Nick and Stephan with Me and Masha on our way to the kids restaurant.

We had a table at the second apartment.....didn't know we wouldn't have one at the third...nice!

Now, he eats on the floor, on the living room chairside table, wherever....will have to re-learn the table thing when we get back.... ;)

Papa-Daddy and Nick in the park!

Mama and Papa's little helper. Calling all toddler girls....he is going to be a good catch someday!

The United Nations..................

We have decided that we are now the UN or NATO as we constantly do negotiations between the Americans and the Kazak. We find that when he actually understands us.....he always makes the right choice. We realize that for more than 4 weeks we were his play buddies so now to establish authority is quite interesting but he is starting to get it and the biting and hitting has decreased. He is still amusing us minute by minute with his antics. Last night, we were truly the Kaz Spa. Nick likes his tummy and backed rubbed while trying to fall asleep and last night he had his feet propped up on my legs so I started rubbing a foot. Well, he thought this was rather nice so he said Papa! and pointed to his other foot. So, there we sat giving our son a full body spa massage. Too cute. I am sure he really craves touch and we are more than happy to oblige.....much better than hitting.

I am feeling better and we are just trying to take one day at a time. It is very special to have this time with Nick undisturbed but I would just rather put a sign outside the door of our own home. It is more of a goat rodeo here with all of the non-kid friendly access here. They make counters really low here and he can reach almost everything and this apartment has no cabinets. And the only have china! Plus, all of the light switches are on his level...ugh! But, again some negotiations are working and we have creatively piled everything on the dorm size fridge (taller but same width and depth...it comes to about my chest).

Hope everyone is enjoying the spring. I can't wait to see the Dogwood trees when we get home. Maybe Nick will help us finally plant flowers this year. It is still rather cold here so not much fun to play out accept for a brisk walk (well, as brisk as you can take with a 3 year old)
Love to all! K-Pat and Nick

The Week After Easter We Come Home

Karen has the boy today.......It appears we will be coming home the week after Easter. We his another small snag this week. Apparently there is only one person in Kaz that can fill out one portion of the new passport and that person has been sick. So Nick's passport will not be done till mid-late next week after which he still needs to be examined by the MD in Almaty and we still need to visit the Embassy in Almaty. So we will stay here in Jez until Wed or Thursday then fly to Almaty. We are in serious need of a change in location....everyone is getting a bit shack happy. I would like to once again thank all of my freinds/coworkers who have covered my responsibilities all of this time. Thank you again for your support.

We had our first restaurant excursion with Masha and her son. There is a kids restaurant with an area for them to play and more importantly and attendant to watch over them while the parents eat....We ended up eating a cheese pizza, which actually wasn't too bad...better than noodles or hot dogs. Nick did well and ate both his pancakes and mamma's pizza. This bodes well since Karen and I both like to eat pizza...thought anyone who knows Karen knows she is a bit more pizza crazy than I am.

We had another good sleeping night with Nick once again telling everyone where they had to lay. He also has become a bit obsessed with the mop and spent several hours trying to clean all of the floors/carpets in the apartment.

We will know more about our departure next week. Have a great weekend everyone and Karen will try to blog tomorrow. Pat

Me and Nick in front of a Yurt at the festival

This was the dinner at Masha's house on their holiday.

Another day down....? to go.

Hi to all. I am still on the mend and hopefully will stop coughing soon. I lost my voice yesterday and that is really fun to try to talk to Nick with my scary voice. Luckily, he really doesn't seem to notice.

We had another good night. He has become our nightly entertainment. Not as much cleaning last night but he made Pat take all of his clothes off (wanted underwear too but Pat said that was the limit) :) and pointed for Pat to get the blankets and spread them out everywhere. I was sent to the couch to lie down immediately. Nick continued to tell Pat what to get for the bed time ritual.
After we laid down, I had to blow my nose and then Nick wanted to so then we had kleenex to throw away and Nick tapped Pat on the head and gave him the kleenex and pointed for him to go throw them away. You just have to see this to get the whole hilarity of it but none the less I was laughing.

We went to the park for a minute yesterday as it was very cold and windy. He walked around with a big grin on his face because we were letting him pick up rocks and put them in his pocket. Well, of course, the rocks came home with us and guess where the rocks ended up, yup! that's right in bed with Nick and Mama. But the way I looked at it, the rocks did not change the feeling of the bed, if you know what I mean.

We did not get to go to eat with Masha yesterday but will go today. Hopefully, we will find out some news about our release from the KazSpa. We have found a few other things to feed Nick but we are still having trouble with eating them. The fish sticks are bizarre and the the hotdogs well, they are scary anyway.

We are having a little bit of trouble with biting still. He has gotten me good several times. I need to be wearing my jeans like Pat. It will be easier to deal with these behaviors when we get home. I try not to worry too much as we will be changing his environment again so we just deal with the dangerous behaviors immediately and are trying a few other things for the lesser offenses.

He is still so adorable and has really started wanting us to name things and look through magazines with him. It is amazing how he can connect things. He will point at his ball, the ball in the book and then say ball.

I think he probably thinks we are a little weird since we are always talking to him in 3 languages. I am sure not saying two of them very well. Today, I said something and he just giggled. So, I don't know if I said it wrong or just funny to him. who knows. Don't you just wonder what this little boy is thinking?!?

A friend asked if he felt like ours yet and I would have to say that we have discussed this issue alot. Our reaction to that question is more like a Spock answer. Well, of course, he is ours, we have the papers ......but truly, I wonder if the whole "we just knew" thing happens more with parents of adopted babies. I do know that we love him tons already but having been around children for my whole life, I can say that we did not see fireworks and feel lightning at any point yet. We have been describing it more as a love story. We have adopted an incredible 3 year old who is his own person already. We are getting to know this person (the good and the bad) each day and we are so excited and blessed to learn something new each day. It is very much like meeting your future mate. Over time, you fall more and more in love and then make the commitment. I guess Nick is more like an arranged Marriage but a love story none the less. Pat and I are absolutely sure that Nick is the son that God had for us waiting. But we were deciding a lifetime commitment with serious jet lag/fatigue and anxiety. Our feelings initially were mostly shock that we weren't getting a baby and complete angst that we had to decide in about an hour. We feel that God's gift of him being born on my Grandpa's birthday was so that we could make the hardest decision with the least amount of brain ability. We feel that he will definitely feel like ours when we get home in our house and with our friends and family. We are excited to introduce him to everyone and get our new lives started but yes, Holly, there are days, I still feel like the babysitter. So, all of you adoptive families out there who are worried about the choosing process. It will be the hardest day of the adoption but give yourself some grace. Some of us just didn't "know without a single doubt" but we do now!

Love to all of you. Will keep you up to date on the travel arrangements. K-Pat and Nick

New approach...better night of sleep

Well we made it most of the way through the night last night. Karen and I tried a new approach in which when it was getting towards bed time we let Nick tell us how to get into our beds (well be ended up sleeping in the living room again) and we turned out the lights. Nick then just watched us try to sleep. He then got bored and finally the orphanage scheduling caught up with him and he voluntarily went to sleep. Instead of fighting till the wee hours...with this new approach we were going to sleep by 10:30. We with try again tonight to see if we can reproduced the results.

