BabyB

Wedding weekend in Napa- Part I

2008-03-27T23:00:00.002-06:00

Wedding weekend in Napa- Part II

2008-03-27T22:51:00.003-06:00

On March 22nd, my sister, Susannah, and her fiance, Tony, finally tied the knot in St. Helena, Napa Valley, CA. Grove officiated and their 4 daughters were the wedding party. It was a gorgeous wedding with perfect weather and in a perfect setting. We had a really wonderful time with both families! Congratulations to Susannah and Tony Macaluso- a match made in heaven! The best part is that Grove and I now have 6 adorable neices. Here are some photos from the rehearsal.....

One year anniversary with Pasha....

2008-03-27T22:47:00.002-06:00

On March 23rd, we spent a gorgeous spring day in the garden of Wendy Johnson and her husband Peter, and on Muir Beach in California. It was Pasha's first glimpse of the ocean and the one year anniversary from the day we first met Pasha in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. We've come a long way, baby!

Happy St. Paddy's!!!

2008-03-27T22:33:00.002-06:00

Big snow at Vallecitos -Part I

2008-03-27T22:30:00.002-06:00

lots and lots and lots of snow......

Big snow at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge

2008-03-27T22:24:00.002-06:00

The ranch had more than 5 feet of snow....and Pasha loved it. He falls asleep on the snow mobile and loves walking and playing in the snow. We had a wonderful long weekend there. It was really gorgeous!

Very bad hair cut

2008-03-27T22:07:00.002-06:00

In February, Mama took Pasha to get his hair cut at Great Clips (NEVER GO THERE!!!)...the result was a sort of shag-mullett. Truly, the worst hair cut we had ever seen. We told Pasha that he had a terrible hair cut, and he would shout back with excitement, "TEAR BULL, TEAR BULL !!"

January 2008: Happy new year!!!

2008-01-13T10:24:00.003-07:00

Jenny and Grove- New Year's Eve 2007

2008-01-05T21:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great New Year's eve dinner with Bob, Dawn, John and Mona Loewen in Santa Fe. Thank you to Lucy and Will Loewen for baby sitting. A great start to what we hope will be a great year for all of us! Blessings and love to you all!

New Year's at the Vallecitos Ranch

2008-01-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

We spent new year's day and the following 4 days at the ranch. It was a winter wonderland! Pasha got to go on his first snow mobile ride. We were afraid he would be afraid, but he didn't make a peep! We skiied, hiked, sledded and got a lot of rest. It was truly wonderful!

First Christmas- 2007

2008-01-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

We had a really wonderful first christmas with Pasha! We went to lots of parties and saw many great friends. Pasha also got to go sledding for the first time with the Loewens. He loved opening his presents and all the snow. We had a very special christmas night with Jerry, Susie, Wilile, Kim and new baby Audrey!!!

More traveling in December

2008-01-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

Continuing his jet- set lifestyle, Pasha went to Los Angeles to visit Marilyn, Avery and Sebastian. These first two pictures are of Pasha and Avery taking a bath. We then went to Austin to see good friends! Here is Pahsa with Will Loewen dancing the night away. The last picture is from the lunch we had with Kit and Allen Spelce, and their kids, Carson and Zach (aka Power Ranger!). Pasha really likes to travel and had a ball on both trips (and so did his parents)!

November- first hair cut and first snow!!

2008-01-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

Pasha got his first haircut, which he hated...... and experienced his first snow while in Denver for Thanksgiving, which he loved (despite this picture with Uncle Bo)!

Pasha in October

2008-01-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

Pasha and Jenny went to Dallas/ Ft. Worth in October and finally got to meet aunts, uncles and cousins. Here is Pasha with 4 of his 6 girl cousins- the Macaluso/Ramsey sisters. We also enjoyed a visit from Katherine Closmann, our dear friend from Austin, Texas. Finally, Pasha got to show his true colors as a peacock on halloween!

Fun in the tub- October 17, 2007

2007-10-17T21:06:00.000-06:00

Little messy dude....

2007-10-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

Pasha practices new things he can do with his face every day. This is one of his favorite new expressions- a cross between surprise, disbelief and great delight! He only says about 4-5 words but babbles and makes noises incessantly. However, on October 12th, his teacher Lisa swears he said (clear as a bell) : "I want a nana"....his first sentence of course concerning food!

Visit from Aunt Anna- big fun!

