September 16, 2004

Hello Everyone! We made it!! One day w/ children and it seems as if all is going well. The night was a little long while the kids were trying to adjust to the new surroundings and get back on schedule but all in all, I think we can call it a success. Today was much better; they were eating on time, napping on time and a real joy to play with. We keep seeing more and more of their personality and physically they are transforming. McCale spends his day practicing the 1-2-dive; this is very similar to the rock and one leg push we described yesterday. This maneuver is more technical and he surges forward when motivated by the scrunchy caterpillar book or my feet. He lands with a belly flop and then laughs, most of the time. The joys of forward motion and the tribulations of rough landings. Life can be hard sometimes. Karleigh Marie on the other hand is working on reaching, pulling, chewing and drooling. All in that order. She is quite the drooly puss, and expectedly so with 5 teeth cut before her six month birthday. Both children have given Jeff the pleasure of a super duper diaper, both as late night surprises. He decided to sleep in the room with them last night - this is his reward. I could hear him in the other room - he was saying, peww,,whats this, oh my goodness. peww. It was priceless. I of course waited until the coast was clear and then went to hear about how it went. Please don't hold this against me, I’m sure I will get my share soon enough. We were up a few times with bottles, but successfully got them down with little or no effort today for a couple hours at a shot.

Since I have not left the apartment today, I thought you might like a virtual tour. It starts as you come up the road to the apartment. A turn off of a slower city street brings you into a series of tree lined, residential back streets. The white birch trees are very large here, as big as I have seen them. My grandmother had the same trees in her front yard and the have been there as long as I can remember, they are still no larger than twelve inches in diameter, these suckers are so big I can't get my arms around them. They have pines and maples as well, all very large and stately. They call Almaty the "Green City" as they have preserved so much of the greenery from years past. It can't go without saying "Almaty" means apple, and there are MANY apple trees in the city and country. Many people sell apples or can be seen walking along picking them up and snacking as they go. Along the streets there are many benches and open water drains that help remove water from the city. Almaty mountains have been known to produce mudslides, so a system although seemingly old, was put in place and has been effective for quite a while. As you turn into the apartment drive, there is a wall for the complex to our left, above the wall pipes can be seen that move hot water throughout the city providing one huge heat source. Heat is regulated in Almaty and many parts of Kazakhstan, it goes on and off according to the governments plan. We are among the lucky ones to have air conditioners; most apartments control the temperature by leaving windows ajar, sort of open, or full blown wide open - most do not have screens. Jeff rigged up our window with a piece of screen and duct tape. We are working on a patent for this contraption so I hate to go into great detail, but it works slick, lets just enough air in and keeps the killer skeeters out. (see a couple days back for full description of kaz-skeeters). (Sue, they have those bean dropping trees here too...)

Ok, let’s go inside. Parking around the back of the building gives you a chance to see a little bit of grassy area and only a few more cars, guest parking is not necessary here as many people do not drive. The door of the apartment has a combination - sometimes it’s left ajar, sometimes not. Yesterday it must not have been closed because believe it or not, Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on our door. Up the stairs to our apartment, nothing fancy, and clean enough. We then enter our two bedroom one bath abode. A variety of floor coverings and furniture have been provided. All clean and neat. The couches are a camel faux leather or perhaps naugahide, not sure when the name switched. They are wonderful for cradling children and offering a too warm or too cold bottle. We will get the hang of that soon.

The bathroom has been functional in all ways, the never ending flush is an experience - it’s a manual flush meaning you just hold the water running until its all clear. The shower is a step up and provides awesome pressure w/ hot and cold water. I only fell out once, pretty good huh?? There is a mini washing machine in the bathroom that can wash 2.5 pairs of socks, couple pairs of undies and 10-15 dirty burp clothes. The little feller runs well, but takes about two hours to finish. All in all, we feel confident that this bathroom would give Gene and Ann Maries new leu a good run for the money. -NOT

The kitchen is finished in a stylish blue and yellow. It is very neat with coordinating dishes and a new drainer compliments of the Bellis. We have a microwave that warms the bottles and makes kick butt popcorn. (note to mom, may need popcorn). Our fridge is a beast of her own, her name should be Bessie as she moo's each time the door is closed. We think it’s a sick Kazak joke poking fun at all the peroshkies we have had.

All in all, we have the amenities of home, ironing board and iron, 5-10 sink stoppers (thanks WPA families, but really, we do have enough now), We also have two balconies/clothes lines. We will include photos of some of the rooms and appliances for you, for kicks and posterity. Please don’t mind the mess, ya know it’s not easy with two kids. ...... : )

We love you and miss you all. Special thoughts coming your way for Jenn, Molly, Jack and the Goob as well as the Flaherty's. Thanks to all helping back at home, we really really appreciate it and are thankful each day for you.

All our love,
Colene