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!
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