Below is everything (newest at top) with "family OR adoption OR holmes OR elizabeth" in its title or subcategories. For a strict listing (matching all categories and subcats), click hereGOTCHA DAY AND MERRY CHRISTMASfrom 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 RECENT PHOTOS OF ELIZABETHfrom 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / elizabeth )
Elizabeth around the house /images/at-home-3aa3f1eb0eac9fd76a9098a1c0b76bab-644x483.webp /images/at-home-dff0a882edc382582a6e14690dbbca6b-2576x1932.webp... read more DOCTORS SAY SHE'S NORMALfrom 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 LUNCHEON FOR ELIZABETHfrom 2008 in ( family / adoption / holmes / lunch )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 ... read more SUMMARY OF OUR RUSSIAN ADOPTION EXPERIENCEfrom 2008 in ( 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 w... read more RIDING THE METROfrom 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 MOSCOWfrom 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 EMBASSYfrom 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 UPDATE TO THE UPDATE'S UPDATEfrom 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 RIDING THE METRO, PART DEUXfrom 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 ASTRAKHANfrom 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 SLEEP, WHAT A CONCEPTfrom 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 ABOUTfrom 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 THE FIRST HOURS OF PARENTHOODfrom 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 PICTURE OF US BEFORE COURTfrom 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )
titleBill and Tara before Court href/images/bill-and-tara-before-court-ce4654969ca069c70e624f0b52e53253-1229x938.webp ...from several days ago, the... read more LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNELfrom 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )
/images/adoption-video-frame-e223ada9010e2644f23f2d61d3af4921-1024x707.webp We visited Elizabeth again today. We caught her when she was in the music room with all the other kids in her age gr... read more SHE'S WARMING UP TO USfrom 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )/images/adoption-video-frame-e223ada9010e2644f23f2d61d3af4921-1024x707.webp We had her laughing, smiling and giggling today. I pushed her around on the three-wheeler, then flew her around th... read more IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD WEEKfrom 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )
/images/adoption-video-frame-e223ada9010e2644f23f2d61d3af4921-1024x707.webp That's all I wanted to say. :)We had a shortened visit with Elizabeth today because we had to first stop by the ph... read more WENT FOR A WALKfrom 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes / travel )
/images/adoption-video-frame-e223ada9010e2644f23f2d61d3af4921-1024x707.webp ... in the freezing cold, we were THAT bored. I'm starting to hate this place. There's just nothing to do wh... read more AND THE JUDGE SAYSfrom 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 BACK IN ASTRAKHANfrom 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 AGAINfrom 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 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 BACK IN ATLANTAfrom 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 THURSDAY IN ASTRAKHANfrom 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 WHILEfrom 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 ASTRAKHANfrom 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 SIGHTS OF ASTRAKHANfrom 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 WE'RE IN ASTRAKHANfrom 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 FIRST TIME IN MOSCOWfrom 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 LINKS TO ALL HOLMES FAMILY ADOPTION POSTSfrom 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... read more WE'RE IN MOSCOWfrom 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 PREPARATION FOR OUR FIRST TRIP TO RUSSIAfrom 2007 in ( family / adoption / holmes )
Tuesday morning. Everyone's still asleep except for me, the pug Joey and /images/joey-sitting-on-sunny-6afdc8ccb5326aafb14879a792eb290a-540x960.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&#... read more IN THE AIRfrom 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 |
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