Here We Go Again! (Well, DeAnn Goes Again!)

Hi Everyone. I guess it is my turn to take a whack at this blogging thing. DeAnn has done such a wonderful job at it. First of all, I know DeAnn promised to post some more pictures. So there is a few at the end of this blog.

WE ARE SO ANXIOUS TO GET THE GIRLS HOME WE CAN HARDLY STAND IT!!!!!

The last couple weeks at home has had its own challenges, albeit a little different than being in Kazakhstan. The time has gone slow and fast at the same time. Our trip to Kaz seems so surreal at this point. Adjusting back to Arizona time was much more difficult than I expected. One good thing though, we do have hot water.

A few days after we got back, we received an email from Big Maria that Little Maria was in the hospital. The Saturday after we left, she was complaining of stomach pains and then she fainted. She is OK now. They didn't really find anything wrong. We suppose it was probably just nerves and anxiety. They kept her in the hospital for about a week and a half . One, just to make sure that she wasn't sick so the other children in the orphanage wouldn't get sick and two, that's the way socialized medicine works. In the United States, a stay in the hospital for a week and a half usually means something is terribly wrong. Big Maria kept us in the loop though and helped us keep from getting too worried. We knew Little Maria was in good hands. Actually, I think her stay in the hospital was another little blessing. We were worried about how well the time would pass for her and as it worked out, it seems she got a lot of attention from hospital friends and staff. And, very importantly, Big Maria was able to visit often because the hospital is in Petropavlovsk, not an hour's drive away. As for Nastya? Well, I guess she has been doing fine. She just seems to be as happy go-lucky as ever.

The plan now is for Big Maria to bring the girls from Petropavlovsk and meet DeAnn in Almaty. So far that side of the plan seems to be working OK. Maria will have the girls at her home overnight on Friday and fly on Saturday.

Here's the catch! Who would have thought that another major problem would arise. We thought we were home free at this point. DeAnn's itinerary was in place. We communicated with Coleen at Focus on Children. We were set to go. Me and the boys said good-bye to DeAnn this morning. They went to school. I went to work. DeAnn went to the gym one more time. Everybody was happy. DeAnn's mom, Naomi took her to the airport and off DeAnn went to Denver. Everybody was happy!!! Then... Denver!!! The WEATHER of all things!!! DeAnn's plane was delayed a few hours. It was delayed long enough for us to know that there was no way she was going to catch her connection to Almaty from Frankfurt. I got a couple calls from her in Denver. She wasn't a happy camper! At this very moment, she is somewhere between Denver and Frankfurt. The original plan was for her to land in Almaty on Friday night about midnight. It was all supposed to go smooth. DeAnn was real excited to be in Almaty before the girls to meet them at the airport. DeAnn called me with three options of how she was going to get to Almaty. Only one of them got her there before the girls. So now, she is going to catch a flight from Frankfurt to Moscow, and then from Moscow to Almaty. The last leg, she will be flying on Air Astana. We are saying our prayers and I am worried about her. We hope her luggage follows her all the way and I hope she arrives in Almaty with her wits intact. Just one more trial to go through, but I know she will be OK, especially when she gets to hold and hug the girls. She was worried about going by herself and then this. So I am waiting anxiously. Maybe I'll hear from her in an email from Frankfurt. I may not hear from her until she arrives in Almaty. So here I sit....waiting....waiting...

We Are Home!

I know I should have posted earlier because everyone is wondering if we made it home or not. Especially when we traveled on the highest security alert day ever since 9/11! But we did make it home safely. We caught all our connecting flights, despite the extra security measures, and we only had to lose our juice boxes, and water bottles. We lucked out!

I wanted to post some pictures, but for some reason it is not letting me. I am not sure what the problem is. So I am sorry. I got some beautiful pictures of the girls that I wanted to show off, maybe I can figure it out when I have more time.

The miracles didn't stop after the adoption for us. On Wednesday, after court, we had to fill out a lot of paperwork before we could leave. Our lawyer, Svetlana, was worried we had not allowed enough time (we left at 1:00 pm), so she started working early that morning. We had to get everything notarized (especially our power of attorney for Maria) and when they went to the notary's office, the power was out. That meant no printing, no computers, no paperwork!!! I am so glad I wasn't there at that time because I would have panicked! But luckily (or by the grace of God), there was a construction crew working nearby who had a generator. They were able to give the office some power for an hour or so, so we could get the paperwork done. The lights went out while we were signing, but that was OK because you don't need electricity to sign papers! We were so thankful, we were able to catch our flight and head on to Almaty.

On the plane to Almaty we met some Americans from California who had adopted a little boy, that was fun. And we met an American woman who married a man from Kazakhstan. She was very nice and is staying in Almaty until August 31st! I was hoping I would be able to catch up with her when I returned, but it looks like I am not returning until September 1st. Our little Nathanael also threw up on the flight home, just as we were landing in Almaty. Without a barf bag handy, Larry was quick and caught most of it in his hands until I could pull out a crumpled plastic cup I had in my purse. It is a rough ride in those old little planes!

When we landed we were asked if we wanted to stay in a hotel or apartment. Since we really loved our apartment in Petro we opted for the apartment, but asked real fast, does it have hot water??? We were told yes! We got there, I bathed Nathanael and we feel asleep since we were totally exhausted. And guess what happened in the morning when we got up to shower??? Yep, they turned off the hot water for a day! It was just our lot in life!

