Life is But A Journey.........

Making Cookies!

2009-04-01T16:22:00.000-05:00

Lily and Sophie

Sophie

Lily

My Flour Girl!

i Heart Faces..... Kids Theme - "Pouting"

2009-03-30T13:26:00.015-05:00

This is my first entry submitted to "i Heart Faces"

This week’s theme at i heart faces is “Pouting”.
The second theme for week 12 is pets.

This photo of Sophie was taken about a year ago. I don't have a lot of photos of the girls pouting because they are usually happy and giggling.

Pouting

Our pet sugar glider Kiwi eating a goldfish cracker.

March.....In like a lamb out like a lion!

2009-03-29T09:40:00.005-05:00

In like a LAMB.....

Out like a LION.

The snow was to fluffy for a snowman so we made a snow mountain.

Sophie the Snow Angel

March Gardening!

2009-03-24T16:10:00.004-05:00

Lily

Sophie

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-23T19:50:00.001-06:00

HALLOWEEN 2008

2008-10-31T18:37:00.000-05:00

Halloween one year ago we were in Hanoi waiting to finish our adoption paperwork.

Sophie and Lily Halloween 2007 in Hanoi Vietnam.

Halloween 2008

Lily and Sophie as little witches.

Morgan Creek Park

Fairy Lily at her Preschool Halloween Party.

Princess Sophie's Preschool Halloween Party.

One Year Ago..........

2008-10-25T09:55:00.002-05:00

One year ago we were in Vietnam waiting for our G&R.

The girls are dressed in their Ao Dai sitting with their nanny in the hotel room.

We would soon get on the bus to go to the government building for the G&R.We are waiting to go into the officials office for the G&R ceremony.

Sophie is in pink, Lily in purple.

It is official the girls are now ours forever.

The faces say how emotional this day is for everyone.

One year later..........I can't believe it has been a year! They have grown so much!
Lily loves preschool, princesses, dresses, swinging and to color.

Sophie loves blue jeans, animals, writing, swinging and is starting to recognize some words.

We have been blessed to have the twins join our family. They are full of life and bring so much joy and laughter to our home. It is getting hard to remember life without them.

Fall Days

2008-10-09T18:51:00.004-05:00

Sophie
Lily, Bubble (our goldendoodle), Sophie
Lily

Summer Fun............

2008-10-09T18:33:00.003-05:00

August 2007

Sophie and Lily

Lily and Sophie

July 4th Photos

2008-08-06T14:59:00.005-05:00

Lily and Sophie at Splash Pad

Lily in Pig tails!

Sophie

OOH are they growing in mind, spirit and body.

Spring In DC

2008-07-01T11:49:00.005-05:00

April 5, 2008

The girls and I drove 1000 miles to visit a friend in VA and had the opportunity to go to DC and meet with the Binh Thuan officials from the girls Province. It was so nice to be able to show the officials how well the girls are adjusting to their new family and life in the USA.

Lily

Sophie

Team Work

2008-03-05T14:36:00.003-06:00

Please take a moment to read this

2008-02-09T21:11:00.000-06:00

There is a family adopting a little boy from Liberia with some serious special needs. They are asking for $1.00 donations to bring him home. Click here to find out more about this special family and this special little boy. :)Please help spread the word!

Home for 3 months...........

2008-02-05T09:12:00.000-06:00

We have been home for three months now. It is hard to believe how fast the three months have gone by and yet at the same time it is hard to imagine life without Sophie and Lily. We have learned so much about each other and yet we still have a lot to discover.

So were do I begin?

The girls entered our home on the night of November 13th and seem to know they were here to stay. The first few days were exploring everything. Turning light switches on and off and on and off again. We watched with patience and amazement to see our girls learn what cause and effect was all about. Every door was opened to see what was inside and we soon realized that child locks were going to be needed on drawers and doors. Even though we missed so many firsts, it is so much fun to watch them discover the world as we know it. So many times I find myself just watching them explore all the things we take for granted, a sliding closet door, a pocket in a pair of jeans, a glass, and a soft pillow.

We had a few toys for the girls to play with when they got home, but they needed to be taught how to play with them and to take the initiative to play. We saw very few toys at the orphanage and the toys we did see were broken. So when the girls saw toys, they didn’t take the initiative to go and play. When we would encourage them to play, they were very protective with what they had. They were reluctant to share not knowing if they would get it or find it back. Even though they were very protective of the toys, they would always trust us to give it back if they needed help with one. I was pleased to see this from the start because it showed that they trusted us.

It was funny so see what was important to them. They loved to put things in boxes or envelopes. Sophie found a soap box one day and carried it around all day putting treasures in it. Who would have thought a 3-year old would think a soap box was such a great thing? Lily loves to collect the postcards from magazines. Yes, the ones that drive you nuts falling out when you open a magazine. They are just the right size to put in her little purse from Vietnam.

I was wondering how their diet would change once we got home. What would they eat? To this point we had eaten mostly Vietnamese food. How would they adapt to American food? At first Yogurt, rice, oranges and ramen noodles were their staples and still are to some point. They could easily finish off 24 oz of yogurt a day between the two of them. Since they were not meat eaters, it was a good way to get some protein in them. As time went on we introduced many food and they will at least try new foods once. Three months home their favorite foods are pizza, french fries and meat loaf. Sophie loves Ketchup and must dip her tortillas chips in salsa. Two weeks ago they each ate an entire chicken nugget Happy Meal. Before that I could order one meal for them to share. They are not big on sweets and I don’t think I will push that any time soon. Hard to believe 4 months ago they were being hand fed puréed foods.

LIFE IS GOOD!

2008-01-10T20:59:00.000-06:00

I don't have a lot of time these days to write but I can post some photos. I am hoping to keep you updated on how the girls are adjusting, soon.

First Ice/Snow

Lily and Sophie

Snowman fun inside or

"noman" as Lily says.

Sophie
Lily

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T20:23:00.001-06:00

Lily

Sophie

Twin Image

Lily and Sophie

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

2007-12-07T16:23:00.000-06:00

Yminmo I got your comment and I would love to email you but I did not get your email address on the comment. You can email me at gardencart@aol.com.

Sophie and Lily in their new room........ Nov. 13, 2007

2007-12-03T21:10:00.000-06:00

We made it home!

2007-11-14T10:01:00.000-06:00

We made it home last night. The boys met us at the airport to met the girls and take us home. We had a close connection in Dallas. We landed as the next plane was boarding and got at the gate as the plane was to be departing. Luckily the plane to CR was running late and we got to the gate as the plane was boarding . We made it just in time but our luggage did not.

It is so good to be home.

We made it to San Fran!

2007-11-13T07:59:00.000-06:00

We arrived yesterday breezed through immigration and customs and off to the hotel for a good night sleep. We have one more day of travel and we will be home at last. Our flight arrives in CR at 5:55PM. It will be so good to be home at last with our girls. Can’t wait to see our boys at home and introduce the girls to all.

More to come!

Our Last Weekend in Vietnam

2007-11-11T09:06:00.000-06:00

After the I-600 approval, we had to rush to the embassy again to drop off the sealed medical reports from the SOS clinic, the girls’ passports and our application for their VISAs to enter the United States. We dropped the paperwork off on Wednesday and had our VISA interview on Thursday. The VISA “interview” took a total of 10 minutes. We just had to confirm all the data was correct and sign the application in front of a U.S. government official. As soon as we signed it he said we could come back on Friday after 4:00 to pick up the VISAs and two sealed envelopes we needed to give to the immigration officer when we reached the United States.

When we went back on Friday all we had to do was pick up the girls’ passports and make sure the right VISA was glued into the correct passport. It was great to see the VISA in place making it a reality that we could bring the girls home. After we picked up the VISAs, we were able to meet with the Chief of the unit handling all of the adoption issues. We had a nice visit about policy issues and he had some great ideas about making the adoption process better and more ethical throughout Vietnam.

The weekend was my last power shopping event. On Saturday morning, we got a linen suit for P and some more keepsake items for the girls. In the afternoon, we went on a tour of a traditional silk making village. They showed us the silkworm cocoons, the way they got the individual strands of silk and how they weaved it into cloth. It was very interesting and very loud. The village, of course, had numerous shops for buying silk ties, shirts and other items. P bought a number of new ties. I think some of his last bargain silk ties from Korea will be replaced. One of the interesting things we saw and experienced was the silk worm wine. Yes, after the silk worms have produced all they can, they are “retired” to a jug, where they are covered with high grade alcohol and allowed to ferment. The wine was strong smelling and tasting. P was the first to volunteer. He described it like a strong whiskey that warms you all the way down. Even I had a taste. T. had the camera and took photos of my reaction. The tour guide gave us a nice history of Hanoi as we drove to the village.

Sunday was set aside as P’s packing day. I went shopping with one of the other moms and we left the men to watch the children. After I left, P told me Sophie was a little upset Mom left without her. That is either a good sign of attachment, or that she really likes to shop. P packed all morning, with the help from the girls. We will need to go through all the empty plastic bags to make sure his helpers did not help him by putting things in the bags he thought were empty. After they had lunch, it was naptime. Lily decided she had to fold their pajamas from last night before they could lie down. Of course, as Lily was folding, Sophie was unfolding and laughing. Eventually, P distracted Sophie long enough for Lily to finish straightening up so they could take their naps. Lily had to tuck her doll in under a fuzzy blanket before going to sleep. She slept curled up next to the doll, with her hand on it. Very cute!

Sunday night we were invited to a dinner hosted by the hotel for the families staying here while our adoptions are being processed in Hanoi. It should be an interesting event. This will probably be our last post until we get home. We leave Monday morning at 9:00 for the airport. Our flight to Taipei leaves at 12:30. After a short lay over in Taipei, we board our flight to San Francisco. We land about 2:00 local time in San Francisco. We will then go through customs and immigration. Once the girls go through immigration, they are officially U.S. citizens. To make it easier on the girls, we are going to spend the night in San Francisco. We will also be able to see my sister and niece. On Tuesday we finish the journey to Cedar Rapids. The little, southern country girls may find it a bit colder weather outside their new home, but they will find their home is filled with the everlasting warmth of family and friends.

2007-11-09T00:40:00.000-06:00

Happy Girls
Ha Long Bay

2007-11-07T19:11:00.000-06:00

Halloween in HanoiSOS Clinic Appointment Water Puppet show

We have I-600 approval!

2007-11-07T07:46:00.000-06:00

When we did our I-600 interview last week on October 31, we were told it would take 4-6 business days to get it approved. When we called on Monday to check on the status, the embassy said it may be at least another week, because of a backlog in the CIS office. Needless to say, we were not excited of the potential that we would have to delay our homecoming, but took it in stride and emailed our travel agent with the news.

After checking on the I-600, we hung out in Hanoi and let the girls take it easy. The trip was tough on the girls’ schedules so Monday was a good recovery day. M went shopping during nap time. The girls made out well.

On Tuesday, we went to the Temple of Literature, which is the oldest university in Vietnam. It was founded by four of the original students of Confucius. It was a beautiful setting with ponds filled with water lilies. We took a cab ride over which cost us 30,000 dong (about $1.75). The cab ride over was an adventure. The cars in Vietnam all honk their horns when they pass another car. The cab honked its horn as it passed a car trying to pull away from the curb. The car came out and they brushed fenders. Our cab driver said something, that we are sure was unkind, but kept driving. The other driver just pulled out. The ride back was eventful in a different way. Although the cab was metered, the meter was spinning like a Las Vegas slot machine. By the time we reached our hotel the meter was at 85,000 dong, almost three times the fare over. P was livid. He was not going to pay it, so he gave the driver 30,000 dong and started to walk away. The driver explained it was a different route. P said the driver chose the route just to increase the fare. P gave the driver an additional 2000 dong (12 cents) and said that was it. The driver left, I am sure not very happy. The moral to the story is stick with the Hanoi Taxi company. Their fares are reasonable and always consistent.

