Almaty is All-righty.

Well, I finally get to post. Everytime I tried for my last two visits, I had no luck. Glad Pat has been able to post for us. As Pat has said already, we have felt a bit of revival and relief as we have started our week or so in Almaty. Pat said I had to finally fill you in on our first plane trip to zhez so that our plane trip out of Zhez will make sense.

We arrived in Almaty after our rather terrible experience with the Amsterdam airport and we slept a bit and then were taken to the airport for an evening flight to Zhez (yes, I am spelling it different.....this is the updated version supposedly). We arrived in Almaty in the fog and left Almaty in the fog then arrived in Zhez in the fog. They have some very good Pilots that along with God's help, I am sure, were able to land with fog all the way to the ground. I did not see runway until we touched it....yikes. Very thankful that they were good pilots. Well, the funny part of the initial arrival was that they take your luggage in the terminal....take it out to the plane...and then leave it at the bottom of the stairs for you to haul up the stairs and put in the back of the plane.....Did I mention you climb into the plane from the back...a rear entrance....think C-5 transport plane but miniture.....we were exhausted at this point and over weight on our luggage so we loved every minute of trying to get those huge suitcases and bags up the stairs.....oh yeah, and there were these really young guys that stood around and watched you do this...no help what so ever....so we got loaded on and then when arriving in Zhez...yes, we must unload our luggage down while people stood by and watched. All of the other passengers where on the bus waiting to go to the terminal (oh, I mean the parking lot) and just watching us struggle with all of our luggage off of the plane and then they watched and did not move while we tried to get it on the very full bus....nice welcome to the city.....we at that point actually thought it was funny because we were so tired and just took our time since no one offered to help (one nice passenger did help a bit on the journey up the stairs but just the easy bag).

So, Needless to say, we were dreading the flight from Zhez to Almaty because now we had a rather speedy 3 year old to hold on to plus all of that luggage (minus a few gifts and Pat's boots...they wore out from the walking). When we got to the airport, we handed off our luggage and knew that this really meant nothing as it was all going to be waiting for us to try and get on the plane. Well, the bus took us out to the plane and passed right by the rear-loader and on to a bigger plane with no luggage outside the stairwell. Well, if we could have shouted Hallelujah in Kazak, we would have. We were praising God all the way up the stairs because we only had our backpacks and a 3 year old. They even held the line up so we could go first. And, then they helped us get off. God knows what you need......trust me!

As Pat said, Nick did great on the plane. Which only goes to show that a grandson of a McDonnell Douglas retiree knows a great ride when he gets it. I actually don't know what kind of plane it was.....something old and soviet. I would say circa 1950's or 60's from the decor. We didn't care as long as it got us here. I have some fun pics of the plane ride when we ever figure out how to use our jump drive here. It is not the same as Zhez.....one of the things that was better in Zhez.

Nick was so curious about everything on the plane and thought the flight attendant was great because she picked up all of the trash. He must have watched her go back to the galley at one point (their's has a door that shuts behind them) because he wanted to get up and go to the back with his trash. I thought he wanted to go potty but he just stood there and when she came back out, he promptly handed her his trash and headed back to his seat. She thought that was hilarious and so did I. She made extra efforts to take his trash from then on. He loved the meal that they had and ate his and mine. He almost fell asleep but we started to land so hopefully this is something that he can do on the long flight.

We are enjoying our luxury apartment although still not kid proof.... it has doors that shut and he can't open them....praise the Lord again! He adapted pretty well with the new surroundings and has enjoyed lots of stroller rides all over town. We haven't been in too many "sights" because he just doesn't do that well with walking around. Not sure if we will get to the mountains but it is nice to see them. We had a great easter egg hunt with the fellow Americans and they even had a co-worker dressed as the easter bunny. We were sad not to get to worship anywhere but listened to some of our CD's throughout the day now that we have a nice stereo system. Nick dances to the music and we have a cute video of him dancing to some Greater Vision.

