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GOTCHA DAY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS
from 2021 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Today we were finally able to celebrate Gotcha Day with our now-16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. She and I both forgot on the actual day, December 10th. Her mom, Tara, remembered but Elizabeth was working late, Tara knew it would not work out, so said nothing. Elizabeth called that night from work, saying No big deal, but we forgot my Gotcha ... read more

FRANKLIN HAS BEEN ADOPTED
from 2012 in ( family / adoption / pets / dogs )

Franklin has been adopted!Our daughter was sad to see him go, but he's now in a good home. And they're close to us, so she might get to visit sometimes. ... read more

OUR ADOPTION STORY
from 2010 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

My wife Tara has written up our adoption story in response to that woman (not far from us, unfortunately) who returned that boy to Russia a couple weeks ago. With the recent headline news about the Russian adoption that went very very wrong, I have been asked by many friends and family about my opinion of the situatio... read more

OUR RUSSIAN ADOPTION STORY
from 2010 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

/images/redsquare10.webp With the recent headline news about the Russian adoption that went very very wrong, I have been asked by many friends and family about my opinion of the situation. I've not been able to real... read more

PETITION IN FAVOR OF RUSSIAN ADOPTION
from 2010 in ( family / adoption )

Please sign the petition (at the bottom of this post) in favor of Russian adoption. I did. My wife and I adopted from Russia in 2007. You can watch the videos vimeo.com/1776317here and vimeo.com/1774164here... read more

ADOPTION VIDEOS UPDATED
from 2009 in ( family / adoption / holmes / movies-tv-video )

You can watch them here: vimeo.com/3058687?pgtranscoded-embed&sec3058687Holmes Russian Adoption, Part 1 (updated) titleHolmes Russian Adoption, Part 2 (updated) hrefvimeo.com/3058948?pgtranscoded-emb... read more

A FEW MORE VIDEOS
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / movies-tv-video )

I finally edited these a little bit and uploaded them: vimeo.com/2470715Chandler hanging out titlebaby shower hrefvimeo.com/2524334Elizabeth's baby shower in February h... read more

ELIZABETH'S FIRST VIDEO
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / movies-tv-video )

Elizabeth's directorial debut. A probing, provocative, sometimes introspective look at a typical weekend around the house with Mama and Papa and the pugs. : vimeo.co... read more

HOLMES RUSSIAN ADOPTION VIDEOS
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / movies-tv-video )

The links to both 1 and 2 are here. Part 1 has been updated slightly, in case you want to watch it again. Part 2 might be updated eventually, too, if more pictures come in. Here are the links: vimeo.com/1776317Part 1 titleadoption part 2 ... read more

RECENT PHOTOS OF ELIZABETH
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / elizabeth )

Around the housetitleathome1.webp href/images/athome1.webp titleathome2.webp href/images/athome2.webp titleathome3.webp href/images/athome3.webp... read more

DOCTORS SAY SHE'S NORMAL
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Tara took Elizabeth to the international adoption specialist doctors today for a psychological evaluation and another physical exam. They say she is perfectly average/normal for a girl her age. Of course, that puts her well above average for a foreign orphan.We think she's better than any other girl her age, but we might be bia... read more

BABY SHOWER
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Tara's female family and friends threw Elizabeth a baby shower last weekend. I was the only man there. The only reason I went was so that any other men showing up wouldn't be the only man. Oh well. I was able to get a lot on video, and Tara took pictures. titleShower1 href/images/shower1.webp... read more

SUMMARY OF OUR RUSSIAN ADOPTION EXPERIENCE
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Fill out /contact/this adoption video permission form to get access to any videos in this post.To sum it all up: We love our daughter. Elizabeth is a wonderful, beautiful, intelligent little girl. We thank Russia for giving her to us. Otherwise, we did not enjoy Russia. In thei... read more

STAY TUNED
from 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I hope to get the rest of the photos and videos on here, at least in raw form, over the next few days. I think I'm getting over my post traumatic stress disorder from the trip and can now face looking at the video again. :)Regarding Comments, I had to set those to require approval before showing up on the site because spammers have discov... read more

