OK, so this is Dave. Here are a couple more photos of the kids. Alyosha loves taking pictures and occasionally takes one of himself. Zhenya is doing one of her favorite things, eating. She loves those apples, and pears, and crackers, and cookies...
The kids are doing good, even the kids back home. We had to take a day off from visiting today because our lawyer Svetlana needed to use the van to take care of some paperwork. It is good for us to be able to take a day off from the drive. It also gives us a chance to catch up a little.

We are very happy with our lawyer here. We can tell she is really on top of things and cares about us and the kids. We can also tell that everyone else likes her too. She has well established relationships with everyone who is in the "loop" of the adoption process. And she has a good team working for her. Her father, Ganadi, is the driver. She has at least four interpreters, 2 are more for translating documents and court work, and the other two work with clients on an everyday basis.

The other to photos are just some things I found interesting. One is the local version of Pringles. They are not very good, but they have a great name. The other is detergent for washing clothes. I am not sure how they add the "Love" and how much of it is in the mix, but how can you go wrong with adding "love"?

There have been other things that are interesting around here. Jeannie talked a little about the wedding parties taking pictures in the park. One thing I like and I think we should adopt it in the States is the traffic lights. They have the normal green, yellow, red progression except that they yellow light flashes when the light is getting ready to turn green, how awesome is that! It would certainly help me out when I fade into what I call the "red light zone" while waiting for the light to turn green. I usually snap out of it when Jeannie (or Grace, or Josh) point out the light is green or when I notice all the other cars are moving. It would also making mini-van drag racing so much more fun. It would be just like a real drag race, and then Jody would have one less excuse when I smoke him.

Another is the drivers or should I say driving. This is the home of aggressive driving. It is like one giant game of chicken. The good part for us is that they are very careful about pedestrians in crosswalks. I think pedestrians in the road but not in the crosswalk count as bonus points however. Surprisingly we have seen very few wrecks. It seems that everyone understands the rules, knows the other guy is going to be aggressive, and it all works out OK.

Eating out has been an adventure. The food is different of course, but so is the service. Everywhere we have gone the service has been very good. The hardest part for me to get used to is that they don't bring the check until you ask. Since we are never in a hurry and don't really have anywhere to go we usually end up spending an hour or more at the place we eat, usually on the internet. By the time we are ready to go I have forgotten that we need to pay the check. We haven't skipped out on any bills so far, but I could see it happening. Oh yeah, there is no such thing as a "No Smoking" section in most places, bummer.

Oh well, enough for today. We will be visiting the kids tomorrow and should have some more photos. We hope to find out about our court date by the end of the week. It cannot, by law, be any sooner than 7-10 days after the end of the bonding period. There was also mention of a waiver of the mandatory 14 day appeal period. This applies only in cases of medical emergency where the child needs an operation.

Lovely Sunday

These are just a few pics we've taken when we've been out and about here...we have kazillions more...well maybe I'm exaggerating, but not much! We've had a nice day today. We watched a message by Mark Driscoll(out of Seattle) on our laptop. He's doing a series on marriage that has been really good that we've been watching. Then we met up with our Australian friends, two Belgian families that are adopting and a single woman from Rhode Island who just got here. All are great people and we really enjoyed getting to know them better today. Wow, the Belgian families we have met all know about three languages. It's pretty amazing and we are very thankful because it means we have people to converse and share together with in English! It's been interesting getting to know them and learning a little about their cultures. Dave and I didn't know we'd be getting to meet all these families and we've really enjoyed it. It's all due to our Aussie friends though and their getting us all together, so we are really thankful. We are disappointed they are leaving this next week to go back to Australia. The wife is going to have a baby and they are headed back for several months, but at least we got to meet them and connect with some families here. We're headed back in a few minutes to the apartment and Dave and I may watch a movie on the laptop tonight.
We miss you all so much and are so very thankful for your love and prayers for us. We still have a long way to go here, but God has been very good to us and we are blessed indeed.