2007-10-17T20:57:00.000-06:00

Fall Fiesta

2007-09-16T11:04:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed fiesta in santa fe with friends Kelly Alex and Amory- Amory was decked out like a princess and I think looked prettier than the fiesta queen...no offense to the fiesta queen. At the top is Pasha at his first museum visit- we saw egyptian ruins! Cool!

Aunt Jamie and Uncle Harvey come to visit

2007-09-16T10:49:00.000-06:00

Grove's sister Jamie and brother in law Harvey came all the way from DC to visit their new nephew...and it was mutual love at first sight! We had a barbq with Maya, Cisco, Joe and all of us- it was great. Hopefully, Jamie and Harvey will come back to visit again soon...or , I don't know, maybe buy a place here?

Pashs in his mom's Kazakhstan hat!

2007-09-16T10:48:00.000-06:00

Photos from August trip to Denver

2007-09-16T10:43:00.000-06:00

Here are the five grandkids and grandma's new house in Denver!

Family photos!

2007-09-16T10:35:00.000-06:00

These are all pictures from our first trip with Pasha to Denver. From the top: susannah and savanna; anna, lea and lily; jimbo, jenny and susannah; grandma katy with savanna and lily; and the 5 parks siblings

First road trip!

2007-09-16T10:15:00.000-06:00

Pasha and I went to Denver with my neice Savanna, and met up with all my siblings and all my neices. We also had a visit from good friends Deidre and Hayden Shearer.....all at my mom's new house in Lakewood, CO. We had a wonderful trip.....from the top- all the neices plus Hayden and Deidre; The Family; Pasha playing Mozert's concerto 21 in B flat; the hula hula girls, Lily and Savanna; and hanging with his mom at a mexican food restaurant

End of summer at Vallecitos

2007-09-16T10:01:00.000-06:00

Pasha had a wonderful summer up at the ranch doing some of his favorite things: driving the truck, lassoing horses, "peacing out" at the river, and hanging with his parents andnew friends. This photo is of Pasha with Steve Smith, who became best pals immediately.....

Pasha at the International Folk Art Market-July 2007

2007-07-31T06:22:00.000-06:00

Summer fun in santa fe

2007-07-31T06:14:00.000-06:00

Pasha is now walking 100% of the time. He is very wobbly and falls somewhere around 75 times a day....but he is determined. Its been a glorious summer here- lots of afternoon rain showers and many fun things to do!

More summer in santa fe...

2007-07-31T06:07:00.001-06:00

Here we are at an outdoor concert where Pasha insisted on us not taking away his beer, hanging out with his dad, and in a showdown over the ball. Finally, a photo of him catching rays at the pool.

summer visitors

2007-07-31T05:59:00.001-06:00

We've been blessed with many visitors this summer....not really to see us, but to see Pasha! Its been a blast so thank you to all who have come so far. Here is our dear friend Stacy M. from Austin, cousin Teresa Beckers and dog Gracie from Brenham, Texas and Beth and Alan Fedman from D.C.

Family photos from the bday weekend

2007-07-01T16:39:00.001-06:00

Pasha doesn't always love getting his picture taken....although his cousins do!

Birthday weekend 2007

2007-07-01T16:34:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Grove's birthday (June 29th), Jimbo's birthday (June 30th) and Pasha's birthday (also June 30th) with a family celebration this weekend. I won't reveal ages, but Jimbo and Grove's added up to 104! We really had a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone!

More photos from the birthday weekend!

2007-07-01T16:27:00.001-06:00

Here is a picture of Pasha in his new swing that his grand-ma Kackie bought him, at the birthday feast, with his mom and honoring the great barbq chef, Joe, Maya's boyfriend. Thank you Joe!

Don't throw the baby from the train

2007-07-01T16:23:00.001-06:00

On friday night we took a ride on the SFSR train through the Galisteo basin- gorgeous evening and we all had a great time...

Random beautiful New Mexico sunset....

2007-07-01T16:08:00.000-06:00

Back at the ranch....

2007-07-01T16:05:00.001-06:00

Pasha back at the ranch, enjoying eating, swimming in the river, hikes in the mountains and watching our friend Wendy take a dip in the pond!

Walking!

2007-07-01T16:00:00.001-06:00

On June 21st, Pasha took 6 steps by himself across the living room floor. So far, the most steps he has taken is 8. He is very wobbly and very frustrated that he isn't walking more- but he'll get there. However many steps he takes, he has learned to applaud himself when he falls down!

Pasha and his dad on father's day!

2007-06-19T12:12:00.001-06:00

Nature boy!

