Home for Christmas!

So I made it home for Christmas - YEAH! It's such a long trip - I was picked up at my hotel in Almaty at 1:00 am on Tuesday in the middle of a snow storm! The driver was going probably 10 mph it was snowing so hard. It stopped before the flight time of 4:10 am and after we backed out of the gate, these guys came to de-ice the plane with this hot, foamy stuff - then we were off! I only had a 7 hour layover in Frankfurt (ha, ha) and then it was on to the 10 hour flight to Orlando. I stayed overnight at the Orlando airport hotel and Kira flew in from San Antonio the next day. We were home by 4:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday.

So now we just have to wait about the month or so until Angelina can come home. I miss her so much! Hopefully all the remaining paperwork is in order and soon she will be here. I will update the blog one last time when she makes it to the US!

Happy holidays to everyone - I know mine is!

Last stop Almaty!

I'm in Almaty and will sign papers at the consulate this afternoon and then it's off to Frankfurt at 4:10 AM on Tuesday and I will be back in Orlando by Tuesday night at 6:30 - just in time for Christmas. I'll see some of you soon and others not - but Happy Holidays to everyone :)

It's official!

So court was easy and short - only about 15 minutes and easy questions - so it's official! I had to sign tons of papers today and there are still a few more for tomorrow and then on to the embassy on Monday. Then back home. I'll try to see if there's anything exciting to take some pictures of in Almaty - there really wasn't much to see here in Shymkent.

Court date is scheduled for Friday!

Today I found out that my court date is scheduled for tomorrow - which will mean I can make it back to Florida on Dec 23 as planned - YEAH!! My court time isn't until 5:30, so I'll still get to have one more visit with Angelina tomorrow and then I will fly to Almaty on Sunday so I can sign papers at the consulate there on Monday. Then I will leave from Almaty at 4:10 AM enroute to Frankfurt.

Today we took Angelina for her passport picture - of course without a babyseat - just like in China! She had her eyes wide open and was watching the scenery - I don't think she gets out much! After that we still had about another hour for a nice visit.

It's snowing!!

It's snowing! It's been snowing since last night and is supposed to continue for the next several days. Here are a couple of pictures from right around my apartment - including the biggest mall in Shymkent.

I guess I will find out tomorrow if my court date is scheduled for Friday or not. We went out today to print out some pictures of Angelina and me to make an album to take to court. Hopefully it will work out for me to come home for Christmas!

She definitely knows me now!

Today I had another nice visit with Angelina - she definitely knows me now - which will make it hard for both of us when I have to leave her for about a month. She was mostly in a good mood and didn't even take a nap while we were there. She had on another nice outfit when we got there, so I still didn't change her into the clothes I bought for her. But she really looks plump in the outfit - it's because she has 3 layers of clothes on! And it's the very nice interpretor Ira in the picture with her. When we were done at the babyhouse we went to Farida's office and I signed some more documents - then she went to take them somewhere else - I hope I know soon if I will get a court date for Friday - since it's Monday already! Tomorrow is another national holiday here and the babyhouse is closed both tomorrow and Wednesday. It is also supposed to start snowing - so I may not have anything to add until Thursday - but hopefully I'm in the last week of the journey!

Tired today...

Angelina was very tired today - she was yawning as soon as she came in - but she did have a big smile for me right away - I think she is beginning to recognize me :) She played for a while, but was yawning and rubbing her eyes. Then she had about a 40 minute nap and woke up and was still cranky! She was just about to fall back to sleep when they came to take her back. She had on a new outfit today, so I didn't change her into some of the clothes that I bought for her yesterday. Now it's the weekend - so I don't get to see her for 2 days. The weather is supposed to get colder and wet - so I don't know if I'll be going anywhere this weekend - if I do, I'll post some pictures.