Getting Close

Monday will be our last official bonding day. We will continue to go see the kids as much as possible in the coming weeks. We should know about a court date next week. Remember to please pray we get a date asap! The shorter the wait the shorter our time here and sooner we get to bring the kids home!
I realized yesterday we had been spelling Alyosha's name a bit wrong...I've been switching the y and o around :) It's actually his nickname...his formal name is actually Alexi...we don't know why Alyosha is a nickname...it's longer than his real name?
On paper his name will be Alexi Benjamin...we will ask him in the coming weeks what he would like to be called Alex, Benjamin or continue with the Alyosha. Zhenya's name will also stay the same on paper but we are giving her a middle name also, Zhenya Claire, which may change to "Jenna" once we get home.
Zhenya has really calmed down this week. Her focus is better and the excitement of all the new attention has quieted down.I feel like we're getting to know the real her now. She's still silly and tests us a bit, but is also very loving and sweet.
Alyosha is getting more and more comfortable with us too...he LOVES the camera and has enjoyed taking lots of pictures with it during our visits. It's been a good way to make eye contact with him. We had a really good visit with them both today.
We also went to the river park area again to saw more brides walking around and getting pictures made. We are collecting quite a few pics ourselves. I keep forgetting to tell Malorie that everytime Z sees her and Dan's wedding picture in our photo album she calls Malorie a queen when we quiz her on who it is! Z has never seen a bride, so queen is the closest thing she knows to someone dressed like that! Malorie you will forever be known as the queen of the Truman family! LOVE YOU ALL

Aloysha

This is the building where A sleeps and Aloysha's rooms. Also pictured here are A(he's in the middle between twin brothers) some of his friends(he such a happy handsome guy!). I'm also unsure of how many children live here... my guesstimate would be 50 or 60? We haven't seen many of the kids. We have just been going to one room where we play with the kids, so it was a special treat to be able to go see their rooms and some of the kids they play with. Although, we've yet to see many kids Z plays with and it's funny when I ask about her friends she calls everyone by their last name?

Zhenya

These pictures are of Z's rooms. I counted about 16 toddler beds in the room where she sleeps. As you can see it's very neat and clean and nicely kept. Next door is the room where she would go to school and then there is the bathroom where she keeps her little towel and cup. She was very excited to show us everything! There is another room just like hers across the hall. I'm not sure how many younger ones there are at this orphanage. There are more older kids(the ones in A's age range) in another building.

more pics

Pictured here is our lawyer Svetlana and her father our driver, Genadi. We are told she is one of the best if not the best in Pavlodar. She is very nice and professional. The dish on the table was served at the "Cantina" a small cafe in Kichiri where they make homemade, yummy food. This dish was beef in gravy with macaroni. It was very tasty. We have gone there a few times now with Svetlana while we are waiting for someone or something. They have wonderful hot tea with milk.
Oh and below with me and Z is a picture of Tanya our translator. She is very sweet and we wouldn't know what to do without her :D

Getting into a routine

I want to add to what I said yesterday about the cost of things here. When I wrote about prices not being so bad I was thinking of groceries. There are many things that are more expensive and a few things less expensive. I was going down a toy aisle in the grocery store yesterday and there were very cheap looking toys(like you'd find at a dollar store in the states) and they were between $6-$8. I believe toys, clothes and goods are generally more expensive here. We haven't shopped much yet so we'll be able to compare more as the days go on.
It's becoming more and more comfortable to visit with the kids and finding ways to relate. We got to see Zhenya's (pronounced kind of like "Jenya" j sound as in treasure) room today. I will try and put up pics of where she sleeps, schools etc..tomorrow.
I'm enjoying a chicken sandwhich as I write you this evening. Most of the food we've eaten has been very American like and good. We do want to try horse one day. It is a traditional Kazakh dish. Well, Dave wants to try it....yeah I know the picky one...I'll have to be feeling strong that day. We've eaten a lot of bread this week. In Kachiri, the small village where the orphanage is there is a small store we stop in to get this hot fresh bread...it's only 50 tenge(less than 50 cents) for a large loaf.
This is usually our lunch with cheese and some fruit. LOVE YOU ALL and please write and tell us what you've been up to!