On Wednesday, we started the day straightening up the room before we left. We had not seen the remote control for the TV for a couple of days, so finding that was part of the goal. We looked and looked, until we finally found it in the freezer compartment of our refrigerator. I guess the girls thought it needed to stay fresh. After breakfast, we spent the morning in a different part of the Old Quarter. We went over to the travel agent to pay for our hotel stay and then decided to walk back to the hotel. Along the way was the prison where U.S. prisoners of war were kept which was nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton. When we got there, they were closing for lunch, maybe tomorrow. We walked back to the lake. I went shopping and P and T room the girls back for their naps. The girls were great until they got back to the room. Then it was a tag team on who wanted to be cranky, happy, or just refusing to sleep. By about 3:00 P received a call from Thuy, a woman who works for a different agency, but was helping when we first got to Hanoi. She said the I-600 was approved and we had to go immediately to the embassy and drop off the visa paperwork for the girls. She said she would be at the hotel in 5 minutes. P woke Lily up and convinced Sophie that it was O.K. to go. He grabbed the paperwork and filled his pockets with goldfish crackers, dum dum suckers and the crackers the girls like. Thuy had a cab downstairs. She put P in the cab with the girls and said her assistant, Hao, would meet him at the embassy. Hao met P at the embassy and first took him to a photo place because they thought they needed more photos, but they later found out they did not. After the trip to the photo shop, they went to the embassy and turned in all the visa paperwork. The appointment is set for 2:00 on Thursday. When we got back, P called Hein to tell him of the developments and also ask that Hein accompany them to the appointment. It would be good to have an employee of our adoption agency with us. The girls had a long, long day and everyone was very tired by the time P got back with the girls. We had supper in the room. P slipped out with T to go to the French bakery on the corner and get some sandwiches. After supper it was bath time. The girls love their baths and getting lotion rubbed on before bed. It was all splashing and giggles. Another thing the girls love to do is brush their teeth. They ask to do this and are good at brushing all by themselves. The girls allowed P to finish up the brushing just to make sure they didn’t miss a spot. The girls are very accustomed to brushing their teeth. The night we stayed in Phan Thiet with the nanny I got to observe the bathing and teeth brushing ritual. All done by the nanny, but I’m sure they have done this many times before. I think this has helped to the easy transition to bathing and teeth brushing.

So why did it take us only 5 days to get I 600 approval? On Monday, the embassy told us there were some people waiting over 2 weeks for approval. My personal opinion is that we have an ethical agency because of the Hue, the program director. Our agency has had fewer referrals than other agencies and longer waiting periods for a referral, but I know that I will be able to look my girls in the eyes one day and say your adoption was ethical. No bribes were paid, no moving children from province to province to hide the identity of the children and where they came from, children are not warehoused in holding centers then sent to feeding centers to add weight before G&R, children are not bought in China and brought over the border to be sold to the highest bidder to unethical agencies. Our agency has had no NOIDs (notice of intent to deny an I-600) and I don’t foresee this in the future. The paperwork is clean and the embassy knows this. The orphanages are in good condition with 2 to 3 kids per nanny and the kids are in general healthy. It is very rare to see lice or scabies in our agency’s orphanages. Another reason for our paperwork going so smoothly is that we are adopting older children who have been in the orphanage for years. As I recall, the youngest referral coming out of our agency is at least 6 months old much older than the very young infants coming out of some provinces with less ethical agencies who are getting NOIDs. The embassy takes all this into consideration when giving approval. If your paperwork is in order and you work with an ethical agency you should not have a problem. I realize this is not what some of you want to hear but it is the truth whether you like it or not. So check your agency before you sign with them. The quickest, youngest referral maybe more trouble than what it appears to be.

2007-11-05T22:00:00.000-06:00

Lily in her stroller

Sophie's first time in the stroller!

Picking Up Passports and Our Weekend Adventure

2007-11-05T10:53:00.001-06:00

We had a 2:00 p.m. appointment to pick up the girls’ Vietnamese passports to be immediately followed by a trip to the SOS clinic for their doctor’s appointments. We had to have the passports before we could go to the clinic.

We arrived at 1:45 and waited until 2:00 when lunch was over. Soon Hein (our new guide from the agency) went up and asked about the passports. They said yes they had it. “It” Hein asked. Yes they had one passport done. They saw that the birth date and all the identifying information was the same (except the names which is only 2 letters difference in the entire name) and just made one not thinking there could be twins. Hein convinced them to make the other passport while we waited. About 2:45, Hein took all of us over to the SOS clinic and Hein convinced them to see both girls even though we had only one passport. The clinic was great and took them both in for their scheduled appointments. P and Hein then dashed back to the immigration office to wait for the new passport. One gentleman kept going up to the desk and asking about his passport. Hein told P the clerk was getting upset and the more he asked, the longer he would have to wait. Sure enough, about 3:30 a clerk came running up to the desk with a shiny new, green Vietnamese passport in her hand. It was open and she was blowing on the ink to get it to dry. It was our second passport. As soon as the desk clerk got it, she asked P and Hein to come up and sign for the new passport. The impatient gentleman was still waiting and asking about his documents. I wonder how long he waited.

P and Hein sprinted back to the SOS clinic in time for P to sit through and help get Sophie examined. The clinic was great and the girls took P’s absence pretty well. Hein would pick up the health reports for us on Monday. The doctor told us they were in excellent health, although just a little under weight.

We just love Hein he is a soft spoken man who knows the adoption process like the back of his hand. He understands most all of our English and speaks better English than I do Vietnamese. He is defiantly a plus for this agency.

On Saturday, we had arranged to go to Ha Long Bay, which is on the coast north of Hanoi. We got up early to leave by 8:00. It was a 3 hour bus ride to the coast. On the way up we stopped at a store/work shop for handicapped individuals. The hand-stitched embroidered paintings and made beautiful silk clothing. After our break, we finished the ride to Ha Long Bay. We had lunch at a tourist restaurant. Sophie had had enough of traveling and was not a happy camper in the restaurant. We were seated in a large room with about 8 other tables. Another missed meal for P. After lunch, we checked into a 3 star hotel to rest before we took a tour of one of the islands in the bay. P said the 3 star rating was awarded by the Baghdad Gazette. The rooms were nice, with one peculiar feature. In the bedroom P and I shared with the girls, the wall separating us from another room did not go completely to the exterior wall. When you pulled our curtain back, you could see about a 4 inch gap, and the curtain in the other room. We later learned (through sound and smell) the room on the other side of our wall was the other room’s bathroom. As our neighbors were going through their evening and morning bathroom rituals, all we could do was laugh. What a story! We would not believe it unless we saw it.

After our nap, we went to the island that is the convention center and high end beach area. It had a dolphin show, a laser light show and beautiful beaches and gardens. Since it was after season (we did not know this) the laser show and dolphin shows were closed. We did get to walk on the beach and around the gardens. It was a little overcast and foggy, so it was too cold to get into the water, at least for us. We did see some Russian tourists in the water though. After the tour, we went back to the same restaurant for supper. I guess in response to Sophie’s hard morning, we had a private dining room.

On Sunday, we started the day with a cruise of Ha Long Bay. We arrived at the dock and saw cruise boats 3 deep at the pier. We boarded one and followed our tour guide as he crawled from the first boat to the second boat back. The girls were not excited about the climbing over the ship rails and hung on for dear life. Once we settled into our boat, the girls sat at the table with P. It took a good 15 minutes of pushing and maneuvering to get out of the pack of boats at the dock. It was like Hanoi traffic with fewer rules of the road. After we were under way the girls had a great time watching the hawks hunting for fish and the other boats. Our first stop was an island with a large cave. When we thought cave, we though cool temperature. Not this cave. The girls needed to be carried. They both wanted to be carried by P. He got his work out that day! By the time we finished the cave, he was exhausted and ready to sit on the boat with the girls. After the cave, we went to the floating houses of the fishermen in the Bay. They catch fish, squid, clams, shrimp, etc. and put them in live wells on their floating house boats. All you do is pick out what you want and they give it to you live. We did not buy anything special. For lunch on the boat, we had clams, shrimp, hard shell crab, fish (yes, the whole fish, head and all) rice and fruit for desert. The girls ate well, and snacked a lot as well.

After the cruise, it was back on the bus for the drive back to Hanoi. On the way back we again stopped at a workshop/store run to support people with handicaps. Sophie and Lily both were very tired and fell asleep in the van. We hoped they would sleep, but as soon as we stopped they were awake and Sophie was not happy. P ended up sitting with the girls while I shopped. He was helped by a number of store employees who came to play with the babies. Eventually, Sophie calmed down and drank some juice. After we were again under way, the girls finished their naps. We arrived at our hotel at about 4:00 p.m. It was an interesting weekend.

2007-11-04T19:07:00.000-06:00

Playing with Ba at the orphanage.

Kisses for Nanny Hoa and Mrs. Anh Thu

Goodbyes before we leave for Phan Thiet

Dressed for the Giving and Receiving ceramony

Waiting in the goverment office for the G&R

The last time Nanny Hoa would be with the girls.

First Night together and it is all about Ba.

Our Week in Hanoi

2007-11-02T00:28:00.000-05:00

Our Week in Hanoi

Sorry we have not been good this week on keeping our blog up to date. It has been a busy week with good progress every day. The girls are really coming out of their shells. They are eating well and now want to feed themselves and use spoons to eat. Each girl has to have her own plate and have really liked their introduction to milkshakes. They have each eaten a little pizza too. Their favorite foods are yogurt, fruit (bananas especially) and fried spring rolls.

Initially, they had to stay in the same room with P, but now they are starting to leave the room and even follow me to a different room.

On the schedule of events this week, here is what we have done. On Monday we dropped our paperwork off at the Embassy Annex. It is in a private apartment building. From the outside it definitely does not look like an embassy, or government building. The paperwork drop off was necessary so the embassy staff had time to review it before our I-600 interview. We had to give them a copy of the home study, our dossier, and the girls’ dossier, which were comprised of Vietnamese and translated copies of their birth certificates, the relinquishment papers accepting the girls into the orphanage, a letter from their birth mother, and the adoption papers showing that we were their parents under Vietnamese law. Y was down south with some other families. T, who is a friend of Y’s who I think works for another agency, was to help us with the drop off, but she was also gone, so T’s part-time assistant, H, arrived with a friend of hers from college to take us to the embassy. H’s friend came with us for the document drop-off. T did not even sign into the embassy and waited outside of security. After dropping off the paperwork we went shopping for groceries and took afternoon naps.

On Wednesday we had our I-600 interview. We arrived about 2:00 and were done by 2:30. The interviewer was very nice and said all the paper work looked fine. She went through each piece and told us they would fax it to the CIS office in Saigon. They would review it and then give their immigration decision in 4-6 business days.

On Thursday we spent the day with the girls. We had no appointments and could just explore the old quarter in Hanoi. We found some web pages to help us find the silk shops in the old quarter. Each block on the street has a different name, depending on what is being sold. Any given street will change from Silk Street to Cotton Street to Basket Street. A good map is a must. We went to purchase the tickets to the water puppet show for Thursday evening’s show.

On Thursday, Sophie woke up a little crabby. It was going to be a long day. We were moving to a different hotel. The first one was small and a distance from all the older part of the old quarter and the grocery store. Sophie was not happy about us packing bags. The new hotel is within walking distance of the lake and the shops we have been going to over the past week. The old hotel was near a fair number of metal working shops and other tradesmen. The new hotel is closer to the tourist area and the shops I want to frequent. Once we got to the new hotel, both girls were better. We walked down toward the lake where the water puppet theater was located and ate a late lunch. The girls ate well and were insistent on feeding themselves with their own spoons. The banana shake was a big hit with both of them. I am doing a great deal of shopping for the girls. The water puppet show was interesting. It featured native music and songs. The puppets are attached to a long bamboo pole and are operated by someone behind a bamboo curtain. They did some amazing things with these puppets. They showed a number of folk tales. The puppets swam, fished and played in the water. The girls were fascinated, at least until they fell asleep. In this hotel, we took two rooms so T could take a break from the sometimes loud activities of the girls. With the move and the water puppet show, the girls were exhausted. P and I decided to try a new sleeping arrangement. The girls fell asleep with P on our bed as usual, but in this room we had a single bed available, so we moved them to the single bed to sleep together. Much to our amazement, they stayed asleep while we moved them. That was good.

