Travel tips I found today

No new news about when we might travel :-( the only thing we've heard lately is that our 171H paperwork will expire in a few months and we have to start working on getting it renewed. Thankfully we do get 1 free renewal but having our homestudy updated might cost us. We are really hoping to travel this month as it's now been over a year and were told the wait should be 10-12 months. I really want to travel in the spring and be home to enjoy the Summertime with our daughter. I always bug Sandy about the Cherry Fest in July, usually I start on new years day by saying "the Cherry Fest is only 7 months away!!" the Cherry Fest is in NorthEast and runs all week, They have the largest firemens parade in the state and tons of great food plus I can't wait to show off our new daughter. This is the one time during the year I get to see people I graduated with.
Well not much else to say but here's some great travel tips I found today:


Traveling overseas exposes you to exotic environments, diverse climates and unique food — as well as health hazards. Here’s how to prevent them from ruining your trip.
By Doug Newcomb

Millions of people vacation outside the U.S. every year and return home with nothing more than jet lag, but traveling abroad involves unique health concerns. So while you’re planning your international itinerary, put equal effort into making sure you have a healthy trip. This requires a bit of research and may add a few extra dollars to your travel budget, but preparing for the worst will help ensure the best trip possible.

Before you go

With all of the resources available online, finding out what the weather will be like in Angkor Wat, checking the current political climate in Chile or locating the best hospitals in Helsinki is just a few mouse clicks away. Your first stop should be the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/travel), which provides detailed travel-health information on every country from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It also contains entire sections devoted to vaccinations, diseases related to travel, food and water safety, illness and injury, travel clinics and more.

Then, check the State Department’s Web site (http://www.travel.state.gov) for a list of travel warnings and alerts. While countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan are understandably under travel warnings, destinations such as Mexico and China, which many travelers consider relatively safe, have also recently appeared on the travel alerts list. The State Department also suggests that you familiarize yourself with conditions at your destination that may affect your health — the climate, altitude, pollution and air quality — and that you investigate available medical facilities, accessibility to prescription medications you may need and the immunizations required.

The best way to stay healthy on a trip abroad is to make sure you’re feeling shipshape before you leave the U.S. You’ll obviously need to be fit before embarking on an international ski trip or a strenuous eco-adventure. But even if your idea of an ideal vacation is lolling on a tropical beach or strolling through European museums, the effects of long-distance air travel, unfamiliar foods and schlepping bulky bags can be hard on the hardiest of bodies. Consider scheduling an exam at a travel clinic before you depart so that a doctor can give you health advice tailored to you and your trip. For a detailed list of travel clinics, check out the International Society of Travel Medicine’s Web site (http://www.istm.org).

No matter how much you prepare, things can still go wrong while you’re out of the country, and you don’t want to be scrambling to find decent health care — or figuring out how you’ll pay for it. Check with your health insurance provider to see what your policy covers when you’re outside the U.S., and if medical evacuation, which can run upwards of $50,000, is included. If you aren’t adequately covered, you’ll have to decide if it’s worth buying traveler’s insurance (not to be confused with trip insurance, which reimburses you if something goes wrong with your reservations or travel plans). These short-term policies cover you while you are out of the country, and typically cost less than $100 per individual for a trip of up to 20 days.

Many online travel agencies offer this type of insurance, and it’s also available through independent companies such as travelersmed.com and AIG Travel Guard. You can also check with outfits such as MedjetAssist and Global Rescue, which specialize in medical evacuations. Or, consider Medex, which offers a complete suite of international travel services, such as its 360 Global Medical Monitor, which adds country-specific information on diseases and health risks, immunization requirements and recommendations for local hospitals to a travel insurance policy.

While you’re there

Once you’re at your destination, the best way to stay healthy is by being cautious about what you eat and drink. For example, while one of the pleasures of foreign travel is sampling local cuisine, the CDC advises:

• Avoiding raw foods, including salads and uncooked vegetables
• Eating only fruit that you’ve peeled yourself
• Avoiding unpasteurized milk and dairy products
• Eating only foods that have been freshly cooked and are still hot
• Exercising caution when eating food prepared by street vendors

Even greenhorn globetrotters know not to drink the water in many places. Instead, you should quaff only canned or bottled beverages and imbibe coffee and tea made only with boiling water. The CDC also recommends avoiding ice cubes in areas with questionable water quality. If the tap is the only source for quenching your thirst, the CDC advises rapidly boiling water for at least one minute.