A FEW PICTURES
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Finally, some pictures of Elizabeth. They're not even the latest, but it should hold you over if you've never seen her before.titlewith orphanage director href/images/elizabeth-with-director.webp title... read more

WE'RE HOME! (FOR GOOD, THIS TIME)
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

And now I'm going to bed! :) I'll blog tomorrow.... read more

RIDING THE METRO
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We're going to attempt to ride the Metro subway to history.com/topics/red-squareRed Square today. Wish us luck. The exits aren't numbered, they are listed by name ... in Cyrillic. Of course, the overhead announcements are in Russian. One helpful thing is that the announcements are in a male voic... read more

STILL IN MOSCOW
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We're in a different hotel, the ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/Moscow/mowso/hoteldetailHoliday Inn -- Moscow Sokolniki , for the rest of our stay. This is the one that was originally reserved for our return from Astrakhan. It has a reliable internet connection, costs less per night than yesterday... read more

TO THE EMBASSY
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Our last stop before the airport on the magical mystery tour is the Google.com/maps/place/EmbassyoftheUnitedStates/@55.7560229,37.576976,17z/data!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x46b54bcacb7fc963:0xc2075a0e27388e24!8m2!3d55.7560199!4d37.5791646US Embassy . They will make Elizabeth a US citizen and a registered Repub... read more

CAN'T LEAVE EARLY
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

... but at least it's all over. The Embassy visit went fine. Delta said that the only way we could take the available seats on earlier flights was to pay $2800 extra FOR EACH ticket. We said no. Unless someone wants to donate that to us, then we'll call them back. :) As it is, we can't leave until Sunday as originally planned.... read more

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE'S UPDATE
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I went ahead and paid for the 24-hour internet connection from the room. It wasn't even double the cost of one hour. I also swapped out the flaky cable and that seems to have fixed the connection problem. Wrong. I had to call the techs back to fix it. The hotel sure did send up some techs quickly to check it out. Tara and Elizabet... read more

MOSCOW UPDATE CONTINUED
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We're in Moscow.Bill already summarized our trip here. I do believe that I am fully initiated into the sisterhood of Mothers. I have changed an exploding poopy diaper in an airplane bathroom, with turbulence! I'll spare you all the details, but let's just say, I will be burning our clothes from that trip. Internet access is very expe... read more

RIDING THE METRO, PART DEUX
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

All three of us went to history.com/topics/red-squareRed Square this time. I'm glad Tara was able to see it. Elizabeth was fascinated, too, but probably won't remember a thing. We then had lunch at sbarro.com/Sbarro in the ht... read more

JUST ANOTHER WEEK TO GO
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

... maybe less! That cheers me up. That's assuming everything goes as planned ... and it WILL. I believe in positive thinking (when I'm desperate, anyway, because it leads to positive actions, which lead to positive results, or at least your chances are better). I don't always practice it, but I try. It doesn't always work, but i... read more

PICTURES OF OUR LIFE IN ASTRAKHAN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Tonight is our last night in Astrakhan. So, I thought I'd post some pictures of where we've been living for the past 19 days. We've had many battles over clothing. She thinks I put too much clothes on her. In the hotel room, she wears her thermals. But, she loves her boots. So, she often walks around in her thermals with her snow ... read more

BACK IN MOSCOW (12/18/2007)
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We made it this far! The plane ride was terrible for several minutes when we had to fasten our seat belts, which Elizabeth did not want to do. She SCREAMED loudly for quite a while, ticking off everyone nearby. Luckily, part of it was drowned out by the sound of the jet engines revving up and taking off. After that, she pooped her pants (I think... read more

51-1/2 HOURS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

That's how long before we leave Astrakhan for Moscow. Not that we're counting or anything. The bad thing about these in-country flights is that they don't use jetways, those expandable tubes that protect you from the weather as you get on and off the plane. You are out there exposed on the tarmac, which is no fun in bad weather. ... read more