One thing that was wonderful that happened the one day we were in Almaty was Larry's chance meeting our church's missionaries. We did not think our church had missionaries in Kazakhstan, but when Larry went to the supermarket that morning he saw two young men in white shirts and ties. Now, all the store clerks were young men in white shirts and ties, so how Larry knew these were missionaries is truly remarkable, but he did, and they were just as surprised as he was. We took them to dinner that night. We found out that there are about 40 members in Almaty and we got the address and time for church. I was so excited to see them there because when I return I will know I have someone I can call if needed. Also, they will be able to teach my girls all about the church in their native tongue, and I will get to take the girls to church in their country so they know a little more about what they will be doing when they get to America! It was such a blessing and a miracle!!!! Can you imagine, we were only in Almaty one day, there are over 1,000,000 people that live there, and we meet them at one of the 1,000's of supermarkets, at the right time, at the right place. I know it was another tender mercy of the Lord. Especially because we were not even looking for them because we had thought they weren't there!

We had a little more drama after we got home. Little Maria (our daughter) was put in the hospital after we left. She was complaining of a stomach ache and then fainted. She has been in the hospital in Petro this whole week. We don't know when she will be released, but I am so thankful that Maria (our translator) is there and watching out for her! We think it is because her anxiety is so high. She told Maria that she had cried all night because she didn't want us to leave. I feel awful, but what can you do. I am just so grateful big Maria is there to comfort her and take care of her. She has been taking her fruits and juices and toys. We owe her so much! Maria will be OK, and I can't wait to see them on September 2nd!!!!!!

The Adoption Is Final

Today we finalized our adoption of Maria and Anastacia. They are know officially our children. The court went rather easy, we were very fortunate that Maria's sister agreed to watch the boys so we didn't have to take them. It was about 1 1/2 hour drive to the courthouse, the courthouse was under renovation so it was quite interesting being there. We waited in the hallway for awhile, and then we were called into the judge's office. They held the proceedings and it was over within a matter of 30 minutes! The judge didn't even ask us any questions, he said he knew he was going to approved so why bother, he just wanted to make sure the paperwork was correct.

Both orphanage directors attended and afterwards we went back to Poludino for a big feast! We didn't have a lot of time since our court was late in the afternoon, and the director told us that he just wanted us to come for tea, but when we got there they had prepared a big feast for us! Fish, chicken, pelemi, potatoes, it was great. I even ate the fish (which still had its head and eyes attached!!!!) Those who know me would be very proud. Actually it tasted very good. The directors joked a lot with each other, and the director from Maria's orphanage kept making sure we all were eating. He is the one who wouldn't let me leave unless I ate the fish! We had many toasts (as before!), and we really appreciate all the work and effort that these wonderful people go to for the children. The directors are great, they are loving and kind, and they have been so kind to us. We are grateful for our lawyer, Svetlana, who did so much for us. This was the first time we met her and she was lovely and kind too. And of course you all know how much we LOVE Maria and all that she has done for us.

We got to see the girls one last time. They are so cute!!! It wasn't as emotional with them as yesterday was, but when we got in the car and drove away, I couldn't help but cry. I wish so bad we didn't have to wait the extra time, especially since they are ours!!! But we have been told that this is a precaution because others have adopted and taken the kids and abused them. I guess they figure if you are willing to go through all this to adopt a child, you won't likely abuse them!

We fly out tomorrow, spend a day in Almaty and then home on Friday. I will come back August 30th to get the girls and bring them home. So this will be our last entry from Kazakhstan. I will post some more pictures of the orphanage and children when I get home so you all can see more of what we experienced! And then of course I will update again when I go back to get the girls.

Thanks to all of you for your comments, support, love and prayers. It was wonderful to check each day our email and comments, you all have been great! We love you!!!!!

Fun In The Forest

Wow!! Only two more days left here in Petropavlovsk. I wasn’t going to blog anymore until we had our court date tomorrow, but I had to tell you about our excursion to the forest. It was a lot of fun.

They eat a lot of mushrooms around here, and one of the reasons is because they grow out in the birch tree forests abundantly. You can buy along the side of the road almost anywhere you go. We ask Maria if we could go, so she and Sasha took us out Saturday. Maria told us that her family would go every year with her grandparents and take the whole day. They had a big car and they would pick so many mushrooms that it would fill the whole car. Then they would bottle them for the winter. We were kind of late in the season, and since so many people do it, we thought there might not be any mushrooms left. But we found some!!!

The forest is very beautiful, but there are lots of bugs, spiders, and spider webs. We had to make sure to wear long sleeves and long pants to avoid getting bit by mesquites (which we have had lots of experience with here). It was a haven for the boys! They found inch worms, a tarantula, a wasp nest (actually Sasha found the nest), and frogs!!! There were more interested in finding the bugs than the mushrooms, but once we started finding the mushrooms the boys got more excited. I didn’t realize how many varieties of mushrooms there are, and you have to know which ones are the right ones, because some can make you sick. Luckily, Maria was an expert, there were a few that were suspicious and she had us throw them out because she wanted to make sure we showed up for court on Tuesday!

They also had these berries in the forest (they have strawberry plants, but they were out of season!) that Nathanael and Caleb loved. They were a little sour, but I enjoyed them as well. Nathanael ate them all the way back to the city, while watching his little inch worm crawl all over him. It was quite a cute sight to see!

Afterwards we treated Sasha and Maria to lunch. Lunch is their big meal of the day here in Kazakhstan, and it usually involves meat. Sasha took us to a Georgia restaurant (not Georgia the state, but Georgia the country near Turkey!). It was really good. They served us this salad that had crushed walnuts all over the tomatoes and cucumbers – Mom, you would have loved it!! Also the meat was seasoned very well, and there was his bread pastry thing with cheese in it that we liked too! It was fun.

