I can’t believe that we are now just more than 48 hours away from boarding our plane to Frankfurt and then onward to Boston. 

It is Wednesday night here in Almaty and we had nothing scheduled for the day.  In fact our next, and last, scheduled event is our Embassy Appointment at 2:30 Thursday. 

Our journey over was as uneventful as we might have hoped.  The planes went up and down, our bag pushed through the flaps and presented itself upon the conveyor, our Almaty team met us with our onward tickets to Shymkent, and our Shymkent team took us to Nurai. 

That said, I will make one comment.  Really Frankfurt?  Is that the best you can do?  What an enormous and sprawling mess of an airport.  Our house has more bathrooms! 

Lufthansa might have newer planes and a swankier reputation than KLM, but given the need, I would choose KLM without a second thought if for no other reason than to fly through Amsterdam. 

We arrived in Shymkent exactly 36 hours after leaving Boothbay, and went straight to our hotel to check-in and unload.  That done, we hopped back into the car to buy diapers and formula and a few food things for ourselves.  A few errands later we were off to the Baby House.

Nurai has been a dream.  Her attitude has simply been amazing.  Of course all this may change at any time, but to this point, she has been so unbelievably easy. 

She learned to army crawl in our absence and now has no problem getting about the hotel room to investigate and explore.  The only fussing comes to remind us that it is either time for more food to go in or that more food has come out. 

She plays engagingly and though she vocalizes quite a bit, there is no distress in her tone.  When she get tired she simply takes longer and longer blinks until her eyes stay closed.  There is no thumb sucking or pacifier, or rocking required, she just checks-out peacefully and without a fight.  Can’t argue with that!

She is oh-so-close to her first signs.  KJ and I have been doing lots of Mama and Dada signs along with the words whenever she makes eye contact with us, and she now opens her hand up with all fingers stretched and holds her hand up in imitation of us. 

She is so much more alert and engaged than she was in November.  Her eyes track everything and she appears very curious and inquisitive.  She seems quite comfortable in the Ergo carrier and seems at ease with both KJ and me.  She sleeps soundly and doesn’t seem to mind our music or voices in the room during naps.

Today we took a walking journey up to the Green Bazaar and then to Tsum(large department store) and were gone for several hours without complaint from her.  She rode right along in her Ergo drifting in and out of naps to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the busy markets. 

The Green Bazaar was my kind of place, and though I would have loved to have had a camera out, sometimes it is more fun (and certainly simpler) just to enjoy it in real time and take it all in for what it is. 

The orderly rows of uniformed meat venders with separate areas for the various animals, each displayed on open counters and hooks, lent an immediacy and bluntness to the process. 

There is no ambiguity about from where your dinner came when you first locate the row with the correct visual representation of your desired animal, then select your cut from amongst the heads, hoofs, legs and torso of that animal. 

The other areas of the market are similarly intuitive.  Need just the right spice, head over to the spice sellers with their open sacks and colorful mound of most every spice you can’t name but can identify through smell or taste.  Want fruits or vegetables, how about fish or dried fruits and nuts – “a place for everything, and everything in its place”.

The third floor of Tsum is a great place to search out Kazakh souvenirs.  In our case, this meant a collection of various felted animals, people, and decorations to be both gifts and mementos for the girls. 

“The Girls”.  That may be the first time I’ve used those words to reference our family, and while I am sure that I will come to do so without a second thought in the future, at this point it merits a pause and a smile as my eyes well up and the lump in my throat subsides. I have daughters!

Speaking as I am about our daughters, for those wondering about Tougy, she is at home in Boothbay looking after her dogs.  Looking after her are the wonderful sister act of Kerry and Wendy who stayed in our house and looked after ‘the boys’ while we were all in Shymkent for the month of November. 

Kerry has known Tougy since Tougy came home in December 07.  Tougy simply adores Kerry and though Tougy no longer attends the Day Care program where Kerry still works, Kerry is still revered by us all. 

Together with Wendy, they have had a wonderful first few days and send daily updates regaling us with their adventures and endeavors.  I want to include a snippet from one such email to illustrate the competent and nurturing care Tougy is receiving in our absence:

We had a great day together!  Shortly after I wrote you this morning, Tougy had a bath and then went off and did her scavenger hunt!

I left silly little clues, starting with one on BoBo's collar.  Tougy giggled when she saw him walk in with it.  She took it off and Wendy read it to her and together they had fun!

The first clue went like this:

       Congratulation!  You found the 1st clue!  

       To find the 2nd clue, this is what you must do:

            Go to the room where you can find your bed

            And then look at the place where you rest your head.

Of course the next clue was waiting for her on her pillow.  Wendy read it to her and again they ran to find the next clue.  It went like this:

            Yay!  Great job!  You found clue number 2!

            To find clue number 3, this is what you must do:

            Find the table where the trains go round and round,

            Be sure when you crawl under, you look on the ground!

Tougy giggled when she found the clue laying under her train table and she was excited, nearly bumped her head as she rushed to give the clue to Wendy to read.  The last one went like this:

            Wow!  You did it!  You found the last clue!

            To find your present this is what you must do:

            Find the place where your duckies love to swim!

            Your present is waiting for you there, so jump right in!

Wendy and I recorded Tougy as she found the last present sitting in the tub.  She couldn't figure out how Mommy left it there when we had just been in the tub a little while earlier.  She just laughed and giggled.  When she opened the box of puzzles, at first she just grabbed them and said "Mine, Mine, Mine!"  But then when she realized that meant that she would have to do the puzzles by herself, she quickly changed her mind and decided to share them.  lol   Wendy and I are desperately trying to figure out a way to send you the video.   We recorded it on the computer and we can't seem to transfer the file, so we may have to wait until you come home.

How could you ask for more than that?  I also want to include a bit from Tougy as relayed to us by Kerry and Wendy:

I just read your email to Tougy and she laughed and wanted to send you a message.  I will write it word for word so you know it's from you're adorable little girl.  I can't help but laugh as I write it so bare with me:

Tougy says:

"I not crying.  Momma, Dadda, I don't cry I'm a big girl, no crying.  That's silly!" (chuckles)  

And now she's singing a song:  the closest I can describe is a tune to "Oh my darling Clementine)

"Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Coming soon with my sister!  Today!  Today!  Today!  Soon, soon!  For a long time!  And you can't come for a long time!  Mommy!  Daddy!  Mommy!  Daddy!  Coming soon!  My Mommy and Daddy coming soon!  Them can come home soon!  Oh silly Mommy and Daddy!  Oh silly Mommy and Daddy!  Oh silly Mommy and Daddy!  You're too silly today!"

Tougy also has a message To Nurai, too!:

"Thanks for coming home Nurai!"

So now the tears are back in my eyes and the lump back in throat.  How extremely fortunate are we? 

Well I think I will leave it there for now and will return to bed where KJ and Nurai are cuddled in sleep behind me.  Take Care.