Going to see Shrek in Russian...Hmmmmmmm??

It has been nice spending this "Quality" time with Quinn. There is definitely a reason for it. I really am homesick, but know that this time with Quinn...one-on-one is very important for him!

We went to Stephan's birthday party last night! WHAT FUN WE HAD!! Claudia threw a wonderful birthday party. Quinn, Tasha and Bolat's daughter Amy had a blast with the balloons! This was officially Quinn's first birthday party invitation on the "Outside". He really liked it. Some foods he wasn't willing to try. His diet was very bland at the orphanage. After the party we went back to our apt and he ate oatmeal...a food he feels very comfortable eating.

I am posting some photo's and I have to hurry because the movie SHREK is starting in a bit.

Thanks for all the COMMENTS......I love hearing from you!!

Getting Closer to Getting Outta Here!!

Hi just another day in Kazakhstan!!

Soon Quinn and I will travel by plane (his first plane ride!) to Almaty, Kazakhstan. There we will get him checked out by the SOS Clinic. All adopted children must be screened before going into another country for any illnesses. Then we proceed to the US Embassy for Quinn's "Exit Visa". Once we have that...we leave the next day!! Yahooooo...okay I must admit I want to GO HOME!

Quinn knows that he is taking a plane and is VERY excited about it. It will be a good first plane ride for him....only 1 hour 20 minutes.

We will be in Almaty for approximately 3 to 5 days!! Then our next plane ride is 6 1/2 hours long with a 3 hour lay-over in Amsterdam. Then the long 11 hour flight back HOME to AMERICA!! Yahoooo again!!

Quinn is already learning English!! Everyday I work with him with "little" words like "America"..."Hello"..."Banana"...."Yes" (instead of "Da")...."Trash" and his favorite...."I Love You"!!

Well Quinn is ready to leave the internet cafe. Which is really just a small office space with 4 computers on desks. I am sitting next to others right now as I write this. Not what you would expect from a "Cafe"....I was wondering where is the Coffee and snacks....not here! Ha!

Oh, today is Stephan Wessels birthday! They have invited Quinn and I to a nice restaurant with them. What fun! It is really nice to have another American Family with us.

One last thing....Quinn and I along with our translator Sveta and driver went back to the Big "O" to donate 2 fans for Quinn's group. It is soooo hot up there! We also dropped off a few toys too! We saw Quinn's group playing outside and went over to them. They all swarmed Quinn and I and wanted a hug from me. Quinn some how ended up away from me. Soon he came over and pushed a boy out of the way and grabbed my hand. Then Quinn started pulling me away from the children. Sveta noticed that Quinn was crying. He was very upset in a silent cry. We waved good-bye to the children and quickly got Quinn away. We asked him what was wrong. He was worried that I would leave him there! I had Sveta tell him that Daddy and I picked him out special and that we love him and are not going anywhere and will never leave him! I felt terrible for him. I have never seen him cry through this entire process!

He returned to the car....very relieved!

Just another day.......with my son!

Hi,

I posted a couple of new photos! I will hopefully come back and post more, but I am in a little hurry finalizing adoption stuff.

I wanted to include the photo of the Wessel Family who were sooo helpful to me!

My other favorite photo is of Quinn in the bath.....for the first time by himself!!! Wow he had fun! He stays in there for over an hour every time!

The weather has been pretty nice. A little breezy today.

I will post more tomorrow!

Love you all and thanks for all the POSTS!! It makes me really feel good to know you are all out there watching this unfold....thank you so much!

Quinn's First Days of FREEDOM!!

Well it has been 48 Hours of FREEDOM for Quinn! He is really doing well...much better than I expected. In fact we are at the internet cafe and he is sitting next to me playing with a Hotwheel.

His first bath went well. He wasn't too sure about getting inside and had to first play in the water with his hands first. So I was able to talk him into putting his feet in...with all his clothes on. Then off went his shorts, then shirt and finally he decided to take his underwear off and sat down! He LOVED the bath and spent over an hour in there. I was told that he probably hasn't taken a bath since he was a baby! He and his group take showers ONCE A WEEK!!

He also LOVES his toothbrush and toothpaste! He brushed his teeth 3 times within a few hours. I let him do it because I think he really liked the taste of the toothpaste.

On his first night with me I thought we would watch the DVD Cars, but he found the washing machine much more entertaining! He kept telling me when the washer would spin the other way (It is a front view washer)

Last night I took him for pizza! My translator asked him if he had ever had it and he said "NYET" which means "No". Wow he is going to LOVE coming to AMERICA...Pizza Heaven!!

