T minus 1 day to court!

Tomorrow is court. We have Keith's speech prepared, our dress clothes are washed and ready, and I'm going to shave my legs tonight. I can't think of any further preparations to make. So tonight we are watching more episodes of 24, and hopefully going to bed a little early. Another couple who have grown to be our friends is leaving tomorrow. They had court today, and they received a positive result to adopt their son. He is Eva's friend; they are in the same group and their cribs are together, so they really like each other. We plan to stay in touch with them. It will be sad to say good-bye, but we are happy that they get to head home to their other children.

We've spent the past couple of days playing outside with Eva. A new playground was just built at the baby house, and they put in baby swings. Eva absolutely loves to swing. She screams and cries when we try to take her out of the swing. She enjoys the outdoors all together. Today when we arrived to visit her, they put her in a kerchief to play outside. Much cooler than a hat, and so cute! We had to take pictures of her in the kerchief. What a cutie.

Yesterday the head director at the baby house gave us a tour. We saw all the different age groups and rooms, including the doctors and kitchen. I was pretty impressed. I haven't seen a lot of orphanages in my experience, but this one is so clean, and it's well-equipped with toys and medical equipment. It's an old building, but they've done amazing things with it. No orphanage can match the love of a family, but at least the children are well-cared for. We video-taped most of the tour; my camera work was bumpy at best, since I tried to tape while we walked around, but it will be a good resource if she is interested one day.

Our time here grows short. We are leaving Petro on Sunday, and when we get to Almaty, we're still not sure when we'll be home. Friday at the very latest, so we're down to one more week here. I am most looking forward to: seeing the boys, air conditioning, a hair dryer, lettuce, white meat chicken. I will most miss: seeing Eva, spending time with Keith, spicy carrot salad, sleeping 10+ hours a night, watching movies and reading. Life here is pretty much free of responsibility; we put in our 3 hours a day at the baby house, and the rest of the day is up to us. To waste as we will.

Tomorrow we become mama and papa in the eyes of Kazakhstan! Barring no unforeseen complications.