Home sweet home

Home at last! I would say that this is the end of the journey but it really is only the beginning isn’t it?

Before I get to the traveling, I must confess that any romanticism I had about the diplomatic corps before our embassy exit interview completely went out the door. Yes, I know, I fell into the Hollywood dream of a large columned building with the flag fluttering and Marine guards with such perfect posture that you would suspect some type of rod being firmly implanted in their posterior. And, of course, the ambassador would personally greet you and invite you to have barbeque or whatever tickled his fancy that day. But no, this was to be a day of disillusionment, a day when the diplomatic corps resembled—a bank. Yes, boys and girls, we went into a building that in no way looked like my vision of an embassy, but instead looked like any monolithic my-god-look-at-all-the-glass bank building you may have dealings with. It was especially surreal when every person we dealt with was behind glass and had that really bad speaker system, as if the person was talking to you from the inside of a whale, and there was also that one little slot that if you actually had to have any transactions with an embassy employee they could keep contact with you to a minimum. The only thing missing were the really cool pneumatic tubes that banks have. Don’t get me wrong, the interview was fine but I had to fight the urge to ask for crisp ten’s and twenty’s.

Our exit interview did slightly influence our travel arrangements. Our teller—uh, sorry, embassy employee, mentioned that us stopping in London would be a bad scene and we would not be let into the country to go to our hotel room. We all know what two small children could do to destabilize the UK. Our travel agent said that while it was possible he had never seen it happen, but Terri and I know that with our luck we would have been denied entry and have had to spend twenty plus hours in Heathrow. Our travel options were limited as the next same day itinerary to San Antonio was not available until Friday (not an option). So we decided to do most of the heavy lifting in the first day of travel and go all the way to Chicago on Tuesday, stay there overnight and then on to San Antonio the next day.

Our British Airlines flight left Almaty for our stop in Russia. Due to the seating configuration on the plane we had three seats together and one across the aisle. The flight was not very full on the trip to Russia, so an incredibly nice flight attendant, Lynn, gave us the row in front of us so we could stretch out. She also came around often to take care of us as well as dote on our boys. She also made sure we kept our seats when we got to Russia and took on passengers, moving some people to other rows to make it easier on us.

The trip itself was a mixed bag of good and bad behavior from the boys. Aidan had some serious whiney spells and Liam was cranky and fidgety as well, BUT, on a whole it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe it was having a flight attendant who seemed to wait on us every couple of minutes that seemed to help. We had learned that our Chicago flight had us on standby so we were convinced we were doomed to being screwed over. But when we got to the ticket counter luck would go our way. Again, we got a row of three seats with another seat across the aisle. This time the flight was full so there was really no way of getting a different seat configuration. I held Liam during takeoff and Aidan sat next to Terri. It was no time at all before Liam was asleep—a state in which he would stay for almost all of the flight. Aidan fought it for a while but soon fell asleep, too. So the second leg brought us some peace, although Terri stretched out along the edge of all three seats to become a human railing to keep the boys from rolling off the seat.

Upon landing in Chicago, we breezed through Customs and Immigration. In fact, I was a little disappointed at Immigration because I was sure they would chant in Latin, read the Gettysburg Address or make some other official proclamation about our boys’ new status. Instead, they just said, “Here ya go.”—and we were done for the evening. Our boys had their citizenship—and really, after eighteen hours, do you really want to hear the Gettysburg Address? The hardest part of our first leg was actually getting to our hotel room. Let’s just say that a phone number misprint and a really muffled public phone system led to numerous calls about a shuttle that did not actually arrive for a couple of hours. We were completely wiped out, but our jetlag made it hard to sleep. We were up early and off to the airport for the last little leg of our journey home.

The last little hop from Chicago to San Antonio was pretty easy, with both boys out cold. Terri’s parents met us at the airport and after some major fumbling around we used our car seats for the very first time. We finally got to show the boys their new home that they had only seen in a photo. They seem pretty happy with the environment and actually slept pretty good for two little guys who have had their world turned upside down. While I may have celebrated my fortieth birthday in Kaz, I actually feel closer to 140. The trip was worth it and I know eventually everyone will be back on more normal schedules. At least now, Terri and I feel we have home field advantage.

So you think it is over now, huh?

Well, just wait, there is more. Terri and I will, in the coming week, be offering bonus features, including: lots of photos from home, an evaluation of our agency experience, the cast of characters, and Kaz myth busting! And look for all new features in the future as the boys find out all their new lives have to offer.

Embassy interview

Hello! The embassy interview went okay and we have the paperwork necessary for the boys to enter the U.S. It was a short interview and the wait was not bad. It was not, however, uneventful as Liam threw up on himself twice and Aidan went from standing quietly to doing a backflip off a chair in a matter of seconds. Luckily, Steve was there to catch him and a concussion was avoided. If this is a hint of things to come for our long flight back I think I'll need to keep the flight attendant busy bringing Steve and I vodka tonics on a regular schedule. And, maybe some for the boys too (just kidding!).

Last night we had a lovely dinner with the Keoghs, an Irish family from Toronto. We met at the Bull and Bear Pub (of course) and had just the best time with Dave and Mary and their daughter Ashling. The food and beer were great, the boys behaved and it was like we had know the Keoghs for years. They are adopting a 1-year-old boy from Karakastek about 2 hours outside of Almaty (I don't envy their daily car trips). They showed us photos from their visits and Orin (his new Irish name) is precious and I know they are very proud to be adopting him. We took photos and hope to post them when we return to the states and have access to our computer at home.

We've already packed up quite a bit but are now worried about our stay in London. While I had researched in advance about the boys being able to enter the U.K. without visas--it looks like my information is incorrect or at least in conflict with what we were told today at the Embassy. Our agent there told us the boys would not be allowed to leave the airport. She gave us the phone number to the British Embassy and we called and the agent there said that because their adoption is not recognized, we could be stopped by passport control and not be allowed to exit the airport. Great (with sarcasm)! Can you imagine 22 hours sitting in London Heathrow with our little guys? We couldn't even make it 22 minutes at today's interview. Looks like I'll be making a call to the travel agent when the sun comes up in the states to see what we can do. We're hoping it will all work out and if nothing else, we can get a connecting flight and skip the overnight stay all together. We shall see. Stay tuned for the latest episode of Rock the Kaz blog...

Fixed? Not so much!

