Out of Kaz, in Seoul

Anna, her father, and her son saw us off from Almaty last night. They were all so sweet. We had problems with Nina's ticket and were told "no open, no open.". We said we are leaving and she is coming with us so "make open, make open.". After 90 minutes, they finally figured it out. They walked us through customs and security just in time to make the flight. We were anxious about Nina getting through customs without extra cash or delay, but is went smoothly (relatively speaking of course). Nina had a lot of problems with her ears during take-off, but she finally settled in and slept. She was great the rest of the flight and during this 2 hour layover in Seoul where she is wildly popular. So many people smile at her and many stop and talk. Of course, they are speaking Korean, we speak English, and Nina only has heard Kazakh. But it is still clear that the Koreans admire her very much, and she likes them as well. We will be boarding in a few minutes for put 14 hour flight back to Chicago. We cannot wait to get her home!

Nina at lunch and park

We had lunch at Mama Mia's Pizza. Nina behaved very well but we ate extremely fast out of fear she would erupt any minute (she didn't). Here is something very short but still cute.


The centerpiece of the park. Love this church.


Totally impressed.


Enjoying the flowers.



Time to go. Bye Almaty!

When birds attack

We had a beautiful day touring Almaty today with Nina. The weather was perfect. Here is some footage from the park (warning: some scenes may induce stress for certain bird-fearing grandmothers). This one's for you Jomama.

Just in case you haven't had enough of the cute baby eating videos, here is one more to put you over the top. This was too much fun to pass up. She is sleeping and eating so well, and such a beautiful and happy girl.

One for the grandmas and aunts

(updated with right video) Here is a cute baby eating and interacting with mommy. A little long, but cute.

Nina and the traffic noise

It has been fun watching Nina take in the world around her. Here is a little sample as we drive from the baby house into downtown Almaty.

Nap time

Success at US Embassy!

We had a great experience at the US Embassy, received Nina's entry visa, and learned that Nina Deanna will become a US citizen immediately upon touch down in Chicago. Yea! We were in and out in 20 minutes. She is paper-ready to leave. Only remaining step is the flight home tomorrow night. We cannot wait!

Sholpan

And our time with Sholpan, for Christine.

Maverick

We tried to make our most of our short time with Maverick and Sholpan yesterday. Here are a few moments of our time with Maverick.

US Embassy Today

Nina slept through the night with her feet on the pillow and head against Monte.  We were worried she would be upset missing her surroundings, but she seems to be adapting well.  I woke to her laughter this morning as she was playing with the bottle she had just sucked down.

We are hanging out this morning and plan to go for a walk and lunch around noon.  Our appointment at the US Embassy is at 3:00 p.m.  Marina says everything is in order and it should only take 30 minutes.  We should leave there with the American visa which allows Nina to leave Kazakhstan and enter the US as a permanent resident.  We will get more details today at the US Embassy but our understanding is that she will remain a Kazakh citizen until she is 18.  At that time, she can elect to become a US citizen.

We are enjoying our time here with her, and look forward to our flight home Friday night.  Or I should say, we are looking forward to departing and arriving home, but maybe not so much the flight.  The doctor gave Nina some meds that may help take the edge off, but said we parents are on our own.

Leaving Karakastek

Our 30-month adoption journey hit a high-point today as our family's new life begins with Nina Deanna finally in our arms.  Here is a picture of us leaving Karakastek where Deanna spent the first 12 months of her life.  (and no, we did not vandalize the sign on our way out of town). 

At the baby house, we had a good time saying goodbye to the doctor, nurses, and other children whom we have come to love.  The doctor was so pleased with Monte's gift, a purse from North St. Louis, that she beamed with joy and thanked Monte at least 3 times.  The nurses liked their scarves as well.  Women love to accessorize even in Karakastek.  I hope to post some videos a little later but here are a few pictures.  Let's start with Anastasia Sholpan Polak, our second daughter of Karakastek, who should be heading home to Austria soon.  She is looking so healthy and beautiful, and always melts us with that smile.

And here is our new friend Maverick, Greg and Becki Stone's boy of Ohio.  He is a few months younger than the girls, but is getting so strong.  He nearly tore my nose off.

Please continue to pray for these two wonderful children and their parents who are struggling with the delays and challenges that we faced.  Pray that they are both home by May (Sholpan) and June (Maverick).

It was a wonderful site to see Nina take in the sights and sounds while running around with us today.  She took in everything she saw and heard including daddy's camera (enough with the flash already).

She joined us for her first meal, a soggy french fry, at Mad Murphy's Irish Pub.

After running around all afternoon, we finally settled into our hotel where Nina met Nick and Natalie (and cousin Chloe too!) over a Skype video call.  What a precious moment to see them interacting with one another.  Nina really came to life hearing their voices.  We cannot wait to get them all together (plus Tara, Brock, and Lexi, too) in our home.

