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