Hello again from the internet cafe. The computer worked for about an hour and then it went kaput again. We'll just wait until we're back home to fix it. At least we were able to post the latest photos before it went down.

We are still on target for our 3pm Embassy appointment tomorrow, the last of the needed documents came today so there should be no hold up. If it works out, we will leave Almaty on Tuesday morning at 9am and arrive in London at 2pm. We will stay in London overnight to make sure the trip isn't too stressful for the boys or us. Then noon on Wednesday we will leave London and return to the states. Our port of entry will be Chigaco and it is there we will take the boys through immigration. As soon as their paperwork is processed there, the boys will officially be US citizens and we will be on a plane home to San Antonio.

Our adoption journey has been a long one with its ups and downs but it is clearly a blessed success as we have our two wonderful boys. We will forever have fond memories of the experience and the country of our childrens' birth. Thanks to all of you for following along and providing much needed comments and support. We couldn't have done it without you.

A picture is worth a thousand words

After a couple of trips back and forth to the computer shop, we finally have our laptop back and are online. It's pretty late now and the boys are finally asleep but we wanted to post some new photos from the past several days.

 

 

Thanks again for all the support and love, it means a lot to the four of us.

Always look on the bright side of life

Hello! Terri here. While my voice is still gone (I am sure my husband is thankful) my fever is down and I am feeling better. Our computer is still not fixed but we should get it back today. I did want to take the short time I have to thank everyone for all the overwhelming support... all the emails, phone calls and offers to go above and beyond for us. It has brought tears to my eyes.

I wanted to let everyone know that we were refunded $400 dollars. The other $400 was needed to extend our visas so we only expected to get $400 back. We have our appointment for the Embassy at 3pm on Monday and should be able to fly back Tuesday.

I do want to clarify some things while I have the chance. It is not the fact that we had to stay 4 extra days that has been the issue. We knew that international adoption was not easy, that delays happen and that there is corruption. In fact, our original return flight was scheduled for the 23rd of April. What has been concerning is that there are actually corrupt people among the in country agency staff that intentionally made us stay longer than was necessary so they could make more money (we think that they get paid by the day rather than by the adoption). We believe that our agency's staff should be working FOR us and not AGAINST us and that is what Yuliya and Albina did, they worked against us. You see, we did not expect to leave the country earlier than the 23rd. But when we arrived in Almaty on the 10th, our coordinator in Almaty said that all the documents were ready--the adoption decree, the birth certificates, the boys' passport photos and the translated documents were all ready early and that all we needed was Albina to complete the visa application which should only take a day or two. Our coordinator said there was no reason we should not be able to leave before our own visas expired on the 18th. We also did everything we could to facilitate... when asked for the loan of $800 we willingly gave it because it was supposed to go directly to get the boys visas--we did not complain or assume it would not be returned. We later learned the $$ was used to get the remainder of the Wood's paperwork completed (I am glad they were helped by this). But because of this,they did not have any money left to get our boys visas and had to wait to be paid more money from the top (at the in country level). Again, more problems in country--while Yuliya and Albina's behavior is inexcusable it is explainable. The in country staff has not been paid on their regular schedule for months now (this fact comes directly from three different coordinators/translators).

I leave this information for you to decide. But when the good guys (our translators, coordinators and driver) are constantly apologizing for the behavior of a few, that tells you something. When our Almaty coordinator found out our boys' visas had not been done when they should have (and could have)--after she had done everything to make it happen--I thought she was going to cry. She, too, apologized for the behavior of the staff. Overall, this agency has some really great people working for them in country but it is wrecked by a few greedy bad seeds that make things worse for everyone.

As I have told Orson with respect to our blogging, we really have only been the reporters and he has been the one with the opportunity to shape the story. Our goal is not to make a judgment about this agency or the Kazakhstan adoption experience, but to share our experience so others can decide for themselves what is best for them.

But if you were to ask, our opinion is that the tail is wagging the dog... I hope the dog takes this opportunity to shake out the bad--for the benefit of future clients.

'Stan by me

Thanks to everyone being a surrogate pain in the ass for us in our quest for home.

Apparently, we don't even warrant a response from Orson now. Apparently service does not extend all the way through the process.

At least it looks as if the boys' visas are actually here and not with the bumbling idiots of Ust (sounds like an opera title). I feel more confident dealing with the people here. They at least have some principles about them.

Gotta go take care of the sick Terri... we both have seen better days, but at least I am still mobile. Thanks for all the help guys, and continue to be a pain in the ass for us.

Steve

How you can help us

Hello again from the internet cafe... our only means of communication as we have no cell phone and our laptop is fried. We are still stuck in Almaty and it doesn't look like things will get better soon. IF (big if) we get the boys visas tonight, we may be able to leave on Tuesday (after 17 days here). We were promised, in writing, 13 days. We gave $800 that we weren't supposed to have over a week ago and they still claim to be out of money. If we don't get the visas tonight, it could go past 20 days. My dad is sick and I am getting sick... coughing up stuff that ain't too pretty and today started a fever. It's time for us to go home.

We believe both in the power of prayer and the power of the people. If you'd like to help, are angered by the indifference and have been horrified by our treatment and the treatment of the Woods family who were here a record 62 days, then I invite you to send an email on our behalf. Just a short subject line or sentence saying something like "Shame on you!" or "Let the Gaines family go home" or "Get off you butts and do your job"... it would be sooo great. Flood Orson Mozes email account info@adoptaip.com or call him toll free at 1-866-969-8445. And, if you're really feeling frisky, post this request to FRUA, the Kazakhastan adoption boards and anywhere else you think folks will heed the call.

On a brighter note, today is Steve's birthday (the big 40) and I hope we can find him a good dark beer to make his day a little better.

And, hey, thanks for listening!

Incommunicado

Terri here... sitting in an internet cafe. We woke up this morning to find the laptop fried. It would not come on at all. I did a little troubleshooting and think that it is actually the power cord/power supply and not the computer (keeping my fingers crossed). Jharkhan took the power supply to a "shop" to have it fixed. They confirmed it was bad and they think they can fix it... I hope so!

In the meantime, we are still in the dark about our boys' visas and our departure from Kazakhstan. Vika tried to call Yuliya in Ust to have her explain to me what was going on and when she handed me the phone, Yuliya hung up on me!!! What a b****! It is suspected that they do not have the money to process the boys visas and that the $800 we "loaned" them last week was used for something else. So going to the Embassy on Thursday is now out of the question. We can only hope and pray that they will come in tomorrow or Wednesday or we're out of luck as far as leaving Almaty this week.

