Signing off from Kazakhstan

This is our last post until we return to Grand Rapids. Tomorrow we fly to Almaty and will no longer have internet access. See you soon!
Quinn shows off a Kazakh carrot he smuggled out of the Babyhouse.

It took awhile but Quinn finally managed to eat the entire thing! (just kidding).

Yesterday we took a quick stroll across the foot bridge with Sara and Adam Tennen whom we will greatly miss. Good luck guys!

Quinn is here!

It is Saturday night here in Astana. Quinn is sound asleep. We have been together at our apartment for two nights and two days. It is a team effort and dear Quinn is adjusting quite well. He is sleeping as well as he can and eating a lot. He even watched 30 minutes of The Incredibles.

Thank you everyone for your very encouraging and kind words. It has helped us pass the time and nice knowing you are keeping tabs on us.

We will be in Astana until Tuesday, Nov. 27th, then Almaty until Sunday, December 2, arriving in Grand Rapids at 9:15pm Dec. 2nd. All three of us are most anxious to return home.

At 2:00 p.m. November 22nd we descended the Babyhouse stairs one final time and were met with a lovely falling snow and a warm van that delivered us to our riverfront apartment.

Tonight is Quinn's last night at the Babyhouse!

We were able to put Quinn down for his very last 12:00 nap at the Babyhouse.

Quinn takes a break from drinking his tea.


Quinn loves birdwatching. He was transfixed by 5 pigeons and their eating habits in between bottle feedings.

Quinn was very thirsty today. Does he know this is our last official 10-12 playdate with him at the Babyhouse?

Hi everyone! Just a few more days until Quinn comes home to live in our apartment. Quinn was a joyful and active baby today. As you may recall, Quinn sticks his tongue out when he's happily concentrating on a task.

While taking a break from his many crawling adventures today, Quinn stood up on his own. His technique involves getting from kneeling postion to the yoga-like move called "downward dog" , lifting himself from there. By the end of the session he was trying to use each leg individually to hoist himself up.

This week has flown. We celebrated Dan's birthday quietly at home while we both recovered from our various ills. But we're back on track and have lots of photos to fill in the last several days. Eight familes participated in the 10-12 Saturday visitation! It must be a record. Two of the families are outbound next week and two new families arrived last week. We happen to be one of the outbound families next week!! Quinn is the oldest baby in the photo above, by about one month.
Quinn gets tired as the session comes to a close. His finger slipped in his mouth alerting us to switch from nursery rhymes to lullabies.

Quinn keeps close to Mom and Dad during the Saturday family frenzy. He was quiet and calm and didn't want to stray too far.

A previous day Quinn plays with a electronic drum. He loves music.

Here Quinn shows us he is thirsty for his baby formulated cold- "tea". He loves tea just like a true Kazakh.

Quinn and Dad both have much needed appointments with Svetlana for hair cuts.

11.15.07 Birthday family photo. No, we didn't plan the color coordination. Dan felt as green as his shirt. Kerry was on the verge of a sinus volcano.

We wanted to give you insight into our everyday experiences here. This is the main drag in Astana called Respubliki Street. It's a wide and busy road, lined with newer buildings including several shops, a few restaurants and little markets. It is about 1/2 mile walk from our apartment.

Respubliki looking the other way. The street shots were taken on Sunday, the day everyone shops for the week. The road traffic was lighter than usual. The snow is melting and it is mud season.

We toured the interior of the pyramid Sunday afternoon. Here we are at the top fending off giant attacking doves. Actually, the doves are applied to the glass symbolizing freedom and giving it a cathedral-like feel.

During the 15 day waiting period we are finding fun things to do with Quinn at the Babyhouse and keeping occupied around town. Today the weather warmed up enough for us to go on a little driving tour. Tomorrow is November 15th and Dan's birthday as well as Quinn's 9th month birthday. Quinn will be measured and weighed. We think he's really grown. For example, he is starting to get a baby belly. He also seems much longer.

Dan helps Quinn walk or Quinn helps Dan kneel? Quinn took a break from teething the last 2 days and has been a chipper little guy. He crawled around the floor a lot and enjoyed watching some younger girls play.

Quinn looking long as his little belly sticks out.

