So this is Christmas

The rain is here and winter is finally upon us. Kate and I have been kept very busy with Mackenzie and Jack. Together they are quite a challenge to keep up with and the holidays have only made the task more challenging. As Jack is a bit difficult to control, we have made our decorations a bit more robust this year. We have a smaller (4 foot) tree that I had to secure to a small table to keep our son from pulling it over on to himself. So far he has been pretty good about leaving it alone, but we are keeping all the breakable decorations in a safe location just to be on the safe side.

Mackenzie is doing wonderfully and is going above and beyond with Jack. Just in case Santa reads my blog, she really should be at the top of the "Nice List". If not for Mac, keeping Jack entertained would be so much more difficult than it already is. She is also a great pair of extra eyes to help keep tabs on our little speed demon. Mackenzie has been keeping busy with school, tumbling and play dates with her friends. She recently did a project on Scotland for her class and everyone enjoyed some Bag Pipe music she brought. She is part Scottish in case you did not know.

What can I say about Jack other than wow! It seems that the walking phase is over and the running phase has kicked in. We did not get a lot of time to enjoy the whole walking thing and now here he is sprinting down the hallways and supermarket aisles at full speed. We turn our backs for a moment and our child is off like a shot. Jack just had his checkup and is growing very nicely. We have him to the point where I believe he has caught up to where he should be at his age. Jack continues to have a pleasant demeanor and we are stopped most everyday by someone commenting on how cute he is. Kate and I are not exactly sure what it is about Jack, but he draws people in like flies, they just can't get enough of him.

Last month we paid a visit to Kona to spend some time with family. Turns out that Jack found the tropics much to his liking. He had a blast at the beach and in the water although I believe that some sand is still working it's way through his digestive tract. Yummy! All of us were sad to leave and come home but it is always nice to come back and sleep in your own bed.

So that is about it, life is good for us and we are looking forward to the new year. Be sure to check out the photo page for some recent additions and be sure to send us a note so we know how your doing.

Scott

Update for September

My how time flies, it is already September and the leaves are beginning to turn. Of course in California September means heat waves! We have been enjoying (not!) high 90 degree temps with a few triple digits here and there just to keep everyone happy. This week it finally cooled down a bit and we are seeing some coastal overcast. My how I miss the rainy season about now. Bring on the winter!

The Slagle's are all well feed and doing very well. We are getting ready for a short trip to my sisters in Oregon for a few days, but it has been pretty quite for us this summer. We have spent some time at my parents house but mostly kept close to home.

On to the subject you all want to read about. Senor Jack is adapting quite well here in the Slagle house. In fact I would go as far to say he is attempting to take it over. There are no safe areas anymore and his presence is felt throughout our home. No cabinet left unexplored, no cord left un-pulled, and no cat left unmolested. Actually Jack is very good with the cat, but also very obsessed with her as well. Poor Athena, she deserves a nice quite life. Too bad. Jack is now walking for short distances and speaking simple words. He is also able to point to things like the cat when asked to.

Jack has been introduced to the word "NO" with increasing regularity. Seems that he does understand what it means, but seems to not always care to hear it. Being a budding explorer, we must see, try or taste everything. Did you know that bugs are edible? Jack does. Any idea what lies in wait at the very back of our kitchen cabinets? Jack does. How about what sand taste like? Jack does. Ever wonder what the bottom of a toilet bowl feels like? Jack is trying real hard to get that answer for you and more information will be available in the future I am sure. Stay tuned!

School has started and Jack is now spending a bit more time without his big sister. Mackenzie is now a first grader and is having a great time. She has a few of her friends from her kindergarten class with her and the others are only a recess away. Mac and Jack are continuing to bond and they are very close. We are very happy with the way they play and act with each other. Mackenzie has actually been a huge help to us by keeping Jack busy while we do other things. In certain ways, it is easier with two children than with one. Mac is a fantastic big sister and we could not ask for more from her.

Well, all for now. Keep writing and let us know your still there.

Scott, Kate, Mac and Jack

Happy Birthday Jack!

It's Jacks first birthday. He is the big zero one today so Happy Birthday buddy!

While today's birthday party is going to be a low key affair, we will have a bit more of a celebration next week at Mom and Dad's place in Mckinleyville. We hope to see a lot of you folks there.

