Day 23 Dec 29

Today we slept in and went to the yummy breakfast here at Hotel Kazakhstan. After breakfast we hung out until our driver picked us up at 12:30 to go to the US Embassay. We arrived there a little early and had to wait. Once all was set, we went up to the office. Mike filled out paperwork that our driver had that was necessary. We handed in all the paperwork that was needed and filled out the Power of Atty form for Eva's escort.

It was a beautiful day in Almaty. It had to be about 50 degrees out there and sunny. We went to the market for water and just walked around. We had dinner at the Guns and Roses Cafe again. Today's dinner was better than yesterdays.

After dinner we packed up and now we are just relaxing a bit. Arman will be here at midnight to bring us to the airport.

That's it for now. See everyone in the US soon.

Day 22 Dec 28

No pictures from today.

This mornings flight was delayed from 12 to 2ish. We got picked up at our hotel Dostar Alem (Room 310) at like noonish. We arrived to a very very empty airport. It was a little eerie and weird to see hardly any cars in the parking lot and no people around at all. We checked in (including drinking our water to be sure there was not poision in it so we can bring it on the plane) and sat and waited until our plane was ready to board. There were only like 15 passengers on the entire plane today. During the 1 hr flight we got lunch, candy bar and a gift from air astana. It was a very pleasant flight.

We arrived in Almaty at like 3:30 PM. We waited, got our luggage and met Arman (driver). We went with a taxi driver while Gretchen and Carl went with Arman. What a ride from you know where. The taxi smelled like exhaust which we can still taste. This driver was just nuts. Yes, the driving here in Kazakhstan is probably 10 times worse than NYC (no lines on the streets - you just drive where there is an opening - first one there makes the lane) - but this driver was bad. Fairly rude at times and didnt know how to take his hand off the horn. Talk about headache when we arrived at Hotel Kazkhstan. He tried to get us to pay him for the taxi ride but we made him wait for our driver. I think he was trying to double dip and up the cost and we didn't trust him at all. So, we made him wait! It's great not being able to understand someone when they ask you something. He was trying and we kept saying "we don't understand, wait for Arman". LOL.

We checked into the hotel and the room this time is beautiful. We got one of the renovated rooms on the 25th floor. All other rooms are taken due to the busy New Years holiday. Gretchen/Carl and us went down to the Guns and Roses Restaurant in the hotel. Food was fair but it was edible. We ate and now we are in the room just chilling out for the night. We are both very exhausted. We will probably turn in pretty soon.

Tomorrow we will be picked up at 12:30 to go to the US Embassay to drop off and complete all the necessary paperwork in order to have our little girl brought to the US.

That's it for now. We will most likely be out and about tomorrow afternoon after the Embassay for some shopping or site seeing so we will be back on tomorrow.

Day 21 December 27

Today was the hardest day of our entire trip. It was our last day at the baby house. Although, we are thankful because they gave us an extra day to see Eva seeing Sunday is normally an off day.

This morning it was so great to see Eva. She was in her walker waiting for us yet again. She ate some yummy porage for breakfast with some tea. As Eva was eating, Pappa entertained a little boy (we think) for a bit. He/she was wearing a pink jumper Eva was wearing the other day so we are not sure. LOL. After eating we went to play. Today Eva was so cheerful. She was still missing her favorite toys but she made due of what was there. She played with her friend Kia for a little bit but we kind of hogged her to ourselves this morning knowing this was our last morning at the baby house. After our time was up, we brought Eva to her room for naptime.

Between visits we ran to the market to grab some diapers, ate some delicious PB & J Sandwiches, ran to the Kodak store to develop a few photos then went to the Bazaar with Carl, Gretchen and Angela. It was so busy out there. After being there for a bit we all decided it was a little too cold and busy there so we found a taxi to get back to the hotel. All 5 of us piled into one car to get back, little squished but it made the day fun.

Back to the baby house we went for our afternoon visit. Eva was "sleeping" when we arrived. Well, when the caregiver went to peek in at Eva, of course she was up and ready for someone to rescue her out of her crib. We changed her diaper, fed her a bottle, finished putting on more layers of clothing and went to the playroom for some fun. Again this afternoon she was in a happy mood which we were so glad of. Lots of photos were taken today. We exchanged addresses with everyone there. We visited with everyone a bit, said our goodbyes, spent alot of one on one time with Eva and brought Eva back to her room. The afternoon visit went so fast. When we put Eva down in her walker and tried to say goodbye, Mommy started crying and the caregivers gave her hugs and told her not to worry. We think they were staying don't worry the time will fly by and then she will be in America with Mamma and Pappa. All the caregivers that were there today gave both of us hugs goodbye. We again gave our little girl hugs and kisses goodbye and left her another "family" photo of us and a few of the toys that she has been playing with.

