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/).
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:
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. 
