Monday, December 17, 2007

Home with Daniel....Because of Kaz!!!

Greetings from the home front...at long last....we are all together - and adjusting.

Papa and Daniel touched down at O'Hare on Friday afternoon...and America's Newest Citizen became official. Daniel Jake.

What an ordeal...the flight out of Almaty on Thursday was delayed from 2 am to 1 PM...and that was after Papa had to return the cell phone and the local adoption folks had said goodbye. We checked out the near by dump, AKA hotel, but it did not offer a toilet and the receptionist must have been having another bad bad day. Did I mention it was a dump.

So, we headed back into the terminal with Daniel Jake finally dozing off from 1 to 5 am. The terminal is small, and was filled to capacity with Muslims heading to Mecca. Finally, at noon we were able to check in and wait for the departure to Frankfort. But no sooner had we sat down in the terminal, a very older Kazakhstan woman was hugging and hugging Papa. Initially, she seemed to be happy that a child was being adopted....yet it became clear....she was very happy and had had too much sauce with her borsh .... or horse...or pancakes that day at lunch. We were able to find a new spot in the terminal and avoided her entirely.

Again, this was Thursday, the day we were suppose to arrive at O'Hare....but with the delay in leaving, we missed our connecting flight to Chicago. So after getting more papers signed and waiting and waiting for forms to be processed, the airline put us up for the night in a very nice hotel. Some of the photos below include a ginger bread house on display in the lobby. Meanwhile, back at Ohare, Mama thought we were on the original flight and would be home on Thursday. After waiting, with a HUGE balloon for hours, she realized we were no shows. After many calls to our travel agency, she was finally told where we were and about the flight delays. ANd then at 1:30 am Frankfort time, Papa got a call from Mama. We were all ready for Friday's plans and being together soon.

We did finally make it home on Friday afternoon,,,,and have since been adjusting. Especially Daniel with the time changes. He woke up Saturday at 2 am, and we were all up after that for the day. And then Sunday and Monday, it was 4 am. Hopefully, if we can keep him up a bit later here on Monday evening, he will sleep in till 6 or so. Plus we are heading out soon to check out the Christmas lights.

Sure can not thank you all enough for your support and encouragement this year, and especially during our first trip in October, and the final trip this month. It sure means a lot to us...and some day down the road we will share your comments and the like with Daniel.


Here's a sampling of photos...







Daniel studying the safety guide on the airplane...he did this on each flight!!













One of the ginger bread houses in Germany....yummy










One from Uganda and one from Kaz'....not all that different, eh.
















Papa and Daniel with the Big Balloon from Mama











Elf Daniel shopping at Lowes. Mama and Papa are also learning how to shop with Daniel.








Mama and Daniel for his first hamburger in America...the happy meal toy was the best part!!!






Daniel wants to take a spin around the block and check out the young babes in the neighborhood. Mama and Papa can wait a few years while his legs get long enough to reach the pedals...and is also able see over the dash. Look out Ladies!!!


Love to all, Becky and Steve
What a Christmas this will be!!!!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The picture of Daniel with the gingerbread house reminds me of when you guys took Corey and I to the gingerbread house thing downtown!

It looks like you guys are all having so much fun!

Can't wait until we get to meet him in less than a week.

--Kelly

Anonymous said...

Hey Madison Family,
Merry Christmas to Steve, Becky and Daniel. Sounds like quite a return trip Steve. I bet you wished you could sleep a couple days to recover. Love the pictures you included. Wanted to call but did not want to interfere with your family reunion time. Love you guys!
Diann

Anonymous said...

Nice photos!

Can't wait to meet this guy!

До скорого!

Ben

Anonymous said...

dear steve and becky and daniel,
i am so glad to read of your arrival in the USA> cannot wait to see all of you. And mama and papa sounds like you've done a great job on the patience department, love auntie mo

Amy said...

Hi Becky and Steve! I didn't know you had a blog! Anyway, I am glad I found it even if it is after the fact! Read it all the way through! How are things going now? You have been home for just under two weeks right? I am curious about the transition time of the first three to four months home with an older child. Glad I finally found you!
Amy

Anonymous said...

dear momma and poppa and daniel,
happy new year. Was so glad for you and your family to visit us in Michigan. I am so glad to have a new nephew named Daniel Jake. I trust you made it home safe to C' town. Auntie Mo