(Sean's Post)

Much to our surprise, we found out that today, the same judge who will be presiding over our case at court next week was going to visit the baby hospital during our visitations with the babies. She wanted to see how the prospective parents interact with the kids and ask a few questions off the record. Apparently, this has not happened here before. No pressure, right? Riiiight. When we got there James was sleeping. He woke up when he heard us come in and was cranky for about a minute or so until he fully awoke, but then he was in a good mood. We quickly changed his diaper and put him into a clean outfit. About 30 minutes later the judge comes in with Inna, Dr. Victoria and a representative from the MOE. It was kind of cozy in that visitation room for a little while. Judge Rosa seems nice. She asked us why we chose Kazakhstan, and we answered her. No problem.

Since the usual routine was already broken, we skipped most of today's exercises. We just chilled out and played a few games. James had a blast as always. We put a hat on James today, to get him all spiffed up for the judge's visit. He didn't seem to mind. That was a surprise, since we had never seen him in one before and weren't sure if he would remove it. He looked extremely cute in it, too.

After the visit, we went to the Tsum store to get some souvenirs. I messed up and forgot to bring extra money so we'll have to go back to finish up another time. We were also hungry so we went to the little shack out front where you get a chicken sandwich. They take part of a bread loaf and hollow it out. They then fill it with shaved chicken, carrots, potato shreds, catsup, and mayo. All for about a dollar. It was pretty good. I had the "super-sized" one for 2 dollars. I know what's for dinner tonight. Good thing, too, since Inna gave us some homework. We each have to handwrite a couple of documents tonight for court. Plus, we have to draft our speeches that we need to memorize and give at court, too. Looks like court will be either Monday or Tuesday. So, no more adventures today - gotta get to work.

Paka and love to all!