Day 21--January 9, 2009

Day 21—January 9, 2009

Today was a disappointing day for us. We were told that we were not going to court today, and that we will go on Monday, but to change our return date by another 5 days. That will mean that we have scheduled 10 days for a court date to allow for any further questions and any additional documents that may be required. We’re concerned about all of the time John has had to take from work. And I’m also nervous—what other questions could they have that would take days to answer? What kind of documents would they need that we have not already provided? And how could we even get these documents—we’re halfway around the world. I hate the unknown, and this is a biggie.

John and I spent both this a.m. and this afternoon with Aidar. He is quiet again, but beginning to open up, and we can tell he loves us as much as we love him. There are more toys in the playroom, and we play with those as well as the ones we brought on this trip. He put the Sesame Street puzzle together both yesterday and today. He loves the Viewfinder that we brought, and, of course, the cell phone.

John and I are going to move to a different hotel tomorrow. It is only two blocks from the baby house, and is the same cost as where we are now. I really injured my knee when I wiped out on the sidewalk yesterday, and that forty-minute walk turned into an hour-long walk today. The sidewalks are mostly dirty snow on top of ice. It’s very difficult to get around.

That's it for now. We'll know more soon, and let you know more.

Day 20--08Jan2009

8^th, January 2009

We arrived safely to Almaty Kazakhstan around 12:30am on the 8^th. We left the US on the 6^th, we can definitely say the 7^th flew by. We are staying in a hotel on this trip so we have some amenities that are more typical of home, although multiple towels and washcloths are not some of them. They were really nice when we asked for them, and brought them to us right away. Our room is nice—standard bed, TV, desk and bathroom.

We met up with Olga (our coordinator) and Azziz (out translator for court). Olga wanted to go over the questions that we can be expected to answer in court. She also gave us some news that is both exciting and terribly intimidating: the court asked Olga to find Aidar’s parents and notify them that we were coming to adopt him. It was a horrible ride for them—they were told in the hospital when he was born that he would not survive. They felt that they had to let him go at that time. To learn that he is alive, happy, and could be receiving the best medical care in the world must have been such a shock. They took a week to consent to relinquishing their rights as the parents. Olga said that they asked if we could stay in touch with them and let them know how Aidar is doing. Of course we said we would—a child cannot have too many people to love him, could he? I’m just very nervous that they might re-think their decision, and come either tomorrow or within the 15-day appeal window.

We did get to go to the baby house and see Aidar this afternoon. He was thrilled to see us. He saw John first, and went straight into his arms. I think he was a little apprehensive at the same, time, but then fell right back into his comfort zone within minutes of spending time with us. We are about a 40-minute walk from the baby house, which was easy “directions-wise”, but difficult in the actual walking. The sidewalks are covered with snow and ice, and I went down on my back in a heartbeat. I’m fine, but may have injured my knee (it really hurts), and was incredibly embarrassed.

Olga will pick us up for court, which starts at 9:00. I have no idea where we fall within the court queue. We’ll let you know…..

Our Family is ALMOST Complete

We're looking forward to having Aidar in next year's Christmas photo.

January 4, 2009

Hope you all had a good holiday. We apologize for the delay in updating our blog--it has been a very hectic time for us. We have received a court date! We go to court this Friday, January 9th, 2009. We are praying that the court says "Yes" to us. We will be making two trips. Someone from our church has been generous enough to donate miles to us so that John can get back to work, and I won't have to stay there by myself, never mind stay for five weeks. Again, it will be very difficult to leave Aidar, but it will (hopefully) be for the last time. We're looking forward to bringing him home in mid-Feb, and getting him the medical attention he needs. We'll write more once we get to Almaty.