Happy Summer, Everyone!

So, by the calendar we see that today is the first day of summer, which also means it is the longest day of the year. That’s a little ironic, because today is the first day that we have both been feeling a like the days are starting to drag on a little. Many families before us have mentioned the “Groundhog Day Syndrome.” For those of you who don’t watch many movies, Groundhog Day was a movie where Bill Murray wakes up day after day and its still Groundhog Day with the same routine, same news, same song on the radio, etc. Well, today we have all the symptoms. Just what would we do if we didn’t have pop culture to help us define our lives?

This week is also a little sad because many of the families that started the same week we did here have also had court and are returning home without their children for the appeal period. They will return in 3 to 4 weeks when the paperwork is nearly done. It seems as though Canadian families are the only ones who stick out the whole two months, every other family we’ve met has done two trips. We’re not really sure why this is, but it is a choice that every family gets to make, it isn’t mandated. For us, the cost of the extra flights was quite a bit more than the cost of staying, but more importantly, staying is what is best for Max and that is what our priority is. We’ve met a few families who have returned for their second trip and see how hard it is when their child doesn’t recognize them right away. So, we will continue to hold down the fort and will try to check in on their children as often as we are allowed. We wish them all safe travels and a speedy return.

Okay, we’re done whining. We promised ourselves that we wouldn’t complain because we entered this adventure knowing that it would have ups and downs and that tomorrow we will bounce right back and be our cheerful selves again. In reality, we’ve only got 12 and a half more days because after that we will have a little bundle of energy to chase after and we will look back fondly on days like today when we can sit peacefully and do nothing for hours at a time!

Today we met our new translator, Olia. Olia is attending university to be a teacher, but because of her love of languages is considering being an interpreter instead. She seems like a very outgoing and inquisitive person, so we look forward to getting to know her better. We are planning to make a bit of a scrapbook for Max about his caregivers and the Baby House for when he is older and Olia will help us translate the notes Max’s caregivers wrote for him as well as getting some information on his current schedule, diet, etc. Olia grew up in Ust’-Kamenogorsk, so she will likely have some good ideas for places we haven’t visited yet that would be interesting. We’ve discovered that we aren’t really museum people, we prefer to get to know a city and country by experiencing it first hand.

So, we know you’re really only reading the blog for the pictures, so here’s your little tidbit for the day. Max was happy to hear the Riders won, even if it was only a preseason game. We don’t want to see a tantrum, so we’ll just keep the Edmonton thing to ourselves for awhile!

Take care, and keep writing those posts and emails.

It's Official!

We knew this in our hearts about 21 days ago, but today a judge confirmed it – we are the parents of a wonderful little boy! Before we tell you about court, we’d like to introduce you to Makseem (Max) Gregory German:

Now that you finally made it past the pictures, let us tell you a little more about court. First, the weather was actually quite cool here today, which made sitting in our finest much more pleasant since there didn’t seem to be any AC in the courthouse. They did have, however, the most uncomfortable benches ever. We think this is probably a part of the justice system as an added incentive to avoid court appearances. Around 10:45 we were called into the chambers for our hearing. After the usual pleasantries of having everyone formally registered as present, and a few formalities to insure that we were aware of the proceedings, we were given time to address the judge and give our prepared speech. Next, the Representative of the Body of Guardianship and Trusteeship and the Head Doctor of the Baby House spoke about Max and how we have bonded well with him and recommended that the adoption be granted for the best interest of the child. The public prosecutor then asked a few questions about Max and then we formally requested that the judge grant our adoption. Then we left the chambers to give the judge time to deliberate and peruse our information. After about 5 or so minutes, we were called back in and the judge delivered his decision to grant this adoption. Yahoo!

Now we have a 15 day waiting period and then on the 16th day we can have full custody of Max. Our “Gotcha Day” will be July 3! After that it is just another 2 or 3 week wait for visas and passports. From what we understand, there are a variety of stages for this. First, we need permissions to take Max out of Ust. Then we need permissions for him to leave Kazakhstan. Finally, we need permissions for him to enter Canada. We now see why this may take at least a couple of weeks. So, as it turns out, we don’t expect to be home before the 23rd of July, if all goes well. We’ll keep you posted on our actual travel itinerary once we know.

Word definitely travels quickly around Club BH. When there is a break in the routine, everybody knows something’s up. We were met with many congratulations and some questions when we arrived for our afternoon visit (we missed our morning visit because of court). Even Max was waiting for us. When we arrived his group was playing a game and singing songs in their play area but he just couldn’t stay sitting with them. He waited for us at the edge of the play area and beamed when we finally arrived. After our visit this afternoon, we headed out to Pizza Blues for a celebratory supper with the other two families who had court today (all successful, by the way).

Finally, a menu with only two choices...

When we last left our intrepid travellers, they were braving the streets of Ust in search of new sights and tastes. As always they were also trying to avoid being run over.

We did get to Doner along with two other families and our translator for a quick bite and a nice visit before our translator heads off to write final exams and the on to her summer vacation to the US. The menu at Doner is rather interesting. First of all, it has pictures, and we LOVE pictures! Second, basically every meal is the same they just vary in the combination of how the ingredients are put together. Rod and I thought we ordered two different things off the menu, but as it turns out, they were the same, Rod’s were just assembled into a bun and mine were separate on a plate. So, what exactly is Turkish fast food? Well, it wasn’t as unfamiliar as we thought, just spelled different. In Canada, these are called donair and we’ve seen them in those prepared subs that you sometimes see at the rink or in a gas station. Doner/donair is basically seasoned meat that is cooked on a spit and is sliced off as needed. It is was served in a bun along with french fries, tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers, mayonnaise and ketchup (all in the bun, even the fries). Tammy’s was exactly the same ingredients, just not assembled into a sandwich.

Sunday we continued our adventures of the city and walked to the second large square in Ust that has a large fountain and is next to the new Mosque, which is a rather impressive building. We didn’t go inside, but the outside was interesting nonetheless. We continued on to find another bazaar, which looks like it would be bigger than the first, but was just more spread out. This bazaar focussed more on food and carpets and had only a few clothing and shoe stalls.

As you know, tomorrow is our court hearing, so Rod is very excited to finally get to wear his new suit in 30+ temperatures. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the courthouse is air conditioned! We’ll let you know tomorrow how it went. We don't anticipate any problems.

Until then….