( family / holmes / elizabeth ) continued from Hiking with Elizabeth
The scariest part was when we stopped. Then he stopped. I had my phone in hand, looking at the map. There was a tense moment until he smiled and said, Y'all lost?
Just trying to find our way back to the parking lot, I said. He walked o ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Went hiking with my daughter, Elizabeth, yesterday evening. There's a nice little park in Thompson's Station with fairly extensive walking trails on the south end of the park, near the water tower.
We saw an owl, so, with her new birthday-gift SLR camera in hand, Elizabeth shushed and gestured for me to stop while she took pictures. She got som ... read more
( family / genealogy / holmes ) Lionel Rocha Holmes Memorial DNA Fund
Lionel Rocha Holmes (1919-2017) was an important part of the Sacramento, CA Portuguese community.
He was one of the original founders of the Portuguese Historical & Cultural Society (PHCS), a former PHCS president, ... read more
( family / holmes ) I tried to come up with the best word to fill in the blank in the following sentence: He was the most man I have ever known. He was certainly the finest, hands-down, bar none. Most fair-minded, too. With seven kids ready to cry "It's not fair!" at any moment, he had to be good about that.
He always made it clear that none of hi ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Preparing to take Elizabeth to a skating party, I said, Here, take some money. Go ask your mom for more. I thought I had at least a $10, but only had $6. When she returned I asked how much she had now.
Forty-six dollars.
What?! Yeah, I'll need most of that back. ... read more
( family ) Parenting tip #426: When taking out recycling/trash, check its contents. I almost threw out our daughter's purse and wallet! #parentingtips ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Me (folding clothes): I need some of your hangers.
Elizabeth: Here you go.
Me: Wow, a variety of hanger types, thanks.
Elizabeth: Well, I am diverse!.
Her friends are diverse, actually, but it's an inside joke with us about her overbearingly liberal school whose biggest source of pride is its "diversity."
... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) It was father-daughter day (for me, my brother, nephew and our daughters) at NorthStar ski resort in Lake Tahoe. See vimeo.com/122485652 ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) There's something on the kitchen counter. I'm thinking it's a shriveled, rotting potato. Not that we usually have that sort of thing on the counter, but that's what I'm thinking. I point at it and ask my wife, What is that?
Elizabeth's rock, wife deadpans. She's convinced it's a fossilized dinosaur tooth.
I just laughed out loud. Of c ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth at the dinner table being forced to eat her broccoli: Ugh, can I throw up?
Her mom: Um, no.
Me: trying not to laugh out loud
Mom: You're not helping! ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth dragged me onto another one of her outings this morning. If nothing else, she keeps me in shape. This time, she was on her motorized scooter (the kind you stand on), while I rode my bicycle. No fair making the old man use pedal power while she rides a scooter, giving only her throttle hand a workout.But first, I had to fix my flat. I h ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth received a birthday card from Grandpa today with $20 inside! She said, I love your dad! Tell him thank you very much! Your dad is rich! I wouldn't have thought such an old old person would have so much money! ... read more
( family / holmes ) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Old Sacramento
Once Bijou and her people hooked up with Elizabeth and her people, our first stop was a candy sto ... read more
( family / holmes ) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
The Zoo
The next morning, I was up before Elizabeth. I couldn't wait for her to wake up, so I snuck downstairs f ... read more
( family / holmes ) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Going to California
A couple weeks ago for my Dad's 94th birthday, I brought my (almost) 8-year-old dau ... read more
( family / pets ) Contentment is lying in bed, social networking on my laptop, listening to my wife and daughter fight/tease each other in the other room, while I've got the cat cuddled up on my left and two out of three pugs cuddled up on my right. ... read more
( family / pets ) UPDATE: 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 Elizabeth might get to visit sometimes. ... read more
( family / pets ) Chandler's a good dog. He's been through a lot in this life and will probably never fully recover. Never fully trust anyone again. I know the feeling. Maybe that's what we have in common. Whatever it is, I just love the heck out of that dog.And now he's getting old, like me. Blind in one eye. Mostly blind, anyway. Losing his hear ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) After catching a cricket and putting it into her bug cage (yes, she has a bug cage), my six-year-old daughter Elizabeth asked, Can you ... um ... look on the Internet and see what crickets eat? I just laughed and said, Yes, I can actually do that. So, excuse me while I go do that. And here's the link: ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) As it turned out, today was a good day for kite flying. Elizabeth, 6, had been bugging me about flying her new kite since returning from the vet this morning. We had brought all three pugs in to see Dr. Paula: ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I'll be spending all week (Spring Break) with my almost-6-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. Woo hoo! Yesterday was supposed to be my only day off, as she was supposed to be in school (snow make-up day). But she's come down with the flu, so she stayed home with me.