Water can pose a health risk even if you don’t drink it. Infections of the eyes, ears, skin and respiratory, neurological and digestive systems can be contracted by swimming in contaminated water.

Other health concerns

Since many illnesses spread through germs, an important liquid to pack is hand sanitizer. A small first-aid kit stocked with bandages, pain relievers, antiseptic, anti-diarrheal tablets and other emergency essentials can also be a vacation saver.

To protect against malaria, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne illnesses, use a repellent containing DEET on exposed skin and apply it on top of sunscreen when necessary. Wearing a long-sleeve shirt and long pants also keeps the bloodsuckers at bay. And remember that, like vampires, mosquitoes are most active from dusk to dawn. So stay inside screened-in quarters after sundown and sleep under insecticide-treated bed netting for an extra layer of protection.

According to the State Department, road traffic-related injuries are the leading cause of death among U.S. citizens traveling abroad because of such factors as substandard roads and lack of safety equipment in vehicles. Therefore, it recommends:

• Renting newer vehicles with safety belts and airbags and bringing your own child seats from home
• Riding only in taxis with safety belts, sitting in the rear seat and offering drivers an extra gratuity for driving safely
• Avoiding overcrowded or top-heavy buses
• Hiring a driver familiar with the area and local traffic
• Wearing helmets when riding motorcycles and bicycles and bringing your own helmet if you know you’ll engage in these activities.

If something goes wrong

If and when something does go wrong in another country, you’ll want to have an escape plan. Start by registering with the State Department before going abroad so that you can be contacted in case a crisis develops in the area where you’re traveling. This will also automatically register you with the embassy in the country you’re visiting; it’s also helpful to have the phone number and address of the nearest embassy or consulate handy.

Many travel insurance policies cover emergency medical evacuation. But if something happens that requires such a drastic measure, you’ll want to know how to get in touch with the medevac service pronto. Most insurers provide a wallet card with international toll-free numbers, and Medex offers international mobile phones and satellite phones that are pre-programmed with a one-touch “lifeline” to its emergency response center. With any luck, you’ll never need it.

GOOD NEWS!!!

Country Status

Kazakhstan is currently OPEN to adoptions by US citizens.For a list of Joint Council agencies working in Kazakhstan, please consult our Country Programs page.





March 25, 2008 -

On Monday, March 24th, Joint Council met with Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michelle Bond. The meeting addressed the Ambassador’s concerns regarding adoptions between the United States and Kazakhstan and confirmed the ongoing review of all adoptions cases currently at the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington D.C. The Ambassador kindly detailed Kazakhstan’s efforts to ensure that intercountry adoptions are in the best interest of each child and conducted within an ethical and legal framework. He also expressed Kazakhstan’s efforts to utilize the tenets of the Hague Convention in both current and future laws.

Joint Council is pleased to report that at the conclusion of the meeting, the Ambassador confirmed that the temporary suspension of dossier processing by the Embassy is lifted and dossier’s meeting all necessary criteria will be processed. Dossiers not meeting the criteria will be held at the Embassy until all issues and concerns are successfully resolved. The Ambassador also confirmed that a review of all adoption service providers and family dossiers is ongoing and will remain in effect until further notice. During this review period, adoption service providers and potential adoptive parents should expect ongoing delays in processing times. No specific time line for the processing of dossiers is currently available.

It remains Joint Council’s understanding that in adoption cases where the dossier has already been processed by the Kazakhstan Embassy and forward to Astana are not affected by the review process noted above.

The Kazakhstan Embassy, U.S. Department of State and Joint Council have agreed to work collaboratively over the coming weeks to ensure that the goal of ethical, legal adoptions under the tenets of the Hague Convention are met in a timely fashion and in the best interest of each child. Joint Council hopes to meet with Consular Chief Almat Aidarbekov in the coming days to discuss specific issues related to child welfare in the U.S. and Kazakhstan.

Joint Council extends our sincere thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Idrissov and Deputy Assistant Secretary Bond for their efforts on behalf of the children we serve. We also applaud Ambassador Idrissov’s commitment to ethical child welfare and to ensuring a safe, loving and permanent family for every child.