Angela still has about 2 1/2 weeks left to go so she told us she will keep popping in on Eva and take some photos to send to us.

We have all the faith in the world in the caregivers in Eva's room. They are all so wonderful and have done a wonderful job with Eva for the first 8 months of her life. She is in good hands while we are gone. She will be home soon enough and we will have the rest of her life with her.

Tonight when we got back to the hotel from our afternoon visit, the parking lot was jammed packed. There were New Years celebrations going on. The restaurant we normally eat at was not open for us to sit down there. We all ordered room service and we all ate picnic style in Angela's room. It was a nice way to end our last night here at the hotel. Good food, good friends and some laughter.

Tomorrow we leave Karaganda in the morning and catch a flight to Almaty.

Day 20 Dec 26

Hello All, This mornings visit was very nice. She was in her walker waiting for us when we arrived. So it was off to the playroom for some fun and games. It was a very busy loud room this morning. There are a ton of couples in the small playroom. Eva was a little mad that we didn't have her favorite toys there today. We already packed them in here travel escort bag for her flight home. We wanted to be sure her favorites were there. The morning visit seemed to fly by. We were visiting with all the families that we started with seeing we will all be leaving soon.

After leaving the baby house we came back to the hotel for lunch. We were going to have Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches but as we took the bread out it seemed to have grown hair! So, off to the resturant in the hotel we went. We had lunch with Angela and Bill. After lunch we said our goodbyes to Bill. He was leaving Karaganda for Almaty this afternoon. We took a stroll down to the market to pick up a few things and came back to a little ceramony at the ice skating rink in front of the hotel. After dropping the bags off Lisa went down to check it out. Shrek, a chipmunk, bunny and a donkey were skating on the rink with a bunch of children and adults with loud music. It was fun to watch.

The afternoon visit Eva again was in a walker waiting for us. We fed her bottle to her and dressed her to go play. She didn't seem to be in a very good mood this afternoon. We think that she has or is getting an ear infection. Also, she was very very sleepy. We don't think she got any sleep between visits. We played a bit and cuddled a bit. We are hoping she gets a good nights rest so she is ready for a great time tomorrow which is our last visit with her. (sniff sniff)

Tonight we started packing some of our stuff. We have more than half done. We will finish up tomorrow night.

Here are some pix from today.

Day 19 Dec 25

Merry Christmas everyone. We wish we were there to celebrate with all of you.

This morning Eva was already up and fed -hanging out in the walker. She was in a good mood and then she was in a really good mood when she got her santa hat on. She was going nuts. We took some pix with the caregivers (2 of the 3 favorites we have) in front of the tree. Everyone thought Eva was just sooooo cute in here Christmas Bib and Santa Hat. Off the to the playroom we went. We passed Eva's Santa hat around so other families can get pictures of their little ones in it as well. Carl/Gretchen/Kia as well as Us with Eva went to a "tea party" with the Doctors and Natasha (translater). Oh dear tons of food. Eva had some whipped cream from the cake and was loving it!!! After the party we played for a little bit more then we had to leave. We put Eva down in her crib and she didn't want anything to do with it. She wanted to stay up and celebrate. The morning visit just flew by way too fast.

Between trips we did some shopping around for the 2 pr of tights we needed to complete our travel bag. We developed the pix of the caretakers with Eva as well as a picture of Eva in her Santa hat and bib and bought a few frames. We gave the caregivers a frame with the pix of them and framed the pix of Eva for her room for everyone to enjoy. We picked up a few odds and ends then went back to the hotel.

We were picked up early today to go to the market for items for another "tea party" for the afternoon visit with the caretakers. We were so glad that our favorites were there to celebrate with us. Eva enjoyed some apple juice and a piece of apple at this party. One of the newer couples from Spain that are adopting a baby in Eva's room joyed us as well. It was a wonderful time for all of us. It turns out that Eva loves being the center of attention. She was making tons of noises to get people to look at her, then a huge smile came. There was just so much excitement today hopefully she gets a good nights rest!!!

Here are some pictures from today.

