What a FUN Video!!

Anyway, My brother sent me this video and I thought it was great and well, doesn't really have anything to do with adoption , but it does show that no matter where you go in the world people are people and we aren't really all that different!!  Enjoy!  Do you think they would dance with me in Kazakhstan? LOL!  It on the left side of the page!

Ramblings of a mad woman and other such nonesense

So, I have just been wanting to post on our blog, but with no new news to share and nothing exciting happening I have been at odds with myself trying to think of what to write about.  I have finally given into my urge to write and am dedicating this entry to my mad ramblings.  

I have recently watched the movie "Nomad: the warrior".  I won't say that it was my all time favorite film and that it is a must see for everyone, but for me it was poignant and enlightening.  It enabled me to catch a glimpse at the beautiful country that our child is from and that glimpse only makes one that much more eager to immerse yourself into their culture and heritage.  The movie really excelled in getting across how much pride the people have in their heritage and traditions.  Their history is deep and is woven into the steppes that they call home.

On another note, my agency sent us a weekly update and with it was a link to a utube video of the Kazakhstan national anthem.  It was beautiful and like the movie reverberated the pride of the people, their unceasing and unwavering commitment to the country and the land they call home as well as their way of life.  Along with the link our agency also sent the english translation, but it didn't really do the anthem justice.  It is so much stronger and proud and hauntingly beautiful in the language it is sung in.  Unfortunately, I am not familiar enough with either the Kazakh language or the Russian language to differentiate between the two.  

So now I come to the part of my entry that really starts to ramble...the adoption, our wait, and my ever increasing eagerness to take one more, even small, step forward.  Everyday we wait for word that our paperwork has moved, wishing that it would and thinking of all the families before us that have been waiting that much longer.  One day we will be one of those families.  I also think about those families that are just a step or two behind us and wonder how they will weather this waiting game and what they will be thinking when they reach the stage that we are at.  I know that everyday that passes is one less day that we have to wait and one day closer to Baby G.  We still haven't made a decision whether we will both make two trips or if I will stay for the duration and only Jeff will make two trips.  I so want to make just one trip, to have the time not only to spend with our little one, but also to immerse myself into the culture and the people.  I love to experience the different cultures on a personal level rather than a tourist level.  Here I go rambling on about traveling and as far as we know we haven't even made it to the MOE, much less gotten a region assignment or LOI.  I am out of words or at least words that when put together create a coherent thought so I will sign off for now and continue waiting, knowing that everything has a season and will happen in God's perfect timing even the creation of our little family. 

Make-overs and the Fourth of July

Well, it has been another month since my last post and while adoption news has been slow with no new updates our lives have been pretty busy.  We have spent the last several weeks now doing little upgrades in our home, like replacing light fixtures and landscaping the front yard.  We have more to do and today begins our attempt to ceramic tile one of our bathroom floors.  These things have all needed doing since we moved in, we have just kept coming up with excuses why we couldn't...Well, here goes nothing!  On the fun side we celebrated Fourth of July with my parents.  It has always been a big holiday in my family, one because any excuse to BBQ and make homemade ice cream and light explosives all in the same day is a good cause for celebration, but it is also my sister's birthday.  For year's she thought that all the fireworks were for her.  I have met other people with 4th birthday's and they thought the same thing.  What a bunch of egotists!! LOL!  We had a wonderful time.  Saturday we tried to go out on my parents boat, but after much time spent working on it, we put it in the water and it would only go backwards!  I suggested just motoring around the lake backwards, but nobody was too keen on that idea!  My poor dad though he just works and works to keep the old boat going, but it is a 1977 Formula, that's as old as me and while I don't consider myself that old, that is REALLY old for a boat!  We then spent Sunday by the pool and visiting.  It was nice and peaceful.  Hope to have some adoption news soon!

Paka!