They slept from 7:00 p.m. until 6:30 a.m. on Friday. They both woke up happy and smiling. P and I were also well rested. We went downstairs for breakfast. The girls ate fruit, yogurt, juice and spring rolls. P got some of that thick Vietnamese coffee. After breakfast P and T stayed in the room and played with the girls while I went shopping. P and T made sure I had a good map. They played and the girls ate the fruit basket. They ate a banana and a large apple. The apples and pears here are huge, about the size of a large grapefruit. They are also very sweet. Today, we have a 2:00 p.m. appointment to pick up the girls’ Vietnamese passports. After that we go to the health clinic for their immigration physicals. That is the last thing we need before we get their visas to come home.

Day 9, Sunday in Hanoi

2007-10-28T21:12:00.001-05:00

Today we are free to do as we please. We do not have any appointments to take care of so we decided to go to the Museum of Ethnology. The museum has a wonderful display of all the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam from costumes, housing, to weaving designs to tombs. It must be a very popular place for wedding photos because we saw at least twenty if not more brides and grooms taking photos in wedding dresses and tuxedos. It was such a delight to learn about our girl’s heritage.

The girls are such good troopers Van sitting in her stroller and Vy holding P’s finger never leaving his side. Not one complaint out of them. I’m sure that will change soon but for now we are enjoying it.

We spent the rest of the day in the hotel room just playing and napping. The girls are starting to relax and showing their personally more and more each day. When we are out in public they are very reserved with not many smiles but in the hotel room smiles and laughs are abundant. They are both calling me Mama on a regular basis and tonight an English “no” instead of a VN “no” and “hi” were both added to the vocabulary. Vy is trying to feed me some and in return she is letting me feed her. When they are well rested they are opening up to me more and more but when they are tired it is all Ba or Dad. It is so nice to see them responding to P in this way. I just love seeing them bond with him.

Tonight was the fist time T needed some time alone without the girls as they are opening up they are becoming silly and loud at times. Thank goodness we have two rooms a sitting room where T is making his bedroom and a bedroom where P, the girls and I sleep, play and eat. This allows T to have some down time from being a big brother.

For supper we ordered pizza and had it delivered it was quite the challenge to place an order, but we got it done and the pizza was delivered without a problem.

Day 8, Saturday in Hanoi

2007-10-28T21:02:00.000-05:00

The real estate in Hanoi is very expensive and all the buildings are long and narrow in the old quarter of Hanoi. This means, if you don’t have a room at the front of the hotel, your room will not have any windows. Our hotel room has no windows, so we did not have to sun to help wake us up. At one point, when everyone was stirring, we looked at P’s alarm clock and saw it was 1:30 in the morning. Remembering that the girls had been playing with it, we checked P’s watch and saw it was 9:00 in the morning. We had slept a much needed 12 hours.

By the time everyone was ready to leave the hotel it was 11 AM so we decided to walk to a nice restaurant called Sesame. When we arrived we were asked if we had reservations and we said no. They did not have room in the inside of the restaurant but did in the court yard outside. So we ate our lunch listening to the sounds of Hanoi. What a great Vietnamese experience. I highly recommend this restaurant for anyone coming to Hanoi. We will be back before we leave to go home.

After lunch we walked back to the hotel Vy holding P hand and Van holding T’s hand I was leading the way. The side walks are narrow and often there are scooters parked on the sidewalks and people sitting talking and eating making the area to walk very narrow if it exists at all. Many times we found ourselves walking on the street dodging scooters.

We arrived back at the hotel and it was time for the girls to take a nap and P to fill out the I 600 paperwork. P left and T and I tried to put the girls down for a nap. They would lie down and snuggle with T and soon fell fast asleep. T is a wonderful big brother or Ahn as the girls call him in Vietnamese. The girls just adore him as they soon will adore the two Ahns waiting at home to meet them.

When the twins woke up and P returned we decided to head out and see the Doug Xuan Market in the Old Quarter. It was a short distant from the hotel but again hard to maneuver the streets not only because of the scooters and people but because it was now approaching 5:30 PM and the streets were beginning to bustle with people coming home from work. When we arrived at the market, we discovered venders packing up their goods for the evening. We made a quick walk through and left to discover the streets of the Old Quarter. We would return during the weekday to see the market. On our excursion through the streets we happened upon a little grocery store that would sell YoMost and yogurt for the girls and drinks and treats for us. Our outing was done and we headed back to the Hotel and to find a place for supper. We decided to try the R&R restaurant. It is owned by an American man and his Vietnamese wife. They served western food in a bar like setting. The food was ok and the service was good but if you are craving hamburgers and Mexican cuisine it was an ok place to go but I would not go out of your way to eat there.

We took a taxi to the hotel with a driver that took no mercy on anyone or anything in his way going down the wrong way on streets and flashing his lights to have drivers get out of his way. We were very glad it was a short ride from the restaurant and that we made it to the hotel safely.

Our day ended with showers for the girls and to bed. It had been a very successful day. The girls are warming up to me one step at a time. We started to call them by their American names and they are catching on very quickly to responding to their new names. Both of them are calling Mama instead of Me (May). I think it is less confusing for them. They both have been successful in staying potty trained and letting us know in their own way when they have to go and have staying dry all the time. Let’s hope this continues. Every day is full of new discoveries and adventures for them and us. Both girls catch on very quickly to routines and understand quite a bit of what we say to them.

Day 6 continued and Day 7

2007-10-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

The night in HCMC and the flight to Hanoi on Day 7.

We finished the long bus trip to HCMC and went to our hotel. The girls were still clinging to N. for support. The next few hours were going to be rough. We had two rooms, one for me and the girls and one for T and P. We had the entire luggage sent up in T and P’s room. N took the girls to our room and quickly left. Needless to say, the girls freaked out and got very upset. They were crying and rocking. It was very sad. Eventually, Van went to P and grabbed on with all her might. Vy soon followed and P was not going any where without the girls.

I pulled out my bag of toys with added new ones and the girls settled down and started to play. The smiles and laughs once again appeared. It was so nice to see. This time the new toy was stacking cups. The girls love them. Van was the first to start tacking the cups. She was able to stack 8 out of 10 cups right away. Of course Vy could not let her sister bask in the light to much and she knocked all the cups down and they both giggled. The airplane and little people were again a big hit.

When it came time to go to sleep P and the girls sat on the edge of the bed and rocked for about an hour and they started to get sleepy. P slowly moved back so the group could lie down. They were reluctant to let me even touch them. Van was very insistent in pointing to the floor. I picked up many items and she would say no in Vietnamese. Finally, I picked up the purple crocs and that is what she wanted to sleep with. The girl loves her shoes and knows the purple ones are hers and the pick crocs are Vy’s. P, Van and Vy cuddled up and slept for then night. P wished he had brought some clothes and brushed his teeth before the action started, but he could not leave their sides now.

The next morning Y, P, T, Vy, Van and I would fly to Hanoi. This was their first plane trip and another ride in the taxi. The girls woke up promptly at 4:30 in the morning. We had some Yo Most (a yogurt drink) with us. They drank in the morning, and we could give them a sponge bath. A shower seemed like too much for them at this point. We went down for breakfast. The girls ate a little, but would only take food from P. If I offered them food they would say no, in Vietnamese, but P could take the spoon from me and they would just open their little mouths and eat. They each had French bread and yogurt. They followed P around like little ducklings. Very cute. They played a little in the morning, but were still just coming out of their shells. Van went to the suitcase to find her clothes. She likes to pick out her clothes and gets upset when she gets dirty.

Our flight to Hanoi was at 9:30, so we had to leave the hotel by 7:30. We went with Y to the airport in two taxis, since we had luggage and so many people. The girls were still following P and would not go with me to the airport, so Y and I rode in one taxi with the luggage, and P, T and the girls rode in the other. As with the bus, Van got sick in the taxi. Vy, however, did not. The first order of business when we got to the airport was to change Van into some clean clothes and wipe down P’s pants as much as we could. Using the Vietnamese documents we had to prove we were the parents of Vy and Van, we had no problem checking in at the airport. Since the plane was full when we wanted to travel, we had to fly business class. It was not much more, but very much worth the expense. We had to purchase a ticket for each of the girls, but they would not sit in them. They both wanted to sit on P’s lap, but the flight attendant said only one child could sit there. I sat next to P, and we had the flight attendant tell them that they had to sit on either my or P’s lap. Vy was quick to scramble onto P’s lap. Van stood there. When the flight attendant tried to pick her up, she cried and pulled back. I reach down and put her on my lap. She was not happy, but also did not cry for more than a couple of minutes. P and I each had air sickness bags open and ready for use.

The flight was great. Both girls fell asleep on our laps for almost the whole 2 hour flight. This was the first time I held my baby girl Van. It felt so good to finally hold her. The only time they woke up was when Van pointed at the overhead bin where her potty chair was and told us in no uncertain terms that she needed it. We quickly got up, took the potty chair and the girls to the toilet. Thank goodness Vietnam Airlines has big toilet facilities. We put the chair down and both girls went. Their Pull Ups were both dry. It was nice that P and I also got some rest since we had been up since 4:30.

When we got to Hanoi, we took a large shuttle van to the hotel. It is about an hour drive. The girls sat next to P. The driver was great, he would slow down whenever there was something interesting for T to photograph, like 10 piglets in little cages on the back of a scooter. T had a great time. The girls did well in the van and did not get sick. In public they are pretty shy and reserved. When we got to the room, it was a different story.

As soon as we got into the room, we started to pull out the toys to play and also pulled out the potty chairs we brought with us. The girls went potty and then got silly. We decided to start introducing their American names to them more frequently, so we started calling Sophie “Sophie Vy” and Lilly was “Lily Van.” They started chattering (N and Y told us they were saying a few Vietnamese words, but were generally just making sounds to make noise) and playing with the toys. Soon it was time for P to leave and go to the Vietnamese immigration office to apply for the girl’s passports. When he left, it was tough on the girls. It was also naptime, but the girls would not lay down with me, but they were happy to lay down with T and were soon fast asleep. P was only gone a couple of hours. We would be able to pick up the girls’ passports next Friday.

When the girls woke up from their naps, it was time for supper but before we would do that we would drop off our laundry across the street at a little laundry shop. Y met us in the lobby and showed us where the shop was and helped us with translation. As the shop lady was counting the laundry Van noticed that her pink love was in the wash. These are the loveys we sent to them when H made her last trip to VN. It was apparent that the nannies gave them the pink loveys because it was very important to them. Van kept pointing to the loveys and them to her head to the loveys and then head and speaking in Vietnamese. Yen translated for us and said she was asking for a hat. Vietnamese keep their head and skin covered from the sun at all times. Van had remembered when we did not have a hat when we got off the bus in Phan Thiet the nanny covered her head with the small pick blanket and that is what Van wanted to do. She wanted us to cover her head like nanny instructed. Show this kid once and she never forgets. We could not retrieve the pink loveys because it had gotten thrown up on during the travels so for the next 30 minutes while we walked the streets of the Old Quarter looking for a hat. Van would ask for a hat and point to her head. Finally we made it to a Vietnamese type mall that maybe we could buy two hats and two strollers. We found hats and as we were leaving we found two strollers. Vy would have nothing to do with the stroller she was still stuck to P like glue but Van would again be the first to ride in the stroller and enjoyed it.

Y went with us to supper at a Vietnamese buffet. On the drive to the restaurant I asked Y what the children at the orphanage called the nannies. I always thought it would be the Vietnamese word for nanny. I was wrong. The children all call the nannies Me (It is pronounced “May” and is the word for Mom). The more I thought about this them more I thought this must be confusing for the girls and all the older children in the orphanage. Going from 7 Me to one Me. Would they think I would disappear too? So we talked it over and decided Mama would be what they are to call me from now on. P would still be Ba (Vietnamese for Daddy).

The restaurant was a drive from where we were staying, but the food was great, and not expensive. When we pulled up at about 6:00, they asked us if we had reservations. We didn’t, but they still seated us right away. The girls were still glued to P. When we sat down, we pulled two chairs together for P, Vy and Van. Vy (Sophie) would not sit anywhere but on P’s lap. Van (Lily) sat next to P on the chair. P stayed with the girls and fed them. They ate fruit, bread, yogurt, and soup. Van ate well, but Vy needed some coaxing to eat. They both drank fruit juice and water. Since P was busy, I fixed him a plate. It was a great family restaurant.

After an uneventful trip back to the hotel, it was time to try to get the girls in the shower. They were still glued to P, so we decided to use that to our advantage. P put on his swimsuit and sat in the shower. He turned on the shower and soon the girls were in the shower laughing and playing in the water. The shower time was great fun. I was able to bathe them and P just had to play. At bedtime, each girl got on a side of P and went to sleep. It had been an eventful day.

