More photos to be added tomorrow. This video gives a few minute highlight for now.
I will leave you with one photo until tomorrow.
Let’s just say — it was a first for me.
Winter Fun in Almaty — Chimbulak Ski Resort and Medeu Ice Rink in the Tien Shan Mountains
Awesome – I'm so glad you guys got to go to Chimbulak! Steve left Karaganda a day early to hit the slopes and boy did he have an adventure to write home about 🙂
Awesome – I'm so glad you guys got to go to Chimbulak! Steve left Karaganda a day early to hit the slopes and boy did he have an adventure to write home about 🙂
Awesome – I'm so glad you guys got to go to Chimbulak! Steve left Karaganda a day early to hit the slopes and boy did he have an adventure to write home about 🙂
Loved the video! You both looked like you had a lot of fun! Dad & I enjoyed watching you have a good time! Miss you like crazy!!!!!
Love,
Mom
Loved the video! You both looked like you had a lot of fun! Dad & I enjoyed watching you have a good time! Miss you like crazy!!!!!
Love,
Mom
Loved the video! You both looked like you had a lot of fun! Dad & I enjoyed watching you have a good time! Miss you like crazy!!!!!
Love,
Mom
Ok you definitely did a lot more than me there. Now I have to go back…what a great time for you and Gary.It is like a second honeymoon.
xoxox lea
Ok you definitely did a lot more than me there. Now I have to go back…what a great time for you and Gary.It is like a second honeymoon.
xoxox lea
Ok you definitely did a lot more than me there. Now I have to go back…what a great time for you and Gary.It is like a second honeymoon.
xoxox lea
Looks like everybody had a fun day andwe love the sledding looks like alot of fun
Looks like everybody had a fun day andwe love the sledding looks like alot of fun
What a beautiful, fun day for you both! I am so glad you had that experience to add to your adventure. (I am referring to the the mountain trip, not the girly urnal..gotta love all those experiences however, oh all the memories you will have to share!)
xoxo Julie
What a beautiful, fun day for you both! I am so glad you had that experience to add to your adventure. (I am referring to the the mountain trip, not the girly urnal..gotta love all those experiences however, oh all the memories you will have to share!)
xoxo Julie
What a beautiful, fun day for you both! I am so glad you had that experience to add to your adventure. (I am referring to the the mountain trip, not the girly urnal..gotta love all those experiences however, oh all the memories you will have to share!)
xoxo Julie
We have been traveling so I have not been able to follow along and comment much in the last week or so… #1 thing I want to share with you is that the activity level of your son seems right on par with my experiences with my 5 boys. I'm so happy to read of how active he is because if he were subdued and not running from place to place I would have thought something might be wrong. He seems PERFECT! Just wait till you get him HOME and he jumps from the coffee table to the sofa 100x per day! It's all great fun! I'm so happy for all of you. He's just perfect!
We have been traveling so I have not been able to follow along and comment much in the last week or so… #1 thing I want to share with you is that the activity level of your son seems right on par with my experiences with my 5 boys. I'm so happy to read of how active he is because if he were subdued and not running from place to place I would have thought something might be wrong. He seems PERFECT! Just wait till you get him HOME and he jumps from the coffee table to the sofa 100x per day! It's all great fun! I'm so happy for all of you. He's just perfect!
Hi Stephanie and Gary,
We really enjoyed ourselves yesterday, didn t we! This morning we visited our son but now we are resting in our appartment. It was a busy weekend in Almaty. We already read a good part of your blogg and what you guys describe about your feelings and adoption, well same here. We just have to give it time and the bond between us and our children will get stronger and stronger. We are sure of that! Our son saw us this morning, after the weekend, and gave us a big smile. That was priceless.
We'll keep in touch!
