Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas Fun!


Her Christmas Dress...

Look out world! Here she comes. :)

She wanted to be comfy... we didn't
pose her for this one. ;)
So serious.
She looks like she's waiving... but... she's really
trying to get the hat off of her head. ;)
After a long day...
Alia got her grandpa a hat from her country and
thought he looked pretty funny in it. :)
Favorite thing...the paper. Of course. :)
She's just started smiling for the camera... too cute.
After a long day of presents and paper
and not much sleep... she's ready to go
home and go to bed.
This is my favorite smile... she's such a cheeser. :)
A new hat for Christmas.
Hope you enjoyed a few pictures of Alia's first Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas and hope all of you did too! We'll talk to you next year!
Brad, Steph, and Alia

Monday, December 15, 2008

more fun...


Play time at the mall. :) Anyone have any germ-x?

What a smile!

Fun time with grandpa.

So, we've had Alia home with us for several weeks now... and can't tell you how much we enjoy her! She is so amazing!

It blows my mind to think that we went across the world to adopt a baby because we thought that we could offer a baby that otherwise wouldn't have much ... more. We had a calling from God and we answered it. We went through so much to "give a little baby hope and a chance at life" and we are the ones who ended up totally blessed! Of course... she needed (and needs) us, but what we didn't know is that we needed her.

In just a few weeks, she has learned and changed SO much. She is crawling all over, giving big wet kisses, and eating puffs (what a lifesaver...) all by herself (she's such a big girl). She even tries to take off walking (I'm SO not ready for that yet!). Everytime she comes at me with her mouth wide open to give me kisses... I melt. Everytime she smiles...I smile too! The other day she was in her jumper and going crazy jumping and laughing. She had Brad and I both laughing with her because her laugh is so funny, sweet, and cute.

We ask ourselves almost daily how we could be so blessed that she is ours.

I wonder if that is how God feels about us... Does He smile when we smile? Does He laugh when we laugh? Does He cry when we cry? All of us who are His children have been "adopted" into His family. I think about all of the work, money, travel, time, pain, heartache, etc... that we went through to bring Alia home, and think about how much more Jesus did for us by coming to earth to die for us. His death was the only way that He could give us life... there isn't even a comparison!

As we come to the season that we celebrate Jesus' birth, don't forget that the reason that He came was to die... for us. Remember John 3:16... God loved us so much... He gave His Son. When I rock Alia to sleep each night (no, she's not spoiled... well... maybe she is... but she deserves every minute!), I pray. I pray that God will take care of her, that she would grow up strong and healthy, that she will someday understand God's love for her and accept Him into her heart, that she will sleep well and calm, etc... but most of all, I pray that she will know how loved she is. As a baby... I don't think she has any idea what is going on. She doesn't know how she ended up in my arms...
I don't know how I ended up in God's arms...but I'm SO glad that I did. I didn't do anything to deserve His love for me, but ... I'm SO glad that He loves me. I pray that this Christmas you all will see how much God loves you. You are so loved!

My new favorite saying is... sometimes you have to go through Shymkent (the first region that we traveled to) to get to Karaganda (where we met Alia). No matter what you are going through in your life, God loves you. Bad things happen to all of us... what matters is how we respond. Do we give up when the going gets tough? Or, do we use each trial as a stepping stone and let it make us stronger? I can't imagine life without Alia now that we have her here, but believe me... there was a time after Shymkent that I wanted to quit. Look what I would have missed out on!

Merry Christmas from Brad, Stephanie, and Alia! We love you all!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Too fun


Alia's 1st Thanksgiving! She loves food!

Our first shopping trip! She loves
shopping... Brad was hoping for a
sports fan... but... I think she'll
choose shopping any day. ;) She
loves watching all of the people and
so many comment on her because she
is so smiley and happy.

Ok, not quite sure what to think of this guy...
but mommy is in the picture too... so she did
ok.

Too cute! She's just not sure what to think,
but she didn't cry!

She couldn't quite figure this out
either, but she loves her grandpa!
Her aunts and uncles decided that she needed
to ride in the pink jeep at the mall... she had
some fun with that one. Aunt Julie was trying
to figure it out while Alia was enjoying the
driver seat!
What an adorable look! She's not
too fond of her carseat. I don't blame
her, but she has to ride in it.
Everytime she eats... it's like she hasn't eaten
in days. She loves her food and then loves a
good nap!
So, it's been about a week and a half now. I can't tell you how much I love this little girl! She is so amazing! We've had so much fun bonding.
I can't believe how happy she is. She smiles all the time. Of course, there are some rough times... like in the middle of the night when we spend some quality time together. And... the diaper changes that come along with a complete change of food are not so great, but...
I wouldn't change a thing! Even today... our 1st doctor visit (sorry, no pictures of that one... not a day to remember)... it was not a happy time... but she did so good for all that she went through.
I've always had interesting thoughts on adoption... but now I have so many more! I don't have time right now, but I want to share them with you all. As soon as I get another second, I'll put my thoughts out here for all of you!
For now, I have to go... but I'll keep posting as I have time. :)
Love to all of you! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving and enjoy all this time leading up to Christmas! I love this time of year... and have to say that it's even better this year. ;)
Stephanie

























Sunday, November 23, 2008

Thoughts...


Taken during bonding... in a mirror... check out
those dimples!

