Attention kz4youandme fans - GET READY TO MOBILIZE!

...Not only are we back in the Blog saddle...but we are receiving preliminary news that our Dossier is at the KZ Ministry of Education just waiting for the approval stamp. Once approved we will receive the coveted LOI (letter of invitation). -Which means we travel! - More later.

Love, Dan and Kerry

What's next?

These photos are of a Kazakh girl wearing a wonderful dandelion crown, the famous Kazakh hunting, pet-eagle and the flag of Kazakhstan (note: The eagle flies under the sun).

The finger printing appointment at the Dept. of Homeland Security/Customs and Immigration Services went well. We arrived at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to a line up of the GR international melting pot. The machine digitally read our fingers while we watched on-screen for the unique patterning. The purpose of this round of finger printing is for the United States government to approve our adoption from Kazakhstan.

While waiting 1-2 months for this one page letter of approval we still have a few more forms to complete.

In the meantime we are enjoying the warm spring and family traditions of the season.

WHY Kazakhstan?

Many people asked us why we selected the Kazakhstan as the country for our international adoption.

1. The children in baby homes are well taken care of, receive developmental stimulation and excellent medical supervision. Ratio of caregiver to child is 1:4.

2. Infants are available as young as 7 months.

3. Parents spend time bonding and getting to know their child before committing to adoption.

4. Our agency has relationships with 4 superb orphanages throughout KZ. We don't know which one will be assigned to us until we are invited to travel. Each region has been well established and staffed with a facilitator, a translator and a driver.

5. Kazakhstan is a melting pot of flavors and we very much look forward to the travel and experiencing the Kazakh culture!

The first entry

We are Kerry and Dan, welcome to our Kazakhstan adoption blog!

As of May 30, 2007 we are about 2/3 of the way through the paperwork process. In a few days we have an appointment to get our finger prints taken through the Department of Homeland Security.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words of encouragement and support, it means a lot to us.