Day 3 visit

All is continuing to go well with our visits. Each day we bring something new, along with the things we've brought previously. Today we brought a little toy that changes your voice into alien, robot, etc. Julia got such a kick out of it. Borya is, I think, feeling too old to engage in much "silly play", but continues to love to sit and draw pictures with me. Such a talented young man!

Much as I remember from our last trip (for Bella), they are dolling Julia up by placing an enormous bow in her hair every day. I'll be glad to take them shopping towards the end of our visitation period to get them some new clothes. What they're wearing is clean and in pretty good condition, but Julia's dress and shoes are too small for her.

Fred and I had such a laugh today. We were mentioning something about being in Kazakhstan and Bella looked at us and said, "We're in Kazakhstan?" We said, "Yes, honey, where did you think we were?" She just shrugged and said, "I don't know. Maryland?" So now we joke about how things sure are different in Maryland!

Day 2 visit -- check

We had our 2nd visitation day with Borya and Julia today and it went extraordinarily well. Oh, just realized I should back up a step b/c I think that's the first I've mentioned Julia on this blog, though I've spoken of her in private e-mails before. So some of you are aware of the situation and some are not. Baically, when we looked into the possibility of adopting Borya, we learned along the way that he has a younger sister, 10 yrs old, by the name of Julia (pronounced You-lee-ah). We were told that according toKazakhstan regulations, the splitting up of sibling groups is not permitted. At first we were very unsure of the whole situation, knowing nothing about this girl, so we were uncertain how this would play out. However, now that we've met her, we feel very excited at the possibility of adding her to our family. She's a delight. Beautiful, bright, and in general a fun-lovin' little gal! Bella taught her how to play Go Fish, and they were asking each other numbers in both English and Russian. Dva? Nyet. Go Fish. Big hugs all around after this visit. We feel like a family already!

Tears again

I saw my boy again today, for the first time in over five years! They brought us into a room with the director and Ministry officials, and our coordinator and translator/driver. They asked us a few questions, and then brought Borya into the room. I went over and gave him a big hug, which he returned fervently. They asked him who I was and he said Mom. Then Fred gave him a hug and he answered their question that Fred was Papa. Of course I was crying. Of course. When I met Borya on my 1st visitation day with Bella in 2003, he looked at me and said, "Can you find me a Mama, too?" I lost it that day. I lost it again today.

I promise to get photos of the visit on soon. Right now I'm going to bed!

Touchdown!

Well, folks, the Eagle has landed. Or Air Astana Flt 301 has, anyhow. We are in Ust, baby! Even though this is my second go 'round, I still can't get over how long the whole trip takes just getting here, let alone all the time for the actual adoption process.

We got off to the airport fine, dropping off the kids at Boomer's with Granny Caggy while PawPaw took us on to Philly. There were some tears, to be sure, but overall I, err, the kids, handled it OK. When we got into the Almaty Airport at about 1 in the morning the next day, we couldn't believe all that had changed in five years! It was a pleasure to go through customs and get our baggage. The Hotel Kazhol has also had its share of changes, and will henceforth be known to me as the Kazhol instead of the Kaz Hole. We were a few kilos overweight (well, our luggage was) at the Almaty Airport, but the charges weren't too bad. Our flight to Ust was delayed over 2 hours, but we finally arrived and now sit comfortably in the Shiny River Hotel. We left Philly at 6pm Sat and arrived at our hotel in Ust at 5pm Mon. Whew!

We get to see Borya tomorrow at 2pm. Can't wait! Will post more after that.

How many people ....

How many people does it take to bring a child home?

Just his parents, right?

Wrong.

It takes the family of the child’s parents, to step up and hold the fort down when Mom and Dad fly halfway across the world.

It takes the brothers and sisters of the child, to hold themselves up straight and tall, secure, confident, responsible in their parents’ absence, though their world has been momentarily turned upside-down.

It takes friends of the parents to lend a hand, take care of precious cargo, watch over critters, and listen as countless worries are poured forth.

It takes a venerable mountain of paperwork, hours upon endless hours of paperchasing, bureaucratic run-arounds, interfacing with government officials from several states and two countries.

It takes competent agency coordinators, to alert flustered parents to documents in need of updating and next steps to take, and answer questions day after day, month after agonizing month.

It takes the amazing network of adoptive families to shine the light to illuminate the rocky path.

It takes caring teachers and a supportive school, to keep tabs on worried kids while parents are away.

It takes coaches and team parents to pull together to ensure one of their own will find a way to practices and games.

It takes a workplace that allows a pivotal employee to take leave of work for weeks on end.

It takes all those mentioned to muster their patience, their flexibility, their courage, their love, their forgiveness and their support. In short, it takes a village, if not to raise a child, at least to bring him home. My sincere and heartfelt thanks to all those in our lives who have helped get us to this point. We couldn’t have done it without you!