She's like the cutest Cabbage Patch Doll of all time!
The day of court...look at those smiles...
it's as if she knew...
Just the cutest faces!
She's a star!! Her cousins love her!
Well... I just tucked Alia into her very own bed for the 3rd time (night time anyway). So far... she is not sure what day it is, what time it is, or where she is. One thing I do know... that little girl remembered her mommy and daddy. It's amazing! She already cries when I leave the room. I'm not crazy enough to think that she has attached, but I am amazed at how well the three of us are doing so far.

Honestly... I can't say that I don't enjoy the times at 4 in the morning that she thinks it is mid-day and playtime. :) I've waited SO long to have her here, that I'm trying to just sit back and enjoy each day and each moment. I did keep her up a little later tonight... hoping for a little sleep for me. ;) I know... I'm probably dreaming.

One thing that is totally cool is all that she can do now. When we left her on October 13th, she was barely sitting up on her own and fell over very often. She also did not put much pressure on her legs. Now, she is sitting up on her own (still falling over occasionally, but not near as much), she can "scoot" across a room, and she is putting all kinds of pressure on her legs (and also shares her mood by kicking her little legs like crazy when she is excited). What an answer to prayer! Although... I do have to do a few extra things to prepare for instant toddler.

This road has been absolutely incredible! I can say that now because she is finally here. :)

I can't tell you how much Brad and I have enjoyed this blog! We want to thank all of you for following our story so much.
We love you all! Don't worry... we'll update pictures as often as we can...
Brad, Stephanie, and Alia :)








Here's some pictures for now... Introducing... Alia (sorry, I think they are actually on top of this writing)!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Homecoming!!!

Alia is FINALLY here! Alia slept (and is currently sleeping) in her very own bed, in her very own house, with her mommy and daddy always nearby. I can't tell you how amazing this is! I have to go for now, but we'll post pictures soon and tell more about the whole trip and her first day home. Sorry this is so short. More soon!
Steph, Brad, and Alia :)

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Coming home!!!!

We have our date!!!!! We should be home with Alia on Nov 21st! Yipee!!! Let the countdown begin!!!! I'm so excited because we will have her for the holidays! What a very merry Christmas. :) Stay tuned... once we get her home... we'll post some pictures.

:) Steph, Brad, and Alia

Monday, October 27, 2008

Yipee!!! It's tomorrow in Kazakhstan!

Do you know what that means??? It's the 28th in Kaz which is 15 days after court... which means that Alia is legally ours! :) I'm so excited!
I can't wait to have her home! I get very sad when people ask me how she is doing because I have to say that I don't know. I pray each night that she is happy and well taken care of. Soon she will be in my arms...
I'm currently washing all of her little clothes (in my real washing machine... not a plastic bag) and my sister has been painting her room. I can't wait to put it all together and very soon... take her in to see it... her room. :)
I'll keep you posted...
Stephanie

Friday, October 17, 2008

We are home!!!!

We made it! We were able to sleep in our own bed last night... and shower with clean water this morning. There's no place like home!

Our flights were long, but good. No major problems, which is always good.

Thanks to all of you who followed our journey...it's not quite over... can't wait to post the blog that says.... Alia is home with us... to come... soon.

Steph and Brad and Alia

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Finally!!! Free Wifi!

We are sitting in the airport... awaiting the first of 2 VERY LONG flights. The good new is.... we are coming home! I love this airport because they have free WIFI... this is the first time that I've been able to get online and it didn't cost me $5 or more per hour! Isn't that ridiculous?! So... please be praying for us... our first flight is 6-7 hours and our 2nd flight is almost 10 hours.... I get a little sick just thinking about it...

I just keep thinking... the next time that I go to bed... it will be my bed. I can do this!

Anyway... better get going... Just wanted to give you the update... next post should be from home... unless another airport has some free Wifi.

Love you all! Can't wait to show you some pictures of our little girl!
Steph and Brad

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Yipee!!!!

Hey all!!! Sorry that it’s been a while since our last post. The time here has been crazy and very up and down for the past few days. Are you ready at last for the news? We have made it through court!! All is good. Yipee! Thanks for all of the prayers… we could really feel that you all were praying for us.

It’s been such a roller coaster ride. I can’t tell you how up and down I have felt lately. All in the same day we… went to court and all was fine and then had to say good-bye to our babies. L I was so concerned about court and what might happen that when they said “congratulations”, all I could do was cry. Happy tears of course… very relieved tears.

Then when the time came to say good-bye to my baby girl… I tried so hard not to cry… but when I looked at Tina and she was crying… I gave up. When I took her back to her room and they could see that I was crying, they all assured me that they will take good care of her until the day that she is in my arms again… I know that is true… they are all so wonderful… it’s just that I want to be the one to take care of her now.

Anyway… I had to leave her and the next day here we are in a different city… preparing to come home… finally! Just one more day! Tina and Marilyn will leave in the morning… but we have one more day… I‘m SO jealous!

I can’t tell you how much I am craving… Ranch dressing, Mexican food, a big salad (which if you know me very well, isn’t something that I usually crave), my mom’s homemade noodles (which we will have at Thanksgiving… Alia will be with us and can try them too), a big juicy hamburger, even McDonalds sounds absolutely wonderful!

HEY! WHO TOUCHED THE PLANT?

