54:00.000-05:00

Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 3 of 15, Off to Almaty, Hangin’ out in Petro, and Daylight Saving Time

Morning weather report: 38, feels like 30. Projected high: 44 and overcast (a veritable heat wave!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 49, heading back to 67 and sunny (wishing we were there!)

What a busy day! Lots of paperwork to finish as well as final packing to do. We had given the kids a heads-up that we wouldn’t visit today since we had to be at the airport. They were simultaneously sad and happy: Sad because mom is heading home, but happy because mom is going to make all the final homecoming arrangements for them.

We also found out that Julia and Olivia, en-route to Salt Lake City (Congrats Guy, Deb and Family!) would be on the same flight. Guy, Deb and their three boys received their LOI just a few days before we did and were in Petro just before we arrived. It’s amazing how God works things out! They had met our children before leaving and we had the opportunity to send periodic updates and sighting reports for their new daughters. (Read about their Kaz and Petro adventures at www.guyperryfamily.blogspot.com)

We had hoped that Cathe could return home a couple days early but were frustrated with the unexpected delay between Bonding Period and Court. We had expected 2-3 business days instead of 5-8 that seems to be standard practice now. For those planning to adopt in Petropavlovsk, be sure to plan that change into your schedule! We have to go back to our previously referenced movie “Evan Almighty” and the one line in the movie which stands out for us: “When you ask God for patience, He doesn’t give patience. He gives you opportunities to become patient.” We also have to reference the Kazakh proverb which Suzanne shared with us, “The two worst things in life are Chasing and Waiting.” Those who have been following the details of our Adoption Adventure know both apply equally well in our case.

As always, Masha arrived right on schedule with additional papers to sign before Cathe’s departure. If Masha says she will be at the apartment at 10 am, the doorbell rings within seconds of the appointed time! We also made sure Cathe signed our I-600 forms (7/30/07 revision, one for EACH child!). To further complicate matters, Cathe’s planned departure just happened to coincide with Air Astana’s shift to their winter schedule, which began today. Several calls, a few text messages, and several emails zinged back and forth to make arrangements for Cathe’s hotel stay and move her flight out of Almaty up a couple days. Everything seems to be working out fine, despite our heightened stress levels. The coordinators have quite an impressive network of people to help take care of us during our stay!

When we learned that Cathe would be leaving a little sooner than we thought, Cathe had asked Masha to translate some complicated sentences from English into Russian. We have made several friends in the small market by the Iceberg store, and Cathe could not leave without personally thanking several people who helped make our brief stay in Petro much more welcoming. Two in particular are Dinara “The Fruit Lady,” and Sasha, “The Kabob Guy.” Masha not only helped with the translations, but also accompanied us on our typical rounds this afternoon. First stop was to see Dinara. After Masha’s translated farewell, Cathe gave her a dollar bill as a small token of appreciation. Dinara wished us Good Luck and presented us with some of our favorite apples and a few bananas as a farewell gift in return. The next stop was to say good-bye to Sasha. He has been great with our improvised hand gestures and broken Russian! We also presented him with a dollar bill. Cathe shared that Bill will be staying behind and each reassured her that they will keep him well fed and help him pick out the best fruit. Not to worry!

After presentations, we ducked into the small indoor market in search of some more gifts for Cathe to take home, specifically some more of the Kazakhstan and “For Men” chocolate bars. As passed by his kabob stand, Sasha waved and gave us a great big smile, then asked us to autograph the dollar bill for him.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see it framed over his stand on some future visit! Dinara and the adjacent Fruit Ladies all called out in English, “Good Bye and Good Luck!” Cathe returned their farewell, by replying Dasvadanya, “until next time.” We were both touched by that moment and how each one touched our lives and each reciprocated a friendship even with language barriers!

Our final souvenir stop was at the Birch Store to purchase some nesting dolls. With everything in hand, we headed back to the apartment to finish packing Cathe’s suitcases. Since we had learned about the strict luggage weight limits on the way in, Bill took a few moments to pick up both bags and guess how close we were to the 25 kg weight limit (~55 lbs combined checked AND carry-on). He did a great job! When we placed the bags on the scale at the airport, they totaled 24.5 kg. (Extra thanks to Suzanne and Hilton for the info about the small nesting dolls in a box under the counter! You’ve made a lot of folks back home happy with those!)

En-route to the Northern Kazakhstan-Petropavlovsk Regional Airport (name is much more impressive than the facility), we passed by a wedding party stopped by the side of the road.

There is a tree in which newly married couples tie a ribbon to signify safe travels on the road of marriage. It’s a very colorful and touching tradition!

The airport was COLD! Yesterday we had asked Masha and Sasha if it would be ok for the children to come to see mom off. Both told us that it would be better not to since there are no places to sit and there’s no heat in the facility. Besides, we would be waiting a long time. They were right! Although the plane was on time (amazing!) there was still a fair bit of milling about. Masha helped Cathe through security then we waited until we heard the planes engines start and it pulled away from the terminal. Cathe’s on her way to Almaty and home. Bill will be checking off the days until the kids can go home too.

Tonight our friends and family back in the states will be “Falling Back” while we stay on Central Asia +6 time (Kazakhstan stopped observing daylight saving time last year). For everyone in the Central time zone, we will be exactly 12 hours “out of sync.”