The food is still lacking but the stores have so much more to choose from for Nick. We found their version of chicken strips (he won't eat them but Pat will) and microwave popcorn (we have a microwave now) so we feel that we can survive no problem. I may have to go solo and try the lebanese restaurant to see how it compares to our OASIS but we shall see....not as much fun to try stuff if we all can't go and it is just not easy with Nick....We did go to their version of a mall today and their food court had some edible foods and baskin robbins! We also met another adoptive family there (well, half of them) the other half is still in Taraz. They are adopting a 12 and 11 year old. They will have 7 kids total.....they were from Texas so we taked for a bit to this husband and his 3 boys. They loved Nick and helped keep him occupied so mom and dad could eat.....their version of stuff is just weird so we still haven't had great caloric intake considering all of the walking we are doing again (hills included) but we don't mind keeping the weight off until we get home.

Well, that should catch everyone up from my standpoint....we have not heard from our coordinator but are still hoping that we may get out of here next Sunday. Nick is continuing to learn words, colors, sounds and I would love to have all of my kids books at home.....patience, patience.....we bought some overpriced animals and a book today for the plane and some play kitchen toys so he will maybe leave the china alone! We are so thankful for all of the prayers. Thank you for lifting us up and sending scripture our way.....we cherished all of it....It reminds me of the verses about if one falls another will be there to lift them up. We felt that from all of you! Have a great week and I hope this is the last Monday that I am writing to you from Kaz.
Love to all....Karen, Pat, and Nick

Hello from Almaty

Hello everyone. We made it just fine to Almaty two days ago. Nick did great onthe plane....No fear of flying. The only problem is like any 3 year old his attention span is about 10 min and he wants to wander around. Luckily Karen was able to keep his attention for the 2 hour trip from Jez.

Well the Lord has been looking out for us. We thought we would have to survive living in a small hotel room for the next week but the hotels were all full so we now reside in a VERY large apartment (2 times as large as any in Jez) located right across the street from their major University (makes me feel a like more at home and normal...well as normal as I ever have been). Almaty is a great (very large city) with a lot to see and we have walked a lot. The only problem is the city (the former Capital of Kaz) is next to the mountains so the streets are very hilly to walk. The mountains are beautiful and hopefully we will go see them a bit this week.

It is completely amazing how getting a good night sleep in a real bed (that I can once again share with my wife...the first time in 7 weeks) a shower, and food that is recognizable (we scored some peanut butter..WOO HOO) can make life a joy again.

The one problem with apartment is if gives Nick too much room to build up speed when running and he has a 3 year olds control...which means he usually stops by running into something. we have been spending hours going through his picture book and having him run all over the house pointing out object he sees in the book. He has also learned where in his other books he has seen different objects so we go from book to book to book etc....very funny. Karen has been having fun teaching him animal noises and signs.

We met with the coordinator yesterday to begin filling out the Embassy papers for Nick and Oleg thinks we should have no problems (keep you fingers crossed because we have heard this before) finishing this week so we hope to make our flight on the 15th (a week from tomorrow).

We are hoping to meet up with our friends from the embassy this afternoon for an Easter Egg hunt and I hope to join them for Easter Service tomorrow.

Well that is all for today. Have a wonderful Easter everyone. Pat, Karen and Nick

Hello everyone...Pat here.....Well one more day and we head to the big city for the much needed change in scenery. Karen and I are in a bit a better mode today...no choice. Thanks for the great comments..especially Erin. Tell Brian he may need to go just a bit further than the letter of the law when it comes to his chores for you. I hope Meeko wasn't too traumatized.

Well it appears Nick works on the rule of three at times. His first bath he was very scared, his second bath he tolerated it, his third bath this morning we couldn't get him out of the tub. We ended up tag-team bathing. First mama and Nick then Papa and Nick. Finally papa had to pull the plug and let the water drain out. At least he isn't afraid of the water, which is a good thing considering all the activities we like to do in WI at our lake.

