Friday, December 24, 2010
Approved!!
Merry Christmas! Several weeks ago our daughter said that she wanted two things for Christmas. One was a wardrobe for her American Girl and the other was a positive decision from the judge. Well, today we got that gift! Our positive decision came....finally! We are so thankful and praising God! We shouted, screamed, jumped up and down, cried and rejoiced. Thank you Jesus! -wendy
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Home Again!
We made it home yesterday afternoon and were thankful to have made our flights despite the delays and bad weather in Europe. It is good to be home with our children and sleeping in our own bed last night felt so incredibly good. I have posted some updated photos of Noah above. We were not able to post photos while in Kazakhstan but didn't want you to miss seeing how he has changed and grown.
The final part of our hearing is tomorrow. We are hoping to have some good news by the end of the week!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Noah Timur turns 2!
Saturday, Dec. 18th was Noah's birthday. We celebrated with a party hat and some sort of little cupcake/cookie thing. The party hat didn't stay on too long and the cream filled treat was ok. I have a feeling the baby house doesn't supply too many sweet treats for the little ones. Noah didn't like that whipped cream on his fingers. He kept holding his hand out to be wiped and he only ate 1/2 of the birthday treat. Shane ate the rest. We learned on one of our earlier trips that Noah was considered a "foundling". We were told he was found on an older woman's doorstep as an infant and it was that woman who brought him to the baby house with no name, no birthdate or background information. His birthdate was given to him by the baby house.....Dec. 18th it is!
At the moment we are waiting in the Almaty airport. Our flight has been delayed and we are afraid we may miss our connecting flight in Frankfurt. Nothing we can do, though. Hopefully everything will work out fine! Can't wait to get home. -wendy
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Happy Indepence Day
Happy 16th of December,
Today was Kazakhstan’s Independence Day: A country less than two decades old. Most things were shut down… that is except for our ride to go see our boy this morning. We had a good day with him and he was pretty spunky. He even threw his first fit and smacked his Tupperware of goldfish. He can turn it on and off pretty fast. He laughed a lot today as well which was great to see. It’s fun to see a little more of personality coming out again. It is very endearing to see him retrieve a toy and then back slowly into his place on Wendy’s lap. He definitely hoards toys, food and anything else that he finds desirable.
We have received news of yet another approval here in Taraz and so things seem to be humming along just fine yet always seemingly slower than we would choose. All in God’s timing. The judge came to observe us and another US American couple in the afternoon yesterday and stayed about five minutes. He made a few comments like… “He can walk now” and “he’s grown so much.” …Yes your honor that’s what happens to little children over the course of a year! Anyway, we are thankful to have that behind us as well and after two more days with Noah, we will be headed for home. Because of the holiday, all flights out of Taraz are sold out so it looks like we’ll be driving once again… Yee-ha!
OK one good story- On the flight to Taraz we sat in an exit row. I looked up by where the oxygen masks drop down and saw a placard that read: EMERGENCY ROPE. OPEN HERE AND THROW ROPE OUT WINDOW. (I’ll let you imagine how that works but I got a good laugh out of it).
We miss our kids, the Christmas atmosphere, and comfortable pillows and can’t wait to be home, hoping to return soon for the 4th and last time!
Shane
Today was Kazakhstan’s Independence Day: A country less than two decades old. Most things were shut down… that is except for our ride to go see our boy this morning. We had a good day with him and he was pretty spunky. He even threw his first fit and smacked his Tupperware of goldfish. He can turn it on and off pretty fast. He laughed a lot today as well which was great to see. It’s fun to see a little more of personality coming out again. It is very endearing to see him retrieve a toy and then back slowly into his place on Wendy’s lap. He definitely hoards toys, food and anything else that he finds desirable.
We have received news of yet another approval here in Taraz and so things seem to be humming along just fine yet always seemingly slower than we would choose. All in God’s timing. The judge came to observe us and another US American couple in the afternoon yesterday and stayed about five minutes. He made a few comments like… “He can walk now” and “he’s grown so much.” …Yes your honor that’s what happens to little children over the course of a year! Anyway, we are thankful to have that behind us as well and after two more days with Noah, we will be headed for home. Because of the holiday, all flights out of Taraz are sold out so it looks like we’ll be driving once again… Yee-ha!
OK one good story- On the flight to Taraz we sat in an exit row. I looked up by where the oxygen masks drop down and saw a placard that read: EMERGENCY ROPE. OPEN HERE AND THROW ROPE OUT WINDOW. (I’ll let you imagine how that works but I got a good laugh out of it).
We miss our kids, the Christmas atmosphere, and comfortable pillows and can’t wait to be home, hoping to return soon for the 4th and last time!
Shane
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
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!
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!
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