Minnepalooza

Last weekend was Kazapalooza, an annual event, which brings together families from across North America, whose only connection is the internet and adopting a child from Kazakhstan. This year it was held in Nashville and over 60 families attended. I was one of the first to send in my deposit, but our psychologist felt it would be sensory overload for Garrett, so reluctantly we canceled. From the hundreds of pictures taken, it looked everyone had a blast.

Not to be outdone, we had our own mini "palooza" here in the Twin Cities. Friday night, Cheryl, Jack and Hailee arrived from Racine, WI for a surprise party. We met at Carbones Pizzeria and I ordered what had I had last year in Almaty, a margarita pizza. We had a great time catching up. Since they were one of the first people to meet Garrett, they could see lot of change in him. At the time, we were calling him Garrett Nurlan and he barely spoke English. Cheryl and Hailee are eagerly waiting to travel again to pick up their 10-year-old daughter/sister, Gabriella from Bulgaria. Such happy news. Unlike Kazakhstan, older children in Bulgaria don't have a say so in the decision. They live in foster homes, so they're not surrounded by other children telling them horror stories about Americans (like they do in Kaz). It's a scare tactic because the other kids don't want to lose their friends. There are also no court dates. All the legal details are taken care of ahead of time by the in-country staff. Finally, all kids are free and cleared to be adopted, so there's no chance a relative could step forward at the last minute, which is what happened to Cheryl and Jack in Kaz. So Gabi will be an Ollmann very soon!!!! Here's Hailee and Garrett, two cute kids from Uralsk (Hailee was adopted at age three from the same preschool as Garrett). We wish nothing but love and happiness with their precious, little Gabi.

Next day was wet and dreary, but that didn't stop us from meeting up with the Robinson's from Warwick, RI. Aila is even prettier in person. Both Jennifer and Marshall are very warm, caring people. It's just awesome to finally meet them in IRL (in real life). It's like they were celebrities to us. Garrett immediately attached himself to Jennifer. And both Aila and Jennifer were mesmerized by Garrett. (Poor Marshall and I were just there for the ride. LOL) Here are some of my pictures—can't wait to get Marshall's because he is by far the better photographer. G and A getting down. Two "shaky" photos Garrett took:Then, of course, Aila had to take a photo of her new friend.Although it was a short visit, with not enough adult conversation, we all had a fantastic time watching Aila chase the little kazman. For those of you who know him, he definitely has a way with the laaadieees.