SOL Tour Update #1

The beginning legs of the SOL Tour (Summer of Love) have been fantastic! We arrived in Denver on Sunday to have lunch with our friends from Bishkek and once again we wished more than anything that we all lived closer together. Finding those people who cross your path who simply "fit" is a gift, and we loved the time we had visiting. In fact, as we later spent the evening around a pool with our agency coordinator and our other friends whom we actually have only been around a few times we all commented on how comfortable and "right" it felt, as if we had known one another for years. While they all actually had known one another for a long time we were the newbies and it sure didn't feel like it.

We enjoyed the picnic where we met with several waiting families or those newly arrived and made a couple of connections I hope will continue. It is a treat to speak with couples who are anxiously awaiting becoming new parents...and also Dominick and I felt so grateful we are not in their shoes again, even if we are technically a "waiting" couple as well it is not as foreign and strange to us, we are not at all scared of the practical aspects of travel, paperwork, etc. No, for us the fears and concerns come into play more in the emotional end of the spectrum, the learning how to make ponytails, the acquisition of English. Get us over there and we don't care if we sleep on the floor with goats, as long as we can bring our kids home!! But it reminds us of our first go round with all of this, the wonderful sense of anticipation, the patience required, etc. We met some really neat couples and I was even told a time or two that our blog had been read, which was nice to know.

We came "home" to our Denver "hotel", which is our friend's home which feels like the best B&B we have ever stayed at (which it is since we have never stayed at a B&B in the first place! Hahaha!). Arriving late in the evening we didn't visit long but went quickly to bed.

Yesterday our day began at the somewhat disappointing but inexpensive Firefighters Museum which was less hands on than it used to be. However, that was not the main event so it didn't matter much. The more important part of the day had just begun when we met Nancy, Matthew's old agency Director, there with her two beautiful daughters. With 3 boys and 2 girls in tow we headed over to the Capitol building for a tour which revealed some funny secrets about the building and those nearby and we all had a good time, despite the heat. It was at lunch where we all really started relaxing more with one another and by the time we hit Nancy's hotel where all the kids played in the pool for a couple of hours the kids were all dunking one another and having splash contests as if they had known one another forever. Funny how quickly kids can gel together, isn't it? Nancy, Dominick and I got caught up on our lives, sharing the inevitable sorrows and joys of the past 6 years since we had seen one another, and quietly discussing our kids, parenting, etc. After an unexpected quick interview with Channel 9 news about Kyrgyzstan adoptions, we were off to dinner at Casa Bonita which was a sort of low end (ok...very low end with thankfully reasonably inexpensive food that was palatable) Disney-esque place replicating a Mexican village with a cliff diving show and a pinata bust up which the kids loved and allowed the adults more time to visit together. We parted ways laughing like crazy and vowing not to let so much time go by again before we see one another. It was really a wonderful day spent together, and a blessing to be able to have Nancy see the wonderful, finger snapping (Nancy'll get that one!), funny little guy that she helped bring into our lives. Our debt of gratitude to her will forever be unable to be repaid.

We ended the evening with a quiet..ok at times raucous...visit with our B&B Buddies as we caught up on local Montrose news and basked in their kindness. This evening we are just hanging out with no real plans other than to get on the plane to head to Chicago tonight, where there isn't a one of us who can't wait to see our adopted Clan.

Thus far our trip has done what we hoped it would, allowed us to just "be" together, to relax, to laugh, and to forget everything we have left behind for awhile as we just ignore impending surgeries, adoption paperwork, transition worries, etc. We are so thankful to just be within the family we are in, and to enjoy that playful part of us that comes out even more when we are not in the usual hurry scurry of our day.

I love this family! I love the people who have been placed along our journey!