Off to Kazakhstan!

We made our journey to Kazakhstan today. The drive was a little crazy however. It was snowing and the wind was blowing quite hard. At times there was a white out. On the highway driving to Kazakhstan it is a two lane highway, and a few times the driver jumped into the other lane when it was a white out to get pass another vehicle. We had no idea if another car was coming or not. God was really watching over us today. I, once again would just sit back and try not to watch or I think I would have a nervous breakdown. Going across the border was also quite interesting. Lets just say when you have a baby you get very special treatment. The officers told us to go to the front of the line and the lady that was next in line got very upset with him, so she started yelling at the officer. The officer got so mad he grabbed her visa and slammed it down and told her something about moving back. The lady continued to argue but the officer didn't seem to put up with it. Then they yelled at another lady that had her hand on the counter. The officers didn't want any one near us. It was something else! People just stare and make over Turat. They seem to really enjoy babies here. I have noticed that no one uses any kind of strollers or infant seats for babies. They always get carried everywhere. Kazakhstan is beautiful but we haven't had a chance to go exploring much outside our hotel room. They tell us to stay in our room when it is dark which is around 5:00, so that doesn't leave a lot of time in the evening for us to go out. The food we had for dinner in the hotel wasn't so good tonight. I have a feeling we may be more hungry here, it that is possible. Today is Russian Christmas and they celebrate it in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. We are across the street from lots of Christmas lights and we did see a few fire works go off. We had a Christmas gift for Turat today, and some more for him when we get home, since he missed our Christmas. Tomorrow we head to the SOS clinic for a checkup for baby. Then our embassy appointment is actually scheduled for Thursday. We may get to leave a day earlier but don't know yet.