Jack is doing very well and is learning new things everyday. He is working on standing on his own right now and enjoys it so much we can hardly keep him on the floor. Every time we look around he has pulled himself up on his feet and is cruising around. We did have to spend a little time teaching him how to get down once he got up on his feet, but he seems to have it figured out pretty well now. While he has been up on his feet for a few months, he seems to be getting closer to actually walking on his own. You can almost see the gears tuning in his head as he starts to figure out this whole walking thing.

Jack seems to be on the verge of forming some words. He is making "M" sounds which sound a whole lot like "mama". Perhaps you have to use just a wee bit of imagination, but you can hear it if you listen closely enough. We have also started him on baby sign language. It is something we are all learning together, but it is fun and increases the amount of interaction between us.

I continue to be amazed at how well Jack has integrated in to our family. I honestly feel like he has always been with us and that he is every bit our son.
I don't know what I expected, but it has surprised me just a bit to see how quickly the whole thing happened. It seems as though our trips to Kyrgyzstan were so long ago, yet it has only been several months. Funny how the time flies in one sense while going so slowly in another.

Mackenzie's last day of school is tomorrow and she will officially become a first grader once she walks out of her classroom. We are very proud of her. We continue to be amazed at how well she and Jack get along. Mackenzie takes very good care of her little brother and he is very fond of her. It would be a lot more work for Kate and I if she was not around to help keep him occupied. Mackenzie is also becoming a very good little reader. Each night we spend time going over her reading books and she is doing very well. The really great thing is that she actually enjoys it. Math and reading skills will continue to develop over the summer as we plan to do some work each day.

Kate and I are doing great as well. We are staying very busy with the recent increase in our family size but we are happy and feeling great. We continue to look forward to hearing from our friends and family, so please drop us a line when you have a minute or two. We would love to hear from you.

I have placed a couple more photos up on the public site so go and take a look. the link is at the top of the page. I also have a link to John and Debbie's site up there as well. I know a lot of you are following their story as well.

Bye for now,
Scott

Home, the continuation...

It has now been almost 6 weeks since Jack and I arrived from Bishkek and it is time for an update.

The line is probably getting a bit old, but Jack is doing great and continues to thrive. In the weeks since our homecoming, Jack has become tightly integrated within our family and it is almost like he has always been with us. It really is amazing how fast this process has happened and I am especially impressed with Mackenzie's acceptance of Jack. She treats her brother very well, yet she is like any big sister and occasionally tires of her 11 month old sibling. He does tend to command a lot of our attention.

If there is one negative issue that we could point to, it would be the DROOL! I had no idea a small child could expel so much liquid in such a short period of time. I can't believe that he is still able to pee in his diaper after pumping out so much fluid from his mouth. Our floors are covered, his toys are covered, our clothes are covered, even the cat has drool on her. It is incredible! I need to order absorbent material from the same place that helped clean up the Exxon Valdez spill just to keep up. I look forward to someday in the distant future when we look back on this stage as "cute". But for time being, drool is not high on our personal cute meter.

We are all getting excited about the big party at my parents house next month. It is going to be great to get everyone together and just hang out for a bit. Hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Scott

New date for Slagle Party

Hi all,

We have changed the date of the party to the 23rd of June so we could have more folks free to attend. Seems a lot of kids are graduating that weekend and we want as many of you to attend the party as possible, so it is one week later than the original date. Same rules apply, just let someone know your coming so we have a some idea of how many we are going to have to feed.

If your a big eater you might want to count yourself twice!

Seriously though, we would like nothing better than to hang out with all of you and this is a great chance to put everyone together in one place. You can't beat the price and I hear the food is pretty good too. Dad might even break out the good $4 bottles of Trader Joe's wine if were lucky, although there will probably be some 2 buck chuck available for those of you with less refined taste...

All for now, so come on out and meet Jack and have some fun. We look forward to hearing from you.

Scott

Week one at home

We have completed our first week at home with Jack and I must say that it is going better that I could have hoped. While there are issues and nothing is ever easy with a 9 month old, we are all adjusting very well thank you.

One of the great things that I have noticed is the almost seamless integration that Jack has made in to our family. I no longer think of him as our "adopted" son, but rather simply our child. It is amazing how quickly it has all happened. Jack is happy and seems to be taking to our "California" lifestyle very quickly and I am sure his first couple of words will include "Dude" in them somewhere.

Mackenzie has really taken a interest in Jack and has become very attached to him. She has always been a very caring child but it is amazing to see her interact with Jack. She is a very special little girl and her mother and I are very proud of her. Jack seems to also have a special interest in Mackenzie and watches her constantly.