HERE'S YOUR UPDATE
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Everyone is wanting an update! Well, we're parents of a two-year-old now. No time for updates!She is keeping us busy. Her favorite things to do are: play in the sink, play in the tub, and play in the toilet. She is a waterbaby! One of the things we were warned about an adopted child from an orphanage was that they may hate baths and it wo... read more

SLEEP, WHAT A CONCEPT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I slept on the floor most of last night. It's a little after 7 a.m. here. Elizabeth refuses to sleep in her crib, even though we're told that's what she slept in at the orphanage. So, she sleeps with us in our bed. That bed is barely big enough for just me and Tara. Anyway, Elizabeth can go to sleep in the bed, but whenever she wakes... read more

NOTHING MUCH TO UPDATE ABOUT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

She's just driving us crazy. Luckily, Tara is taking the brunt of it. I had to get out and walk around town in the freezing cold, just for the sake of getting out. I was at least useful, coming back with some groceries. Elizabeth's sweet as can be and very playful most of the time, but she turns on a dime. The main problem is just kee... read more

BOWEL MOVEMENT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I like a headline that demands attention!It's official, I'm a parent. Elizabeth had her first bowel movement since we've had her, and it was on my watch! Tara was unable to put Elizabeth down for a nap while I was out walking around town looking for groceries and sundry items. Once I returned, Tara decided to take a nap h... read more

MORE PICTURES (12-09-2007)
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Here are some photos from today of the hotel and the closest major street to us. We didn't get very far on our walk because it was too cold.titleAzimut Hotel front href/images/azimut-front4.webp titleAzimut Hotel side href/images/azimut-front... read more

THE FIRST HOURS OF PARENTHOOD
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Oh my gosh! She's a handful!Well, we left the orphanage without much incident. She told the orphanage staff that she wanted to leave in the car. But, she refused to let me or Bill hold her hand or touch her other than put her snowsuit and boots on. The orphanage director walked her out and then Vika, our interpreter took her from there. S... read more

SHE'S OURS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp We have her in the hotel now. I tried typing that sentence earlier but she shut the computer down as I was typing! I don't know how. But just a few keystrokes and it was shutting down. Now she keeps trying to run... read more

PICTURE OF US BEFORE COURT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

titleBill and Tara before Court href/images/bill-and-tara-before-court.webp ...from several days ago, the morning of our court appearance. Taken by the other adoptive family in town... read more

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp We visited Elizabeth again today. We caught her when she was in the music room with all the other kids in her age group. She smiled wide when she saw us, but by the time she reached us, she tried to keep it cool. Lik... read more

SHE'S WARMING UP TO US
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp We had her laughing, smiling and giggling today. I pushed her around on the three-wheeler, then flew her around the room. She even let us chase her around, and it didn't scare her when I chased her!She seeme... read more

IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD WEEK
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp That's all I wanted to say. :)We had a shortened visit with Elizabeth today because we had to first stop by the pharmacy and get some bengay.comBen-Gay and ibuprofen for my so... read more

SATURDAY MORNING
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp Tara made a good guess earlier. She thinks the orphanage caretakers are telling Elizabeth that we will be taking her away soon. They think they're doing us a favor, trying to prepare her. But now, every ... read more

BEET SALAD
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp The time stamp on these blog posts are in US Central Time, not Russia time. It's 6am Sunday morning here. We had lunch the other day with Nancy, Joel, Vika and Liena at a Western-themed restauran... read more

THE DAY AFTER
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp Well, we're much more relaxed now that we've gotten past the court appearance. The problem now is getting Elizabeth to like us again. Today, she cried for the first time. She let me hold her, but my Russian w... read more

MUCH BETTER VISIT TODAY
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp Elizabeth (a.k.a. Masha) was much happier today. We were told that the orphanage caretakers probably were not telling her that we would be taking her away, but who knows? She let me fly her ar... read more