2007-06-19T07:54:00.000-06:00

The week of June 11th was Pasha's first visit to the Vallecitos Mountain Refuge. Needless to say, he loved it, loved the horses and loved going on long hikes with his mom!

Sid "Pasha" Viscious

2007-06-19T07:51:00.000-06:00

Pasha with his new punk hair-do thanks to sister, Maya!

James and Jane and Jenny and Grove

2007-06-07T15:49:00.000-06:00

Yes, that is James Taylor and Jane Fonda and no, we weren't really there with them- we were just there (at a benefit) and we know the photographer, Don, who got many great pictures of me and Grove behind Jane and James.....

More photos from home....

2007-06-07T15:35:00.000-06:00

Here is Pasha after his bath with sister, Maya; sporting a new outfit from Grandma Kackie; on his first "swim date" with friend, Theo; and the boy's best friend (and food clean-up patrol), Elvis.

With Uncle Bo

2007-06-07T15:33:00.001-06:00

Here is Pasha with his uncle, and babysitter extraordinaire....

First visit of the cousins.....

2007-06-07T15:27:00.000-06:00

Kaitlyn and Chelsea Parks visited their cousin on June 1-3...it was mutual love at first sight! They were accompanied by Uncle Bo and Grandma Kackie...Don't the girls look like they could be Pasha's sisters?

Cool art by Leroy!

2007-05-30T15:14:00.001-06:00

Here is a photo montage by the very talented Leroy Pacheco of our little Pasha in Santa Fe!

Life in Santa Fe

2007-05-30T15:04:00.000-06:00

We have been home for two weeks and are doing great. We have recovered from the jet lag and are more rested. Pasha still sleeps 11-12 hours per night and eats like a horse! Here are some photos of Pasha with his sister, Maya, his grandma, Kackie, in his high chair that was used by his grandmother, mother, aunt and uncle...and on his first stroller walk with new friends, Theo Graeser and Maia Katz (and their moms!)

More pictures of Pasha at home

2007-05-30T14:51:00.000-06:00

Here are photos of our "little dude" with his new shades, on his first hike in the mountains with his parents and his Aunt Susannah (thank you for the wonderful visit!), and getting busted after unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper and trying to put it all in the toilet!

We are home!!!!

2007-05-16T08:17:00.000-06:00

We made it home safe and sound. It was a long 32 hours of travel, but we did it! Pasha did great. We made all our flights and everything was on time. It was a 6.5 hour flight from Almaty to Frankfurt , a 7 hour layover in Frankfurt (with a toddler and no stroller), a 10 hour flight from Frankfurt to Denver, an hour in customs in Denver (Pasha became a US citizen at 3:37 pm on May 15th when our plane landed in Denver- we celebrated by getting off the plane!), an hour flight to Albuquerque and an hour drive from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. We got home about 8:30pm last night! On our last flight from Denver to Santa Fe, all of us being extremely tired, we were trying to keep Pasha entertained so he wouldn't have a meltdown and ruin the flight for everyone. He did really well but was so tired that he literally fell asleep sitting up in my lap. He didn't cry- just all of a sudden stuck his fingers in his mouth and in five seconds was completely asleep- sitting up! Thank you so much to Maya, Jamie, Melisa and Kelly, for the wonderful clean home, good food, flowers and transportation that greeted us at home. Its WONDERFUL to be home. Love, Jenny, Grove and Pavel

Parting shot of Pasha- love that smile!

2007-05-13T04:13:00.000-06:00

We leave our hotel tomorrow at midnight to begin our long journey home....27 hours later, if things go as planned, we will arrive in Albuquerque. Wish us good travel karma. Its a long trip home but we are ready. Best wishes and love to all!

Pasha on mother's day with his mama (and his papa)

2007-05-13T03:56:00.000-06:00

Mother's Day in Kazakhstan

2007-05-13T03:35:00.000-06:00

Here we all are at Panilov Park- a gorgeous, forested park in the middle of Almaty honoring WWII veterans. The church is russian orthodox and is made completely out of wood, and supposedly with no nails. It was a gorgeous day here and we all really enjoyed the walk!