Karen is still feeling pretty bad with her sinuses and we hope they get better before trying to fly to Almaty. Some prayers in this area would be appreciated. Still not sure when we will leave. Hopefully we will know more by Friday.

Nick and I now have a new game in which he stands on the window sill and throws imaginary objects out the window. He points to some place on the sill and has papa scoop them up and hand them to him. I have not idea what he is throwing but feel they may my remaining marbles.

We had success on the bath front today. The first bath a few days ago did not go so well since Nick was scared of being in the water. However, after helping mama and papa with their baths (which take much longer with a 3 year old helping, plus a little more public than I like) he decide he wanted to take one. He seems to adapt very quickly. The first time he experiences something he is afraid but gets over it in the next 1-2 tries.

We hope to meet up with Masha and her son this afternoon to go to a restaurant set up specially for kids. It snowed a bit last night and is a bit colder but for the sake of all our sanitise we need to get out of the apartment and burn off a bit of energy .....especially our little energizer bunny.

Well, that is all for today. I need to run a few chores and get back to the family. All of our best to everyone and we are one day closer to coming home...HORAAYYYYYYY. K-Pat

Nick's first Nap at the apartment. Papa has the touch.

This is the day we left the orphanage. Dr. Roza is holding Nick.

Joy in the morning....but not at night!

You all are great. Thanks for more encouraging words....and yes, we are trying to value the experience as a once in a lifetime chance. It's always good to be reminded though. I am possibly on the mend as I started the antibiotics yesterday. My throat and ears were hurting so bad that I didn't think sudafed would cover everything and we already ran out of some of the other medicines that we brought with our earlier allergies. Pat is feeling a little sore throat but we are hoping that it is the fatigue. Poor guy....he has lost weight and sleep so he is looking a little sickly. :)

We had a pretty rough night with Nick last night. It seems to have gotten progressively worse each night so we think it is all anxiety related. He didn't cough as much but he just seemed to be having night terrors and would go all over the bed, the floor, whatever and just cry a little and hit alot. It was so pitiful. My heart just broke because we didn't know how to help him. We just kept trying to hold him but he didn't like that last night....although, he would hit at us but immediately still want to be near us or touching us. We are going to try something a little bit different tonight to see if we can avoid his panic at going to bed. He is usually very happy once he is up except he is a little more quick to fuss. Today, he went down so easy because he was exhausted. Hopefully, Pat will rest also.

He is still cracking us up with his cleaning skills. He knows when he is getting tired so he starts to want to clean everything. He pointed to Pat to pick up the toys while he got a cup and rag and started wiping everything down.....everything...the walls, the tv, the chairs. He wants to take all the dishes to the kitchen and then wants to wash them. He would walk around and inspect everything and then give a big sigh. We were just sitting and watching.....and then regretted that we hadn't grabbed the video camera. We are ready if he does it again. We said Ok, it is time for bed and he went around turning all the lights off and shutting doors then he pointed to me and pointed to the bedroom and then he went over to Pat and grabbed him and pulled him up. It was so cute. Unfortunately, once he got in bed, his anxiety started but we are just trying to focus on the really adorable stuff he is doing.

He has his own sign language. It is amazing that he knows we don't speak the same language. He will show you how to zip up his jacket and how far up. He shows you when he wants a drink or when he has hurt something. He is starting to get interested in the very few books that we brought and loves to hear Papa do the animal sounds. We all know how good he is at that, don't we! He mimicks alot and still says a new word or two everyday.

We will go to a kids restaurant tomorrow with Masha and her son so hopefully, we will get a picture of how he will do in that type of setting. we have been out and in twice now without a fit so we think he is understanding that he will be able to come in and out whenever. We went to the laundry today and the ladies came outside and he waved to them. They thought he was very cute. It is colder today and rainy so we will probably not go out again with all of us having cough/sickness issues.

Thanks for all of the prayers. Keep them coming, I can feel them working. Just wanted to say Hi to John and Karen S. Thanks so much for writing and following our story. Tell your brother and parents hello from us! We love you all. K-Pat and N

Karen is on nap detail today so you get a short one from papa today. Masha stopped by to have us sign Nicks passport papers...so this process is moving a long (very slowly but surely). As Karen stated thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. They have made all of the difference. We read the blog site of the newest couple from the USA to come to Kaz and they are having a great time in Karagonda with other families finishing their adoption process....they go out to eat and bowl together, etc. Karen and I have been on our own since the beginning...It has once again shown me how very blessed I am to be married to Karen because delay and adversity has only made our bond stronger (I know blahhh). Enought of the downer thoughts...

The Kissing monster was at it big time last night. He even made many appearance at the foot of the bed where I am sleeping...yes I am still sleeping on the floor. he peeks his head over, taps my shoulder and then kisses me. Unfortunately, his nightly cough woke him up at 3:30 and he wouldn't go back to sleep. So he and papa slept went in to the living room and fell asleep on the floor so that Karen could try to get some sleep in the bed room..she had been fairly sick with a sinus infections for the last few days and is pretty drained. Your prayers for her return to health would be appreciated.

Nick has been fun to watch during his walks because his brain is acting like a super absorbent sponge. He also has become very animated in doors. Any fears of his not speaking or being able to get close to use have been quickly dispelled. He acts like the energizer bunny on a sugar rush.

Well I need to go to the store and back to the family. All of our best to everyone.

K-Pat

Funny Nicholas stories!

Thanks for all the encouraging words. We need them so much. God must have opened the internet cafe for our church service experience as your words really helped me.

Nicholas continues to be an amazing little boy. He is learning things so fast. He says night, night...hi...hello...man(we are trying to teach him the difference between men and Papa same with mama)...open...up...and we now understand a few of his kazak words like Nan for bread.

Girls, I have hit the jackpot with my boys. Pat likes to cook and Nick like to clean the toilet (with a brush) and he does it right and loves to help put the plates away and wash them. They do "chores" at the orphanage so he has learned to be quite the helper.....I am just going to sit around and eat bon bons! No, actually, I would like one of those huge turkey legs from the state fair. I really could eat a cow...all cuts right now.

We took him to the Kazak festival and he was so wide-eyed and curious. He just kept looking up at us smiling. Whenever we would pass the kazak singers, we could feel his fingers wiggling beneath his mittens and his head was a bobbing even under the hat and scarf. too cute!

He is mister kissing monster now. He loves to kiss our faces all of the time.....especially, when he is supposed to be going to sleep! How can you be firm with that! If Pat or I kiss or hug, he runs over to us to join in...again, sooo cute.

He is very keen on going outside and we are not because this usually creates big battles when we head back inside. But, today we went to the park and he walked around and started a little training with the stroller to get ready for the airport and carseat. He did great and it is a joy to see him experience everything! He may have started understanding that we will go outside everyday because he didn't give us a fit today. We may try a restaurant soon but that is still a bit intimidating to us....wish they had take out here.

Well, I should get back home to see if my little one is up from his nap. Thanks again for the encouragement, we are needing an extra dose right now. I have a pretty bad sinus infection that is not helping so please pray that I will get better soon. I have some antibiotics so I will take them soon if needed. Love you guys so much. Can't wait to get home! Karen, Pat, and Nurik

Surprise, it's open!

