We Completed our 16-Day Visitation Requirement

Well we completed our 16-Day required visitation with Askar. At first we were going to tell Askar of this milestone, but then our Translator Maria thought it might confuse him. Askar might think we aren’t coming to see him anymore. So we decided not say anything and have our own private celebration. We asked Parker how do we celebrate, he said by watching “The Ant Bully”, which I am sure most of you celebrate this way. Ha Ha Ha!!

We will be seeing Askar today, but later because today is Bath Day! He will be amazed at our house because every night is bath day! So many changes are in store for this little guy.

We are going to slowly introduce him to life in America. We won’t take him to Disneyland right away, but probably to the Orange County Fair in July. He will have been home a few months. Parker wants to show him his favorite ride…the Big Slide! That is the one where you sit on the burlap bag and go down the slide. Tyler and I love that ride too.

Askar’s life seems very mundane here. The same routine over and over again. He was moved into this particular house last October 2006. We found out the other children call him “Little Askar”, because there is another boy named Askar who is a bit older and was here before he was. We always bring some little treats for him to eat. His diet is pretty bland and the staff here gets upset if we give him sweets. We try and keep them to an extreme minimum. Askar really looks forward to the eating part of our visit. Yesterday we gave him a hard boiled egg with a little salt. He was so excited about that egg! He ate it so fast. We then gave him a banana and a few little Russian cracker things. We were giving him a juice box everyday (organic believe it or not) and they said it is too much sweets for him. Askar saw the juice box and our translator explained to him that they did not want us to give it to him. He did not protest or complain, he was completely fine with it. Tyler and I both believe that they give the children this bland diet and any disruption is not good. They do get sweets we heard only on a special occasions. I can’t wait to see his face when he eats a homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie for the first time!

We have to wait until Monday (Kaz time, Sunday your time) to find out if the special document can get signed immediately. So we wait…………………………………….!

"Just Keep Swimming, Swimming, Swimming" - Dorie "Finding Nemo"

That’s what you do…Keep Swimming! After our visit with Askar we were taken into the Director of the Orphanage’s office. We were told that Askar’s paperwork is NOT complete. Apparently we need a special document signed by the Mayor, which is like the Governor where we all live. Askar’s file has not been updated with some important information. Without the update we would not be able to go to court and request to adopt Askar. Our lawyer is working on the problem and hopefully he can get the document signed faster so that we can go home on time. We are schedule to leave on March 18^th. We don’t mind a couple of day delay, but any longer than that is a worry.

Quite a few of you have emailed us…THANK YOU!! We LOVE hearing from all of you! It is nice to read your words of encouragement. We need all the encouragement we can get! So again…Thank you!!

Parker is GREAT! He hasn’t once complained to go home. It is Tyler and I that seem to complain…ha ha ha!! We have run out of our beloved “Chai Tea” so life seems a bit dull…ha ha ha!!

We wanted to put photos of our “Home Sweet Home” on our blog for your enjoyment! Ha! Most of the population live in these huge brick monstrosities. There are 2 and 3 bedrooms and most of them are owned by their occupants. It cost approximately $55,000 to own one of these places. The Government controls the heating. If the place gets too warm we open a few windows and that cools it down pretty good. The hot water here is REALLY HOT!! Another feature from the Government.

The weather here is in the mid 30’s during the day and about 10-15 degrees at night. That is why “Kaz” the dog is brought in at night. It is getting warmer every day. The snow and ice are melting. Our translator said that it is warmer than usual….Global Warming???

Tomorrow we complete our required 16-Day visitation with Askar. We just need EVERYONE to take a moment and send a pray and positive thought that the special document will get signed immediately and we are in good shape for court!

Thanks everyone!! We Love and Miss you all!!

A "Groundhog" Kind of Day!

