Not Much to Update

We have not posted in quite some time because there really is not much to update. Plus, both of us developed colds since New Year's day (Schastliv s novom godom...literally be happy with the new year) so we have not been doing much. Some of you might not know that I (Mark) studied quite a bit of Russian in high school and some even in college, so I have dusted off my old text books. It is really amazing how many interactive lessons are available for free online. These online lessons are certainly a nice break from regular books.

Even though she is just now getting over her cold, Joella has started to help out with a high school robotics team. Several of her friends from work have done this project for the last few years and she is really enjoying it. I am sure Joella will write some more about it later and provide the web links to their work. The team is planning on going to the regional competition in Minnesota later this spring.

I am sure that everyone really wants to hear more specifics on the adoption timeline. Although we certainly do receive updates, each phase can take from a week to two months so you can just estimate that it takes about 6 months (from dossier submittal) for us to have definite news.

Dossier apostilled in Kansas City - 12/13/07

Dossier sent to World Partners Adoption for review - 12/14/07

Dossier sent to Kazakhstan for translation - 12/19/07

Dossier goes to Consulate of Kazakhstan in New York City - 1/30/08

Dossier goes to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Kazakhstan

Dossier goes to the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Kazakhstan

Ministry of Education determines where in Kazakhstan an infant is available for adoption

We receive the Letter of Invitation (LOI) to travel to Kazakhstan

We receive our Kazakhstan visas

We leave for Kazakhstan