Fortunately, the Woods were supposed to have their Embassy appointment today and leave tonight. We are praying for them... they have been in Kazakhstan a total of 62 days. They are wonderful people and make a beautiful family. We had lunch with them yesterday and have some wonderful photos of all of us and our translators and drivers, but that post and those photos are saved on the laptop. We'll try to get those uploaded next chance we get.

My father is doing better and is home now... thank you to everyone who was concerned and sent the comments and emails of support. We are still desperate to get home to our family because we know it is hard on them to have us gone so long and to have to look after our home and dogs.

Today was another sweltering day in Almaty. We have to open all the windows to keep from sweating to death. And, all we packed was sweaters and boots, after all, it was snowing and subfreezing when we arrive here just last Monday. Now it has to be in the 80s. We were so desperate we had Vika and Jharkhan take us shopping for some better clothes and found some t-shirts for Steve and so short sleeved tops, capri pants and sandals for me. Thank goodness... I thought I was going to melt into a puddle!

That's it for now... I know Vika and Jharkhan are probably anxious to call it a day... it is after dark already. And, since I left Steve alone at the apartment with the two boys I had better get back and make sure nothing has exploded!

Thanks again to everyone for all the terrific comments and email of support!

Not much going on today

(See Friday’s update below)

Terri and I have been trying to catch up on our rest, which has been hard to do. The boys are thrown off their baby house routine so it has been a challenge to give them a sense of normalcy. This can be really hard when you take them out of the baby house to a new apartment, then a few days later put them on a plane to another apartment. It has definitely been a challenge but probably more so than being at home. We hope.

Today was fairly low profile. We stayed in this morning trying to get the boys through their routine. At lunchtime we were taken to a traditional Russian restaurant. The building resembled something out of a Lincoln Logs set, but the food was good. There were big wooden carved bears out front that looked more cute than imposing.

Everything we ordered was traditional Russian and even the staff was dressed in traditional costume. They brought out the huge basket of white and black bread—central to any Russian meal. It was served with a spread that was made of fish and while it may not sound good, it reminded Terri of deviled ham. They also served us a Russian fruit drink that tastes almost like cranberry juice. It is apparently the by-product of jelly making—they take the syrup that is left over and add boiling water until it is thinned, then it is chilled and ready to serve. Terri ordered pelmeni which are mincemeat dumplings served with sour cream. I had the prawns with sauce and rice. It was very good.

Liam and Aidan put away a huge bowl of kasha (cereal) and other items they picked off our plates and then finished with curds. Liam especially had a monster appetite. He is so funny, he has this goofy smile that you can’t help but laugh at. He does this all through dinner. I am assuming he likes the change from his baby house diet. Aidan is going to be our little more difficult. He is starting to test boundaries, throws the occasional fit and is a real picky eater (at this time). We had assumed that having been in the baby house he would eat anything put in front of him but he mostly wants breads, cereals and starchy foods—we’re going to have to find creative ways to add protein and some fat.

After lunch we went to a few stores to look for some more t-shirts for the boys—the clothes we brought are getting dirty again and we haven't figured out the washing machine in the apartment. We may be back to hand washing like in Ust. We ended up getting some shirts at the Green Bazaar that were very cheap and with colorful characters on them, At one store we saw some really scary looking mannequins—They were just creepy. And of course, we finished up buying more diapers and moist wipes. After finding these necessities we came back to the apartment to let the boys reluctantly nap and then spend an evening together.

 

Visiting the SOS clinic

(Fron Friday)

Last night when we got into Almaty we all pretty much just collapsed from exhaustion. It would finally be nice to not have to worry about Liam not having a crib—he could roll around all he wanted. This morning 007 picked us up for a 9:30AM appointment at the SOS clinic to give the boys’ medical checkups—Vika met us there. The wait was longer than the actually visit with the doctor, but he was good with the boys. Terri said Liam went through it just fine. I took Aidan in and he whined a bit—mostly when the doctor poked around his nether regions. Frankly, that would make me whine too—and demand dinner.

After the visit we went to a really nice grocery store and stocked up for the next few days. We actually found macaroni and cheese for the kids, something that was as elusive as Bigfoot in Ust. So we went back to the apartment for lunch and naptime because Liam was slumped over in the shopping cart by the time we were done with our grocery shopping. We asked if we could get out for dinner which was not a problem. We went to Mad Murphy’s, an Irish pub that many American families frequently go to. There were actually many different accents of English going on in the pub. When we walked in I joked with the hostess that Liam was dying for a pint. Sadly, they were out of stout but the food was good, Terri loved the chicken curry. We ordered some mashed potatoes for the boys and they stuffed themselves silly. They both had some curds we bought at the store and I even got Liam to eat some chicken (not the chicken curry—I wouldn’t want to change that diaper). He loved the little pieces of chicken I gave him. Then it was back to the apartment to get the boys to unwind and go to bed and catch up on some blogging. It is nice to be back in Almaty.

The good, the bad and the ugly

(Thursday's update)

The Good.
We are now in Almaty and could not be happier (see ugly). It was good to see Jharkhan and Victoria (Vika) again. We also have a very nice apartment with a crib, finally.

The Bad.
Flying on an Air Astana Fokker 50 with two kids. The flight wasn’t horrible but both boys had their moments. I think I developed claustrophobia on the flight as I was in the very back row in a seat that could not recline at all, holding Liam on my lap with a solidly built Kazakh man sitting next to me. Prince Albert and his can had nothing on me. Terri had Aidan in the row in front of me. She had two seats but Aidan cried when put in his own seat and he didn’t like it any better sitting on mama’s lap with the child seat belt either. Liam was good through take off and all the way through the ascent, but soon went ballistic on me. I tried to calm him but to no avail and I am sure the large Kazakh man really did not appreciate his proximity to me. The flight attendant brought us some water first which he had no interest in then Terri suggested apple juice. Instead she brought back orange juice—obviously she misheard us over Liam’s piercing screams. Finally salvation arrived with the apple juice, although for some reason the attendant wanted to heat it first, I guess chilled apple juice just isn’t right for kids here. Given the situation, we were prepared to be bad parents by allowing the unsanctioned use of cold apple juice. He finally accepted it and his mood stabilized (along with my sanity). Eventually, he fell asleep and only stirred once we landed.