WENT FOR A WALK
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp ... in the freezing cold, we were THAT bored. I'm starting to hate this place. There's just nothing to do when we're not visiting Elizabeth or going shopping, and both of those require a driver, and usual... read more

SUCCESS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/images/adoption-video-frame.webp As you probably read below in Tara's post, our court appearance went very well. Ten days from now we will officially be the proud parents of Elizabeth! And now Vika tells us that we get to visit her not just a fe... read more

AND THE JUDGE SAYS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

She's ours!It's official! Elizabeth is ours. The court hearing went very smooth. It took about an hour and a half. There was a judge, prosecutor, a rep from the Child protective services, and the Minister of Education. They had a lot of questions about our parenting style, our finances and guardianship of her in the event of both our ... read more

IT'S SHOWTIME
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We leave in an hour for Court. I just got back from breakfast. Tara did not join me because she can't eat, she's so nervous. Gotta go get dressed. Wish us luck!... read more

RUSSIAN BUREAUCRACY
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Oh... my... God. Do not EVER lose that document they have you fill out on the plane before you land! Stapling it to your forehead would be less painful than what Galina, Liena and I went through today. Vika was tending to the other couple, Nancy and Joel. Anyway, we just spent ALL afternoon standing and sitting in line at the Immigration departm... read more

RUSSIAN ADOPTION CONSULTANT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I've taken a job here as a Russian adoption consultant. The hours are long, and the pay is in barter, but you gotta do what you gotta do, seein' as how I can't leave the country. :)But seriously, the childrenshope.netChildren's Hope office in Brentwood, TN has an opening for such a job. T... read more

COMMENTS WELCOME
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I set this blog so that you can now add your comments anonymously without logging in. So, comment away! I was afraid that the requirement for a login was keeping people from participating. Now you can go crazy because you're anonymous. Just watch your language! Elizabeth is reading this, too ... some day. :) Email me if you have a problem us... read more

BACK IN ASTRAKHAN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We made it to Astrakhan, but I've lost my immigration form that goes with the passport and visa. It's just a little sheet that they have you fill out on the airplane before you land. If I'd known it was so important, I would have stapled it into the passport instead of just sliding it in there. It's not the end of the world, but ... read more

IN THE AIR AGAIN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Sunday, November 25, 2007, 5:00pm CSTWe're in the air on our way back to Moscow. Delta Flight 46. The current in-flight movie is Evan Almighty, which we saw on one of our other flights to or from Moscow last time. You know, when you jet back and forth like we do, you forget exactly which flight it was. :) I guess it's rentable, but ... read more

MWEH YEDDUM V AEROPORT ETA OOTRA
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

You probably guessed what that means: We are going to the aiport this morning. It's probably not grammatically correct, but I ain't got no time for linguistic correctitude. :)Unlike last time when the cat kept waking me up, this time I was able to get a good night's sleep. I was up at 5:30, but I got a good seven hours. It helped ... read more

TUESDAY (11/27/2007)
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Time flies when you lose nine hours. We fly to Astrakhan this afternoon. This morning, we'll be having the free breakfast that the hotel offers. Then we'll exchange our dollars for rubles (before the dollar devalues even more). I could've done that yesterday, but I ... just ... didn't ... feel like it. :)They don't get a l... read more

BACK IN MOSCOW (11/26/2007)
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We made it. The flight was horrible. I think I slept about 30 seconds out of the 11 hour flight. It was not a full flight, and half the people around us were able to take up two or three seats, but we weren't quick enough. The other movie on the flight was imdb.com/title/tt0435705/?refnmflmgact58... read more

INTERNET ACCESS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I'm wondering about internet access now that we've tentatively planned to stay in a weekly apartment in Astrakhan instead of the hotel the entire time. We'll probably want/need that internet access for the sake of something to do. Normally, we could go sightseeing, but when it's below-freezing outside, that doesn't sound fun.... read more

ELIZABETH'S ROOM
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

OK, here are the pictures:BeforetitleChild's room 1 href/images/childsroom001.webp titleChild's room 2 href/images/childsroom002.webp After... read more