Ok, so in our last hotel (which by the way… is something else I can’t wait to see… my own house and bed), they had signs posted in several places that stated in several languages… basically…
DO NOT TOUCH THE PLANTS! 5000 TENGE FEE FOR TOUCHING THE PLANTS! That’s nearly $45.00 for touching a plant… and they had video surveillance on the plants… isn’t that funny?!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

A story of missing my washing machine…. And water…

So, here is how the story goes for clothes washing. We brought space saver bags in our luggage. We have used duct tape to secure one of the bags completely… we fill it with water, add soap…. Spin cycle (Our hands in circular motion to mix the water and soap), add clothes (only a couple of things at a time), next spin cycle (with our hands and then close bag and shake like crazy!). Then, we remove clothes from bag… and rinse under the muddy water in the shower, and hang up on the hot water heater pipes (helps them to dry faster). It’s craziness, but we refuse to pay the hotel $4 to wash a pair of jeans. Anyway… fun times…
Please continue to pray for the same situation as requested the other day… we still don’t have clarification if court will be as scheduled or not… We’ll keep you posted…
Love you all!
Steph, Brad, and Alia

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Prayers...

Sorry it's been a while since we put anything new out here....
We've hit a roadblock(that's how we see it anyway)... It looks huge to both of us families who are here. We know that God knows what is going on and can take care of it... but please be praying for us. It's so easy to get frustrated...

We'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the prayers.

By the way... Alia is still great. A little tummy sick over the weekend, but feeling better now. :)
More soon...

Steph and Brad

Monday, October 6, 2008

How much do you weigh? :)

Ok, first... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORRIE! Sorry I can't be there for the party...

2nd... Counting down... only 10 more days. Anyone ready to go out for Mexican food with us when we get home??? Don't even mention mashed potatoes or even cheese for a little while (unless it is melted on top of some chips). :) And, NO soup! I need some real food!

Here's a funny story... everyday we ride the elevator in our hotel... It's a small elevator and the 4 of us just barely fit in it... and it's not comfortable. Anyway, last night... we were "going up" and another guy wanted to ride with us. When he got on... a light and little alarm started going off... we were overweight! Can you believe it?! I've NEVER had that happen. :) Too funny! He was a little guy too... he just very quickly exited and said that he would take the next... no problem... in a Russian accent. :) We laughed all the way to our rooms... maybe you had to be there, but I was entertained. Doesn't take much these days...

Hey Jeff... Brad says... "How about them Cubbies?" :) He made me type that!

Ok. More later... love you all!
Steph and Brad

Friday, October 3, 2008

countdown...

So, our countdown has begun... we come home in less than 2 weeks... fun, yet sad...

We have one more visit today and then 2 more days until our official bonding period is complete. We will continue to be able to go visit though. :)
Court is coming up soon... please keep us in your prayers.

We went yesterday and developed some of our photos (which was interesting because the machines look just like Walmart, but are all in Russian... had to go by memory). :) So, we have our first family photos! What if I told you I was holding them up for you to see right now... ;) Sorry... I couldn't pass that up.

Really... we show Alia pictures of our family and friends all the time. She loves to look at pictures. She might be thinking that the pictures look yummy, but... she enjoys it anyway. We go through and tell her everyone's names and how much they love her and can't wait to hold her and spoil her! The funny thing is that Andrew has been given a nickname by the Greshams... he is Uncle DooDoo because the kids have a hard time saying Andrew. Here though.... he is Uncle CahCah (that's how you say it here... in Russian). Are you ready for that Andrew???!!!!

Ok, gotta go!
Steph and Brad and Alia :)

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Daily fix. :) A "toot" to remember.

To all of our addicts... :)

I think that Alia has a bit of reaction to her food. She is pretty gassy and she spits up quite a bit. :) Yesterday I had just given her a bottle. I had her propped up on my legs and she was looking at Brad. She let out the longest "toot" I've ever heard out of a baby! It was stinky too! I laughed so hard that I cried! Brad got a picture of her looking up at me like, "what?" :) Too funny!

Well, we are off to see Alia... I just signed on to dial up at the hotel for a bit (ahhh! It's so slow!)
Gotta go!
Steph

Monday, September 29, 2008

downtown!!

So, Brad and I woke up on Sunday feeling adventurous (well, I did... I had to convince Brad that he did too). :) We went to the front desk and asked what bus #'s would take us downtown. Tina, Marilyn, Brad and I hopped on one! After 2 stops... they made us get off because it was the end of the road... so, we hopped on another one! :) This one took us where we wanted to go.

We went to the "Big Green Bazaar"! Yes, shopping! All I bought was a pair of socks, sunglasses (because Brad broke his), some little washcloths (very hard to find here), and M&M's! Yum! We also found a good place to eat. I got Cheese Pizza... it almost tasted like Sbarros! :) Brad got some spicy pasta stuff. He liked it.

So, now that we know how to get there.... we will be spending many afternoons downtown. It's so much better than the norm here. :) Napping... one can only take so many naps... and we are on our way to figuring out just how many that is...

Today Alia and Lily (Tina's baby) had their first experiences with bubbles! Alia didn't know what to think at first... but she really liked them. She started reaching out to grab them and would eat them if she could.

Who knows what we'll do tonight. Rumor has it... we might be able to play outside again. :) Bring on the layers!

By the way... Pat, Brad thanks you for the sports updates. He's been wondering. Oh, and Ryan... Brad says you could go ahead and send that Meximelt this direction... an interesting science experiment... like the milk in college. :)

Oh, and Winston... no Magnums yet... I still have lots of time though. :)

Love ya all! Keep the comments coming... we're getting VERY homesick!
Steph and Brad

Saturday, September 27, 2008

One more... (save the date)...