I took her to the doctor, and they confirmed she has type A flu. It's been going a ... read more
( family / pets ) I spent all day today wondering how I was going to tell our 5-year-old that our cat, Sunny, was no longer with us.Literally.After being awakened last night at 2:30 a.m. by the sound of a VERY close coyote, and then not finding Sunny asleep somewhere in the house later that morning — and she's ALWAYS sleeping it off by that time &mda ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth, 5, came up with the following play just as we were finishing dinner the other day. Dinner theater, if you will. :) We were in Sacramento visiting my Dad, joined by my brother Greg and his wife June.
MOM (Tara): Where is the prince? There he is. Will he join me for dinner?
DAD (Bill): Will my mother stop making me work al ... read more
( family / holmes ) It was actually cold all day today, but that didn't stop me and Elizabeth, then the pugs, from spending half of our day outside! First, we went exploring the new neighborhood being built nearby. I don't know why they're building. There's plenty of existing houses that no one wants to buy. Whatever. At least they've created lots of good dirt piles t ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) As Elizabeth likes to say, she and I were hanging out today while Tara had a girls' day out with Ronica. I think Tara's was a belated birthday thing. Hers was on the 10th. Anyway, once Ronica finally called — after Tara had started to worry — I was left alone with Elizabeth.
... read more
( family / pets ) I took Chandler to the vet this morning to get his teeth cleaned. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's actually very important, just like with humans. Anyway, because of road construction and morning rush-hour, it took forever to get there. The vet eve ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) ... of kindergarten! Tara's getting Elizabeth ready now. Elizabeth has been ready to go, already jumping into bed with us, then jumping out almost immediately, I guess because she couldn't sleep.
Tara will usually be taking her in the morning and I'll be picking her up after.
Yes, she could take the bus, but hell no we're not going to throw ... read more
( family / pets ) I had to take our dog Chandler (my best puppy, the big man) to the vet Thursday after I discovered, while giving him a bath, what looked like a bloody gash on his throat. I was horrified. I literally gasped in shock (I'm such a girl sometimes, I know) :) as ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) My wife Tara has written up our adoption story in response to that
woman (living not too far from here, unfortunately) who returned that
boy to Russia a couple weeks ago.Here's the local link (ourrussianadoptionstory), and here's the original link ( ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 really articulate my feelings about it, but I do have a strong opinion. I think the best way to answer the questions and give my perspective is to tell our story. S ... read more
( 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 here and here.