In Almaty

2007-05-10T23:37:00.000-06:00

We made it to Almaty and are enjoying it immensely! We are staying in a really nice hotel- the Hotel Kazzhol....we have a suite and Pasha has a crib. Almaty is a beautiful city with lots of trees and gorgeous mountains to the south. Pavel did great on his first plane trip- he was very busy the first hour (eventhough it was midnight), had to eat, smile and talk to other passengers, look out the window at the flashing lights on the wing, and then finally, after a good loud 8-10 minute cry, went to sleep for the last 1. 5 hours of the flight. Yesterday, we had his required medical exam- he is 20 pounds and 27 inches, and healthy. The guy is putting away unbelievable amounts of food. He is also crawling like crazy and walking as much as he can (with our help). He is very energetic! We have 3 days of just waiting here and then our US embassy appointment on Monday....then we fly late monday night. There is a business center here so we have some internet access....will write if anything interesting happens! Happy weekend!

Leaving Pavlodar!!!!

2007-05-09T05:50:00.000-06:00

Well, the time has finally come- we are leaving Pavlodar. Seven weeks and one baby later, we are out of here! Its been a good 4 days with Pasha. He is definitely adjusting to life outside the baby house. He is very demanding and clingy- wanting to be held a lot, eating a lot and sleeping a lot! We are tired, but happy. Not sure how much internet access we will have over the next 5 days in Almaty, but will post here if we can. If not, we will talk to you soon once we are back in the good old USA on the night of May 15th! Maya is picking us up, so thank you Maya. Thank you to all for all your love and for checking our blog! We are very excited to come home and see every one. Here are a few photos of us at "home" and the beautiful tulips Grove bought me when we brought Pasha/Pavel home. Lots of love! Jenny, Grove and Pavel

Its May 4th and we have Pasha!

2007-05-04T08:25:00.000-06:00

Today was a wonderful day! We brought Pasha home from the baby house. The boy left the place naked- with only the diaper and clothes we had brought him. We took gifts and cakes and flowers for the care takers, doctors, and the director and her staff. We also drank champagne and they toasted Pasha, his new parents and his new life in America. The caretakers cried when they said good bye to him and when they toasted him. It was a sweet and emotional good bye. Meanwhile, Pasha seems estatic. He is very, very happy and has been playing and laughing all day like he has been here his whole life. He has crawled all over the apartment. We put him in a borrowed play pen for a nap, and he talked to himself for about 10 minutes and then slept for 2.5 hours. Hgh e mrf 555555555555555555bn m,mn He is helping me type right now. The previous sentence was all his! Smart, huh? He has yet to “freak out” at all and is just a totally happy and hilarious little boy. He makes all kinds of sounds and says a lot of “da da da da da”…. We’ll be here in the apartment for 5 more days and then we leave for Almaty. He is such a joy! The top four photos are all at the baby house- from the top:some of the staff with me and Pasha; Grove, Pasha and I in his room after we put his new clothes on him; me ready to leave with Pasha, and Grove signing the book letting us officially take him out of the baby house. The fifth picture is us in the car. Much love from Pavlodar…..

Pasha's first day at "home".....

2007-05-04T08:15:00.000-06:00

Mr. Happy: Pasha's first bath at home!

2007-05-04T08:07:00.000-06:00

Pasha crawling outside

2007-04-30T01:06:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken a few days ago- moments before Pasha ate his first blade of grass, and then threw it up, along with his breakfast, in Grove's hand. Live and learn!

Pasha's first outing out of the baby house

2007-04-30T00:58:00.000-06:00

Today, we had to take Pasha to get his passport photos taken. This was his first time in a car, first time out of the baby house, first time any where since coming to the baby house at one month old. He did great! In the car he was very quiet and just looked out the window. At the passport place, he was completely relaxed- he looked around a lot, smiled at everyone and played. He is really brave. On the way home, he fell asleep in my arms in his ergo carrier against my body. Today is his 10-month birthday and it was the first time for him to fall asleep in my arms. A very sweet moment!

A little culture in Pavlodar.....

2007-04-30T00:42:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, April 28th, our friend Igor took us to the Pavlodar museum, which is sort of a natural history and history museum combined. It was really interesting, given all the different cultures and ethnicities that have called Kazakhstan home. We got to see bones of a wooly mammoth, and posters from WWII calling for people to join the russian army to defeat the nazis...after the museum, we went to a play at the Chekov theater. The theater is beautiful (think Lensic but smaller) and the play was wonderful. It was called "Funny Money" and we didn't understand a word of it, but it was hilarious all the same- great production, great acting, and the crowd loved it! Igor explained as much of it to us as he could at intermission. It was a fun day. I felt quite at home with Igor wearing the hat we gave him! We are really happy we met Igor our first day here in Pavlodar. He has really shown us around. He leaves for the USA (Ohio) in two weeks on a work program for the summer. This will be his second trip to the US as a student. He is a great guy, very smart and funny and his English is excellent! We hope he can visit us in NM this summer. This is Grove and me in front of the museum.