I know... I've got lots to say today... :)



Brad and I were hoping that the internet situation would be such here that we could send out an invitation by email, but... no such luck.



We are hosting a benefit dinner on October 25th at Oakridge Baptist Church. There will be food, entertainment (including Brad and I), and we have special speakers coming to share with you. The speakers are our friends who 's baby just came home from the same region (and room) as Alia.

We are very excited and hope that all of you will be able to attend. More news to follow soon! If we do get internet in our hotel, we'll be sending invites, if not... this will probably have all the info. The dinner will be donation based and all the money that is raised will go to the "Bring Alia Home" fund. :) Stay tuned... and save the date. :)

Love you all!
Steph and Brad

An opportunity...

So, each day when we pick up Alia... there are 10 other beautiful babies (that are not coming home with us...). We have the coolest opportunity to be able to play with them each day also. Brad and I have decided that we will bring as much as possible back on our next trip (which will actually be Anita and I). We can take as much as we can carry/pack with us. These babies share pacifiers, toys, clothes (mainly sleepers and jogging pants), etc... The babies are between 6-18 months (mostly wear 3-12 month clothes).

The items will have to be small and light. I know that the Dollar Tree and Burlington (in the .99 section) are great places to buy toys for cheap. Please let us know if you'd like to take an opportunity to help us bring a little extra back for them. Space will be an issue, but I have some ideas... I'll bring as much back as I can for these little babies. I wish you could see them... they are all beautiful, fun, and sweet babies.

Ha! I sure do wish the pizza here tasted like pizza there! :)

So, the lock costed us $10! Not a huge amount... just annoying...

Today is hard...I am tired, hungry and ready to go home... just not without my baby. I am SO torn, because I can't wait to get home but then I will want to come back because part of me will be here... :(

We decided to be adverturous today and went to a little food place with our Russian for Dummies Book. We basically pointed and ate... so, how did that work out? Well. Brad's tummy is happy (at least for right now).. the rest of us??? Well... not so much. Oh well... worth a try.

Ok, I have a lot on my mind today... so I'm going to do another post...
Steph

Friday, September 26, 2008

Anyone know a good locksmith... here?

Ok, so this morning was WONDERFUL! Alia is SO happy in the mornings! I love it when we get there and she is just waking up and she sees us and smiles. :) Anyway, we were able to attend a little birthday party there, complete with cake, music, dancing and a puppet show! Too fun! We also had passport pictures taken today. Yippe! :) One step closer...

AND... as if that wasn't great enough, we got to take her outside. Today has been the warmest day since we have been here. Funny story though... When we said we were taking her outside, they took our little girl who was already wrapped in about 4 layers... put a snowsuit on her, an extra hat with 2 pointy tops and a scarf. The poor baby couldn't even move. :) She just kept a smile on her face though... the whole time. After being outside for about 20 minutes, I looked down at her and she was completely asleep! I guess we wore her out. More great pictures.

We did go to town today... made some animal noises and ended up with cheese pizza~ oh well... actually, as picky as I am... that's probably good. The thing about "town" is that there are lots of places. It is wonderful... we just don't get there very often. Now that we have figured out the taxi thing... we'll probably go more. :)

Ok, so the title... tonight we went back for our second bond time... when we got there, the door to our room was locked. We found the key and tried to open it, but the keys weren't working. A really nice lady came by and tried to help, she got the key to turn, but then... nothing! It was stuck! She quickly took off... leaving all of us to explain...

Apparently we had the wrong key... whoops! So, needless to say, we didn't get to go to that room. When we left a couple of hours later... the key was still hanging there... I bet we get the bill for that one! Funny thing is... like the lady who actually got the key stuck, we could have run... but you know... we didn't. Oh well... hopefully new locks aren't too expensive.

So, hope you don't mind... but since we can't blog as often... looks like we blog longer. :)

What a great time reading all your comments! Thanks for keeping up with us...
By the way... Winston, I heard they have Magnum Ice Cream Bars here and I've been searching and searching... with no success, but... I WILL NOT give up! I desperately need one. We did find a Baskin Robbins here. :) That's pretty fun.

Ok, well... we bought some cereal today, so dinner is sounding wonderful... better get going.
Lots of love to you all!
Steph, Brad, and Alia :)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

shopping...

Ok, so... I am having shopping w/d BIG TIME! I don't really need to buy, just look. ;)

I can't believe how much of nothing we are surrounded by here. In our last city, we had so much and now... a whole lot of nothing. We did walk a little further today than usual and found a couple of places that we might be able to come back and visit. I think the worst thing is the food. So far we have the hotel and ... well, that's about it. We found a little place today, but no one spoke English, there was no English menu and ... no pictures! It's a nightmare! They try to help, but how can they? So, we did meet a really nice girl yesterday who knows some English. She wants to meet us sometime to practice. We thought we might take her to lunch... that way she could help us out some too. :)

Brad thinks there are lots of hidden gems around here... we just have to walk more. Of course, he is willing to eat anything. The rest of us girls that are here (including our 2 new friends, Tina and Marilyn, her mom)... we don't like to just point at some crazy symbols and try whatever they bring out for us. :) Call us picky... but the stomach aches are not worth it.

