Home Sweet Home!!!

Buckle up and away we go!!!! Good-bye Kazakhstan!!! Paka Paka

Welcome to Canada Dylan!!!!

Grandma CasaCalenda finally meeting her 1st grandson!!!

So Wonderful to be welcomed home by our friends and family!!

A Day we will never forget!!!

Dylan finally in his new home with his special blanket

Long, complicated, difficult and expensive journey

but so glad it worked out

and we were finally able to bring Dylan home.

Glad we are HOME SAFE And SOUND!!!

The End!!!!


Our 1st morning back in Canada felt like Christmas morning!

February 27th, 2011

Finally received Dylan’s documents Saturday night, the night before our early Sunday morning flight back to Canada. Went through the documents and we realized we are still missing 1 document which was his Canadian citizenship. Fil got back on the phone making is many phone calls to everyone to try to find out if we can still fly out the next day. Stress, Stress, Stress until the last second in Kazakhstan. So we find out we can leave Kazakhstan as scheduled early Sunday morning.

No problems at Almaty airport when we checked in and we were soooo relieved. The flight from Kazakhstan to London, Dylan only slept 2hrs out of the 7 hour flight. He was ok throughout the flight except that he did not like to be buckled up too much. Once we got to London we went to pick-up our stroller and when the BMI agent looked at our baggage stub she informed us that it was sent directly to Montreal. The BMI agent in Kazakhstan was specifically told we needed the stroller in London but I guess he didn’t understand. So we were stuck walking in that huge airport for 5 hours with Dylan in our arms. Not very happy about that.
Flight from London to Montreal went very well. Dylan only slept another 2 hours out of the 7 hour flight again. While everyone was sleeping on the plane, Dylan decided he was going to babble but he was babbling so loud and he thought it was so funny. It was embarrassing but also so funny that we could not stop laughing.

Arrived in Montreal and they did not make us wait the HUGE line up at customs. We were so happy because we were so tired, we did not sleep at all on the flights. The custom agent did not ask us for Dylan’s citizenship document and we were so relieved.

We went out and we were welcomed by a huge crowd of friends and family. We never expected so many people to be waiting for us at the airport. What an emotional day full of tears of joy. We were so tired but when we saw everyone we just woke up with all the adrenaline that quickly rushed into our bodies. The moment that Fil and I have been waiting for and dreaming for so long had finally come and what a feeling that was. We had initially said that Dylan would stay in our arms so he wouldn’t get scared but Dylan was doing great and asking to go in their arms and absolutely loved all the attention he was getting.

The welcome home at the airport was amazing and it feels so great to be home. Our bed has never felt so comfortable. It’s nice to see everyone again and so nice to be back with Dylan finally!!!

Finally Going Home!!!

Sonny our cat!!!!

February 25th, 2011

Leaving Taraz tonight to go to Almaty and leaving Kazakhstan on Sunday morning to Canada!!!! Actually we’re not sure if we are leaving on Sunday because we’re having some problems getting Dylan’s visa on time. Yes that’s right we still don’t know if we’ll be able to leave on Sunday because of some delay which I will not get into right now. But we are leaving Taraz tonight and that’s 1 step closer to getting home. It will be nice to be in Almaty, change of scenery and change of mind!!

We will kiss the grounds once we arrive in Montreal !!
We have been here for many months but never have we felt so home sick as we feel now. We are just so anxious to get back home, see our family and friends but most importantly so everyone can finally meet their little man Dylan.

Yes it’s been a very long and difficult journey and many of you have said how did we do it???? We don’t consider ourselves heroes because we know that anyone faced with the same situation would have done the same thing and fight with everything they had until the end. However we are very proud that we were both able to be here for as long as we did for Dylan and we are very proud that we will bring Dylan back to his final destination........ His home in Canada!!

We would like to say a few words to all our readers: family, friends including strangers. Thank you for having supported us and for following us throughout our adoption journey. Thank you for your numerous emails, comments, your phone calls, and all your words of encouragements. We are so happy and so proud to have so many people behind us rooting for us and giving us the strength and will to continue fighting. We will never forget all the help and support we received and will forever be grateful to each and every one of you.

Thank you friends and family from the bottom of all our 3 hearts!!!
Dylan is a lucky little guy to have all these amazing people in his life!!!

Live, Love and Laugh!!!

Saramoldaeva February Birthday Party Celebration

Making dough for the pizza

Special little boy Sergei who has a very painful story behind him.

Zarina making cookies

Kids making pizza

Eating the delicious pizza everyone helped to make

The girls playing twister

The Winner, Vicki!!

What a great party!!!

February 20th, 2011

Today we went to Vicki’s house for the birthday party of 5 children who celebrated their birthday in the month of February from Saramoldaeva orphanage. We were so glad we were able to do this 1 more time before we came back home to Canada. It was Dylan’s 1st birthday party and he had a little hard time for the 1st couple of minutes when we arrived. He was scared but then he was playing everywhere having a great time with everyone. Vicki has 3 cats and 1 dog and Dylan absolutely loved them. Our cat Sonny at home better get ready because his little brother Dylan will chase him all over the house.

