Hello everyone. Bill and I are sorry we have not bloged much but we have been a bit preoccupied. HA! We also have had problems with our lap top connection with the Wi Fi.
So the trip was ridiculously long. LONG!! 9 hours to Frankfurt Germany,6 hour layover, 8 ½ hour flight to Almaty Kazakhstan, then picked up in the midle of the night to be dropped off at the hotel for 10 hour nap. Then pick up for our 1 hour flight into Ust. Which was delayed about an 1 ½. But we are here now. It’s a lovely town with lovely, kind people. We feel very comfortable. We are very close to Russia. And there is more Russian people here that I thought there would be. 50% Kaz and 50% Russian. But then again we are very close to Russia. We love our coordinator Alma and driver Bolat. They are so nice and easy to be around. We love Amy. Our travel companion and who is adopting as well. (Karina who is almost 4) And we love our new Irish friends Phillip and Amanda as well as our South African friends Jeremy and Elaina.

We are dressed very dumpy here. These people here know how to dress. They all are so very classy. Very one wear fur. Fur hat, fur coat, fur boots. I think we stand out because we are so casual. The hotel is very nice, except for the internet. It is so aggravating when you wake up early to go down to the lobby and it’s out of service. And our lap top will not connect because their Wi Fi is down.

The breakfast here at the hotel is great. The lunch and dinner is ..well…gross! We have eaten out a few times. The best Chinese food I ever had. For those of you coming to USt don’t bother packing food and toiletries. They store Daniel,is close to the hotel and it’s nice to get out of the room. You can also exchange your money at the store Daniel. The rate is much better than at the airport. The jet lag is awful. I’m writing you this at 2:00am our time. Which is 2:00 pm your time. I can’t sleep but of coarse Bill seems to have know problem. Bill is snoring up a storm right now in the bed room while I sit in the bathroom watching Bridgette Jones Diary. Tomorrow should be interesting with this little sleep but there is an incentive to get up is…NORA!..

Nora is so sweet. We get to see her twice a day once in the morning and then in the afternoon. 1 hour each, sometimes more. She looks like Alex my nephew but cute like a little girl. She is getting to know us and we of her. She loves her care takers. And when we get to the room early to watch her she is very loud and funny. We have tons of videos and we watch them a hundred times a day. She is just beginning to walk with our help. Before we got here the Irish couple Phillip and Amanda had taken some video of the babies room when the music teacher came to play the piano. Nora is jumping up and down and beating her maracas and tambourine! It is priceless. She will fit in our home just fine.
She is a blessing from God.. And thank you God for her. Please keep praying for us. We still have a long road a head.