Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Meet Tommy!
And here it is... the moment you've all been waiting for... (drumroll, please).....
This is Tommy.... the boy of our prayers.
The Mama, the Papa, the Tommy. Wow, this feels good!
The Mama and her Tommy.... trying to read a book together.... in Russian ;)
Tommy and his Papa.
Tommy is discovering how much fun Papa can be.
A swingin' good time! Did you notice this boy's smile yet?.... it lights up the world.
We were invited to stay for lunch, and gladly accepted. Our first meal together.
Pakka! (Goodbye!) Da zaftra! (See you tomorrow!)
Today was incredible. When we got to the orphanage they told us that yesterday Tommy was told that a mama and papa were coming for him today. ...and that he was very excited. He walked in the room with his big smile on his adorable face...and our hearts melted. He was all smiles until a few minutes later after we started trying to communicate with him. At that point he got a bit of a freaked out look in his eyes and we thought he was going to break down. Poor little guy, although he knew we were going to be Americans he apparently did not realize we would be inept at speaking Russian ("what kinda parents are these? -they can't even talk right!") So we quickly grabbed the nearest soccer ball and began speaking his "language' - soccer, that is. The smile was back and soon we were all outside playing around. He then wanted to show us all around the grounds...then all around the orphanage. When we showed him the legos we had brought he got busy and asked Papa to show him how to make a "machina" (car) ----Zach, you and Tommy are going to get along great! He also gladly ate his M&M's we brought and 2 or 3 of the lollipops that our travel partners brought (more about them later). Yep, he's a good boy. :) Of course the Mama's favorite times were when Tommy would take her by the hand and lead her somewhere, or when he would say "Mama..." and talk non-stop ------ about what? I don't know....it's all Russian to me! Yes, it was an incredible day.
This is Tommy.... the boy of our prayers.
The Mama, the Papa, the Tommy. Wow, this feels good!
The Mama and her Tommy.... trying to read a book together.... in Russian ;)
Tommy and his Papa.
Tommy is discovering how much fun Papa can be.
A swingin' good time! Did you notice this boy's smile yet?.... it lights up the world.
We were invited to stay for lunch, and gladly accepted. Our first meal together.
Pakka! (Goodbye!) Da zaftra! (See you tomorrow!)
Today was incredible. When we got to the orphanage they told us that yesterday Tommy was told that a mama and papa were coming for him today. ...and that he was very excited. He walked in the room with his big smile on his adorable face...and our hearts melted. He was all smiles until a few minutes later after we started trying to communicate with him. At that point he got a bit of a freaked out look in his eyes and we thought he was going to break down. Poor little guy, although he knew we were going to be Americans he apparently did not realize we would be inept at speaking Russian ("what kinda parents are these? -they can't even talk right!") So we quickly grabbed the nearest soccer ball and began speaking his "language' - soccer, that is. The smile was back and soon we were all outside playing around. He then wanted to show us all around the grounds...then all around the orphanage. When we showed him the legos we had brought he got busy and asked Papa to show him how to make a "machina" (car) ----Zach, you and Tommy are going to get along great! He also gladly ate his M&M's we brought and 2 or 3 of the lollipops that our travel partners brought (more about them later). Yep, he's a good boy. :) Of course the Mama's favorite times were when Tommy would take her by the hand and lead her somewhere, or when he would say "Mama..." and talk non-stop ------ about what? I don't know....it's all Russian to me! Yes, it was an incredible day.
We are here....in Kazakhstan!!
Whew! We're here! We left our home at 4:30-ish Saturday morning (we won't even mention how many hours of sleep we got that night) for a 7 am flight fom Seattle..to San Fran...to Frankfurt...to Almaty and arrived at our apartment for the night near 1 am Monday morning, Kaz time. Monday was a morning with the lawyers and signing papers, money exchange, quick 1 hour sightseeing, and then off to the airport in the evening to fly to Astana, the capitol and our home in Kaz. Things have been non-stop. So much to share. But the main thing is..............This morning we left at 7am to drive to the little village of AkKol to meet our son. It was an ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE time. Words cannot describe. But hopefully pictures will. We are at an internet cafe now and hope to post pictures of this wonderful day soon.
We are here....in Kazakhstan!!