We are all wondering how the other families are doing and are waiting on word on their progress. I did receive an email from Carolyn and Daniel which stated that they are doing well and are happy to be with their family in North Carolina at last. John and Debbie are most likely very busy with integrating their new family. Kate and I eagerly await word from them.

Finally, for the readers of this blog. You are all invited to a party at the Slagle family compound in Mckinleyville Ca. on the weekend of June 16th to celebrate and meet Jack. There are no invitations, just let us know your coming so we can make sure there is enough food for everyone. There is plenty of room for camping so bring your tent or RV. There is also a nice hotel less than a mile from the house as well so you may stay in comfort if you wish. You can email me with any questions or to let us know you wish to attend.

There is no place like home

Just when you thought the Wizard of Oz theme had played itself out, I go and bring it back. Jack and I are home and very grateful to be out of the airplane. Jack was a very good little traveler and I had very few problems with him. In fact the stewardess on the last leg of our journey told me she has never had such a good little baby fly with her.

We finished our interview at the US embassy on Wednesday without any difficulties and returned to Bishkek that same night. We arrived at the Golden Dragon hotel around 9:30 that night and had a quick dinner before going to bed. We all woke up at 3am, packed our bags for the last time and loaded the cars for the airport. Sergei met us in the lobby of the hotel and escorted us through customs and immigration. After some minor hiccups, we boarded our flight for the first leg to Moscow.

The Moscow airport is much less dreary when sitting in the first class lounge. We were able to clean ourselves up a bit and have some food before boarding the longest flight of our journey to Atlanta. The flight itself was about eleven and a half hours and we flew directly over Germany, and Ireland before hitting Canada and entering the United States over Cleveland.

Atlanta is where we all said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. John, Debbie and I all had a very short period of time before our flights departed and had to rush to catch our planes. Carolyn had a bit more time than the rest of us and we wished her well as we scrambled to our respective gates. I caught my plane with more than a few minutes to spare, and we had a nice flight to San Francisco where my family was waiting for us.

As Jack and I entered the baggage claim area, we saw Kate, Mac and my parents waiting for us. I was very tired and it was a bit overwhelming for me but I made it. Jack smiled as he saw his mother and appeared to recognize her. Jack put on quite a show and it was all very cute. We drove home and Jack and Mackenzie played until midnight before we all went to bed.

Friday was a rest day for Jack and I and we stayed close to home so we could recuperate a bit. Mackenzie and Jack are already very tight and Mac is bummed out when Jack has to go down for a nap. We plan on reminding her about this fact in a couple of months when he won't leave her alone. Jack is still adjusting to the new time zone and he is waking up at night expecting to see some daylight. Hopefully he will sleep through the night as he did in Bishkek sometime in the near future.

Thats it. The process has completed and we start a new chapter in the book from this point on. Jack is a now a US citizen and we are his registered parents. We have a bit more paperwork to complete, but we are finished at last. And just to head off any funny comments from some wisenheimer ***WE ARE NOT DOING THIS AGAIN, SO DON'T ASK!*** We are a very happy little family of four and plan to keep it that way forever. Yes, we are glad we did it, but it was a lot of work and we really only wanted a little brother for Mackenzie. We are very content with what we have and plan to enjoy it all to the fullest.

Thanks for keeping up with the story and I may continue to update this web page with Jacks progress over the next few months. I just won't be doing it on a daily basis from now on. Take care and keep in touch, we look forward to introducing Jack to everyone and spending some time with our family and friends. My parents are planning a large party at their place in June sometime and it will be a great chance to hang out and show Jack off to everyone. There are no invitations, just let them know your coming so they have plenty of food and then show up on the appointed day(s). You can email me if you have any questions. Hope to see you all there.

Scott

If it's Tuesday, it must be Almaty

So, the dreaded drive from Bishkek to Almaty went just fine. Carolyn and I shared a car together and we had lots of room for the children to lay out. Jack was awesome and enjoyed looking around when he was not asleep. This kid enjoys seeing the sights and checking things out.

We have one more appointment tomorrow and then we are cleared to come home. There is an interview with the US embassy staff around 3pm tomorrow and then we immediately jump back in the car to drive back to Bishkek. There had been some concern about obtaining a new visa for John, Debbie and myself, but Sergei worked it all out and he is supposed to pick them up this afternoon. Today consisted of a very quick medical exam. They took some blood (finger stick and no crying from either Jack or Daniel) for an AIDS test and then a physical exam by the doctor. Our doctor was a very nice man from South Africa who said he thought Jack was just fine. His orders were for some good old American food to fatten him up a bit. Nice guy.

