Katie's Spring Picture!

Katie's Third Grade Photo!

Proud Papa Photo Collection Addition

Katie's latest school photo. She's our doll!

Happy Birthday Katie!

It's time for her "Nine on the Ninth Celebration"! Nine years ago today our daughter - who also goes by her lovely middle name Galina - was born in the village of Ola near the Siberian city of Magadan. Her mommy and daddy are very happy to be the parents of this beautiful and bright blessing who truly came to us from Russia with love!

Proud Papa Photo Collection III

Proud Papa's Latest Photo

A new photo of my sweet girl!

Katie's School Picture

Proud Papa Photo Collection II

More snaps of Katie! Some are from her Titans Junior Cheerleader experience and a few are playground shots with her new friend Maya.

On Gameday with Bentley, the Earl of Puppydom!

With Pappous and Yaya!

Cheer Time

Go Titans!

One more cheer!

Katie likes TRac!

TRac Hug!

Katie's Cheerleading Teacher

Katie and a fellow Titans Junior Cheerleader

Katie on the Playground

Katie and her friend Maya with Bentley

Katie and Maya on the Playground

Proud Papa Photo Collection

In a previous post I promised photos of yesterday's adoption finalization at Rutherford County Chancery Court in Murfreesboro. I have some of them below, along with other photos taken this week. If all this "Look at my cute kid" picture posting is too much for my unsentimental readers, I will fully understand if you go on to another post. For those willing to see the coolest kid in the Western Hemisphere (biased, Evans?), gaze on! I apologize in advance for the lighting and other photographic issues, but these are family snaps, not professional shots.


Family members (L to R) attending the court proceedings were my brother Jack, Ann, Katie, myself, my mother Anne and father Comer.


Family members with Chancellor Robert Corlew (standing to my right) and our attorney David Scott (next to my father).


This was taken moments after David came out of the Rutherford County Chancery Court Clerk's office with a copy of the final adoption decree (which I'm holding in my hand).


Katie with the official "Katie Adoption Cake"!


Katie with one of her friends at the skating rink!


A pair of skating pals!


"From Russia, now skating for the United States..."


"What grace, what form, as she glides around the rink..."


Katie with Miss Natchez, who appears to be doing an ad for Office Depot paper products...


Katie with the normally-not-so-unaware-of-the-camera Oreo...


Katie (modeling her Metro Schools Standard Attire) with Bentley, the Earl of Puppydom (who's in full bark mode here)...


That's our happy-go-lucky girl!

Katherine Galina Donnell

After months of waiting, Ann and I are officially Katie's parents. Rutherford County Chancellor Robert Corlew granted our final adoption decree today.

To see our last name become hers through that decree, and know that now she is legally a full member of our family, brings us more joy than I can express here. We are finally a family in every way!

I hope to post a picture or two from today's court proceeding soon.

Interview? Moi?

Rob Robinson was kind enough to ask me for an interview which he posted on his thinktrain site last week. Here it is.

Hello!

My first post. What do I say? Well, not much, except that I have no illusions about setting the world on fire with my blog entries. I'll try to remember not to write just for writing's sake - if I feel it's really worth saying (or at least moderately interesting) I'll put it down here. And the rest is silence...