Well, I was walking to get us some lunch and Surprise, the internet cafe was open. So, I had to just stop in for a quick note. I will send Pat later this afternoon for his break and he can maybe post some also.

So, a quick version of the last 3 days. Nurik came to our apartment without any trouble. No crying. We all got emotional when Dr. Roza was holding him and saying good-bye. We know she truly loves all of these children and I can only imagine her range of emotions when the children leave. He was just wide-eyed and curious with the cab ride to the apartment and pretty much has been non stop since. Everything new and exciting. We have had great surprises in his affection towards us, his talking, his singing, his animated excitement about everything. We really did not see any of this in the Green room. It has been a joy. Sleeping has gone pretty well. Naps are harder because he had a dark room and a group of children all going to sleep with him. We do lay down with him and this seems to work pretty well except sometimes he wants to play. Having only one room is hard because all of the toys are near him. We are journaling at home because there is so much to tell but won't take too much time now. Thank you to all for your prayers for Nick. I think he is doing quite well. His fits are interesting to me and we just keep praying for wisdom on how to discipline him at this very early stage. He corrects fairly quickly and has lately started crying when we say no and then comes right to me to be held. Kind of humorous at times but hard to tell him no all of the time since everything is so new to him but we still have to protect him. I worry about our apartments neighbors thinking that we are hurting him but I suppose most people understand kids.

The latest news is that we moved yesterday on the spur of the moment as a new apartment came open just a block from the internet and only a few blocks from our food (grocery and restaurant) plus only on 3rd floor now. It is a bigger apartment but as we have learned, bigger never means better. More on that later. We are just thankful about the location as Nurik likes to walk but this place puts us much closer to everything for quick breaks like today. Plus, the other place was much more crowded near the market and I welcome less stares now especially with him.

Pat and I have seem to hit the wall emotionally and physically. We feel so terrible for happy little Nurik because we seem to have expended all of our energy just to get to his arrival. It is so hard to cook in a foreign place with little supplies and much smaller food supply. We are going to try out a restaurant when he is excepting going in and out of buildings better but until then we are in a pretty desperate mode. He loves being outside so much that he has little fits everytime you try to take him inside....glad we have a nice fenced in yard for him. As a dietitian, it is killing me that I can't provide better food for him but we are just trying to get by for now. He has had a bad cough that has not been good for his sleeping as he only coughs when he is in the bed. Masha got us some medicine that seems to be helping some. They keep saying it is probably because we give him some cold drinks or sweets which we have not done much since we know how unusual they are about that......can't wait to get back to our kind of why the kid is sick excuses. I just can't get their reasoning. Regardless, please keep Pat and I in your prayers. I have my Nanny coping skills which kick in most of the time but as weary and tired as we are it has been a hard few days for us. This holiday has cost us 4 days of business days for our paperwork so I think that is what got us a little sad. Masha is very firm with the fact that she doesn't see how we would be home before easter. We can't emotionally even think that far ahead or we get teary. We are just trying to take one day at a time and just enjoy our little boy. It is very hard to be introduced to a life changing experience in a very uncomfortable environment but we know God doesn't give us anything that we can't handle so we are just praying for a miracle quick paperwork turn around and will just be so happy to have Nurik at home. He really is amazing and funny. We just wish we could enjoy him with more energy. Thanks for all of the comments. We value them so much.
To our Moms and Dads.....we are trying to get the new phone number for you. If you don't already have it, we will get Pat to send this afternoon. Love to all, K-Pat and N

Just a PS note

We forgot to remind everyone that the 22nd is another national holiday so even if we could post, the internet cafe will most likely be closed again until Monday. So, We should have lots of new info for you all then. Please keep the comments coming so we get a bunch on Monday! We had our shopping excursion with Masha and bought our teapots and "pee-pot" along with some mittens and a scarf. We also have discovered Kazakh Candy. Very different and very good. Luckily, this is at the end of our trip so we don't gain all of our weight loss back. We got a big bag for the orphange workers and kids. Masha said we should be able to pick up Nurik after 10 am tomorrow so say a quick prayer for us as you go to bed on Tuesday night (similar time frame). So, we will talk to you all on Monday. Love to all! Karen and Pat

Tomorrow is our New beginning!

Tomorrow is our big day. I guess this will be in adoptive terms Nurik's "Gotcha Day". It is also the first day of spring for us Americans. So, New beginnings all around! We have lots of emotions going through our heads as you would expect but mostly we are just anxious to get our boy home. We are excited to see the fun and challenges that await us. It is a little weird to think that tomorrow we won't be coming home with a bouncing baby as most people do when they come home from the hospital .....but a 3 year old and all that comes with that.....luckily, we get a fairly easy version...he is already so independent, potty trained, and such but we suspect that with that independence will come many battles for authority. It will be so much like having a baby in many ways because he has yet to experience so many things that a 3 year old in a family would have already learned. Just simple things like getting in and out of a car, sitting at a table with adults, hugs, kisses, bathtubs, swimming pools and lakes, real animals, etc. Just think of your average 3 year old and all that they know even though they may not be able to verbalize it. He probably will have to learn all of that and more. We look forward to the challenge and truly feel that Nurik is with us for a reason. And so the new adventure begins......

we had a nice time at the hotel. Very nice room but interesting decor. The bed (king size) was awesome and comfortable. The shower was heavenly. Food for dinner was OK but breakfast was better. We were probably some of the only people there as they were doing some serious remodeling....nice to go to sleep and wake up to the sound of jackhammers! It was kind of funny though as it was a muffled sound so it sounded like the scary sound you hear right before JAWS attacks. We could not use the internet because we didn't have a cord.....so we are back at our usual place. We will meet Masha after her class gets out and then shop for a bit and then get everything Nick-proofed at the apartment. That's about all that is going on here.....and now some words from Papa......

The one thing that all of our down time has allowed has been the time to reflect on everything. Will I be a good dad.......How do I raise my son to be honorable and someone people can count on....am I the kind of role model that I hope he will grow up to be? The one thing I have reflected on is myself and know that I have many things to change about me so that I can be a good model. Hopefully over the time we have been here I have begun to make these changes and hopefully will continue to change and grow when we get back to our "normal lives". I am looking forward to this new adventure (even when Nick and I are having times of head butting with respect to establishing which of us is the Alpha dog...HA!). We are looking forward to this next step of adjustment and hopefully can move on to Almaty some time next week and then move our way towards home. Now back to Mama....

We really have valued and felt all of your prayers and support. We look forward to introducing Nick to all of you some day. It is exciting to think that we will be bringing Nick home to such a great support system. It will be interesting to see how he develops a concept of God, Jesus and Faith but we know with all of our friends and family that he will see these concepts lived out in the lives that he comes in contact with every day. In many ways, the adoption of Nick has shown us in real terms what it means to be adopted into the family of God and what it means to be chosen. We look forward to many days ahead where we can just enjoy the sweet gift that God has given us to show us even more how much He loves and cares for each of His created ones. He has a plan for all of us and it is a special honor to be a part of an adoption as many adoptive families can tell you....it is truly a special path given to us by God.