10 Things No one tells you about parenthood

Here's a good article I found this morning about parenthood enjoy:

Everyone has seen the “what to expect during parenthood” books and articles, but they never tell the whole story. While raising kids is the most rewarding thing you will ever do in your life, and the love you feel for them is unlike anything else you’ll ever know, there are a few pitfalls nobody ever tells you about. Read on, if you dare.


1) The way you view the world changes
When you bring someone into this world, things like global warming, war and women in beer ads have a whole new meaning. You start actually looking at the impact these things have, and what the world will become after you’re dead and gone. Leaving a better place for your kids and grandkids becomes more than just talk.

2) You’ll feel like a failure
There will be times when no matter how hard you try, your kids are never happy. You feel you’re telling them “no” too much, constantly harping on them to clean their room, or dashing their dreams of lowering their brother down the staircase on a rope. While they may complain they don’t have a Wii or that “so and so’s” mom let’s them see PG-13 movies, you need to stick to what you believe in and what you feel is best for your kids.

3) You have no time
This seems obvious, but you can’t believe just how little time you have. You start to measure things out in minutes and seconds. “If he watches Curious George for 20 more seconds, I can go to the bathroom,” or “If his nap lasts another 10 minutes, maybe I can get in a shower today.”

4) Not going to the bathroom by yourself
When your kids are babies, the bathroom is the only place you can get your head together. It’s also one of the only places you can actually read. I read ESPN’s Bill Simmons’ entire book over the course of the week in the bathroom when my youngest was a baby. And then he turned two. If he’s not forcing his way in to watch “how it’s really done” he’s banging on the door screaming “lemme in!” or sliding all his books underneath. There is no peace with toddlers.

5) Parenthood will turn you soft
This one hits the guys especially hard. You’ll find yourself tearing up at any dumb movie that has anything to do with parenthood, and if you have a daughter, don’t be surprised to find yourself playing “My Little Pony” before heading off to work. The icing on the cake is hawking Girl Scout cookies in front of your local grocery store annually.

6) They will embarrass you
This is a big shock, and you’re never ready for it. In your mind, they are perfect little angels; in reality, they’re little people trying to figure out their way in the world. Unfortunately, they say what they want—when they want. It can be something that’s funny like announcing to their pre-school class that Daddy farts all the time, or it can be humiliating like a temper tantrum in a grocery store or having them tell your parents to “get me a toy next time” after opening a gift containing pajamas. You’re prepared for the fact that you’ll embarrass them when they get to a certain age, but you’re never ready to be the one that’s humiliated.

7) Worrying
This is the one that stings from the day your child is born until the day you die. From the start you worry that they’ll stop breathing in their crib, then you obsess about getting the damn car seat in correctly. They get a little older and you worry about them falling down the stairs or choking on a Polly Pocket. As the years go on you lose sleep about dating, not fitting in, or getting into a situation that they can’t handle. Then there are the worries that never go away: providing enough, paying for college or not teaching them the right things. The list goes on and on and on, and it takes a major toll on you. But you worry because you love.

8) You won’t be the parent you think
We all had visions of the kind of parents we would be to our kids. Now, as battle tested Moms and Dads, we’ve heard the prospective parents spouting off advice. Those hollow words of wisdom come even though they’ve never gotten up at three a.m. to do a load of laundry with more vomit on it than a frat house floor. Nor have they tried to cook dinner with a screaming baby in their arms, a toddler doing cartwheels off the couch, and the phone ringing. It usually goes something like this: “I’d never let my kids watch TV before they turn three,” or “I would never raise my voice at my child,” or “My toddler won’t ever eat sweets.” Uh huh, and I said I’d never own a minivan. You have this great picture of the kind of parent you want to be, and how picturesque your family will become. You try to live up to that vision, but you also have to survive. So, snickering at a prospective parent spouting off advice is not only allowed, but encouraged.

9) Sickness
Let’s start with pin worms. They are small parasitic worms that live in the human intestinal track. The worms crawl out of the child’s anus at night and lay their eggs in the diaper, pajamas and other areas around the bed or crib. The eggs are then passed to others and ingested unknowingly. The worst part? You have to go in there and grab them while your kid is asleep. It’s a damn horror show. It’s also not something I had any idea about before having kids. Sick kids take a toll on the entire house. Even the typical cold has taken on a whole new meaning, especially with toddlers. It can require being up in the middle of the night for days in a row, missing work and acting as one giant Kleenex. The numerous slug trails across your shirt are always a nice touch.

