Change of Plans

It's getting colder.

Over the past week we have been finalizing the details of my trip to Almaty. Yesterday we made a change to our plane tickets that will allow the girls and I to return home on Wednesday Oct 31 rather than November 3rd. The schedule in Almaty will begin early Monday morning and be a busy two days.

I leave Saturday afternoon at 1:30 and land in Almaty very late Sunday night. The girls will already have been escorted from Petro by Sholpan and will be with our new translator, Oleg and his wife. Whether I will see them that night is unsure. Hopefully they will be asleep preparing for an early rise Monday morning. They are counting the days.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Debbie will be making final preparations for the arrival of the girls. Everything that could be anticipated has been taken care of. Certainly there will be some "Oh yeah, I can't believe I didn't think of that" moments. On Friday we will celebrate our last day as a family as we know it.

All of the girls in our neighborhood are excited to throw a party for the Olia and Yulia. Our home is always full of neighborhood boys and now it seems that with the arrival of two girls, the total net gain will be more like five or six.

Here's to a new life!

guy

Father Time

My new favorite cycling team.

Kazak flag proudly on display.

Not many of these stickers around.

Time is a strange thing. Moving quickly for three weeks while in Petro, and coming to a screeching halt the past two. We are still hoping that the return trip to KAZ will happen this coming Saturday but a national holiday has got everyone worried that paperwork won't be ready. As it stands, we have an airplane ticket on hold for travel Oct 27-Nov 3rd. We also decided for many reasons that I (Guy) would be going alone to retrieve the girls. I will fly to Altmaty and have our coordinator, Sholpan, escort the girls from Petro.

Showing the pictures we sent.

We have been corresponding through our translator, Igor. His wife Nadiya has been teaching English lessons to the girls. Every couple of days we get an email with a few pictures, with us replying with some photos of our own. An Amercian couple from Tennessee, Bill and Cathe, have been so kind as to send some photos and pass along our love when the see the girls at the RBS. Everything is going well in the meantime but the girls can't wait to be with us. The feeling is mutual. Since our waiting period is over the girls belong to us and if we were in country they could stay with the family while the immigration paperwork shuffle continued. Unfortunately due to timing, that is not a reality for our family. Thankfully the memories of our time in Petro has been deeply embedded in hearts and mind.

Yulia and Taunya (who 14th day of bonding with her parents just finished)

Debbie has been nesting. Building a wardrobe for the girls has been a serious task. She usually buy all the boys clothes for the follwoing year at clearance sales. Clean. Quick. Easy. Debbie has perfected the artform. By the time she is done the store sometimes owe her money. This time we have had to watch ourselves with all the cute girl clothes so readily avaiable. Truthfully, it has been fun to see the things see has brought home to proudly hang in their closet. Of course, shoes and coats are my weakness. I have placed an order for warm "puffy" coats in blue and pink and helped Deb choose some very cute, functional (of course) shoes.

A father knows best.

Practicing English.