Aidan was a handful for most of the flight. He would have crying spells, settle down, cry again, squirm around, settle down again and so on. He required constant attention, he was squirmy, irritable, and very bored. At one point Aidan pulled out the magazines and flight safety brochures from the seat back. He also pulled out the airsickness bag as well. In what she thought would be a form of entertainment, Terri proceeded to make a hand puppet out of the bag. Apparently this freaked him out, bringing a horrified look to him face. Terri quickly put this paper monster back in the seat back. From that point on Aidan did not venture anywhere near the seat back pocket. When we landed, the cabin of the plane was completely dark (for reasons unknown to me). It was completely quiet in the cabin as the plane was taxiing in. Of course, this is the moment that Aidan choose to be at his loudest. It was a tense flight for us because we felt all the eyes on us, and all the eyes from the flight from Ust can seem very scary.

The Ugly.
It is sad that our impression of Ust-Kamenogorsk will be forever tainted. When we arrived in Ust we were told there was a mistake on the boys’ court documents that as a result carried over to the birth certificates. Instead of having their given Russian names as middle names they both were given my name (Steven) as middle names. Not that there is anything wrong with this but it does make me look like a big egomaniac. I can hear it now, “Wow, Steve you sure do have quite an ego, why didn’t you just have them build a temple in honor of you?” We could change this but we would be here an additional two weeks. Gee, we filled out all the documents properly, you would think someone here could do the same.

We were pretty much abandoned for large parts of the day after we got the children. We were told there were too many families and that there were some money problems that they could not hire more drivers. The money didn’t seem to be a problem when we sent it. So basically we were left to our own devices until late in the day every day. But wait, it continues to get better...

On Tuesday we were told again of mysterious money problems within the local office, and that they would need to “borrow” $800 dollars to process the boys’ visas. They said we would get this back. We will see.

On Wednesday, an arriving family delivered the boys’ passports to Albina. Yes folks, my most favorite person is back in the story—you know it can never be good when this character appears. But the important part is that she had both the passports and the money she “borrowed” from us—everything she needed to get the boys’ visas before we left Ust.

On Thursday, when we were leaving for the airport Albina—wait for it—only gave us the Woods’ son’s passport. She said she would put the passports on a plane the next day. When we got to Almaty we told our coordinator of this development and they said that this was not possible and we were lied to. Our coordinator said she had already confirmed that the visas were ready and they should have been given to us. So not only is Albina indifferent to adoptive families she is greedy to the point of dishonesty.

But, unfortunately it is all about the money. While it was entirely possible to have us out of the country pretty quickly, it would have gotten us out of Kaz before our visas expired. But if our visas expire we have to pay another $200 each.

Poor Anya, she had asked us why we were so anxious to leave Ust. We didn’t want to take it out on her—she and Bolat had been great. We just told her we were anxious to get back home. Not to mention we had just found out that Terri’s father had been taken to the hospital. It would have really been helpful for us to go home early, since it was entirely possible.

Have a nice day… someone should.

Wow, these are our boys!

Yesterday was a trying day for us I must admit. Of course our readers out there must have said a collective “Duh, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out!”

But as stressful as yesterday was, at least today it seemed to be easier than yesterday. No it wasn’t a cakewalk. You must understand that two people who like to be able to control their environment have waited until their late thirties to have kids. I know, hahaha the joke is on us. But today we were able to put it into a little more in perspective. Both boys are just completely different now that they are outside of the baby house environment. Practically overnight, Liam has just blossomed into this wonderful personality. He is such a happy boy with a smile that will melt you (at least a parent). I cannot believe that this is the same child we met in the director’s office that first day. His smile brings great joy to my heart.

Aidan is incredibly complex. Right now he is reverting somewhat, which can be expected as he wants to have all those moments he missed, and he does have a little jealous streak and wants to even the playing field with Liam by acting more infant like. He will crawl when he is perfectly able of walking and he will imitate some of the baby gibberish that Liam makes. You can see right through it but it is so cute. has gotten to where he runs up and hugs my legs. Again, who couldn’t let that make them feel good. Conversely, he is the one who will test you the most. He has been in trouble with both Terri and myself. I imagine part of that has to be testing us as well, to make sure we don’t reject him. I simply cannot see how anyone passed him over for adoption. He is just a wonderful boy. He loves to sing, he loves to play and he loves a little mischief. But he has a soulfulness about him that you can’t help but love.

I think the grandparents (as well as aunts and uncles) are going to just love these boys to death. Yes, I know that this is so clichéd, so sue me. Yes, I sound just like everyone else who has kids. Cut me a little slack, it is a very new sensation to me—and they ARE great kids.

At dinner last night, Terri decided to introduce them to the world of ice cream. The look on their faces had us laughing hysterically. They probably have never had something so cold and when they grimaced, well, we wished we had a camera standing by. But the grimace didn’t seem to stop them from enjoying the taste of chocolate ice cream.

Tomorrow you will probably not hear from us as we have the late flight to Almaty. I am sure you will all want to know about how the flight goes with two boys but I am sorry, it will simply have to wait. Consider it our little network tease.

D+1: Attack and Counterattack

What the heck, I started with a military comparison yesterday, so why not today.

As you read yesterday we successfully hit the beaches of parenthood (yes, this is going to be hokey, but you really are going to have to work with me here). The evening found an uneven peace. We did not sleep much, not through any mischief of the boys but through mere circumstances. We had no crib so Liam slept in our bed with me and, of course, I could not sleep out of paranoia because of the fact he was not sleeping in a crib and I was worried about him. Terri slept (hahahaha) on the couch because Aidan apparently would roll off the bed, repeatedly—no harm, no foul though.

The morning brought a counterattack on the united front of Terri and Steve. Even though Aidan has been used to going on the garshock while at the orphanage he has now used it as an opportunity to scream bloody murder—you would swear the boy lost an arm in a combine accident or something. So basically the morning got off to a crapper, because of the crapper. Sadly, this would be an issue throughout the day.

But Liam has come into his own at this point. He has developed so much more, even past the last days in the baby house. He is soooooo happy (most of the time) and very playful and has great eye contact with you. He has such a personality now. This has also led to some jealousy from Aidan. You can tell he is none too happy with this development.

