Merry Christmas to Mrs. York & Mrs. Melton's Class

Mrs. Melton & class - I miss the class and you. I miss going to music. I can't wait until I get back. I hope you all enjoy the Christmas party today. I wish I could be there with you but I am having a good time here. I am glad to hear you got some snow over the weekend. I hope you got to play in it. I will see you after the first of the year.

Love, Issie



Mrs. York & class - You are right. The santa here does look a lot different. I have enjoyed hearing from all of you. I will see you when school starts back after the first of the year. I hope you have a fun party today. Love, Abbie
Often they make us put this purple outfit on Eli on top of his other layers and the hat is always a must before we can take him to the play room. We think he looks like Barney. He is so stuffed in this outfit he can hardly move. Eli is a strong boy - he was pushing Issie on this car until he decided it would be more fun to pull her hair. We let Abbie and Issie play in the snow while we waited on the driver one day. Mr. Proper - we thought this was funny. Everything has a different name here even Mr. Clean!

We think we will be leaving Pavlodar on 12/27 at11pm and then leave Almaty on 12/29 at 4am to head home. With all of the time changes we will get into Louisville at 6pm that same night. We really hate leaving Eli and Pavlodar but we pray that all of our flights go well with no delays. We do not want to get stuck in an airport.

We have really enjoyed our time here. Life is so different here than at home and we can't say that it is all bad here. We enjoy the slower pace and no one gets excited or appears to get upset over things. It is nice except when you are wanting them to hurry up on paperwork. They do not understand the definition of hurry. We have adjusted to the unrealiability of hot water. It is kind of like camping. You just have to go with the flow.

We are counting down. We only get to visit Eli 6 more times until we come home. We are really going to miss him for the month that we are at home without him but we are sure things will be crazy when we get home and the month will go by quickly.

Our neighbors got to bring their baby to their apartment today. The girls made him a Welcome Home sign and note. They appreciated that. They have been here since the first part of November.

Issie is feeling better today so we got out a little bit. We went to a little cafe for lunch and then we took the kids to another indoor play area. They had a good time. The cotton candy was their favorite. We walked down to the river and the ice town is getting underway. They are starting to carve sculptures. We also paid Santa 100 tenge (less than $1.00) to get our picture taken with him.

We are very excited to get to see Eli tomorrow. We haven't seen him the last two days because of the holiday here and we are missing him. On our last visit we finally gave in and let him have a lick of a sucker. He wanted to bite it more than lick it but he liked it.

A few days ago we went to an open market. They had nice fruits and vegetables. They also had a large meat section. Now that will make you not want to ever eat meat again. The best was a skinned hogs head hanging on a pole. Aside from that it was a good place to shop.

We are starting to get very creative with our cooking. The cooking is so different here. Brian made us grilled cheese lastnight. We found potatoes and oil about a week ago so we are eating those like crazy. You can never beat fried potatoes. We have also found sliced ham so that makes a pretty good meal. We are going to try ham and beans this week but there is no Jiffy Corn Bread here! We also got dried kidney beans and tomatoe juice to try to make chili.

Update from Kaz

Neil - please send us your email address so we can reply to you. We have lost it.

We are doing much better now that it has soaked in that we will be here a little longer than expected. It is nice getting to spend more time with Eli. Each day makes a big difference. Yesterday I got to feed him his lunch. He is a very good eatter and is so good at drinking from the cup. He took it out of my hands and drank the whole thing down without spilling a drop. He seemed thirsty. We are excited about spending Christmas with him. It will be a lot of fun. Abbie and Issie have been saving money for the orphanage (mostly from recycling cans) and we plan to go shopping and take the gifts on Christmas Day. It is not a special day for the people here but it is for us and will make the day seem more like Christmas.

It is Independence Day here so we have been hearing lots of fire crackers. We didn't get to see Eli today or tomorrow so that makes for long days.

Isabelle has been fighting a cough and running nose the whole trip. Last night she ran fever. We have kept her in the apartment most of the day because we want her to get better and not worse. It is not like at home where you can go to the After Hours Clinic, etc.

We were going to go with Simbat to her village today to her cousins wedding but with Issie not feeling well we passed. It would have been a neat experience.

