Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I Heart Faces - My Story In Photos (Places I Love)

So this week at I heart faces the theme is the most romantic place you have been.  I had to think about that for a minute because on my honeymoon I got vertigo, and ended up in the ER and I spent the majority of my time in the condo sick.  So that was a definite no!  Other then that, my husband and I haven't been to, to many romantic places, but the one place that was the most amazing place that I have ever been to was Kyrgyzstan.  On Dec. 31, 2007, my husband and I got on a plane and went half way around the world, to get our son, who we adopted from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.  He was 9 months old, and there was something about that trip that I can't get out of my mind.  It was very life changing, and also the most non stop time I have spent with my husband since we have been married.  We were gone for two weeks, which was very hard because we left our other two kids at home, but it was also a special time for us to bond with our son.  So of course I needed to post lots of pictures, and for those of you who have followed my blog already, I'm sorry I'm sure you have already seen all of these pictures.


So after traveling for over 24 hours, my husband and I got a few hours of sleep, and woak up to get ready to go to the orphanage to get our son.  Keep in mind that our son was ours on paper, but we still have never met him at this point.  It was quite a weird feeling, but then after being ready to go, we got a call that the orphanage director wasn't at the orphanage that day due to new years (they celebrate new years for 2 days straight) and we couldn't get our son.  We were disappointment but my eyes were burning from no sleep, so I was actually okay with it.  We hung up the phone and crawled right back into bed.  Later that day we went out sight seeing with our guide.  This building is equivalent to our "White House".





It was fun walking around on Jan. 2nd because no one seemed to be at work and everyone was out on the streets enjoying the festivities.  They also celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7th, so we got to get a picture with Santa, and their other creatures!



This reminded me of the big tree in New York!






So finally the next day came and we got to get our son.  It was an amazing experience and nothing could of prepared me for how my life was going to change at that very moment!  Our little guy was very sick when we got him.  I think he had pheomonia!  Thank God we brought medicine from the states and within a few days he seemed to be getting better!



So after they put about 6 layers of clothes on our son, we were ready to go!



They don't use car seats there, so my son got to always sit on my lap when we were in the car.  I was usually scared to death in the car there because the driving is so aggressive, and the lack of traffic laws.



Our first family pictures!






A drive up into the mountains!



This restaurant was called The 12 Fireplaces, because they had 12 fireplaces outside and would cook all your food out there.  It was the best meal we had the entire 2 week trip.  I wish we would of known that while we were eating it, so we could of savored it more!













So after a week in Kyrgyzstan we had to go to Kazakhstan to get our son's visa.  We spent another week there before heading home.  This was the view from our room.  There was a park across the street and this church was in the middle of it.  One day when my husband and I went for a walk we saw this couple making out.  My husband and I were freezing, so we were not quite sure how they were just sitting there, like it was a nice day.  We got back to our hotel, and a little later looked out and we could still see them making out.  I guess they were keeping themself warm in other ways!  It had to be close to 0 degrees when we were there, because we could only handle being outside for about 3-5 minutes at a time.  We had to walk everywhere, to go to the supermarket, and to restaurants.


This was the view from our balcony!










This is where we eat breakfast each morning!


This was part of their shopping center that was close to our hotel!




So many may ask, how did this trip end!  Well after 48 hours of traveling, which included 2 delays, and 4 different planes, we arrived home at the airport. 
We were surrounded by our family and friends!  We were so happy to see our girls, and finally know that our family was complete.  This was truly the most amazing adventure I have ever been on!  Everything I saw while out of the country was so breathtaking!


Be sure to check out the other great stories over at I Heart Faces!