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.

Safe Travels.

Funky building.

View to the north.

Government building.

View to the South, Presidental Palace in the distance.

Under construction.

Tallest building in town.

The Mosque.

Government building.

View to the east.

Friday morning we flew from Petro to the new capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. Because the capital has been recently relocated the President of the country has allocated serious money to get things up to snuff. It looks more like Las Vegas than Kazakhstan. It was real shocker to see all the new buildings, lights, and hustle and bustle. We hired a driver for a couple of hours to show us around and get some photos. The Baiterek, the tower in the center of town, and made a wish at the highest point, it's a local custom. Aftewards we spent the evening with a couple from California doing Humanitarian work. Great company and mexican food, can't beat that.

The Baiterek.

Making a wish.

Saturday morning came early as the wake up call rang promptly at 4 am. We had a flight that left at 7 am for Vienna and considering our last close call in Astana, we weren't taking any chances with missing this time. By 1:30 pm Kazak time, Vienna was a reality and after a couple hour layover we were Chicago bound. Now I'm not really a fan on sitting on a plane for 10 hours but Austrian Air was the best carrier I've ever flown. Food was great and I caught up on some movies. And all in all, it wasn't too bad. The last 30 minutes were tough on the kids as the lack of sleep started to take its toll. Janse fell victim and crashed 10 minutes before we landed and Denver tried as we taxied in. I refused to have 2 dead Indians so I prodded him, forcing him to tell me jokes and stories until we unloaded.

Once in Chicago food was in order. The mind willing but the flesh was weak and besides myself it mostly went to waste. Our three hour layover turned into four as our plane had some issues. When we finally boarded everyone was together in the front row, except me. I was all the way in the back. Which, turned out nice as we moved a few people around and I got some breathing room. Debbie wasn't as fortunate. She had been seated in front of the "loud talker", and despite me and the boys getting some shut eye, she had a very long, noisy, bumpy, 3 1/2 hour flight.

Shortly before landing I sat up and looked out the window. We were high above the cloud layer. It was dark and for the first time in a month I realized I hadn't seen the stars. Suddenly, the plane banked hard left over Brigham City and right in front of my eyes was the Big Dipper in all it's glory. I couldn't help but make a wish, a wish for ALL the children we had loved, and left, that the watchful eye of the God of Heaven might be upon them.

There is a time a place for everything. Indeed, it was hard to leave, but it feels good to be home. Thanks to all for your support and love.

guy

Final day at the Boarding School.

Last photo with the Assitant Director.

So long...Farewell....Alwiederzien...Goodbye.

We scurried around all day on Thursday like a bunch of busy mice. It was our last full day in Petropavlovsk and there were many last minute errands, gifts, and souvenirs. We did some MORE paperwork in the morning and then went back to the market again before going out to the boarding school for our last visit. The day before we took the girls to the market and let them pick out some white embroidered sheer cloth. I only told them that they needed to pick something that they liked and I would keep it for a long time. On the walk back to the hotel, I asked Nadia to explain to Yulia that I would save it for when they decided to get married. My idea is to make all or part of their wedding veil out of it. Hopefully, they will want a veil and if not then maybe we can find a way to incorporate at least a small piece into the dress. Since marriage can be an occasion of uniting families, it struck me that it would be a very special thing to also have some sort of remembrance and token of where they came from and who they are. We don’t know if they will want to remember any of it right now, but at some point it will enrich their lives to cherish the good things and heal and learn from the not so good. I sincerely hope that by the time they do take the marriage step, that they will have done this and take with them the strength of their ancestors and current family with them into their new life.

