Adoption Trip
(Click Here for pictures from the trip!)

Friday, May 26th

We were picked up to go to LAX at 8:15 am to catch a flight to San Francisco. All the flights were delayed because of fog in San Francisco, so we ended up going on a different flight; but we still arrived at about our originally scheduled time in San Francisco. However, we had a slight problem---our luggage was not there!!! Just what we needed �more stress. We waited an hour and two of our bags arrived, but not the one bag that contained all the orphanage gifts, all of Anara�s clothes and her formula�major stress again! We went ahead and checked in for our Aeroflot flight and then made one more 20-minute walk to the United baggage claim area and waited for more luggage to arrive from LAX. Finally- 30 minutes before our flight was to depart- the bag showed up and we were able to get it checked onto our flight.

Our Aeroflot flight ended up departing San Francisco one hour late and then again almost two hours late from Seattle. The flight was great, with excellent food and friendly flight attendants. The only problem was the movie system was broken so we had to spend time reading, sleeping (not much) and talking for the 12-hour flight

There is an 11-hour time difference, so we landed in Moscow at approximately 7:30 pm Saturday.

Saturday, May 27th - Moscow

We made it through customs okay and then we couldn�t find the Frank coordinator who was supposed to meet us at the airport and take us to our hotel�major stress again! We waited around for about 45 minutes until we finally found him. He had been there all along � we just didn�t see him in the big crowd when we came out of customs. His name was Andre, and he drove us to another airport to purchase our tickets to Almaty. Then he drove us to our hotel-the Marriott Grand, close to the Kremlin. We had a snack and a drink-Russian beer and Russian champagne- and had a good night�s sleep. (This was the last good night�s sleep we were going to have for a looong time�)

Total time from the time we departed our house in Temecula until we arrived at the hotel was 26 hours.

Sunday, May 28th - Moscow

We took a 20-minute walk from our hotel and toured the Kremlin and Red Square. What a wonderful experience and gorgeous sights! We are really glad we went sightseeing in Moscow that day.

We took a short, restless nap and checked out of our hotel at 6:00 pm (we paid for a half day to delay checking out at noon) and walked to a TGI Friday�s for dinner. We then sat in the hotel lobby until our driver came to pick us up at 9:00 pm to go to the airport.

While sitting in the lobby, we met a speechwriter for President Clinton. He was part of the 60-person advance team that was checking out the hotel for the President�s stay at our hotel in one week. We talked to him awhile and once he found out why were in Russia, he asked for our address because he was sure the President would want to send Anara a note welcoming her to the United States.

We were picked up to go to the airport at 9:00 and met the other two couples traveling with us�Bill and Denise from New Orleans and Joe and Kate from Virginia. We all hit it off great right from the start and we were all happy to have others who spoke English to share in our adventure.

Monday, May 29th � Ust-Kamenogorsk

Memorial Day�a day we will never forget.

Our flight departed from Moscow at 12:50 am for Ust-Kamenogorsk with two stops along the way. The final two-hour flight from Almaty to U-K was aboard a very old and small plane called a YAK 40. We were very happy when we landed in U-K at 2:30 pm. Excluding the three-hour time change, our traveling from the hotel to hotel took us 14 hours.

We were taken to our hotel by our coordinator (she boarded the plane in Almaty) and our translator. At the hotel, we had a quick lunch and then traveled to the Children�s Home to finally meet Anara.

Once we arrived at the Children�s Home, all six of us were ushered into the Director�s office to ask the Director any questions about our children and to wait for our children to be brought to us.

We were only in the office about ten minutes when Anara was brought to us. She was more beautiful than we had imagined. Her Mom held her first and Anara touched Renee�s face as if to say �Where have you been? I�ve been waiting for you.� She never even came close to crying, which meant that Anara was the only one who was not crying. We were fortunate to spend almost two hours with her that special Monday afternoon and her Mom and I will never forget the feeling of love that overcame us. Anara�s Grandpa Ickes told us that one can�t ever understand the true meaning of love until they get to finally hold a son or daughter. How true, how true.