We took advantage of the blue sky day and toured the Astana-Baiterek Tower. "According to a folk legend, Baiterek is a magic tree found by the hero Yer-Tostik after his long wanderings. In the branches of this world's tree of life once in a year the bird Samruk laid its golden egg. The tower represents a stylishly designed tree with a huge egg-dome. The height of the tower is 97 meters (for it was in 1997 when Astana became the capital of the country)." (taken from Astana website)

Kerry sports a new style of KZ headwear.

Kerry looks up at the nest while Santa (aka Father Frost) walks in the background soliciting photo opportunities. From the lookout Dan counted 134 construction cranes!

We poked around the concert hall/convention center designed by Sir Norman Foster. (Tonight Verdi's Opera, Aida is performing to a sold out audience). At night we see the pyramid's LED lights change color from our apartment. Many well known architects have been integral in the planning of the new Astana.

PLEASE NOTE. Email info.

It has come to our attention that our remote email service using our home email address has not been reliable lately. If you have not heard back from us we probably didn't receive your note. We have learned that some of the emails we sent are also stuck in cyber space. Please resend if you think we may not have received something.

Thanks for your patience!

Attention textile lovers!

Photos from our Sunday outing. The textile traditions of Central Asia are celebrated at the Folk Museum in Astana.

Inside an authentic yurta.

Traditional clothes, lined with fur of course.

A section of a felt rug.

Study of horse saddle and other special horse riding gear.

A section of embroidery.

A deer with giant antlers on man's fur-lined coat.

Saturday's visit with Quinn

Today is Sunday and we were not able to visit Quinn. We just feel in a funk.

All photos below were taken on Saturday. Our small group is walking from the Babyhouse to the road to catch a cab. It was a rare day that our driver was not available. To Dan's delight we were dropped off in a Russian Lada cab, circa 1985. They are especially built for tundra temps and conditions.

The Babyhouse is near a busy road. We were waiting for a cab while others waited for the bus.

Once in the Babyhouse we scooped up Quinn for some fun and games. Here, Dan and Quinn look like they are up to no good. What kind of crazy stories is Quinn hearing from Papa?

Quinn's towel rack in his group's washroom. It says Temerlan in Cyrillic/Russian.

It takes two of us to change Quinn's clothes. Dan is putting on Quinn's socks over his tights, then his pj's over all of that!! That is the KZ way of prepping for a nap.

Saturday there were 6 families visiting babies. It was a packed house. Quinn did remarkably well despite the chaos.

Saturday morning.....burrr!

It is colder than yesterday this Saturday morning on the Western end of Siberia. We are waiting for a taxi today as our driver and many other cars are having problems starting in the frigid temps. Quinn crawls toward his gal pal with great enthusiasm. Note the Camomile "tea"' in his bottle. This is a drink mix given to babies for colds. He loves it!

Quinn's favorite caregiver, the one who calls him Temoski. She enjoys watching our novice diaper changing techniques.

A handmade doll display at the entrance to the Babyhouse.

Dan on one of two colorful stairways in the babyhouse. Quinn's sleep group and visitation playroom are upstairs. The stairways and hallways are lined with beautiful carpets.

It may be cold outside but it's warm and cuddly inside with Quinn

Quinn is on the mend and was active and happy today. Dan and he passed some time playing an intriguing spaceship game starring Captain Quinn and Sputnik Dad. Here are some great closeups of our little Quinn Tamerlane.

What a difference a day makes! Photos taken on two consecutive days. It is freezing here and the furs are coming out of the closets! EVERYONE has a fur. Fur hats, fur scarves, fur coats, leather coats lined with fur. All kinds of fur: mink, fox, shorn sheep (very soft). The furry ladies represent our Team Astana, the adoption experts.

Judge rules in our favor! One step closer.

We were able to squeak in a visit with Quinn this afternoon during the 2-4:00 slot. (Note his huge teeth in this photo). His caregiver said Quinn cried around 10:00 wondering where why we weren't there.

We are looking forward to Gotcha-Day which will offically be 15 days from tomorrow on November 23rd. The next 15 days is a final appeal period and then we will be given custody of Quinn Tamerlane. We will then spend about one more week in our sweet apartment with Quinn while the US Embassy prepares his documents. Once his documents are ready we will travel by plane to the US Embassy in Almaty, the largest city in KZ. The Embassy visit should take around 3 days. Then we will fly home to GRR!!!

We are outside the courthouse after the positive ruling.

We are in the court room with a representative from the Department of Education who spoke on our behalf.