Abbie and I ran down to the Internet Cafe so we could send you an update. We are going to go on a walk and try to find some groceries and then back to the apartment. It feels like we go to the grocery store every few days but you don't buy much at a time because it spoils quickly plus we have to carry it a distance.

We will try to post more pictures soon.

Court Date Set

Cute baby boy! Three Musketeers! Man in tights!

Well, we finally got a court date but not what we were expecting. It is not until 12/27. We really hate this because we feel like we need to get back to work but it is out of our control. Brian will come back towards the end of January to bring Eli home. It is just amazing how they drag all of this out. We know it is going to be harder on us to leave him than it is going to be on him.

We went to a Kaz restaurant lastnight and tried lamb and horse. It was not to bad but we would not want to have it every night. Abbie even tried the horse. The restaurant was a really neat experience unfortunatley we forgot to take our camera.

There are 4 days of holidays coming up here so if we don't email you will know why. We don't know if the Internet Cafe will be open or not.

Merry Christmas from Pavlodar

Top to Bottom: Eli showing off Abbie's hat. Is he cute or what! We had another good visit with him today. Christmas lights by the river. The base of the tree is made up of ice blocks with lights on the inside. It is really pretty up close. We can't wait to see the ice sculptures that should be completed soon. This is our favorate Russian restaurant we told you about. We went back lastnight. You can see the decor. This was the dish that Sandra had. She can't wait to go back and get another one. It is Moscow chicken in a clay pot. It had chicken & mushrooms in a cheesy soup mixture. The top was like a cresent roll. It was wonderful! Of course we had to have our ice cream. Abbie and Issie enjoyed it. It is slightly less expensive to eat out here than at home. We find that it seems more expensive at the grocery store. We come out with a few bags and a high bill and it doesn't last long. We go to the store every three days or so.

We got a lot of laughs from Brian's list and glad you did also. Abbie is a little embarassed that her class read about the pink bear trick. We don't always tell them everything we put on the blog but we read all of the comments to them.

The judge accepted our paperwork but has not given us a court date yet. We are still praying for this week but our attorney does not think it will be until after their Independance day which does not end until Dec 18th. We will let you know as soon as the court date as the four of us plan to head home right after that. Most likely we will have to come back 3 weeks after we get home to get Eli. That should be a week trip or less (hopefully). We can't wait to get him to good ole Carmi, IL. Eli does recognize us when we go get him from his group and is ready to go with us but he is always ready to go back to the caregiver. The couple that has been here over a month says that their son is also willing to go back to the caregivers. I guess that makes it easier to leave him each day. He is learning so many new things. The orphanage director told us today that it is because of us that he is walking. It is just amazing what a little attention does for a guy. Simbat went with us today so she could translate. We wanted to ask a few more questions about his routine. The caregiver was so sweet. She says he eats and sleeps good. I guess those are the most important things for this age. We asked them to start calling him Eli. She was more than happy to do that and we left a picture of our new family of 5 for them to show him often and talk about mama, papa, and his sisters. Again she was very agreeable.

We hope some day in the future to get Eli and Nikki (our neighbors son) together. It would be neat if they could keep in touch as their lives started together.

Seatbelts - What? The first night we got here Abbie and Issie were digging in the car seat trying to find seatbelts but they are pretty non existant over here. That is a big change for them as we never let them ride without seatbelts but you have to do what you have to do. We have let them do a lot of things here that we wouldn't allow at home.

Mary & Adam - We hate to break it to you but Brian was really serious about the hat; however, only at bargain price. I guess that means a trip to the flea market. Here you can tell someones status by their hat. Most younger people, college students or newly married couples have stocking hats. The middle class and up have the fur coats (ladies) and hats (men & women).

Mrs York's class - you had asked about the equipment infront of the church last week. We forgot to reply. You are correct it was a concrete mixer. They were adding onto the church.

Brian's Likes and Dislikes in Kaz

Eli is so cute! We had a great day with him today. We finally got out of the cracker box room and they put us in the music room. It was wonderful and we really had good bonding time. He is now clapping his hands and waving goodbye. He enjoys baby massages. He will fit in well with this family. He likes to suck his thumb and cuddle his "snot rag" as we like to call it.