Well I don't want to torture poor Quinn by typing too long. We are going to eat at the Pancake House and meet with Claudia, Stepan and Tasha for lunch.

Also great news....I heard that I will be home about 5 days sooner. Well that is what they are saying now....we'll see!

Aunt Gail and Uncle Tom thank you for helping out with Parker, I truly appreciate it!

Tyler and Parker I MISS YOU SO MUCH!! I love you both very, very much!!

Gotcha Day!! May 19,2007

Hi Everyone!!

I made it here safe and sound, but exhausted! I felt guilty the first night because I chose not to get Quinn out of the Big "O" because I was too tired! I wanted to be well rested for his BIG DAY!!

I am sitting right now at Claudia and Stephan's kitchen table writing this because the internet cafe is closed on Saturday and Sunday. They were kind to let me blog this WONDERFUL DAY!!

I woke up pretty early and was completely ready to go get Quinn OUT!!

I arrived at the orphanage with my driver and translator Sveta @ 10:30 a.m. I was greeted by Stephan, Claudia, Tasha, Almagul and Bolat. We went upstairs to greet Quinn and his group! I really didn't know what to expect. I wasn't sure how Quinn would really react. As I walked in all the children were sitting in chairs watching a video.....a Barbie Mermaid video. I didn't see Quinn and then all of sudden he came running out of a back room. He ran to me with the biggest smile on his face! He knew today was the day! All the children were waving and smiling! Stephan was my videographer....thank you Stephan!!

I gave the children little bags with surprises inside...they were excited! We spent about 15 minutes there and then I went into a side room where I changed Quinn into his new clothes! He was a little embarrassed to take off his undies, but I showed him the new ones and he seemed okay with that! He liked the clothes, but boy is he small. He wears clothes that would fit a 3 year old.

We went back to his group and he hugged the children good-bye. Then one of his main caregivers started to cry....which of course made me cry.....and made Claudia cry too! Quinn was definitely ready to leave!

We walked downstairs and out the door. I wanted to walk out of the orphanage instead of drive out. The gates to the Big "O" are forbidden to go out of. I thought that it would be cool to walk out! I think the drivers and translators thought I was nuts, but this is Quinn's moment and I didn't care. Stephan and Claudia "My E-True Hollywood" film crew filmed the entire exit from the orphanage. I think that Quinn was also wondering why we were walking. Hopefully he will understand one day when he watches the video!

After our historic walk out of the Big "O" we got into the cars and off to lunch we went. We ate at Kaz "Starbucks". We ate omelets. When the omelet was brought to him he then smelled his shoe and pointed at the omelet. It was obvious he thought it smelled like his shoes! Needless to say he ate pancakes with jam. He also had a fresh sqeezed O.J. that he really liked!

Then we had to buy him some P.J.'s since I forgot his back at home. Bummer because I bought him glow-in-the-dark Dinosaur P.J.'s. He seemed facinated by the clothing store and was a really good boy!

We all went to a park and it was like a small amusement park. I was thinking it was going to be a park with swings and stuff. The moment Quinn saw a women holding a Python snake he ran the other way. I had to chase him...yikes! We stayed for a few hours and I think he really had a great time.

This is alot for a little 5 year old to absorb, but I think he is doing great! He is very loving and holds my hand everywhere! Sonn he and I will be at our apartment. I am going to give him a bath and let him watch the movie Cars...in Russian!!

Thank you all for praying for us! Today was a GREAT DAY!!

QUINN, MOMMY IS COMING....FINALLY!!

Hi,

Well my Visa arrived and I am leaving Wednesday May 16. I will be in the country on Friday May 18th....what a long trip! We haven't really written on our blog because we have been in this "holding pattern"! Our friends Stephan and Claudia were able to get their new daughter, Tasha, out of the orphanage for good on Mother's Day! How cool is that! Congratulations to them. When I am there I will post the new family photo of them for all to see.

Tasha lived in the same orphanage as Quinn. In fact they sent us photos of Tasha leaving the confines of the orphanage and of course she saw Quinn when she was leaving and gave him a GREAT SISTERLY HUG! I am sure Quinn was wondering "where the heck is she going"? Well Quinn you will know soon enough! Hee Hee

I want to send a BIG THANKS to Claudia, Stephan and Tasha for taking great photos of Quinn for us. Thank you Claudia for sneaking raisins into his pocket. (Quinn loves raisins!) Thank you for being his connection to us while we have been back here in the US! I think your presence has helped Quinn know that he is LOVED and SPECIAL and that we are coming back for him! So THANK YOU my friends!!