So, tomorrow we may get to go into town. We are really looking forward to it! We get to develop some pictures of our babies... I know, that makes you jealous... sorry. Can't send any yet. :) She is amazingly cute though! Just wait... time will fly and soon she will be home with us. I can't wait!
Yesterday she turned over by herself for the first time. We were so excited! The people who are in there with us couldn't figure out what the big deal was, but even Tina's little baby clapped with us. :)

Ok. gotta go! Love you all.
Brad and Steph and Alia:)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

And the winner is....

Well, I have so many little girl clothes, shoes, hats, etc...
I have premade scrapbooks that can't be boyified... no matter how hard I try.
Each outfit that I bought and scrapbook page I made...
I tried to envision what my little girl would look like.
Of course, in my mind... she was perfect!

As we've been packing for this trip... I've been preparing to meet a little boy... just in case... I was fine with that and knew that I would love him just as much (but have to do some big time shopping).

Let me introduce to you.... our baby...
our little GIRL! Alia Lynn

She is exactly the little girl that fits in the clothes that I have picked out, the asian bedding (and the animal bedding that was just in case of a little boy), and in our hearts. You should see her daddy! He can't stop asking to hold her... which if you know Brad... is quite surprising. :)

This little girl threw up on my jeans... didn't bother me... weird.

This little girl grins each time she sees either of us (my mom says it must be gas). ;)
Amazing! Worth every thing that we have had to go through... more than I can even say!
A whole new meaning to the trust thing... not that I didn't have doubts... because I did, but... I knew we were called to be here and that God would have something amazing for us here.

So, really all I can tell you is that she is 7 months old and is too big for size 3-6 month which is what she is always wearing... :)

More soon.
We love you all! Thanks for waiting while we told our families! Brad and Steph

p.s. Alea, Sophie, and Alia will need to get together ASAP... we can take lots of pictures! :)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Typos!

Ok, sorry about the "mal" typo... I obviously know how to spell that word. :) It was MALL of America. :) I was so excited about it... I didn't care how it was spelled... it was awesome!

So, unfortunately... I still can't give details and sorry we aren't able to update the blog in the middle of the night here... the internet cafe is closed. :) We have a plan for tomorrow morning to hopefully be able to talk to our families and then .... all will know!

So, you know how we were complaining about the 122 degree weather last time... well, I'd take it back... it's freezing here! Ok, well... maybe not freezing, but it is cold. I guess I'm never really happy with the temp... unless its holding steady at 75-80. Brad is loving it...

Ok, so Brad says that he likes the "mal" spelling of mall because it means bad in Spanish... I don't think that's funny! Brian is probably laughing at that one!

Ok, we love you all and are about out of time... stay tuned because our NEWS is on its way!

Brad and Steph and ...... :)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you"... He sure does! So, due to internet difficulties, we haven't been able to talk to our families yet, so we can't post any details yet... but, things are going VERY well this time! Totally different and amazing... Hopefully we can share more soon.

So far, we haven't had time to do much exploring, so ... we'll hopefully get some pics and funny stories for you soon.

Stay tuned... sorry we havn't been able to post too much... we just found the internet cafe and weren't able to bring our computers. Hopefully we'll find another option soon though.

Signing out for now,
Steph and Brad

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Here's some Mal of America videos!! I hope they load for you all!

And… we’re back!

Here we are again, back in good ole Kaz! For some reason, I had to buy a bag of m&m’s and some pear juice. … I was so happy when I found them! Talk about comfort food. I think that tomorrow morning we begin the process in our region (that made me need some chocolate!). We have one more flight tonight and then we should be settled in our “new home” for the next month or so.
So, we spent most of Friday at the Mall of America (since we had a 23 hour layover in Minneapolis). That was fun! If you know me, you know that shopping is my favorite hobby! If you know Brad, you know that he walked around for quite a while, but then noticed a huge Madden 2008 tournament going on in the middle of the mall… needless to say… we parted ways for a bit. We did ride one of the roller coasters at the theme park in the middle of the mall. I got some fun pics and videos, but don’t have time to load them on here yet… pictures to come…. Hopefully soon.
Please remember to pray for us as you go to bed tonight…
Hang tight… hopefully we’ll figure out internet pretty soon and can put lots of updates out there. Until then, we love you all… more to come!
Steph and Brad

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Hi ho! Hi ho! It's back to Kaz we go!

September 18th!!! This is the day we leave. Renewed... renewed passion for this calling, renewed energy for the travel, renewed excitement for the first day, renewed hope... that we will meet our baby this time.
Meanwhile...
-We still haven't painted the baby room because we still don't know if we will have a little girl or a little boy. I have anxious siblings ready with the paint brushes while we are gone.
-Brad turned a year older... and we were actually in country to celebrate.
-I will turn a year older... although, I'm saying that Sunday is a LONG time away because it's the big 30! Whoa!
-We are about to celebrate 5 years of being married! September 13th... That's exciting.
What a year! 2008 has been a great year for us (and it is only August)!
Keep checking back... one more big change to be announced... (probably several posts before we get to that point, but... keep reading).
More soon! Don't forget to keep us in your prayers.... I know I've said it before, but I can't stress how much your prayers have been felt in our lives.
Stephanie

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

still waiting

So, just in case you are waiting for an update... we are still at home. Current plans are still to return to Kaz mid to end September. Most of our forms expire this month, so we are currently busy doing paperwork. We will definitely post a blog as SOON as we hear anything so that all will know. Please keep praying for us. We are so desperately hoping to meet our baby on our next trip. We have no idea if it will be a baby girl or a baby boy, we just can't wait to hold our baby in our arms.
We plan on blogging again the next time that we travel... we are counting on you all to continue with the comments. :)
STAY TUNED...

