[emjay]

Karen got us hooked, and I hope she doesn't mind my posting the link to the 4th and final installment in the article series. For the first 3, see angelkisses' previous threads.

The Rapid City Journal

[Annabell]

Thanks so much!

[Pinkie]

Excellent!

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks I forgot all about it.

[mcanvasback]

I loved this article so much - this guy is so funny and at the same time touching - I had said to my friend after a grueling trip one when I got so sick - "can't they just fedex her"? as he said in his Part 4.

Anyway, I emailed him and got the nicest response!
Thanks for the nice note Melanie. I'm so happy you're enjoying your child as much as we are enjoying ours. Yes, it was quite a journey, and quite a difficult time for me early on, having to adjust and deal with being a father. It took me about 10 days after I was home to be able to sleep again, but it's now been 6 weeks and our little family is like any other. I really enjoy the children, I have gotten used to their occasional whining and crying, the timeouts are fewer and fewer, and it's becoming more of what I thought it may all be. We're all bonding really well, and I'm so glad we went through all of this.

Your Russian trip sounds like quite an adventure, to put it nicely. Our trip to Novosibirsk was just a four-hour plane trip from Moscow, which sounds easy by comparison to yours -- though doing it with two children wasn't easy, you're right. If they ever want to return to Russia for a visit, they will have to promise me they won't behave like they did on the way here. What a long, terrible 10 hours on Aeroflot.

Thanks again for sending such a nice note -- and the photo. Isabella is a beautiful little girl.

Sincerely,

Mikel LeFort
Editor
Rapid City Journal
Rapid City, SD

[nungesser]

Another good article. However, I liked the first three better.

IMHO, his narrative suggested a purile impatience with the paper-work and stops along the way. I know that the Russian adoption bullshine can pile-up so fast that you practically need to sprout wings to stay above it, but in this fourth part I got the impression of a patent disrespect for Russians and the way they do things.

Not giving the Benadryl a trial run while spending several days in Moscow before departing for the USA on Aeroflot = rookie maneuver.