Pasha at ten months (sporting his new hat made especially for him by Susie McMeans!)

2007-04-30T00:33:00.000-06:00

Everyone in the baby house thinks Pasha and Grove look just alike. I'm thinking so....They are very cute together! Pasha loves his new hat!

Thank you Susie! Doesn't the top picture make him look like he is already at home in the southwest?

Pasha's "digs"

2007-04-30T00:29:00.000-06:00

Here is the other part of Pasha's current world, the room where all the babies in his group sleep. His crib is the one in the middle. There are 10 cribs in this room and 10 babies in his group aged 6-9 months. At ten months, Pasha would have moved to a new group today. But they are keeping him here since we are springing him in just a few days.

Our old "digs" and our new "digs"

2007-04-30T00:15:00.000-06:00

Here are some photos from inside our stairwell at our old apartment, and a few photos from our new apartment. We love our new apartment- its very nice and comfortable and we have DSL! This is where we will bring Pasha once we take him out of the baby house on Thursday. We will stay here about another week and then head to Almaty. "We're moving on up....."

Our little Pasha

2007-04-23T05:49:00.000-06:00

He is a happy little guy!

More Pasha

2007-04-23T05:43:00.000-06:00

Pasha "on the bottle" and really relaxing with his new dad.

home sweet home

2007-04-23T05:39:00.000-06:00

There are only 4 american words anywhere on signs in Pavlodar. Two of them are "Irish Pub"- a place here we love to eat (mostly because they have an english menu), and the other is in this picture. Speaking of which, we are currently scheduled to be home May 15th! Only three more weeks....

Tanya's surprise birthday party

2007-04-23T05:21:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Trina and Kevin for hosting a surprise 22nd birthday party for Tanya. There are 3 american couples here right now (including us) who are adopting children- here we all are with Masha and Yegor (Kevin and Trina's kids), Svetlana, Tanya and our driver Sergie. Can you spot the Americans?

We are officially Pavel's parents!

2007-04-18T02:12:00.000-06:00

On April 17th we went to court and the judge approved our request to: 1)adopt Pavel, 2) change his name to Pavel Eliot Young Burnett and 3) be listed on his birth certificate as his mother and father! So, its official.....sort of. The order doesn't take full effect until 15 days after it was signed, meaning not until May 3rd. So- Pavel stays in the baby house until May 3rd, and we continue to visit him daily. Court went more smoothly than we expected. There is a new judge and we had heard she was tough. Fortunately, we have the greatest lawyer in the world and she knew exactly what the judge would require and ask about, etc. So, our "hearing" only took about 45 minutes. Grove gave a great speech about why we wanted to adopt from Kazakhstan, why we wanted to adopt Pavel, our experience with the baby house and the procedure we had followed. All I basically had to do was stand up and say "I agree with everything my husband says." Then, the director of Guardianship and Care testified in our favor, a representative from the baby house testified in our favor, the prosecutor asked a few questions and then recommended a favorable ruling, and Svetlana gave a killer closing argument. The judge then took a 45 minute "recess" to make her decision. When she came back, she read her decision in our favor and that was that! Court was very formal and we were nervous beforehand so we are glad this part is over! Huge thanks to Svetlana and Elena (our translator for court and all our official documents)- they are both so wonderful and we all celebrated with champagne afterwards. We told Pavel all about it today but he was really more interested in being hung upside down by his feet! Kids these days!.... Here are photos of Elena, Svetlana and me after court in front of the court house and me and Grove- the new parents (notice my good luck necklace!)!!!!

Pavel's world

2007-04-18T01:56:00.000-06:00

Here are some photos from inside the baby house. We can take photos of where he lives, but not of any of the other kids. These pictures show the two big cribs and play room where Pavel spends his time when not sleeping. This little table is where they feed the kids and have "school." Notice how clean and organized everything is! The two women with Pavel are two of his (and our) favorite caretakers- they LOVE him, and he loves them. There are currently 9 babies in Pavel's group. The caretakers are amazing women and they really love the kids. Here is a photo of us with Nina, the Director of Guardianship and Care. She is a wonderful woman and testified in our favor in court. Finally, here is a picture of our friend Trina, and her new son, Yegor. She gets to take Yegor out of the baby house tomorrow, and her husband, Kevin and she will get to go home in a week with Yegor and his sister, Masha- congratulations to the new family!