Of course it has been difficult at times — she's a child ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) You will not believe what I've been through! :) Okay, maybe it's not been that bad. You single parents out there are laughing at me, I'm sure. But I went an entire week taking care of Elizabeth, our 4 year old, while Tara not only had to work all week, but also came down with a cold. So, I've had to start her baths — Elizabeth's not ... read more
( family / pets ) Help her come up with names starting with the letter B by leaving comments below! comments closedSee NightShadowRottweilers.com for more details. ... read more
( family / pets ) It's something I do every night. I actually stopped for several months starting in May, I guess, when my back problems flared up. Then came my knee surgery, which kept me from walking much. Then I got to where I enjoyed not having to walk the dogs every freakin' night of my life. :) But then they started doing their business in the house way ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Or, as they piously call it around here, Fall Festival, because Halloween is the work of Satan, you know. :)We just returned from trick-or-treating, which Elizabeth absolutely loved. She kept saying, Halloween is so much fun! And now we're all recovering from the hike around the neighborhood. Well, that plus our activities earlier today.F ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I can't believe I made it. Of course, it's not over yet. It's only dinner time. It's been a LONG day. I'm at McDonald's as I write this. I tried to get online with their free wi-fi, but you have to have an account already before you can use it. Now I know. For some reason, this ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth and I went down to the creek this cold fall morning. With all the recent rain, Indian and Mill Creeks both had a lot of rushing water. We walked along the edge of Mill Creek. Usually, we stick to the closer Indian Creek. Elizabeth went as far as she could (or wanted to), then I had to carry her. At one point while carrying her, I slipped ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) In the twenty minutes that Tara and I left Elizabeth alone, she found some (child-safe) scissors and cut off all her hair. At first I thought it was just wet. Then I realized she'd cut it all off. I laughed and said I was just glad she hadn't hurt herself.
A few seconds later, Tara came into the room and I told her what Elizabeth had done bef ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) We had a list of stops to make. First came Ace Hardware for a clothes line and a no-pest-strip. Elizabeth had rediscovered her Barbie electric guitar earlier that day and brought it with her on this trip. She wanted to bring it into the store, she said, so everyone can hear my music. I said OK. ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) The other day at the house, we had this conversation.
Elizabeth: This is my house.
Bill: Your house? I thought it was my and mom's house.
Elizabeth: No. It's mine. I'm sharing it with you.
Tara and I cracked up. ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) It's this Sunday! Just FYI if you want to send an email or call or whatever.We should have pictures up here from tomorrow's party at Chuck E. Cheese's. ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth / videos ) I finally edited these a little bit and uploaded them:
Chandler hanging out
Elizabeth's baby shower in February
Elizabeth's b-day party in April
A ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth's directorial debut. A probing, provocative, sometimes introspective look at a typical weekend around the house with Mama and Papa and the pugs.
Elizabeth's first video ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) We had a scare a couple of Wednesdays back with Elizabeth. She was at pre-school/daycare when she tripped and fell head-first onto the pavement outside as everyone was told to get in line to go back inside. We figure, being so competitive, she was racing to get in the front of the line when she tripped. She lost consciousness for a second or two an ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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: Part 1 ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes / videos ) OK, so it took a year, but here they are, finally:
Part 1 Part 2
You'll see all of our videos of Elizabeth, including the updated versions of these, on the right side on t ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Tara, Elizabeth and I just returned from a trip to California. Ostensibly, we went for my nephew Thomas's wedding (to bride Heather at Lake Tahoe), but it was also a convenient excuse to let everyone on my side of the family, especially her Grandma and Grandpa, finally meet Elizabeth. No offense to Thomas and Heather!
Tara's side are a ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I delegated the responsibility of reading Elizabeth her bedtime story :) By the way, she slept great! I put her to bed at 8:15 and she was asleep by 8:30. We woke up at 8:00 this morning. — Ronica ... read more
( family / holmes ) Yeah, Kristen graduated tonight from Christian Brothers High. The ceremony was at Memorial Auditorium. Attached is a picture of her, Dad, and me. — Steve
... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Well, Elizabeth's birthday party is this Saturday. She'll be 3, and it'll be her first real party. It'll be outside at a covered table next to a playground in a nearby park. I can't tell you here on the Internet exactly where this park is because you might be a murderer or child molester. You know who you are.