We are staying at the Intercontinental hotel here in Almaty. It is pretty expensive but is very nice. The food is really good and is a nice change from what we have been eating. It is a needed break from the past week or so.

It is hard to believe that we will be leaving for home soon. Everyone is so excited to be getting out of here, it almost seems like we are being paroled from prison. I probably won't really relax until I board the flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, but I will feel better once we have begun our journey. Our 5 hour drive helped to give me a little confidence that we might be fine. No guaranties, but there is at least some reason to be optimistic.

Rita and Sergei found a whole new reason to be excited yesterday upon our arrival at the hotel. It is beautiful here with a vast open lobby that stretches all the way to the top of the building. Glass elevators shuttle people up and down from within the lobby and the view is spectacular from the 7th floor where we are. Downstairs is a fountain with small live turtles swimming around in it. There are restaurants, bars, shops and areas to sit and enjoy each others company. Naturally Rita and Sergei desire to experience all of it as quickly as possible and it has caused a few moments of exasperation from their parents. New environment equals new adventures. To be honest, I kind of want to do the same thing, but I am supposed to be an adult and set a good example. Bummer!

This is likely to be my last post until after I arrive back home in San Anselmo on Thursday night. Tomorrow we will be driving to Bishkek and won't arrive until later in evening. From there, we will wake up early Thursday morning and leave for the airport around 4am, which does not leave a lot of room for posting to the website. I really do appreciate everyone taking the time to write to Jack and I. It meant a lot to have emails waiting for me each and everyday from my friends and family and it made my trip much more pleasant than it could have been otherwise. I hope you enjoyed reading about the ongoing adventures of Jack Slagle as much as I did writing them and I think I can speak for him when I say he looks forward to meeting all of you personally.

Thanks again and see you soon,
Scott and Jack

Safe in Almaty

Although late, I wanted to just let everyone know we are now in Almaty and everything is great. We are at the Intercontinental hotel and it is very nice. Jack slept almost the entire way and is doing just fine.

I will post more tomorrow, but wanted to let everyone know I we arrived safely.

Scott

Follow the yellow brick road

Ok, the road is not really all that yellow and I seriously doubt we are going to stop to pick up hitchhikers like a lion, scarecrow or some guy in a tin suit during our journey, but we are taking the road to Almaty tonight and that is something. Sorry, I was watching the Wizard of Oz up in John and Debbie's room the other night and the theme stuck.

I am feeling a little sick but I should be fine for our drive tonight. Seems almost everyone is having one sort of problem or another, but I feel ready to go and just want to get this thing done. At this point I believe that the entire process is completed except for getting Jack in to the United States. The adoption process is over, and we are only left with immigration. It is nice to complete each step and move to the next one.

Of course the last and biggest step (at least for me) will be the flight home. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I am excited to go home, yet fearful of what the trip could be like. I will continue to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Not much else I can do. Jack is a trooper and I know he can do it. The little guy even let me sleep some extra hours by going to bed himself last night at 5pm and sleeping until 6am this morning. It was awful nice of him to give daddy a little extra time on his own. His mood seems to have improved as well (I wonder why?).

Well, it will soon be time to start packing all of my stuff up and vacate the room. I think I will probably head up to John and Debbie's and hang out there until the cars come to pick us up. They have asked for a late checkout so we don't need to leave until we are ready. Hopefully the next report will be from Almaty.

Click, click click, there's no place like home. There's no place like home.....Shoot, it didn't work! I guess we are going to have to take the airplane home Jack.

More later,
Scott

Moving day tomorrow

Tomorrow is moving day. We are packing up our children and taking the entire show to Almaty sometime in the afternoon. Hopefully the children will sleep and the trip will be uneventful. We have been told that Almaty is very dirty, crowded and not as nice as Bishkek. We ran in to a guy at the American embassy who told us that he is no fan of the city and prefers to stay in Bishkek. Gee, I can hardly wait to go.

Life is continuing to go on here. The rains have returned and we have yet to see the sun since the first day or two. We are all eating well and in good spirits. The hotel is taking great care of us and we will be sad to leave it, although it means that our return home is just that much closer. Our flight home is looming and I have mixed feelings on taking it. On one hand, who in their right mind would voluntarily takes a infant or small child on a 30+ hour plane trip? If I am to lose my sanity on this trip, the flight home is where it is going to happen. On the other hand, we are going home to our family and friends. Our wife, mother, sister, daughter, parents and grandparents who await us at the airport and we are looking forward to it. We also have the advantage of upgraded seats on the aircraft and the support of the other couples as we will all travel together to Atlanta.