The kids had a great time at their birthday party. They helped make the pizza, cookies, helped clean up and played games. I think it’s a great idea that Vicki does this because it makes the kids feel really special, they have fun and get to be out of the orphanage and be in a typical home where they get to have a more one to one contact with the adults.

Fil and I have a great time being with Vicki and all these kids. What Vicki does for these kids is done from the heart and we are so grateful to have met such a beautiful women like her. We have grown and learnt so much from her and these kids that we will treasure these memories forever.

Vicki and Beth should be coming to Canada next year and we can’t wait to have them with us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for ALWAYS being there to help us when we needed you and we will miss you both very dearly.
You truly are amazing and we have no doubt that you will continue on your great work. See you both soon my friends. Xoxoxoxoxox

Our 1st outing as a family of 3

Dylan still not too sure about being in Wallie’s arms

Wallie slicing the meat

Mmmmm yummy in the tummy!!

Hanging out with the boys!

We went to visit our “Kazakh” parents Wallie and Anara who are the landlords where we lived in the summer time. We call them our Kazakh parents because they are very warm welcoming people that teach us a lot about the Kazakh culture. They always feed us and give us food to bring back home, the way our parents ALWAYS do.

Dylan was scared when we arrived and cried and stayed in our arms but he eventually got comfortable and was all over the place. He played with 3 Kazakh boys, had his 1st and probably his last real traditional Kazakh meal called “besbarmak” which consists mainly of lasagna noodles, horse and mutton meat. We’ve had this meal several times at their house. The German couple Katrin and Ernie were also there and it was their 1st time to have besbarmak at their place.

Wallie and Anara are very traditional Kazakhs and give all their guests traditional Kazakh clothing when you eat at their house for the 1st time.

Wallie and Anara were so happy to finally have met Dylan and they spoiled him with food, attention, kisses and played with him all night.

To Celebrate Growing Older

A very special friend of mine (Albina) sent me this email today and I thought I’d share it with everyone.

Written by a 90 year old
This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me".

1. Life isn't fair but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument.
Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret,
you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. If you have to lie in your relationship,
you are in the wrong relationship.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now.
Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words
'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is,
not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day.
Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Don’t waste your energy on people who don’t deserve it, use it wisely on people who do.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Okay we are finally back on track.

February 14th, 2011.

Dylan ended up getting really sick and we brought him to the hospital on February 4th and the doctor told us he had bacterial pneumonia. We hired a nurse to come to our house twice a day to give him his antibiotic through injection for 5 days. We also had nose drops and a pill to dissolve in water to give him 3 times a day. The doctor came to our house 5 days later to visit Dylan and check his lungs and said he was doing good. He prescribed him syrup, some more pills and a different type of nose drops for another 4 days. Dylan is doing much better now but we were really worried. A lot of kids adopted in Eastern Europe have a weak respiratory system.

I also got very sick shortly after Dylan was brought to the hospital. I was sick for a whole week and I refused to go see a doctor here. I was dizzy, nauseous and visited the washroom very often. Our coordinator said I may have caught a bacteria from the water, food or even from Dylan. She told us what medications to buy at the pharmacy and we did. You don’t need a prescription from the doctor for medications here so why go see a doctor???? I took the antibiotics for 3 days, I also had to drink a black liquid diluted in water 3 times and I seem to be doing better.
Dylan finally coming out of the baby house, then a week later getting sick with pneumonia, Stress, Anxiety was toooooo much for me to handle. I was so afraid of him getting really high fever in the middle of the night and we don’t even know how to call an ambulance that it was giving me mini panic attacks.
I must have had a combinations of things, I may have caught some kind of bacteria and everything else did not help the situation.
I’m doing much better now but I seriously need to get home. I think that once we land in Canada I will collapse but I really don’t care because we’ll finally be home.

Nurzhan

February 3rd, 2011

There is a special young gentleman that we met back in December that today (February 3rd) we were able to brighten up his day a little.
We met Nurzhan who is a 16 year old and lives at Saramoldaeva orphanage, when Vicki from Interlink organized a birthday party at her house for the children who celebrated their birthdays within the last 2 months. She does these birthday parties to give the children an opportunity to see how things are out of the Orphanage and get to see what real life is all about in a typical home. They help prepare home cooked meals, bake, set the table, clean up after eating and wash dishes which they never do at the orphanage. There were five children celebrating their birthdays.
Nurzhan who celebrated his 16th birthday picked up Vicki’s guitar and the minute he started playing and singing our hearts fell to the floor. What a talented young fellow he was. Maybe the fact that we love music SOOOO Much and also the fact that he sang us a song called, “I Miss You Mama”, from that moment he captured our hearts. We learnt that he had no guitar and Fil and I wanted to do something for him and we told ourselves this kid is so talented and he needs a guitar. So we decided to get him a guitar.
Fil went with Vicki to buy him the guitar. Nurzhan was also supposed to go with them but he was ill on that day and was not able to go. I stayed home with Dylan while they went shopping and delivered Nurzhan his guitar.

Fil said that Nurzhan was very sick when he brought him his gift but at least we were able to put a smile on his face. He was very happy and very grateful and that made us sooooo happy!!