Leaving the Children�s Home that late afternoon, we felt overjoyed with Anara, and relieved that she was in good health and well cared for by the Children�s Home. We were looking forward to a good night�s sleep and a hot shower.

Tuesday, May 30th � Ust-Kamenogorsk

Boy, were we surprised this morning when we found out that the hotel did not have any hot water! A cold sponge bath does tend to shake off the old jet lag.

We made two trips to the baby home to visit Anara. She appeared to recognize us right away and we spent a total of 4-5 hours playing with her on the floor. She never once fussed and she smiled a lot. She fell asleep while we held her in the afternoon so we got to take her to her group�s area and put her in her crib. She definitely felt like ours and we couldn�t wait to get her home.

Wednesday, May 31st � Ust-Kamenogorsk

We visited with Anara in the morning for a couple of hours. She definitely recognized us today and laughed and played more than the previous two days. We still had not heard her cry. The standing joke with the other four parents was whenever the caregiver brought Anara to us they would say �I can see Anara is in another bad mood today.� We both felt like we were the luckiest parents in the whole world.

We have been very impressed with the Children�s Home. Even though the building is old, it is bright and clean � reminds us of a day care center in the U.S. All the kids look healthy, and we can tell that the caregivers really care about the children. We are free to visit any room, so they obviously have nothing to hide from us.

Anara�s group has about 12 children in it, approximately 8�16 months old. Anara is the only girl. Less than half of the children are ethnic Kazak, the others are ethnic Russian. Anara has been in this group for only one month, and she appears to be the youngest. There are 11 caregivers that rotate through her group during the week. There were always 2-3 caregivers in the room with the children at any given time.

We went to court this afternoon and the whole process for the three couples took just a little over one hour. After court, we went to the Recorder�s Office to get Anara�s adoption certificate and new birth certificate. We then picked up some supplies (water and a sippy cup) and returned to the hotel.

Thursday, June 1st � Ust-Kamenogorsk

We visited the Children�s Home this morning and were surprised to get invited to watch a skit that the caregivers and about 30 3-5 year-old children were giving. (June 1 is a holiday � Children�s Day.) We were all emotionally overwhelmed to see all these healthy, beautiful children acting so much like all the children we have seen in our own churches and schools yet most of them will never experience the love that only comes from parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters. We all left that day wondering how we could each help those children. I wish I had some answers. I know I will never forget their faces and I will continue to feel like I have to figure out a way to somehow help to correct this dreadful situation. The children of the world deserve better!

We spent about two hours with Anara and she was an angel as usual. We will be picking her up tomorrow at 7:30am to take her with us for good. We can hardly wait. Neither Renee nor I will sleep well tonight.

Friday, June 2nd � Almaty

We arrived at the baby home at 7:30 am with Anara�s traveling clothes. We changed her and took some pictures with her caregivers, and after many tears and hugs by all the caregivers we finally had Anara with us forever. We traveled to the airport and she took in all the sights until she fell asleep. The 2-hour trip to Almaty was very uneventful, as she-again- was a perfect angel. The car ride and the plane ride were very emotional for her Mom and me, as it was hard to believe that she was finally ours. We had a hard time keeping our eyes dry and we enjoyed quite a few group hugs with our new daughter.

Once we arrived in Almaty we were taken to a home where we stayed with the Kampas. We stayed in the family room of this three-room apartment that was equipped with a sleeper couch and a crib for Anara. Flora, who we called Babushka, and her granddaughter Karina stayed in the spare bedroom while the Kampas stayed in the master bedroom. Flora�s husband (we nicknamed him Mario because he drove like a racecar driver) was our driver and slept in the car. The apartment had only one bathroom for all of us, but at least it had hot water.

Anara went to sleep by herself that first night at about 8:30pm and woke up for a bottle at midnight and again went to sleep by herself. She woke us up at about 4:00am when she exploded in her diaper. It was not contained by her diaper so Dad was honored to change her first dirty diaper. She had one other blow-out later that next day that finally got rid of the Children�s Home food she had in her system. Joe said it was like doing a complete oil change, getting the Children�s Home food out of their systems!