So as soon as we got back from the market on Thursday, Igor and the RBS Director, picked our whole family up in the school van to go purchase the gift we were giving to the school. It is customary to give gifts to the orphanage you are adopting from as well as the Regional coordinator, translator, caregivers, and social workers. The orphanage gift is by far the biggest and we asked the director what he wanted that was around $300. He said that his office staff could really use a scanner/printer/copy machine. It was very cool to see that as soon as we arrived at the school, that the secretaries had already cleared a place and had it going lickety split. They saw us in the hall and came out saying “spaciba, spaciba!” They were just so happy! We also stopped by the temporary shelter on the way out to the boarding school to take some pictures of the place where the girls were for a couple of months before being transferred out to the orphanages. I am sure glad that Guy had this on his agenda because I just don’t think I would have thought about going there or out to Poulindino where Olia had been before coming to the RBS. But the girls are so happy that we did and I am sure will always be glad to have a record and visual reminders of those places. It really is amazing the kind of system they have here to care for the children. So many loving caregivers, warm beds, good food and education. There are a couple of really remote orphanages that have it tough, but for the most part, the ones located in populated areas are really havens compared to the circumstance the children where in before entering the system.

Saying Goodbye.

Once we finally made it to the RBS, we had a little bit of time with the social worker and the girls to get some more pictures for the court files. Apparently they didn’t like the fact that the other pictures had dates imprinted on them, so I had to turn that function of and go again. Then Guy and I were whisked off to have a customary lunch with the director, assistant director and one of the social workers, Tatiana. Man what a lunch! You just can’t go wrong with freshly prepared food cooked up by their very own Chef Helga. And there was plenty of it to go around. There were also some toasts given and some chattering, through Igor our interpreter. Usually they toast with a shot of some alcoholic something or other, but we stuck to the juice. They all laughed over it of course, but it was all in good fun. It was good to be part of the event and experience the generosity of the staff.

So Sad.

The saddest part was that as soon as we were done, we had to get the boys and go. It was already 5:30 pm and the van had to get us back to the hotel. This was the moment I hadn't been looking forward to all day. The boys got some final play time with the girls but Guy and I didn’t even get more than 15 minutes with them. But, we had to go and say goodbye. Of course, Guy was held together with the idea that we will come back and bring them home for good. This did not work for me, I was still a wreck anyway. Little Olia and I shed our tears and even Yulia, trying to be tough, could not keep them all back. The sweetest part was to experience them tenderly wiping the tears off my face and giving me hugs of comfort. We didn’t drag it on too long. We left them our love and went on to the hotel.

Last supper.

That night we had a fun evening at a German restaurant with Igor, Nadia and our other adopting American friends, Paul and Erin. It was good fun only to be followed up with a bunch of packing before going to bed that night at the hotel. It is time to fly home!

deb

Court Score: Women 3 Men 0

Boys with Kazak tie tacks to impress the judge.

From the very moment we set foot into the courthouse all eyes were on us. This is something we’ve grown accustomed to as we’ve spent the last three weeks as the center of attention everywhere we’ve gone. So much so, that the boys think it’s more like “show time” and they use it as a chance to perform their antics and exercise their outside voices. It’s become kind of a game to them. But today was different, very different.

Court is no place for children, and their games, but the boys insisted that they come along even if that meant sitting outside in the hallway. So there we were, all dressed up, sitting in the foyer while everyone else looked on. All at once, our regional coordinator burst through the doors, chatted with the guards on duty and motioned for us to follow. As we climbed stairs I could hear someone calling “muchina”, “Muchina”, “MUCHINA!” to be interpreted as Sir. I knew exactly what he was saying and exactly who he was speaking to; but feeling safe with Sholpan, (“touring the facility and taking up slack,”) I continued on, paying him no mind. Not to be ignored any longer the male guard made his presence known. In a quick exchange of Russian betwixt he and Sholpan, he was dispensed without further argument. I’ve watched Sholpan work over the past few weeks and this lady gets things done. She been very nice, helpful but deep down she’s all business, wielding her “machete to cut through red tape.” With the first hurdle of the day behind us, I had high hopes that the rest of the day would be dealt with as swiftly. Chalk that up as victory #1 for the women.