Yesterday we walked around the city one last time; we made it back to our apartment before the big rain came in. You never know when it is going to rain because the clouds come in within minutes, but once you see the clouds, you start for home, because they will burst on you!

Today we visited the girls and said our goodbyes. It is possible that we may see them tomorrow, but we didn’t know for sure. I was asking Anastacia if she would be scared to go with me on the plane, and she told me that she wasn’t scared of anything. I know that to be true! She is one spunky, adorable girl. Maria drew a picture of me and her outside our home. She had a very hard time saying goodbye. She had told the caretakers that today was the last day she would see us and she was going to cry all day. And I guess she had! She cried when we left, and it broke my heart. We drew her a calendar to mark off the days and put in a couple of extra days in case something goes wrong. That way she will be surprised if I come earlier. Maria is going to be able to visit them and after our visit we went to the market to buy them some little trinkets like nail polish, jewelry, sunglasses, etc…. so she would have something to bring to them. I don’t know if I want to visit them again tomorrow because it was so hard saying goodbye today. I don’t want to go through it again. Anastacia took it well; she didn’t seem affected at all. We gave them some dolls today and when we went back to their room, Maria was crying and Anastacia just said, “I’m not leaving my doll here.” She is such a character, she just makes me laugh!!!!!

I was thinking of some things that I will miss here, and then I started thinking of some things that I miss at home. I will be grateful to get back to my bed and pillow!! These beds are very hard, and the pillows are even harder! I also miss my washing machine and dryer. I don't think we ever really learned how to use the washing machine correctly because our clothes just don't seem to get very clean. I told Maria I was going to bring her back some food from America. Things like maple syrup with your pancakes (or blingies as they are called here), ranch dressing instead of mayonaise as salad dressing, MEXICAN FOOD!!!!! (I miss my Someburros!), chips and salsa, tortillas, and peanut butter. Most things you can find here but not these things. If I ever come back here again I will also bring bug repellant! All of us have been eaten alive by the mesquitos and our nighttime ritual is casing the apartment looking for mesquitos before we turn off the lights. When we get them we slap them and then you get blood all over you, because they are so full of our blood! Poor little Nathanael's bites have swollen up so large!

But I will miss things here too! I will miss being to walk anywhere I want, the fresh foods in the market, the peaceful times in the park, the friendly attitude everyone has (unless they are driving and then they are crazy!), the beautiful scenary in the countryside, the market!!!! Today we brought a gift to the little boy that our boys have been playing with that lives below us. We had Maria go with us so we could actually talk to them and find out their names, but he was taking a nap. When Larry and the boys went back he was so excited and the parents invited them in and they talked (communicated through sign language!!!) They even gave our boys a gift, which I didn't want them to do, but they are just so kind. Larry said that was one of his highlights, to be invited into their home for awhile. We will also miss the friends that we have made here, like Maria and Sasha!

Well, tomorrow is the big day. We hope everything goes well and the adoption goes through. Maria tells us to be ready, they could ask us anything, and you never know what they will ask, so you can’t really prepare. We told Maria that no matter what we said, she just tell them the right answer! In less than 24 hours we will have officially adopted two girls. It is amazing.

I tried to add some pictures today, but the computer is acting funny. I don’t know why some days I can add pictures easily and other days I can’t. So sorry!!!!

Tender Mercies

Today is Sunday and I have been thinking of the last month here in Kazakhstan. We have shared much with you and we have realized that many have been following our blog, some we know and love, and some we have never met. This is something we did not expect. I have felt to share some of the thoughts I have been having the last couple of days, but I would like all of you to realize that these thoughts are special and not to be taken lightly, they are real to me and important to me.

One of the apostles of our church, Elder David Bednar, gave a talk on the “Tender Mercies” of the Lord. These are events in our lives where the Lord blesses us sometimes without us even realizing it; these are the little miracles that come to each of us. This weekend, as we prepare to wrap up our stay here in Kazakhstan I was thinking of the many tender mercies the Lord has shown to us.

OUR GIRLS

Finding the children we did was truly a miracle from God. If someone would have told me that I would adopt older children (especially older than Caleb), I would have said absolutely not. That was not my intent in coming here. In fact I was already having a hard time adopting the 3 & 5 year olds that we originally were going to adopt. I don’t know how they work the system here in Petropavlovsk. You can be told there are no other children and then the next day there are children! Some people are told one thing, others another. The couple that came a few days after us were shown two girls (ages 6 & 8) at the same orphanage, you can ask, why didn’t they show us those girls??? Who knows!!! But what I do know is that Maria and Anastacia were meant to be in our family. As many of you have commented, it seems like we have been together forever. I know the events leading up to us meeting Anastacia were put in place so that we were humble enough to recognize who she was. We had to be humble enough (or desperate enough!) to drive 5 hours, and pay extra money to visit Maria in her orphanage. We were only the second couple to ever visit her orphanage! So although it seemed like a huge hassle it really was a tender mercy leading us and guiding us to “our” children.

THE TIMING

As many of you know we were hoping that we would come here in March. It was a huge struggle for me to wait the additional four months, and the constant not knowing when we were going was agonizing. But now that we are here I wished I had more faith in God’s timing because now is the perfect time for us to be here. For one, the girls were not available until the week we came (they still weren’t even on the list!). Second, the weather here has been the best for ME. I know I complained that when we first got here it was really hot, and it was! And then it got cold, but if we were here in March there would have been tons of snow and you all know how I feel about snow. I would not have walked around the city and enjoyed the wonderful things about it. We would not have gone to the park, and I would have been especially miserable with no hot water if it were 20 degrees outside! We have the fresh vegetables, the green countryside, and this past week the weather has been absolutely PERFECT!!! In addition the boys only had to miss the first week of school. I was able to attend our girls’ camp and I was able to accomplish everything I felt I needed to accomplish the past six months. Also, in just another few weeks we are told it will be getting colder.