Day 18 - December 24th

Today was a big day for the Majer Family. We had our court appointment this morning. We were picked up at normal time and brought down to the courthouse. The building was a very old building. We had to wait in the waiting area until it was our turn. We were after the 2 families from Spain. We met them in the hall and all thumbs up from them. Congratulations were passed along and we were next in line to see the judge. We were brought into a small office type of room. In this room was the Judge, prosecutor, stenographer, a woman from the Dept of Education, Rosa the Orphanage Director, a Doctor from the Orphanage, Tamara the Facilitator, Natasha the translater and us. It started by the judge apologizing the the small room were were in instead of the courtroom due to renovations that were being done. All members that were talked. The Director explained how Eva got to the orphanage, the timeframe and her experience in the orphanage up till now. The Doctor reveiwed her medical records, Tamara explained our application, the woman from the Dept of Education gave their conclusions from our review. Prosecutor and Judge asked questions. After questions we went out into the hall while the judge deliberated for about 5 minutes. Once the judge was ready we went back into the room for the verdict. Of course all speaking was not in English - we had no clue what anyone was saying (expect for the little bit Natasha was able to translate quietly as they were talking). The end result and words we remember loud and clear are Congratulations! We wish your family good luck in the future. Of course Lisa cried (happy tears of course). The best Christmas present we could ever ask for, Eva Josephine Catherine Majer!

After court we went back to the hotel. Carl, Gretchen and ourselves had a nice celebration lunch. After lunch both of us couples were on the hunt for a new bag for escorting. Our bag was not big enough to hold what it needed to. With luck, we all found what we needed and back to the hotel. We got a great deal on the bag, 1000 tenge which is 6.67 cents -big spenders.

The afternoon visit was a great one. The first "official" day with our daughter. She was in a very talkative mood. Elizabeth and Josef came in w/Muraiha and the 3 girls (Muraiha, Kai and Eva) had a ball. In our shopping travels we picked Eva up a cute pair of slippers. Unfortunatley they were too small. Hopefully tomorrow we can trade them in for a bigger size.

Also this afternoon we found out that we will be able to see Eva on Sunday for a morning and afternoon visit (our normal day off). This was very exciting news for all of us seeing that we leave on Monday morning from Karaganda.

Tomorrow at the baby house we will be having some parties. The morning visit we will have a tea party with all of the doctors at the orphanage. The afternoon visit we will be having a party in Eva's room for all the caregivers. It should be a fun filled day for all.

Today we also received Eva's daily routine schedule and her 8 month measurements.

Here are some pix from today.

Day 17 - December 23

Today was Eva's 8 month birthday. We started the day by going to a wonderful puppet show put on my many of the doctors/caretakers at the baby house. There were alot of kids there and everyone had a ball. Eva loved the music and performance. After the puppet show we went to the playroom. Very quiet day in the playroom. Eva did alot of chewing on her teething ring today. We played with her favorite music toy and played w/Kia for a little bit. We were given a bottle of tea for Eva (she had hickups). Well, they went away before we were able to give her bottle to her. Well, Momma knocked it over, the nipple fell off and Momma sat in it. Wasn't too pleasant! LOL

We had to go through all of our "items" for escorting with Natasha. She had some giggles after seeing how much clothes we actually brought and were planning on putting in the bag for escort. She weeded all the stuff down quite a bit but end result is we still need to go out and buy a bigger bag for all of Eva's items to be put in.

After we left the baby house we took a journey downtown. Carl and Gretchen had to return a winter hat they bought for Kia - it was too small. We went there and then to the mall to browse around. We stopped at a Pub Johnnie Walkers for some lunch. The food was OK, we like the hotel food better lol but it was a nice change. Then back to the hotel to meet up w/the driver.

The afternoon visit to the baby house was another great visit. Momma gave Eva the bottle and she finished it right up. Playroom was pretty quiet again. Eva again was chewing on her teething ring and just relaxing with us. We did some playing and she played with Kia for a little bit again. Kia ended up going back to her room - she was a little under the weather so she rested with her Mamma and Pappa there. We got nice visits from 2 of the Spanish families that originally started in the playroom with us. It is always so nice to see them. Such nice people!!!

Tomorrow morning is our court appointment. Sad that we are missing our morning visit but glad to get some official items that we need to get done, done.

Attached are pix of Pappa and Eva playing piano, Mamma and Eva, a couple from California that used CAH Angela and Bill w/their son, and the 2 Spanish families which their names are very hard to remember (except for Elizabeth which is the mom with dark hair and glasses) and Muriaha (sp??) her daughter and Lordes (the mom with the lighter hair with glasses) with her son Denyal (sp??).