I want a BUNCH of Comments left for me in our comment box while I am in Kazakhstan! Don't be chicken!! I love reading the little notes you all leave us! Of course if you have alot to say....I guess you have to email me...ha ha!!

I will be gone approximately 17 days....of course I am hoping to come home sooner!! I will miss Tyler and Parker terribly I already know! But I will be home before you know it!

Thank you to ALL who have watched this journey unfold. We love knowing that you are all out there praying for us! Thanks!

Quinn has no idea what "LIFE" is waiting for him in AMERICA! He will find out very soon!

I leave on May 16th for Kazakhstan

Well my "Cable" came in. I filled out my new Visa application and I am hoping that I will get my Visa back in time for May 16th! It always seems under the wire lately!

Apparently all Quinn's paperwork is getting prepared. I have a friend there who keeps me updated on everything!! She also has been taking some cute photo's of Quinn for us. We so appreciate you Claudia...and her newly adopted daughter Tasha!

I will update in a few days to let you all know if the Visa came in!

I am in the process of making little goodie bags for Quinn's class. I am going to give him a small farewell party. The orphanage freaks out if you give anything with sugar in it. So I am going to make sugar free jello...Whooopeeee! It's like a party at a Retirement Home! (Sorry Tyler's Grandmother...who is 101 years old by the way....she gets CAKE!!)

Quinn is ALMOST here!

Hi everyone!

Well we are still waiting to get my official cable from Kazakhstan to go back and pick up Quinn! I already booked my flight for May 16, because the flights were starting to get full. So I better get my confirmation pretty soon....yikes!

I will be giving Quinn and his little "roomies" a little going away party! That ought to be fun. I am also going to video Quinn leaving the orphanage for the last time. I want to do it for Quinn, but also for Tyler and Parker since they won't be there for the BIG OCCASION!

I feel that the music from "Jeopardy" is most appropriate piece of music right now.........Do, do, do, do, do, do, do....do, do, do, do, doooo, do, dodo, dodo....well you get the picture! Ha Ha

Here is The Mighty Quinn! Updated 4-25-07

Unfortunately we lost our brand new camera! We actually think it was stolen! It is just too strange how it became missing. We were bummed because we had taken several photos of us with Quinn Askar!

I have gotten a few messages from people who are a bit confused about our recent trip to Kazakhstan. When we first went to Kazakhstan back on February 22 everything was going fine with our 16 days of visitation. But then on the 14th day of visitation our adoption coordinator in Kaz told us that they needed to have a "Special Document" signed by the Mayor of Quinn Askar's region. There were problems getting that document signed and we had to leave the country because they had no time frame when the Special Document would be signed. Thus the reason for this "extra" trip. Tyler and I decided to go on a Saturday and come back that Friday....major jetlag!

Now there is a 25 day waiting period and ME "Christy" will be going back alone to Kazakhstan to get Quinn. I should be back in the country in the middle of May and return HOME about 20 days later WITH QUINN ASKAR. There is a few procedures that I have to complete to remove Quinn Askar from his homeland.

Also the Judge agreed to change Askar's name to Quinn Askar Turley

I hope that clears up the confusion as to why Quinn is not here in California yet. Soon however!

Court from HELL

Well court didn't go as well as expected. We appeared in court all dressed up expecting it to go smoothly. Well the prosecutor had other plans. She wasn't satisfied that the Ministry of Education looked for Quinn's birth mother. The birth mother had written a letter and said she would return for him after 1 year. Well she never did. She never called. But the Prosecutor thinks that she could still return. What kind of mother would this be. Why on earth would the Prosecutor bend over backwards for a mother who left her child willing and then never came to check on him or even pick up the phone to call him in OVER 5 YEARS!!

The Ministry of Education and the Director of the Orphanage were arguing with the Prosecutor and explaining that the mother had abandoned this child. The Prosecutor made up this lame excuse...Well maybe she is ill and could not come to the hospital or orphanage to claim him. Then the Orphanage Director says...She could have picked up a phone! They admitted into evidence that the birth mother did not give the correct address or names in her letter and that the Police could not locate her. Well then the Prosecutor requested a delay until 5 p.m. that same day. She wanted a BETTER letter from the Police Dept that stated they looked for this mother....Oh Brother!