Hopefully, we will be able to blog soon after Nick comes to the apartment. We covet your prayers during this new time of adjustment and know that we are thinking of all of you often......Karen and Patrick

These are the mandatory tights.....Pat says he looks like a big grape or I would say a mini Barney! They actually go up to his arm pits.....the ones we bought will hopefully fit better!

I want to see if I can put the entire apple in my mouth!

Well, we got two pictures on today before it quit so we are thankful. We are done! No more green room. We got to take a few more pictures of the orphanage today so we will try and get those on sometime. Nurik was maybe tired today and was pretty happy until about 30-45 minutes before time to leave. Little bit of crying and hitting but today he let Pat calm him down which was great! We really aren't too worried about things at the apartment. If he cries and is scared, it will be Ok.....because at least we will not have to say good-bye and leave him in a sad mood. We can just all get thru it together.

We are having all of our sheets and blankets cleaned for his arrival so we are taking this chance to have our splurge night on the town. Dzez does not have many hotels but they do have one nice one with an english menu so we are staying all night there. We are so excited to get a shower. Our shower broke the first day we were here so we have been doing the bath thing which neither of us likes very much. We will try to use their internet also to see if we can send some more pictures. We are looking forward to a good meal also .....hopefully....even if it is just potatoes for me, at least they will be hot.

Masha will go shopping with us tomorrow for last minute gifts and stuff for Nurik. We have about 4 outfits and a new coat and shoes. Still need to get the potty, and mittens and hat. It has warmed up here but not much. We now have huge lakes of water and mud and you must run from the trucks and cars unless you want a shower! One good thing about winter for the Dzez people is that the roads look alot better with the snow.....you could get lost in the pot holes....and I lost a foot and most my ankle yesterday in one....brrrrr cold!

Well, we won't talk too long so our pictures will not disappear. We will try again to post tonight from our Luxury Suite...Ha! Thanks for all the comments! Love, K-Pat

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We only wish we had some corned beef, cabbage, black-eyed peas and cornbread......I don't even like corned beef but I would eat it!
We still can't upload pictures .... does anyone know if you can only load a certain amount of pictures? I know I have seen tons on other blogs so I don't think so. BJ, if you could ask the blog site people if possible, why there is a triangle with a big exclamation point with gray lines around it when we try to upload. We don't remember this being there before. Does this mean something? We are already on the new version of the blog site so we don't think that is the problem. Oh Well.

We were supposed to go shopping with Masha today for some electric tea pots and a "pee pot" for Nick but she had to go to school because the town has cleaning days now on Thursdays and Saturdays. All businesses, schools, organizations, etc. are responsible for cleaning their roads and sidewalks of winter dirt/ice/etc. She would rather be shopping I am sure but the whole town cleans on these days. Kind of a cool idea and the roads and sidewalks need alot of help. We feel we have done our part by cleaning them with our bottoms. Ha!

Nurik was in a pretty serious mood today. We are very anxious to get him to the apartment so he will not hate coming to see us so much. He did play with his blocks more and looked at some pictures. He is so funny when he points to things in the pictures and realizes that they are also in the room......his hippo, the desk, the couch. He is very observant. He also really is intrigued by our picture of the Jason and Michelle S. and Dasha. Maybe he knows that Wyatt is also from Kaz and that he will get to know him real soon. He always wants me to name them all over and over again. Very Cute. He also watched videos of himself on our camera today. He was sitting on his "bowl" and just intently watching the show. He would see himself and papa and look up at Pat and grin. We also were assured that he is ok with us even though he doesn't like the green room (the room we meet with him) because he watched us leave today and kept turning around and blowing us kisses and smiling. That gave us reassurances that we aren't going backwards with these every other day visits. I think he is just ready to get on with life....just take me or quit coming to that horrid room to play! ;)

We got a whole roasted chicken from the little shack across the street last night. We hadn't been brave enough before then but were desperate for some white meat. It was a small chicken but it tasted good.....I just couldn't think about the sanitation issues....eek! My job has ruined me for being adventurous with food.

Tomorrow will be a long Sunday but then our last visit on Monday!!! Yippee! We will take all new clothes and underwear for him to be dressed in on Wednesday. Dr. Roza will go to court on Wednesday to accept the final decision and then we can come pick him up! So Exciting! We are so ready for some quality time with our boy. At this point, even crying and fussing will be excitement for us that we could use.

I think last night was Circle of Hope night at church and I just wanted to say hi to all the girls. I can't wait for you all to meet Nick and play with all of your kids! I hope everyone is doing well...someone give me a circle update! I have seen some adorable kids here if anyone is looking to adopt! Love you guys!

Well, that is all we have for now. Everyone have a great weekend. Ha Ha for Duke......Sorry, Terry! Bye for now. Love to all! K-Pat

Today is Friday although we do not have any sense of days now since they all are the same. We do not see Nurik today so there is not much to write. Still not having any luck with posting pictures. I don't understand why it just quit working.....most likely the blogger.com people changed something and since all messages and commands are in russian, we really can't figure out how to search out the problem. Oh well, we will have a stash for you when it does work.

Sorry to hear the Cats are not doing so well and that it is cold again although 30-40 degrees sounds heavenly to us. We are short on creative thoughts today but will try and check emails and such. We may do some back posting and tell you a few stories that happened on our way here.

We are starting to get a little frustrated with the every other day visits only because we get so bored and we miss seeing the little guy. But, we just keep telling ourselves....two more, just two more. We have gotten so bored with the TV that we fight now over who has to hold the remote and choose one bad show over the next instead of who gets to control the remote. The loser actually has to take the remote and be responsible for the bad tv that we are watching. We do have our daily shows like Animal Cops, houston and now feel like we personally know every chief investigator of the SPCA even though we don't usually have a clue what they are saying since it is voiced over in Russian. We have also a few shows on BBC that we really like....Francesco's Italy....it is a tour guided show of italy...very beautiful and then TOP GEAR...we have not seen this one in the last few days since it has disappeared from their line-up but it was so funny. 3 guys doing really funny tests/competitions with very expensive cars...they are so very witty and even I can watch it even though it is about cars. If you can find this on a satellite set-up, you should find it.

Ok, that's about it. Thanks again for the comments.....we love to keep up with you all! We are much more knowledgeable about the world news now but it still doesn't feel the same as hearing home news. Kurt, they have even been talking about the US housing Market on the world news...good luck with the house. Laura and Heath, did the summer cottage sell yet? ;)
We are already starting to fret about the fact that we may not be able to post as much when Nurik comes to the apartment with us so all of you blog junkies will have to start weaning yourselves down. ....but don't stop commenting....we will still need those, I am sure!

Thanking God for all of our friends and family everyday! We love you all! K-Pat

still no pics....

Seems that the blog site does not want to accept pictures now. If anyone (BJ) wants to check with the blogger website people to figure out why it is not accepting our pics now, that would be awesome.

We saw Nurik this afternoon and as always with afternoon visits, he is still waking up after getting his nap disturbed....not always a happy camper. We could hear him crying down the hall today but surprising how a little piece of candy can change your whole attitude! ;) He proceeded to eat our candy and Masha's candy as well as tried a whole apple from Masha. He wasn't too sure about the apple but after Papa took a bite then he felt it was safe to try. He ate about half and then decided he didn't like peel so much and started spitting that out and then decided it was too much effort......like his mama in that way.