Day 6, G & R day !!!

2007-10-25T20:19:00.001-05:00

Today was the big day. We were going to become parents again!

We got up about 6:00 to get ready for the day. It was hot outside. Immediately after getting out of the shower, you started to perspire so much, you felt like you needed another shower. The girls were up early and ate some slices of tangerine and drank some milk. About 7:30 P. and T. came to get us to go to breakfast. It was a really good buffet with a wide selection of western and Vietnamese food. The fruit was amazing. The girls’ ate well and seemed to be doing well. The nanny was reserved and appeared to be contemplating what was about to happen. She raised the girls since they were 1 day old. Since she had the twins, she did not have any other children to care for. She loves the girls as she was their mother and in a way she is the only mother they have known.

After breakfast, we loaded up in the bus for a short trip to the DMOJ (Ministry of Justice) office downtown. We arrived at 8:30 for our 9:00 appointment. We were told to sit on the benches in the lobby and wait. Although we could bring cameras and photograph inside the building, we were prohibited from photographing the exterior of the building. The building was like any government office building, people shuffling paper, people coming in to have appointments and being told to wait. T. and P. (the men) each wore slacks and short-sleeved shirts. The women had to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants to the ceremony.

About 8:50, we were invited up for the ceremony. The only people who could come were the family and L., who served as our interpreter. The room was a small office with a conference table. In the office was the head of the committee that approved our adoption and two other committee members. The head of the committee began to read the adoption decree and tell us of the importance of adopting these girls. She asked us to make sure the girls understood their heritage. She also asked us to raise them as good citizens and to bring them back to Vietnam to visit. After here speech, we started signing documents. Each of these documents had to be signed in blue ink, sealed with a red seal and was notarized. The last document we had to sign was the adoption ledger. It is a huge book, like an old banker’s ledger, with a line for each child adopted from the province. The ledger was all hand-written. We then took photos with the girls, the nanny and the committee members. We were officially parents again. Next, we went to the office of another government official. She asked us to raise the girls to become good citizens and asked us to ensure they understood their heritage. Then it came our turn to talk. They asked us to make a few comments to the committee and thank them for allowing us to adopt the girls. I let P. handle this. By 9:20 we were leaving the building and going back to the shopping center across the street to wait for all the certified, notarized documents we would need to take to the embassy to get the girls’ visas.

While we were there, the nanny fed the girls and we waited. When we boarded the bus, she came with us as far as the bus station. When we dropped her off the girls began to cry and get upset. Y., Ms. H, and Ms. N., were great at calming the girls down. Since N. was a frequent visitor to the orphanage, the girls climbed up next to her. After about 15 minutes (it seemed longer at the time), the girls began to settle down; they ate a little and fell asleep.

Day 6, G & R day !!!

2007-10-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

Day 5, Travel to Phan Thiet

2007-10-24T20:22:00.000-05:00

On the 24th we got up early to pick up the girls and the nanny at the orphanage to travel to Phan Thiet, which is the capital of the province of Binh Thuan. We were given permission to take the girls early to Phan Thiet so we would not have to get up at 4:00 a.m. to make it our 9:00 G & R ceremony. This was going to be a big day for the girls. The nanny told us that they were so healthy that they never had to leave the orphanage to go to the doctor. This was going to be their first time on a bus, the first time leaving the orphanage, the first time to go shopping, the first time to eat at a restaurant, and the first time to see the ocean or step on a beach.

We arrived at the orphanage at 9:30. We were again greeted by the children at the gate. Vy and Van were holding back a bit. They were with their nanny, who was tearful. The girl’s leaving was also hard on many of the other nannies and the older children that live at the orphanage. The nanny would accompany us to Phan Thiet. We arranged for two rooms when we got there. T. and P. were to be in one in one and I was to be in another one with the nanny and the girls.

It took about 2 hours to drive to Phan Thiet. When we arrived we stopped at the shopping center to pick up some familiar food items for the girls, water and other items. One thing (really two things) we did not get was potty chairs. The girls had not used western facilities and needed training chairs. The bus driver later went out shopping for us and got the chairs. After shopping, we went to the hotel. The hotel was located on the beach and was very nice. The only surprise we had was in the bathroom. Each bathroom was open to the outside. Although it was shielded from view by a brick fence, it was interesting to experience that. After lunch the girls went down for a nap. It was very hot outside, so everyone rested in their rooms until later in the day. About 4:00 T., L. and N. went down to the beach. When nap time was over, P., I, the nanny and the girls also went to the beach. They did not want to go near the water, but were content to sit and watch T. play in the water.

In the evening the plan was to have P. and I spend some time with the girls. We started with the nanny there. We started playing games and throwing a beach ball back and forth. They had a great time. During the game the nanny slipped out, leaving P. and I with the girls. They were fine until the noticed the nanny was gone. The both got very sad and began to cry. It breaks your heart, because they can’t find comfort from your touch. The push your hand away and continue to cry. P. and I sat near them and talked in soothing tones to them, and stroked each of the girls’ hair as they would let us. Pretty soon the uncontrollable crying was over. They were very tired and began to cuddle together while they were sitting and started rocking back and forth. Van rocked herself to sleep. Vy was determined and kept rocking and rocking.

After a couple of hours the nanny came back. They both woke up and changed into pajamas. They were still tired, but we got some smiles out of them before P. left. I and the nanny put the girls down to bed.

Day 4 at the orphanage

2007-10-23T19:11:00.000-05:00

Day 4 at the orphanage

This morning will be our last time visiting the orphanage. Tomorrow we will pack our bags and travel to the orphanage to pick up the girls and their nanny and travel to a resort near Phan Teit. Our G&R will be Thursday morning at 9 am. Since it is a long drive to the city we will travel on Wednesday stay the night, have the G&R on Thursday and return to Saigon that same day. Friday, we will rise early and fly to Hanoi to start out paperwork. Many new adventures will be in store for the girls since they have never been out of the orphanage or traveled in a vehicle.

As we entered the orphanage the children came running to meet all of us. Vy and Van were next to their nanny as they have been for all our visits. Soon we got smiles and we headed in the entryway of the center. First we pulled out the airplane which is always a big hit and the people to go with it. Vy had some interest in the people but Van only wanted to listen to the song. Today we brought a long a beach ball for the girls to play with. They were quite interested in P blowing up this ball and how it expanded. It took them just a few minutes to warm up to the idea and then the fun began. At one point we had as many as 5 children in the room with only us so I asked T to get the staff to remove some of the kids in which they promptly did. Having to many children around can make the girls worry about losing their possessions and our attention. The only child that remained was X and she was so sweet and quiet. We handed her a color and a page and she was content coloring on her own. This was a big step for her because she has not wanted anything to do with us before now. She is shy like the girls.

The morning continued with more bubbles and beach ball play. Soon it was time for the girls to eat. They rushed off to the nanny but kept peeking through the doorway to make sure we were still there. We slowly made our way into the room as they finished their lunch and started a good game of peek a boo and beach ball throwing.

All around a very good day with the girls with more progress.

Day 3 with the Girls

2007-10-22T19:10:00.000-05:00

The days started with breakfast at the hotel and then loaded the bus to go to the orphanage for the morning. I started the visit with the girls and blowing bubbles. Yesterday they really enjoyed blowing bubbles. We sat down with them outside on a woven matt. They were with their nanny sitting one on each side of her. They were reserved and a little cool to us this morning, until the bubbles started. Then they lit up and started to smile with big grins on their faces. Now, we are having fun.

After bubble time, we moved inside to the play room. Before we settled down, I asked if the girls would like to show us their bed and dresser. With huge smiles on their faces they quickly walked towards their room often looking back to see if we were following. We entered the room where the girls and the other younger children sleep. The girls were so excited to show us what little they have. We again made it to the floor to start playing with the girls and within about 10 minutes, the nanny slipped out and it was just the family (and the other children who wandered in and out). We played with the girls, ate chocolate, teddy graham crackers. They are so dainty when they eat. It takes them 5-8 bites to eat just one. I pulled out the combs and we asked if we could comb their hair. They let us comb their hair, and they even took the combs and started combing our hair, even though P does not have much to comb. At one point Van had a tear or two, but she never left the room and did not want the nanny. Later in the morning, we again pulled out the balls. This time it was it was a family affair. The girls had a great time throwing balls at T and P. Vy was very outgoing and very verbal. When some of the other children would come in, she would tell us their name.

The morning flew by and it was time to leave to regroup and take naps including the girls.

Afternoon Day 3

This afternoon our visit would be from 3 to 5 that would give us a little extra time to rest before heading to the orphanage. It may sound like we get tired easily, but believe it or not it is hard work trying to earn the trust of the girls. Physically draining sitting on hard concrete floors in 90 plus heat with 80 plus humidity and mentally trying to keep the girls engaged at all times along with trying to read them developmentally and emotionally.

Again the girls did a reversal of the morning. Vy normally the leader was having a hard time and Van the shy one was coming out of her shell. I was trying to think of a new game plan for each day, and without having a lot of materials to work with it is a challenge. We started out with colors and coloring books. I was not sure if they were ready for this but we would give it a shot. Luck was with us and coloring was a big hit. We all colored for over 20 minutes. Each girl held the color properly and tried to stay in the lines. I was pleased that they enjoyed this activity. Some of the older children entered the room from time to time and joined in coloring.

Next, I pulled out of my bag books to read. They were curious about the books, but you could tell they had not been read to very often. The two books that were a hit were two I picked up in Saigon at a book store on Doung Khoi Street. The books are written in English and Vietnamese with large colorful pictures. I gave each girl a book and they enjoyed looking at them. When one of the other children would come and try to look at the books they would put up a fight to keep them.

It is common practice among the children in the orphanage to protect what is theirs. If anything is not guarded it will be taken by the other children maybe never to return. We helped the girls with protecting their toys and realized early on that would let us move the toys so other children would not get to the toys and books. It really showed that they were beginning to trust us. This too was a full time job. If anything left your sight, you might not ever see it again. Shoes are a great example. You leave your shoes at the door of the orphanage. They are never where you left them. Little feet are always in big sandals walking around. I learned this the first day when I brought toys for the girls and they never returned. I feel bad that I can’t leave all the toys for the children because they have so little, but we need some familiar toys for the girls for the next few weeks and our plane ride to Hanoi and home.

When the coloring and books lost their interest I pulled out a F.P. airplane. It is a great toy, all the children at the orphanage loved it so we had to be very protective of it for the girls. The girls found out that if you push the pilot seat down it will sing a song. This is a big hit. They love music and it creates the biggest smiles on their faces. The best thing of the day was to hear them speak. Vy stared rambling on and on we have no idea what she was saying except when she said the children’s names who entered the room. Van joined in also and they were talking to each other in twin talk. Such good news since I am concerned about there language development. At least now I know they will use their voices and can say some words even though we have no idea what they are saying.

I asked them if they wanted to go for a walk and motioned to the door. They got up and we all went outside for a short stroll. They were very leery at first but did follow us. Then their nanny came out with their supper. Vietnamese culture is to hand feed the children. They do not like the mess that children make when they self-feed and they want to make sure the children get enough nutrition. The girls do feed themselves’ snacks and drink from a cup on their own just not the main meals.

It was getting time to leave and the temp was cooling off just tolerable for us, but for the children and nannies it was getting cold. Out came the sweaters for each of the children so they would not catch a chill. We said our good byes. Each of us got a hand shake, a cheek to cheek kiss and a blown kiss. As we walked down the drive way the girls followed us and stopped just short of the gate. Another big step, never before have they walked down to the entrance of the orphanage.

Each visit the girls are coming out of their shells and trust us more and more. We have been so blessed to be able to have this time with them.

2007-10-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

Day 2 meeting the girls......

Day 2 with the girls

2007-10-21T19:08:00.000-05:00

It was 8:00 and we are loading the bus for a 20 minute ride to the orphanage. We all enjoy this drive because we are able to see a glimpse into the lives of the Vietnamese people. School children heading to Mass in there Navy pants or skirt and white shirt the same uniform they were to school except for the scarf around their neck. When going to school the children were a red scarf. On Sundays they were blue, green, or yellow scarves with a yellow cross on the tip that hangs down their backs according to the age of the student. Adults are heading to mass or to do their daily chores, field work, sales, tending to animals etc. We always enjoy looking for a water buffalo. Binh Thuan Province does not have as many water buffalo as the southern Provinces so it is fun trying to spot one along the road or in the fields.

