Hi everybody,
We got home at 3:30pm yesterday. We got to come home two days earlier than expected because we were able to move our flight up after we got his American visa on Friday. We went by the Lufthansa (airline) office right after the appt. with the embassy and they were able to move our flight up two days for a slight penalty ;-) ($600), BUT if we were to stay in Kaz 2 more days before leaving on our Monday flight, we would have spent $500 for all of the in-country expenses, so we lost $100 and got home two days earlier ;-). Praise God!
He slept about 11 hours last night all together and only woke up about 4 times throughout the night. The 1st of the four, mommy played with him for about an hour, and the other three, he rocked right back to sleep. God is so good! We were able to sleep. When we got home, we were EXHAUSTED. I've never been so tired in my life. We had about 2 hours of sleep total in about 48 hours, AND we had to try to keep an 8-month old BOY occupied on a plane for 24 hours...yeah, GOOD LUCK! Actually, he did really well; we were proud of him, but there were a few times that it was impossible to figure out what he wanted...b/c he didn't even know what he wanted ;-).
He's sleepin' right now on his morning nap.
The next thing we need prayer for is all of his doctor's appointments in the next week or so. We are going to the international adoption clinic at Children's hospital...he gets to see a international disease doctor, nutrionist, psychologist, neurologist, and some more specialists, but it's going to be a lot. He also has to get up to date on all of his immunizations and we need to find a pediatrician and then take Isaak to get circumcized (I'm sure this will be a lovely process).
Anyway, God has blessed us FAR MORE than we could ever deserve and even want. He has been so good to us, and we are so thankful that He has entrusted Isaak to us! What a blessing.
Soon, Kristin and I are going to make a list (LONG list) of all of the answers to prayer throughout this process...it's pretty incredible!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
On Our Way
Hi everybody,
Here we go again...we're sitting at our gate in Columbus waiting to board to travel to our first connection (Washington DC). The reality of what we're doing hasn't really sunk in quite yet. We're really excited, but it seems almost surreal that we're going back...like, is this really happening? ;-)
We managed to pack everything in just two suitcases, a stroller, a carry-on and a laptop bag. I don't know how we did it...well, we had to pack our things in about half of a suitcase and all of Isaak's things in the rest. ;-)
We received his ticket from FedEx to travel back with us...it was the first official "Isaak Krull" document. We were both pretty excited.
Well, here's the itinerary:
Monday: 11:20pm touch down in Astana, Kazakhstan (1:40pm Monday afternoon EDT)
Tuesday: Gotcha-day - go to the baby house and get his schedule for eating and sleeping, give out our gifts, pick-up Isaak and 5:20pm - fly to Almaty, Kazakhstan and arrive around 7:30pm (9:30am Tuesday morning EDT).
Wednesday: Isaak's medical appt. at US Embassy
Thursday: Isaak's interview and swearing-in at US Embassy
Friday: Isaak gets visa from US Embassy
Saturday/Sunday: Enjoy being a family and buy souvenirs and Sunday, go to airport
Monday: 1:55am depart Almaty for Columbus and fly-in around 3:30pm
Alright, time to board.
We love you all
Jon and Kristin
Here we go again...we're sitting at our gate in Columbus waiting to board to travel to our first connection (Washington DC). The reality of what we're doing hasn't really sunk in quite yet. We're really excited, but it seems almost surreal that we're going back...like, is this really happening? ;-)
We managed to pack everything in just two suitcases, a stroller, a carry-on and a laptop bag. I don't know how we did it...well, we had to pack our things in about half of a suitcase and all of Isaak's things in the rest. ;-)
We received his ticket from FedEx to travel back with us...it was the first official "Isaak Krull" document. We were both pretty excited.
Well, here's the itinerary:
Monday: 11:20pm touch down in Astana, Kazakhstan (1:40pm Monday afternoon EDT)
Tuesday: Gotcha-day - go to the baby house and get his schedule for eating and sleeping, give out our gifts, pick-up Isaak and 5:20pm - fly to Almaty, Kazakhstan and arrive around 7:30pm (9:30am Tuesday morning EDT).
