Last night ended kind of weird. As we are sitting in our bed waiting to watch a movie we heard what
sounded like wind hitting the windows. As we opened the door we heard what sounded like the entire
city chanting and singing. Lisa enjoyed it, it creeped me out and I shut the windows as she begged me
no too. After talking to Natasha today we found out that yesterday was graduation for all of the
children and what we heard was thousands of drunk school boys and girls partying.
Today we went to the park of 28 Heros and it was beautiful!! This city is really pretty, it is
NOTHING as we expected. The people are out and about, they all work or attend school, the
weather is wonderful, and there is a constant buzz of car and people traffic. We saw some beautiful
statues and plaques at the park and then we went to the Russian Orthodox Church behind the park
and it was majestic. We took a tour of the inside and it is one of the only buildings to survive the 1911
earthquake and it is built entirely with wooden nails, no metal. Still standing, still kicking, and looked
great. Then it was off to the Kaz history of music where we were sung to by a 73 year old man and
we bought a cassette of his work from him. Normally, that kind of thing would creep me out, and it
did, but I really enjoyed it. We taped some of it and played it for Lia. After the concert, we went to
get ice cream and checked out Russian Star Wars posters.
After the park, the church, the museum, and the ice cream it was off to LIA and this time we came
with 2 rubber balls. She is as cute as ever and when we got there we signed the petition for adoption.
It was our decree to the ministry of education asking permission to adopt her. Keep your fingers
crossed and those prayers coming, but we took a big step toward adopting her today. It was a blast
hearing her name and ours together as Natasha read it to us before we signed it.
Today's session with Lia involved feeding her for the 1st time and let's just say we got a C (there are
no tippy cups, you have to feed a 14 month old with a porcelain tea cup). Lisa is such a good care
taker, but the cup of warm milk baffled us. Thank goodness the nurse came in to check on us and
showed us how to do it correctly. The 2 hours today had tickling sessions filled with laughter, she
checked out daddy for a bit today, more than before. She let Lisa hold her and sing to her, we sing
her name as it is now "Vica, Vica, Vica" and slowly change it to "Lia, Lia, Lia". She is adorable, enjoy
the pictures, tomorrow we head for the mountains. Natasha said it is a adoption parent test because it
has over 8,000 steps and to be fit for a parent, we must reach the top.
Today was a good day!