We have now found an almost snow free path so the funny stories may subside for a bit......Masha told us that it is supposed to get really cold late next week so I guess we will go subzero again.....oh joy! We only have two more green room visits and boy are we ready to get them over with. I think we get just as grumpy as Nurik when we enter that room. It will be so much more fun to play with him at the apartment where we all can breath.

We did find out that the other family that was coming here was re-routed to Karaganda. We were kind of bummed because we were looking forward to a little company but we get Nurik next week so we will survive.

Sorry, we have no pics again. We are bummed too. We will head back to the apartment now for our Loooong evening of Russian tv. I am working on a puzzle....it is really old and blurry ...not sure where the store found this one but it was the only one we found at the time. Pat is trying to work on some grant stuff just so he won't go too crazy. This is the longest he has ever been away from work since grad school (minus the PT internships). He is having some withdrawal issues.

We did have one nice surprise today when we went to the Samsa (hot pocket) shop and they were just bringing the samsas out of the oven. We were so happy! We ate one on the way home before we hit the icy part of course. We don't get hot food from shops usually because it has been sitting on the counter all day (which is why we do cheese!) and we don't really have an oven because there is no rack. We just sit things on the floor of the oven if we want them heated....yum, yum. Luckily, as we may have told you already, Masha helped us find tin foil.
We don't have many pots or pans (one small one of each) either so that is why we eat so many Ramen noodles. Just add water and eat!

Have a good Thursday everyone. Thanks to Phoebe for the comment. You and Lisa are my computer techies. SO Proud! Keep them coming and get my other email from Linda and email me about work....I would love any new info coming our way. Love to all! Karen and Pat

Let's try again...nooooo pink lines

Well, we are going to write first today and post then try pictures and see if that works better. It is pretty cold here and we woke up to a dusting of snow and very small little flakes falling. As if the ground wasn't treacherous enough....now the snow covers the ice rinks just enough so you don't know when you are about to hit them. We skated here to the internet with no falls today, just slips. Although, not the case yesterday. It was my (karen's) day yesterday.

We were going for an ice dancing gold this time. We hold hands all of the time , not just to show affection, but for survival. In our qualifying first skate, I pulled the very difficult praying on your knees maneuver while still moving forward. I also tried to tell everyone that I just felt the spirit and had to drop to my knees to pray for some friends back home.......nothin to see here, just keep it moving. In our finale skate home, we pulled out all of the punches and did our award winning, spin/twist the wife on the ground while still holding her hand and the laundry. This one got a 10 from the judges. Of course, we started laughing so hard it was hard to get up and stay up.....and I had to pee so bad so ....just try doing an ice spin while crossing your legs and laughing.....maybe this deserves and Oscar instead of a gold medal. Who knows....we just know that we are maintaining our Dork status quite well.

We had a pretty good day with Nurik on Tuesday and will see him again this afternoon. Just 3 more visits in the dreaded green room and he will be at the apartment with us!! We are having a little trouble with disciplining without laughing. We have become a bit slap-happy and everything cracks us up.....I guess some might call it a slow dive into insanity but for us it is becoming parents. Ha! He is so blatantly testing us that it is hard to not smile and have the stern parent face. He got up on the chair and wanted to write on the wall and held the crayon up to the wall and just turned and looked at us with this big priceless grin. Boy, are we glad we chose the magnetic paint at home verses the chalkboard paint. It would be too hard to explain to a non-english speaking boy that you can draw on this wall and not that one. eek!
He finally went to potty on his little "bowl" for us. I imagine it is a bit difficult for him to pee so out in the open for us. Although, we have been told that their potty time is quite social as they all sit on the potties at the same time and play. We could tell this as he sat on it forever just playing with his blocks and playing peek-a-boo behind the desk with Masha.

We are so thankful for our time to prepare for parenting while we are here. We have read and are reading books on being parents, having long discussions about what we will do, and such. We see this time as an extra gift of preparation that most parents don't get since they maintain their busy lives up until the time of delivery in most cases. We have had to stop (literally) and focus on the task and joy ahead that God has destined for us. Kind of cool......although, we can't wait to get home.....

We can't believe it has been over a month since we left home and still probably have 3 more weeks. We sure miss everyone and hope that our blogs don't get too silly as we move into dealing with being gone with humor versus depression. Thank you for all of your prayers and we will try and send some pics after we post this first blog. Love to all, K-Pat

Bad day at the internet

Sorry everyone......we have had two post disappear today so we are going to call it a day. Keep your prayers up for good access to the blog site. It is colder so maybe that is the issue but who knows! Love to all and keep the comments coming. Cathy B. If you are reading this,email my old account if you can. My work one is not working here. Love to all! K-Pat

More Dork stories....

We are already getting pink lines today so we will not risk sending pictures as it uses up time (precious time) plus maybe we will get a few more cute ones of the boy today when we see him a little later.

I have been having fun trying to interact in Russian and feel pretty proud of my accomplishments until I realize I have done more of those funny things that make the Kaz people say Dork! I was trying to ask the computer guys about what time they were open the next day and thought I was doing wonderfully because I said the times in military times like they always do so I thought I was being so thoughtful and he just smiled and nodded (they do this a lot with us) so when we left, I realized I was still saying the numbers in English not russian.....just using military time instead....and then at the laundry where the ladies try to say a few words in english with us and we are having fun trading words. Well, I thought I would be so sly and write their word in Russian so I wrote the word dehn for day......she just looked at it and smiled and nodded again....I know they are saying Bless her little American heart....but again as we left I realized, duh, I was writing the pronunciation version (transliteration) for English not how it is actually spelled in the Russian alphabet so again to them, it meant very little. So, again we are learning humility over and over again. We must have had some serious pride issues that the Lord needed to work on.... ha!

It is still very cold here again. We have seen some real sidewalk though from the recent warmer days....although for you all that are entering spring....warm days for us are maybe in the 20's....woo, hoo~!! I am becoming a rather hearty woman. Pat is proud and I may be able to tolerate those Wisconsin winters a bit more! We have determined that the reason the women wear the spiked heels is that they act as sort of ski poles in the snow and ice....that's how they stay up. With the last few days of thaw and freeze cycles we have some real nice mini rinks going and have to alter our paths more often since we didn't bring our skates.....

We will post some town pics and orphanage pics tomorrow if there is a no pink zone internet time. We are lacking a bit on the inside pics because we did not know we would tour that day and wouldn't you know our batteries decided to give out. We did take video and probably could have taken some pics with that but we were rushing through and didn't want to stop and switch the video camera. We will probably get one more chance to take a picture or two when we pick up Nurik next week.

Thanks for all of the comments........I knew you would laugh, Kelly! Love to all! Oh, and we think there might be another family on there way here so that will be fun to have some fellow adoptive travellers around. K-Pat

just some words from Karen and Pat

Just a side note today. By the way, as you may have noticed, the entries post from top to bottom so on days we post more than once, you may have to start at the last entry you read and read up so things are in order of thought process......just a tip!