Some Sights

Pictured above is a mosque, the river and beach area, and orthodox church. We are told there is a mosque, orthodox church, and catholic church in every town of size. Everything is within walking distance from us and we are managing to see something different each day. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and we are trying to take advantage of all the nice days we are having! We hear it can get pretty cold pretty fast.
We had another good visit with the kids today and are halfway through our bonding period. After bonding time is completed our lawyer Svetlana will set up our court date. Please pray our court date is appointed in record time! Why not right! We can ask after all!
Tomorrow Tanya(our translator) and her husband are going to take us to the movie theater. I think we're going to try and see "GI Joe" dubbed in Russian....we figured we wouldn't be missing much not understanding the dialogue. :) AND it will be half price 300 tenge(about $2) :) not bad huh...most prices compare with the States though...maybe a bit more on some things, but with the exchange rate we do pretty well.
I'll try and blog more tomorrow. We have more pics of kids I want to put up of course :) LOVE YOU ALL

Part 2

Aloysha spoke a little more today. When I asked him what kind of foods he liked he said "all". He usually gives one words answers to all our questions :) But with Dave today he was talking a bit more and he smiles a lot and loves to play games with us. He wrote his name in cursive very well and we are told he is a bright student.
We always look forward to seeing them and get to spend a few hours with them each morning.

When we come back to the apartment we unload our bags we've taken to the ophanage with books and games and load them up with a camera and lap top. We have had a fun last couple days viewing all the wedding parties walking around the parks and taking pictures. Fridays and Saturdays are wedding days in Pavlodar. I don't think there is actually a wedding that takes place the way we do in the States. Their wedding day as told to us by our translator Tanya is them dressing up and going to a civil court where they may say a few vows and sign papers and then go all around the city taking pictures and eventually ending up at the mosque or orthodox church to take pictures. It was a lot of fun for Dave and I to take pics of all the brides the last couple days when we've taken our daily exploration walk. We are a short walk from the river/park area where all the action is.
We were told thank you and were given encouragement to take pictures. It seemed to be a compliment to them.

It's beens a very nice last couple days visiting with the kids, exploring, finding nice places to eat and shop, and huge bonus we met a very nice Australian couple that live just down the street who are here teaching english and volunteering at the orphanage. We had a nice time with them last evening. It was really encouraging.
God has been very good to us!

I wish I could write back to each of you individually and answer your questions! There's so much more I want to say!!! We have lots of pics we want to put up too! Our time is always limited as we want to get back to the apartment before it gets too late.

I'll try to get online tomorrow again. LOVE YOU all so much and HAPPY 21st B-DAY Jake and Dan!!! LOVE YOU so much!!!!

This is what our hour long ride back and forth(2hours) looks like every day. We enjoy each day we visit. The kids always seem happy to see us and seem to be getting more and more comfortable with us. Well, I don't think Zhenya was ever not comfortable with us :) she continues to be a character. Today she was displaying her gymnastics to us. She said " I can walk on my hands" as Tanya our translator is telling us she actually started walking on her hands and we all cracked up! We didn't really believe her, but this chick has some skills let me tell you!