There were some snafus today that made the day more stressful than it needed to be, and made Terri and I a little more snappy towards one another. We had asked to be picked up at 11:00AM so we could take the boys out for a hot meal on their schedule to keep consistency for them—and do a little souvenir shopping. Yes, we did a lot of souvenir shopping before, but we know a lot of people who want goodies. Due to problems that only seem to happen to us, there were phone problems at the apartment that kept us from getting Anya’s call to tell us were going to be late. They were picking up the boys’ new birth certificates. All this added up to the boys not getting their lunch when regularly scheduled. Liam even fell asleep before getting a proper lunch, which made us feel horrible. We decided to give Aidan lunch as he was getting very hungry. And here is a note for you: we bought these soups here in Ust that prepare in five minutes. Terri will tell you that they make Campbell’s look like a twelve course meal. This stuff is mainly broth with just a dash of rice. When Anya and Bulat finally arrived I think Terri and I were at our breaking points with each other. We were especially upset about Aidan’s garshock trauma. We decided that Anya and Bulat should come back after the boys napped and we would look for souvenirs and take them out for a nice warm dinner, instead. Food is one of those things you feel so helpless about here because you know what you would like to feed the boys at home but here you know nothing of the quality of brands, or the instructions to prepare and many times what you want to give the boys here doesn’t even exist. I think Anya and Bulat saw that this was getting to us, because they were incredibly helpful on the afternoon trip. Bulat went out of his way to entertain Aidan. Liam apparently has no problem with getting in the car and he was incredibly fascinated with everything. Aidan was still nervous about riding in the car. Dinner worked out nicely, both boys enjoyed borscht, bread and apple juice—in fact, Aidan was a little piggy…

…which was reflected in his diaper when we were at home a couple of hours later. In an act of revenge seldom seen, he left us a nice present in his diaper that would rival any pollutant in Ust and may quite possible leave this apartment building uninhabitable for generations to came. Terri called him the Toxic Avenger (we know it wasn’t really revenge, but we got a good laugh out of the coincidence of the earlier garshok battle and the nasty diaper). After taking this dump of epic proportion, Aidan was in quite a good mood—so much so it was hard to settle him down. Eventually we got both boys settled in for the night. So here I am, sitting on the couch blogging and having a Baltika No. 9, and Terri is trying to get some much-needed rest.

It has been a trying day for everyone I must admit but it is all very much worth it. The boys are great and making great strides every day. They will be great kids, especially when we can get them back into a regular home environment with some routine. And to Terri, I can only apologize for the snippiness. But as she said at dinner, we are a family and nothing will come between that. Right now they are both asleep, in fact, I am watching Liam right now and he is so peaceful and they are ours—yes it is worth it.

 

 

D-Day

Jet lag got us really good today. We were scheduled to leave for Ust today at 7:25AM with a 5:00AM pickup. There were no worries of us oversleeping our alarm as I did not sleep more than an hour the entire night. Terri was only able to get slightly more sleep than I was able to get, so we found ourselves getting up at 3:30AM with plenty of time to get ready and pack our bags. We caught our flight, in the front row for the first time ever. Of course it was a bit unnerving watching the propellers start up at a billion revolutions a minute right next to your head. The flight was uneventful, which is what you always hope for isn’t it?

When we arrived in the terminal there stood our trusty sidekicks, Anya and Bulat. Anya came back from Russia to be here for when we finished our journey. When we got into the car Anya informed us the paperwork was in order and we could take custody of the children—today. We had a slight chuckle of people who had not had any sleep for sometime and then had the realization that this was it, the boys were truly going to be ours. It then dawned upon us we needed to shop for food for the boy’s with no clue what their diet really consisted of. We tried to cover all the bases and realized there just may be some trial and error here. During our whirlwind in the supermarket we picked up what we thought were jumbo rolls of toilet paper to only realize while checking out that it was actually four massive rolls of paper towels. This would be fortuitous later (heavy foreshadowing here). After we hit our trusty Daniel supermarket we had the opportunity to get in a couple of hours nap before heading to the baby house.

I had to laugh at Bulat when they came to pick us up to take us to the baby house. One of the gifts we brought back for him was one of the oval car stickers like the KZ ones we got on our last trip, but we got him the TX sticker. He already had it on his car when they came back. Anya was concerned that Bulat would get in trouble for having it on his car to which he replied that if he got pulled over he would tell them that it meant he was a taxi driver. He really cracks me up. When we went to the baby house we went to see Liam first. We could not fully figure out if he remembered us but it did look like he had recognition. What was really funny was that while they were changing Liam the caregivers showed him the book we left behind and he just beamed with a smile—all the while we were standing in front of him not knowing what he thought. Terri joked that he liked the book better than the movie. Speaking of changing, when you pick up children at the orphanage you are just getting a butt naked child, none of their fancy outfits come as standard equipment. So when we got there, we watched Liam get decked out in clothing that matched and coordinated with accessories—probably for the first time in his life. No wonder he seemed happy. We dropped off a jumbo box of the larger sized LEGO blocks for Liam’s group for the rest of the children to enjoy. After Liam had his goodbyes and picture taken with the caregivers we headed up to see Aidan. This would be the test.

When we got there we heard that Aidan had really missed us a lot more than we were led to believe. He did not look overly happy when we got there and when Terri bent down to hug him he ran of to an opposite corner of the room. Nice start. While he was being changed he kept a furrowed brow and occasionally closed his eyes really tight in an effort to will the situation away. He perked up a bit when the camera came out for pictures with his caretakers—let’s face it, he is such a ham. When Terri went to pick him up to leave he made sure to not really put much effort into it. We also left two big boxes of LEGO blocks for Aidan’s group. I felt sad as we left seeing all the other children who did not have homes. Terri was sad taking the boys away from all the people and love and care they had ever known. We know they will have wonderful lives but know that at first it will be scary for them.