SKORA MWEH TAM BOOJUM
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Translation: We'll be there soon. This time next week, actually. I really want to be able to communicate with our daughter Elizabeth when we get there. I've been playing titleUPDATE: I think this is the one hrefpaypal.com/xclick/businessbobkatjane%40yahoo.com&item-nameRussianforAdoptiveParents-t... read more

ROUND TWO
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We've received our court date. We're haggling with the airlines now. One round-trip ticket for one adult costs a little over $800. One one-way ticket for our daughter's flight home with us costs $1,600!! I suggested just buying our daughter a round-trip ticket (which would be only $900) and not using the return portion of it, but T... read more

BACK IN ATLANTA
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We're in the Atlanta airport now! Good to be on US soil, except that they keep mentioning George Bush (... as in the Houston Airport). :) It's 1:45a.m. Moscow time right now (5:45p.m. EDT), but I'm not tired. I'm anxious to catch the flight to Nashville. Customs and security here in Atlanta is sooo much smoother than Russia, th... read more

WE'RE HOME
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

OK, now we're home! I'll try and do a trip summary tomorrow after a good night's sleep ... in my own bed. Tara says she feels like Dorothy, There's no place like home!... read more

ANOTHER GREAT VISIT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We're feeling closer and closer to our child, especially after today. And I think we passed the test of having the psychologist there, observing. She was pretty cool, actually. She didn't stay the entire visit. I think she could see that Tara, the child and I are all getting along well. She'll be observing again tomorrow, but we... read more

THURSDAY IN ASTRAKHAN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

First things first: Our little girl is warming up to Tara. She gave her a kiss yesterday, I think without even being asked. Now, for some more random thoughts:Before I forget to mention it, I need to tell you what happened Tuesday. I think it was Tuesday. My whole sense of time is pretty messed up. Anyway, it was a momentous day. Yeah, yea... read more

LAST VISIT FOR A WHILE
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We'll be leaving in a few minutes for our last visit to the orphanage this trip. I'm practicing asking for my baggage back from the hotel baggage room. Baggage actually sounds like boggage. Please is pa-ZHAL-sta. Fascinating, I know. I thought about getting a parting video shot of the lobby as we sit here waiting for our ride. But th... read more

WEDNESDAY IN ASTRAKHAN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We just got back from today's first visit with the child (we're not supposed to mention her name online). We'll be going back this afternoon. In the meantime, Tara's trying to catch up on her sleep. She had woken up around 5 this morning. I was able to sleep until almost 8. The girl (hopefully soon to be known as our... read more

GREAT VISIT
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We had a great visit with our little girl this morning. There were no observers. That happens this afternoon. Vika mentioned we should think about showing more affection in front of the observers. It's more in line with how Russians treat their kids. We're fine with that. We like kids so much, we flew half way around the world to have on... read more

SIGHTS OF ASTRAKHAN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

I'm attaching pictures we made of Astrakhan and our room. We are staying at the Hotel Azimut in Astrakhan. They are going through major renovations right now. It's kind of funny to see the interior design mix. The lobby is decorated in Art Deco while the rooms are decorated in traditional Russian decor like lace curtains, handblown gl... read more

IT'S A GIRL IT'S A GIRL
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Oh My Gosh what a difference 1 day makes! So, we have a beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed, 2-1/2-year-old girl!First, the obvious question: What happened to the 4-year-old boy? We don't know. After 2 trips to the Minister of Education, and two interviews, they gave us a referral for this girl. It's been so difficult getting to th... read more

WHAT A DAY
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Where to begin... The original plan was for us to go to the Minister of Education and submit our dossier and then formally receive our referral. What really happened:Galina called the ministry this morning only to find out that they were closed in the morning supposedly because there had been a death within the ministry (I'm assuming a... read more

WE'RE IN ASTRAKHAN
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

After a nerve-wracking trip to the airport and getting through the airport security we finally made it to our plane. We were told that our Rep, Galina, would be flying with us. We never saw her until we were already on the plane. She was one of the last passengers on the plane, she saw us and gestured to Bill. He figured it was Galina. Her seat ... read more