Nick really enjoys our daily walks and last night we spent a lot of time examining tree bark, branches, buds, etc on many trees. He likes to just walk aimlessly. Unfortunately he has not mastered the gazing and walking at the same time and tends to trip a lot. Luckily he doesn't have far to the ground.

Well that is about all from me. Hopefully Karen can post tonight or tomorrow before we leave. I know it sounds like a broken record, but thanks to all of you for your support, prayers, and in the case of our co-workers..extra work. Hopefully we can post while in Almaty and lets hope the adventure is close to a conclusion...at least where the traveling is involved.

Pat

The light at the end of the tunnel was a train

We have just been informed that our paperwork that was supposed to be finished by early this week (last week actually) may not be done till next week. This means the earliest we can fly home will most likely be the 14th (2-3 weeks past when we expected to be home). Needless to say Karen and I are fairly distressed and could use some serious prayers to help us hold on to our remaining humor.

The one sunny spot is that we will be in a larger city (Almaty) starting on Thursday with some new people to meet and better food to eat.

One note on the happier side of our days.....I found our cute little boy folding his shirts the other day and forgot to mention it amongst all his other amazing 3 year old antics. He folds them kind of like the department stores. I can't wait to have him help me fold clothes. I think he misses all of his activities......they say that these kids love to do chores because it gave them purpose in the orphanage. We will definitely keep those habits going as well as mucho grande play time outside with Amigo. He loves the outdoors as Pat has said and Pat and I are looking forward to keeping up our good walking habits when we get home too! We had a big Woo! Hoo! the other day also when Nick used the big boy potty! We were a little worried about the plane ride but it seems that he can use the bigger one without too much stress. It is the little joys that we are focused on to get us thru and that was a big one! We hope to blog at least one more time before leaving here but if not, we will talk to you when in Almaty! Love, K-Pat, and N

Nick's bedroom. His bed is on the top and in the middle. Nice and orderly......not what he has now....probably why he doesn't want to sleep.

The front of the orphanage. The dreaded green room is to the left of the door. Just imagine a sauna and there you have it.

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to cousin Scott! I thought about you on the fool's day. I think my co-worker Stephen is also expecting a new arrival on the 1st. Hope everything went well! Be glad you will have sleepless nights with a newborn and not sleepless nights with a 3 year old half-crazy with anxiety......Do they have Children's Xanax? I left Pat with an awake child so hopefully he will not be bruised and missing skin when I get back (yes, I mean Pat, not Nick) I can't write much without sounding depressing .....I've already deleted several times. So, know that we love you and can't wait to get home with our son. Love, K-Pat and Nick

Light at the endof the tunnel

We purchased our airline tickets to Almaty and will leave on Thursday for new pastures. Hopefully our stay there will not be very long (a few days), then back to HOME!!!!!...so hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train.

Our time in Jez has been interesting (and boring at times) and we are looking forward to going to a larger City and seeing other Americans and hopefully eating some better food (YEAAAAA).

NOTE: for those who are emailing us on our yahoo account...we haven't been able to access it for the past 5 days so we aren't ignoring you...we just can't reply at the moment. By the way, good luck and safe travels to my world traveling sister on her newest trip..take a lot of pictures.

We will weekend went fairly well. Team Kitzman is getting a bit smoother...not quite up to NASCAR level...more like one step above Demolition Derby level..but making small improvements. Nap time seems to give the largest level of problems...Nick gets so tired and just can't deal as well without the structure he grew up with his entire life at the orphanage. Hopefully when we get settled in at home things will improve a lot. At least bed time has been so much better with the new approach of just letting his training/scheduling kick in at it's normal time.

Not much happening here...we take our daily strolls with Nick and he loves looking at everything...I mean everything. And just trying to keep focused on trip to Almaty.

Well that is all for today...my eloquent wife will touch base tomorrow. Have a wonderful week everyone and we are almost home. Love. Patrick and family