Anyway, let's hope it's better w ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Old stuff, but some of it's still funny ... It's basically the precursor to this website. Click the links in the table of contents, above. Otherwise, just do a search in the home page's search box for newsletter (without quotes). ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) Elizabeth spent her first official full day at daycare yesterday. The teacher went on and on about how wonderful and good and helpful she was. I say first official day because Tara took her to a free trial day last week. Daycare is probably a lot like the orphanage, which is why she flouris ... read more
( 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 biased. ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) 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. ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I can't believe how nice my coworkers at Franklin are. On Friday, they had a luncheon at work for Elizabeth and Tara. They invited me, too. :)
Great food, several gifts, and the biggest surprise: a money tree. Tara and I were speechless at that. It's not like my coworkers have any more
spare money than we do. Don't worry, we'll spend it all ( ... read more
( family / holmes / elizabeth ) I just thought I'd mention that Elizabeth is settling into her new life pretty well. Tara is her full-time parent, I just appear after work and on weekends. :) Even then, it's Tara who does most of the work.
Elizabeth's biggest hurdle so far has been getting used to our pets, three pugs and a cat. She's ALMOST completely used to the pugs by now ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 their defense, we weren't there under normal circumstances. It was not a vacation. We felt under pressure and stressed-out as we spent most of our time dealing with thei ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 discover ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes / travel ) Some pictures as we arrived in the airport. There was a great welcoming party there! We've never had an airport welcoming party before!
... read more
( 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.
... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) All three of us went to Red 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 in the ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) We're going to attempt to ride the Metro subway to Red 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 voice if you're ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) ... 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 leav ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) Our last stop before the airport on the magical mystery tour is the US Embassy. They will make Elizabeth a US citizen and a registered Repu ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 Elizabeth are a ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 boots. Ronica to ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) ... 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 it never hurts. Kind ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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.
Once in Mos ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 keeping her e ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 would b ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 up a few hours ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 herself.We ha ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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. She wo ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 away from Tara down the hall. So far, she hasn't cried, just the occasional I don't want to do that sound that kids make. She's so grea ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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.
... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) ... from several days ago, the morning of our court appearance. Taken by the other adoptive family in town for their first trip, the Mees.
... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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. Like, Oh, it's you. I thought you were somebody else. Just kidding about that quote. I hope I'm kidding. :) After the crowd ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 seemed more comfortable with Tara than she was with me today, so that's good. They can do girlie things together, you know.
I forgot ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 Ben-Gay and ibuprofen for my sore neck. Ben-Gay actually sounds (and smells) the same in Russian, it just looks funny on the box. Then when we got to the orphanage ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) ... in the freezing cold, because 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 usually a translator. I can't wait until we're out of here, but we've got two weeks to go. I'll see if I can't download stuff from YouTube or s ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 restaurant called The Horseshoe down the street from the hotel. I ordered some sort of goulash and a salad that Vika said was a traditional Russian dish. I shou ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 around the room again, which made her laugh. We played piano. Yesterday, she wanted up on my lap to play piano, but she batted my hand a ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) Tara made a good guess earlier. She thinks that the orphanage caretakers are telling Elizabeth that we will be taking her away from the orphange soon. They think they're doing us a favor, trying to prepare her. But now, every time that we come to visit and they leave the room, she freaks out because she thinks it's happening now. ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 words were not much consolation. She calmed down once our interpreter Liena returned to the room. Liena then commented that she was sorry that ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 few times, but every day except Sunday. I don't know what Elizabeth has on her schedule for Sundays, but apparently she's busy. :) To me, be ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 deaths. The ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 using the ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 today. Anyway, we just spent ALL afternoon standing and sitting in line at the Immigration de ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 Children's Hope office in Brentwood, TN has an opening for such a job. The hours are sti ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 I can't leave the c ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 lot of daylight here ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) Sunday, November 25, 2007, 5:00pm CST
We'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 f ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 that I had lo ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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. Anyway, if there are g ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 Tara's afraid th ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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, though they did tick ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 then I though ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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're not worried ab ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 glass chan ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) We had a great visit with our little girl this morning. There were no observers. That happens this afternoon. Vika had mentioned that 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 one. ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 daughter) is g ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 this point, th ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) Just some random notes this morning
There's a real stray 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. Many men have what amounts to a small purse th ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 natur ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) Monday - 1 Oct 07 - 6:37PM
zzzDRAHST-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 dies, ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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 was ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) We check out in an hour. We got a nice free breakfast this morning. We then went back to that grocery store and managed to pay the right amount for the right kind of water (not sparkling, which is hard to find). Security guard work is apparently a large part of the workforce here, because every single business establishment we've been to has had a ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) 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
( 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 lose the cat, it wouldn't kill me ... read more
( family / adoption / holmes ) Sounds like a movie title. Anyway, it's Thursday morning. Grey's Anatomy season premier tonight. Tara says woo-h ... read more
( 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 hoping we can ... read more
( family / holmes ) Lionel's sister, Dolores
In 1936 after being crowned Queen.
