We Left Our Hearts in Ust Kamenogorsk

We arrived home last Sunday afternoon around 4pm. Our lay over in Almaty was trying, the apartment we were taken to was very nice and had A/C a real luxury, however after driver and translator left us at 2 pm with a plan to return at 12:30pm, we locked the door and tried to rest. Not being able to sleep I wanted to go to the local store to buy a bottle of water and soda only to find out we were locked in a 3rd floor walk up studio apt. The lock on the door broke after we locked our selves in and no matter what we did we could not get out. Needless to say anxiety set in big time because foolishly we didnt ask for the translators phone number nor did we have the address to the apt. Calling for help would be futile as no one speaks English, and we couldnt even tell anyone where we were. Note to self , ALWAYS get the address of where you are staying and a phone number. After we both verbalized our discomfort of our situation to each other with our 12 year old watching, we realized that it was a good thing we found out at 3:30PM and had 9 hours to get help to get us out. I called our translator in Ust Kamenogorsk who kind of chuckled and reassured us she would get us help. She did and at 10:30pm the lock came flying across the room and the door opened with the Russian speaking owner very apologetic. Needless to say when the driver and translator returned at 12:30 pm we were already exhausted and we still had the 2 longest flights in front of us. Well we survived and arrived home at 4:00PM Sunday afternoon. It took most of the week to recover from our ordeal in Almaty and jet lag.

We are all missing Leah, and cannot wait until we return to Kazakhstan to bring her home for good. Our mandatory 15 day waiting period is over on Aug 21 and then we can obtain the judges decree,her new birth certificate, her passport and her visa. Obtaining these documents we are told takes another additional 12 days. So again we wait. Our travel plans are up in the air right now as we are negotiating our return date with our agency.
We pray for our daughter each day we are apart and also for all the children in her baby house and throughout the world who go to sleep each night without a mommy and a daddy to love and cherish them. If you are in the process of international adoption a child does wait just for you. If you are considering international adoption we highly recommend it. This journey of the heart is a wonderous experience and truly a leap of faith with God at the helm.





WE LOVE YOU LEAH NATALYA YOUNG