July 26th

It's a lazy morning and we stay in bed until 9:15am. I write in my journal and Pat goes for a walk. He takes the camera with him. The plants in the park are in full bloom and we'd like to get a few pictures. Pat gets back to the room at 11:00am. We eat breakfast, shower and get ready to go.

Our 15 day waiting period is complete. The adoption is final and the children are legally ours! We will keep them in the baby home until we leave Kostanai on August 9th. As much as we want them with us we feel that this is in their best interest. They are familiar with their enviroment and are acustom to their routine. This is what they have know all their lives. The transition will be difficult for them. Everything will be new - what they see, the sounds they hear, what they wear, what they eat and the faces around them. It will be difficult for us to wait but we will have them full-time in two weeks.

It's another hot walk to the baby home. We see the little boy, Ibiek, along the way. He shakes hands with Pat and Bob. Three young girls (sisters?) come over to where we are standing. One is holding a baby of about 9 months (another sister?). We take a group photo. It is very good. We tell them we'll bring copies tomorrow. We continue on to the baby home. We're not sure if the kids are in or out so Beth and I check inside and the guys outside. They're outside. Bob has Nicholas in his arms when Beth and I arrive. Aidan is standing in the playpen and looking at me like "Where have you been?" He grins when I pick him up. Off to the marble room. Pat and Molly arrive a few minutes later. Pat has his hand over Molly's face. Don't look he says to me. He removes his hand. Our beautiful daughter has a shiner. From what Pat could gather from Mama Bibigoul there was some sort of tussle in the group playpen. I think to myself, I'd hate to see the othere guy. Molly can hold her own! It's not too bad and she's in fine spirits. It's another typical day. Molly gabs and plays with her toys. She creeps a bit and finds herself 1/2 way under the coffee table. Look out Aidan and Nicholas! This had been their secret hideout. Aidan buzzes around the room and climbs on us and the furniture. Nicholas is out of sorts today and is content to spend most of the visit on Bob's lap. We take Molly and Aidan for a walk in their Snuglis. Today we pass through the baby home gate and walk up and down the street. The kids are content and watch people and cars pass by. Both do a little chatting. It's very warm out and there is not much shade so we make our way back to the baby home. Despite being dressed in onsies both kids are drenched when we take them out of their Snuglis. We didn't know babies sweat so much. Cate and Daniel are in the marble room when we get back. Cate had her final court hearing this morning and it was very difficult. She had a different judge and procecutor. They asked a lot of questions and were dissatisfied with one document and the date on another. The judge did not make a decision and will not do so until tomorrow. Cate will not be staying in Kostanai during the waiting period. She has a three year old son at home and is self-employed and must get home to work. She will return to Almaty after the waiting period to pick up Daniel. He will fly to Almaty with the head nurse from the baby home. It's 2:30pm and time to take the kids back. The other children have been brought in so we bring the kids to their inside rooms. We meet out front and take a different route back to the hotel.

We drop our stuff off and as we get ready to go we hear a light knock on the door. It is Olesya. We fill out some additional information on the forms we will take to the US Embassy. The information is from the children's birth and adoption certificates. Olesya is only there a few minutes and heads home when we are done. She had a busy day and is tired. We go to the Internet cafe and each post an entry. We check email but it is so slow we run out of time.

We meet everyone back at the hotel. Cate is joining us for dinner. Our destination tonight is a restaurant called Bavaria. We were there once shortly after we arrived in Kostanai but have not been back since because Bob was sick the day after we went. He is up for trying Bavaria again. The food is excellent. Pat, Cate and I drink a microbrew that is made at the restaurant.

We walk Dana home and she takes us a new way. We pass by the train station and decide to go in and have a look around. We're bearly inside when a policeman approaches us. He asks Dana if we are foreigners and when she says yes he asks to see our passports. We all have them with us except Cate. She slips out the door and waits for us outside. The policeman chats pleasantly with Dana as he reviews our papers. He smiles as he does this. Our papers are in order. We look around the station briefly before going. After we leave we find out that the policeman asked Dana if she came there often. Looks like he used us as an excuse to flirt with our pretty translator! We have a good laugh.

Back at the hotel Pat watches soccer and I work on a crossword puzzle. We both eat an ice cream bar. Lights out at 12:30am.