Eleanor's back surgery a success!
"Everyone warned me against back surgery," she says. "But, I'd be in a wheelchair now if I hadn't had surgery!"
... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Once in a Blue MoonVol. 8 No. 1, February 1997
A lot has happened since our last newsletter, so let's just jump right in with the news...
Mike and Evelyn get married
Almost two years ago now (June 21, 1995, actually), Mike married his longtime friend, Evelyn. Only a select few of the newsletter staff were invited: Lionel ( ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Wandering Eye
Vol. 7 No. 1, March 19, 1995
We're back! Sorry it took so long between issues, but the entire staff was frozen solid in a block of ice the past three months. We just now thawe ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Coyote BreathVol. 6 No. 6, October 26, 1994
Don rides to Denver
In August, Don rode his motorcycle from Nashville to Denver. He wouldn't say why or what he did while in Denver. All we know is that he returned to Nashville a week later, but only stopped for a quick chiropractic adjustment before continuing south to Florida.
... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Behind the Eight Ball
Who is that behind the eight ball, anyway?
Vol. 6 No. 5, August 21, 1994
Jeannie Breaks Hand
Jeannie, a DMV employee in Tracy, CA, broke h ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Fish Stories
Best when lightly buttered, with just a pinch of lemon.
Vol. 6 No. 4sometime between April and August 1994
Tiffany wins awards
Tiffany and her horse, Rocky, of T ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Obtuse Moose
Vol. 6, No. 3, April 21, 1994
Jeannie finds dog
Jeannie and John have a ranch in Tracy, California. To help pay the bills, they board a few horses. One of those horses, a fat old gray Arabian mare, had been particularly ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Falling Down a Manhole(can be quite painful and should be avoided)Vol. 6, No. 2, March 1, 1994
Michael moves!
Michael has moved out of his mother, Lucy's, house. It's the first time I've been able to afford it, he says. Believe me, it ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Itchy Trigger Finger
Vol. 6, No. 1, February 6, 1994earthquake in Southern California!
We're sure you've heard all about it on the news, but we just wanted to mention it in case you've just recently emerged from a cav ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Happy Hairball
(something we keep coughing up)
Volume 5, Number 8 December 20, 1993
Publisher: This guy —
Editor: Same guy
Distributor: Brave little delivery boys and girls worldwide
Address: Nashville, TN 37215
A Thanksgiving Feast ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Rotten Apple
Journalism with visible holesVol. 5 No. 7, December 1, 1993
Mike Rolls Car!
LIVINGSTON, CA - Remember we told you about Mike's new car in the previous issue? Well, he totalled it a coup ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Hoot and a HollerVol. 5, No. 6, September 28, 1993 — Nashville editionJournalism at its finest! — Yearly subscription rate: $135
Brouns family buys ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) the rabblerouser
Vol. 5, No. 5, August 8, 1993
Bill moving to Nashville
Bill is moving to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue his boyhood dream of being a country singing star! Oh wait, that's Don's boyhood dream. Bill's just moving there for the he ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Not Just Another NewsletterMONDAY, JULY 19, 1993CIRCULATION: From 8 to 15 (depending on our mood and how many stamps we have)Copyright 1993 / Bill Holmes Enterprises / 2 pages ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Sacred CowVol. 5, No. 2, March 15, 1993
Dad sucked from plane!