When we went out to the car you could tell Aidan was very nervous but he did not go into a screaming panic. Liam’s eyes just got incredibly wide and inquisitive as we started to drive off. Liam was just taking in all the sights as we headed back to our apartment (we are on a different side of town now, but we have a child’s room), while Aidan stayed nervous and withdrawn. When we got to the apartment you could see Aidan’s mood start to thaw when we brought out some of his familiar toys. He started to at least interact with us, and soon his loyalty was completely our when Terri brought out some banana yogurt. He went right to Terri’s lap and it was like we never left. Liam also got into the yogurt action for the first time as well (almost devouring the spoon). Liam was just an incredibly happy baby the entire evening. He is getting really good at pulling himself up now and we helped him walk around, which he really loves. Aidan really started to warm up once it was just the four of us. We played on the floor and he would run up and hug us while playing. I had stepped out of the room at one point and Terri said he pointed in my direction and said “dada”. Liam loved being up close to us all evening and I even caught him looking through a golf magazine I had taken on the plane with me. I told him I would take him to be fitted for clubs as soon as he wanted. Liam was amusing when he saw his reflection in a floor length mirror. He would smile and crawl up to the mirror and bump his head with mirror Liam. He would put his mouth on the mirror and leave a fogged up spot, again he was just great and funny.

 

Terri prepared dinner as I introduced the boy’s to their first DVD, an Elmo alphabet show. Yes, I know—don’t think the irony is lost on me as I have gone from watching all seasons of 24 to watching Elmo. The boy’s were mesmerized, which was good because the dish in which Terri was making dinner exploded on the stove top basically forcing us to rethink dinner (Terri says the lesson learned is that not all glassware is Pyrex). Fortunately, Terri was not hurt and the kid’s remained fixated. We ended up having a mix of breads, cheeses and vegetables that ended up a good substitute. The boys are little food hoarders, shoving as much food in before chewing and trying to collect as much food as possible as their very own. After dinner I had a battle of wills with Aidan when it came to keeping him on his garshock (toilet). A couple of times I had to forcefully put him back down until he did his business. By the time Aidan had finished up, Liam had already fallen asleep and Terri laid him on our bed. I took Aidan to the kid’s bedroom and tried to get him to turn in. He was tired but the whole experience had him fighting sleep. I stayed with him a while and I think at this time he really understood it all, because he just smiled and looked at me for approval and I could tell he understood what being a family meant. Still, the little stinker wouldn’t go to sleep! Finally, I brought him back into the living room for a while until he fell asleep.

So how did D-Day go? We were incredibly nervous in the beginning and were a bit worried by Aidan’s initial reaction. But considering how their lives were completely uprooted this afternoon, it went REMARKABLY well… and the parent’s survived too.

A special thank you!

We arrived today in Almaty and we were able to experience one of those warm fuzzy moments that, honestly, we cannot take credit for. First it requires a little backstory…

Terri’s former mother-in-law is Priscillia Condra, who owns a talent and modeling agency in San Antonio, Texas. Terri and Priscillia have maintained a good friendship and have lunch on occasion when Priscillia, who now lives in the LA area, is in San Antonio for business. I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending Priscillia during our involvement on the board of the Communications Arts Society of San Antonio. It is a situation that could have been quite awkward but I always felt I had a very good relationship with Priscillia and enjoy the opportunity to see her. Given this, Terri knows Priscillia’s daughter Julie who is an actress out in Hollywood. Julie is married to Mark Dacascos also an actor. Bear with me, this is going to be like six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon, without Kevin Bacon being involved. Mark has been in a number of cool films (visit his website www.dacascos.com) one of my absolute favorites was Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf), a French film that if I remember correctly he played an Iroquois Indian from the period of the French-Indian War. In this film he was an absolute badass. This was a film I really enjoyed and only found out later the connection between Julie, Priscilla and eventually on to us. Priscilla, when she found out we were adopting, immediately became very supportive of our endeavor. As it turns out Mark had just made a film here in Kazakhstan which translates to The Nomad. The film was financed by the government of Kaz with Mark having a starring role. When he and Julie heard we were adopting from Kaz they immediately offered to lend any support to us we needed. They were willing to call people they knew in Kaz if we ran into any problems. Mark carries a lot of clout here and I am not sure that he and Julie knew how much it meant to us to have that kind of support in our corner. Mark and Julie, if you are reading this—we can’t thank you enough. I must confess, I wanted someone to screw with us just to be able to roll out the heavy artillery! But in the end nothing really has happened to warrant taking them up on their offer, but Mark ended up helping us in a way that meant much more to Terri and myself.

While we were over here we wanted to look for a copy of the movie The Nomad. Eventually there are plans for it to be released in the States but we wanted the old school version of the film and asked about it in hopes of finding a copy. Embarrassingly, I must say that this gave us a certain popularity as we had a quasi-relationship with Mark.

We would be asked: “You know Mark Dacascos?!?”

“Well, kinda, yeah, we don’t go drinking together or anything, but…”

“That is so cool!”

“Well, you know…”

It went on like this with a few different people; drivers, translators and coordinators, explaining our relationship but we could never find the DVD anywhere we went (in both Ust and Almaty) But on the last day of our first trip, as we were going to the airport in Almaty, our coordinator, Bulgin, brought us a copy. It turns out that her 9 year-old brother, Zhanibek, is a huge fan of Mark’s, and he gave us his copy of the movie which I am sure was no easy decision on his part. We thanked Bulgin and told her to tell her brother we really appreciated it. When we got back home we ended up emailing Priscilla and asking her if Mark wouldn’t mind autographing a photo to take back to Bulgin’s brother. He was more than happy to. In no time at all he sent us a package via UPS. Inside were no less than five different photos that he had personally signed. For a kid, this was going to be a gold mine. He now had carte blanche to fabricate any story about his relationship with Mark! He was going to the top of the playground food chain. Before we left, we had them framed.

So coming back around to a short story made very long, we gave Bulgin the photos last night (this morning) at the airport. She was absolutely overwhelmed and tickled to death. She said her brother was going to love them. After a few fitful hours of sleep we saw her later in the day and she said her brother could not believe it. He was going to take all of them to school on Monday to show all of his friends. I think there may be a little gloating going on! But it is funny, you spend 10 hours on a plane, depart said plane in a cold, pouring rain and pick up your equally cold, soggy luggage…what is it I am going to remember that night?—The warm fuzzy I got for being able to make a kid’s day. Not to bad when you think of it.

So this is a thank you to Priscilla, Julie and Mark, for all your offers of help during this process. And an extra special thanks to Mark who did more than was asked of him —he even sent us a note wanting to meet our boys and has promised to send Aidan and Liam their own copies of signed prints. It is always the little things that mean so much to us and you will always be greatly appreciated by us. In fact, when the time comes that my life is immortalized in film (and it will happen) I am now going to insist that Mark plays me, which I am sure will be truly heroic character in some sort of mundane way—besides, the physical resemblance is uncanny, well, except for the part where he is in shape…and maybe a bit more handsome…yes, he is a badass, too. But besides that, we are a lot alike.

