Made it!

We finally have arrived in Taraz! Travel was going great until the very last little leg from Almaty to Taraz. Our flight was delayed and delay and then eventually canceled due to dense fog. Fortunately it left the next morning and we had a beautiful flight over the Kyrgyz Mountains! Sorry we haven't updated until now. We had some internet issues.

Our court hearing went fine yesterday. Shane was asked about a dozen questions and I was asked two! Nothing unexpected, really. We were told that two more things needed to happen before we would get a decision. One is the judge visiting us at the baby house with Timur. Second, there is an additional hearing where a couple of witnesses (local Kazakh couple) will testify that they would not have wanted to adopt Timur when he was available for domestic adoption. Both of those things were scheduled for next week Tuesday. We explained to the judge that our return flight was on Dec. 20th and we really wanted return as planned due to family, holiday, and job circumstances. He understood and said that would be fine. He will come to the baby house today and we didn’t need to attend the hearing with the witnesses. So we will not learn of his decision before we leave which is a bummer but we are thankful we didn’t have to stay longer and try to get our flights changed to still be home before Christmas.

Of course the highlight of being here so far is seeing our boy again! Oh, he is so stinkin’ cute and has changed a lot. He is taller, walking and making little talking noises. He even said, “Mama” although pointed to our coordinator- not me! Can’t blame him for the confusion. AND- he didn’t cry much at all. I think the yogurt and goldfish crackers helped. We played, looked at books, built towers and gave lots of kisses. It was such a joy! Can’t wait to get him home with Micah, Emma and Elijah. Can’t wait for many of you to meet him. He is a sweet little boy.

There are also four other families here spending time with their little ones and waiting for court. We were happy to see them all and continue to pray for each of the families. Praying that we all get through this mess soon and get our little ones home! Thanks for your prayer and thoughts and words of encouragement. Our time here is going by quickly so for now we will enjoy Kazakhstan once again and love on our little Timur as much as we can! -wendy

On a side note- the first of the Taraz families is going home tomorrow with their little one! Yippeeee!