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Home sweet home

Wow...it's great to be home. The bed...nice. The shower...nice. American food...nice.



Thanks to everyone that has been supporting us through this, and watching the blog. It looks like we'll be coming back to Kaz around the middle of September to start this process over again. That means more time (and money), but we're holding on to the thought that it'll be all worth it when we're holding our baby.



Love you all,



Brad and Steph








Friday, August 1, 2008

FYI...

Someone told us yesterday that it got up to 50 degrees celsius here. That may not mean anything to you, but that converts to 122 degrees f!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were seriously considering buying some eggs and frying them on the sidewalk.

We also considered skinny dipping in the fountain in the middle of town just like all of the local kids. ;-)

jk

brad and steph

Monday!!!

So, we are going to be home on Monday! We are excited, yet sad... can't wait to see everyone, but are missing the one thing that we thought we would come home with. Please just keep praying for us in the next few months because we'll probably be coming back here soon and we are hoping for much better results... like our baby. :) Anyway... see you all soon. BTW... Nancy... I'll load up the Snickers for you! Love you all and see you soon!
Steph and Brad

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

There's no place like home...

So, here we are... still in our original city... the options aren't looking great at this point.
We have decided to come home for now. We are actually very excited to come home (back to our electricity, clean shower where flip flops are not necessary, family, and friends). We are dissapointed at the problems that we have run into here, but... we have to trust that God has a reason for us coming here and going through all of this. There are some options for us, but they aren't available right now, so we will keep everyone posted as to what the future holds. :) We may come back to a different area in the near future, but we'll see... we'll continue to post updates as we know anything...
We'll see you all when we get home. :)
Love ya!
Steph and Brad

Monday, July 28, 2008

110!!


So, the longer we stay here, the hotter it gets. Apparently sometime this week it is supposed to hit 115! That's craziness! So, I don't care what everyone says... humidity or not, that is hot!


We still haven't figured out what our next step is... we are just waiting... as patiently as possible, but it is pretty much driving us crazy (nope, apparently we were not already). Every day that we continue to hear nothing means more money and more time here. The "happy side" is that we are more thankful for our home, family, friends, jobs, and country every day.


A couple of days ago, we went to the zoo with our friends here. I'm even more thankful for our zoo! :) I can't even begin to describe what we saw. We did take pictures, but since I'm not on my computer, I can't put them on here right now. All that I can say is that our hippos, monkeys, girffes, camels, birds, crocs, lions and tigers and bears (oh my!), etc... they are VERY lucky.
Brad searched all over the zoo for a Honey Badger, but he never did see one. I'm pretty glad that we didn't see one... :) those things are scary looking!
So, we remain packed and ready to go... just waiting for a happy phone call... we'll keep you posted. Love you all! Steph and Brad

Sunday, July 27, 2008

moving...

So, the request the other day for prayer... here is the deal...
Looks like we are moving to a different region.  Sometimes a door looks like it is open, but its really not... or maybe there was a lesson to learn by walking through it for a bit.  Anyway, we are basically starting over.  We aren't really sure what the next step will be, but we are waiting to hear.  Please just pray for strength, direction, peace, and sanity for us.  We will keep you updated as much as we can... keep reading.  Maybe I won't have to sell all those little girl outfits after all... When one door closes, another door opens... we can't wait to see what God has in store for us.  
By the way... a few of you have wished that you had a way to email us and you do!  Just check with my mom or Brad's mom to get the address... we'd love to hear from you. :)  Please keep the comments coming!  It gives us something to look forward to each time we do get computer access. :)  Love you all!  
One more thing... for more reading fun, check out Teresa's blog!  She's got some FUNNY stuff on there and enjoys picking on Brad a bit, so some good pics too! :)  Enjoy!
Steph

Saturday, July 26, 2008

This is how the story goes...

Ok, so... here is what I think... if they are going to turn the electricity off each day (not accidentally)... they need to give me a schedule! So, just about every day the elecricity is turned off (different sections of the city at different times). It is SO irritating! Here is the story when I'm at home and the electricity goes off... it wakes me up because my fan stops making the noise that I require to be able to sleep. I get up out of bed, find my Ameren bill and call them... waiting on hold for as long as is necessary, only for them to tell me that they are aware of the problem and working on it. So, back to here... there is no number to call, it is extremely hot and for multiple hours at a time... they turn the electricity off ... on purpose (I know I said that originally, but just wanted to make sure you get the idea)!

Ok, here's another thing... today we tried to wash our clothes in the washing machine at our apartment... it took 4 hours! Seriously, not kidding... and that was with us helping it along... I kept turning the knob to try to make it stop! I thought we were never going to get our clothes back! :) Fun times in Kaz!

Keep praying for us... lots going on...

Friday, July 25, 2008

News for the day...

So, we don't have much to say today... but, we need your prayers.
There is so much going on with us, we can't really explain right now and we are fine, but... please pray for us. We will post more as we are able, but... for now, please just remember to pray for us. Thank you all SO much!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Is this butter??? :)

Ok, so the grocery stores here make it quite hard to figure out what it is that you are purchasing... I think its so that they can get you to come back when you get home and it's wrong. :) Anyway, we were hanging out with our friends last night and decided to make some popcorn... since you can't just buy microwave popcorn here, it has to be done the old fashioned way. Ok, so on with the story... sorry... So Winston came home with a package and said, "is this butter?" We all laughed! What a funny question to have to ask. It wasn't butter.... it was creme cheese, so we did have to go back... oh well.