OUR TRANSLATOR

We have been absolutely blessed with our translator Maria (Masha!). She is kind and sympathetic, and I think she goes the extra mile in showing us the wonderful things about her city. She has taken us to the museum, shopping, and she and Sasha even took us to look for mushrooms out in the forest. I know that she played a very important part in helping our little Maria feel comfortable enough to agree to come with us. Without her (big Maria, as the boys call her), I don’t know if she (little Maria) would have come. We feel very comfortable around her and so do the children, which for me is very important. I am so grateful that she has agreed to visit the girls while we come back home, it is a great comfort to me to know someone is looking out after them.

OUR APARTMENT

When I first got here I did not want to stay in this apartment. I was VERY upset that they had not arranged for us to be at the Skiff Hotel as we had requested. But after being here and living here, I am so grateful that we are in our apartment rather than at the Skiff. First of all, I think we have experienced more of the culture by shopping here and living as the people really do. We have been able to associate with the people at the park; the kids have played with the other children here in the apartment. We have been able to make our own food, which has been quite a blessing because the food is different and every once in awhile it is nice to have something that tastes like it came from home (ie: Larry made tortillas and we had cheese crisps!). The apartment is bigger than a hotel room. We have a separate kitchen/dining area, a family room and a bedroom. We can get away from each other when we need to, the kids can play, and we can be in a different room reading or what not. We have the internet connection, we have a washing machine, and we have everything we need. I love this apartment. When we complained about no hot water, they installed a little hot water heater in the shower. When we complained about not being able to call certain numbers, they accommodated on this as well. We have been well cared for!!!!

Another reason we wanted to stay at the Skiff was to associate with other Americans, and we have found out that there is only one American couple at the Skiff right now. We have met them already because they go to Poludino as we do. We have enjoyed the time we have spent with them, but we don’t feel we missed out on the camaraderie of being at the Skiff. This apartment has been a great blessing, and despite my whining and begging, I am glad that God in his wisdom made it possible for us to be here and that we listened to him because that first weekend we were going to check in ourselves but felt we just needed to wait a little bit longer. I am so glad we did!! (Not to mention the 1000’s of $$$$ we saved being here instead!)

THE BOYS

You all know how spunky our boys can be. We debated whether or not to take them many times. Especially with the cost of the tickets being so expensive, but every time we thought about it, in our hearts we felt we needed them to be here. How grateful we listened to our hearts and not to our minds or wallet! Being here all together has been great for our family. It has been great for the boys. Caleb has especially really grown here, and we have been able to have conversations and learning experiences that would not have happened elsewhere. I am grateful we have been able to bring them!!! We are also grateful for how well behaved they have been this trip. I know some here would not think they are well behaved, but for those of you who know them, they have been INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

THE BOOK

Just before leaving I was trying to find the book “The Hiding Place” to read on the plane and during our layovers. Many ladies in my church were reading it this month and I thought it would be great. I couldn’t find it anywhere! I went to at least three bookstores, so I was kind of discouraged. Elder Groberg’s book “The Other Side of Heaven” kept coming to my mind. I had bought it a few years ago after seeing the movie and always wanted to read it, but never got around to it. So last minute I threw it in. That book saved me the first week we were here. With all the troubles we were having I am so grateful that I was reading that book. It inspired faith in me and helped me overcome the difficulties I was facing. It was inspiration from a loving Heavenly Father for me to think of that book. It was exactly what I needed to be reading at the time.

KOSTUYA

This may seem like a little thing but it was huge to us. The first day we were here we were left in our apartment not knowing anything. Our driver, Sasha (who we like very much) picked us up at the airport and tried to show us a little but he spoke no English. We had two days before Maria would contact us and we had no idea where she was (later we found out that she was out of town on holiday!). That night we prayed for help, it was a discouraging night. We felt lost and alone. Larry specifically prayed that someone would be placed in our path that spoke English. Well, first thing in the morning, Kostuya, a bright young man knocked on our door and he spoke English, very fluent English. It was a direct answer to our prayer. He was a friend of Sasha’s and he willingly agreed to help us out and show us around that first day. We tried to pay him that day, but he wouldn’t have it. He was a wonderful blessing.

FAITH

We have been blessed with a tremendous amount of faith. I know many have commented on how they have admired our faith, but it is not us, we have been blessed with this gift. But it has been remarkable what I have learned by not knowing what I would find when I got here, and solely relying on God. We also are so grateful for the faith of two little girls who are so willing to leave all they know and come with us, complete strangers, to a strange land, and learn everything new again. We get the feeling that they are leaving not because they want to get away from the orphanage, rather, they seem to really enjoy our family and want to be with us as much as we want to be with them. I feel that they were being prepared before we ever came and that there are things that occurred that we may never know.

PEACE

Traveling halfway around the world, with two small boys, to a country that you know nothing about it is a scary thing. But trying to decide if you want to bring two other children into your home without being able to communicate with them and just by seeing them alone is especially worrisome. This would change our life forever!!! We didn’t want to make the wrong decision. How grateful I am for the first time I saw Anastacia that she reminded me of Nathanael. But more importantly how grateful I am for the peace and knowledge, through the gift of the Holy Ghost, that these are the right children for our family. How can anyone make such an important decision without the peace that comes from God knowing you are doing the right thing??? There have been times that I have gotten a little nervous, a little discouraged, a little scared, but as soon as I would read from the scriptures and pray, a peaceful warm feeling would come to me and I knew this is the right thing. Throughout this whole experience, since being here, I have been blessed with a great sense of peace. This city, to me, is just peaceful. I feel that I have learned to trust the Lord more, to just “let go and let God,” as many say.

