Here is a Washington Post article concerning adoptions in Russia. There have been some changes there recently, and many adopting parents have noticed the changes. I am ever so glad we didn't have troubles with John and Hanna.

We are starting to look around for a new vehicle, to replace the aging Skylark. Last night we test drove an F-150, and an Explorer SportTrac.

The F-150 is a nice machine, but too big for us, more horse than we
need. Also a tight fit in our garage. The gas mileage would probably be
criminal, especially with me driving to and from work.

I did like the SportTrac. If you haven't seen one of those, it's the
familiar Ford Explorer, turned into a pickup truck of sorts. It has a
four door cab, regular back seats, but a pickup bed on it. The bed
isn't terribly long though, it looks slightly stubby.

If I could get a full tarp of leaves in there in the fall though, then
that would probably suit our purposes. We don't carry too much that is
long and bulky. If we did, we can always take seats out of the van to
get stuff in.

Rhonda has been wanting a Toyota Tacoma. I'm not keen on foreign
trucks, I'm a Ford man. But, they're supposedly good on quality. A bed on it
would be longer too. The Tacomas do come with a four-door cab with
regular back seats, too. I had wanted to get a Ranger again, but the
Rangers don't come with regular back seats. (Which we need for the
kids' car seats)

Ranger sales have been dropping, maybe that's why. And maybe the new
Explorer SportTracs are meant to make up that gap in their line.

So, we'll test drive a Tacoma in the near future. At this point, I'm leaning towards the SportTrac, but we'll see.