Wednesday: Isaak's medical appt. at US Embassy
Thursday: Isaak's interview and swearing-in at US Embassy
Friday: Isaak gets visa from US Embassy
Saturday/Sunday: Enjoy being a family and buy souvenirs and Sunday, go to airport
Monday: 1:55am depart Almaty for Columbus and fly-in around 3:30pm
Alright, time to board.
We love you all
Jon and Kristin
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Isaak is OUR SON! Praise God!
We just received news yesterday (earlier than expected) that Isaak's adoption decree was picked up on Friday and that they have applied for the adoption and birth certificate. We are also heard news that they will receive us in country on Monday, April 13, so as long as we get our visas (which we should) we will be traveling on Easter Sunday...pretty cool huh? Makes Easter a little more real.
PLEASE PRAY!!! We got a phone call from the Kazakh embassy yesterday saying that we did not send them the correct amount of money for the type of visa that we need. My agency told me we needed a tourist visa, so I paid the tourist price, but it was not quite enough. Praise God that they contacted us so quickly (they got our passports on Thursday and called us on Friday). The gentleman actually said that we are approved, they are just waiting on the money to issue the visas. We are getting the money order this morning and overnighting it to them so that it will be there first thing Monday morning. I will call them Monday afternoon to make sure that they matched up our money order with all of our other paperwork. PLEASE PRAY that they get the visa out quickly so that we have a little notice to buy our airline tickets and everything else we need before traveling. I'm 98% positive that it's God's will for us to leave on Easter...we've been convinced of it since we left AND, God kind of confirmed that in my mind when the Embassy contacted us SO quickly.
Praise God!!
Pray in that visa!!!
Thank you,
Jon and Kristin
PLEASE PRAY!!! We got a phone call from the Kazakh embassy yesterday saying that we did not send them the correct amount of money for the type of visa that we need. My agency told me we needed a tourist visa, so I paid the tourist price, but it was not quite enough. Praise God that they contacted us so quickly (they got our passports on Thursday and called us on Friday). The gentleman actually said that we are approved, they are just waiting on the money to issue the visas. We are getting the money order this morning and overnighting it to them so that it will be there first thing Monday morning. I will call them Monday afternoon to make sure that they matched up our money order with all of our other paperwork. PLEASE PRAY that they get the visa out quickly so that we have a little notice to buy our airline tickets and everything else we need before traveling. I'm 98% positive that it's God's will for us to leave on Easter...we've been convinced of it since we left AND, God kind of confirmed that in my mind when the Embassy contacted us SO quickly.
Praise God!!
Pray in that visa!!!
Thank you,
Jon and Kristin
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Court is Over! Praise God!
Hi everyone,
We are finished with probably the most difficult hour of question drilling of our lives...you would think we were criminals ;-). BUT, we are incredibly thankful that they cared enough about Issak's well-being that they would ask such important and deep questions.
Oh, and by the way, our coordinator did not spell his name correctly on all of the documents for court, and when we looked at it, we actually liked it better, so we told her that it was ok.
Issak Aleksandr Krull (I think the "K" makes it look more Russian which is cool). Also, when he plays sports, his teammates will call him "Issak K" which will sound like "Isaakay" which is kinda cool and unique.
They didn't wave the 15-day period, but they have good reason. It is kind-of like a loan in the United States. When you sign up for a loan, you have 72 hours to call back and cancel before it takes affect. Well the 15-days serves two purposes. The first is it gives us a chance to change our minds (NO WAY ON EARTH). The second is that it gives the mother and birth family another change to change their minds.
Well, considering that mother made-up her mind when she made-up her name and address for his birth certificate, I really doubt that it is possible. We're thinking like less than .5% of a chance. She would first have to go back to the baby house which would tell her "NO WAY will we give you any information, why did you abandon your son for 8 months" - we know this because this is exactly what they did with another couple that is adopting at the same time as us. The baby-house sided with the adoptive parents, and they are half way through their bonding period even though 2 weeks ago, an aunt came asking about their child. In order for mother to get the child after being told nothing at the baby house, she would have to hire an attorney and pay money to the court to file a protest about an adoption that they don't even know is going on at this present time...it would just be a guess. The court will not tell her in advance of filing a protest that Isaak is currently being adopted, so why would a mother file a protest for an adoption that they didn't know existed...in all likelihood, not possible.
