A study of teeth.
Quinn now has 4 top and 2 bottom teeth.

He is so strong and active. He is all BOY!!!

To mark Halloween in spooky KZ fashion, the atmosphere has been a soupy fog all day.

Happy Halloween to all of you ghosts and goblins (cheerleaders and prinesses)!

Thank you everyone for your blog notes and the traditional emails too. They have kept us going and are something we look forward to each day.

Quinn was definitely in "teething overdrive" today!

We are preparing for our big court date on November 7th.

Monday's visit with Quinn, aka Mr. Smiles!

Today is Sunday and we were able to visit Quinn at the usual 10-12 slot!

• Quinn is gearing up for his first Halloween.
• His cow-rattle rarely leaves his hand.
  
• When he is happily concentrating on accomplishing something very important he sticks out his tongue.
  
  

Saturday, a day about town included a chilly walk outside and visits to the new MEGA Mall and a traditional meat and veggie market.

Today is Saturday and we can't visit Quinn because of a National Holiday. : (

Here are some photos from the past 2 weeks in Astana. Our apartment is the metallic goth sort of building built around 2002. The bridge over the river photo was taken from our apartment window. We are directly on the riverwalk with river front views of the Ishrim river. At night we see frequent fireworks in celebration of weddings. etc. The limos were parked at a Mosque, weddings here are a BIG deal. Please note the food images taken from our favorite tiny grocery/deli/bakery (8 x 8), we love the food here.

Quinn T just hanging out.

Dan and Kerry are very excited about our son-to-be!

Quinn Tamerlane West

All packed!

We are down to the final days before our departure and are feeling ready. The bags are packed with weight and size restrictions taken into consideration. This was quite a task! We finally purchased a car seat and figured out the diaper size numbering system. Kerry's mom is keeping us fed and under control. Louie the cat is going to hold down the fort by himself!

Astana is in a cold spell with a low in the 30's and high in the 40's. Next week it will be upper 50's!! yeah.

Travel prep and goodbyes

Things are really starting to come together. We are finalizing pet-sitting and house-sitting arrangements this week. Our cat, Louie and dog, Mae will be missed but well cared for. Mae is very anxious to have a brother or sister to love!

Over the weekend we spent time with our new-found friends, the Burg family. They returned from KZ one year ago with Spencer. We can't thank them enough for sharing their wisdom and experiences. Yesterday we said goodbye to family and had one last swim in Lake Michigan. The weather is like July and water temps are around 70 degrees.

Astana the capital of Kazakhstan

We will be based in the capital city of Astana. We understand it is a new city with lots of construction projects.

One more week and we will be uploading our own photos of Astana!!

Counting down

Recent baby celebrations have prepared us for

our new addition.

A wonderful pile of goodies is gathering on our pool table. Baby clothes ranging in size 6-18 months in non-gender specific colors have been a challenge to find. As of right now we do not know the gender or size of our baby.

Thank you everyone for your unending support and encouragement.

We depart on October 12, 7pm EST.