There are other tender mercies and I could go on and on, but I think the point that I want to share with everyone is that God does really answer our prayers, he really does know what is best for us, and he really is blessing us even when we don’t know or feel that He is. Larry has said on this trip, “God is a good driver.”

As I think about the whole adoption process and the times I was about to give up, I really did feel that God was ignoring me, there were times I really felt that He didn’t love me as much and that he was purposely putting roadblocks in place to punish me for unknown reasons. Yet now looking back, I realize that he was putting everything into place for these great blessings. God does not ignore us; He LOVES us. That is the greatest knowledge I have learned on this trip and that is what I want to share with all of you. If any of you are discouraged or feeling this way, please know that God is there to help you too. He is sending "tender mercies" and we just need to open our eyes to see.

I hope to remember it in future times when I am discouraged, overwhelmed because things “aren’t working like they are suppose to”, or just plain tired of waiting for my prayers to be answered. I hope to remember to have faith and leave it in God’s hands. He will send the “tender mercies” to sustain me and take care of me, I just need to look for them in my life and remember …. Always remember….that He Loves Me (And You!) and all that we go through is truly for our good.

We Love Petropavlovsk

Today I thought I would share a little more about our experiences in this wonderful town of Petropavlovsk.

As I had said before, most people live in one of the apartments. You get to know your neighbors pretty well, and if we could communicate with ours I know we would be great friends! There is a lady next door that always opens her door when she hears the kids come up the stairs (ours are the loudest kids, so I know she knows it is us when we come!), and because it is four flights of stairs the kids are usually up there fast waiting for us to huff and puff our way up! She just starts talking to them and smiling. Who knows what she is saying but she is very nice.

Outside our apartment, and most I think, there are play areas for the children. It is usually deserted during the day, but around 4:00 there are lots of people coming and going, and the children are out playing, the babushka’s are sitting on the benches talking, and there is quite a lot of activity going on. Although there are a lot out and about, everyone is peaceful and quiet and it is so enjoyable to be outside and read and watch people. As I watch the people coming and going I am reminded of people I know at home. It is funny how you can see someone half way across the world and think of someone else. The Babushka’s are my favorite to watch, they all wear these scarves on their heads and most are usually in dresses. It is just as you would imagine!

Everyone walks here. There are lots of cars but I have wondered where they park their cars. Today I found out that there are these little tin shed garages, so some people have to walk ½ hour or so to get to their car! So usually you walk unless you are going far distances. Also you must be on guard while you are walking, because the cars seem to have more of the right away than the pedestrians. We had to get use to the lights also, they will flash yellow just before they turn green, instead of just before turning red, and when the do not walk sign comes on, it truly means do not walk, you have NO time left, and the cars don’t care if you are still in the road, they are going! Larry almost got hit today on a little sidewalk while at the market where mostly people were walking. He had no inclination that a car would be making its way down the narrow path. The mirror of the car actually hit him and the driver starting yelling at him, he just stood there and shrugged his shoulders.

One of the popular things to eat here is “Sheshshalee” (and I know that is not how you spell it, and I am still trying to learn how to say it!!), but basically there are these outdoor grills set up all over town, and they are shish-ka-bobs. There is chicken, pork or beef, and they eat them right off the stick like a corndog. They also put ketchup on them and we found that it is one of the favorites of the girls! Yesterday when we took the girls for the day, the orphanage was very specific in how we were to feed them. They weren’t allowed to have soda or candy and we were to make sure they rested during their nap time. We had them “rest” while watching Tom & Jerry, and we figured the ice cream was their dairy supplement, and the chips were their vegetables!!! We told them to make sure they told the caretakers that we fed them “good” food!

All joking aside though, the people here eat very healthy. Everything you get off the streets is fresh from their gardens, the tomatoes are vine ripened and wonderful!!! Same with the fresh raspberries and melons. At the orphanage they eat everything from scratch as well. For the luncheon they served us, they told us the lamb was from a donated ewe that someone brought last week! The children help with planting and tending the garden, and everything is healthy. We have been spoiled having everything so fresh! Tomorrow Sasha and Maria are going to take us to the forest to pick our own mushrooms and maybe raspberries!!!!

The children here are very well behaved. I may have mentioned this before, but I am just so amazed, especially at the orphanage. I really believe the diet and the structure have a lot to do with how the children behave and many in America would benefit in putting these practices into place. I think that is why they were so specific with us. But I think it takes more disciplined parents, and we weren’t even able to follow their guidelines for the one day we had them!! Although, I was really good to not buy them the Soda and the Cotton Candy that they begged for!!! I am learning though, and this has taught me a lot.

We got to visit the girls again today. We weren’t able to go in the morning because Maria met with our judge (by the way, she said it went well and even the judge commented on how much all the children look alike!). So we went this afternoon. The girls are always so happy to see us and come in with huge smiles on their faces. One of the favorite sports here is Football (which in America it is called Soccer). Boys are always playing it downstairs in the park. Since it is time to sign up for the Fall League in Soccer I asked the girls if they wanted to play soccer. Nastya immediately said “Da” which is “yes”, but Maria was hesitant. I asked her if she would rather do gymnastics, which brought a huge smile. She then told Nastya that soccer was for boys, so then Nastya said she didn’t want soccer. But when I told her that girls play soccer too, she went back to soccer and made a “in your face” look at Maria!!! They definitely act like sisters, but they are so different in personalities. I got special permission to have Nastya play on Nathanael’s team so she is very excited! And Maria is excited to do gymnastics; she is constantly showing me her “moves”.

