Happy Birthday and Anniversary!

One of the hardest things about being here is missing special family parties and get togethers. Tomorrow my beautiful Grandma turns 82! In June my Grandfather turns 90 and they will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. James and I are so sad to miss all of these celebrations. Know that we are thinking of you and wishing we were there!


Happy Birthday Grandma. We love you. ~Kari and James
Hi Great-Grandma. I can't wait to meet you. Have a Happy Birthday. ~Ava D.


Happy Birthday Grandpa. We love you. ~Kari and James
Hi Great-Grandpa. I am very excited to meet you. Have a Happy Birthday. ~Ava D.

The Weekend Blues

It is 2:00 on Saturday and we are at home cleaning the apartment. We don't get to see Ava till Monday so this is the hardest part of the week! Ava was beyond cute today. She is so much more active and mobile than she was when we met her. She is also trying so hard to speak. We know she'll get there with her determination! We are very proud of her. Thanks for continued prayer for court on Tuesday. We aren't getting our hopes up but it really should be happening this time :-)


Ava enjoying the swing



Ava got a mosquito bite on her hand and she kept holding it up to us so that we would kiss it all better.



Jumping on the chair. This probably isn't a good habit to teach her but jumping is so good for strengthening her little legs.

Ava's Bed! Not for much longer.

Here is the group's sleeping chart. Darina is the second name from the top on the right side. She's in bed #8

Just Pictures

Nothing new to report today. We are sleepy but don't want to get behind on our pictures. Happy Friday.


Ava hasn't been doing nearly as much drawing as she usually does. She has recently enjoyed curling up on the big chairs and watching her DVDs.

Ava had a little callous on her big toe so her doctor put some green medication on it. She was a very brave girl and actually laughed and smiled while the doctor put it on her foot.

Mama and Ava singing and doing hand motions to Jesus loves me.

Busy filling her bucket with sand

Dada taught her how to use the sifter. She liked picking out the big rocks she found!

Mimi, Ava wears a size 2T and some 3T tops :-)

We still love each other after spending 82 straight days without spending more than an hour apart (which has only once when I got my nails done.)

Hot Hot Hot

Yes, it's hot here in Pavlodar and we are definitely not prepared. Silly us, we only brought clothes for the end of winter/beginning of spring! Who knew we'd still be here at the end of May. So, we (by "we" I mean "me") got to buy some summer clothes from the outdoor market today. James is so sweet and understanding that, even though we have not an extra cent to spend, sometimes a girl just needs some new clothes! I only packed long pants which is much too hot and my only pair of casual jeans have ripped. Today I got a skirt, along with some capris and other warm weather clothing items. Ilyia was with us and helped us get some good deals.

Along with the warm weather comes mosquitoes! Yuck. Mosquitoes have always loved me and I am already getting eaten alive. We bought some bug spray and I started using it today so we'll see how it works. Ilyia says that this is nothing compared to the amount of mosquitoes that will be around by July and then he added that he hopes we'll be long gone by then :-) We do too!

We had a really wonderful day with Ava. She was so happy and sweet. There is a cute little boy that we play with outside who totally has a crush on her! It's so sweet how he always tries to help her and he always brings over his toys and gives them to her. This little boy is being adopted by a local family...yay!

Tonight we went to dinner with the other adoptive families. We had a great time exchanging stories, pictures, and laughs. We are getting together tomorrow night for movies at Linda and Dave's awesome apartment which we call "The Flat".


Oh she is such a Daddy's girl!


Cute girl


In her summer dress (Which I actually bought as her Easter dress but it was too cold on Easter to wear it.)

Emma let us borrow a Baby Einstein DVD which Ava really enjoys watching with Mama on the big chair.

Taking some time to rest in the shade

Waiting for Ilyia to pick us up from our afternoon visit. The weather only seems to get hotter as the day goes on. 5:00 seems to be the hottest time of the day.

At Krendal (One of the most popular restaurants/bakeries in Pavlodar) with our adoptive family friends.

Can't believe its after 10:00. It stays light here until about 9:30 so I'm all thrown off! Goodnight from Kaz.

Hanging In There

It’s hard to stay down for too long when you spend time around our little Ava D. She has a way of making us smile and forget all the stress of yesterday. Well, not all the stress of yesterday, but it sure helps to be around her smiling face. Today we found out that court is now rescheduled for Tuesday at 9:00 in the morning. 9:00 is the best time slot b/c it’s the beginning of the working day and no one is “behind schedule” yet. I guess the judge was pretty upset that the prosecutor didn’t show yesterday so we are sure she’ll be there this time. The only thing that we can do is continue praying, keep our head up, and move forward until this thing is wrapped up and we are home safe with Ava.
Today Ava said Dada for the first time. Dada didn’t get to hear it b/c she said it while he was gathering the sand toys and Ava and I were walking towards the baby home. Her language is very delayed so this was exciting. We have also been trying to teach her some signs b/c of the language delays and language differences. The one we’ve been really working on is “Hungry/Eat”. She’s got it down as of today!
We are posting some pictures from both today and yesterday.


