Welcome to the family!

It is official! We have two sons! We had an incredibly pain free court proceeding. The prosecutor did not ask us ANY questions and there were just a few from the judge. We were in and out in about 40 minutes. I think we waited outside longer than the proceedings lasted. Lena was absolutely fantastic in court. She made this so easy for us. The lady from the Ministry of Education was so happy for us too. She definitely wants what’s best for these children.

The downside of the day was that our morning visit was our last visit before traveling. Liam was not a happy boy today, which made us feel bad. You want to go out on a high note but I guess everyday can’t be a good day. Aidan was up and down this morning, but I got to see him singing in his playgroup when I went to get him. He played some, cried some, played some more and then cried some more. We tried to explain to the boys what was going to happen but I am sure it didn’t register. We gave the picture books to the caretakers to show the boys every day. Lubya, Liam’s caretaker was incredibly nice and worked through our language barrier to understand what we wanted to leave behind for Liam. She is really nice and friendly and adores the children.

We celebrated at the Italian restaurant with the Woods, their driver Simone, Lena (for a little bit), Anya and Bulat. I think we were the only people at the restaurant for most of the evening. It was a nice evening. The food was pretty good and the fact that there wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant made for leisurely conversation. And everyone was in good spirits—amazing what good court dates will do to a party!

Tomorrow it is back to Almaty followed by the long trip home on Friday. This will probably be the last post for a few days, until we can get home and reflect on our trip. There is a lot to do at home to get ready for the boys to come home—plenty of shopping and those dreaded words… some assembly required. And before you know it we will be back over here again.

So, for the most part the first trip worked out well with just a few minor snafus and only one day of really being mad. We have two wonderful boys and our trip was only slightly longer than expected, part of that due to mechanical problems with KLM. And at the end of it all we even got a smile out of Albina when she was looking at the photos of our boys and a congratulations after court.

Terri and I would like to thank everyone who helped make this journey a possibility: Gail, my mother-in-law for the daunting task of house sitting and watching our puppies (who aren’t really puppies anymore). Our family at the Clockwork Group who kept the place going without us (hhhmmmm, maybe we don’t have to be at the office that much anymore)—Jennie, Nicole, Doug, Brian, Patrice, Rudy, Bobby (our intern) and Gail (again). We thank our parents for their support of this endeavor—Gail (there she goes again) and Bill Golightly, and Virginia and Bill Gaines. I would like to thank my sister, Kim, and her husband, Mike, who have helped us with information we have needed about one and two year olds. Kim, you went from my incredibly shy baby sister to one of the finest moms I know. And I certainly can’t forget my nieces, Katie and Ashley, who have kept us in their prayers and look forward to teaching our boys the finer points of being adorable (and how to play soccer). Thanks to our dear friends who are already offering us to help us get ready for the boys’ arrival—Julie and Marvin, Pat and Patti, Doug and Jennie. (I know this is when the music comes on to get you to leave the stage, but there are a few more people.) Thanks to my friend, Chris, who taunts me with good weather back home and is ready to make a tee time at a moments notice. If we have left anyone out I am sorry. I am at the point now that it is hard enough to remember my own name. Last but certainly not least we thank everyone who followed our blog and posted comments. Half of our fun was gathering around the computer to see your latest notes. And I personally would like to thank Jack Bauer who during our trip; (DON’T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN 24!!!!!!!) saved a presidential candidate, broke many federal laws, kept a nuclear warhead from detonating in LA, tortured bad guys, offered deals to bad guys, kept deadly chemical agents from destroying America, was himself tortured, and kept another nuclear weapon from destroying LA, lost a wife, killed the woman who killed his wife, gained a girlfriend, and then lost said girlfriend. Thanks Jack.

P.S. Still no photo uploading, we will try to add some back in after we get home.