We turn down the last road to the orphanage there is a large school on the left and police station on the right. Today, being Sunday both were very quiet. The orphanage is right next to the school on the left. As the bus pulls up to the gate we see the young children running to the gate to meet us. The twins are not among the children. They are waiting with their nanny sitting on the door step of one of the entrances to the play room. Again they are tightly glued to their nanny. She has been their care giver since they were one day old, so they are very attached to her and her to them.

We started the day with gift giving. Our wonderful church and friends had given us donations of clothing, medical supplies, and dental supplies for the orphanage. We left 2 duffle bags of donations with the agency in Saigon, but still had another bag to bring to Binh Thuan. We pulled out all the items and gave them to the orphanage director. After the adult time, we pulled out 3 bottles of bubbles. The children had a ball blowing bubbles and catching them only to watch them pop. Van and Vy were great at blowing bubbles. Both girls had very big smiles and laughed.

We entered the play room, a 20 X 20 room painted a worn bluish green color. There is a swing and a collapsed plastic ball play area and plastic balls scattered around the room. The twins and the nanny joined us in the room along with Y and L to translate. The girls sat on the swing with another little girl while the adults sat on the floor. This morning we were going to interview the nanny and try to find out as much as we can about the girls. Priceless to say the least, it was so nice of Y to set this up for us. We were able to find out about there lives at the orphanage and their personalities their likes and dislikes. We did find out that they have never stepped foot outside the orphanage gates. Having never had anything medical more than a simple cold there was no need to leave the orphanage. Oh how their world will change.

As we were talking and the girls were swinging Van got very sad and began to cry. She obviously knows her world will be changing. She is the shyer one of the twins and seems to worry more. They both headed over to their nanny. The nanny told Vy to get a wet cloth for her sister and she quickly left and returned with a cloth. As the nanny consoles Van and washes her tears away Vy sits down behind Van as to protect her. We talked a little bit more and then it was time for the girls to eat and us to leave. As we left the girls shook our hand and off we went down the drive to the bus. We would head back to the resort until 2:00 when we would make the trip over again.

Afternoon of day 2

Our second visit of the day started out as the others. Entering the play room and sitting and playing with the girls. This time the nanny ever so quietly left the girls alone with us. Oh how hard this must be for her. She is such a brave and courageous person with a smile on her face but I can feel the breaking of her heart. She is so strong in front of the twins; she knows it is only in the best interest of the girls. These have been her girls for the last 3.5 years and now she is handing them over to us. I do not have the word of gratitude I feel towards her. A simple thank you and a small gift is just not enough but it is all we are allowed to do. I feel like we owe her the world for taking such good care of our girls.

The time spent with the girls is so precious. We are slowly making progress and I thank the agency for being able to pull this extended visitation together. This time Van was happy and not tearful but Vy was having a hard time with a worried look on her face and tears. It was sad and hard to see but I know that it is healthy for them to feel this way. This transition is a process and it is important to go through it and not around it so it was actually a positive sign that both have shown sadness and worry. They understand something is going to happen and can process it in their minds.

We have still not been able to hold them they are not ready for this. We can touch them and play with there hair but they are not ready to be held that right now is for the nanny to do. I don’t want to push them to much in fear of them regressing from all the progress we have made.

During our visit it seemed like all the children came into the play room. It was very loud and busy. Eventually, one of the older children started throwing the balls. The ball fight was on. Depending on where you were in the room during the first throw determined your team. Van and Vy both joined in and had a great time, as did the adults, including Ms. H. It was very special to see their faces light up and smile while we were playing with the balls.

The time flew by as it has the last 2 visits and it is time to say our good byes. Teddy and Pat got a cheek to cheek kiss. We all shook hands and blow kisses and off we went. Another good day with small steps to earning the girls’ trust as we head into a new beginning.

October 20, 2007 We meet the girls!

2007-10-21T09:02:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning we awoke early and packed our bags. Today we would travel to LaGi to meet our girls for the very first time! After packing our luggage, we headed down to breakfast. The hotel offers a variety of traditional Vietnamese dishes, congee, which is a rice porridge that the girls like to eat. I guess I will be learning how to make this. The hotel also had spring rolls, Pho, which I love, but it has been so hot that I have not had any yet. Fresh fruits and the best fresh squeezed orange juice I have ever had, even though they were green. We were packed and ready to go by 7:30. The bus was to arrive at the hotel at 8:30. T worked on some homework while we waited. The bus came and we headed down the busy streets of Saigon to the Agency’s office where we would meet all the staff and have our orientation meeting. Because of the traffic it took about an hour to travel across the streets of Saigon. At the office, which is located on what looks like a narrow alley we were greeted by all the wonderful staff. We were taken to the 3rd floor where we were served nice cold water and fruit. As the staff went over the paperwork and informed us of the days events T worked on homework. We were all done within an hour and off on the streets of Saigon to LaGi.

The trip would be 4 to 5 hours depending on the traffic. Even though we had left the city the roads to Binh Thuan are lined with homes and businesses. We stopped at a little restaurant to have lunch and use the western facilities. I had warned T that when we traveled out in the rural areas that we may have to use squatty toilets and that we would have to make sure we had TP just in case there was none. Everything on the trip was great.

Back on the road again Ms. H and Y chatted, the staff and I took a little nap while P and T watched the sights go by. It would be another 2 hours before we would be at the orphanage.

We entered the city of LaGi and headed down back roads to the orphanage. I could feel we were getting close. I wondered how the girls would react to see us for the first time. Had the nannies prepared them for our arrival? How much did they understand of what was going to happen in the next few days?

It was difficult to wake throughout the gates of the orphanage. I sat outside the gates holding M a short 6 months ago wondering what the children were like and if our child would come form this orphanage. As I walked through the gates it almost felt like a forbidden place for me, but this time I could walk through the gates to finally see and meet our girls. I slowly walked up the entry. There were 2 school age boys who met us at the gate. They were smiling and wanting to say hello in English. We were directed by the staff to go the left of the compound. We walked up 2 steps and stood at the entrance to a small room. Next to that room was another room that all the children were in. The staff wanted us to enter one at a time so we would not frighten the children. Ever so slowly we entered one by one. The children were all walking in a circle and singing a song something like ring around the rosey. Before we even entered the room X and H.A. started to cry. I could see the girls through the screen, and oh how beautiful they looked. We entered slowly and sat on the floor opposite form the girls. I did not want to approach them too soon. I offered the girls a toy tiger and their nanny encouraged Vy to come get it. She very quickly got up and grabbed it from my hand and returned quickly to her nanny. I did the same for Van but she would not move. I could see by the look on her face she was very worried. I pulled out the toy airplane from my bag. Vy again took advantage of this and grabbed the toy and returned to the nanny. Van sat still and just watched. I told Teddy it was time to work his charm and approach the girls slowly. He was able to do so without frightening them to much. I can only imagine how over whelming it was for them. I pulled out the suckers to share with all the children and nannies. Vy again was the first to grab and go, she was getting the hand of this side show. All the other children come one by one to collect their suckers. The older ones were very polite and crossed their arms and bowed as they accepted the suckers. I was so impressed.

I decided, with a little encouragement from Y, that I should try to approach the girls. I wanted so to just run in and grab them up and give them a great big hug, but I knew this would not be good. I wanted to approach them on their terms not mine. I slowly moved forward and sat next to Vy. I could tell by the look on Van face that she was not ready at all for me to approach her. I slowly tried to encourage the girls to play but they were not interested so I just sat next to them and was able to touch Vy leg and back without to much resistance. I took a photo of Van and showed it to Vy. She was very interested in this. Hmmmm a photographer in the making just like mom? Before I knew it their nanny had gotten up and I saw my chance to sit in between the girls. My move was accepted they did not move away. I was able to touch Van ever so lightly and she also accepted my touch. Progress, one tiny step at a time. After an hour it was time for everyone to take a break. The girls Nanny had a bowl of soup for the girls and it was time for them to eat. The girls followed the nanny’s que and came over for their supper.

As we left the room the girls shook our hands to say good bye and then waived. We then headed off to board the bus. Now it was time to check into the resort.

2007-10-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

The first day we met......

We get to go to meet the girls tomorrow!

2007-10-19T05:45:00.000-05:00

H has been working diligently for weeks to get permission from the Provence officials to see the girls early. It has been granted that we can enter the Provence tomorrow and see the girls. We do not have a G&R date but we know it will be sometime this week. I am not concerned with that as long as we get to spend time with the girls as we are waiting.

A LONG, LONG TRAVEL DAY

2007-10-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

A LONG, LONG TRAVEL DAY

Our day began as it normally would wake at 6:30 and getting ready for the day. One thing was different though, WE WERE GOING TO VIETNAM! Today was the day that we would travel to meet our girls for the very first time. My usual morning routine was to grab Dew and hop on the Internet to read the morning mail. This morning was not like others however. When I clicked on the Internet icon, it froze. I decided I would just restart the computer and get off to a new start. So I did, and when it rebooted I got the dreaded black screen of death! My computer was dead. I tried several times to restart but nothing just a black screen. Now on any given day this would have been a travesty, but today of all days when we were to get on a plane in less than 8 hours to travel half way around the world. What would I do? Computer withdrawal was not in our game plan. I have wanted to share this adoption journey with all our family and friends. Buying a new computer was not in the budget at this point, but if need be I would. I decided to give my computer a time out and see if things would just straighten out. While the computer was in its time out, I decided to double check my packing list just one last time to make sure we didn’t forget anything. I felt comfortable that everything was packed since we have been planning this journey for months now. My only concern was the camera and video cords. I remembered putting them out to be packed, but they are something I use on regular bases so I wanted to check just to make sure. I started looking and could not find a one. Had they been packed in the bags already? I decided I should check just to make sure they were indeed in the luggage. I could not find them in any of the 6 checked bags. Yes, 6 bags. We each can check 2 bags at 50 lbs per bag. Before you think, “Man, she is over packing a bit,” I want to explain that only 2 of the bags have our family’s essentials in it. The other four bags are full to the rim with donations for the children in the orphanages. I have been collecting new and slightly worn clothing for the orphanages for the last few months. I have also been fortunate to have been given money for medical supplies such as band aids, hydrocortisone creams, anti-biotic ointments, lotions for excima, to name a few. Most of the money and medical supplies came from our wonderful church family. Thank you so much.

So after looking for the cords and not finding them, I decided I should switch gears and return to my computer. Just maybe if I pause from searching for the cord it would come to me where they might be. So back to the computer one more time. As I entered the office P was working on the computer, and he was able to get it up and running. What a hero, although I think he had an alternative motive. He knew if I didn’t travel with my computer, his life would be miserable so he was desperate to fix it and he did. He also knew that today would be my last day of have my morning Mountain Dew and probably could not bear the fact of a month of traveling with me without a Dew and a computer would be h*ll.

So with the computer up and running and after of course I checked my morning mail it was back to searching for those darn cords. They had to be packed somewhere, but where? After going through each suitcase again I decided that I would just go buy another set of cords, and if we found them well then I would return the unopened packages to the store when we return. Off I went to three different stores. Just my luck each store had one cord but not all. By the time I hit the last store I had all my cords and I was ready to roll.

After returning home we started packing our bags in the Jeep to go to the airport. As each one was loaded I took a picture of it. Just a precaution from my last trip in which my 2 checked bags did not show up in Vietnam for 5 days. It was difficult standing at the airport lost luggage desk trying to explain as best I could to a very nice Vietnamese lady what my bags looked like. Well, it is a black duffle bag just like all other hundreds of black duffels in the airport that day. So anyway just a precaution that I hope we don’t have to use on this trip. We went through our paperwork one last time making sure we had everything the agency told us we should have. I went through the binders I was leaving family and friends, our itinerary, copies of VISA’s and passports, etc. Everything was ready. I looked at the clock and was ready to go. N would be home soon from college to say good bye and we would be off. Now I read and reread our itinerary, I sent it to P, family and friends so they would know our travel schedule. I had it in my mind that our flight left at 4 pm so we should leave for the airport a little after 2. So we had A in one Jeep with P and the luggage, N drove T and me to the airport right after they left. Everything was good. My computer was working, I had cords for my electronics, and I savored my last Dew for a very long time. We were off, off to meet our girls!