James and I before the court hearing that never happened


James all dressed up for court and Ava all dressed down. We didn't bring clothes for her since we thought we'd be in court.

She knew that Mama needed extra hugs yesterday.

Ava and Dada working on a Dandelion

Once Again...

Court was delayed b/c the prosecutor in our case did not show up for the scheduled court time. Our lawyer wrote up a complaint to her boss and we signed it this afternoon. We should find out out in the morning when we will be back in court. We have tried so hard to stay positive but today I'm afraid you are going to get some brutal honesty and good old fashion venting. We are frustrated, angry, disappointed, stressed, and every other emotion you can imagine. We have been away from our lives since March 8th and you can imagine the financial, emotional, and spiritual stress that this has caused. Depending on when we are rescheduled for court James and I will have to talk about our options for the remainder of the time. If the waiting period is waived, we will be on our way home...yippee! If it is not waived, we may have to consider coming home and then returning for Ava after the paper work is completed here in Pavlodar. We DON'T want to leave our daughter here. We don't know what affect this will have on the strong bond we have made with Ava or on the physical progress she has made. We are praying that God will provide a way for us to stay here together as a family until this adoption is complete and we touch down in LA. It seems like such a simple concept: Children need families, families want children...this shouldn't be such a grueling and complex process. We hope that we haven't discouraged any of you families who are waiting to travel to Kaz. The bottom line is that there are children here who need families and this is why our heart beats for adoption.

Tomorrow morning Sveta will go to meet with the judge and find out when we can return to court. We will hopefully get in tomorrow but we'll let you know as soon as we hear. We hope to deliver some happy news soon. We love you all and thank you for your support and prayers.

James, Kari, and Ava


She's worth the wait

Tomorrow is Tuesday... Court Date Take II

Sorry to you faithful blog checkers that check our blog first thing in the morning. We're posting a little later tonight because after our visit we baby sat Lachie and Tommy, while Emma and Simon went to dinner. Our visits with Ava today were very fun. Everyday it gets harder and harder to give her back after our visits. The good news... tomorrow is Tuesday and we go back to court! It's scheduled for 4:00 pm. We will be going for a celebratory dinner with some friends after court so don't be alarmed if you don't see a new blog entry right away. We don't expect any more hiccups, so tomorrow Ava D. should be Ava D. Letterneau! But please continue to pray for our court hearing and that everything will finish out smoothly. Also pray for a miracle that they'll waive the 15-day Waiting Period.


Ava is playing with her new sand toys in the sand box.


"Look, a sand turtle!"


I don't know what she's looking at, but she sure is cute while looking at it.


Posing for photos on the freshly, but not too freshly, painted benches.


In honor of the Padres 9th straight win we played catch today. Your starting lineup: Kari Letterneau - Pitcher, Ava D. - Catcher, James Letterneau - Umpire/Catcher's Assistant.


Mama reading nursery tales to our little cute muffin.


Walking through the park on our way back to the apartment after lunch.

By The Way...

It is snowing outside and we are sipping hot chocolate watching the Padres game LIVE! Happy Sunday to us :-)

Waiting for Tuesday

Today was admittedly a tough day. Weekends are hard enough without the disappointment of Thursday's court delay still looming. But on the bright side...
- We got our water heater fixed today!
- We read that Jake Peavy is still a Padre and that he led the Pads to their 7th straight win today!
- We only have 2 full days till we are back in court.
- We learned another fun board game from Belgium.
- We realize more and more everyday that we truly have the best family and friends in the universe.
- And...this little lady is in our lives! We are trying hard to focus on her and remember that, out of the three of us, she is the one who is going through the most intense transition and adjustment.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:7

Photos from the past couple days...

There's a new court update below, but here are some photos from our visits today and yesterday! Every time we see this little girl we are reminded of why we are here, experiencing the things we are experiencing. We know that the love we have for Ava can get us through anything and that the love that God has for us is even greater than that! Enjoy the photos...


After Dada put a sticker on his face Ava decided she wanted to put stickers ALL OVER her body!


On her face...


And even on her tummy!


Her hair is getting so long... long enough for a cute pony!


Watching Mama or Dada draw never gets boring for Ava.


It's been a little colder the past few days, but we've still managed to spend some time outside.


Family photo!


Even though drawing or coloring never gets boring, Ava does sometimes get bored of her kiddie chair. Plus, Mama's lap is a much better place to sit!