Today I also brought a book, first 500 words, with lots of pictures for the girls to get familiar with. I am hoping if they need something they can point to one of the pictures. One page is of a doctor’s office and I told them girls they would be going to the doctor and the dentist. Nastya immediately told me she didn’t need to she was perfectly fine. Another page was of a grocery store with different foods, and another of a kitchen. One is of a birthday party and I was telling Maria that we would have a birthday party for her when we got home because her birthday is September 16th! She said she had never had a birthday party before so she was very excited. I told her she may not have that many friends of her own yet, but that she had tons of cousins, and neighbors that would make a great birthday party!

I also was showing them different foods and asked them what their favorite was. Nastya told me she loved all food!! And judging from what I have observed I am pretty sure that is true. Yesterday while eating the Sheshshalee they brought a napkin full of raw onions. She just started downing them like they were candy!!!! I about died!!!!! Now I will have to buy onions!!! And when I asked her what she liked best about yesterday she said “the food!” But she did say that she had a stomach ache last night when going to bed. Many have asked how to say her name, you would say it “NAHS T (like the letter t) YA” with the emphasis on the NAHS.

Maria is my story teller. When we first met Maria her teacher at the orphanage told us that she made up wonderful stories and told the children about her dreams all the time. We are starting to get a sense of what her teacher meant. Sometimes when Maria is talking Masha will just look at me like you won’t believe this, and then tell me what she said. I think most of the time the stories are true (I think! Who knows!), but they are quite interesting and sometimes exaggerated. But they are always quite entertaining!!! Maria is also very coordinated and will be our computer whiz. She already has figured out the game boys, she saw the laptop while she was here and insisted on us showing it to her, she grasped it very well, she is great with the soccer ball, plays badminton and is very good, and she is learning very quickly. She is a very smart little girl. We are still trying to get information regarding their past but nobody seems to know anything. Maria has many stories about her Dad but never about her Mother. I was told our lawyer, Svetlana (we haven’t met her yet but Masha talks to her all the time!) has some information and will bring it when she comes for our court date on Tuesday.

We talked some more about us leaving and then coming back. They both have accepted it and are doing well. Today Maria said the prayer again, but this time Masha was here to interpret. She thanked God for us coming to visit today, and she thanked God for getting to come be part of our family. It was very sweet! We also got permission to have Masha come and visit the girls while we are gone. That will be great, and I might even have her bring the girls to Almaty and meet me there. Sometimes it is hard to get a flight from Almaty to Petro (as we know because we had to drive 4 extra hours when we first got here!), or you can’t get a flight the same day you fly in (as we know because we will be spending an extra day in Almaty when we leave!) so having her bring the girls might save me on time and money. We will see how it goes.

All in all we are starting to get sad that it is coming to a close this next week. It has been so fun to be here for us. Caleb says he wants to live here and loves it, but our little Nathanael is getting very homesick. He has been having a harder time with the adjustment and sometimes doesn’t communicate his feelings as well as Caleb does. But today I knew he was frustrated so we just talked and the thing he wanted to talk about was Tippie, our dog. I knew he missed home. He misses his dog, and he misses his friends, and he can’t wait to start school. I think I will have a hard time with them going back to school after being with them so much this trip. I know this sounds crazy but I don’t want them to have to go to school as soon as we get home!

Oh, one more story I have to share about Caleb. Yesterday at the park we had Caleb and Maria ride these little quads (50 horse power). Because Caleb has gone out many times with his cousins on quads he was very confident and felt that he could drive fast and stand up and do all sorts of things. Well that was at least until he took a corner too fast and crashed!!!! He went over the protective tires and I think scared himself, and all those watching. It also humbled him a bit and he stopped “hot dogging” it!

A Glimpse Into The Future

Today was our first full day with all four children and now tonight I have a headache and want to go to bed!!! So this will be short with no pictures!

Actually it was a wonderful day, but trying to pay and give attention to four chatterboxes is very difficult. I got my first dose of what it will be like in another month. I am glad I have a month to prepare!

We were able to have the girls come to Petropavlovsk because we needed to get their passport pictures. The orphanage was kind enough to let us have them the whole day. After the pictures I took them shopping to get an outfit and tennis shoes. The definately have a certain flare as Bev described in her comment. They love bright colors!!! Which at one point I thought they would love my favorite bright color, lime green, but guess what?? That is the only bright color they don't like! But we finally settled on a hot pink skirt for Nastya and hot pink sweat pants for Maria. At first they had the same top except Nastya's was in white and Maria's was in pink, but I decided that Maria does not look very good in pink, so we changed it to white. (It just doesn't go with her hair color and complexion!) They were so excited to pick out their own clothes, I think it was the first time they have ever done that. We bought little purses, and pens and pads of paper to put in the purses. It didn't take them long to start asking for everything, and it didn't take long for us to start saying "Nyet!" which means "No."

After shopping we came back to the apartment and Larry made lunch. He made french fries which the girls loved, but they didn't like Ranch dressing or fry sauce! We played around here for awhile, they drew, watched Tom & Jerry (their favorite), played the gameboys, and then we left for the park!

The park was so much fun. It was the first time these girls have ever ridden any kind of ride. They loved it. One of the rides are these little quads, that are real quads but miniature sized. We let Maria and Caleb ride them and told Maria that her Aunt Kim and Aunt Tammy owned big ones of these and we go riding a lot! She was so excited and said that was her favorite thing of the whole day!!! We had a lot of fun riding all the rides. The kids got along so well!!!!! Caleb and Maria are really hitting it off and were together all day. They held hands as they walked and talked each other into certain rides. They did have their first fight on the bumper cars when they fought over who got to drive. Maria won! Even Nathanael started loosening up today and interacting more with the girls. He and Anastacia would just jabber with each other on the rides, and neither knew what the other was saying, it was quite entertaining to watch.

