Back in the (former) USSR

Being back in Kazakhstan fills us with a sense of both the familiar and the new. From the time we boarded our last flight in Frankfort and began seeing all those Kazakh faces, we have been flooded with memories of our trip two years ago to adopt Lily Grace. However, it’s also new in many ways. We are assigned to the town of Schuchinsk, considerably farther north than Karaganda (where LG’s baby house was located), and rather than being on the flat steppes, we are in the mountains of the Lower Siberian plain.

We are staying in a hotel in the small town of Borovoe - Kazakhstan’s version of Lake Tahoe - rather then in an apartment in a large city. And of course this time around, we have the torn emotions of missing Lily Grace – back home with her extended family – while we also look forward to meeting her baby brother to be.

As we write this, we’re beginning to get our feet under us, pushing past the jet lag, adjusting to the food and the constancy of hearing the Russian language and therefore the difficulty in day to day communication. We’ve met our support team here, and as before, they are wonderful people whose mission is to help us have as smooth an experience as possible as we go through the process of meeting our child for the first time, bonding and court.

Due to many factors, we won’t be able to have an official match confirmed until mid-January, at which time the mandatory period of bonding will begin. Until then, we have to bide our time, visiting the baby house as we can, and getting to know the doctors and staff.

Our next post will include more pictures to help you get a feel for this part of the world. Kazakhstan is a country pushing aggressively to become one of the most vibrant in Central Asia, and their philosophy of cultural tolerance sets it apart, as does their enthusiastic embrace of capitalism and their strong relationship with the United States in addition to their next-door neighbors, Russia and China.

Thank you all for your prayers and support – they sustain us and we are grateful. We welcome your blog comments and emails throughout – each and every one brightens our day. So, the marathon has begun! Stay tuned …

Steve & Tonya

On the Road Again - to Kazakhstan!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it’s finally all come together. We will be on our way back to Kazakhstan this Sunday, December 26, to adopt our second child! This will be the first of two trips required to accomplish this – the first trip estimated to be 5-6 weeks. We are grateful to be able to spend Christmas with Lily Grace before leaving her in the care of our wonderful family while we’re away. Needless to say, our emotions are mixed due to the separation from her and the anticipation of meeting and bonding with her baby brother.

We thank you all for your prayers and your encouraging words and thoughts – you (and God working through you) continue to sustain us through this journey.

We’ll begin posting regularly once we arrive, and look forward to taking you all along on this great adventure.

Merry Christmas!

Steve & Tonya

Flight of the Purple Fairy

Halloween 2010 will be remembered as the one where Lily Grace "got it". And once she got it, she didn't let go! Running squealing from house to house, she couldn't wait to for the next nice person to put candy in her pumpkin. She was amazed and elated at the same time. :-)

Gotcha Day!

October 29 is a special date for our family - Lily Grace's Gotcha Day! On October 29, 2008, Lily Grace legally became a part of our family as we received a favorable court ruling in Kazakhstan.

On each Gotcha Day, we give Lily Grace gifts from Kazakhstan to honor her heritage. This year, she received some Kazakh shoes and a doll that looks just like her! She named her Princess. :-) We are blessed to be able to share this special tradition with other adoptive families.

Fun at Cheekwood

We hope you have all had a good summer and are enjoying the beginning of fall. Ours was jam-packed with family travel and events, both here and away. We're still waiting to hear word from Kazakhstan about being matched with baby #2 - we hope to have good news to share in a month or so.

We closed out the season with a wonderful visit to Cheekwood botanical gardens and their amazing Chihuly exhibit, featuring stunning, hand-blown glass sculptures on display throughout the botanical gardens and mansion. The exhibit runs through October - if you get a chance to see this, don't miss it - we've never seen anything like it. Here's a slideshow from our day there - as you can see, Lily Grace is growing fast! -- Steve and Tonya

What A Wondrous Time is Spring

We hope this post finds each of you enjoying the beginning of spring and all that this beautiful time of year represents. In March, Lily Grace and her cousins enjoyed a joint birthday celebration with their Maddie and Granddaddy Young – another round of cake, ice cream and blowing out candles! April has been full of outside play, hunting for Easter eggs, and rolling around in the fresh green grass whenever possible!

Steve & Tonya

You know you've turned two when ...

Lily Grace turned two years old on January 22, and has loved every minute of her new year.

The fact she’s growing and changing right before our eyes was brought home in an hilarious instant. Lily Grace has never removed any clothing on her own, other than pulling off socks, and for sure hasn’t been able to put on any clothing. At least that’s what we thought. Yesterday, I went to get her up from her afternoon nap, and as usual, found her sitting happily in her crib playing away. She jumped up to be lifted out of the crib, and as I held her, something seemed strange. Then it hit me – she didn’t have a diaper on under her pajama bottoms! Had I forgotten to put one on her prior to putting her down for her nap? I didn’t think so … then I saw it – a wet diaper lying among the stuffed animals. As I was trying to process that odd scene, Lily Grace announces, “diaper wet, pants inside out!” And sure enough, they were. A long pause of speechlessness gave way to laughter and disbelief. We’ve always been told she will grow in bursts – just didn’t appreciate how true that is!

Steve