So, we moved into an apartment today... fun stuff. So, I was hoping for the internet to be working there, but not yet... so, if you are expecting an email... sorry again. Its just not working out well for us. Hopefully we'll get it back soon. Until then, here I am at a cafe, yet again... to post a blog.

I'll try to post more soon... I have some good pics to post, but ... hopefully next time.
Signing out for now... Steph and Brad.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Gum... grrr!

So, crazy thing about this place... Yesterday went out for lunch. Our bill was 1036 tenge (that's pretty cheap, only sounds expensive). Anyway, we gave them 1200 and they gave us .60 and a pack of gum as change! Are you kidding me?! It was only a 5 stick-er too! So, here is the plan... next time we go to that rest. and it's the same price, we are going to give them 1000 and a pack of gum and see how they like it. :) Our translator can't wait to hear how that goes.

Such a different thought process... what can I say??? A month sure is a long time! We miss you all lots, but really are having a great time!

Between the folding of the underwear, electricity going out at random times each day, and packs of gum for change... we sure are looking forward to coming home!

Hopefully we'll post some more later today... later we will be heading to our new little friend, Sophie's... to play with her and her family a bit. :) Oh, and going to look at an apartment today... hopefully that works out. Then we will have constant access to internet (well... as constant as constant can be here. :). Love you all! Steph and Brad and... tbd.

Monday, July 21, 2008

O where is my hairbrush...and shoes...and underwear???

Funny thing about our hotel...the cleaning crew comes in and TOTALLY cleans the room. They fold our clothes straight from the suitcase and put them on the shelves in the closet!! They put all of our shoes neatly by the door, and I pity the fool that puts too much misc. stuff on the nightstand. All of that and they only leave one towel when they're done...and you know how Steph is about wanting to share towels with me!! She only uses her towel once a day at home, let alone after I've used it!

And yes, they folded my underwear and put them in the closet.


We're going through the "bonding period" now. We visit the baby house once a day and get an hour or two to play with the baby. (Thanks for the name ideas btw!!) Right now he loves Steph and he's not so sure about me yet. Unless he's in a great mood he'll kind of look the other way when he sees me. (Alright Grace, go ahead) The babies haven't seen many men before, especially not ones as scary as me!!! Everyone says all the dads have had the same problem, but he'll get used to me soon enough.

brad and steph

One more new post....

This next one goes out to Misty...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTY!
Sorry it's a little late... we got a little confused on what day it was...

Since Alia won't work anymore...

We need some help from you! Can anyone help us think of some boy names for our little guy? We need names and what they mean. We've been doing some searching, but when we look at him nothing seems quite right just yet. Sorry, you'll have to help us without being able to see him. Here's a hint, Ethan, Caleb, and Luke are three names that are being considered (although, that crazy Davis family I married into, named a dog Caleb and are having some problems with a baby being named the same... although, it was a long time ago... what kind of name is Caleb for a dog anyway?)! You know I love you all... just had to throw that in there for fun. :) So... help! Bring on the ideas for us!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Some pictures...









These are some fun pics of our day of fun around town. A huge fountain by our house (where people let their kids come and swim), places we love to eat, some new friends that we have met here, the Mega Mall, and traffic here (on a fairly good day). :) Enjoy! Make sure you read the blog that was posted previous to this one... it's the news you've been waiting for.

Anyone want to buy some cute little girl clothes?

Well... we are sorry to keep you all waiting. We've tried to update as much as possible without the info that everyone has been waiting for... but at last, we have the info! We have our baby!... well, not physically with us for a while, but we know which baby is ours. Here's the deal... just when we think we have everything figured out and we are in control, we are reminded ... yet again... that we aren't in control, but the One who is... knows exactly what He is doing and what we need. :) Anyway... Here is what we are able to share on here... 18 months, 18-19 pounds, very tall, very huge and beautiful eyes.... our little boy! :) Yep... boy it is.
What am I going to do with all those little girl clothes??? Well, I have girl shower gifts for the rest of my life... and, I might keep a few because who knows what the future holds. All I know is that I have a little boy and he pretty much stole our hearts the first moment that they brought him in to us. So, looks like Micah might have someone to start a fantasy league with someday. ;)
Of course... our little boy will know that life isn't ONLY about sports... (Brad says, "whatever", but I'm the mom and... well... you know. :)
So, we've had quite a roller coaster ride here, but now we know why we came here. We can't wait for you all to meet him. Oh, yeah... no name yet... we are working on it. We didn't really have a plan b when we started, but now... it's in full effect... a plan b. :)
We have some great pictures of a day that we took to ourselves to just relax, run around town and have fun. We'll be posting those as soon as possible. If my battery lasts now, it might happen now, but we wanted to be sure to get this one out there.
Keep reading... we'll continue to put more out here. We still have a long time here and REALLY enjoying keeping in touch with you through this. Keep posting those comments!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Address

We met two American couples here, and we went last night to this cool new cafe called Address. Yes, Address - written in English. Who knows, right? Anyway we had some great conversation and great chicken kabobs...mmm... Stephanie finally ate something!!

No new news yet on the baby...please keep us in your prayers. We'll try to get some more pics and info on here soon.

BTW, nice comments. Keep em comin'

BTW again, Brian and Bryan...how do you feel losing to a guy not even looking at his team!!!! ;-)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Will it blow? Here we go!