Pavel at nine and a half months...

2007-04-18T01:50:00.000-06:00

Pavel loves balls, chilling with his mom, and drinking! No cup is too big....

Jenny's night out with the ladies- the Banya (russian bath house)

2007-04-12T04:58:00.000-06:00

Svetlana (our attorney), Tatiana, Trina and I joined Svetlana and her friends at a russian bath house- it was a blast! Women only- and a little more raucus then 10,000 waves. We had food, beer, steam baths, dry saunas, body treatments, cold plunge, thrashing of ourselves with hot birch limbs and leaves, turkish bath rest areas, and most importantly, Karaoke! Thank you to Svetlana for a wonderful evening...it was divine and I felt fabulous (or "kife") afterwards. My karaoke debut was "Take it Easy" by the Eagles (greg- I can hear you groaning) while the bigger hit was "Bahama Mama" sung by everyone.....the big wooden crate is an individual steamer that you get in naked and sweat like crazy. One of the russian women joked that the reason it felt so good was because there was a really nice man inside there! Hey- I didn't say it- she did!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE

2007-04-12T04:36:00.000-06:00

We have a court date! At long last, we will go to court to adopt baby Pavel on Tuesday, April 17th. If the judge approves us, we have a 15-day waiting period until we can take Pavel from the baby house. Then, we have about one week of additional paper work, meetings, tests to get both in Pavlodar and Almaty before we head home. Our best estimate right now is that we will be home by May 12th (mother's day) and hopefully a few days earlier. We had so much fun visiting Pavel today. He is reminding us more and more of Lily.....very happy and very busy! Some photos from today's visit!

Happy Easter and happy spring from Pavlodar!

2007-04-09T03:12:00.000-06:00

Pictures at sunset on easter sunday on the Irtysh River (and a few pictures of Pavel!) We are still waiting for a court date- cross your fingers we get it this week! We'll keep you posted....

More pictures of the little guy

2007-04-09T03:02:00.000-06:00

Until a few days ago, Pavel had never been outside. The weather has finally turned warmer and so they will let us take him outside for a few minutes every day. The top picture is the first day he went outside- he wasn't too sure about it, but gets more comfortable each day.....until now, his whole world has consisted of 2 rooms only. Boy, has he got some surprises in for him! Poor little guy....

Even more pictures of the kid!!!

2007-04-09T02:54:00.000-06:00

Here is Pavel in some of his favorite positions! He loves to be upside down- it makes him laugh, which makes us laugh....which makes him laugh (have we mentioned how cute he is?)

Big night out on the town

2007-04-09T02:46:00.000-06:00

We went out one night with Trina and Kevin, another couple here adopting a sibling set, and our translator and other friends. That is the biggest pool table you have ever seen in your life- and the holes to get the balls through are really small- so there wasn't much competition by anybody. It basically took us 3 hours and a lot of cheating to complete one game. Cisco- where are you when we need you? The other entertainment was the hookah- no it wasn't opium or marijuana- it was fruit flavored tobacco- and it was actually quite good!

At the mosque...

2007-04-09T02:24:00.000-06:00

Islam is on the rise in Kazkahstan- here we are in front of the largest mosque in all of Kazakhstan...it was built in 2001 in honor of some Kazakh muslem leader. We got a tour of the entire mosque, but I had to wear this nifty robe over my head and body. Do you think it makes me look virginal? Yeah, I didn't think so either! It is really a beautiful building. Over 1500 men and 1200 women could pray in it at one time. Its huge!

Random photo of Pavel naked (almost!)

2007-04-02T00:56:00.000-06:00

Day in the country

2007-04-02T00:48:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, Sergei and Tatiana drove us north from Pavlodar about an hour to see the countryside. We took the road to Siberia, which is only a 2-hour drive from Pavlodar (we cannot go into russia though because we don't have the proper visas). We went out on the Irtysh River to see all the ice fishing! A first for both of us. You may think this is a very macho sport, but notice the 8 inch long fishing rods! They only catch these fish that are about 3 inches long- so they have to catch dozens to make a meal- which requires them, of course, to be out all day. Guys!

In Pavlodar

2007-04-02T00:24:00.000-06:00

This is a random assortment of photos from our life in Pavlodar. Here is a picture of Jenny in a Russian major's dress uniform (can't tell you- top secret), the green door that leads to our apartment (we are on the 4th floor), and a picture of the baby house, where Pavel currently lives. Also, the President of Kazkahstan enjoys seeing his picture every where! President Nzarbayev has been in power since before the break up of the Soviet Union in 1992, and will be in power at least until 2012. And finally a picture of Grove on a Kazakh horse....nice ride!