We went out yesterday to a place called FatBoys and had a nice lunch. It is supposed to be where all the American expats hang out. The lunch was good and I even had a milkshake although it was not like anything I have ever tasted in the states. But we had a great time and I think all of us enjoyed hanging out there for a while.

All for now,
Scott

A little excitment

So normally I don't update this page until I wake up in the morning, but we finally had some excitement around here. We were on our way to the Kazakhstan embassy to pick up our passport when a car came tearing by us at high speed and then swerved out in to the other lane and almost hit a bus. The car came back in next to us and then a bunch of civilian cars came around us and boxed the car in. We kept on going but a bunch of men go out and took the guy out of his car. Funny thing is, we don't know if they were even police officers. They sure did not look like the police. Our driver and Sergei said nothing. On our return, some of the cars where there along with uniformed police. It really was not all that exciting, but compared to the last few days, it was something.

Jack has been out of sorts for most of the day today. I am not sure what is going on, but I think it might be the teething. Carolyn gave me some baby teething medicine but I don't know if it is working or not. Jack is almost ready to go to sleep and he is quiet unless I look over at him, then he starts to cry again. I don't know if that is a good sign or a bad one. It has been a long day and I am ready to go to sleep and start over again tomorrow.

You may have noticed the change of appearance for the website, I decided that black was getting old so I changed it. That's what happens when one is bored.

I have been enjoying calling my family while I have been here. I decided to use Skype to keep in touch this trip and it has worked out very well. I started with $10 credit and I have talked for almost two hours and still have well over $6 credit left. In case your wondering, Skype is a service that allows you to use your computer to make phone calls. You need a microphone, speakers and a high speed Internet connection and you can create an account. It works very well (mostly) and I think it was $10 well spent.

It finally occurred to me that I have a bit selfish in my writings here. Everyone has been commenting on how difficult it must be over here for me, but I was thinking about how Kate must feel sitting at home (ok, she is really working) and having to patiently wait for our return. I don't imagine it is easy to read the stories about Jack, to see his pictures and not miss him terribly. I wish we could all be together right now, but it will come soon enough. Before long I am sure we will both have times we wish we were somewhere else.

Sergei has been spending his days in constant motion and some of the battle scars are starting to show. He has failed to negotiate the turn going in to the bedroom several times at high speed and has bumps on his both sides of his head that look like a set of antlers are getting ready to pop out. Unfortunately he won't let that stop him, and is determined to set some sort of land speed record. The kid is tough as nails and has not let mere bumps and bruises slow him down one bit. Rita is much more covert about things as tonight John located one of her little candy stashes of chocolate she has been taking from the fridge. She is pretty darn smart and John and Debbie are going to have fun trying to keep ahead of her.

Well I am tired and ready to go to bed. My Friday is over while yours is just beginning. Have fun!

Scott

Passing time

Starting to sound like a broken record, but not much to report today. Yesterday we attempted to pick up our Kazakhstan visas, but they were not yet ready. Sergei was upset with them as they has told us they would be ready. I don't think this impacts us one bit though, we don't have anything planned until Monday.

Jack and I continue to spend lots of quality time hanging out in our room. The rains have stopped for the moment, but it is still very cold out. It actually snowed yesterday, but only enough to turn the roof's white. It is still too cold however to go running around with a mildly sick infant. I will say that our room is much nicer than our last trip. It is very large and has enough room to lay the bedspread out for Jack to play on (see pictures). He is having a great time and continues to impress everyone with his pleasant demeanor.

I am doing just fine as well (thanks for asking...). My diaper changing skills are returning and my times are really starting to improve. With some more practice I should be ready for the diaper changing nationals in June. Jack and I are beginning to settle in to a daily routine. I was given a schedule by the orphanage and I am trying to loosely keep to it. We eat and sleep, play and poop and just hang out looking at each other. I continue to try different foods with some successes and a few notable failures (thanks for packing the laundry detergent honey).

I cannot wait to bring Kate and Jack together as he really needs his Mommy! I do somethings very well, but I cannot compete with Kate in the mommy department. A boy needs his mom and this poor little guy has never before had a mother to love him.

He also needs his big sister to help him out and keep him out of trouble, so get ready Mac cause a little bundle of pure energy is coming your way and he goes by the name of Jack!