Jan and Sabine
Hi Stephanie and Gary,
We really enjoyed ourselves yesterday, didn t we! This morning we visited our son but now we are resting in our appartment. It was a busy weekend in Almaty. We already read a good part of your blogg and what you guys describe about your feelings and adoption, well same here. We just have to give it time and the bond between us and our children will get stronger and stronger. We are sure of that! Our son saw us this morning, after the weekend, and gave us a big smile. That was priceless.
We'll keep in touch!
Jan and Sabine
i must know more about the bbq please!
meat? other food? at the mountain?
and please!!!! have gary put a hat on……..when in rome after all.
i must know more about the bbq please!
meat? other food? at the mountain?
and please!!!! have gary put a hat on……..when in rome after all.
Chimbulak is awesome! I sure hope you got to take a few runs at the very top of the mountain. That lift wasn't open when I went, so I missed out on their steepest terrain. Bummer.
But the powder I found in their off-piste area was incredible stuff. Not Utah snow, but light and very fun to turn in. Oh man, good times!
How great to see you guys having such fun and really experiencing Almaty!
Quaintance
How great to see you guys having such fun and really experiencing Almaty!
Quaintance
How great to see you guys having such fun and really experiencing Almaty!
Quaintance
Congratulations on surviving the toilet. Now you have had your first experience with squat toilets, you will be able to travel confidently throughout Asia and the Middle East – bring it on!
It is great that you both made it to Chimbulak. It looks like you had a tremendous time. Such a great way to escape some of those adoption pressures.
When we were in Almaty, we managed to make it to Medeu but were told that the road that day was too dangerous to proceed out to the ski resort. And when Kazakhs tell you that a road is too dangerous, well…
To answer you question from earlier, we stayed in an apartment at the intersection of Seyfullin and Qabanbay Batyr (same block as "Real Sport"). While it had the traditional Soviet-era austere appearance on the outside, it was very comfortable on the inside. We have pictures of it in the Feb-08 section of our own blog if you are interested. While some people develop very close relationships with their in-country team (as you seem to have done), ours basically abandoned us to our own devices – so we essentially went native Kazakh during our entire time in country. And we definitely did get out and about as much as we possibly could. A great way to learn a new country/city/language in 64 days. Hence Almaty really does almost seem like a "home city" to us.
(And if you want one additional "favourite" of ours to add to your potential list for your next time in Almaty – we both liked Govindra's, a vegetarian Hare Krishna restaurant experience entirely in Russian – where else in the World could one have such a ridiculously surreal outing).
Congratulations on surviving the toilet. Now you have had your first experience with squat toilets, you will be able to travel confidently throughout Asia and the Middle East – bring it on!
It is great that you both made it to Chimbulak. It looks like you had a tremendous time. Such a great way to escape some of those adoption pressures.
When we were in Almaty, we managed to make it to Medeu but were told that the road that day was too dangerous to proceed out to the ski resort. And when Kazakhs tell you that a road is too dangerous, well…
To answer you question from earlier, we stayed in an apartment at the intersection of Seyfullin and Qabanbay Batyr (same block as "Real Sport"). While it had the traditional Soviet-era austere appearance on the outside, it was very comfortable on the inside. We have pictures of it in the Feb-08 section of our own blog if you are interested. While some people develop very close relationships with their in-country team (as you seem to have done), ours basically abandoned us to our own devices – so we essentially went native Kazakh during our entire time in country. And we definitely did get out and about as much as we possibly could. A great way to learn a new country/city/language in 64 days. Hence Almaty really does almost seem like a "home city" to us.
(And if you want one additional "favourite" of ours to add to your potential list for your next time in Almaty – we both liked Govindra's, a vegetarian Hare Krishna restaurant experience entirely in Russian – where else in the World could one have such a ridiculously surreal outing).
Looks like fun – and cold! So how'd you do in that Kazakh style bathroom??? Not easy to say the least! 🙂
Looks like fun – and cold! So how'd you do in that Kazakh style bathroom??? Not easy to say the least! 🙂