So, the plugs here are pretty different than they are at home. We brought several connectors so that we would be able to use all of our electronics, but the first time "trying it out" was very scary. We set out all of our electronic toys in the room and decided which was the least important. :) This was after we tried using the converter and plugging in a surge protector... a loud pop and yucky smell later... we had blown the surge protector. That was fun. After that, we were very worried about blowing something of importance. So, after weighing out all of the options, we decided that Brad's cell phone was the lucky winner! With a quick prayer and squinted eyes, we plugged it in. Nothing... then the cell showed that it was charging. :) Yipee! So, now we are set. Right now we are at a cute little restaraunt not too far from our hotel. So far, this is where we have to go to have internet access (luckily, the food here is good and not too expensive). It is about midnight where you are, but as soon as we got online, my dad was waiting to skype. :) Sometimes he just "knows" when to be where... such a "God thing". So, we were able to chat a bit with them... awesome! Just what we needed right now. Right now our schedule is very... well... there is not one. Each time we are dropped off at our hotel, we are told what the next pick up time will be... Kind of hard to "plan to skype" with family from home. However, it is pretty nice to go from such a busy, crazy, hectic time schedule at home and come here where we have a lot of free time and can just nap, watch tv (which we usually end up napping when we do), or just explore. Although, after a month or so of this... I'm sure we'll be glad to get home. Miss you much, but this is the adventure of a lifetime. We are having fun so far... no news on the one thing I know you are all waiting to hear, but ... there will be as soon as we can. Lot's of love! By the way, I was SO excited to see that Kellie and Leigh both posted blogs (they normally don't do much on the internet)! Way to go! It is great to hear from all of you. Thanks for being a part of our journey.

Shymkent- here we come!



Day 2... We were picked up at 5:30 in the morning and taken to the airport for our flight to our region. It was 1 hour and 10 minutes on Air Astana. They actually fed us the best meal that we’ve had on an airplane in that short time. J The interesting thing about the flight is that when they announced that we were preparing to land, I looked out the window and all I saw was desert… seriously! Mountains and mountains of sand! For a brief moment… well… you can imagine what was going through my mind. Anyway, Shymkent is surrounded by desert, but not as bad as I was envisioning. It’s actually a fairly good size and there is a Mega Mall a few blocks away from us (we’ve already visited… ). We are currently in a hotel room, but will be visiting an apartment tomorrow to see about moving. It would be nice to have a little more room and internet available (thus the long period without posting… sorry about that), but we are very much enjoying the air conditioning here. We’ll see what happens. That’s it for now… we’ll update more later…

Cleopatra’s




Brad and I decided that we needed something to eat and that the hotel food was too expensive, so we ventured out on our own (even forgetting the “Russian for Dummies” book at the hotel). We walked for a little while and passed a neat looking pizza place. We passed it, but later decided to check it out. When we walked in, they were very quick to start talking to us (in Russian) and very quickly figured out that we didn’t understand a word that they were saying. J They went ahead and seated us and they even had an English menu… we were very excited. We ordered a cheese pizza and 2 cans of Pepsi! It was wonderful! Too bad we are leaving here so quickly… maybe on the way back through we’ll stop by there again. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

Hotel in Almaty





Here we are in the Hotel in Almaty! We spent one night here (our first night in the country). My sister would be proud of me… no air, but we hooked up the fans and opened the windows to make it work. Check out the awesome view that we had from our room there.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tired...????

Well... we are two very tired people...
When we first arrived, we were taken to our hotel and had no idea what came next. With really nothing to do but wait by the phone (in a VERY warm room by the way... no air here and very hot!), we did what anyone would do after 24 + hours of travel... we went to sleep, but that is usually a mistake... we'll find out in a little while when we try to sleep for the night.

Tomorrow's agenda... we leave at 5:30 am to take our flight to our region. It's the big day... hopefully we'll meet our baby. :)

Well, the battery is about to go out on me, so... keep checking back... the next post will probably be the big one. :) And... hopefully pictures of some of our trip so far.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Welcome to Kazakhstan!

It's a good thing we remembered how to login to this blog because everything is showing up online in Kazakh (or Russian... not that we can tell the difference).

Hey everyone! We are sitting in Hotel Kazakhstan! We are here, complete with luggage! Yippe. The flights were great (if a flight can be great) and we are just sitting here waiting for what comes next. We are having trouble with email, but hopefully we'll figure that out soon. More to come as soon as we can...
Steph

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Packing...

Steph says..."How do they expect me to pack all that stuff on the "packing list" and not go over weight limit?"

Ahh...packing. When you're going over seas for a month how do you know what all to bring? It seems like it would be simple: clothes for me, clothes for her, but wait!...what about baby stuff, books, DVDs (in English), and what about those packing lists you get from everyone who's been over there already? Just to give some perspective...the link at the bottom of the page has like 300 suggested items to pack!!! What?!? It also says somewhere that you should make sure you don't take too much luggage...I give up! ;-)

Well, our next post will be from across the pond!

brad


Here's the link: (http://kazakhadoptivefamilies.com/packing_index.html)

Monday, July 7, 2008

Kazakstan here we come!!!!!


Stephanie and I just got the call. We're coming to Kazakhstan!! We are leaving July 14th 2008 to go meet our daughter. We don't know anything about her yet...but we can't wait to find out. We're going to Shymkent in Kazakhstan. Take a look at the map. More to come soon!