Have decided to start posting in the a.m. at times -vary my excitement a bit. I am tired of being stared at. If I was being stared at because I'm oh-so-attractive that would be one thing but considering that I have bags under my eyes the size of Texas and am dressed like a crazy american, it's getting old. Kids, senior citizens and everyone in between seems to enjoy staring at the american. If I could charge admission than this trip would be paid off by now :)!!

Had a great visit with Serik and the Brabson's little girl Zhana yesterday. We sang Christmas carols to them and they sat there absolutely enraptured. Mind you they were probably enraptured by the spectacle of a grown woman trying to carry a tune and remember what the 12 days of Christmas are but enraptured none the less. Irina wanted to know all about different carols because her mom likes all the american ones. She was singing 'jingle bells' with a slightly different tune than we have in the U.S. - very cute and amusing. The kids were booking around after the command performance - under the tables and chairs, going after electric cords (don't worry we didn't let them get to them), grabbing onto anything they could. Last night after the visit I went to the Lloyds for burgers and fries - homemade fries mind you - so good. Looking forward to seeing Serik today and talking to him all about his relatives waiting at home for him. Only bummer is that this Saturday is Kaz Independence Day - 15th anniversary since the first battle to break away from Russia. So we probably won't get to visit the baby house that day and there are rumors (that I hope aren't true) that we can't visit Mon, Tues or Wed! Will find out today - I'm sneaking in to see my boy if I have too. Here are some pics from yesterday. More later.

All of these pics are of Serik's baby group rooms. That's him under the towel after a quick clean off in the bidet. My camera battery died so will get pics of where he sleeps today.