As we pondered what people actually think of Americans here, we got quite tickled because with Pat and I as representatives it is rather a scary thought. We see it more as a soap opera....you know.....As the Dorks Fall, so are the LONG Days of our Lives. We have fallen so many times that it has to be a record for both of us. No bruises to note but certainly a lot of humility is being birthed in us while here. We had a particularly fun one the other day leaving the store. We try to blend in and not be so FOREIGN and strange however as we started to descend some stairs, or individual slopes as we call them...Karen no sooner exclaimed that they were very slippery that I decided to be civic minded and help clean the steps by kicking both feet out at the same time and cleaning the steps with my bottom. It could have registered on the richter scale. As a reward one of the scouts for the Kaz curling team noticed the extensive distance and accuracy in which I was able to propel one of our 5 liter jugs of water down the icy sidewalk. Had a Kaz bystander not stopped it, I would most likely have qualified for the next Olympics.

The funny thing is that they just randomly happen. No warning.....just walking, and then you are gazing at the beautiful blue sky is above you. My sister Kelly would just about be beside herself with giggles because she is one of those people as am I that has to chuckle when somebody falls.....it is not that you want them to be hurt...it is just funny sometimes.

We also entertain ourselves with self commentary to the Russian dubbed movies.....as friends of Pat's know, he can be very creative and he keeps me in stitches most of the time. We watched Sound of Music last night....the last of the DVD's that we brought with us so it looks like we will be repeating a few.

One side note on Dzezkazgan....we are very envious of the atmosphere of safety around here. We see kids as young as 5-6 walking to school, playing outside, etc. with no parents with them. Masha says it is very normal for the kids to walk to school in the early mornings and no one has worries. The kids are adorable and we love seeing them in all of their winter clothes. Walking snowboys and snowgirls. Their other big winter to spring holiday is coming up the day after we get Nurik so we are excited to see some of their more traditional Kazakh stuff. Yurts (tents), and camels, horses, and such. Hopefully, it will be warm so we can be out with Nurik. We are also glad that we get him the day before it starts, because this would have delayed us another few days because again it is a 3 days holiday. It may slow our paperwork some but at least we will have our son!

Today is a long day so we plan to shop for puzzles, pick up laundry, and of course, probably stop by the grocery store. As we said at the beginning...these are the long days of our lives but very special days. Luckily, our rather goofy sense of humor has made this a memorable journey and we will have one special little boy to come home with us. Well, we are off to conquer the ice once again. Love to all! K-Pat

Our height differences make self portraits a bit difficult. Do you think Nurik thinks his parents are weird?




These are my new shoes and I prefer to put them on as soon as I get to the room.










One day I tried on all of mama and papa's outdoor gear!










My face looks much better now but this was a funny picture of dad and his two glasses.























The smiles are back. Thanks to everyone for your prayers for his health.

This is Pat's current sleeping arrangements since our other bed is essentially two half-pipes pushed together and for short people again. It is also our living room and dining room and entertainment center.


This is our current apartment. We are on the top floor with the balcony nearest to the light post. You can see it is much busier in our area now. The big Market is on the left side of the picture.

This was our first apartment. We were on the 3rd floor.

Pat is cringing now.....

OK, I just had to say that we have a bunch of picture to try and send hopefully tomorrow. We thought we had them on the memory stick but they aren't there....we will re-download and try again! Ok, really that is all. Oh, but I wanted to say Hello to our Dog because I know it will offend some of my dog lover friends out there that we said a family of 3 when really we are now a family of 4 including our Amigo. We do miss him a bunch especially because half of our days are spent watching Russian dubbed ANIMAL COPS- HOUSTON or DOGS WITH JOBS or any other variety of animal rescue show......we wonder if they think we care about animals more than people ....oh that is right, sometimes we do....hmmmm! Sorry for the commentary....just had to say it .....just like Borat is a very poor depiction of Kaz, I worry about their perception of us also. Oh well, Gotta go for sure we are getting scary lines across the screen.....KPat

Ok, a ltttle more....it was 3 days....

Pat's paranoid but I have a lot to say after 3 days. He is good at keeping me on task so the dreaded Pink line doesn't come up....this line informs us that ....sorry, you lost connection...ugh!

Our goal in the next few days is to find some puzzles. The days without seeing Nurik are extremely long now. We usually take a walk and then go to the store. They probably think that we eat a bunch but it is something to do even if we just buy a few things. Oh, and adoptive families coming to this area....they don't really have crackers here.....saltines, ritz, wheat thins and such. Only bread ...... which is yummy ....but it would be great just to have some crackers and cheese vs. a big hunk of bread and cheese. Mom, did you ever think that you would hear me say that I am tired of bread.....I am going south beach diet when I get back....I could just eat meat for a month, I think! Which is OK with Pat! ;)

Nurik was a happy guy today again but the heat got too him towards the end and he got agitated at us when we wouldn't let him stand on the back pack, on the table. Well, actually, I put him on it and held him so that he could see that it wouldn't hold him....and being the quick learner that he is he promptly took the back pack down and put it in the corner and then pointed to the chair. When we said no, we got some tears but oh well, he must learn. He is getting so cute though. If I say come to mama in Kazakh, he gets this sheepish grin and just puts his arms out and walks towards me with a big hug at the end. Mama likes this very much!! ....FUNNY THING is that in Kazakh, it actually sounds like you are saying Kill Mama......Hope that is not what he smiling about! ;)

OK, That helps me get some of my words out for the day....now we will venture to email land. Sorry, I did not get a message off to Bunco ladies (yes, we thought about looking for some dice also to play Bunco) Hope you guys had fun and yes, Shannon, we did get your post! Kristina, we are still looking for the nesting dolls without luck. However, if you would like a knock off Nike shirt or every imagineable version of a cell phone, they have lots of that! We know that they have them in Almaty, so we will look there for touristy stuff. Dzezkazgan is not a big tourist destination, Masha tells us this with a grin.

We may move if a new apartment opens up just for a fresh set of wall to look at and hopefully, less stairs for Nurik but we are doing fine. Thanks again for all of the updates and stories.....they are invaluable to us as we have said before! Love, K-Pat (10 more days til our boy comes to live with us! )

ONE LOOOOONG HOLIDAY!

The other cake lady is behind the people in the coats. See comments below.


We spent the holiday watching who could sell the most cakes. This is part of the market below our apartment. They sell open air frozen fish at the next booth....sometimes big goat head's too...yum, yum! My food sanitation certification would not be of any use here. :)



Well, GO women....they got the whole country a 3 day holiday so we can't blame the internet, the whole town was just mostly shut down for 3 days. It is actually Sunday and the net is open so we are happy. Some places opened today since they were off so many days!

Friday was a great day with Nurik! He was very happy and we played a bunch, lots of non-hitting hugs, He actually just looked at me one time and touched my eyes, nose, ears, and then played with my hair for a minute....he has never done that before. He had lots of laughs with Papa also. We even have Pat on video having a loud hiccup moment (the taradactyl noise as his friends call it) and Nurik thought that was pretty funny......as do the rest of us!