John and Debbie are doing amazingly well with Maggie and Sam. We had lunch yesterday and they were fantastic (of course there were cartoons on the big screen). They are so happy to be with John and Debbie and I am really enjoying watching them. When the parents had to leave for an appointment last night, Sergei (Sam) cried. It was very cute and must make John and Debbie happy to know the children are attaching themselves to them.

Carolyn is doing well except for an upset tummy. We got to see Daniel a couple of times yesterday and he is great. I think Carolyn's having a really great effect on him and he seems like he is adjusting very well. He is a cutie and I will get some photo's of everyone up on the website soon. We have all just been doing our own thing lately and have not spent a whole lot of time together.

Enough for now, keep writing and letting me know what is happening in the real world.

Scott

Just keeping on

Well, it is the beginning of day three with Jack and things continue to go well. Jack is behaving and having a good time, although he does have a cold. We are bonding and it is surprising just how fast that happens. Jack now even has a problem with me leaving the room. I left him with Carolyn yesterday so I could go to the store and he cried a bit after I had gone. Most of the time he is just fine, I think it is when he is tired that it is a problem. He watches me as I move about the room and makes all kinds of cute noises when I talk to him. He is very responsive and expressive. He really is a happy little boy.

There again is not much to report from here. Most of our time is spent at the hotel with the children. The weather is not that great and we can't really take the kids outdoors so they are stuck in the rooms. Tonight Ludmilla (our Frank Foundation coordinator) will babysit all four children while the adults get to go to the consulate for visa applications with Sergey (her husband). We don't even leave until 5pm so it will be a bit of a late night.

John and Debbie are doing well and the children are coming along nicely. They are starting to settle down and listen to Mom and Dad. We don't see quite as much of them as we would like as they eat most of their meals in their room to keep the kids stimulation down to a manageable level. The trick seems to be working and meals are reported to be much better than the first nights dinner. They are venturing out for lunch on occasion and perhaps can get down for a dinner or two later. Both John and Debbie are doing a great job and will have the kids well under control before long.

Carolyn and Daniel are also doing well. Daniel is keeping Carolyn very busy as he seems to be rather fond of attention. He is also very vocal when he wants something, be it food or something else. She does seem to love it though and is becoming very attached to him. As with Jack and I, Carolyn and Daniel are bonding. She really enjoys just being the two of them for a bit. She was telling me about how she has wanted a child for so long and I think that the time alone with Daniel is really special to her. Me, I just want to get home.

Well, that about it for now. I am running out of things to blabber on about. I will post more photo's as I take them.

More later,
Scott

Quiet time

It is 11am in Bishkek and we just returned from the US embassy located nearby. We basically gave them all of our paperwork so they could perform some advance investigation before we go to Almaty for our final interviews. Once we got through the security (think Fort Knox) it was very straight forward. Tonight we have to go and get more photo's for a new Kyrgyzstan visa as the one we got was only good for one entry and we need to enter the country twice so we can leave from Bishkek. More money and time, but should not be a problem.

I continue to be impressed with the people here. They have gone out of their way to be helpful. The staff at the Golden Dragon has been especially nice. They are taking very good care of us and I am very happy that we decided to stay here again.

The children are continuing to surprise us with how adaptable they are. Jack is acting as though I have been his daddy all along. Nothing but smiles from this kid. All the others seem to be doing just fine. I think Rita and Sergey miss some of their caregivers at the orphanage but it does not slow them down much. They are doing very well.

Speaking of Rita and Sergey, they are continuing to enjoy themselves but things are better for John and Debbie. They are much calmer today then yesterday, but don't think that means they are calm. These two are little dynamos and they just keep on going and going and going. Rita is actually starting to coral Sergey a bit (which he does not seem too fond of) and is helping her Mom and Dad out. Sergey is going flat out and he does not seem to mind which direction he is going flat out in. As long as he gets to keep moving he is fine. Watch out when he gets some good old American sugar in him.

Not much else is going on. I have a feeling this trip will be pretty boring in terms of news. Now that I have Jack everything else seems unimportant.

Daniel is also doing very well and seems very attached to momma. He is the thinker and always seems to be studying the situation. Carolyn is very happy and is doing well with the mommy thing.

CAPTURED AND IN CUSTODY!

Jack is now in my possession and all is well. He is one happy little camper and I am having quite a time getting him to calm down enough to get some food in him. We eat a bit, play a bit and then eat some more. He is pretty wound up at the moment and seems to be having quite a good time. Lot's of cooing and kissing sounds.

