Waiting for court

Cade's quads have been getting a lot stronger lately.

Our 14 day bonding period ended Wednesday the 19th of September. Our appointment for court has been set for next Wednesday the 26th at 10 AM. This will be the perfect situation as we will need to do some finishing paperwork on Thursday, give gifts, say good bye and then fly out to Astana on Friday. Our flight home will leave Astana at 7AM on Saturday and arrive in Salt Lake that evening at 7:30pm. So that will be a 24:30 hour trip from Astana to Salt Lake when you take into account the 12 time zone changes. Unfortunately we will have to leave the girls for the mandatory 15 day waiting period which is followed by a weeks worth of birth certificate and visa processing. That will take about 3 weeks total and then I can come back and bring them home!

Waiting a week for court is a little difficult, but well worth the wait. I am sure it will be harder to come home without Yulia and Olia. The process already takes a while and then the added return trip adds to the suspense. Some people stay the whole time, but we are not able to do that. We have been lucky to be able to come and bring the boys with us even on this first trip. At least the second trip only requires one parent and only takes 3-4 days. So that will be nice. All I have to do is come and take the girls through their medical appointment near the embassy and then when the results from the blood tests come back the next day, then we go through the embassy to pick up visas and so forth and then go home. If we get extra lucky, Guy will be able to come. I am OK going alone, but he doesn’t want me to do that. I just get worried about things that need to be taken care of at home, the boys, extra airfare and blah blah blah.

Someday this crazy clan will be together in Utah.

This process also has to be done in the city of Almaty in the south part of the country. So it will be a fun experience to see that part of the country. The south region is much more “Kazakh” than Petropavlovsk. With Petropavlovsk being so close to Russia, it is very much Russian influenced in culture. Almaty, on the other hand, is 4 hours by plane to the south and therefore much different. This is the region that the Silk Road, a very popular and ancient trade route, passed through. There are a lot Arabic and Muslim influences in this “silk road” part of the country. So it should be a fun little visit come about the 3rd week in October with the best part being that we get to bring home the girls and call this journey finished!

The Kazakhstan Flag

Yulia and Olia are doing great. I am getting a little overwhelmed with us leaving next week. I have to make sure we get some things for them before we leave. Yulia’s birthday is October 12th and so we will leave a birthday box with Nadia, our translator’s wife. We also have to get them dresses for court and one more outfit for their trip to Almaty to meet up with me. Then there are the gifts for people here in Petro and the Regional boarding school that we need to finish up. It is hard to express to people how you feel with a little gift. And then because of the language barrier, you can’t write a nice note or come up with a catchy little phrase (attached to Utah honey) like “thanks for being one honey of a caregiver!” Or how about this (attached to a salt shaker filled with Great Salt Lake salt,) “we will always savor your friendship!” OK, OK, I wouldn’t think of it! But, you get the drift. I will, however, have Igor or Nadia help me write out a couple of the more important notes I want to leave. The most important things I hope a few of the people involved understand is just how grateful were are for their pure intent, hard work on behalf of children and the pure love of Christ they posses. This would not even be remotely possible without these amazing people. God has to have people to work through to take care of all his children, young and old! And we are grateful to be among those that have been helped in many ways at the present moment.

Deb