Friday, June 09, 2006

Pictures....






These pictures are of the mountain range that we went to where the eagle and stairs were. The other picture shows our interpreter Bulgan and driver Jardon in Almaty right before we left the apartment for the airport. We had to get up at 1am to go to the airport. The other pictures are of Askar at home. He has surprised us so much with how well he has done since he left the orphanage.

We're Home!

(see pictures in next post-can't put them in this one)

Oh, how nice it is to be home!!!!! Yes, we finally made it! Sorry it's taken so long to update the blog but we were sooooo exhausted and it has been a bit crazy around here since we've been home. It's like having a new baby where everyone comes over to see the new baby.

The flight was very tough just like the other three times that we did it. We are psyched that we don't ever have to do it ever again. I think the flights are the worst part of the entire adoption process. The kids had good and not-so-good moments on the flights but that was expected. When we flew into Boston, we had to fly around an extra half hour before we landed because we had to wait to use the airport runway. Since it was raining, we were in the rain clouds and the turbulence was bad so we all got airsick. When we landed the sickness subsided and we had to go through immigration. Thank god the officials let us get in front of the very long line or we would have been there for a long time. After we went through immigration, we had to go to secondary passport inspection with Askar's adoption decree, birth certificate and passport. Thank god again that nobody was there and the process was quick. We were exhausted.

When we finally got to where everybody was waiting, we saw my mother who was crying and my sister who was flashing pictures and waving to get our attention. They had balloons for us too. They were so happy as we were to be home. What a relief after all that waiting.

On the way home, Askar and Haley fell asleep in the car. When we got home, we had to wake him up and he was very tired and clinging to me hiding his face. He looked around a little but was uninterested. We were very grateful to see that our refrigerator was filled with food from Sue, Chris and my mother (THANK YOU!). That was a godsend after having that airplane food which is disguisting. It nauseated me to even smell the food on the trip home. My mother, brother and sister stayed over for a little while and then they left. Askar woke up for a little while and then we all went to sleep around 6pm. Askar got up around 2:30 crying and he stayed up for the morning and looked around the house and played. Again, he has adjusted very well to everything and everybody here except the dogs. He is petrified of them.

So, we will work on the dog issue and get him acquianted with everything and everybody. He still has tantrums when he has to change and when he has to go to sleep but we deal with that as it comes and try to ignore it. Haley doesn't like sharing and if she is second with things, she is not happy about it but we will work on that too. So all and all things are good.

We want to thank you all for your well wishes and support through this entire process. It is an experience we will never forget. I will post a little more in the future to let you know about Askar's transition to his new life.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Yahoo! Going Home!






We did it! The embassy interview was easy. They just asked about our 2 trips here and about the adoption process. Then they gave us Askar's passport, visa, birth certificate and adoption decree. The other people in the waiting room all clapped and said congratulations etc. We are very happy and relieved that we can come home now. See you all soon and I will post more pictures when I get home. The girl in the picture is Bulgan our interpreter. She is great.

das-vee-don-ya Kazakhstan!

Monday, June 05, 2006

1 Day Left in Kaz

Hello. We went to the medical clinic this morning and all went well. Tomorrow we go to the U.S. Embassy and that's it for what we have to do here!! We will be free to go home and WE CANNOT WAIT!!! We're not looking forward to the long flights but very much looking forward to the end of this process! so happy... :) will try to upload pictures in a little while....have to wait for a call...bye

Sunday, June 04, 2006

2 More Days....

(can't upload pictures...will try again tomorrow....)
2 more days and we will be leaving for home. Yesterday we went to an amusement park here in Almaty. It was a lot of fun and more modern than the one in Ust that we went to the other day.

Today we went to the mountains and Haley, Bulgan and I walked up approximately 700 stairs on a mountain. It's much tougher and longer than it looks. The mountain ranges were absolutely beautiful. John got to hold a huge eagle on his arm.

Tonight we went to an Irish Pub named Mad Murphy's. It was the most American type of place that we've been to since we've been here in this country. There were a bunch of American and/or Irish looking people there and almost everyone spoke English including the waitresses. The menu's were in English and had American foods on it too. It was a nice place.

Tomorrow morning we go to the medical clinic and we have to file papers at the U.S. Embassy before noon to get an U.S. Embassy interview appointment for Tuesday....if god willing....we have to get the embassy interview done before we can leave the country. We are scheduled to leave very early on Wednesday so we have to get it done on Tuesday. We filled out all the forms for the filing today.

The only issue with Askar here is his sleeping habits and tantrums when he gets in bad moods. As far as his sleeping goes, he tosses and turns all night and cries everytime he moves around.

One more thing...two nights ago we were all bitten by misquitos while we slept because there are no screens in the windows here and the windows were open. We're OK now except for some spots on our bodies. We killed all the misquitos, don't open the windows and bought bug lotion....nobody has screens in their windows in this country...