So we return to court at 5:00 p.m. only to have the Prosecutor still bent on searching for Quinn's birth mother. The judge interjects and says that the birth has violated their laws regarding her son's welfare. The judge agrees that the mother has abandoned Quinn. The Prosecutor says she still needs to discuss our case to the Chief Prosecutor and wanted ANOTHER DELAY until the next day at 9:15 a.m. Well Tyler and I asked the court to let us leave on our scheduled flights back to the US. The judge allowed us to leave.

Today we heard that the Judge Granted our Adoption to Quinn....but the Prosecutor was not happy! Can you believe that? Personally we couldn't! The Prosecutor has 15 days to Appeal the Judges decision and there is a chance that she will. Apparently there is another case that has gone to Appeal and this same Prosecutor may get into trouble over it. So now she is being EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS, but it doesn't make any sense. This birth mother has never seen Quinn since the day he was born.

Were not worried!!

We Are Here,,,,,again!

We made it here safe and sound! We had a BLAST flying Business Class! We were seat 1A and 1B amazing!! We were treated like royalty.....until we landed in Amsterdam! They had to give us our new seat assignment.....back into economy class...BUMMER!!

We visited with "Quinn" Askar yesterday (Monday) and today. In fact we get will get to see him again today for 2 hours! We have another couple in the visiting room with us...Claudia and Stephan. They are adopting a 7 year old girl named Tasha! We are having a great time with everyone even though the room is rather small.

The weather is wonderful....we are wearing t-shirts! Kazak's still think it is cold....they continue to wear coats. They have a fear of cold for some reason!

We have good news and bad news...first the bad....Hot water is out for 4 days! We had to boil water for our bath. The good news....we didn't have to go to the well to get the water. So we had a glimpse into what it might have been like in the Wild Wild West days!!

We promise to put photos up later. We forgot our camera in the car!

WE MISS YOU PARKER!!

p. s. Gail you are WRONG!!

Just a tiny delay......

Well we got to the airport and.........the flight was over-booked! We were involuntarily bumped, but KLM gave us each a $750 voucher and they guaranteed us a flight tomorrow night (Saturday night) Here's the best part.....BUSINESS CLASS!! We are now officially spoiled! We now may actually SLEEP on an international flight....Wow!! We are SO EXCITED!

Our bags are on their way to Almaty, Kazakhstan. When we arrive we have to hurry and get our bags (where ever they are) and catch our next flight to see "Quinn" Askar. We should make it!

Thanks EVERYONE again and again for following along on our INCREDIBLE JOURNEY!!

Here we come Quinn!

Here we go again!

We are leaving this Friday for Kaz! We should be returning the next Friday the 20th.

We have some friends, Claudia and Stephan, that are adopting from the same orphanage as "Quinn" Askar. They have met a beautiful little 7 year old girl. We are so happy for them!! While visiting their little 7 year old daughter they have been hugging and taking photos of Quinn for us! Thank you so much Stephan and Claudia...It means so much to us!

We will of course Blog next week about our Court date. We are very confident that everything will go well.

Once court is completed and the judge allows us to adopt "Quinn" Askar then we have a mandatory 25 day waiting period. When that is done I will return to Kazakhstan for the last time (thank God) and finish this adoption and bring the little guy HOME!! Yippeeeee!!

Back to Kaz!

Hi everyone!
We should be leaving April 14, 2007 for Kazakhstan.
Then we request our court date and then hopefully a few days after that we will be in court to officially ask to adopt Askar "Quinn". We will only be gone from the states about 1 week. We will be leaving Parker with my Aunt and Uncle and our nanny too. This will be the first time we have ever been without Parker! We will miss him bunches.

We are excited that we are finally going to see Askar! We are certain he is confused by the unfortunate events that have made his adoption longer than usual. We are bringing him a map of the world and with red ink we are going to show him where we live and where he lives (for now) Hopefully he won't be too bummed that he isn't going home just yet. The process is just too confusing when you are only 5 years old. We are giving him a calendar to cross off the dates until his Mama (Me) comes back for him to finish the final step in his adoption.

Please check back for more......

