We have been lurking for duration of your stay in Almaty so far, since it is the home town of our own daughter (as I think you know).

Batyran seems absolutely perfect in every way for you and you both seem to be making the most of your stay in-country – so perhaps the time has come to start adding a few comments.

And we did not want to throw out any unsolicited advice since it might not be welcome – we did not want to come across as "know-it-alls" as everyone's experience in this adoption process is always so unique. You have to "blunder" into your own activities. But we loved our time and experiences in Almaty.

However, with your recent quest for horse, we simply had to respond – even though Julie has just beaten us to it – including the recommendation for bringing your translator.

On our blog, we provided a top 10 list (of 12 items) for Almaty including numerous food locations (see – http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/2008/06/almaty-top-12.html). One of these recommendations was for the Uzbek restaurant, Kishlak (that Julie just mentioned) that has a horse-served-3-ways dish. You can see a picture of this on our posting http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/2008/02/day-of-firsts.html.

Also, if you want the local experience, one of these "outdoor" tarp-covered eateries was located attached to the grocery store of our apartment block – at the intersection of Seyfullin and Qabanbay Batyr (love that last name) a couple doors down from "Real Sport" – a local landmark. They had all kinds of local food plus 5 litres of local beer for the equivalent of $7 (when a half litre can cost $10-14 at the ubiquitous Irish pubs). After that experience, we decided to always "go local" for food and drink. These places are always good and you often have to "fly blind".

Another great local eating place on our list was Yubileyny where we finally met Catalina & Cailin on our very last night in Almaty.

But enough for now. You both seem to be doing very well.

More later

P.S. Which baby house are you at?

We have been lurking for duration of your stay in Almaty so far, since it is the home town of our own daughter (as I think you know).

Batyran seems absolutely perfect in every way for you and you both seem to be making the most of your stay in-country – so perhaps the time has come to start adding a few comments.

And we did not want to throw out any unsolicited advice since it might not be welcome – we did not want to come across as "know-it-alls" as everyone's experience in this adoption process is always so unique. You have to "blunder" into your own activities. But we loved our time and experiences in Almaty.

However, with your recent quest for horse, we simply had to respond – even though Julie has just beaten us to it – including the recommendation for bringing your translator.

On our blog, we provided a top 10 list (of 12 items) for Almaty including numerous food locations (see – http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/2008/06/almaty-top-12.html). One of these recommendations was for the Uzbek restaurant, Kishlak (that Julie just mentioned) that has a horse-served-3-ways dish. You can see a picture of this on our posting http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/2008/02/day-of-firsts.html.

Also, if you want the local experience, one of these "outdoor" tarp-covered eateries was located attached to the grocery store of our apartment block – at the intersection of Seyfullin and Qabanbay Batyr (love that last name) a couple doors down from "Real Sport" – a local landmark. They had all kinds of local food plus 5 litres of local beer for the equivalent of $7 (when a half litre can cost $10-14 at the ubiquitous Irish pubs). After that experience, we decided to always "go local" for food and drink. These places are always good and you often have to "fly blind".

Another great local eating place on our list was Yubileyny where we finally met Catalina & Cailin on our very last night in Almaty.

But enough for now. You both seem to be doing very well.

More later

P.S. Which baby house are you at?

We have been lurking for duration of your stay in Almaty so far, since it is the home town of our own daughter (as I think you know).

Batyran seems absolutely perfect in every way for you and you both seem to be making the most of your stay in-country – so perhaps the time has come to start adding a few comments.

And we did not want to throw out any unsolicited advice since it might not be welcome – we did not want to come across as "know-it-alls" as everyone's experience in this adoption process is always so unique. You have to "blunder" into your own activities. But we loved our time and experiences in Almaty.

However, with your recent quest for horse, we simply had to respond – even though Julie has just beaten us to it – including the recommendation for bringing your translator.

On our blog, we provided a top 10 list (of 12 items) for Almaty including numerous food locations (see – http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/2008/06/almaty-top-12.html). One of these recommendations was for the Uzbek restaurant, Kishlak (that Julie just mentioned) that has a horse-served-3-ways dish. You can see a picture of this on our posting http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/2008/02/day-of-firsts.html.

Also, if you want the local experience, one of these "outdoor" tarp-covered eateries was located attached to the grocery store of our apartment block – at the intersection of Seyfullin and Qabanbay Batyr (love that last name) a couple doors down from "Real Sport" – a local landmark. They had all kinds of local food plus 5 litres of local beer for the equivalent of $7 (when a half litre can cost $10-14 at the ubiquitous Irish pubs). After that experience, we decided to always "go local" for food and drink. These places are always good and you often have to "fly blind".

Another great local eating place on our list was Yubileyny where we finally met Catalina & Cailin on our very last night in Almaty.

But enough for now. You both seem to be doing very well.

More later

P.S. Which baby house are you at?

We tried to 'feed' our son when we came home, but he would have nothing of it. He had a rather strong attachment to food that has subsided.

We loved all the different candies, too. And pringles 😉

Your bonding sounds like it is going beautifully!

We tried to 'feed' our son when we came home, but he would have nothing of it. He had a rather strong attachment to food that has subsided.

We loved all the different candies, too. And pringles 😉

Your bonding sounds like it is going beautifully!

We tried to 'feed' our son when we came home, but he would have nothing of it. He had a rather strong attachment to food that has subsided.

We loved all the different candies, too. And pringles 😉

Your bonding sounds like it is going beautifully!

We had the same distraction for Nicholas when there was another family around or our driver was present.