Parties and Gifts

2007-10-26T14:10:00.000-05:00

Major events of the day: Waiting Period day 2 of 15, Travel Arrangements, Farewell Party & Gifts

Morning weather report: 35, feels like 27. Projected high: 38 with scattered drizzle (Sounds too much like winter in Seattle!)
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 48, heading back to 59 with light rain.

First thing this morning we headed over to the Air Astana office to buy Cathe’s ticket to Almaty. Their web site listed available flights tomorrow and 1 Nov (a day late for her KLM flight). Since they closed at 4 on Court Day and were closed yesterday, we had to wait to check in person. We purchased a ticket for tomorrow’s flight since all the others before Wednesday are booked. Hopefully we won’t have any trouble moving her KLM flight back to Memphis! Otherwise we’ll get back in scramble mode.

After leaving Air Astana, the next order of business was to buy supplies for Kate and David’s RBS Family Group farewell party. Masha (Activities Coordinator Extraordinaire) helped shuffle our schedule so that Cathe could be there for the party. Relying on her extensive knowledge of area shopping venues (how to find good quality at very reasonable prices), we headed to the big indoor Fresh Market for fruit, cakes (“without crème”) and to check out the adjoining meat market. It reminded Cathe of Detroit’s Farmers Market. Since we were buying quantities sufficient to entertain 25 ravenous kids, Masha negotiated with vendors to get the best prices for our bananas, oranges, and apples. She also made some great suggestions for cookies and cakes to have with the tea. It was entertaining to watch the transaction take place. “The cookie lady” wouldn’t sell us some particular cookies because there were some better ones which also happened to be “fresher and less expensive.” It was quite obvious that “The cookie lady” had her own favorites.

After depositing our finds in Sasha’s trunk, we headed back in to check out the other baked goods and meat and cheese selections. There were several vendors, but one in particular must have the “most booming business” since he had a huge section of floor space. There were tables arranged around a raised section of floor on which a big tree stump served as a chopping block. The butcher was more than happy to chop off some steaks or a huge roast. Although less sanitary in appearance to what we’re used to in the States, the cuts of meat looked fantastic. Passing on the fresh meats, we did end up with a great smoked Kielbasa. We’ll have to cook some for Cathe’s farewell lunch… While heading back to the apartment, we spotted a small car with a whole living room set on the roof. It was an interesting change from the more common array of similar cars with many 50 lb sacks of onions on their roofs.

Back at the apartment, we quickly washed fruit and prepared gifts for the Family Group. Sasha had helped pick out a DVD player that doubles as a Karaoke machine (we’ll have to watch for these in the states!) We also picked up a microphone and a few suitable movies. (It plays both NTSC and PAL format DVDs so we can send a few from the states as well). Just as we finished, Sasha and Masha were at the door to cart us back to the RBS along with our many treasures.

The party was superb! The staff music teacher was playing traditional Russian folk songs on his accordion as well as some very well done renditions of pop songs. Several of the older kids took the goodies to the kitchen area while we were treated to another quick tour of the facilities and dropped off gifts for several of the staff members. Soon we were back in the family room area which had been transformed for the event. We were treated to a series of poems, some in English, songs, and dances as well as a super Dombra (Kazakh guitar) and accordion serenade. Then we had an opportunity to say a few words to the group before presenting the gifts. It was a very bittersweet moment as everyone wished us safe travels and a good future. There are so many good kids there.

The oldest, a 17 year old boy, accepted our gifts on behalf of the entire group. First the DVD Player, which got many oooohs and ahhhhs! Then eyes widened when the microphone was presented. Then gasps as the Karaoke DVD and movies were presented.

We could see the anguish the children were going through, knowing they would have to wait until after the treats (which they wanted very badly!) were consumed before hooking up the DVD and giving it a go. The treats won the contest.

Kids are kids everywhere! You gotta love "Mr Orange Mouth!)

We were further amazed at how quickly the area was cleaned up and chairs and tables were returned to their proper places, transforming the party room back into the family room. The boys wasted not time in attaching the DVD and getting the Karaoke disk spinning. There were a few humorous attempts at singing as the kids bounced through available selections. Then they found one in English and passed the mike to Cathe, who responded in a sing-song voice, “I don’t know the words to this song, but hope you all have fun with it!” then passed the mike back. Everyone got a good laugh as Masha and several of the older children translated.

During the two hour party, both of our digital cameras were getting a workout. Between the two, we shot 1.5 Gig of movies and pictures, with a final tally of 355 snapshots. Thank goodness we don’t have to print all of them to enjoy the festivities! Everyone wanted to get into the action, helping give Kate and David a super day to remember! (No idea whose eyes these are, but it was one of the intersting shots awaiting us when we uploaded today's pictures)

To celebrate Cathe’s last night in Petropavlovsk, we went back to our favorite local Italian restaurant, The Venezia, with Suzanne and Hilton. Despite the cooler weather, there were many people strolling down Constitution Avenue. We wonder whether they do that once the snow starts falling… (Bill will have to take notes and let us know!) A quick stop at the Black Jack Café for coffee topped off another super day.

Happy Republic Day!

2007-10-25T08:18:00.000-05:00

Major events of the day: Republic Day, Waiting Period day 1 of 15

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…