We go to court this Friday to set a court date for the Adoption Hearing. We are hoping to get a date quickly. So please think POSITIVE for a QUICK DATE (like within 3 to 5 days is preferable) once we have that hearing we can return home immediately. We of course have not told Askar yet that we are leaving. We were told not to say anything until it is time for us to go. We made him a photo album of Us, our dogs and home. We have also added photos to it of us all while we have been visiting him. That way we can leave that behind for him to look at while we wait the required 25 days back in the U.S.A. We are not sure how he will react to us leaving. I am sure he will not be too happy. We are not looking forward to that moment.

A few people have asked why we have “masks” on. We are required to wear them during our 2-hour visits with Askar. The reason is that it is considered “Flu” and “Cold” season and they want to keep everyone healthy. We try and take them off for photos so you can see our smiling faces!!

We have found a couple of restaurants that have made our stay more bearable! (thanks Melissa and Jason) We love the Pancake House and the Chinese food. We still have to check out the Police Chief’s Wife’s restaurant. We do lean towards the “picky” side of eating, so we only have a few things on the menu that we can try. Lots of meat dishes and we don’t eat meat. I even tried to make something here in our apartment and Tyler rated it a “1” on a scale of 1 to 10 and Parker took one bite and that was that! I am definitely out of my element. While at the very limited produce section of the local Supermarket, you have to point to what you want and how many and a produce girl wraps it and puts a price on it for you. You are not allowed to get it yourself.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect coming here. None of us did. It is not like any place we have ever been. This has been quite the journey. We will never, ever forget our time in Kazakhstan.

"We must be the change we wish to see in the World" - Ghandi

Such a true statement! It makes no sense to sit around and complain. It makes better sense to “be a part of the change” and show the rest of the world that it can be a better world!! Even little things like picking up trash you see and even hugging a little child who may not have had a hug today!!

We had another visit with Askar today. We all decided to meet him in the hallway. He came down the stairs and saw us all standing there. He had a shy little smile. Then to my surprise he came up to me and wanted to be picked up. I picked him up and brought him into our visiting room. As Tyler and Parker were getting their coats on to go outside I could feel that Askar wanted to be held. I felt his head lay on my shoulder. I have sang him the song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” a few times and felt that this might be a good time. I slowly swayed back and forth and sang softly to him. For the first time Askar seemed content in my arms. It was quite a moment. Did Tyler have the camera ready….No!

We hurried outside to avoid all the little ones. We were only out about 5 minutes when we heard them! Askar wanted to still be held while being outside. Since my wrist is still a bit sore, I handed Askar off to Tyler. Of course Parker wanted to be held too. So there was Tyler holding both boys. He did pretty good too!

We were soon inundated with little children everywhere! Our translator Maria and I seem to get crowded around by all the children. I wave and say “hello”. They try and say things to me in Russian and Kazak and I just can’t understand them. A few times our translator will get a few things. One little girl wanted to say that she “Climbs trees, do we want to see her?” So immediately I say “Da” which is Yes! She hurries to the tree and climbs it! We clap for her. Then we all decide to make our way back to the visiting room amidst all the children. Then we are stopped by what looks like Askar’s group. There is this little girl with this extremely chapped red face. She has tears in her eyes with a snotty nose. She is the one I wrote about awhile back. She puts her arms out to me and not for a hug, she wants to be held. I picked her up and she smiled. I held her for a few moments and then put her down and she wanted to be held again. I had a little toy in my pocket that Parker did not want from a chocolate egg surprise. I pulled it out of my pocket and gave it to her. She was so happy. She smiled so big. I also took out some tissue for her poor little nose. She walked away and stopped and turned around to wave to me. It is moments like this I will not soon forget.

Today we are happy to have had a “cuddly and close” visit with Askar. He seemed to warm up to me more today than any other day. It will take him sometime to “feel” like he is a part of a family, since that is such a foreign feeling for him.

I will ask a favor from all who read this, to just take a moment and see us all with laughter and love around us! Thank you for the POSITIVE THOUGHTS and PRAYERS!

P.S. Happy Birthday Brent from Kazakhstan