Another Update

Kazakhstan is OPEN to US Adoptions!
Here is an excerpt from www.jcics.org/Kazakhstan:

March 25, 2008 -
On Monday, March 24th, Joint Council met with Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michelle Bond. The meeting addressed the Ambassador’s concerns regarding adoptions between the United States and Kazakhstan and confirmed the ongoing review of all adoptions cases currently at the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington D.C. The Ambassador kindly detailed Kazakhstan’s efforts to ensure that intercountry adoptions are in the best interest of each child and conducted within an ethical and legal framework. He also expressed Kazakhstan’s efforts to utilize the tenets of the Hague Convention in both current and future laws.
Joint Council is pleased to report that at the conclusion of the meeting, the Ambassador confirmed that the temporary suspension of dossier processing by the Embassy is lifted and dossier’s meeting all necessary criteria will be processed. Dossiers not meeting the criteria will be held at the Embassy until all issues and concerns are successfully resolved. The Ambassador also confirmed that a review of all adoption service providers and family dossiers is ongoing and will remain in effect until further notice. During this review period, adoption service providers and potential adoptive parents should expect ongoing delays in processing times. No specific time line for the processing of dossiers is currently available.
It remains Joint Council’s understanding that in adoption cases where the dossier has already been processed by the Kazakhstan Embassy and forward to Astana are not affected by the review process noted above.
The Kazakhstan Embassy, U.S. Department of State and Joint Council have agreed to work collaboratively over the coming weeks to ensure that the goal of ethical, legal adoptions under the tenets of the Hague Convention are met in a timely fashion and in the best interest of each child. Joint Council hopes to meet with Consular Chief Almat Aidarbekov in the coming days to discuss specific issues related to child welfare in the U.S. and Kazakhstan.
Joint Council extends our sincere thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Idrissov and Deputy Assistant Secretary Bond for their efforts on behalf of the children we serve. We also applaud Ambassador Idrissov’s commitment to ethical child welfare and to ensuring a safe, loving and permanent family for every child.

Easter Morning

Turner woke up Easter Morning at my parent's house saying "Mommy, see, the sun is awake so it's time to get up!" So, I had to get up. And, since the Easter Bunny came, again, to hide the Easter eggs in the living room, we had to hunt all of the eggs and then fight over how much candy he was actually going to get to eat BEFORE breakfast!!!

This bunny hid baseball eggs.

Look at all of my eggs and the sucker in my mouth.

All dressed for church. I had the cutest outfit for him to wear but, of course, a cold-front came through, as one does every Easter, so we had to resort to pants and a sweater.

Easter at the Lake

The tongue sticking out is a key element to hitting the ball!

Go Batter, batter, batter
Turner with Papa's pom-poms!

Turner stopping for a grape break. He had to eat a grape in between hits.

The Easter Bunny stopped at my parent's house one day early so that Turner and Papa could enjoy his present. Turner received a baseball set that plays ESPN music and automatically sets the ball up to be hit. Turner was great at hitting the ball, Mimi was a great catcher and Papa was a great cheerleader (did not get a picture but was quite funny!)

Turner's Easter Basket

Riding on his 4-wheeler

First Presbyterian Church's Easter Egg Hunt

Getting ready for the Hunt!

And they are off!
Wow, what is inside this one?
No egg can hide from me.
Can I have one more piece of candy?

Yesterday was the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my parent's church. Turner had more fun looking inside each egg as he picked them up than he did actually hunting for the eggs! He would cram as much chocolate as possible in his mouth before I could stop him.

Blast from the Past

Claire Laing, who I grew up with, came down to Shreveport for the weekend because her husband had to take a test at one of our local colleges. She and her family live outside of Little Rock, AR now so I don't get to see her very often. But, our moms were/are great friends and so during our childhood our moms, along with another mom and daughter pair, would get together almost every Friday night to eat pizza (usually Pizza Hut) and then go back to someone's house to watch Dallas!!! Ah, those were the days!

Claire and I were pregnant at the same time so our kids are 5 weeks apart. Riley will be 3 in July.

Riley and Turner in the Bass Pro Shop

Riley showing off her sunglasses on the Trolley

Still enjoying the Trolley ride

Such Cuties!!

Sunday in the Park

Here are pictures from Sunday, March 9th. We spent the afternoon at the park since it was such a pretty day.

Turner and Daddy on the Monkey Bars

Turner jumping

Sliding down

Me and Turner swinging

Adoption Update

Not a good update! Apparently, Kazakhstan has suspended all adoptions to US citizens. I don't quite understand all of the whys and hows, etc. but I will keep everyone posted as I find out things!

March 19th
Here is the link I was sent yesterday concerning the adoption suspension: www.jcics.org/kazakhstan.htm.
And, if anyone is interested, there is a podcast today, Wednesday, March 19th, and 11 am Central time at this link: www.findingyourchild.com. At the beginning of the show they are supposed to discuss the situation in Kazakhstan.

A Snow Day in Louisiana???

We don't get many snow days here in Louisiana so today was a surprise! Just 6 days ago we took pictures in shorts (see pics below!) and my plants and tree were getting ready to bloom and now tonight we are going to have freezing weather! I wish we had normal seasons with a distinction between each. Although, I must say, I love hot weather, which is good since that is 3 out of our 4 seasons here!
And, since people here in the South can not drive in snow or ice, the schools close down at the drop of the hat (which I know DeAnn loves because she gets to leave work early) so below are some pictures of Turner enjoying our wet snow before it melts!
This snow does not even compare to your snow in Germany, Natascha!

Snow Basketball

Turner enjoying the snow!

Our yard with snow. It actually looks like winter!

Another reason to wear our alligator boots!

Spring Photos

Saturday, Wes, Turner, and I went to Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport to have photos taken with the spring foliage. But, the azaleas were not in bloom yet and no fountains turned on but Turner had a blast anyway! All he wanted to do was climb on the rocks, run, and sword fight with sticks. Boys!!! Eric did get some great shots of us.

The FamilyTurner climbing on the rocks.See the stick?Playing with Daddy.He really is pretty! Such a poser!

We used Eric Sorensen. His website is www.pbase.com/ericsorensen.