They call it court and surely it is. Complete with Judge and a Prosecutor, but it’s not as grandiose as we Americans are used to. It would be just as accurate to call it “ very large office." The Judge was a woman in her fifties, I guessed, draped in a long purplish robe. She had short black hair, with the “Cruella De Ville” blond patch on the left side of her head. She was very confident and in charge, but welcoming, although refusing entrance of the children. We entered her lair, the official Seal of Kazakhstan mounted proudly high on the wall behind her, and she proceeded to explain our rights. Through the interpreter I again expressed our desire to adopt the lovely children we had spent the past three weeks getting to know. I explained that the adoption was not new to us, as we had already adopted our middle son, and that we prepared to provide an atmosphere of opportunity for all of our children and so forth.

It is a common belief that court is a formality. If this is the case then someone forgot to give our Judge the memo. I was glad I felt strongly about our chances, as she got right down to business and had me wondering for a time. She was there, afterall, to represent the Republic of Kazakhstan, the children, and to her credit she had done her due diligence. Quickly she spotted an error in the paperwork and after chastising Sholpan, got right to work quizzing me on why I thought having more children was the way to happiness. “Do they pay money for kids in America?” she asked. “What makes you think you know how to raise girls?” “What happens when the girl’s background rears its ugly head?” “What about the parents who adopt children and kill them, 14 cases on record to date?” One after another the questions came and looking back I don’t think I did a very good job of answering. Finally, she’d had enough fun and told me to be seated. Make that victory #2 for women.

By order of the court Debbie rose to her feet, stated her name and purpose as the questions began. “Is your marriage stable?” “ Are you sure you have enough money to provide for the girls? “What about time? Girls take time and they need their mother, you know.” “Don’t you think three children are enough children?” It was non stop, like rapid fire from a machine gun. I was really proud of Debbie, she defended herself and mothers everywhere very well. By the time she as done, everyone in the roomed was touched, and people were wiping the tears from their eyes. Victory #3 for women. Benefactor, mankind.

The movers and shakers.

After our interrogation, the two social workers involved, both women, were both asked to state their opinion. Many kind words were said on our behalf, everyone amazed at how well bonding period has gone for both families from what they had seen and been told by the girls. At some point during the proceeding I’d glanced out the window across the road at the adjacent building and realized I was staring at the Dept of Education building. This would be the very same building where we’d stood 3 weeks ago explain to another woman of authority that we indeed had room in our hearts for two girls. For most of the trip I’ve been very in control of my emotions but right there in that courtroom I was on the verge of a serious meltdown. As I looked around, I realized that the room was full of seven successful women, myself and the translator excluded. I felt lucky to be there, beside my wife, sharing our personal feelings about the importance of family while they listened on.

All in the family.

After a short recess the entire family, boys included, were invited back into her office where the judge read her decision. Affirmative. She wished us luck and asked if we had any further questions. Now you know me, always one for a risk. “Just one,” I said, “Would you mind if we take a family photo with your highness?” She had a sense of humor after all.

guy

Best of the Boys

Yulia's monkey meets the boys stuffed animals.

Just in case there was any doubt in anyone's mind, these guys are the unsung heroes of the entire proceedings. With us through thick and thin, they have remained a source of joy, and occassional pain, for the past few weeks. A true reminder that the grass is not always greener, just quieter in someone else's family. To the locals, we are walking three ring circus. But truly, we needn't look far to find that we have been blessed with great kids, great brothers, to both me and their sisters. I feel honored to be called their father. I've never been much to brag about my children but for the record this unique experience we've shared together has been something I think everyone will remember. And with any luck, never forget. guy

Kazak coneheads.

And in the center ring, the wonderboy, Jansen.

Posing "Don Juan" style for the locals.

Two peas in a leather pod.

Hide and Seek.

Best of Olia

First photo.

Friend.

Focused.

Pouty.

Snuggly.

Hungry.

Little sister.

Little girl.

Doll.