10) The feeling of unconditional love
You assume that you’re going to love your kids, but what you end up feeling for them is unlike anything else you’ll ever know. Just a simple smile from your offspring can erase a really crappy day at the office. This is the reason why people rave about having kids while they look exhausted and have a fresh batch of spit-up running down their back.

Craig Playstead is a freelance writer, husband and father of three living in the suburbs of Seattle. In the past he's also been a sports writer, a game writer and a talk show host

Quote of the Day

If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.
Ann Landers

ONE YEAR GOOD NEWS BAD NEWS

Well today marks one year of waiting for the call!! We have gone thru so much up to this point but nothing as scary as yesterday. We found out via a podcast today that
Tom DiFilipo, President of the Joint Council on International
Children's Services spoke about the news that
the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the U.S. has stopped
forwarding dossiers to Kazakhstan. This is believed to be a
temporary situation while a review is conducted of the international
adoption process. Apparently the Kazakhstan Ambassador to the U.S.
put this new policy into place, and he and the Chief Consul at the
New York Consulate have temporarily returned to Kazakhstan.
Though on the podcast it was said that the New York Consulate is
still accepting dossiers, If dossiers are sent to the Consulate, they will stay there and will not be reviewed until this temporary suspension is lifted.
We also found out if your dossier is already in Kazakhstan, then your adoption is
not affected by this suspension. It only affects those families
whose dossiers have either not been sent to the Consulate, or those
families whose dossiers are currently at the Consulate.

So while this won't effect us we feel sorry for families that this will effect and hope this will be resolved quickly.

Well on a different note Suzie and Julie both asked what part of PA. Sandy and I live in, well we're just up I-79 North of Pittsburgh we live in Erie. Yep it's snowing here again, we're ready for some of that 65 degree heat Almaty has recently had. 70 degrees in Tampa and San Diego sounds great.! I've been in Florida before but never made it to Tampa. The pitures above are from my NAVY days in San Diego. My ship was stationed in Coronado in 1988-90 the above picture was taken just outside the Hotel Del Coronado and the other at the boarder of Mexico going into T.J.

Julie I see from your blog that Benjamin has been to Mission Beach. I lived on that beach every day (great Boogie boarding)!! I even did some work at the RED ONION night club and wonder if that old rollercoaster still there by the boardwalk? I loved San Diego and have fond memories of my time I lived there.
Well that's all for now we hope soon to post that we will be traveling.

BAD NEWS !!

Bad News, we hope to find out more within the next few days as to what's going on and if this will effect us.


On the web site of the Joint Council on International Children's
Services, a group representing some U.S. Adoption Agencies, an
announcement was made yesterday that the Kazakhstan Embassy and
Consulates have suspended dossier processing. The link for this web
site is below:

http://www.jcics.org/Kazakhstan.htm
Country Status

Kazakhstan is temporarily suspended to adoptions by US citizens.

For a list of Joint Council agencies working in Kazakhstan, please consult our Country Programs page.

March 17, 2008 -

Joint Council confirms the suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy and Consulates pending the finalization of a review of adoption cases by the Kazakhstan government. The following represents our understanding of the suspension.

The suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate is effective immediately.
Dossiers which have been processed and forwarded to Almaty will be permitted to continue through to finalization.
Dossiers which have not yet been processed by the Embassy/Consulate will not be forwarded to Almaty and will remain at the Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate pending the completion of the review noted above.
The Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate will not accept new dossiers pending the completion of the review noted above.
Joint Council hopes to meet with Kazakhstan officials soon and will continue to provide updates and information.

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!

An Irish Welcome


Here's Céad Míle Fáilte to friend and to rover
That's a greeting that's Irish as Irish can be
It means you are welcome
A thousand times over
Wherever you come from, Whosoever you be


May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

"St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time -- a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic."~~By Adrienne Cook.~~

You know your from...