Day 16 Dec 22

This morning was our meeting at the Ministry of Education. We think the meeting went very well. 3 folks asking questions to us. One of the woman said that Lisa looks like she is from this country. (That I don't look American). There were approx 8 other couples there as well for the same reason as us. With that said our meeting only lasted less than 10 minutes. Hopefully that is a good sign. Our translater said all is good, they liked us.

After our meeting, we were taken to the baby store. Here we bought the other pair of tights we needed for Eva, a hat for the airplane and the cutest outfit ever that Daddy found. A beautiful leopard fur coat!!! The coat and pants are very big on her but she will grow into them. After there we went to the souvinour shop. Not much to choose from here but we did pick up a few things. Sorry family, no luck yet finding any t-shirts or sweatshirts yet. Then off to the market to pick up cereal, juice and baby food for Eva's trip home.

We were unable to see Eva for our morning visit due to all of our running around that needed to be done.

We arrived at the baby house for our afternoon visit. Eva was in a walker waiting by the door (yes for us). She was soooo happy to see us. Instant smile!! In her room Daddy fed Eva her bottle which she didn't want much to do with. She finished about half and was ready to play! Off to the playroom we went. It is now very very quiet in here seeing 2 of the families from Spain moved to a different playroom w/the new couples that arrived from Spain. We miss their company in the room. We needed to try on some outfits that we brought from home as well as the new stuff and be sure that it fit with the snowsuit over it. Eva was a wonderful. Everything for the most part fit her perfect.

Eva was very active today kicking her legs like crazy. She did alot of talking to us today as well. We had a grand ole time at this visit until it was time for us to go. We packed up and went into her room. We put her into a walker and was leaving and she looked at us and just cried out loud it broke our hearts. She didn't want us to leave her. I think by far today was the hardest day for me (Lisa). We kept walking and when we got into the sitting area I (Lisa) cried myself. We didn't want to leave her. We know it is only going to get harder from here seeing soon we will be walking out that door with her crying and we will not be coming back. It will be 3-4 weeks before we see her beautiful face again.

Here are some pix from this afternoon's visit.

Day 15 Dec 21

We finally had snow today in Kazakhstan. Not a whole lot but of course it snows the one night we have to go out walking - just enough to blow in our faces! We only received a dusting.

The other couples from Spain arrived but we only saw them in passing through the hallway of the babyhouse. The two couples from Spain in our room moved to a new playroom so currently there are only 3 couples in our playroom. It is very quiet now!!! LOL

Another little girl from Eva's room left this afternoon to go to her home in the United States.

Each day Eva really is showing us more and more of her personality. She is such a happy little girl. The both of us just can't stop staring at her. It is so much fun trying to find new ways to make her laugh. She loves really playing "Coo Coo", which in the US this is Peek A Boo.

When we arrived in Eva's room, she was just getting finished with her massage (lucky her). After her massage, she ate and it was ready for playtime!! We were so excited when it was time to dress Eva for the playroom this morning. She finally had a new outfit to wear. A nice light pink outfit, only bad thing is it was a little too small for her but we fit her in it somehow. It was another great visit. Smiling , laughing, people watching, playing and chewing on her teething rings.

Between visits we just laid low in the hotel room, had some lunch and hung out. The afternoon visit was great again. Daddy fed Eva her bottle. AGAIN another new outfit for the afternoon. OMG, how cute.. the teal sweater looks soooo great on her. That sweater hopefully will be coming home with us!!

Today we found out that tomorrow (Tuesday) morning we will be going to the Ministry of Education for our meeting. We believe this is the final step of the approval process before we go to court. No pressure!!! As of tonight we are not nervous about the meeting, tomorrow morning may be another story.

After the meeting we will be going to the baby store. We will be missing out morning visit with Eva due to the meeting but we will be going to our normal afternoon visit.

Day 14 Dec 20

As Usual today was a great day at the baby house. During our morning visit we stayed in Eva's room instead of going to the play room, because Angela and Bill(the couple that arrived sunday) were meeting the babys that were available for them to adopt. As of now they narrowed their choices from 3 boys down to 2, but she has until tomorrow morning to make their decision. As far as our visit it was great. It was however very warm in her room and Lisa was wearing a thick sweater with no shirt under it so she was cooling herself down with baby wipes lol...

Mike found a puppy stuffed animal on one of the shelves and was making doggie noises (licking and slirping) and motioned the puppy like he was licking her head and face.. they were the biggest belly laughs I think we have heard since we met her. It was sooo funny and cute!! So, we are thinking she is going to love Niko!!