Note: The Children�s Home takes the babies off of bottles at two months so Anara had been eating solid food for six months. We immediately put her back on the bottle with formula and she did not have any problems at all with the change in diet.

Saturday, June 3rd � Almaty

We spent the day playing with Anara and enjoying Joe, Kate and Grace. We wish we lived close to them, as we would love to continue our friendship.

We went shopping while Flora watched Anara and Gracie. We bought some neat souvenirs and Joe bought a rug.

Anara needed to be walked to sleep tonight before we could put her into her crib.

Sunday, June 4th � Almaty

The highlight of the day was getting to take a ride up to the mountains that still had snow on them. We also stopped for a lunch of barbecue lamb. The only bad part of the trip was riding in the cars with no seatbelts or baby seats. The roads were full of potholes and the driving was nervewracking.

Anara woke up at midnight screaming, and we finally had to let her sleep with us. I think she is definitely getting us trained.

Monday, June 5th � Almaty

We went to the US Embassy to get all of Anara�s paperwork so she could leave the country. We will be leaving for Moscow tomorrow morning.

We did some more shopping this afternoon and packed again for the next leg of our journey.

Anara would not sleep in her crib at all tonight. We now know who is in charge. It only took us 3 days to break her of her good sleeping habits. We, of course, blamed it on teething and her new surroundings.

Tuesday, June 6th � Moscow

The day began with quite a bit of nervous apprehension. All of us were anxious to get home but we still had to fly to Moscow and then get a physical for the babies and sign papers at the US Embassy �all before noon. We had flights for home scheduled for Wednesday and we were all pretty sure we would have to delay our flights until Thursday. The three-hour flight arrived in Moscow at 8:45am and then it took us 30 minutes to get through customs. Our coordinator and translator rushed us to the van and it was a race to the Doctor�s office. Both Andre and Julia were helping us with paperwork, exchanging dollars for rubles, and making calls so the Doctor would be ready for us when we arrived. When we arrived at the Doctor�s office, it definitely appeared that they were waiting for us and we volunteered Anara to be examined first. The Dr. was very nice and the examination took about ten minutes. He was very impressed with how healthy all three children were � he complimented the Children�s Home for doing such a good job with them. As soon as we got the paperwork, Andre took it from us and went to the Embassy to let them know we were coming and to put our names on the waiting list. After all the examinations were completed, we rushed over to the Embassy and arrived at 11:45am�15minutes late! But they had let Andre reserve our times so we had our interviews and were in our hotel by 2:00 pm.

We spent the afternoon in our room resting, showering and eating a nice meal from room service. Moscow felt like home to us. The only downside was that Anara was doing a lot of sneezing and coughing and we were afraid she was coming down with a cold.

We met the other couples in the evening and said our sad good-byes. We had experienced a lot together in a short period of time and we had all grown very close.

We could not get Anara to sleep tonight so we had to finally let her cry herself to sleep�she was such a trooper.

Wednesday, June 7th

We got up early for breakfast and ended up eating with Joe, Kate and Grace, which enabled us to say some personal good-byes to our special friends. We are really going to miss them.

We arrived at the airport two hours before the flight was scheduled to leave. The ticket counter person gave us a pass to the Aeroflot first-class lounge, which gave us a chance to spread out on the floor and play with Anara before beginning our 13-hour flight. We also stocked up in tissue paper to try to keep her nose from running into her mouth. We were sure she had a bad cold.

The first three hours of the flight were very challenging. Anara was very tired but would only fall asleep if we walked her and then she would wake up every 15 minutes. Renee and I were taking 30-minute shifts and luckily there were only four other passengers in the business-class section we were in (there could have been 18 passengers in this section). We tried Benadryl to help her sleep but it was her Mom who finally found the secret�her pacifier! We had not been able to get her to take the pacifier we had brought with us but Kate had given us one of Gracie�s on Monday. When Renee tried it on the plane, it worked like a charm and we were finally able to get her into the bulkhead cot and she slept for a good five hours.