Aside from gaining a bit of weight, he is MUCH more active than I remember. We are now standing (with a little help from Dad) and bouncing on his legs. He really enjoys the bouncing part and is wearing me out holding him up all day. We are also getting up on our hands and knees and almost crawling. He is playing with his blanket and pacifier. His Mommy threw in a toy bee that crinkles and he is loving that as well. We are very happy in our little jail cell (see bars in the photo) and I just roll him over to wherever I am sitting so he is close by. Anyway, Jack is fine but I am starting to remember what having a baby is like.

We ran out of time for our party at the orphanage, but left the cakes for everyone. Too bad, but we did have the chance to tell everyone thank you. I won't say I am sad to never see that place again though, I have had enough of it.

Now for the Rita and Sergey show! They are of course very excited, which is to be expected. They got their new clothes which was a big hit, and then took a ride in a car back to our hotel. It was all very thrilling for them and our coordinator spent a bit of time talking to them about how to behave. I guess we shall see how that went. We left them to get their lunch, but this story is just getting started.

I think Jack is finally going down for a nap. I thought he would never slow down. I must say I am very impressed with the activity he is showing. Last trip he was pretty docile, but no more! He is already acting more like a normal 9 month old and I am really starting to miss my wife now. Get ready Kate, he is not the same baby we left two months ago.

I look forward to hearing from all of you,

Scott

Today is the day!

This will be a short entry as it is morning time and I am getting ready to travel to the orphanage to pick up Jack. I will take lots of pictures and document as much as possible.

More later,
Scott

Email problems

Hi everyone,

For some reason I am unable to get to my Yahoo email page. The Internet is not working very well and I can only go to a few sites. Fortunately Gmail does seem to work (along with my blog page) so I would like to ask that everyone please email me at mksslagle@gmail.com from now on. This will also avoid any problems with my email being downloaded when Kate and Mac check it at home. The photo is from my room and as you should be able to see, it is raining. What you can't see in the photo is a big rat running around in the bottom of that empty pool. I want to go out after breakfast and get a photo of it. It's cool!

It is 4am in Bishkek and I am of course fully awake. I have gotten some much needed rest and am feeling a lot better. All of us went out to dinner at the Chinese place last night and had a nice meal. The staff remembered us and were very nice. It was great to sit down and just have a nice meal. We also met with Ludmilla (sp?) for almost three hours to fill out paperwork and to ask and answer a ton of questions. All of our paperwork appears to be in order and things are progressing well. Everyone has asked about Kate and told me that they miss her and to say hello. She seems to have made a very good impression on Ludmilla and Surgey and they asked me to pass their greetings on to her. So "Hello Kate!"

Checking in to the hotel yesterday we had a funny moment. It seems they thought Carolyn and I were a couple and had put us in the same room. It took a bit of explaining to get them to understand that we each had our own room. I ended up with Carolyn's luggage in my room and had to go and find her to return it. It all worked out in the end and we finally got our rooms and were able to rest. I think Carolyn is on her third or fourth room as there were problems with the ones they would place her in, but she finally got a nice room on the third floor. My rooms curtains feel from the ceiling with a large crash just after my nap yesterday. The curtain railing separated from the ceiling and it took them some time to repair it. Overall though, we are happy to be at the Golden Dragon and they are treating us very well.

We will go to the orphanage tomorrow morning and spend several hours getting their records and discussing the children's schedules and such. We are also partaking in a small traditional party at the orphanage that occurs when children are adopted. We are to pickup small cakes and bring them to the orphanage for a celebration. Not sure how it will all work, but it sounds like fun and will allow everyone to say goodbye to the children. It is a big event when a child leaves the baby house. They will be getting all new clothes, going to a new home and starting a brand new life. It is a very happy, sad exciting time for everyone.

The two older children (Rita and Sergey) are really going to be interesting to watch. We are all looking forward to seeing their reactions as they explore their new world. Even here in Bishkek life will be much different that before. The hotel itself will be quite a change for them. I figure that much of my future writing will center around the adventures of these two. It should be very interesting.

Don't forget that you can leave comments on this webpage just underneath my entry. It is an easy way to respond with a word or two. I really need to hear from all my family and friends as it is a bit lonely over here without my beloved wife and daughter. Take pity and send me a note please;-)

All for now,
Scott

Touchdown in Bishkek!