Larry wanted me to include that his favorite attraction at the park is watching the security guards walk around with their machine guns in hand! Not what you would find at Disneyland.

After the park we came back to the apartment and played with the kids. The girls wanted to do my hair and put make-up on me. Even Caleb got into the act. They gave me a great hairdo, simliar to the ones they did themselves in previous pictures! I curled their hair as well, and put makeup on them. It was fun!!!

But the highlight of the day for us was when we knelt to pray before the girls were to go back, Maria really wanted to say the prayer. (As I said before we seem to be able to communicate pretty well!) Masha wasn't here to translate for us, so we have no idea what she said, but Maria did say the prayer and it was wonderful. I was so proud of her. Larry said that near the end of the prayer she stop, so he opened his eyes, she looked at me and I guess she was done, but because I didn't respond, she bowed her head again and said "Amen". She is really a quick learner.

We are going back in the morning to visit at the orphanage! I can't believe we have less than a week left here in Petropavlovsk. We love this place and in some ways we don't want to go home! There is a certain peace we feel here that will be hard to leave.

A Day To Celebrate

Today, our 14-day bonding period ended!!! It is a great milestone for us and we celebrated with the Orphanage Asst. Director with a nice luncheon. I need to tell you more about the luncheon later!! Things really have been going well for us.

I know I haven’t written for awhile, so where do I begin. I’ll start with the weekend. Maria arranged for us to go see “Pirates of the Caribbean” part II here at the movie theatre. They used to play movies in English but they no longer do, so we went to see it in Russian. For those of you who know my boys, you know how much they LOVE pirates. Maybe this movie is a bit much for them, it was for me in some parts, but they looked forward to it all day Saturday, and it was a great bargaining chip for good behavior! It was quite interesting seeing a movie in Russian, but amazingly I think we got the gist of the movie! Of course, we want to see it again to hear the jokes and one liners that Captain Jack Sparrow has, but it was fun. Caleb constantly kept asking me “What did he say?” And I would have to say “I Don’t Know!!!” Movies are the same here as in America except there was not a concession stand, you bring your own food (I would love that, and not feel so guilty sneaking it in like I do in America), there are assigned seats like a concert or play, and as soon as the movie was over, everyone gets up and leaves. They even stop the movie before the credits end.

Sunday it rained and blew very hard. The weather has turned cold here. I am glad that I brought some sweatshirts for the boys and a jean jacket for myself. We are wearing the same thing everyday but that is OK. We stayed inside all day. We did have Sacrament Meeting (Caleb & I were the speakers!), and Larry had a primary for us all. We talked about Charity and it went over very well. I wish I had the new August Friend, because we have exhausted all the stories from the June & July Friend magazine.

We visit the girls every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We leave at 9:00 each morning and return back around 1:00. It takes about one hour to get there, so we usually are with the girls for about two hours. Monday we took them back their jeans that we had exchanged. Maria tried hers on and said that they were much more comfortable. I thought that having two sizes too small for me would not be very comfortable either! We also took some magnetic dress up doll toys that we all played with. We taught the girls how to play Duck, Duck, Goose and they loved it. It is so fun to hear them say English words with their accent! We also taught them “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and “Once Their Was A Snowman”. They had a lot of fun with the songs.

On Monday I also felt impressed that we needed to let the girls know how the next month would play out and to let them know that we were going back to America and then I would come back and get them. Nastya took the news very well. She really has fun with everything and she said that that was what happened with other children so no big deal. Maria on the other hand, had a harder time with it. She started crying, which then started me crying, and I felt horrible. I told Masha to make sure Maria understood that it was not us that decided this, that it was the court that was making us wait. She does ask a lot when she is going to get to come with us. I think Nastya understands it more because she has been in the Poludino orphanage and she has seen the process. The caretakers and directors really talk to the children and prepare them for what is going to happen. Whereas Maria came from a different orphanage and has had no experience with the process. I promised her that I would come back. I kinda felt that maybe she had been promised this before and had been let down by her natural mother, but who knows. I just know she was very upset and sad. After awhile we were trying to get her cheered up and I asked if there was anything I could bring her to help pass the time away and help her be happy! Guess what she asked for???? A Game Boy like Nathanael’s!! They learn so fast don’t they???

We also decided on middle names for the girls. We are going to keep these names as their first names (sometimes people change the children’s names, but because they are older and we like the names we are keeping them). We wanted to give them a middle name that would tie them to our family. Both our boys have names after ancestors. After giving it a lot of thought, we decided to name them after their grandmothers. We showed them pictures of their “Babushka’s” and told them how much they loved these girls already and told them what special grandmothers they had. Their names will be Maria Naomi Kettenring and Anastacia Darlene Kettenring. They were very excited.

Today we taught the girls how to play spoons. Maria caught on very quickly, but I am not sure where Nastya’s head is. She understood the game and would tell everyone to grab a spoon, but she wouldn’t get one herself! Or we would keep telling her to keep the cards that matched so she would get four of a kind, but she just kept passing whatever cards she wanted to Caleb. She is so funny!! I have decided that she reminds me of someone in the family. I don’t know if anyone else will see the resemblance, but she reminds me of Robyn (our niece in Utah)!! She is vivacious, fun, outgoing, sweet, funny, and definitely keeps you on your toes. Sometimes you don’t know where her mind is, or how her mind works, but she is endearing. She has an older sister who tries to keep her in line, and she will listen to Maria, but then go ahead and do her own thing anyway. She also has taken it upon herself to keep Nathanael in line, which worries me at times, but I know all will go well. She is such a character! I knew she reminded me of someone and when I had this realization of who it was just made me love her even more!