This post goes along with yesterdays post:
You know you are from Pennsylvania when:
You have an uncontrollable urge to buy bread and milk when you hear the word "snow."
You say things like, "I'm calling off today," and "They're calling for snow."
You think the roads in any other state are smooth.
School closings due to snow take the radio stations a half an hour to finish,
When it snows, they put cinders on the roads instead of sand.
Live for summer, when street fairs signal the beginning of funnel cake season.
Never have to worry about being stuck in a ditch when it's snowing. -someone in a 4WD pickup with tow chains will be along shortly.
You actually like when it snows because it fills the potholes.
You can drive 55 MPH in a blinding snowstorm without breaking a sweat.
You just had an icestorm and when the wife ask "how is it outside?" you say not bad it's almost 31 degrees out here. True story

The Big Dig

Sorry I havn't posted for a little while,just over a week ago the weather hit 65 degrees here in PA. we had to break out the shorts and turn on the Air Conditioning. Well not quite but it was nice not having to wear a jacket for a day. We just spent the past week being reminded that it's not spring yet, the picture above is from the ice storm we had a week ago and then we had two foot of snow dumped on top of us. So I've been spending all my time working and coming home and working digging out from under all this snow.
The only news on the Adoption front is that invites for families requesting girls should be coming soon =:-) our Agency can't say exactly when but soon. For now we're still getting things packed, paperwork in order and still learning russian.
Here's an article from our Agency about Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan's search for its identity By Natalia Antelava, BBC News, Kazakhstan


With their arms folded neatly on the desk, and eyes focused on the teacher, a group of five-year-olds repeat diligently the rasping syllables of their new language.

But the minute the lesson is over, they turn to each other and break into softer and more familiar Russian.

"I try to make sure that they speak Kazakh when they play," the teacher, Irina Kasymbaeyeva tells me. "After all, they are Kazakh."

Across Kazakhstan , primary schools and kindergartens are at the very frontline of the national revival.

"Often, once children start speaking, parents come up to me and ask me to translate, because they don't understand what their kids are saying," Mrs Kasymbayeva says.

It is not only families that are lost in translation here.

Kazakhs are trying to run the country in a language most of them don't speak.

Bureaucrats at all levels are now required to take Kazakh classes and pass language tests, there are even financial incentives for those who do well.

'Dangerous search'

"Our language is so far behind, we need to develop it. In 40 years' time, I want everyone to be speaking Kazakh," says Elmira Suymbaeva, who heads the committee for sport, culture and Kazakh language development at one of the municipal administration authorities of Almaty, the country's biggest city. But behind this obsession with language lies a much deeper, much more complex and, many believe, dangerous search for a new national identity.

"There is a very big national identity crisis," says Yevgeny Zhovtis, one of the country's leading political scientists.

In the early 1980s, Kazakhstan was among the first Soviet republics to experience the exhilarating rush of nationalism. It later swept through the whole of the Soviet Union , bringing thousands into the streets in demand for independence.

And once this independence was achieved, the newly born states tapped into their historic memory, remembering and often re-interpreting their pre-Soviet past in order to learn how to live in their post-Soviet present.

But Kazakhstan 's historic memory proved to be thin and its statehood had no roots of its own.

Grey cities

It was the Tsarist Russia that first forced the Kazakh nomadic tribes to settle down and swap their oral tradition for literature, art and music shaped by the Russian and European influences.

It was the Soviets who altered history by drawing new borders, and filling the vast Kazakh steppe with grey cities and millions of people from all the corners of the Soviet Union .

By the 1930s, Stalin had turned Kazakhstan into a human rubbish bin for the Soviet Union . For almost two decades, an uninterrupted flow of millions of men, women and children went through the concentration camps that Stalin built in the Kazakh steppe.

And many of those who managed to survive stayed in Kazakhstan .

From all this pain and suffering emerged a hugely diverse and a truly multicultural society.

By the time Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991, only 40% of its population were ethnic Kazakhs and most of them no longer spoke the language.

Their nomadic ancestors left almost no written records, the oral tradition was wiped out, and it proved difficult for the Kazakhs to remember what life was like before the Russians arrived.

The Kazakh government faced a task of not only building a new state but also creating a new, unifying identity for all.

It was a challenge, but in the region gripped by ethnic tensions, it was also a rare opportunity to create a state where which group you belong to is determined by citizenship and not blood.

Multiculturalism

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in power since the Soviet days, says he has done just that.

"We are the most multiethnic of all post-Soviet republics. As the result of Stalin's policies, we have people of 130 nationalities living here - these are people who lived through true terrible catastrophes and hardships. That's why the first thing we did when we gained independence was to create equality for all," Mr Nazarbayev said in his latest BBC interview.

Most people in Kazakhstan do not argue with the president.

And because multiculturalism is one of the pillars of Mr Nazarbayev's state ideology, not many here question how this diversity can coexist with the accelerating process of national revival, which is built on the ethnic Kazakh tradition.