Quinn was visited by our translator

Hello,

Our lovely translator Maria visited Askar for us! Maria found out that Askar had spent a week in the hospital for his ear infection. Maria said that he was brought back to the Baby House and that his ear looked fine. We are happy to hear that his little ear is better. Maria said that he asked for us to bring him new clothes and for Parker to bring him a car. Quinn(Askar) knows that he will be getting new clothes to leave the orphanage! We can't wait to bring him home!

Little did we know that a couple of cookies and organic juice boxes cause ear infections....ha ha ha!!

We should be flying back to Kaz the first part of April for our Adoption Hearing. Then there will be the required 25 day waiting period. Then I will go back to Kaz and get his passport and other items and finish with his medical exam from the US Embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

We'll keep you all posted with this final stage of this process.

The Special Document is SIGNED!

We just heard the news that the Mayor of Ust-Kamenogorsk signed the Special Document regarding Askar's adoption.

Tyler and I will now make our travel plans to go back. Just need to make sure my Visa is okay. Tyler's Visa is good because he accidentally got my "double entry"......oh well we ended up needing it!

Our Adoption Coordinator in Kaz said that she visited with Askar and she said that he really misses us. That is the sad part to us. This process must be confusing to him. It confuses us and were adults!

We will keep you updated on when we leave!

No Updates Yet

Hi to all that are still checking in!

We still don't have that darn document signed yet. It is Kazakhstan's New Year right now. We are hoping for some news by next week!

We are hoping to have the special document signed and then we will return to Kaz for the court date. Our translator Maria is going to visit Askar "Quinn" this Monday the 26th. Oh we are so happy. We hope he isn't too bummed waiting for us while the silly bureaucracy goes on and on!!

Just waiting!!

We Made It Home Safe and Sound!

Hi,

Well we made it home safely! What a long trip back....ugh! This will be short and sweet because we are all ready for bed and EXHAUSTED to say the least! I have had a hard time sleeping the last few nights before we left Kazakhstan and then sleeping on planes...well you know how that it!

We will wait to here from our US Adoption Coordinator, Orson, about our trip back for court. However due to Tyler's work schedule we won't be able to return to Kaz until after April 6th. This special document should be signed by then. (POSITIVE THINKING!)

It is hard to believe that we are going all that way for literally one hour for court and one night stay in Kazakhstan and then back to the US. We will see Askar briefly either before court or after. We are not happy about such a short visit, but under the circumstances it is the best we can do. Then after the court hearing, I will return 25 days later for the final chapter of this adoption process. I will stay for approximately 17 day (I hope, I hope)

Thank you everyone for all your love, prayers and good thoughts. Please check back from time to time for more updates!

The Big Surprise!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry that we haven’t blogged in a few days! No we have not decided to move here and change our last name to resemble the entire alphabet! Were ya missin us?

Well I can’t believe it but I got Strep Throat! I was taken to a Ear, Nose and Throat “Specialist”. Now that was an EXPERIENCE! The treatment room looked like it was from the 40’s on “Walton’s Mountain”. I was greeted by a very elderly female Russian Doctor. She thought I was German. Ha! Thank goodness our translator was there, I would have been lost. I was feeling miserable and desperate and would have accepted help from the “Pillsbury Dough Boy”.

Modernization has not hit Kazakhstan. Not sure when it will. She told me I have a Disease! I knew exactly what I had. I told our translator to tell her that I have had this a few times in my life and usually have to get a antibiotic (which I hate) and a pain killer so that I can swallow without pain. I ended up getting just that! She was a very kind Doctor.

Big News! The Mayor that was suppose sign that special document is now a “New” Mayor as of today. So this new mayor will need to settle into his position before he signs this document. Needless to say we are on our way home! We are scheduled to leave March 15^th. So we will be home a few days earlier than scheduled.

Update on Askar. Poor little guy has an ear infection. We really just want to get him to an American Doctor to clearly evaluate his ear problem. They just keep dumping more stuff inside his ear and it doesn’t seem to help. Tomorrow we will need to say good-bye to him until Tyler and I can return for court. We have no idea how he will take it. Tyler thinks that he will smile and say “Da” (which means Yes) It is really hard for Askar to understand what is happening with the adoption process. We could be gone as long as 3 weeks before our return for court. I am especially sad because I didn’t get to see him for 2 days because of my Strep Throat problem.

This journey and its been a JOURNEY has brought Tyler, me and Parker so much closer.

We will be seeing most of you soon! Thanks for following along! Thanks also for your prayers, positive thoughts, emails and comments. It was a true blessing to receive them all!

LOVE YOU ALL!!

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…………………………………….!