A day in the life

First, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been praying! Thanks is just not enough, you just don't know what it means to us. Yesterday and today we have been able to get online at a hotel lobby across the street from our apartment. We have so enjoyed reading your emails and encouraging words. Again, you just don't even know how much we appreciate your messages. I don't know what the people here at the hotel think of this strange foreigner woman crying over the computer, but there's nothing I can do about it!
We are disappointed that we are unable to get the internet at our apartment. I guess the apartment next to us has the capability, but there is a French couple there now and we will have to wait for them to vacate before moving in and being there. It's probably okay for now though because it's especially good for me to be out and about as much as possible as my body gets acclimated.
Many of you have asked about our routine and what exactly we will do each day. For the next few weeks we are doing a required bonding time with the kids. We are picked up outside our hotel by our translator, Tatiyana and driver, Genadi every morning. They are both very friendly. Tatiyana or less formal, Tanya is very sweet and we are enjoying getting to know her. We take an very bumpy hour long drive out to the orphanage. Once there we go to a special room to play with the kids. They come in and are told to hug us and say hello etc...soo cute. We have a few hours a day with them. I'm so glad I brought some things for us to do with them. As you can imagine it is a little awkward one big reason being the language barrier! Tanya is there to help us communicate with them, but it's not the same as you can imagine. I bought these cheap matching card games that have been a good way to interact, also Carla, remember you sent those jacks along with other toys like three years ago? Well, the jacks were a big hit with Aloysha today! He is very coordinated! Also, they both enjoy coloring and color very neatly. Dave has been great with A....he has been reading a simple book with him and learning Russian from A and teaching him some English in exchange.
As I told you briefly yesterday A is quiet and Z is a hummingbird. She goes from one thing to the next! She is super happy and just a little spit fire! Dave and I look forward to our mornings with them!
Today was interesting because a news channel was at the orphanage. They taped us playing with A and interviewed someone from one of the education offices there and asked us if we would do an interview. Our translator asked the director and others and they all agreed it would not be a good idea. There are just lots of rules and regs here and we wouldn't want to hurt our process.It was pretty awkward trying to play with A and having this big tv camera guy taping us for about 10 minutes. I mean he had that camera really close to us at certain points. We asked Tanya if she would find out when it went on tv and if she would record it for us. That would be neat to have for A in years to come.
We get back early afternoon and will probably be in the routine of coming over to the hotel to email or blog. Yesterday we walked and walked around town. We are close to everything here. There are several good places to eat. Tonight we are probably going to a pizza place that we tried a few days ago. It was very good and they have wireless if we want to check in again.
Last night we went to the store and bought some fruit, cereal, bread, water and of course Dave can always spot a treat! There are plenty of icecream treats to be found here just like Japan. In fact J,D,J,and G...the stores here remind us a lot of Japan.
Okay, there is still lots I could ramble on about...the people we are working with, the apartment, the city, but I'll save some things for my next blog okay! LOVE YOU ALL!!! MISS YOU ALL!

Meet the newest members of the Tribe!

We know everyone is curious to see pictures of the new Truman Tribe! Here they are!!
They are such cutie pies!! Our son Aloysha is 8 years old(actually we just found out a few hours ago his birthday is September 6! so he'll be 9. Zhenya is 5 and we don't know her b-day yet. We are in the bonding period with them which will last 14 days. After that our lawyer will set us up a court date which should take place a week after our bonding is done. Then there is another waiting period before the kids can come home.
A is very quiet...he does well interacting, but is mild mannered...Z is a different story...she is in constant movement...think hummingbird :D
We can't wait for you to meet them!!!

We are in Amsterdam! The airport here is very nice. It is suprisingly calm and has many amenities.
I was not feeling well on the plane ride from Atlanta and for several hours today, but am now feeling much better praise the Lord! It was rough there for awhile. Our flight to Almaty is delayed for a few hours making it a really long layover, but what ya gonna do? Well, our next post will be from Kazakhstan!

Love you and appreciate your continued prayers for us!

A traveling we will go!

Grace is safe and sound in Washington state. She left this morning and is already there enjoying her aunts, uncles, grandma and cousins! She is pictured above with a shirt her friend Kristen painted for her :D (She will be the best big sis!)
Dave and I are finishing up the last of the packing. We just took one last run to Walmart! I think we feel pretty ready. I'm sure I will continue to find things to do the rest of the day and may repack a bit, but feel pretty good. We will try and keep the blog up even while we travel this weekend. Thank you to everyone for your kind words, encouarging cards, uplifting calls, unconditional love, and thought-filled prayers for our family!!!! We love and appreciate you all so much!!!

Paperwork Complete(at least on this side)

The photo above is most of our dossier. There are a handful of documents we duplicated and our passport copies X10 making it a total of around 60 documents including 3 home study updates! This represents the last (almost two) years of our life.
We have to also bring another folder full of paperwork for our embassy appointment at the end of the adoption. Goodness I hope we have everything!
Wow, it's so nice to finally be done with all that. We were so happy to have received that last document from immigration on Thursday and were able to go to Nashville yesterday to apostille the rest of our documents! What a relief to now just mail off our last things to America World on Monday and just be able to concentrate on our house and packing! Woooo Hoooo :)
We are already not sleeping too well with things rolling around in our heads all the time, so prayer is much appreciated for all the details we have to keep! Not to mention thinking about the child/ren the Lord is preparing for our family! I don't know how many times I've played "the meeting" over in my head!! What a wonderful day that will be!