And on an it-could-only-happen-to-Steve-and-Terri note: We arrived in Almaty during a cold rain. Apparently the day had been quite pleasant. Bulgin joked that we had brought the rainy weather. So I asked if any cold or snowy weather was expected—she assured me that that wasn’t the case. So we went to bed with the calming sound of rain soon to be replaced by silence. I woke up this morning and pulled back the curtains…

You guessed it, snow.

I guess that’s what we get for sunny weather in London.

Goodbye UK, hello KZ

Somewhere over Eastern Europe... Granted by the time we post this we will be nowhere near any altitude over Eastern Europe but you have to admit it sounds so much cooler this way. We are two hours into our flight and probably about another two hours before we briefly stop over in Ekaterinburg, Russia and then on to Almaty. For those history buffs out there, Ekaterinburg is the city in which the last tsar and his family were executed. That’s got to be a tough one to live down. There is a new Cathedral of the Spilt Blood built on the site where the family was massacred and an ornate flight of steps is supposed to replicate the steps down to the cellar in which they were shot. On a brighter note…

We are still on British Airways and I gotta tell you that BA has some of the friendliest air staff around. Okay, there was that less than pleasant guy at the counter in Heathrow who mumbled a lot and griped about our carry on luggage. Otherwise, everyone else has been quite a bit friendlier than most flight crews I have encountered in the States. I personally think it is an English frame of mind for the most part. All the signs in London for anything broken seemed very apologetic, so much so that you almost felt bad for the sign. Even some of the road signs take a unique perspective on things. One street sign we saw while riding a bus said, CHANGING PRIORITIES AHEAD. We thought that this must be a metaphor for our adoption trip, sort of like when the road signs were speaking to Steve Martin in L.A. Story. It actually turned out to mean something like the lanes were going to change up ahead. I guess it would be a bit much to expect this and I would question whether I had spent too much time at one of the pubs if this were the case. But every sign seemed this way. Where we would say DO NOT ENTER, here you had ROAD MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR REALLY LONG VEHICLES, IT WOULD BE REALLY GRAND IF YOU WOULD MAKE ALTERNATE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS. Okay, so I made everything up after the word vehicles—but that is what it implied.

So now the UK is behind us and Kaz lies ahead. Terri and I are anxious to see the boys and are curious as to what their reactions will be when they first see us. Hopefully they will not be too angry with us—they’ll have plenty of time for that over the years. We have heard it usually doesn’t take too long to get back to the point of where you were before you left so we will hope for the best. I am sure Aidan will stand the best chance of being unhappy with us whereas Liam probably has not fully grasped the whole space/time continuum yet. So in a few hours we will have the joy of going through customs again and then staying a day in Almaty before heading to Ust.

Tune it next time for the next exciting adventure.

Here are a few more pics from London...

So much to do, so little time

My, how a day can disappear. We started the day early and got past that whole idea of walking everywhere and still the day flew by. This morning was probably a more typical day in London, overcast with occasional drizzle—still nothing to dampen our spirits for the day out. This morning we took a bus down to the Imperial War Museum. We spent probably spent close to four hours there and it wasn’t even enough time to see it all. And the primary focus of this museum is the two world wars with some modern conflicts thrown in to let you down gently. If there was any more history added to this building you would probably have to devote as much time to touring as you would to a cricket match. Needless to say, I am sure the janitorial staff had to work overtime to mop up the excessive drool I left on the floor. As I have mentioned before, I am a HUGE history buff and this museum did not disappoint. The main floor had weapons of all sorts from artillery pieces, complete aircraft suspended from the ceiling, tanks from both world wars including a rare German Jagdpanzer tank hunter (yes, I am a geek). On the lower levels there were impressive displays from both wars with tons of uniforms, weapons, newspapers, mementos, and any other items that could possibly relate to the subject. In the World War One section you could even walk through a simulated trench section—really, really cool.

After this, Terri and I decided to have lunch at a pub. Now, we have heard that true English pubs are named after simple things that illiterate patrons could have recognized by the visual seal usually associated with a pub. So obviously the pub we went to yesterday was way too highbrow as it had over five words and nothing easily identifiable visually. So today we went to the Three Stags, near the Imperial War Museum. So there it was plain and simple, even I could understand it. It had all the trappings of a traditional pub but actually had good lighting. There was even a table that said, “Stuart’s Table: 1951-2001”. Wow, Stuart had his own table for fifty years, although no one working that day knew who the hell he was. I am afraid my wife would not let me have a table that long without dire consequences—“Steve Gaines: 2006-2006”. There was even a corner named for a local clergy, something like Vicar’s corner or the like. So apparently if you plant your butt here for any amount of time you are immortalized. Who knows what would have happened if I stayed an extra twenty minutes. The amusing thing I have noticed about a lot of pubs is that they now have signs out front proclaiming to having new kids menus. I believe they are served with their own pint—I’m just kidding—everyone knows they would only get a half pint. So one day I can proudly walk into the Three Stags with my boys and show them the table I sat at (that in twenty more minutes would have forever been my table, immortalized with a brass plaque), order them the kid’s sized fish and chips and see how well they could handle a Green King IPA. But I digress.

After the Three Stags we walked up to the famous Waterloo Station and over one of the Thames bridges that offered a great view looking back towards the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. Afterwards we wandered around shopping for mainly trinkets and even though I am not a soccer fan I felt compelled to buy a soccer jersey. At this point time was slipping away like a pint at the Three Stags. We did miss a couple of things we wanted to do like riding the gigantic London Eye (you know, the new thing that looks like a Ferris wheel that has gone all Barry Bonds) and we didn’t get the chance to go back to Westminster Abbey. We did find time to hit a couple of floors of Harrods—they were mainly the food, chocolate and wine areas and their equivalent to a food court. Actually it would turn its nose up at food courts. By this time our feet were in full rebellion and we decided to come back to the hotel. Terri said she was beyond shin splints and had actually worked her way up to planks.

After a brief rest we decided to have dinner out for our last night. We walked around near our hotel (we did not want Terri’s shin planks to work their way up to full timber) and we found a great place to end our evening. You could tell it was an authentic pub by the painfully obvious name—The Goat. Here it was, a pub distilled to the essence of one farm animal and it had been around since sometime in the 1600’s although there had been a couple of building changes and something about it being owned by a church at one time. It had the prerequisite amount of wood paneling with the modern touch of actually having a non-smoking section and numerous tap handles. My journey was complete.