This has been a blessed day for us.  It is as if God placed a treasure on the other side of the world, and asked us to follow Him to find it.  And when the road got way longer and harder than we ever imagined, we were given just enough strength to hang on.  And when we finally found the treasure, she was more precious and poured out more blessings than anything we could have imagined.  Thank God for this little girl, and for putting her on my wife's heart 3 years ago.     

Landed in Almaty

We just landed in Almaty without issue.  Weather is great.  Natalia (regional coordinator) and Anna (original interpreter) met us at airport.  Shera Hotel is very nice with big rooms and plumbing.  Monte is filling out our US Embassy paperwork now.  We will pick up Nina and say goodbye to the babyhouse in the morning.  Then we go to the SOS Medical Clinic for the post-adoption physical, required for the file, at 3 pm.  US Embassy appointment is set for Thursday at 3 pm.  At that point, we should be done and clear to leave as scheduled on Friday.  Everything seems in order, and we even received Nina's passport.  Check it out below.  Looking forward to a fun day with Nina tomorrow.  Will try to sleep now.  More to come.

3rd Trip Begins

We are in Chicago waiting for our flight to Seoul.  13.5 hours.  Then straight from Seoul to Almaty.  We should arrive Tuesday at 10:00 p.m.  We need to fill out some embassy paperwork Tuesday night or Wednesday morning before we go to the babyhouse to spring Nina.  We have the appointment at the medical clinic Wednesday afternoon and the US embassy interview on Thursday.  We cannot wait to see her, and see how she reacts to us and the big world outside the walls of Karakastek.  There will be a lot of "firsts" in this little girl's life in the next few days.  We feel blessed to be a part of it.

Tickets bought, updated schedule

No volcano will stand in our way. We are going around the world the other way to get her. We bought our tickets yesterday, heading through Chicago and Seoul on the way to Almaty.

Passport with exit stamp is being registered at Astana consulate now. In parallel, we are having our updated I171H cabled to the US Embassy in Almaty. Assuming it all comes together, we should have this schedule:
- Monday - depart STL
- Tuesday (night) - arrive in Almaty
- Wednesday - free Nina, get post-adoption medical exam at SOC clinic (same as before)
- Thursday - exit interview at US Embassy
- Friday - get Nina's American visa if it is not ready on Thurday; depart late night
- Saturday - land in STL at 1:10 p.m. Celebrate!

From the archive - world's first color photo

At our last family get together, I came across this picture of Richard and Joanne Lockwood that my sister Elissa confiscated from my mother's house. (she is still working through her "middle child" issues). So this covers one set of Nina's grandparents - still working on getting a photo of the other set.

New I171H arrived today!

Barrier #1 was removed today. We received the new I171H today from the US immigration office. What a relief! Working on Barrier #2 - volcano avoidance - looks like we can get to Almaty via Korea instead of via Europe. I guess that is the good thing about going 1/2 way around the world - there are 2 equally long paths to get there! Hoping to leave Sunday, returning Saturday, May 1. We're excited.

Nina and the volcano

Nina is almost paper-ready to leave Kazakhstan! She has her passport and exit stamp which are now being registered at the consulate in Astana this week. With that in place, we can go to Almaty for the post-adoption medical exam and exit interview at the US embassy. It would be possible to go next week but there is this small matter of the Icelandic volcano! Flights have not resumed yet, and the initial check on airfare is $5k per ticket! (3-4 times higher than last time). I need to check to see if we can travel the other way around the world or something. Also, we are still waiting on our updated I171H US immigration paperwork since our fingerprints expire this Friday. This seems to be par for the course. Let's see how this all plays out this week.

Praying for week of April 19-23

Today's update from Marina, our agency's in-country coordinator:

Hello Rich and Monte, Natalia was at the passport agency in Uzunagash to check on the passport status. She was told Nina's passport will be ready tomorrow. Natalia will get the passport and then she will submit it to the Visas Office and get exit stamp. Exit stamp is the permission for the child (Kaz citizen) to leave Kazakhstan for the USA for permanent residence. After this stamp is ready, passport will be mailed to Astana for Consulate registration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You will need to travel to Almaty after Consulate registration in Astana is ready. Approximate time until you will be traveling back to Almaty (after all the paperwork is done) would be about two weeks.You will need to come to Almaty for 2-3 days to complete the process with the SOS medical clinic and US Embassy. I will let you know the date soon. Please, let me know if you have further questions.

Nick Snowboarding at Breckenridge

While we are waiting for news on when we can bring Nina home, Nick and I managed to get to Breckenridge last weekend. Here is some fun footage.