This is a list of our likes and dislikes in Kazakhstan. Bear with us if we have mentioned some of this before.
Likes:
1. Eli! He is such a blessing. It is amazing and awesome to think how God matches a child with a family. It feels as if he was meant to be ours.
2. People are quiet in Pavlodar. The city is quiet overall with the exception of a few barking dogs.
3.People dress nice here. Most people are in dress clothes of dark colors all the time. Many wear fur coats and hats. I wanted to buy a mink or sable hat but what I've found is about $300. Too high! I'm still looking though.
4. The snow covering the city is beautiful. We also enjoy looking at their Christmas lights with the snow in the background. They celebrate New Years in Jan. instead of Christmas on Dec. 25 as we do. We have found Santa Claus and some Christmas cards with the Nativity on them however.
5. The quality family time is great. We have grown closer to one another as well as to Eli. Abbie and Issie have been super! They have always kept themselves entertained (i.e. 1-They used Abbie's bra as a slingshot to propel pink bear across the room, 2-They chase each other around the apartment as each pretends to be Ghengis Khan.)
6.Our Canadian neighbors have been wonderful. Joe and Anna are adopting a 9 month old little boy. He is in the environmental part of the oil business and she is a speech therapist. She is Russian. They live in Edmondton, Alberta.
7. We have found some of the food to be good, especially in the restaurants.
8.Our apartment is clean and spacious.
9.We have an internet cafe close to our apartment.
10. When the showers work they are good and hot.
11.They have a beautiful Russian Orthodox church here.
12. The trees are nice.(especially snow covered)
13. Sandra likes how they start their day later than we do.
14. We have always felt safe.
15. It is a fascinating culture here and they love their children. They are so cute bundled up like eskimos being pulled on sleds.
16. We have great translators(Elena and Simbat) who are a phone call away. Simbat likes to spend time with us and learn about America and our "slang". I told Sandra that our Southern Illinois dialect would really confuse her.
17. Scented toilet paper
18. We like all of the music we have heard.
19. We enjoyed visiting the Korean Christian Church. Their minister asked us if we believed in God. I pointed to a picture of Jesus and said,"Yes, in Jesus". That was one time that the language barrier didn't matter.
20. Walks along the Irtish River are nice. (but cold)
21. The Russian outdoor channel is interesting. They have some American hunting and fishing shows on there; however, it is still in Russian. It is still fun to watch.
22. ESPN and CNN



Dislikes:
1.The language barrier stinks! I wish I spoke Russian.
2. Public bathrooms. In some places you have to pay extra for toilet paper if you are lucky enough for them to have any. (better hope you have some money) We have learned to first of all use the bathroom in our apartment, and secondly to carry kleenex with us at all times. Some bathrooms are simply a hole in the ground. (We have not seen any of those yet thankfully.)
3. The climate is very cold and dry.
4. People won't speak to you and often cut in front of each other (and you) in line. Needless to say, I've quit holding the door for people and we root in there with rest of them. This is more normal for their culture than trying to be nice. When in Rome......
5. The way they do business drives us crazy. It is at their own pace and slow.
6. The buildings have a very drab exterior. They definately have a Soviet influence.
7. The water in our apartment comes out of the tap discolored. You definately do not drink it!
8. The plumbing system is very odd and sometimes unreliable. I've quit trying to figure it out.
9. The security guards in the malls and stores followed us around our first couple of times in them. It has gotten better as they've gotten used to these American hillbillies.
10. The drivers are wild and honk a lot here. We have just seen one wreck however. If a car quits another will tie a ski rope to it and pull it down the road. Look Out!
11. See thru curtains in apartment or none at all. Good place for peeping toms.
12. Not much selection in the grocery stores. 25% of the store is pasta noodles. Wal-mart would blow their minds.
13. Climbing up the stairs is good exercise. It really stunk however carrying all of our suitcases up. We are on the 5th floor by the way. Elevators are very uncommon around here.

Overall we are having the time of our life, despite a few bumps in the road.

Brian

Pictures

See post below for more explaination of pictures.

Winter Wonderland! We are thankful we did come in the winter because it is beautiful. The summers only get up to about 52F in Pavlador so we would have thought that was cold also and we would miss the beauty.

Keeping themselves entertained. Issie and Eli are good playmates. Eli is walking everywhere.

Hockey Arena. Joe, Anna and us at the hockey game. Photo by Abbie.

Flea Market

Movie Theater