We were able to tour the orphanage on Friday after our time and we were so excited. We have mostly video of the inside but did take a picture of his bed that we will send out soon. It was really very impressive as far as organized, clean, and not sterile, but kind of warm and inviting in some of the play rooms. They were getting ready for lunch and the food smelled good and I approved of all of the kitchen techniques. Hair coverings and sterilizing dishwashers! Ha!
Dr. Roza showed us a new room that they will make available for adoptive parents for the visitation time so now they will have two rooms. AND, it was so much cooler and a tad bit bigger. So happy for the people following us. Part of our gift to the orphanage will be to help buy curtains and a light fixture for this room. We are very excited to do this! Alas, we are still going to be in the dreaded HOT green room. I think Nurik does get his fill of this room after about an hour or so.

Yesterday was mostly a movie day for us. We finished the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and a Mandy Moore movie in Russian, and an Indian movie with English Subtitles. You know Pat's bored if he will watch chick flicks in another language. Also, I have finally seen some groove in my Northern wisconsin husband. He has been singing a Beyonce' video that we see alllll the time...to the Left, to the Left.... Hilarious! We get some hilarious videos over here. They have tons of Branson or Pigeon Forge type shows on TV with some fun singing. Wayne Newton is here in Spirit, let me tell ya!

We are afraid we won't have good access today so I will send this one and start a new one so at least we get something off. Love you guys!!!! Miss ya....Susan tell Aunt Wanda that I am going to have to request some serious corn bread making once we get back.....mmmm! K-Pat

13 days and counting.....

Well, we say 13 days.....but that is just when Nurik gets to come to the apartment with us. We still have paperwork left after that and Dr. visits in Almaty so maybe another 10-14 days after we get Nurik. Then, hopefully our flights will all work out and we can start that big trip home. We still are anticipating an arrival home in the first few weeks of April.

We had an interesting day with Nurik. Maybe he knew everything was final and that we couldn't change our minds anymore! ;) He started out fine but then (whether tired, overheated or just confused) he felt the need to start hitting. We would say no in English, Kazakh, and Russian without much help so Masha helped us out with stronger phrases. He would cry and cry when we put him down or away from us which was kind of humorous. He wanted to hit but still wanted us to hold him. We read that this can often be a way of testing you to see how much you will take....will you still want him, love him, etc. It kind of breaks my heart to know that he is so confused. He would try to hit me and then if I put him down he would just scream to be picked back up again. He would cuddle and then start hitting again....we did this over and over thru the 2 hours and about 20 minutes before his time was up, he just fell asleep on my chest. It was so strange to see him struggle like this. I know he probably wishes he could communicate to us how he feels but I think 3 year olds struggle with this anyway. We just wonder what is going on in his sweet little head.....so much emotion, I suppose. This is of course, when we wish we could just walk out with him and take him home but we know that God has protected him this far so we have to trust that 13 more days will be OK. It is probably harder on Mama and Papa. Although some of the looks that he gives us shows us that he is dealing with just as many emotions as we are.

Tomorrow, is International Women's Day. A National (and maybe Russia also) holiday where all the Women are celebrated from girls to older women. The men buy them gifts and take them out.....it sounds like a secretary, mother's, and grandparents day all rolled into one. Although, I like the fact that they celebrate women....much different then that silly movie, Borat, supposedly represented. We are finding that almost a month in a country shows you the real core of a culture. People are maybe getting used to us. One older man stopped Pat on the road a few days ago just to shake hands with him. Our grocery security guard smiles and says hello and goodbye, the ladies at the hot pocket place know our order, and the laundry ladies continue to smile and chuckle when we come.

Well, that is all for today, hopefully we will post some pics tomorrow.....had more yesterday but it shut down on me....I was so distraught that Pat had to do the blog. I felt betrayed by the computer! ;) This is how much communication means to us now. Thanks for all of the updates....we loved them...really! Betsy, thanks for the ER update....i am good to go now.

Adoptive families who are already here or are coming....we would love to email but that is not a great success story for us now but we will contact you if we can....would love to touch base with some of you .....all I can say again is...... bring games and canned chicken/peanut butter especially if you are not a big meat eater. Love to all of you, K-Pat

We are now a family of three!

Smiles on our last visit before court.


This was a quick picture taken after the 1st part of the court proceedings and before the judgement. Dr. Roza is next to me, Masha is next to Karen and the 3rd lady was Vera who is the assistant Director of Education for this area..All very important women to this area and to us!

We were not supposed to go to court till this morning but while we were finishing up at the internet cafe yesterday we received a call that the court appearance was move up to 4pm yesterday afternoon because the Judge had to leave town for a meeting. So we rushed home and got cleaned up and went to court. If court dates have to change at least they changed in our favor. This means the 15 day waiting period starts today and this means we can pick up Nurik before their spring holiday. If we had not gotten into court yesterday it could easily have been another week wait. The proceedings lasted about 30 min and were very straight forward. They asked each of us why we wanted to adopt from Kaz and why we chose Nurik. Karen was more eloquent than I (no surprise there) but we answered several questions and the ladies all presented their information. Then these very reserved ladies all hugged us and it was over and we are now a family (WOW). I actually celebrated last night with the first diet Pepsi I have had since I left the states (yes believe it or not I am caffeine free).

Well the net connection is not good today so I will end by thanking everyone for their prayers and continued support. We are now one step closer to coming home. Love K-Pat

Court day is here, finally!

We go to court tomorrow at 10am our time which is 9 or 10pm on monday for most of you. We are so ready to get it over with and start our ticking clock to departure. I don't think court will be too intimidating because we have already been asked most of the questions that we will be asked again by the first ladies.

Thanks to all for the comments! We really loved reading them and loved the day to day updates. It gives us something to chat or chuckle about on all of our walks back and forth!
We still have not heard from some of you ..... can you feel the Karen stare thru the blog! Come on guys, you can do it .....enter the internet age and tell us how you are.....Laurie, is Johanna playing volleyball again yet or is it just weightlifting time? How is Geta?
Aunt Julie, did you survive the skiing? Douglas's, are you done with the floor yet??? Lan Chi, are you done with your subjects yet? Lisa C, What is happening on ER? Phoebe or JK, anything exciting on NCIS? AND, JK remember you must be moved out by the time I get home or you are in big trouble! JT, you would get along well here, the are good country type cookers.
And, we are requesting that you upload Heath's performances on YOUTUBE and send! We need a good laugh! And oh would we kill for a Stephanino's or Pirrone's pizza.

Nurik is felling better and we have some good pics to download from today....lots of smiles and you can see his poor little lips. We went shopping with Masha on Saturday and bought him clothes, coat, underwear, shoes and such. We took him his shoes today. He loved them and took them to his group after our time. We are so looking forward to having him at the apartment. We think he kind of dreads the green room and knows exactly almost when 2 hours are up. Today he just started cleaning up when it was about 15 min til 12p. Kind of spooky that he can tell time like that. We only see him every other day after court because that is just this orphanage's rules. I think he will be OK because he seems to do fine after we don't see him on Sundays anyway.

Well, that is about all of the excitement here. It has turned a bit warmer and some of the ice has melted a tad but of course it freezes again over night so ice skating in the morning has become a habit. We are just thankful for your prayers and that it has at least gotten to a tolerable temp...not the freezing of your face and stinging of your eyes, very painful cold. And to the BUNCO girls.....will miss the laughter and friendship much more this month. Yell BUNCO for me someone! and I would love some soup..... although we are quite the RAMEN noodle couple now. All brands, All kinds....we have tried it! We will post hopefully tomorrow after court. LOVE you all ! K-Pat

Great Comments!