Our paintings

2007-04-02T00:17:00.000-06:00

These are the two paintings we are mailing home. The bottom one is the one Anuar gave us, called "Silence"- it is a depiction of the Irtysh River that runs through the middle of Pavlodar- flowing from the mountains of China, through Russia into the Orb River and then dumping out into the Artic Sea. It is a beautiful river- very wide. The top one is the one we bought- it is called "Batyr" and means "the warrior"- can you see him in the picture?

Our "team" here in Pavlodar

2007-04-02T00:04:00.000-06:00

Pavlodar literally means "gift to Pavel." This city was gifted by the Czar Alexander to his son, Pavel in the late 1800s. We are working with wonderful people here. They take extremely good care of us. Our attorney is Svetlana (she is the blond). We would always want Svetlana on our side- she is really good! We have a driver, Sergie, and 2 translators: Elina and Tatiana. Tatiana goes to the baby house with us every day and to the store, internet cafe, etc. She is a real sweetheart- we both love her. Elina is our official translator for court and all our legal documents. She is great too.

And more pictures of the babe...

2007-04-01T23:34:00.000-06:00

The visits with Pavel continue to go great. We look forward to them every day. We visit with him from 9am-10am, when he has to go down for his nap. He is teething and chews on everything. A few days ago, I got to feed him after our visit. You should see the way they feed the babies here- there is no messing around. Pavel sat in a little chair at a little table and ate and drank in under 4 minutes flat. They feed them with huge tablespoons and he drank out of a china coffee cup (with my help). Grove thinks the “orphan way of feeding” is great! No monkey business- and no mess! The orphanage is really pretty wonderful. It is extremely clean, very well organized and the care takers that we have been around are really good to these kids. This “baby house” has 80-100 kids in it from newborns to 4 year olds. Once they get past 4, they go to a regular orphanage. We have only seen 4-5 other babies that are in Pavel’s group. The rest of the kids are in another part of the building so we haven’t seen where they stay. The only bummer is that we have to keep doing this every day for the next 3 weeks. We really want to bust him out NOW and bring him to our apartment, but then we would probably be arrested.

Pavel Eliot Young Burnett

2007-03-28T23:14:00.000-06:00

Pavel was born on June 30, 2006 (my brother and Gary Mefford’s b-day and one day after Grove’s bday) and weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces at birth. He now weighs almost 20 pounds. He will be 9 months old on Friday, March 30th. He is a chunker.

2007-03-28T23:05:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful experience this afternoon. Igor, whom we met in the yurt on the Kazakh New Year, took us to the studio of an artist that we also met in the yurt. Well, it was AMAZING. This guy has been painting for 50 years and is actually quite famous in this part of the world. He has been in shows and museums all over Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan, etc, etc. His studio had almost 100 paintings in it, and he gave one to us…. of the Irtysh River that runs through Pavlodar…. and we bought one! They are beautiful. Our little souvenirs from Kazakhstan. Here is Grove in the studio playing the dombre (national instrument of the Kazakhs) with the artist, Anuar Igembayev. Grove is getting really in touch with his inner- Kazakh. Also, here is a picture of us with the artist and his friend, who is apparently a poet. We have become so bohemian.

A little about our first week in Pavlodar!

2007-03-28T07:43:00.000-06:00

I will post more photos tomorrow, but mean while I am going to back up a little about our experience here so far…Pavlodar is an industrial city but has a beautiful river flowing through it- the Irtysh River- that is about the width of the Potomac and flows from China into Russia. It is spring here- very, very cold one day, windy and warmer the next- lots of snow and mud on the ground.
The second day we got here was the beginning of a three day holiday for the Kazak people- their new year and celebration of the equinox. Tatiana (one of our translators) took us down to the celebration and there were dozens of yurts set up, lots of music and traditional dancing. It turns out that each yurt was sponsored by a company and “our yurt” was sponsored by a very large building company – they insisted we eat with them so about 40 people crammed into these little tables in the yurt for a feast. Igor, the son of one of the employees, was our interpreter. He is 21 and speaks great English. There were lots of vodka shots and toasts- very jovial and festive. Many of these guys had worked together for over 30 years! They asked Grove to give a few toasts and then they asked me to sing an American hymn. So, I sang Amazing Grace (it was all I could think of) to about 40 drunk Kazakhs! The food was traditional kazakh cuisine….a big platter was served with lots of different meat: pork, lamb and mostly horse….and then they had this disgusting white drink that was fermented horse milk. It was so sour and gross we had to wash it down with lots of vodka. We were treated like guests of honor and each toast blessed the “americains.” Before the end, the master of ceremony made an announcement that he wanted to give Grove a gift, and that is when he took off his traditional Kazakh robe and gave it to Grove, complete with big hat….pictures are posted. There was an artist there who wants to give us one of his paintings….we are going to his studio this afternoon.
The people here have all been so generous and kind and warm to us. Its been incredible.