And the Wait Goes On

So anyone in the adoption world understands what it is like to wait.  So here we are waiting. Our dossier has been at the MFA since the end of April and we think YEA! We are finally getting somewhere...and then we wait.  We knew this going in and so with steely resolve we keep looking forward and counting each day that passes as being one less day we have to wait, but all the brave talk and resolve doesn't make this inevitable part of the process easier.  Friends that were pregnant when we started the process are now sporting the seasons latest in accessories, one year olds or very near, even those that got pregnant after the we started the process are nearing their delivery dates.  A friend of mine recently joked with us that they would feel really bad if they had their second one before we even got our first one!  It was not insensitive of her, she helps keep things light and is very supportive.  In fact, this week as I have read blogs about more delays here, longer waits there, I was really feeling down.  My friend didn't know this, but when we went to their house the other evening she says, "I got you something" and pulls out this book, "A Treasury of Adoption Miracles".  It touched me that she had picked it up for us, but what was even greater about it was how timely it was, just when I needed something to pick me up, to reassure me in our direction, her she hands me a book.  On the back cover it says, "No matter what struggles you're going through, no matter how many highs and lows, the truth is, adoption is God's handiwork.  It is a blessing, a calling, an absolute divine doing...Let God show you again the miracle of a child and the special miracle of adoption."  This is a high calling and worthy of all the effort. As the old saying goes, nothing worth doing is ever easy.  So here we are, waiting, wondering, hoping and always praying.  

As we near the end of the month of June Jeff and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage together.  It has been an adventure and yet doesn't seem like we have been married for that long (I know 5 years is a drop in the bucket for some!!  One day it will be for us!).  I can't think of a better anniversary gift than to hear that our paperwork has moved on to the next step, but I won't count on that just like I won't count on getting flowers from Jeff and if it happens it will be a very pleasant surprise!  Until next time!  Paka!

Kazakhstan our dossier has arrived!

Well, we got some exciting news today, our dossier was registered at the MFA as of Monday, April 28th!!  We still have some time left to go, but it sure is nice to know that our paperwork is in country!  Just a few more steps to Baby G!

Not much else to report.  They predicted a freeze for our area so I ran out and covered all of our plants and then we didn't even get frost, so my garden is safe for a few more days until ole mother nature decides to turn on us again!!  Let's hope not!  I spent the weekend with my family while they visited in Branson.  We spent a lot of time down at the newly developed landing and then went over to get a look at Table Rock Dam and THIS time all ten flood gates were open!  The lake level was REALLY high, but you could see that it had been higher!  Well, enough ramblings, I really just wanted to share our exciting news!

Paka

Finally a little freetime!

So this is a picture of Table Rock Lake Dam in Branson, Missouri about three weeks ago.  At that time they had only five of the ten flood gates open, about a week later they had to open the remaining 5 flood gates.  It was very impressive looking.  We got some more rain this week and the Corp of Engineers was forced to open all ten flood gates once again and more rain is in the forecast.  In the above picture I think they said that 19,000 cu.ft. of water per second was being released.  When all ten were open they were releasing about 45,000 cu. ft./second.  That is a lot of water!!  That is my useless fact for the day.  Nothing new on the adoption front to report.  Things for us have been pretty busy, Jeff's dad was put in the hospital about two weeks ago with Leukemia.  The prognosis seems optimistic with a good chance that he will go into remission, but we have spent a lot of time going back and forth to the hospital to help out his mom.  In between all of the rain and our comings and goings we have managed to get our garden planted so the rain for us has been a good thing.  Not much else to talk about right now! Paka!

Where is the SUNSHINE!!

So the weather here has been less than acceptable.  WE get teaser days that are nice and in the 70's and then we get rain for a week and it gets cold and dreary.  A lot of places around us have flooded, but we haven't floated away and shouldn't anytime soon; although, I feel as though we should be building an ark!  This weekend we are even supposed to get snow flurries!!!  YUCK!

There isn't a whole lot going on any front.  A week, to the day, the adoption suspension for Kazakhstan was lifted and things are supposed to be moving, but probably a little slower than before.  We just continue on with preparations and life.  I contacted our agency to see if our dossier had moved, but they had received no information that it had reached the MFA, which is the first place it has to go when it reaches Kazakhstan.  With nothing more to say...Paka!