T and I meet P and A in the lobby of the airport where P was checking in the luggage. I was talking with A saying our good byes and P said M in that tone of we have a problem here. (P says he does not have a tone, but he does.) We had missed our first flight. How in the world could we have done this? I had no one to blame but myself. I had sent the itinerary out to many but as I have done many times before when P has traveled I glance at it and set it aside. All this time I had misread the fight time, I must have read it over and over and each time 4 pm posted to my memory. Even though we missed our first flight we were able to get on the 3:30 fight without a problem.

As we were sitting on the plane waiting to taxi I told P I hoped that we were getting all this out of the way so we could have a problem free journey from here on out. We made it to Dallas without any problems and headed to our gate. We had a short 30 minutes to grab something to eat, use the facilities and load the plane. As we scarffed down our food and headed to the gate it was just in time to see that do to circumstances in San Fran our flight would be delayed at least an hour in the terminal and up to 40 minutes on the tarmac. Not to panic we had a long layover in San Fran to catch out 1:30 am flight. All I kept thinking was just get all the difficulties out of our way before we meet the girls.

We made it to San Fran and noticed that although we had tickets, receipts and itineraries, we had no boarding passes. We went to the EVA travel lounge, since we could not find any EVA employees at the gate. The woman at the lounge took pity on us and helped us get booked into the flight, sent our baggage numbers down to make sure they had been transferred and told us where we could wait. Once the EVA gate staff got there, P went up to get boarding passes. He came back with boarding cards for T and P, but I did not yet have a seat assigned. As we were in line boarding, P went up and got me my seat. The EVA economy deluxe seating was well worth the money. The seats were comfortable and had foot rests. We were all able to sleep on the 13 hour flight to Taipei. We had a three hour lay over in Taipei before we flew to Vietnam. We used the time to stretch our legs and charge the computer and T’s game.

Arrived in Vietnam at noon on the 18th with all our Bags!!! The VN staff was at the airport and met us as we left the door.

We made it!

2007-10-18T04:02:00.000-05:00

We are in HCMC! I just love being back in Vietnam! We are all very tired but trying to stay awake a few more hours.

We are off...........

2007-10-16T13:10:00.000-05:00

We are ready our bags are packed our tickets in hand. We are off to meet our girls.

I wonder

2007-10-15T08:15:00.000-05:00

As time draws near to travel I wonder…….
I wonder what the girls will really look like……
I wonder what I will see looking into their eyes…….
I wonder what their voices will sound like…….
I wonder how their hair will feel…….
I wonder how big their hands and feet are…….
I wonder will they cry……..
I wonder will they smile…….
I wonder will they laugh…….
I wonder what comforts them…….
I wonder what they are thinking…….
I wonder will they like us……….
I wonder……….

19 months in the making.........Recap

2007-10-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

We have a referral!

These children where no longer infants and I knew that they would be harder to place as they aged in the orphanage. Most families want infant girls. Not us, we entered this adoption wanting to adopt a girl that possible was caught up in Vietnam’s 3 year long moratorium and destined to stay in an orphanage long-term due to age. These children came into the orphanage after Vietnam shut down adoptions and these children were growing older in the orphanage with little hope of finding a family.

As the year went by, this photo of the children in this Province inspired me to continue to fight for ethical adoptions for the children of VN. At one point, I even inquired about the children in the photo and was told that these children have been referred and will be traveling to their new home soon. I was really glad they had finally found a forever family. As Christmas neared I was told that the Province where the photo of the children was taken was going to open soon. Of course, I began to research to see if any of the children in the orphanage would fit our home study and hope the Province would open soon.

The Province has opened and there are 13 older (up to age 6) children in the orphanage. Some of the children have called this orphanage home for five years. My thoughts go back to the photos of the children I had seen at the beginning of our journey. Some have been referred out and some have not. Which ones are still there?

I found a mom who took her child on a homeland tour to the orphanage. This orphanage was the same orphanage my inspirational photo came from. Would she have information about the children remaining in the orphanage? I contacted her through email and she instantly replied with a phone number to call. Yes, she was at the orphanage less than a year ago and was able to see the children in the photo. She also told me the children in my photo were to have been referred out to another agency. Because the officials felt it may look inappropriate the children where not referred. She expressed her sorrow for the children. She knew that if they didn’t get referred soon the chances are slim that they would find a home.

So here I now had a photo on my computer of two lovely children who inspired me throughout the adoption process, who were still stuck in VN. Could one of these children be our adoptive child? The answer is yes!! We received a referral on May 24th. I saw the photo over a year ago and it is burned into my memory. The photo I saw a year ago was of a set of 2 year old twin girls.
We have been given a referral of the twin girls in the photo. They are now beautiful 3 year old girls. They have been waiting and waiting for their forever family only to be caught up in the moratorium and politics of the agency and government. They have had very little; nothing to call their own except for each other. But now they have a family. A mother, a father, and 3 big brothers who will care for them, protect them and love them forever. They will have a bed with a mattress to sleep on. They will have food to eat when they are hungry. They will have warm, clean clothes to wear. Most of all they will have a family!

So with all that said I would like to present our daughters

Thanh Van and Thanh Vy

2007-10-10T14:30:00.000-05:00

The last few days have been wonderful, exciting, stressful and full of wonder. Last Wednesday we signed and notarized what we thought and hoped would be out last docs before we traveled. We were able to get all this done and off to Fed Ex before 10 am. We took a breath of relief that we were going to finally be on our way to see our beautiful girls. Thursday I was to take one last trip to visit a dear friend in VA. My one last girl’s weekend before the twins come home. It was a wonderful trip and I enjoyed every minute of it except for the phone call from the agency saying that another set of papers needed to be signed. Sigh! So off I go again waiting for the docs to be emailed and running around trying to find a DHL office in a city I am not that familiar with. But I am happy to say it was sent off on Friday and made it to Vietnam on Monday. Now I am hoping this is the last docs we have to sign before we are in Vietnam.

When I returned home on Monday our Passports with Visa’s were there. Yeah! On Tuesday our flight tickets arrived and today our agency sent an email stating that the in country adoption fees had been paid by the Vietnam agency staff. So it looks like everything is a go. We will leave on the 16th and I am hoping to meet the girls on Saturday the 20th.

I can’t wait to hold my girls!

G&R Date........Maybe

2007-10-04T11:53:00.000-05:00

We are hoping for a G&R date for the week of Oct.22 however we were still filling out corrected forms yet this morning. Since we are the first family to adopt from Binh Thuan since the moratorium the forms needed to be revised for Binh Thuan slowing the process down. We are still hopeful for the week of the 22nd with a G&R on the 24th. If this is the case we will leave for VN on the 16th and are hoping to spend 4 days with the girls before the G&R. Wish us luck that things go smoothly from now on. I will keep you posted as travel time comes closer.

"You have received the invitation to travel."

2007-10-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

At 1:06 today we received an email for H the Program Director that we have received the invitation to travel. We do not have a G&R date but we are hoping it will be the week of the 22 Oct. We are hoping to leave a week early to spend time with the girls in hopes to make the transition smoother for them. Thank you to all that have been praying for our family.

Because we have not traveled yet……

2007-10-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

I canned 40 quarts of tomatoes.
We were home for our son’s 22nd birthday.
The boys and I went to see Jeff Dunham live. I highly recommend seeing him!
I was able to visit two of my great friends one in Texas and one in Virginia.
I was able to get 34 of my continuing Ed hours for the year only two more hours to go
I had 2 root canals in two weeks.
My flowers will be bitten by the frost so no need to find someone to care for them.
The yard will not have to be mowed as much if at all. This will make my boys happy.
We will be able to save money for Vietnam.
I was able to see Iowa State beat Iowa! Go Cyclones!
My love for the girls grows ever stronger.

To volunteer or not to volunteer that is the question.

2007-09-30T21:22:00.000-05:00

Recently I emailed the WIC (Waiting International Children) team. I wanted to let them know I was traveling to the orphanage that the WIC children are and that I would be more than happy to take photos of the children for them to share with the potential families of these children. The agency as we have found out provides very few photos of the children so I thought I would volunteer my time and help them. I know how important it is for parents to have updated photos and for the children to have as they grow older. I never got a response to my email. Nothing! Do they care about these children and families? I am volunteering my time to help them when I could be spending all my time with my girls. What is up with that? I guess I need to think only of myself and my girls and not help other. Being self centered is not my style and it should not be theirs. I only want to help the children. Trying to be upfront with the agency just isn't worth the effort any more. It is just so sad because it only hurts the children.

What would you do?

2007-09-29T16:29:00.000-05:00

I asked our agency if there were any updated photos of our girls. The Program Director had been in Vietnam and delivered photo albums of our family to each of the girls. The agency person told me that when H returned she could have some updated photos and/or video of the girls. So knowing that she was back in the states, I emailed and asked for any video or photos. The agency replied with YES there is video of the girls, but we could not see it because there were other children in the video and we cannot isolate the clip which only the girls in it. You can imagine how my heart sank. I have not had a current photo since June, when volunteers went to the sponsorship camp. It makes me so sad to know that they have a video of our girls and will not share it with us. To add salt to the wound, I have heard that the agency has shared the video clips with other families with our girls in it. There must be a double standard on who gets to see the video. It is so sad that the girls have documentation of there lives in the orphanage in agencies hands, but they will not be able to have it as a keepsake. I find this appalling.

Progress?

2007-09-19T21:27:00.000-05:00

We received an email from our agency this evening. This was after 2 days of calling and emails asking about progress with our adoption. This is what we found out. Our docs that we rushed to get notarized, certified and authenticated made it to Vietnam.

However there was a meeting for all the people involved in Vietnam adoptions to attend a training requested by the DIA concerning the new local change of government entities dealing with International adoption as well as the new rules recently implemented by the DIA. For this reason, our family's paperwork was not processed by the DIA until Tuesday, 9/18 VN time.

Another week of waiting for our girls to come home to their forever family.

The agency is expecting we will enter 2nd DIA notification tomorrow or today in Vietnam 20 Sep. We did receive travel notes and were able to fill out our Travel Preferences for our stay in Vietnam.

Within 7 days, the Province DMOJ is supposed to issue an invitation to travel for our family via the VN office and will ask the agency to pay the adoption fee on our behalf. When we receive the invitation to travel from DMOJ, we will have up to 30 days to prepare our travel to VN. We will travel as soon a possible.

Due to the recent change of agency and personnel working with our agency in the province, one agency listed on our previous acceptance letter is no longer involved with adoption so we have to resign the acceptance letter. This will be our 7th time to do this. It took five times when we first accepted the referral and now working on our 3nd time for this new acceptance letter. Will it ever be right?

2007-09-18T14:35:00.000-05:00

All I want is a travel date!
This wait is like being in your last days of pregnancy, a 18 month pregnancy, you are ready anytime anywhere. Just waiting. The room is done, the car seats are ready and the clothes are washed and ready to wear. But this wait is like no other. You do not have life inside you that you know will arrive when she is ready. This wait if for a child that is ready and waiting. Waiting for 3 long years for a family. We are ready the twins are ready so why do we wait.

Our paperwork is on a roll again.......

2007-09-12T15:15:00.001-05:00

The notarized, certified, authenticated documents arrived in Minneapolis yesterday. The staff scanned them and emailed copies to the office in Vietnam with the originals to follow by DHL. I am hoping that this means things will start moving again and we will be able to travel soon.

Today I had an appointment to get all the travel meds ready. P, T and I will all take Malarone to prevent Malaria and we each get a Z pack incase we get travelers diarrhea. What fun! It is better to be prepared and much better than the illness. I also went over some medical issues of what ifs for the girls. I feel I am ready and armed with Motrin, Benadryl, Laxative, and Eczema creams. The only medical information I have on the girls is their height, weight, that they have very dry skin (probably Eczema) and cold feet.

