Saturday, May 15, 2010
2 weeks ago - farewell at Almaty airport
We brought little Nina home two weeks ago today. She is thriving. She crawls all around and pulls up and stands. She sleeps 12 hours through the night. And of course, she eats! And gets very excited when sees a bottle or food. She is a happy and healthy little girl, and we are very happy too.
Here are a few pictures of us saying goodbye to our interpreter Anna and her son Gleb at Almaty airport. Anna was the first person we saw when we first arrived in Almaty in November, and was there when we were leaving. We appreciate all of her work for us but hope to see her and her son again in Canada if all goes well with her application this year.
Here are a few pictures of us saying goodbye to our interpreter Anna and her son Gleb at Almaty airport. Anna was the first person we saw when we first arrived in Almaty in November, and was there when we were leaving. We appreciate all of her work for us but hope to see her and her son again in Canada if all goes well with her application this year.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Kazakhstan adoptions suspended
We learned from Marina today that Kazakhstan is suspending all new applications for inter-country adoption as they move to comply with the Hague convention. Please pray that Sholpan and Maverick are not affected and they come home soon, and also for all the other children.
Stacy, who sent us the 5-month old picture of Nina, and our friends at Two Hearts for Hope just completed their mission trip to Almaty. Below are their comments about the Karakastek baby house. You can read more on their blog at http://twoheartsforhope.blogspot.com/
Karakastek
Thursday May 6th -
Today we were out of the house by 7 am to get on the road to Karakastek. It was about an hour and a half ride through the country. The baby house is literally in the middle of nowhere and in pretty bad shape. We brought 12 bags of donations, in them were shoes, cloth diapers, clothes, medical supplies, mattress pads and crib sheets. The director and doctor were very excited and appreciative of the items.
We visited with the babies first and got to hold them for a long time. Then we played with the toddlers. Boy was that hard. We walked into the room and every one of them ran up to us screaming "mama, mama." It was the saddest thing. The little girls loved our necklaces and the little boys wanted to sit on our laps and snuggle. We did some crafts with them and handed out the bananas we purchased. We go back on Saturday and will have a small party and play outside.
In September there were about 85 orphans at this baby home, today there were probably 60. 3 years ago there were about 120-150. It was very encouraging to see the numbers dwindling but still so hard to be there among the poor conditions and lack of care these babies receive. The smell is overwhelming and a little hard to deal with at first. The caretakers don't really change the babies diapers all that often and keep them in cribs for a very long time each day. Both are frustrating to see and hard to ignore.
After the orphanage we went to lunch and sightseeing. Tomorrow we visit the special needs orphange to bring the wheel chairs and have the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Children's Complex. Our team in Kaz was able to get a food company to donate ice cream for all the children and there are rumors of media coverage.
Please pray for our team. There are a few members that have become sick over the last few days and run down. We are needing energy and sleep.
Stacy, who sent us the 5-month old picture of Nina, and our friends at Two Hearts for Hope just completed their mission trip to Almaty. Below are their comments about the Karakastek baby house. You can read more on their blog at http://twoheartsforhope.blogspot.com/
Karakastek
Thursday May 6th -
Today we were out of the house by 7 am to get on the road to Karakastek. It was about an hour and a half ride through the country. The baby house is literally in the middle of nowhere and in pretty bad shape. We brought 12 bags of donations, in them were shoes, cloth diapers, clothes, medical supplies, mattress pads and crib sheets. The director and doctor were very excited and appreciative of the items.
We visited with the babies first and got to hold them for a long time. Then we played with the toddlers. Boy was that hard. We walked into the room and every one of them ran up to us screaming "mama, mama." It was the saddest thing. The little girls loved our necklaces and the little boys wanted to sit on our laps and snuggle. We did some crafts with them and handed out the bananas we purchased. We go back on Saturday and will have a small party and play outside.
In September there were about 85 orphans at this baby home, today there were probably 60. 3 years ago there were about 120-150. It was very encouraging to see the numbers dwindling but still so hard to be there among the poor conditions and lack of care these babies receive. The smell is overwhelming and a little hard to deal with at first. The caretakers don't really change the babies diapers all that often and keep them in cribs for a very long time each day. Both are frustrating to see and hard to ignore.
After the orphanage we went to lunch and sightseeing. Tomorrow we visit the special needs orphange to bring the wheel chairs and have the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Children's Complex. Our team in Kaz was able to get a food company to donate ice cream for all the children and there are rumors of media coverage.
Please pray for our team. There are a few members that have become sick over the last few days and run down. We are needing energy and sleep.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Maverick court date - May 13
The Stones of Ohio finally received their court date - May 13! Maverick is one step closer to going home.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Ok. This girl is absolutely wonderful. She slept 17 hours the first night, and 12 hours each night since then. She loves to eat, and loves her mommy very much. Nina lights up when Monte enters the room. Nina is now standing with a little help. She crawls around and is very alert and engaged. Nick and Natalie are so sweet and happy she is here. We were expecting a rough transition, but so far, it has been great. She is coming alive before our eyes. Here is a funny video of her making some noise.
The welcoming party
Here is the awesome scene when we arrived. So many friends and family were there. We are so grateful.
When we landed
We hop off the plane after 26 hours of flight time. We had been up for 40 hours. Nina was absolutely wonderful on the flight but it was still exhausting. We were so relieved to finally arrive in St. Louis. Monte cried.
Monday, May 3, 2010
HOME!
May 1. The eagle has landed. We are so happy to be home with Nina. She was wonderful on the plane(s). We were so tired but even more relieved and happy. Once in her new room, she slept through half of the day and through the night from 4 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday - 17 hours! Nick, Natalie, and the whole family are very happy. We will post pictures and share more stories in the coming days.
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