I know that God allowed us to see that first-hand so that we would have a peace about the whole process when we come home for 15 days. AND by the way, God has worked miracles to make Isaak be our child, He WILL finish what He started, we are both confident. Praise God for such an incredible experience...in some wierd, twisted kind of way, we're going to miss living in Kaz, BUT (BIG BUT), we cannot wait to eat American food...you know like "El Vaquero" and "Olive Garden" ;-). AND we miss our family. We're not talking just about our biological family, we're also talking about all our kids at Madison and our brothers and sisters at Maranatha...OH WE MISS YOU ALL! We are incredibly humbled, blessed, and touched by your incredible prayer support throughout this entire process...DON'T STOP PRAYING!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
We are finished with probably the most difficult hour of question drilling of our lives...you would think we were criminals ;-). BUT, we are incredibly thankful that they cared enough about Issak's well-being that they would ask such important and deep questions.
Oh, and by the way, our coordinator did not spell his name correctly on all of the documents for court, and when we looked at it, we actually liked it better, so we told her that it was ok.
Issak Aleksandr Krull (I think the "K" makes it look more Russian which is cool). Also, when he plays sports, his teammates will call him "Issak K" which will sound like "Isaakay" which is kinda cool and unique.
They didn't wave the 15-day period, but they have good reason. It is kind-of like a loan in the United States. When you sign up for a loan, you have 72 hours to call back and cancel before it takes affect. Well the 15-days serves two purposes. The first is it gives us a chance to change our minds (NO WAY ON EARTH). The second is that it gives the mother and birth family another change to change their minds.
Well, considering that mother made-up her mind when she made-up her name and address for his birth certificate, I really doubt that it is possible. We're thinking like less than .5% of a chance. She would first have to go back to the baby house which would tell her "NO WAY will we give you any information, why did you abandon your son for 8 months" - we know this because this is exactly what they did with another couple that is adopting at the same time as us. The baby-house sided with the adoptive parents, and they are half way through their bonding period even though 2 weeks ago, an aunt came asking about their child. In order for mother to get the child after being told nothing at the baby house, she would have to hire an attorney and pay money to the court to file a protest about an adoption that they don't even know is going on at this present time...it would just be a guess. The court will not tell her in advance of filing a protest that Isaak is currently being adopted, so why would a mother file a protest for an adoption that they didn't know existed...in all likelihood, not possible.
I know that God allowed us to see that first-hand so that we would have a peace about the whole process when we come home for 15 days. AND by the way, God has worked miracles to make Isaak be our child, He WILL finish what He started, we are both confident. Praise God for such an incredible experience...in some wierd, twisted kind of way, we're going to miss living in Kaz, BUT (BIG BUT), we cannot wait to eat American food...you know like "El Vaquero" and "Olive Garden" ;-). AND we miss our family. We're not talking just about our biological family, we're also talking about all our kids at Madison and our brothers and sisters at Maranatha...OH WE MISS YOU ALL! We are incredibly humbled, blessed, and touched by your incredible prayer support throughout this entire process...DON'T STOP PRAYING!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Court Tomorrow...pretty scared!
Hi everyone,
Court is tomorrow. We are pretty scared...we don't really know what's going to go down. We've been talking with other couples that have been to court and every couple seems to have a different experience and story of how the questions are asked and everything, SO we really have no way to prepare.
I (Jon) am just scared because sometimes when I'm very nervous, I leave important information out and I stumble over my words (YES, even though I'm a teacher). PLEASE PRAY that God would give us both clarity of mind and speech and wisdom to answer as He would. It's so scary that EVERYTHING that we have put into this adoption emotionally, spiritually, financially all rests on this one decision...AND Isaac's future. Although, all the other couples did say it seemed like the judge and the all of the people in the court were on our side and agreed with us.