The girls have really bonded well with Larry and I, and today we wanted to focus more on the boys. Last time we were there Maria asked Masha if the boys could stay with her and just the girls go with Mama and Papa. I told her she had to get used to it and she laughed, I think she was joking. Today they really did get along well, especially Maria and Caleb. I think there will be a special bond between them. I had Maria go up and get Nastya’s photo album and she took Caleb’s hand and had him go with her. That made us very happy! Nathanael was having a hard time because he doesn’t quite know how to play with the girls. Nastya gets frustrated with him easily and goes and does her own thing. Today we had them play soccer together because we are going to put them on the same team when we get home. They did quite well and then started playing together more. Nathanael still doesn’t know how to say Anastacia’s name and calls her the “little” girl, and Nastya still doesn’t know how to say Nathanael’s name (there is no “th” sound in Russian). So ….. well see how it all goes. I think they will all get along well together.

Maria kept asking for her game boy today. It is amazing how well we communicate with each other. Masha was commenting on that as well. I have been so worried about communication with them, but it seems that I know what they are saying to me, and they can understand me. God is hearing my prayers. Masha did find an electronic game here in Petropavlovsk that played four different games, and had headphones. Guess how much??? 370 tenga ($3.70)!!!! It is not a game boy but an answer to my prayers. We also bought them some cute skirts and I tried to do their hair today with some clips. I realized how poorly out of practice I am. Their hair is short, so I will need to get some ideas of how to do short hair. On Monday the girls wanted to look very nice for us when we arrived. The took extra care to pick out their outfits and to wear the bows I had bought them. They told their caretakers to make their hair like this (see picture). It was so cute (and a little silly looking) that I had to laugh! They were so proud of themselves. That is why I tried a different style on Wednesday, but mine was not much better.

We have been able to pray with them every time we go. I am so grateful for that. Each time they are very respectful and it is like second nature to them. For me that is so important as well. I want them to have a strong belief and faith in God. It is going to be so hard for me to leave them. We have asked if Masha can come and visit them while I am gone and she has asked her boss. They are thinking about it and will get back to us.

Oh, and one more exciting thing we found here in Petropavlovsk, the MARKET! It is customary that you give gifts to those that have helped you with the adoption process, like the orphanage directors, the caretakers, the judge, our lawyer, etc… Maria was taking me around to buy these gifts and I saw this large area with lots of little stores. I asked what it was, so she took me there. I was so excited! Masha couldn’t believe I was so excited about this place, but for my family, if you imagine a Mexican swap meet, but 100 times larger, that is what the market is! There are hundreds of little shops (the size of a small room), each different filled with purses, or shoes, or clothes, or toys. You could spend hours and hours there! Masha told me to hold on tight to my purse because there are a lot of thieves there. I told her we had to come back and bring Larry. She even said that the people will bargain with you on price like in Mexico. She couldn’t understand why I thought such a place was so neat, I told her Americans love to find good deals and buy anything cheap! It was just fun.

We also got good news that we are allowed to bring Maria and Nastya to Petropavlovsk tomorrow to get their passports pictures. The Asst. Director likes us so she agreed to let them stay the entire day. I am so excited!!! Now we can take them to the park and take them shopping and really have some quality time.

Finally I need to tell you about the lunch today. We didn’t realize that this would happen today because usually you have a luncheon after the court date. But the orphanage director is out of town and the Asst. Director wanted to celebrate with us. We thought that we would give the Asst. Director her gift. We had found out that she didn’t have a camera and we thought that would be so great for her to have one. She is genuinely interested in the children and loves them. She needs a camera to remember them all. I am glad we brought the camera today since she had prepared this wonderful meal. (Also it helped in her approval for us to get the girls tomorrow!) Anyway, here in Kazakhstan, and especially in the smaller towns like Poludino, it is customary to have many toasts. There was another couple there and she poured them wine and the husband vodka. She was drinking vodka as well. You would not believe how many toasts we had!! Everyone had to give one, then we toasted the orphanage director, then the children, then the families adopting the children, then the president of Kazakhstan, and it goes on and on… The husband kept saying that that was enough, and she would promise that this would be the last one, and then she would have one more. It was so funny. I know the boys were intently watching Larry and I to see if we would drink the wine given to us. Even though we told them we didn’t drink she still poured us a glass because she felt that it would be rude of her not to pour us some. Anyway, I am thinking the husband wished he had admitted he didn’t drink and we all agreed that the Asst. Director could drink anyone under the table. We stayed there for a long time and talked. She is so kind and nice. Nathanael was a little restless, but finally fell asleep, and Caleb did so well just sitting there and listening. The girls had gone back to their groups so they weren’t there. I was so thankful for how well the boys did. Larry toasted that the country is great, the people are wonderful, and the children are beautiful (very profound I thought for someone who doesn’t toast much!), and I toasted to our wonderful translator Maria. What would we do without her. She has been reading our blog too, so Maria – you are so wonderful and we have grown to love you very much. Thank you so much for everything and for taking care of us so well!!!!!! This is Maria and her apartment is the top one of the building behind her.

Oh, there is so much more but I think I have written a novel already! Thank you for all your prayers and support back home. You are all wonderful. We are reading all your comments; although we may not respond to each of you, we really appreciate your comments. We love you!!