We landed at LAX at 3:45 pm and it took us a little over an hour to get through customs and take care of Anara�s paperwork. When we finally saw Grandma and Grandpa Ruhnow, I�m not sure who was happier�them or us. Grandma was the first in line to hold Anara and I�m sure they will both have that special bond that comes from Grandmas and Granddaughters. Grandma Ruhnow is definitely up to the task of making up for the love that Grandma Ickes will not be able to share with Anara.

The 2-hour van ride home in rush hour traffic was not a happy ride for Anara. She definitely did not like the backward-facing car seat. We stopped for dinner at Richie�s Diner and she was her usual charming self. When we got home we showed her the house, introduced her to the cats and put her to bed for the night. She only got up once and she acted like she had been with us for all of her life. What a blessing she is for her Mom and I. Tomorrow starts a new chapter in our lives and we went to bed that night thankful for our good fortune and with great anticipation. The last 13 days had been filled with many memories and we will cherish them for the rest of our lives. We will also be forever grateful for the love and care that the Children�s Home gave to Anara.

Random Thoughts and Memories from our Adoption Trip

Guardian angels
That first smile and laugh
Anara�s caregivers
The skit put on by the Children�s Home
Anara�s groupmates waving dasveedahnya
The joy of a hot shower
The great smell of deodorant
Lena�s lucky shirt
The smell of U-K food
Brushing your teeth with carbonated water
The joy of brushing your teeth with tap water
The beauty of Red Square and the Kremlin
St Basil�s Cathedral
The smell of kasha in Anara�s hair
Joe�s giggle and sense of humor
The Kampas
Denise B. �Super Mom
The gas chamber
The look on Renee�s face when they gave Anara to her
Grandma and Grandpa meeting us at the airport
Pot holes and bumpy roads
Reckless driving
Flora-Anara�s first Babushka
The phrase �quickly, quickly�
Children going for walks at the baby home
Pacifiers being sucked on airplanes
Anara�s first dirty diaper
The feeling when she fell asleep in my arms at the Children�s Home
Joe and his rug
The kids from the US that we met at the Moscow airport
Teaching Anara to yodel
Singing songs to Anara
Hot dogs and fries that Flora fixed for us
Water with Gas
Room service at the Moscow hotel
President Clinton�s speech writer
Baby home clothes
Kazakhstan toilets
Joe repaying tenge he had borrowed from me
Wearing the same clothes for more than one day
Cold sponge baths
Hot water in a bucket
Weeds in U-K
Our U-K resort
Anara sleeping in the baby cot on the plane
U-K breakfasts
Dill in virtually all the foods
Kasha served at every meal
The determination on the faces of the Kazakhstan people
Roads not defined by lanes
YAK 40
Bill locked in the YAK 40 bathroom
Joe and Sumo boy
Kate and German boy
Drinking kefir at the hotel for breakfast
The feel of Anara the first day without a diaper
Shaving with cold water
The nice people at both embassies
The milk truck at the apartment complex
The security door to Flora�s apartment
The beauty of the mountains south of Almaty
Crossing the streets in Almaty
Watching Anara brighten everybody�s eyes that she had contact with
Anara giving me the raspberries
Holding her in the car as we left the baby home
The caregivers crying when we left with her
Anaraka
The couple on the plane that had been in Kazakhstan for 21 days
Eating at TGI Fridays
The United baggage claim person who would not help us
The Aeroflot check-in lady who was so helpful and understanding
The uncomfortable money belts
Opening and closing the windows in the Children�s Home play room
Court prosecutor
Small napkins in Kazakhstan
The scarcity of toilet paper and light bulbs
Watching Anara sleep in my arms on the plane
Joe�s blue shirt
Bill�s green shirt (oh, I mean shirts)
Currency conversion problems (just how many rubles are in a dollar�s worth of tenge?)
Flora putting two babies to sleep at once
Kate�s hot pot
Cutting the skins off tomatoes and cucumber slices
Kazak cow manure
Roast beef and noodles for breakfast
Kate�s friend Sergey
Too much luggage
Packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking...
Lamb-ka-bobs at our outdoor mountain �restaurant�
�Have a nice spray!