greeted by our translator Natasha. We proceeded to customs to get our passports stamped and
declare our money and that was an eye opener. We will go into that later for those who are
interested. People were not kidding when they said the people of Kazakhstan do not smile very
often and are stoic. They are a striking blend of dazzling looks from Asian to Russian. At our
temp hotel we took we took the chance to shower in freezing cold water, change our nasty
clothes, and sleep for 2 hours before being taken 3 apartments for us to choose from. We chose
the 3rd apartment with double locked front door, gate out front, on the 5th floor, and a great
view of the mountains. It was then off to lunch at Mad Murphy's Irish pub were we awaited to
meet with the official from ministry of education from Kaz to get a referral to adopt a child. We
arrived at the office at 2:00 and it was a strange and nerve racking experience. To our surprise
the procedure to adopt a child in Kaz now requires a interview to get a referral. The we met
with was completely preoccupied and a tough cookie as it relates to her opinion that Kaz
children should not be eligible for international adoption. Her time and questioning made this
evident. After an hour of questioning and lecturing we were only able to get a referral from her
for a male child age 2 years or older. As you can tell by the name of the website this is a HUGE
hurdle we will have to jump since Lia is a girl and not yet 2 years. Natasha and Yelena were
comforting stating we SHOULD be able to get around this. This is the time in the journal that
Lisa and I ask for your continued prayers and ask that you kick it up a notch to help us complete
the journey with Lia. Lisa and I could not help but think that our worse nightmare has come true,
that we lost Lia. We together agreed to pray and look to God to help us through this. He will
not bring you do it, unless he knows you can get through it. Details to come on that subject. In
the mean time it is off to the baby house to see Lia!
We sit in a a room with a couple of Minnesota who had a similar upsetting experience with the
official at the MOE. They paraded 5 children in front of us. The 1st boy was a little 4 yr old
with thick glasses, sleep in his eye, and a hand shake for everyone.... INCREDIBLY SWEET!
We asked the care taker how many children we would see, and she said 4 more. In the next
moment several care givers walked into the room and Wil knew right off that the little girl with the
white too-too dress was Lia. Wil asked what her name was and the reply came 'Victoria',
affectionately known 'Vica'! Before you knew it we were holding her and all of the time, effort,
love, anger, frustration, desperation, and even the official and the MOE did not matter, we are
holding our LIA!! She was just woken up with sleep in her eyes and unsure of who these to
weepy people were. They let us play with her for approcimately 2 hours and boy is she a
linebacker. A bundle of energy who just learned to walk, laugh, make noises, and she loves
rubber balls!!! (yes mom, she will love playing kickball, can you say Lia Hamm??). I cannot tell
you the amount of pictures and video we took, but we will be showing them!!!
We spent 2 hours holding, loving, playing with her until it was time for her to go and it was off to
the grocery store (RAMSTORE) to some supplies before it was off to bed. What an 1st day.
11 hour time difference, no sleep since Sunday, dissapointment at the MOE, but then we go to
see Vica. It is time for bed, a lot of bed!!
