Our Adoption From Kazakhstan

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Good Times and Bad....Adventures in Kazakhstan







Olivia is officially our baby girl! Our court appearance went very well. We were nervous and had to answer a few tough questions, but overall everything was great. After court, we took our translator and coordinator to lunch. Zhanara is our translator (front of the table) and Irina the coordinator (behind Zhanara). Irina does not speak Engligh and the menu was in Russian, but the translator made it all OK.

I can't believe that everything is final. David left Thursday night, so I had to tell Olivia the news by myself on Friday. She didn't seem impressed! I do think it is funny that so many changes are happening in her life and she really has no say or right in any of it. I can't wait to tell her the stories when she gets a little bigger.

When I got home from taking David to the airport, I realized there was no water in the apartment. It was also really hot with no AC. I was feeling really sorry for myself lying on the bed when I noticed an air conditioning above the bed. I can't believe we didn't notice it before. So, now I have air conditioning, but I had to wash up like olden days. I filled a pot with bottled water (instead of river water) and washed my face and brushed my teeth. Luckily, on Friday morning, I had water again. We think the city is trying to conserve energy, so they randomly cut off water to sections of the city without notice.

Then, last night I had a great dinner with some of the other parents who are here adopting. We did a pot luck and met at Sarah and Fred's apartment to celebrate all of the positive decisions we had in court. The food and conversations were so good! The picture you see of us smiling is 5 minutes before we had our big adventure. The elevator was not working when we arrived for dinner, but afterwards, we decided to take it down. It went down, but did not open. At first, we laughed a lot. Then, we got scared. I said "Is there ventilation in here!" We tried prying the doors open, pushing buttons, jumping up and down and screaming "Help!" Nothing was working and then the elevator buttons which had been lit up went out. It was 11 pm and I thought we were going to have to spend the night in there. It was tiny and hot and there were five of us crammed in there. Finally, a lady heard us. She said something in Russian and left. She came back a few minutes later with tools to pry the door open. That did not work. We could hear her talking to some other people and guessed they were saying, "There are some Americans trapped in the elevator!" After about 20 minutes (which is really long time to be trapped in an elevator), Fred decided to jump up and hit the ceiling, which we had already tried to open. He thought if we took weight off of the floor, the doors may open. We thought it was a stupid idea. When he showed us what he meant, the doors opened. I have never been so happy to get off an elevator. I can't believe I've spent so much time here worrying about falling cranes and open, deep man holes!

8 Comments:

Blogger The Toneys said...

We can't wait till you and Olivia get home. Please call us when you and Olivia are up for a visit.

8:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Angie and David,
Words can not express our great joy that Olivia is officially yours! We are really looking forward to meeting her when you finally get to bring her home. Glad the elevator incident ended fairly quickly. It's actually rather funny!
The Harpers

5:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HI Angie,

Truly an adventure of a lifetime. You will have so many stories to share with Olivia. We miss you and can't wait to see you and Olivia. We had a great visit with David today! John shared with David that he thought you and Olivia were on the plane.
Love,
Brad, Julie, John, and Ruthie

11:03 AM  
Blogger Tanya said...

We just got back from the beach and are delighted to hear that everything is final! I know your Olivia will be as wonderful as our Olivia. I'm so happy for you all, and can't wait to see you after you are back and settled in. Love, Tanya and family

12:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a sream (literally, it sounds like)! We were so excited to see David and all the pictures on Sunday! I tried not to hog them, but it was hard. Congratulations on making Olivia officially yours, though we know God had her hand-picked for you from the start. We cannot wait to have you back home!
Teresa & Tim

9:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Angie, Kevin and I have been praying for all of you. Olivia is so sweet. I can't wait to have her in the nursery.I'm glad the elevator incident had a happy ending. Can't wait to see you both. Take care and God bless.
Stephanie Beale

6:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Angie-
I am so happy for you. Olivia is one lucky little girl. I have enjoyed reading about your adventures. All the best as you begin your new life together.

Elizabeth

9:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

she's yours!!! Ooooh so exciting. Worth the wait eh? i bet you are the two proudest parents and we cannot wait to hug all three of you! what a journey...

and the elevator...whew! I bet david is glad he missed that one! angie you are sooo brave...you really are one of the most courageous women i know and I will be thinking of you everyday until you and olivia are back home with david.

you and david can publish a book with all of these stories!
lots of love and prayers,
antonia (& the other three boys)

12:38 AM  

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