Some believe that by turning the nomadic tradition into such an important component of the state-building process, the government is not only alienating almost half of its population - those who are not ethnically Kazakh - but it is also creating a myth for its Kazakh citizens.

That was the point argued by the late Kazakh historian and academic, Nurbulat Masanov, who in one of his last interviews compared the legacy of the Soviet Union to a Russian matryoshka doll.

Clear trend

Just like the wooden nesting doll is made up of a set of matryoshkas, each smaller than the other, so the Soviet-era Kazakhstan was created from layers of values and cultures, he argued. The traditional Kazakh values, he said, were that smallest doll, hidden in the heart of the big matryoshka.


"Kazakh culture was part of the hierarchy, but it was only a very small part," he wrote in his interview to zakon.kz website.

"But now we are throwing out all the dolls and trying to blow our midget matryoshka into a colossal size, and assign her false achievements."

An attempt to give the nomadic culture significance beyond historic proof, Prof Masanov argued, gave birth to myths and showed a deeply confused and an insecure nation.

Many in Kazakhstan would be offended by his argument.

But even if the opinions of the late professor can be argued, sociological surveys show that whatever is happening in Kazakhstan is making non-Kazakhs feel uneasy.

"All surveys conducted since independence show a very clear trend," says Yevgeny Zhovtis, "and the trend is that non-Kazakhs here do not feel that they are part of the nation building process.

"They are working here, they are living here, but they also feel like they are guest, and they don't associate their future with the country."

Kazakhstan has enjoyed its independence, which has turned it into the powerhouse of Central Asia .

The oil wealth brought all the perks of a Western lifestyle, but behind the four-wheel drives and the glitz of Almaty hides a nation that is still struggling to merge its diversity with its desire to revive and reinvent the lost folk traditions.

The fear is that as Kazakhs find their identity, half of this nation will be left behind.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7265434.stm

Big Shock at the bookstore

This weekend we went to Boarders bookstore to pick up a russian-english pocket dictionary to take with us to Kaz. As we were picking up books and making a choice Sandy picked up a book and much to her/our shock it had every 4 letter swear word you could possibly think of in russian!!! Turns out it was a russian phrase book for dating?!?!?, seems to be more suited to being a phrase book for driving in Almaty from what we've heard. No No we didn't buy it we ended up buying the Berlitz Russian phrase book and dictionary no naughty words in this book ;-) lots of color coded pages with everything from food, eating out, accommodations, renting and more, words and phrases to help with each situation. This should come in handy and fit easily in my back pocket. I've been trying to learn more russian but it will help to have a cheat sheet in my pocket. I've been looking into electronic talking translators but some of the better ones cost as much as a laptop. I'm still checking out E-bay for a good deal.
We just found out today 2 more families will be traveling later this month to the Almaty region so we should be moving up the list. We figure if we had asked for a boy we probably would have traveled in Nov.-Dec. the only good thing about waiting is that we can learn more Russian and not have to worry about a Pennsylvania ice storm like we are having tonight delay a flight if we were to have traveled in Jan-Feb or early March.
Well that's all for now time to study more Russian.
To the traveling families we hope for a safe and wonderful trip.

WE GOT THE CALL !!!!!!

This week we got the call!! Well not the "call" but another call we've been waiting for. I entered a contest back in December and won a trip :-) I've recieved release forms and tax forms in Jan. and have been waiting to hear something and finally got the call last tuesday. I'm not saying as to where we'll be going "Sorry" (it will be a surprize for all to read later) I'm not really sure of all the details yet but our biggest fears were laid to rest, We were worried this trip would have to take place during our Adoption travels but were told we could take the trip anytime we wanted and all three of us can go. This should make for a nice first family trip together and somewhere neither Sandy or I have been to before. I might have to start another guessing game!
On the Adoption front no new news yet, the 19th will be one year of waiting so we know were getting close. Last we've heard from our Agency is that they expect more referals in March so maybe one could be for us. My mother has been saying her gut feeling is that we will travel in late March we shall see if she's right.
The only other Adoption related things we've done has been to buy a new digital camera, have our carpets cleaned, can't have a baby crawling on dirty floors and just some cleaning around the house and getting things packed.
Well that's it for now, we're going shopping for new coats and some nice outfits for the trips. PAKA PAKA for now.