Well, almost. And it was 41 years ago. Hey, nobody can accuse us of being accurate or current (or relevant, ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Stupid Kangaroo
Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1, 1993
Editor's Note: This newsletter welcomes the New Year (kicking and screaming, but that's to be expected) and we wish all our readers (and a few others) ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaping Lizard
Vol. 4, No. 8, October 20, 1992
EDITOR'S NOTE ... After Grandma's recent birthday party (see article below), this newsletter was swamped with requests from people wanting to ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Belching Frog
Vol. 4, No. 7, September 16, 1992
"Thomas should like this name."
Doug returns again On August 26, Doug returned from Europe for the second time in a ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Barking Dog
Vol. 4 No. 6, July 22, 1992
"Who names these newsletters, anyway?"
earthquakes, earthquakes! We're sick of earthquakes! Why doesn't the government do something!? On June 28, 1992, Southern California suffered from twin earthqua ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Broken Record
Vol. 4, No. 5, June 25, 1992
"Predictable, irritating. Really, no redeeming qualities whatsoever."
L.A. riots: The aftermath In the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, religious and community leaders speak of healing, re ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Squeaky Sprocket
Vol. 4, No. 4, May 11, 1992"The intelligent person's newsletter of choice."
Riots in L.A., earthquakes in So. Cal and Eureka! Is the world coming to an end? Probably. And did you notice that all these things happened at a time when this newsletter was ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaky Faucet
Vol. 4, No. 3, March 18, 1992
"More of the same, basically."
Doug elected president With this nation in the throes of its quadrennial tradition of polit ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaky Faucet
Vol. 4, No. 2, February 13, 1992
"The quintessential newsletter."Warning: May not be suitable for the humor impaired.
Elvis lives!
Yes, all ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaky Faucet
Vol. 4, No. 1, January 4, 1992
"Everything you've ever wanted to know about anything."
Diane has surgery
On December 3, Diane of Hayward, CA had back ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaky Faucet
Vol. 3, No. 8, December , 1991
Steve & Denise host Thanksgiving Turkey was served and everybody ate it. What else is there to say? Okay, so it was an excellent meal than ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaky Faucet
Vol. 3, No. 7, October 14, 1991
Mike lands great job!
Michael has been named Executive Producer of Cal State Stanislaus' new bi-weekly
cable television show. It will bas ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Leaky Faucet
"Irritating, yet soothing. Obnoxious, yet hypnotic"Vol. 3, No. 6, July 30, 1991
Sapphire dispute settled out of court Steve of Sacramento, CA, invested in a s ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) NEWS
Vol. 3, No. 5, July 6, 1991
Northern California's leading newsletter since 1989
(except for those few months when we were Southern California's leading newsletter)
Record heat melts Sacto!Molten steel and rubber cover city ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) the
Evening Star
Post-Tribune
Dispatch
(we couldn't decide on a name)
Vol. 3, No. 4, June 4, 1991
Bikers ride to Yosemite On Mother's Day, John, Jeannie, Don and Diane ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) and now ...THE NEWS
Vol. 3, No. 3 (yes, only "No. 3")
April 26, 1991
Doug returns from Hungary
On March 21, Doug left Sacramento for Budapest (pronounced "booda-pesht"), Hungary. Taking advantage of a tickets-for-mugs trade with American Airlines (no kidding!), he fl ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) the
NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3, No. 2, February 10, 1991
It's a girl... and a boy and a girl and a boy ...
Chance, a dog, has given birth to seven little dogs. Three boys and four gir ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) news
from
La-La Land
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Vol. 3, No. 1, January 4, 1991
Newsletter editor murdered! The editor of this newsletter was apparently murdered "some time over the we ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) WORLD NEWS
"Award-Winning Journalism"
Vol. 2, No. 9, June 14, 1990
Dad kills rattler!
Special to the News
Back from a week in the wilds of Arizona, Dad ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 2, No. 8
"Anniversary Issue"May 25, 1990
Editor's Note: This is the big one! The big enchilada. The killer
tomato. It's the anniversary issue! ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) theNEWSVol. 2, No. 7, May 1, 1990Editor's Note: We would like to apologize for that last issue, but we won't. We'd like to say it'll never happen again, but hey.
