Farewell to Kokshetau

Today was difficult. We had to say paka, paka to Ryan for two weeks. We had such fun and he was all smiles. When we brought him back to his group he was all smiles for his ladies and we left with that memory of him. Going home is bittersweet. We will depart Albany on March 11th to complete our journey to Kazakhstan and finally have our "Gotcha Day". The day we break Ryan out and he's ours forever.
If travel plans go according to schedule, we should be home on Tuesday night. If anyone is looking for Robert on Wednesday here's a hint: Lunch at Smokey Bones (pulled pork sandwich),
5:01 pm - 19th hole for cold Budweiser, followed by an appearance at The Lighthouse for an Admiral Steak Sandwich with garlic mayo. Thursday he starts Lipitor.
Last nights celebration was fit for a Russian Czar. The Connollys invited us all to their apartment and Maria, the women who helps them, cooked a phenominal dinner of traditional Russian favorites. There was a salad with peas, ham, egg, carrots and yes mayo, that was very tasty. Maria also made borchst (sp?), a vegtable soup with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. The final dish was called Montys. The Russian version of a chinese steamed dumpling. Excellent! After dinner the Fathers retreated to the kitchen for some new father cigar bonding.
We head to Almaty tomorrow and on the plane home on Tuesday. We will send our final post from Almaty with photos of the big city. Paka, paka.