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...