When we arrived for the afternoon visit, we didn't see any caretakers so Lisa took it upon herself to go into Evas room to peek in on her. Of course she was awake and was tapping the wall next to her crib to occupy her time. She did give Mama a big smile when she saw that she was there to take her out. We (Eva and Mama) went back into the room off of Evas bedroom and Mike was holding a very young little boy (about 2 months old) to stop him from crying. We changed Eva's diaper and gave her bottle to her. At first she was fighting us to eat, but once she started there was no stopping her. She sucked that bottle down in record time.

After her bottle, we were back in the playroom which is much cooler than her room. Again, another wonderful visit. Angela and Bill had one baby in the playroom for an hour, then a second baby for the 2nd hour. There was alot of commotion in there and Eva was just taking it all in. She just loves to people watch like her Mama. She did swap rattles with Kia for a bit and was checking out one of the new boys Oscar and was having a ball. Today there were 5 couples and 5 babies in the playroom. Tomorrow there are 2 more couples from Spain coming to adopt the other 2 baby boys, so we will be having a full room. They may split some of us out seeing the room really isn't too big.

Day 13 Dec 19

Today was our day off from the orphanage. So we slept in a little later and took our time at breakfast. We were both feeling a little quesey so we laid low in our room until about 2 o'clock. We were visited from a women who just arrived and is adopting a child through children at heart also. This will be her second child adopted from Kaz. She Adopted a girl four years ago now she will be getting a boy.

About 3ish, we decided to go out to check out the outdoor market and shops again. Lisa got a beautiful new ring which was a whole 800 tenge (about a whole 5 bucks).. but it really caught her eye. We then picked a few things up at the market then to the money exchange. After that we decided to walk down to some statues we saw in passing from the drive too and from the orphanage. When we got down there it turned out to be a neat WWII Memorial. We will attach some pix.

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw a pack of wild dogs running and playing. It was a pretty warm day out which was good.

Here are some pix from our day off.

Day 12 Dec 18

It seems we start every post this way, but today was another great day with Eva. When we arrived at the orphanage the care giver had just finished changing Eva and she had already eaten breakfast so it was strictly play time. She was in a great mood which only improved when we unveiled a new toy. It is a fish shaped teether that is also a harmonica.

Our translater has been sick for the past 2 days so between visits we didn't get to go to the baby store. Hopefully some day soon we will be able to. After lunch we took a walk through the park behind the hotel. They are making an ice skating rink out in front of the hotel and they are close to being done. We hope to do some skating before we leave. It was a pleasant day not very cold at all.

When we arrived for our afternoon visit Eva was still asleep. So we sat in her room and played with a few babies that were already awake. We must have been doing a great job because one of the caregivers went in and got Eva for us. Since she actually slept today ,Eva was in agreat mood and we enjoyed another great visit. Sadly we were told today that Saturday would be our off day and not Sunday. So tomorrow we will most likely go shopping and walking around.

Here are some pix of today..

Day 11 Dec 17

The drive to the baby house this morning we took video of the trip as well as the baby house and inside the playroom and Eva's room.

When we got to the baby house, Eva was still in her crib. We had the pleasure of being there and being the ones taking her out of her crib today. The morning visit was pretty good for some of us. Lisa had the pleasure of changing a huge poopy diaper. STINKY ONE!!! The whole thing was captured on video. She ate her huge bowl of cereal and drank quite a bit of her tea - then we were on our way to playtime. Eva had nice play time w/her friend Kia and as well w/her Mama and Papa.

After our morning visit we went to the grocery store. Gretchen was sick today so Carl was on his own - so we helped him out with his list because Tolik said to HURRY. We stocked up on Water and PB, Jelly and Bread!

The Afternoon visit she didn't sleep at all aparently. She was not in her normal crib and was watching the caretaker vacuum. She had red puffy eyes. She drank 1/2 of her bottle and didn't want anything else to do w/it. Daddy was lucky w/having only a pee pee diaper. She played for an hour or so then forget about it. Her cranky pants were back on.

We don't know if we ever mentioned. The playroom daily has Carl/Gretchen from Colorado w/Kia, Us and Eva - and 2 other couples from Spain - one adopted a little baby girl approx same age as Kia and Eva (can't say her name) and the other couple adopted about a 4 yr old little boy (Denya is how they say it). All babies and child are so healthy and seem to be so happy with their new families.

Dinner today consisted of Rice and steamed veggies for Lisa and Shrimp, Vegetables and fried potatoes for Mike. Very yummy. Mike even ate his carrots!

Here are some pix from today.