So now our London journey comes to an end, for now at least. One day it will be a destination with our boys, who I am sure will initially be unimpressed as kids often are but at least we will all go together. And if I am a dad that seems silly showing them all the boring statues in Trafalgar Square, then fine, I am more than happy to be silly. I can always find a kid friendly pub.

Cheers.

London Calling

Yeah, I know, another Clash reference.

I once read a quote about London that said when you tired of London, you’re tired of life—I have only been here just a short while but can see what he meant by it (and he wrote this a few hundred years ago if I am correct). Today (Thursday) we made the insane decision to walk down to Buckingham Palace. After this we made sure we took a cab or rode the bus for the rest of the day. But to me it was worth it to go down and see the changing of the guard. British history is really one of my favorite subjects so getting to see this historic regiment was just a great start to seeing the entire city.

We took a cab back to the hotel as Terri realized she had the wrong shoes for walking and then we took a double decker bus down to Trafalgar Square. I was a little bummed seeing that Nelson’s monument was all scaffolded but the rest of the square was really great to see. And considering that it was only one monument that was covered and there were about a million more that were just fine, I couldn’t feel too put out. We were true Texas geeks as we went to lunch at the Texas Embassy restaurant and bar. Texas actually had an embassy here during the time she was independent so it seemed the thing to do for two Texas residents. We then visited the Parliament building, Big Ben and viewed the outside of Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately we missed tour time at the Abbey but we will probably go back to see it tomorrow. We walked over to see a number of other sites including the Horse Guards Barracks, Admiralty, No. 10 Downing Street (I couldn’t get in to see Mr. Blair, pity) as well as seeing another thousand monuments. This is a dream city for a guy like me.

No journey would be complete without dropping by a pub. We ended up at The Lord Moon of the Mall where I had a couple of pints of beer that aren’t readily available in the states and surprisingly Terri took down a Guinness—that’s my wife! This pub really cornered the market on wood paneling but was just what I needed after walking around town.

We walked through a few shops and then took the No. 9 bus back to our hotel. Tomorrow, we try to get in everything else we didn’t see… better catch an early bus.

The British Invasion

(From Wednesday) Well, boys and girls, it’s that time you have all been waiting for again. Yes, Terri and I have kicked off the second leg of our adoption tour. This trip starts with a nice detour to London. I have always wanted to go to London so I made sure I bugged Terri about coming here until I was more than a pain in the arse and she had to give in to get me to shut up. We left San Antonio on American Airlines for Chicago O’Hare—after a delay of forty minutes due to wind sheer in Chicago! Nice. Fortunately we had enough time between flights for this delay to not cause us a problem. In Chicago, we shuttled over to the International Terminal for our British Airways flight. It, too, was slightly delayed because the incoming flight experienced strong headwinds. At the counter they checked our passports and ended up giving us a seat in between us so we could stretch out. It was really nice that the flight was not very full so everyone had room to spread out. British Airways is good flying, the people were incredibly nice and the captain was the cheeriest I have ever heard—and you just got to love the way they say schedule. Our plane was a Boeing 777, very nice and roomy. The only downside I saw was that the movies weren’t on demand nor could they be paused, so I came in late on the movies and missed a lot while getting food and drink orders settled. Still, just a small thing on what turned our to be a really great airline. At the end of the flight Terri started to not feel too good as we ended up in a circling holding pattern, which when combined with reading a magazine made her feel very none too good. Landing, customs, and baggage were all uneventful and we soon found ourselves in a taxi to central London.

We are staying at the Thistle Kensington Park near the center of town, in walking distance to many attractions. We checked in and ordered room service and decided to sleep a while—no need killing ourselves so early in the trip. After a significant amount of time in a coma, we hit the streets around our hotel in search of dinner. We finally settled on a small Indian food restaurant called Siljam Little India based on an amusing pronouncement on the door: The owner eats here. Well, if the owner will eat at his own restaurant then that is proof enough for me that it is of the highest standards. It reminded me of a restaurant in Alamo Plaza (San Antonio) called the GM Steakhouse. Not by any food sense mind you, but in the fact it had a very small storefront but went back fairly deeply, as if Salvador Dali decided to open a restaurant. The food magically appeared from a dumbwaiter on the wall—the poor cooks exiled to a subterranean London existence. Despite any cosmetic peculiarities the food was quite good and we had curry 'til the cows came home (uh, sorry, cows are sacred in the Indian culture, but the vernacular doesn’t work otherwise). After dinner we walked past a local pub, looking through the windows at all the patrons mesmerized by a football match on the big screens. We then stopped into a small local grocery store for some water and a beer. Then it was back to our room to plan out tomorrow’s itinerary—and have a beer. It is nice to have this diversion built into our trip but we really do miss the boys. Lena sent us an email saying she has checked in on the boys a few times and that Aidan is waiting for us, and the caretakers let him know we will be returning soon. So he will either be happy to see us or quite miffed—I am banking on miffed. But soon both boys’ lives are going to go through some huge changes and there are a lot of people back home who can hardly wait to be part of their lives.

All new episodes of rockthekazblog.com coming soon!

The original cast returns for new episodes as our wacky globetrotters travel first to London and then on to Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. Aidan and Liam reprise their roles as the boys (just signed to a long-term contract). The first couple of episodes will find Steve in search of a pint and Terri in search of Harrods. Steve will try to make the palace guards laugh or at least invite the queen to lunch—which will lead to much eye rolling by Terri. Then it is on to Ust to reunite with the boys with a new plot twist; the boys will actually being staying with Terri and Steve full time. "We expect a lot of great character development this time around, " says Steve Gaines, "we expect the show to be even more hilarious, chaotic and full of mayhem, everything our audience expects to see." And for added hilarity, the US Embassy makes a cameo appearance. Follow all the hijinx, as our loveable family wades through all the red tape to get back home to Texas.

We leave San Antonio on April 4th and will be staying in London the 5th through the 8th and will arrive in Almaty on April 9th. Hopefully we will fly to Ust Kamenogorsk the same day and take custody of our boys. Final documents and processing should take 10 to 13 days and we hope to be back to the states as a family by April 24th. Thanks again for following along!