June 20, 2005

  • Things are changing in Russia, as the government girds its loins and
    decides to get serious about the large number of children available for
    adoption.  The primary thrust is trying to get Russian families to
    adopt them, reasonably enough, so the following site is available only
    in Russian right now, though they promise it'll be offered in other
    languages soon: Adoption in Russia

    I do believe the linked page has Viktor on it . . . second photo down:

    Searching 1996 brought up a Vladimir:

    Those photos look old compared to the one I was sent:

    Vladimir, especially, has lost a good deal of weight, ISTM.  Turns
    out he's actually 8 years old, not turning 9 until next month, while
    Viktor's 14th birthday is in September.  Oh, and did I mention
    that the date of the BFC has been pushed off?  It'll take place
    toward the end of August, so Dmitry'll be in school, isn't that the
    way.  In fact, they'll have to bunk in with another host family
    for a night so Don and I can take Charles to Texas Tech that first
    weekend.  However, this will probably be no insurmountable problem.