Friday, December 28, 2007

A reunion ...
















Wednesday morning, the morning after Christmas we packed and got ready to head out of town. We left a little after lunch, Jon, me, Almira, Sarah and Katherine. We headed down to New Orleans to spend the night. We arrived about 6PM and did a quick drive through the French Quarter for Katherine to see what it was all about. The French Quarter has just lost the magic for me. It is so filthy now, with all bars and other unmentionable places. You want to shield the eyes of your children, especially so on Bourbon Street. We did one quick loop through there and then headed to the Hilton to spend the night. We went to Dragos for dinner in the bottom of the Hilton Riverside. It was the same place we had eaten before back in June of this year with Almira. Jon, Almira and Katherine had their fill of oysters. I can't believe those girls like oysters, raw and charbroiled.

Thursday morning we woke up and headed on east for our final destination. We suprised Almira and booked a condo on the beach at Gulf Shores. I had also been talking to Mary Ann, Nina's mother, who was adopted just a few months after Almira. Nina came home in September and was in the same family with Almira. It was such a sweet reunion yesterday afternoon. We arrived here at the condo at almost 5PM. The sun was setting and we unloaded the truck, with Almira still not knowing anything. Then I said I had to go put a parking pass on Jon's truck. Then I ran up to Mary Ann, Tony and Nina's condo on the 24th floor. I got them to come down to our condo on the 11th floor. I went inside and got my video camera ready. Then they knocked on the door and I told Almira to go get the door for me. What a great reunion. It was so good to see Nina again. She looks so good. She has more color, her hair is longer and she is so happy. They came in and visited and then the girls wanted to head to the beach. I took Almira, Nina and Sarah down to stick their toes in the water. I got some great pictures. Then after a while they came back up and we got ready for dinner.

We walked into this Mexican restaurant just down the road, right behind Mary Ann and her family and caught part of a conversation. The three girls that worked there were all Russian speaking. Two of the girls were from Moldova, where Katherine is from, and the other one was Russian. There was jabbering like crazy and talking. Then Almira and Nina joined in with Katherine. What a truly small world! Katherine was the first person from Moldova that I had ever met and then we walk in a restarant in Gulf Shores, AL and meet 2 more of them.

We had a great dinner and then headed back to the condo. Nina, now called Molly, wanted Almira to spend the night because she had twin beds in her room.

Then the girls all went swimming and after they came back up, Almira showered and put on her pajamas. Then she walked Nina to her room and Nina showered and got ready for bed. All this time Mary Ann is sitting down here with Jon and I getting caught up on things, like our girls. We swapped stories about their lives in Kazakhstan and the miracle of both of these girls ending up with us.

I'll stop writing now and post some pictures of the girls. As I type this all the girls are down on the beach digging in the sand and building a sand castle. Mary Ann, Tony and their son, Adam are down there supervising. Well, I must go now and join the fun. Happy New Year to everyone!

Kathy B.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas to All!







Well this is the evening of December 25th. What an amazing Christmas! We have been so blessed this year. I have finally got the girls in the bed. Almira is still back there listening to her new MP3 player. We've been downloading Russian music and pictures this evening. We started last night with Katherine spending the night with us and going to Jon's parents' house for Christmas Eve. We opened gifts and had dinner together. Then we came home and we let the girls open one present each. It was really tough getting everyone into bed. The threat of Santa passing by our house finally worked. I think by 11:30 I had everyone asleep, even Katherine. I finally got to bed about 12:30 last night. Then Sarah woke up at 3AM and couldn't get back to sleep. She finally woke me up about 6:30 and said she wanted to open presents. I told her to go back to bed for a little while. I let her wake up Almira and Katherine at 8 AM. I barely got a cup of coffee down before the present opening started.

Almira was so funny. She got roller blades from Santa and a couple of movies and an MP3 player. She said she had never seen so many presents. She started rollerblading around the house. I thought we went light this year. It was so much fun watching Almira, Katherine and Sarah open presents. The true gift for parents is the joy we see in our children and the magic of Christmas. This year was truly special..

Then this morning after opening gifts I started some gumbo for our traditional Louisiana Christmas. We started doing this a few years ago, all Louisiana foods instead of turkey and dressing, which is Thanksgiving. We had shrimp jambalaya, gumbo, stuffed potatoes, oven fried catfish, hot French bread and some fried oysters. We had all this at Doug and Katy's house. What fun!

I'll attach some pictures which will tell the best story of all. Tomorrow we leave for New Orleans and then on to Gulf Shores for a few days. Almira doesn't know yet, but we're meeting up with Nina, who was adopted this summer from the same family. Nina lives in Alabama now, with some wonderful parents. We will be spending a few days together in Gulf Shores. I can't wait to see the look on Almira's face when she realizes we will be staying with Nina. The best Christmas present of all, seeing a friend from the orphanage in Kazakhstan. Who would think that a year ago these two lonely little girls were sitting at the orphanage wishing for a family. Now they have Moms, Dads and siblings that love them. They will be spending the holidays together with families at the beach. What a precious Christmas this has been.

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year! Let's hope for more precious children to find a family in 2008, that is my New Year's wish!

Kathy B.