Neither of us have ever been to court in any form, so it's a little scary that the first time we have to go is in another country and we don't completely know their customs...oh well, that's why God will put the words in our mouth.
Isaac had an AWESOME day today. He was so much fun; he was smiling and laughing, and enjoying every moment. We were able to take him out of the baby house on a car ride to the photography place to take his picture. He wasn't so fond of the way that they bundled him up, but after we got to the photo place and took off 5,000 layers he was his normal happy self...all of the workers in the photo place were blown away that he didn't cry because every single baby that is brought in for a passport picture cries...interesting ;-). I think that's because God set it in his heart that we are here to take care of him and love him and meet his needs.
11:00AM tomorrow morning, or 1AM in the morning for all of you. If you wake up in the middle of the night, please remember us in prayer!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
Court is tomorrow. We are pretty scared...we don't really know what's going to go down. We've been talking with other couples that have been to court and every couple seems to have a different experience and story of how the questions are asked and everything, SO we really have no way to prepare.
I (Jon) am just scared because sometimes when I'm very nervous, I leave important information out and I stumble over my words (YES, even though I'm a teacher). PLEASE PRAY that God would give us both clarity of mind and speech and wisdom to answer as He would. It's so scary that EVERYTHING that we have put into this adoption emotionally, spiritually, financially all rests on this one decision...AND Isaac's future. Although, all the other couples did say it seemed like the judge and the all of the people in the court were on our side and agreed with us.
Neither of us have ever been to court in any form, so it's a little scary that the first time we have to go is in another country and we don't completely know their customs...oh well, that's why God will put the words in our mouth.
Isaac had an AWESOME day today. He was so much fun; he was smiling and laughing, and enjoying every moment. We were able to take him out of the baby house on a car ride to the photography place to take his picture. He wasn't so fond of the way that they bundled him up, but after we got to the photo place and took off 5,000 layers he was his normal happy self...all of the workers in the photo place were blown away that he didn't cry because every single baby that is brought in for a passport picture cries...interesting ;-). I think that's because God set it in his heart that we are here to take care of him and love him and meet his needs.
11:00AM tomorrow morning, or 1AM in the morning for all of you. If you wake up in the middle of the night, please remember us in prayer!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sorry Everybody
Hi everyone!
Sorry for the long time between posts. I would love to say that we've been busy, but that's not true, so we don't really have an excuse for not posting ;-).
Isaac has been doing great this past week. He's really teething and he's enjoying being mobile. He wants to do EVERYTHING everyone else is doing. He's cute.
He's continued to bond with us...everyday we come in, when we're putting new clothes on him, he smiles up a storm and talks to us like crazy...blah blah blah, dada, blah blah blah (pretty much exactly). One day, his teeth were hurting real bad so he started to suck in air through his lips and then proceed to make a spitting noise (really, pass-gassing noise) with his mouth. I laughed, and then I did it for him and now every time I do it, he does it too...it's so funny! Sonia, our translator thinks it's hysterical.
Here comes the date that we've all been praying for, for such a long time!! This coming Wednesday in the morning, we will have court (your Tuesday evening). The judge will ask us some questions about our home and our family, and our income, and our reasoning for adopting (all of which we've already answered for them a thousand time, but it's a formality, so we have to do it). Pray that God will give me (Jon - I get to answer the questions because I'm the man of the household) clarity of mind and speech and that He would help me say things clearly and properly. We're an open book...we've got nothing to hide.
Either we're going to have a 15-day waiting period, which we will travel home for, OR, they will decree the adoption Wednesday, and we will have to wait until we get his paperwork (birth certificate and passport), and then we will travel to Almaty for meetings with the US Embassy and then we will travel home.
USUALLY, the norm is to impose the 15-day appeal period for family to come back, BUT, as far as WE can see it, this is not a normal case because mom is not even in the picture because she lied about her name and her address so they can't find her...SO, you never know what God's going to do. You all know what we're praying for and I know that you all have prayed for it too, but we are definitely ok with whatever God decides to do...If we come home, we'll be coming back within 21 days...it will be long, but if it's necessary, it's necessary! We've waited this long, what's 21 more days...BUT for Isaac's sake, we hope we can bring him home this trip so that he doesn't have to go 21 days without seeing us...perhaps he would lose some trust that we've built.