After a long trip we finally arrived in Bishkek this morning at around 6:30 am local time. I tried out my new Skype account and called my Mom to let her know I was safe. She was surprised to hear me call. This trip was much easier the second time around but it was still brutal. I am tired and sore. I flew out of San Francisco at 6:30 am on Friday and I arrived at 5 pm PDT on Saturday. We had a 12 hour layover in Moscow and had to sit around the terminal the entire time. There are very few seats in the terminal and we ended up sleeping on the floor until we finally got a bench to share. Not much to say about the Moscow airport except to say you are not missing much if you never have the chance to visit. Even the restaurants are pretty grim. At least I had the pleasure of traveling with John and Debbie from Atlanta on, and Carolyn joined us in Moscow. They made the trip much better than it would have been otherwise. Misery loves company I suppose.

I don't have any new photo's up to the site yet as we have not seen Jack yet but will as soon as I get him. I don't get to see him until Tuesday when I go to pick him up. We have been told all our children are fine and ready to come home with us. I would like to see Jack but will have to wait for just a bit longer. I need the extra time to recover anyway.

Everyone seems much more relaxed this trip, perhaps because we have already been here once but it is much less stressful than the last time. We are all excited to be here and eager to get our children. The doubts and anxiety that everyone seemed to feel last trip are nowhere to be found now. We know we are getting the children and they are coming home with us. We are also planning on meeting three other families that are here with another adoption agency. They are staying at the Silk Road Lodge and we have been communicating through the Yahoo website for Kyrgyzstan adoptions. Should be fun getting everyone together for dinner.

The weather is nice here compared to our last trip. The temps are in the high 60's to low 70's and things are starting to turn green although it is still early and there could still be some cold days. The air seems to be a little clearer and I can breath this time verses our last trip where everyone was burning coal to stay warm.

Since I am still pretty rummy from my trip I don't have much else to say right now. We are all here and safe and that is the only thing that matters for the moment. I will spend the rest of my Sunday trying to recover and perhaps go to the market for a few supplies.

More later.
Scott

Big ol Jet Airliner...

Time is going by quickly now that we are getting close to the departure day. I can feel the little tingles of panic starting to eat away at the edges of my confidence as the time approaches to board the plane and leave the "real" world behind. There are lot's of things to do before I leave and we are working quickly to make sure we have everything in order. I don't know how anyone could feel wholly confident that they are completely ready. It is just an impossible task. In addition, I must ensure that I am caught up with all my tasks at work. There is a lot to do before leaving for two weeks and and I need to make sure that nothing will self destruct in my absence.

Tonight we pack my bags for the trip. It is amazing the amount of items that I will be taking for the exclusive use of Jack. My little corner of the suitcase will be a bit cramped as Jack's stuff will get most of the room. I think I will be doing a bit of laundry in my hotel room on this trip. Even with all the stuff I am packing I am sure there will be something missing.

Scott

Were just waiting...

Well, it is just a matter of time now and everyone is waiting for Jack to come home. I have my flights, the paperwork is almost ready (Thanks Kate for doing the vast majority of it) and I am eating lots of fat to pad my bottom for the long flight to Bishkek. I have not enjoyed the waiting period since returning from Kyrgyzstan and I am very ready to go get our child. Our trip was pushed back one week while a court process was completed so our wait was a little longer than we thought it would be. The other families that I am traveling with have also been pushed back a week and they are eager to get back to their children as well. The upside to that is that we will continue to be together as a group. One thing that is different about this trip (aside from getting our child) is that I am not going in completely blind, I feel much more confident about what I am doing this time around. While there are still plenty of unknowns, I now know the people and understand the process a little better than the first time. Heck, I can even figure out the currency exchange rate all on my own now. A few more trips like this and I can call myself a world traveler.

More later,
Scott

Back for Jack!

The trip is now booked for my return to Kyrgyzstan! I am scheduled to arrive in Bishkek on the 25th of March. This will be a solo run as Kate and Mac will stay at home. I will fortunately be traveling with John and Debbie, who were with us on our first trip. We are also meeting up with Carolyn in Moscow for the final leg of the trip in to Bishkek. I will pick up Jack on the 27th and he is mine from then on. We should touch down in San Francisco on the 5th or 6th of April.

This has been a long time coming and our entire family is ready.

Scott

First entry

First post ever on a blog, and I am an IT guy. Sheesh!

I wanted this site to be a place that everyone can come and read any news or view photographs. It may take a bit to get the hang of running a blog, but I am sure I will figure it out eventually.

Hang in there everyone, more stuff coming soon...

Scott