CHECK-OUT TIME
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We check out in an hour. We got a nice free breakfast this morning, then went back to that grocery store and managed to pay the right amount for the right kind of water (still, not sparkling, which is hard to find). Security guard work is apparently a large pa... read more

IT'S ONLY MONDAY?
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Monday -- 1 Oct 07 -- 6:37PMzzzDRAHST-vueet-ya, DRAHST-ya, BREEV-yet ee DO-bree-dyen from Astrakhan! I just (phonetically) said Hello, hey, hi and good afternoon (even though it's now evening here) in Russian. I couldn't remember how to say evening.We visited the Ministry of Education today, the people who decide who lives and ... read more

FIRST TIME IN MOSCOW
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Well, we made it to Moscow!After a long plane trip, we managed to get through passport control and customs with no problems. And all of our luggage made it!Our CHI Rep and driver were late getting to the airport and we were worried, but they did eventually show up. We got our first taste of traffic, and let me go on record to say -- I will... read more

ADOPTION VIDEOS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / movies-tv-video )

OK, so it took a year, but here they are, finally: vimeo.com/1776317Part 1 titleadoption part 2 hrefvimeo.com/1774164Part 2 You'll see all of our videos of Elizabeth, including the updated version... read more

LINKS TO ALL HOLMES FAMILY ADOPTION POSTS
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

/pages/this-time-next-weekThis Time Next Week -- I'm happy to say that this time next week, we will be in Astrakhan, Russia! We leave the States on Friday, September 28 and arrive in Moscow on the 29th. Depending upon the sche... read more

WE'RE IN MOSCOW
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

We'll be spending the night in Moscow, after all, and flying down to Astrakhan tomorrow afternoon. I was stressed out without an internet or even a usable power connection. But I'm obviously connected now. I had the power converters, but not the three-prong-to-two-prong adapter that I have plenty of at home. We ran into another cou... read more

IN THE AIR
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

28 Sept -- 3:55pm CDT -- We're in the air on our way to Moscow. A little bit of good news is that it's only a 10 hour flight instead of 12 as we had thought.... read more

TUESDAY (10/2/2007)
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )

Just some random notes this morningThere's a real /images/straydog.webpstray dog problem in Russian cities; or, at least Moscow and Astrakhan. A lot of people even apparently let their dogs run loose. They're almost all large dogs. The small ones don't survive. There's a real man purse problem, too... read more

THE DAY BEFORE
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Sounds like a movie title. Anyway, it's Thursday morning. amazon.com/dp/B01E7XUONI/refas-li-qf-sp-asin-il-tl?ieUTF8&taghepyacom-20&camp1789&creative9325&linkCodeas2&creativeASINB01E7XUONI&linkId19a52ec4efea06a810015bed361ed046Grey's Anatomy season premier tonight. Tara says woo-... read more

TRAVEL DAY
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

We fly out today. It would've been nice to have gotten one last good night's sleep, but the cat made sure that didn't happen. Stupid cat. Anyone want one? Seriously. She's very pretty; and sweet when she's not keeping you from sleeping. I'll miss the pugs while we're gone, but if one of our pet sitters happens to los... read more

PREPARATION FOR OUR FIRST TRIP TO RUSSIA
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

Tuesday morning. Everyone's still asleep except for me, the pug Joey and /images/joey-sitting-on-sunny.webpthe cat Sunny . In preparation for our trip, I'm trying to reacquaint myself with the digital cameras, video and still. I would've put Joey's and Sunny's pictures here, but the camera is connected to Tara&#... read more

THIS TIME NEXT WEEK
from 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )

I'm happy to say that this time next week, we will be in Astrakhan, Russia! We leave the States on Friday, September 28 and arrive in Moscow on the 29th. Depending upon the schedule of the flights to Astrakhan, we may have to stay in Moscow one night or we will board another plane on Saturday and fly straight to Astrakhan. We're kinda ho... read more


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