Happy St. Patricks Day!

To those who are expecting daily posts and photos, well, let's just say spending time with Ryan has been great, the lack of sleep is not. Between listening to the poor guy bang his head against the crib as he does his nightly gymnastics and making sure he is breathing when he is quiet, sleep has eluded us. Not too mention the apartment where we are staying is heated to a toasty 90* and the only way to cool down the temp is to open the doors, windows, and even the refrigerator. The soviet communal heating system won't shut off until the middle of April. Not to complain, we are in a very nice apartment in a beautiful section of Almaty. The best part - since leaving Kokshetau the tempature has risen 35 to 40 degrees. No need for our big coats, boots and other cold weather stuff we have lugged across the world.
Leaving Kokshetau was bittersweet. We have made some good friends there, and celebrated that fact on our last night. Adrienne Connolly prepared burritos, deviled eggs and homemade salsa. What a party. We also learned a traditional Kazakh toast - a local cognac shooter followed by a salted, blanched lemon slice. Yum! Of course, being parents now - we only had one. It was sad to leave but we were ready to head to Almaty and another step closer to home.
Ryan was great on the first flight (3 hours to Almaty). We hope it continues.
We are still traveling with our friends the Stannards and their son Ryan, as well as Adrienne and her daughter Lucy. Upon arrival we immediately headed to Mad Murphy's Irish Pub to taste lovely burgers that don't crunch when you bite into them. We have also done some sight seeing around town, visited the National Fine Arts Museum and ventured to a vegitarian Indian restaurant. As most will know, Robert was thrilled with the Indian food (not his idea of the best St. Paddy's Day). We tried to sneak home a day early, though it seems alot of people here are trying to leave the country this weekend. We are off to the Embassy with Ryan tomorrow to finish the last of the documentation before leaving for home on Sunday. Paka, Paka.