Mike gets job
Mike has taken a job as a process server for a Modest ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) theNEWSVol. 2, No. 6Back in spite of popular demand.April 16, 1990
WORLD NEWS
Mike is back from Germany and looking very European. (Fancy haircut,
pale complexion, but otherwise healthy.) He's having trouble getting used to speaking
... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Big News
& Other Stuff
Vol. 2, No. 5
Yeah, another new name.
March 19, 1990
Mike to return early
Mike has had a change of plans and expects to return from
... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Billy Club
Vol. 2, No. 3, February 8, 1990
aka Bullseye, Hard Copy, The Holmes Family Newsletter
Diane now a doctor
Call her "Dr. Holmes" now. Diane Holmes, D.C., to be
exact. She passed her exams last month and is now officially a chiropractor! Diane stated,"I ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Bullseye
Vol. 2, No. 2, January 26, 1990
formerly known as Hard Copy; before that, The Holmes
Family Newsletter
Denise expecting!
Taking her cue from L ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) NEWS, ETC.
Vol. 2, No. 15, December 18, 1990
"Christmas Issue"
Lucy to Host Christmas
Lucy will be having Christmas at her house this year. It's a potluck
affair. Only those w ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Daily GargoyleVol. 2, No. 14, November 16, 1990"Just when you thought it was safe to open the mailbox!"Editor's note: For those of you w ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Hometown NewsVol. 2, No. 13, October 20, 1990Editor's Note: This is most definitely the last issue.
Bill graduates!
After seven months, Bill has finally completed his computer
programming course! The school, ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Newsletter
Vol. 2 No. 12, September 17, 1990
"Your Only News Source"
It's a girl!!
We asked Denise if she could hurry up and have the baby because we
wanted to put out ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) the
NEWSLETTER
Vol. 2, No. 11, August 13, 1990
Doug makes pilgrimage
Doug, aka "Sluggo", made a pilgrimage to the Mormon church's genealogical library in Salt Lake City over a ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) Things You Need To Know
Vol. 2, No. 10, July 16, 1990
"Pioneer Portuguese" now available
World famous Portuguese historian Lionel Holmes's latest work is now
available at a store n ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) HARD COPY
Vol. 2, No. 1
"Hard-Hitting Journalism"January 3, 1990
formerly known as The Holmes Family Newsletter
Predictions for 1990
Elvis P ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 10 — Worldwide Circulation — December 6, 1989
Newsletter sold!
The Holmes Family Newsletter was involved in a hos ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
A Newsletter With A Mission In Life!
Vol. 1, No. 9
Worldwide Circulation
November 21, 1989
The Environmental Issue
Only 34 days 'til Christm ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 8, October 23, 1989
earthquake!
Where were you when it hit?
Don was just leaving his office on the 15th floor in downtown ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 7, October 5, 1989
Let's face it, these things are going to just keep coming.
Steve arrested
Steve received his first speeding ticket ever recentl ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 6a, September 17, 1989
Everyone seems to be on a diet these days. Lucy and Jeannie are trying a low carbohydrate/high protein diet. Don' ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 5, September 5, 1989
Jeannie breaks elbow
Placed on Disabled List
Lathrop — While attempting a "sling-shot" maneuver during ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 4, August 1, 1989
Largest Tri-Weekly Newsletter Circulation in the West!
tri-weekly (tri-week'lee) 1. we TRY to get it out weekly)
Editor ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1 No. 3, July, 1989
Editor's Note: Due to profanity, nudity, and the mature theme of this issue, parental discretion is advised.
... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family newsletter June 23, 1989 — Vol. 1, No. 2 — Since 1989
Editor's Note: This may be the last issue.
NEWS
Jeannie's dog, Chance, finally had her puppies. Ten o ... read more
( family / holmes / newsletter ) The Holmes Family Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 1, Since 1989
May 25, 1989
Editor's Note: This may be the only issue, so pay attention!
Announcements
Well, the big news, of course, is St ... read more
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