As for the adoption, our attorney here is Svetlana and she is fantastic. Our first day here, she got two official requirements done (including an interview we had to do with the Ofiice of Guardianship and Care) and cleared the way for us to go to the baby house (the day after the national kazakh holiday celebration. The only child we met at the baby house the first day we went was Pavel. The director had chosen him for us to see. We liked him immediately. He was so cute and sweet, very strong and very healthy and active, and yet calm. We were pretty sure that first day that he was the one for us. We visited with him again the next day and decided definitely for sure that he was the one for us. On the third day, we finally met with the Director, who asked us if we wanted to see anymore kids. They have about 9 kids at the baby house under a year right now. We said no way- we wanted Pavel. We visit with him every morning for about an hour. He seems to be attaching to us a little more each day. He loves to be held. He can stand and roll over and crawl and sit up by himself. Every day we are with him he gets more and more smiley and giggly. It will be interesting to see how his personality unfolds as we all get to know each other better. We have to do the bonding thing through April 4th and then we will get a court date. After court, if approved, we have a 2 week waiting period ...after the 2 week waiting period, we can break Pavel out of the orphanage and then we will have about a week of paper work and going to the US embassy in Almaty before we can head home to the US. We are in a nice and warm one bedroom apt in the middle of town. We have a gym we've joined that is 2 blocks away from here. Its a gym/hair salon- but actually quite nice. So, we are very comfortable. The team we are working with are fabulous and attend to our every single need. We have a driver and a translator (Tatiana) who take us wherever we want to go. So- we actually have it quite good. Sorry for the long entry….more to come soon! I will post more photos tomorrow.

Here we are celebrating Nauriz- the Kazakh New Year and equinox

2007-03-26T23:53:00.000-06:00

Here we are in the yurt feasting on traditional Kazakh cuisine! We were the guests of honor and Grove was presented with the traditional robe of Kazakh men....a big honor. We had a great time.

Victory at last! A few photos.....

2007-03-26T23:38:00.000-06:00

We finally have internet access.....

2007-03-25T06:41:00.000-06:00

Hi all! Sorry we have been so out of touch. We haven't had internet access until today. So much has happened in this one short week since we left, but the biggest news, of course, is that we have chosen our baby- little Pavel- and we love him already. He is a sweet, wonderful, healthy little boy and we feel lucky to have gotten him. Thank you for all the wonderful emails....we will answer them in the next couple of days while we get caught up on the internet. We love hearing from you! We are literally on the other side of the planet (its 12 hours later here than in Santa Fe and we are still wide awake all night and very tired in the afternoons!) Here are some photos of the baby and us on our second visitation day. We go everyday for an hour and a half for another 9 days...Everything is going great here and we have a wonderful team helping us. They are extremely professional and are attending to all of our needs. I will write more tomorrow, but wanted to get these pictures of Pavel posted. He is truly a sweet little guy and just precious.OK-unable to post photos.....we only have dial up here and its problematic- arrggghhhh...will try again tomorrow- sorry! Love, Jenny

Bon Voyage Jenny and Grove!

2007-03-19T08:24:00.000-06:00

Off they went yesterday morning. Alexandra and Theodore taxied them to the Sunport! Lots of luggage. We can't wait to hear more of the trip as it transpires. Godspeed! And comments can now be left by just about anyone. I hope there isn't too much spam, if so, I will add a filter. Tschuss! Leroy

Happy Bday Grove - June 29,2006

2007-03-17T09:41:00.000-06:00

Experimenting with uploading photos. Here we are on Groves 2006 bday. More on the way!

Day Before we leave for Kazakhstan

2007-03-17T09:28:00.000-06:00

Scrambling to get ready to go tomorrow to start our adventure in K. Leroy is here helping me to set up blog. Wish I had time to say more... Come back for adventure updates periodically. xxoo JandG