We have asked the agency to give us extra time in country to spend with the girls. Typically the families arrive in country one or two days before the G&R date. They are given a day or so to meet their child. The G&R is usually the next day. These children have been much younger than our twins. We are asking the agency for something in writing stating we will be able to spend up to a week with the girls before we take custody. At this point the agency has not granted our request. We feel it is crucial to spend a few days with the girls in their environment before they are taken away from everything they have ever known. It is my understanding that they are very shy. Taking them out of their safe zone to fast could have long lasting negative effects; I would prefer to let them get to know us before they leave the orphanage.

Still Waiting

2007-09-05T10:28:00.000-05:00

We are still in the waiting phase for a G&R date. Yesterday I was up bright and early to start paper chasing. By 8 am I was at P’s office to have docs notarized by 8:15 I was on the road to Des Moines to have them State Certified. At 10 am I was at the Secretary of State having the does certified and by 10:30 our docs where at the Fed Ex office to be shipped over night to San Francisco to be country authenticated. It is now out of our hands. The authentication of the documents at the Vietnam Consulate costs $50 per document. We paid an expedited fee of $20 each to get the documents authenticated as soon as they arrive and shipped off. The docs then are sent by DHL to the agency and they scan and sent them by email to Vietnam with the originals to follow by DHL. We should hear something next week about a G&R date. We are still hoping to travel the end of September the first of October.

Adoption Process Update

2007-08-31T16:02:00.000-05:00

We are moving along in the adoption process. We have left the dreaded box 13 which is the good news. The bad news is we are now in limbo. Normally we would go right to box 14 but there has been a set back with our documents. In January we noticed a mistake on our I-171H form. This is the international form that goes to the US embassy in VN to state we are eligible to adopt x number of children. Our home study stated that we could adopt two children. Our front page of our home study stated only one child when in fact we are approved for two. In January we noticed the mistake and had it corrected. It was sent to the embassy in VN and is on file in the Embassy in VN. The agency never informed us that this document needed to be notarized, state certified and country authenticated and sent to the DIA. Our home study expired in June (it is only good for one year) so we updated our home study with our Social Worker this information was sent to the agency and we thought this was done and we would be ready to travel when the time comes. We were informed that the update to the home study was not processed by the agency and had been sitting on their server for months without any attention. Now that we are moving along in the process we found out that this paper work has to be done before we can move to box 14 and be given a G&R date.
Box 14 is when the DIA reviews and approves the child dossier. After the DIA has approved the girl’s dossier and they are deemed available for adoption the DIA issues at 2nd notification to the DMOJ (Province officials) to prepare for a G&R.

What all this means is that we again wait and the girls wait. In an ideal adoption we could travel within a month. Now we have no idea when we will travel but it will happen.

Scrapbooking

2007-08-27T02:35:00.000-05:00

New Photos

2007-08-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

We received new photos of the twins from our agency this week. I love how they hold their lollipops, so dainty. Each twin has a bracelet on their left wrist. This helps the nannies tell them apart. We refer to them as GT (green twin) and RT (red twin).

Scrapbooking

2007-08-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

I've been learning how to do digital scrapbook pages and am falling in love with this new media. Here is one of my favorite layouts.

Keepers

2007-08-12T10:33:00.001-05:00

Today is our 24th Wedding Anniversary and 11 years this month since my mom passed away from cancer. This morning I received this email from a friend. How appropriate...........

Keepers

I grew up with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, and the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close!

Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Keep them close
Author unknown

Dreaded box 13

2007-08-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

Today we enter the 30 day mark of the dreaded box 13. We are supposed to be in box 13 for 30 days and if the Province needs more time they can extend it another 30 days. It will be just another day of waiting to meet our girls.

Adventures in Vietnam

2007-08-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

April 10, 2007
At 7:30 AM, we all loaded onto the van and headed north of the Ocean Star Resort.

We came to a place where a boat was being pulled in with the catch of the day and Mrs. Hanh asked the driver to pull over. I think she heard my sharp intake of breath, which usually signals a photo opportunity that I am missing. Of course, the entire country is a photo op waiting to happen.

We got out and climbed down to the beach, and K discovered wonderful sea shells.

We went over and examined the fish that had been caught that morning, took a few pictures, and then our entire party set to collecting sea shells for K. 4 CHSFS staffers, M, K and me (with very limited help from Miss M) combed the short beach and found wonderful shells. The colors are so different from those you find back home. The driver and staff probably thought we were nuts, but they cheerfully waded into the water and hunted for the very best shells for K. When we had collected a pile that was too big for us to carry, someone produced a bag and we took our treasures back to the bus. The driver wasn’t too thrilled to see the shells coming, but no one goes against Mrs. Hanh (or as we lovingly refer to her, the Admiral.)

We continued north and came to the fishing village. You round a bend and there before you is a bay with hundreds and hundreds of brightly colored fishing boats.

The van pulled over and we walked down to the beach, where fishermen and women were examining the catch and haggling over the prices. Children immediately came up to us with trays of things to sell. Woman came up and Mrs. Hanh started talking with them. She either knows everyone in Vietnam, or has that typical Vietnamese ease of talking to people she doesn’t know.

K was oblivious to all of this, she saw that there were more cool shells and set to work collecting those with two staffer’s always one step behind her. They are almost like a Secret Service detail for her, they never let her go too far away before one or both of them are with her.

I was busy snapping photos, everywhere you looked there were wonderful photos to be taken. I had my photos, K had her shells, Miss M had her bottle (which she kept dropping in the sand) and M had her wish for the day, which was to help create memories of Vietnam and especially her province for K. It was a great morning. But we weren’t done. M literally dragged me off the beach.

Moving along in the process to get the girls........

2007-08-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

We received an email from our agency today. The Vietnam team has informed us that we have moved into box 13 on the flow chart as of July 10.

Box 13 is when DMOJ response to the 1st DIA notification. This is where upon DMOJ receiving the girl's dossier from the orphanage, the DMOJ works with the PMU, police, immigration department, hospital, birth family, etc. to investigate the documents & statements in the girl's dossiers.

I don't want to get my hopes up about travel but we are moving right along.

2007-07-18T10:37:00.000-05:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Approval Process Begins

2007-07-06T09:29:00.000-05:00

As far as progress on getting the girls home it is unknown. It took us 3 weeks and 4 tries to get the acceptance papers signed. Now that that is done the DIA (Department of International Adoptions) sends a request to the DMOJ (Department of Justice) in the Province. This is called the 1st DIA Notification and box 10 on the agency flow chart. Then the DMOJ will have the orphanage director prepare the girl’s dossier. This could take up to 37 days. We have had no word from the agency that we have entered into this next step.

Flow chart
Boxes 1 thru 9
These are the steps taken to get to the day of referral. It took us 436 days

Box 10
1st DIA Notification
Approval process begins once the DIA has received notification about the referral from the orphanage director, they send on official request for the child’s dossier from the DMOJ. This should take 7 days. We entered box 10 on June 19th.

Box 11
DMOJ Requests Child Dossier
Within 7 days of receiving notification the DMOJ notifies the orphanage to prepare child dossier

Box 12
Preparation of child’s dossier
The orphanage must prepare and submit 4 authenticated copies of the child dossier to the DMOJ with in 30 days

Box 13
DMOJ Response to 1st DIA notification
(1) Upon receiving the child dossier from the orphanage, the DMOJ works with the PMU, police, immigration department, hospital, birth family, etc. to investigate the documents & statements in the child dossier.
(2) Upon completion of the investigations, the DMOJ notifies the DIA that the investigation has found the that the child:
a. Is not legally free for adoption
b. Is legally free for adoption and sends the child dossier to the DIA

At least 30 days, but no more than 60 days

Box 14
DIA Review & Approval of child Dossier
The DIA received the response from the DMOJ and reviews the child dossier and either:
1) The DIA approves the child dossier and issues the 2nd notification to the DMOJ along with the parent dossier and request the DMOJ to prepare for the G&R (Giving and Receiving) 7 days
2) The DIA determines that further investigation and information about the child’s dossier; the DIA will instruct the responsible parties (DMOJ will coordinate with police, orphanage as needed).
The DOMJ has 30 days to provide the DIA with the requested information.

Box 15
2nd DIA Notification

DIA sends official letter to DMOJ stating their approval of the application along with the complete application fro the DMOJ to review. They have 7 days

**Agency-VN staff follows up with the DIA to learn the date of the approval
**Agency-VN follows up with the DMOJ to confirm that they have received the DIA Notification and prepare for the G&R.

Box 16
Travel Approval

(1) DMOJ receives 2nd notification with the complete application; DMOJ sends a letter to the family via agency informing them of the adoption approval and requests that the family pay the adoption fee. (7 days upon receipt of 2nd DIA notification)
(2) Agency-Vietnam arranges with the DMOJ to pay the adoption fee on family’s behalf.
(3) Agency-VN, working with the DMOJ, PMU and the family to determine appropriate flight arrangements to complete the adoption in Vietnam (within 30 days or 60 days if family requests an extension).
(4) Agency-VN sends the family’s letter of acceptance and requests the G&R date
(5) Agency works with family to arrange and prepare for travel.

Box 17
Approval from People Committee
1) DOMJ sends official letter a complete application to the People Committee to receive approval of the adoption
2) PC issues a legal decision order for the adoption and sends it to the DMOJ. 7 days

Box 18
G&R Date
Within 7 days of receiving the PC’s legal decision order, the DMOJ informs the PMU of G&R date
** The G&R will be arranged to occur within 15 business days (usually within the first 5 business days) the family is in Vietnam

We have a referral!

2007-06-17T19:49:00.000-05:00

Our journey began over a year ago. We have gone though a mountain of paperwork, waited and waited some more. Throughout this journey, I have been very active in researching thanks to the Internet. A year ago when we were researching agencies, we gathered all the information we could. As we looked at agencies and selected our agency, I was fortunate enough to have been given photos of children in an orphanage in one of the Provinces where the agency works in Vietnam. These photos were taken on a trip by a staff person who was working at the sponsorship summer camp. One of the photos caught my eye. The children in the photo where stunning, girls. I kept a copy of that photo on computer as my wallpaper to keep me going during the long wait.

These children where no longer infants and I knew that they would be harder to place as they aged in the orphanage. Most families want infant girls. Not us, we entered this adoption wanting to adopt a girl that possible was caught up in Vietnam’s 3 year long moratorium and destined to stay in an orphanage long-term due to age. These children came into the orphanage after Vietnam shut down adoptions and these children were growing older in the orphanage with little hope of finding a family.

As the year went by, this photo of the children in this Province inspired me to continue to fight for ethical adoptions for the children of VN. At one point, I even inquired about the children in the photo and was told that these children have been referred and will be traveling to their new home soon. I was really glad they had finally found a forever family. As Christmas neared I was told that the Province where the photo of the children was taken was going to open soon. Of course, I began to research to see if any of the children in the orphanage would fit our home study and hope the Province would open soon.

The Province has opened and there are 13 older (up to age 6) children in the orphanage. Some of the children have called this orphanage home for five years. My thoughts go back to the photos of the children I had seen at the beginning of our journey. Some have been referred out and some have not. Which ones are still there?

I found a mom who took her child on a homeland tour to the orphanage. This orphanage was the same orphanage my inspirational photo came from. Would she have information about the children remaining in the orphanage? I contacted her through email and she instantly replied with a phone number to call. Yes, she was at the orphanage less than a year ago and was able to see the children in the photo. She also told me the children in my photo were to have been referred out to another agency. Because the officials felt it may look inappropriate the children where not referred. She expressed her sorrow for the children. She knew that if they didn’t get referred soon the chances are slim that they would find a home.

So here I now had a photo on my computer of two lovely children who inspired me throughout the adoption process, who were still stuck in VN. Could one of these children be our adoptive child? The answer is yes!! We received a referral on May 24th. I saw the photo over a year ago and it is burned into my memory. The photo I saw a year ago was of a set of 2 year old twin girls.

We have been given a referral of the twin girls in the photo. They are now beautiful 3 year old girls. They have been waiting and waiting for their forever family only to be caught up in the moratorium and politics of the agency and government. They have had very little; nothing to call their own except for each other. But now they have a family. A mother, a father, and 3 big brothers who will care for them, protect them and love them forever. They will have a bed with a mattress to sleep on. They will have food to eat when they are hungry. They will have warm, clean clothes to wear. Most of all they will have a family! So with all that said I would like to present our daughters

Thanh Van and Thanh Vy

Dragon Fruit

2007-04-17T07:13:00.000-05:00

Dragon Fruit is a fruit grown in Binh Thuan Provence. It is so interesting. The above photo shows what the outside looks like. The Vietnamese grow it in groves within feet of their homes.
If the outside is not interesting enough the inside is as interesting. Who would think when you cut dragon fruit open that it would be white with black seeds.