Erin you get the award for the most info in one comment. You Rock! Such funny stuff and glad to hear the wedding update! Grandma Norma, we think of you too. Nurik will be so happy to have a Great Grandma like you!

All the rest of you that have commented so far, thanks and we love it! Holly, you cracked me up out loud with the Sha-Tierney braid story! and Carrie, Mikey takes the energy of his mom into acrobatics, what a thrill! and Congrats to Hannah Beth on making the soccer team, Sorry Susan and Noel! ;) Emma, we are sure Nurik will love gymnastic moves also as his favorite position is up in the air (lately, all the time). and we are quite sure BJ and Zach will have on their helmets because they listened to you, sis, HA! Thanks for the update on Pat and we will continue to pray for them and Dad! I will say this in a public forum so everyone can call mom and tell her to FORGET THE STINKIN BACKSPLASH.....who needs it! GOOD LUCK with the kitchen and we will continue to pray for it to be finished......alas, we well know that this is the most trying part of remodeling....the finishing.

And to all the adoptive families reading this....thanks for reading along with us, we know that you have been where we are or are going there soon. It is truly a great adventure if you just make the choice to go with the flow. Everything is out of your control....this God will teach you often but it is a special journey. And, No, you don't have to bring toilet paper...they have more expensive kinds like ours here although they probably think you are crazy for buying it when the cheaper crepe paper kind is available. Make sure you bring games......make the space! We brought lots of books and unfortunately, I am almost already done with all of mine so now I will read Pat's! ;) Bring Magazines....Masha like to look through them....maybe some regional ones like midwest living or southern living or something from your city. Oh, and don't assume that just because something makes it thru american customs that it will make it through European customs....they have a 100 ml limit which is probably a lot less than our just whatever you can fit in a clear plastic bag limit. So just pack everything in your suitcases especially your contact solution! ;)

We visited Nurik today and have had an interesting few days with him having some sores in his mouth from the virus/cold that he had. He cries alot but we have learned that if we just pick him up and rock him that he will calm down and maybe he really just wants to be held. Probably the most he has been held since birth, I would imagine. Not alot of smiles so not many pictures although we are taking some around town to post next time. Nurik also has a hurt finger from a hang nail so we think he may think that we are bringing sickness and pain on him...
But, he definitely likes us to hold him a bunch now and that is great. I can feel my biceps toning as we speak. He reminds me of Will (one of my favorite twin boys) who never would let us sit down while holding him.....always stand...never sit....Will would cry just like Nurik does. I even have to do the same rock, bounce, sway that I did with Will....You were good practice for me Will!!

Well, I won't press our luck any further. Yes, Kelly we tried to cut and paste and only gibberish text comes up from our computer onto theirs so we don't know if we have a newer version of word or what. All the commands are in Russian so it is hard to play around with the stuff. Their computer guys tried to get it to post and they couldn't get it either. so who knows. We need BJ and Uncle John here to figure it out because it would be so much easier to type at home and then cut and paste.

Well, we love all of you and keep the comments coming. We want to see lots on Monday!!
K-PAT

Assignment America

Ok, nothing like the Internet cafe rebooting the whole system right before you can send your rather witty, and funny blog for the day. So, you are getting the short and sweet version now.

We know our blogs are getting routine so it is your turn to tell us how you are doing. We want to know about kids, dogs, sports, weather, WORK, food (tell us how it smells and tastes). We are surviving fine with less food, conveniences, and stress but we are starting to miss relationship. So your assignment is to get on the comment section of our blog and tell us what is going on with you....prayer requests, funny stories, whatever! We value our relationships now more than you will ever know. Girls, at work, this means you! Who is making hot pockets this week?? Looks like Jess has figured it out so ask her. No gossip or HIPAA violations, just good clean news!

We love you guys and miss you all terribly! Prayers go out to the Hounchells and Sue Queen and family! Don't let us down! Is that enough guilt words, cause you know I can add more....can't I , Lan Chi? :) K-Pat

Now it is your turn!

OK, everyone, we have noticed that our blogs and even some pictures are maybe getting a little routine, after all, we do the same thing everyday, in the same room, with the same clothes.... so not always too much exciting to talk about. Sooo, we have noticed that we have been able to survive here pretty well with less conveniences, less food, less stress but what we are starting to hunger for (besides a really good burger) is relationship. Thus, every one's homework for our long weekend is to send us an update on your life. Doesn't have to be long, just tell us a story or two. What are your kids doing, Where have you been to eat, What is going on at work?!?, What is Jon preaching on at church....just that kind of stuff.

My friends at work are going to have to figure out how to comment....looks like Jess figured it out, ask her. I know the Lisas can figure it out. I am dying to know who is making the hot pockets this week!! Yes, we have to watch out for HIPAA and gossip but otherwise fill us in on life in America.

Now, we know there is a bunch of you out there that haven't figured out the comment thing yet but look on the comments area of the blog, click on it and see who has done comments and then ask them. If our parents can figure it out, so can some of you!

We still continue to have cold weather here, maybe a tad warmer today. Nurik still not at peak but doing a little better today. We may go shopping with Masha tomorrow and start to buy him some clothes for his stay with us and the return home. We hope to wait and buy souvenirs after we get to Almaty because we don't want to deal with the Dzez airline again (stay tuned for a blog that wouldn't post several weeks ago, we will repeat that story on one of the days that we don't see Nurik after court)

We hope you are all doing well and special prayers go out to the Hounchell family and Sue Queen and family! Send us your prayer requests too, we have tons of time for prayer! ;) God is teaching us so many concrete pictures of what faith, trust, and relationship means....I will probably have to blog on it one day soon. We love you guys and know now more than ever how much you all mean to us every day! Love, K-Pat

Well, we got one through.....I wanted to add a few more words real quick. We have heard Nurik say some english words in the past few days. Hello which sounds a bit like allo when he answers the phone and Up. We use simple words every time we do something for him so I think he is picking up some words. Very Exciting!! It looked like he moved his lips to say open today when I was opening something for him. I think he knows it makes us very happy because he gets his sly smile when he does it. OK, that's all for now. Anyone want to tell us how the wildcats are doing .... it is almost march madness! K-Pat

Not sure of my facial expression but
he finally decided to sleep on mama's shoulder.

Coloring is not so easy when trying to
look cool!

Cool Dude!

A picture is worth a thousand words!


We had had an interesting last two days. Nurik is still having some stuffy nose issues which has caused him to have the dryest lips (cracked and bleeding) that I have ever seen. Dr. Roza says that they should be able to get his mouth healed up in a few days. So pitiful. I keep trying to put chapstick on it when we can. He still doesn't feel great and goes between wanting down and then wanting to be held again. We are supposing that this is a new experience to be comforted anytime he wants while with us. Masha was not with us today because her class has a competition in town. We went to the Laundry all by ourselves. The ladies knew we would be coming and we were able to communicate fairly well. Internet is not working well the past few days most likely because it is so cold. We seem to notice a correlation. Hope this goes thru. Love you guys! K-Pat