We love you all, and we can tell that you are praying...thank you!
Jon and Kristin
Sorry for the long time between posts. I would love to say that we've been busy, but that's not true, so we don't really have an excuse for not posting ;-).
Isaac has been doing great this past week. He's really teething and he's enjoying being mobile. He wants to do EVERYTHING everyone else is doing. He's cute.
He's continued to bond with us...everyday we come in, when we're putting new clothes on him, he smiles up a storm and talks to us like crazy...blah blah blah, dada, blah blah blah (pretty much exactly). One day, his teeth were hurting real bad so he started to suck in air through his lips and then proceed to make a spitting noise (really, pass-gassing noise) with his mouth. I laughed, and then I did it for him and now every time I do it, he does it too...it's so funny! Sonia, our translator thinks it's hysterical.
Here comes the date that we've all been praying for, for such a long time!! This coming Wednesday in the morning, we will have court (your Tuesday evening). The judge will ask us some questions about our home and our family, and our income, and our reasoning for adopting (all of which we've already answered for them a thousand time, but it's a formality, so we have to do it). Pray that God will give me (Jon - I get to answer the questions because I'm the man of the household) clarity of mind and speech and that He would help me say things clearly and properly. We're an open book...we've got nothing to hide.
Either we're going to have a 15-day waiting period, which we will travel home for, OR, they will decree the adoption Wednesday, and we will have to wait until we get his paperwork (birth certificate and passport), and then we will travel to Almaty for meetings with the US Embassy and then we will travel home.
USUALLY, the norm is to impose the 15-day appeal period for family to come back, BUT, as far as WE can see it, this is not a normal case because mom is not even in the picture because she lied about her name and her address so they can't find her...SO, you never know what God's going to do. You all know what we're praying for and I know that you all have prayed for it too, but we are definitely ok with whatever God decides to do...If we come home, we'll be coming back within 21 days...it will be long, but if it's necessary, it's necessary! We've waited this long, what's 21 more days...BUT for Isaac's sake, we hope we can bring him home this trip so that he doesn't have to go 21 days without seeing us...perhaps he would lose some trust that we've built.
We love you all, and we can tell that you are praying...thank you!
Jon and Kristin
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
COURT DATE!!!
Hi everybody!
WE KNOW OUR COURT DATE! One week from today, Wednesday the 18th of March...this is GREAT because the airlines fly out on Thursday. This means that if we have to do two-trips, we will be leaving one week from tomorrow and returning about 3:30pm Thursday in Columbus. If the judge rules out the 2 weeks that we normally have to wait, we will just stay and bring him home about 2-weeks from now. This is still our prayer, but we are okay with whatever God wants to do...of course, WE HAVE TO BE, He's God!
Anyway, we are very excited!! Isaac is still crawling (although today, I think his legs were tired from yesterday). Also, he kept giving us kisses today, AND he said his first words (dada). He actually knew what it meant! That's exciting...we're going to start saying mommy a lot to try to get him to learn momma before we leave (if we have to).
Anyway, we have to go because Internet is getting expensive ;-).
We will post again in 2 days!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
WE KNOW OUR COURT DATE! One week from today, Wednesday the 18th of March...this is GREAT because the airlines fly out on Thursday. This means that if we have to do two-trips, we will be leaving one week from tomorrow and returning about 3:30pm Thursday in Columbus. If the judge rules out the 2 weeks that we normally have to wait, we will just stay and bring him home about 2-weeks from now. This is still our prayer, but we are okay with whatever God wants to do...of course, WE HAVE TO BE, He's God!
Anyway, we are very excited!! Isaac is still crawling (although today, I think his legs were tired from yesterday). Also, he kept giving us kisses today, AND he said his first words (dada). He actually knew what it meant! That's exciting...we're going to start saying mommy a lot to try to get him to learn momma before we leave (if we have to).
Anyway, we have to go because Internet is getting expensive ;-).
We will post again in 2 days!
We love you all,
Jon and Kristin
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