Little Kazman

Thank you, thank you, thank you Susan for honoring me with "The Lemonade Award"—a wonderful way to recognize someone who maintains a positive attitude, hence the little old lemonade stand.

I actually met Susan face-to-face EXACTLY a year ago. I was an avid reader of her blog "Our Adventures to Bring Home Baby Kaz" for a number of months. We were both busy paper chasing and I distinctly remember our dossiers hitting Kazakhstan within a day of each other. Susan has been such a big supporter of mine (and about 5 trillion other adoptive families) from day one. We had one big thing in common: both our husbands were over the 50-year mark (and I was fast approaching it myself) and at the time, there were a number of rumors circulating about a bill that was to be introduced to the Kazakh Parliament, limiting the cut-off age. While I was a Nervous Nelly, Susan remained as cool as a cucumber and talked me down from the ledge many times. (Happily, the bill sat in limbo land and we both adopted the cutest kids, Susan and Joe’s Leeza and our Garrett.) While in the waiting phase, Susan and the other Hot Kazakh Mamas of Tampa, FL (Suzanne, Shannon, Stephanie and Sandi) were hanging out together having too much fun. Well, I had enough of that, so I thought to myself, “Why not invite myself down?” So I wrote Suzanne, asking her if I changed my name to Seren (because everyone’s name started with an “s”), could I join them? Her “come on down” reply was all I needed to set the wheels in motion. And here are a couple of photos of us having a “pregnant” moment. From left to right: Susan, me, Kristin and Suzanne.Kristin and her husband Cary are in Kazakhstan right now bonding with two adorable sibling girls. Congrats Kristin!!!!!
Now back to the award: the rules are that you post the graphic, write a post that links back to the giver, and then pass it on to up to ten others. Leave a comment on the blogs that get the award, so they know what's happened.

I've made so many friends in blog-o-world that it made it REALLY hard to choose from, but when all is said and done, two families really stick out in my mind for this award:

Cheryl and Jack (Return to Uralsk) are an amazing couple with the biggest hearts. We met them and their tween daughter Hailee in Almaty. They were on their way to Uralsk to adopt an older girl, so Hailee could fulfill a dream of hers to become a big sister. Hailee was adopted nine years ago from Uralsk, so it was a home coming of sorts. Well, their story did not have a happy ending. After bonding with two other girls (after which both decided they couldn't leave Kaz), they found their daughter Vika. Unfortunately, her aunt blocked the adoption at the last minute and left them broken hearted (and empty handed). After much soul searching, they’ve opened their hearts again, but this time it’s Bulgaria that’s calling them. I pray their daughter is waiting there with an open heart and open arms. We're rooting for you, Cheryl and Jack.

The second “Lemonade Award” goes to Suzanne and Matt (Mission: Adoption) who are two of the most talented and gifted people on this planet. When I stayed with them last year in Tampa, I was totally blown away. Suzanne is quite an accomplished artist and her artwork is stunning. But, boy, can this woman sing. Unbelievable. Opera. Show tunes. You name it, she nails it. (She even auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera at one point.) Then there’s Matt. I believe he speaks four to five languages and plays even more instruments. At the time, he was learning to write in Cyrillic, so that he could compose his own court speech in Russian. But none of this compares to the heroics of their parenting skills. In May, they adopted two beautiful siblings, 5-year-old Alyona and 3-year-old Andrey—and let me tell you they’re making lemonade every day. In fact, they’ve got a warehouse full already. While the two A’s are adorable, they challenge them to no end (as many older institutionalized children will do), but they handle it with grace, creativity and a loving heart. Way to go Suzanne and Matt.

Lastly, I’m so thankful to have met so many amazing people during our adoption process. Your support means the world to me. I can hardly wait to see/meet many of you at Kazapalooza in June.