Day 14, Tuesday We woke up to lots of wind, snow and cars struggling to break free of the ice. Life continues as normal here, in weather that would shut down East Tennessee for a week. It was very beautiful this morning, with a fresh coating of snow covering the city. After wondering if we would make our visit today to the boarding school, Dinara showed up on cue and hustled us to the boarding school. Because of the weather, we were a little bit late. A worried Luba met us in the libary, giving very enthusiastic hugs. She gave Luda about three bear hugs before sharing the same with her parents-to-be. The girls played with two new Barbies, which came complete with four beautiful ball gowns, shoes and accessories. They carefully divided up all the clothing etc. and began a doll fashion show. After growing tired of the Barbies, they played with the magnetic Polly Pockets and fashioned furniture for them out of the magnet play set. Both girls are very creative, and they ended the visit by drawing and coloring. As we were leaving, we stopped by the director's office to say good-bye. He asked how our visits were going. He also told us that yesterday, after Luda had finished her bath, she came to the lobby looking for us. She was in tears when she couldn't find us.  We had assumed that when she went for a bath, that we were finished for the day. It was nice to know that we were missed, although we were sorry to have caused distress. After we returned to the apartment, we spent about 45 minutes in "reading time" before going to visit the other American couple that live just below us. They are about a week ahead of us and they have their pre-court on Monday. Our 14 days should be finished on Thursday, so we hope to have our pre-court sometime next week. The court day should be between 7-10 days later. Once we have that, we should be able to head home.

Day 15, Wednesday Today felt like a spring day in Kostanai, it almost reached 40 degrees, which is a very unusual occurance in this part of the world. Our coordinator told us that from the middle of January through February, they usually experience severe frost--temperatures down to 40 below. The library was closed today, so our visit took place in one of the classrooms. The girls began by bouncing a balloon back and forth for a few minutes, to work off some excess energy. Then, the visit turned into a fashion show...the girls took everthing they could find available to them and entertained Kevin & Stacey for the next 40 minutes. They used balloons, Kevin's sweater, Stacey's jacket, hats and scarfs, to demonstrate their creativity. They ended dressed as rappers. As you can tell from the photos, it was pretty hysterical. One of the other little girls from the boarding school by the name of Kristina, stopped by the classroom to visit with us. She brought Luba a photo of herself for her to keep and a piece of paper with the English alphabet on it. She also showed us photos of her brother and sister.  Photos are very rare and this was a very special gift. Today was the the 13th day of our visitation at the boarding school, so the last official day will be tomorrow and at that time, our coordinator will submit our request to adopt Luba (Lily) to the court. We visited the notary office today and signed multiple papers in preparation.

Day 16, Thursday Today was our 14th day of visitation! Our coordinator submitted our dossier and request to adopt to the court and was told that we would be notified on Monday as to when our pre-court appointment would be. The court date is usually within 5-7 days of pre-court. The warm weather did not last, this morning it was 16 below. By the time we ventured outside, it was in the high teens. Our regular driver has been in Almaty the last couple of days, so we have been traveling in a taxi. Today's taxi was the smallest, most aged beater of a car that we have ridden in yet. Kevin thinks perhaps it was a Russian Lada, circa 1980 perhaps. When Luda had trouble climbing into the car, it was doubtful that Kevin's nordic body would fit. He eventually sandwiched himself in. The taxis we have ridden in have been Mercedes, Audi, Subaru--this was our first Soviet era vehicle. It had vinyl on the floor where there normally is carpet and cardboard over the radiator. For whatever reason, the driver turned it off every time he stopped for more than about 10 seconds. It was an interesting ride! Luba (Lily) was waiting for us at the libary today. Being a very affectionate child, she greeted us with her usual bear hugs and kisses.  We started our visit with an intense game of Concentration that involved all four of us. Next, we played "Red & Black" in Russian, which was "Krasney & See-nee". Kevin and Luda were the big game winners, with Stacey & Luba (Lily) coming in last all the time. After the card games, the girls looked at family photos on the computer. Luba (Lily) is learning the names of our family members. She even went to her room to bring her personal photo album that we gave her, to review the photos in it. The girls also had a lot of fun looking at photos from our visits to the boarding school. They decided to zoom in on themselves and found this pretty hysterical. The day ended all too quickly and we found ourselves back in the same Lada headed to the hotel. Tonight, Luda has her first babysitting job. We are watching a three year old so that another American family can do an evening out. Right now, Luba and Hayden are watching the movie "Cars" and eating animal crackers.

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