One Month Ago Today

Exactly one month ago today, March 11th. my papers were submitted to the court in Ecik. Today I received an update; apparently I will not get a court date for at least another month. My coordinator in Almaty has frequent contact with the Judge and he has decided to ‘take advantage of all of the time given to him by law’ before he assigns my court date. When I received my invitation to travel in February, CHI was told the time allowed by law to assign a court date is three months, the information CHI received today implied that the time allowed by law is two months, we are not sure which is right and in this process it may be very difficult to find out which it is. I know of two other families adopting from Ecik who have been waiting over four months for their court dates. So I am basically in limbo for at least another month if not two or more. The good Judge has decided to keep me occupied while I wait, he has asked for new and multiple copies of several of my documents. The process to notarize, authenticate and apostille will begin once again for the requested documents.

To those of you who have seen me type Issyk before, Ecik and Issyk are the same place, one is the Kazakh spelling and one is the Russian spelling.

That’s it for now and apparently for quite awhile. Chris

As Promised, More Pictures.....

A little boy checking out the pigeons in Paniflov Park.


A little girl feeding the pigeons in Paniflov Park.


A little boy in Paniflov Park.




Taking wedding photo's at Republic Square on International Woman's Day.


On the way to Ecik, these men lit this pit every morning, seems like they were preparing it for lunch.




I think she was a homeless woman in Almaty.


Young men in Paniflov Park.




Women walking in Paniflov Park.


Taking pictures in front of the War Memorial in Paniflov Park on International Women's day. Are they retired soldiers?




A little boy on a horse in Panoflov Park on International Women's Day.




A street vendor outside of the Green Market.


A vendor inside of the Green Market.




Three young men leaving a supermarket in Ecik.


Two men having a conversation almost every morning on the way to Ecik.




A woman on a park bench in Almaty.


On the way to Ecik, people walking to get water.


A future ice skating star and her coach at the ice skating rink at RamStor.




Two men at a bus stop on the way to Ecik. Each bus stop has a unique mosaic design.

Two Down, Ten To Go

As you can tell, I arrived safely in Kazakhstan, the flights were good with no problems and my luggage arrived with me so it’s all good. While I was on the first flight I realized that I will be making twelve very long flights to complete this process, then on the second flight I realized that two were down already and I only have ten more to go, what’s better than that? Don’t answer that! One more comment about the flights then I’ll tell you what you really want to know, on the first flight I watched a beautiful sunrise then only a few short hours later I watched an incredible sunset, the colors were so vivid on both, I coulden't stop watching them. What an experience in just a few short hours to see the sun rise and set like that, it was amazing!

After a very short night’s sleep, I was picked up at the hotel and started a day that will change my life forever. This morning after two interviews, one at the Ministry Of Education and one at the Baby House in Issyk, I was approved to go forward, I went through the required processes and then I met my son. He’s a happy little boy, he was smiling and laughing at me while I was playing with him. I was only able to see him for a short time today, we were running right up into nap time. They asked me if I wanted to visit at a time when I can feed him, of course I do, so I think my visits will be scheduled early in the day. They also told me he loves to eat, that he gets excited when the meals are being prepared and he hears the silver-ware, Gary does he remind you of anyone???

As most of you know I can’t post any pictures or any information about him until this is final, so you’ll have to just listen to me.

That’s it for now, I going to try to get some sleep tonight. Keep those comments and e-mails coming, I look forward to them. Take care, Chris

I Received My LOI!!!

Today I received my LOI - Letter of Invitation to travel to Kazakhstan. I will be leaving next weekend, 2/23 or 2/24 for Almaty Kazakhstan. I have to be in Almaty on the morning of the 25th. I will be going to Issyk once I arrive in Kazakhstan and I will be there until March 13th. Issyk requires three trips, the first trip is about twenty days, then I come home and wait for my court date, once I get that I go back for two to three days. Then I come home once again and wait for the final processing to be completed, when I go back it is for three or four days, then we come home as a family. My heart is racing, I'm very excited and I can't believe how much I have to do before I go, but it's all good!