The taste of dragon fruit is mild and can be compared to nothing we have. Just peel away the outside skin and enjoy. When in Vietnam you must try dragon fruit.

Dragon fruit being sold in the market.

Local grocery store.

2007-04-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

Back to reality.........

2007-04-16T10:18:00.000-05:00

Depending on how you look at things I am back to reality. That is my reality. Vietnam puts everything in to perspective. I love Vietnam, I love the people, the culture and the adventure. However Vietnam puts things in perspective. We take for granted so many everyday things like clean drinking water, refrigeration, a drive in a comfortable vehicle, grocery stores. Yet the Vietnamese have access to very little of these things and yet they have smiles on their faces and live life to it's fullest. It is a hard life especially for women who do much of the labor. But yet they continue on with their lives and are happy.

It turned out I didn't have access to the Internet as I had planned so I didn't get to post as much as I like. In Saigon we had great access to the Internet in our rooms. The problem was we were not in our rooms very much and our stay was very short. In Ben Tré the only Internet is at the post office and it is hard to find time to get there. I had high hopes for the Internet at the resort in Phan Thiet but that too was disappointing. The resort had one computer and it was very slow. When I did have blogging time during naps the problem was down loading it to my thumb drive and transferring it to the resort computer after naps. It would crash the computer every time I would try. So I gave up (not wanting to buy the resort a new computer) and will post from the comforts of my home. The flip side of the Internet access was the time. The girls and I were so busy going to the beach, the pool and enjoying the day it was hard to find time to get to the computer and it was not fair for the girls to sit and watch me type. So my blogging will be after the fact.

Now that I am home I hope to share with you the adventures of our journey and boy was it an adventure. I have hundreds of photos of the country to give you a snapshot of what Vietnam is really like.

An update on our referral status. As of today we do not have a referral. We are hoping that once the orphanage in Binh Thuan opens referrals will flow and we will be one of them. M

YES, This is someone's home......

2007-04-06T08:31:00.000-05:00

2007-04-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

Ferry on the Mekong Delta

2007-04-06T07:42:00.000-05:00

Ben Tre Day 1

2007-04-06T04:50:00.001-05:00

After arriving in Ben Tre and unloading our luggage except for mine, it is floating somewhere around the world. We had a little time to freshen up and off to the orphanage we went. The nannies were expecting us and had all the children dressed in new outfits. They were so cute. We gently entered the room that the children live in. It is very clean but things are worn. There are 20 children who live in this part of the orphanage. A room in size about 40X40. They range in age form 19 mos. to 4 weeks old. The oldest 4 children have been referred to families in the US and will be traveling home soon.
The first day we just wanted the children to get use to us being there. Many of the children warmed up to us immediately others needed a little time. It was so fun to recognize the children from photos other families have shared with me. We stayed at the center for 2 hours and then headed back to the hotel for a wonderful 7 course Vietnamese meal. The food was wonderful and it seems to never end.

Huston we have Internet!!!!!!!!

2007-04-06T02:21:00.001-05:00

We are back in HCMC now. It is great to have a long hot shower. Ben Tre was wonderful it is like stepping back in time, except of course for the scooters. Travel took 3 hours on the narrow roughly paved roads. M encouraged me to take a Dramamine before we left and I am glad I did. The last portion of the trip was a ferry ride across the Mekong River. The city of Ben Tre is the point of entrance to the Provence. After a short trip down the streets we reached our hotel looking out on the Mekong Delta. M

2007-04-02T18:32:00.001-05:00

Life Is Good!

After arriving yesterday we loaded up in a van and headed to the office of our agency. There we were so warmly welcomed by the staff and H. We immediately were served water and fruit. One was a grapefruit but much more delicious than in the US. I am not a grapefruit fan but this was good. After the brief stop at the office we headed through the streets of HCMC to our hotel. I usually keep my eyes focused out the front window because I get car sick easily but not here. If you look out the front window your heart will stop beating several times because you are afraid you will get hit. Just like the luggage in the airport there is no organization to traffic. ACK. After checking in at the hotel and a good hot shower we headed for the famous Ben Thuan market just a few minutes walk down the streets of HCMC. Oh and when I say a walk down the streets. It is actually down the street. The side walks are to full of venders and scooters for people to walk on the side walks. At the Ben Thuan market we grabbed a bit to eat and did a little shopping for the girls and headed back to the hotel for a short rest before supper. The short little nap turned into a 3 hour rest. A well needed 3 hour rest. At 6:30 we headed down stairs and off to see the sites.

Today we will leave for Ben Tre to visit the orphanage there. It will be a 4 hour journey, part of which will be on a fairy. I will write again as soon as I can. I’m not sure how the internet service will be in Ben Tre but I will do my best.
Always M

I Made It and........

2007-04-02T10:13:00.001-05:00

I’m in love with Vietnam!

I have only been in the country for less then 6 hours and I’m in love!
We arrived after a long 36 hour airport to airport journey. I started out in CR flew to Chicago then to LAX headed from there to Hong Kong then Hong Kong to HCMC. My flight starting out in CR was delayed by 1 hour so by the time the plane landed in Chicago the plain to LA was boarding. So I ran through the Chicago airport as fast as I could carry a back pack that was way too heavy and pulling my carry on. I made it with out any time to spare. The flight to LA was typical long national flight. When I reached LA I was to meet the family I was to be traveling with. It was a great reunion. The flight to Hong Kong was over 14 hours and time slowly ticked by. I would sleep thinking 3 or 4 hours had passed only to awake to have only an hour or two pass. I was so pleased when we landed only to find out flight to Hong Kong was boarding. So we hit the ground hustling to make our next flight. The flight to Hong Kong was a piece of cake only two hours and nine minutes. We finally made it to HCMC and where thrilled to be in Vietnam. Going through customs was relatively easy which was good because the girls where ready to be set free. Luggage pick up was an interesting adventure. Not any organization to any of it. Luggage luggage everywhere. Except mine. M found all her pieces but my two where missing. We headed to the lost luggage desk and sure enough my luggage did not make it to VN. I’m in love with Vietnam! M

I'm off to see the world!

2007-03-31T11:56:00.001-05:00

I have been invited to go with a family to visit Vietnam on a volunteer journey. I am so excited to soak up the culture my future daughter will come from. I will be leaving today and arrive in HCMC on April 2nd. I will meet up with my traveling family in LA where we will head out over the big pond to Hong Kong and then HCMC. I am hoping to post frequently to this blog so you will be able to follow along our exciting journey to see the sights and people of Vietnam. M

All About Me!

2007-03-24T09:45:00.001-05:00

I've been tagged..........
1.What time is it? 9:47 CST
2. What is your name? Gardencart
3. What do you fear losing most? My children
4. What do you drive? Jeep Grand Cherokee
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? Uncertain
6. Where were you born? Iowa Falls, Iowa
7. Ever been to Alaska? No
8. Ever been toilet papering, rolling, or decorating trees? Yes
9. Croutons or Bacon bits? Croutons
10. Favorite day of the week? I like them all
11. Favorite restaurant? To many to choose just one
12. Favorite Flower? Today it’s Hyacinth
13. Favorite sport to watch? Baseball
14. Favorite Drink? Diet Mountain Dew
15. Favorite Ice Cream? DQ Peanut butter cup blizzard
16. Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney, always Disney
17. Favorite fast food restaurant? Mickey D's
18. What color is your bedroom carpet? Cream
19. How many times did you fail your driving exam? None
20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? Margaret
21. What do you do most often when you are bored? Who gets bored!
22. What is your bedtime? 10:00
23. Favorite TV show? Grey's Anatomy
24. Ford or Chevy? Chevy
25. What are you listening to right now? Children playing
26. What are your favorite colors? Blue, Pink, Green
27. How many tattoos do you have? None, but contemplating
28. Do you have any pets? 3 dogs,(Dalmatian, yorkie, golden doodle) and 2 cats
29. Which came first the chicken or the egg? Chicken
30. What would you like to accomplish before you die? To see the world!
I tag Karin, Chocoholic, KelleyO!

Happy Spring!

2007-03-22T15:07:00.001-05:00

Happy Spring!
The good news is that it is spring and the flowers are popping their heads out of the ground. The grass is turning green at least mine is I fertilized earlier this week. OH happy days.
The great news is that our program director has headed back to VN. She may be opening up a new orphanage. That would be wonderful for all the waiting families with our agency.
Adoption is often compared to a roller coaster ride. Many ups and downs ups and downs. These last few days have been on the up! Hold on.........

Differences between Angelina’s Adoption from VN and Mine

2007-03-15T12:35:00.001-05:00

1. We wait to be matched with a child our adoption is on its 367 day.
Angelina goes to VN over thanksgiving and picks one out.

2. Our dossier has been in VN for 7 Months now.
Angelina’s gets logged in immediately.

3. We have to wait for the child’s dossier to be collected up to 6 months
Angelina’s child has his done with out the 30 days to look for the birth parents.

4 We have to wait for travel approval from the Province
Angelina gets right in.

5. We have to wait for a G & R date and then we are lucky if it happens on time.
Angelina gets one and it is as scheduled.

6. We have to wait one week for the child’s passport to be done.
Angelina’s child is given immediately.

7 We then have to wait to get an appointment to the US Embassy to apply for a Visa to the US.
Angelina I don’t think so.

8. We have to wait 24 hours for the child’s Visa to pass the security clearance to make sure our child is not a terrorist.
Angelina must not.

9. Our travel to VN will take up to 3 weeks.
Angelina’s is done in less than a week.

10. We are just a family wanting to adopt a little girl. So we wait. Angelina is a celebrity so she gets instant gratification.

Don’t get me wrong. I think that Angelina is doing a great thing by adopting especially an older boy which is harder to place. But how come she dose not get in line. I wonder what her dossiers log in number is if she even has one. We have been waiting over 7 months just for a referral. Dr Long where is my dossier? I am requesting to adopt an older girl so what is the difference. She’s a celeb! I’m just a mom!

365 Days..........

2007-03-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

It has been 365 days since we started this journey into adoption.
In 365 days all the seasons have passed.....
In 365 days I have learned to be patient......
In 365 days I have learned to love the children of Vietnam......
In 365 days I have made many new friends, most I have never met.......
In 365 days I have grown in faith.....
In 365 days I have learned the importance of ethical, legal, transparent adoptions....
In 365 days I grow weary of every meeting my daughter....
In 365 days I wonder will this adoption journey ever end with a daughter in my arms........

Pitt and Jolie To Adopt Child from Vietnam?

2007-03-13T08:23:00.001-05:00

Pitt and Jolie To Adopt Child from Vietnam?
SanFrancisco Chronicle

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have filed paperwork to adopt a boy from Vietnam, according to press reports.
The pair have three children -- Maddox, 5, Zahara, 2, and Shiloh, 9 months.
A source in Vietnam tells US Weekly the couple have filed papers with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services to adopt a boy from the Tam Binh orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, which they visited in November.
The pair have long been vocal about their desire to raise more international children.
Their son Maddox was born in Cambodia, while daughter Zahara was born in Ethiopia.
Jolie said recently, "If we're going to have 10 kids, we'd like to raise them while we're young."

Hidden Treasures

2007-03-07T13:17:00.001-06:00

September 2006

2006-09-25T11:42:00.001-05:00

September 25, 2006
First families are in Vietnam.The first two families from our agency arrived in Vietnam yesterday. This is such a milestone for the rest of the families waiting to adopt through our agency. Back in May, the first four families received referrals. Two families got their referrals from the Provence of Ben Tre and two families from the Provence of Vinh Long. The families with referrals from Ben Tre are in Vietnam today. Unfortunately, the Vinh Long families are still waiting for travel approval. Ben Tre care center has about 20 children waiting for adoption. Seven of those children are referred to families and are waiting for paper work to be finished and for their families to be given travel approval to travel to pick up their babies. One of the two families traveling is going to pick up twin boys who are around two years old. They have set up a blog to follow their journey at http://www.busstwins.blogspot.com/. This will be their second adoption from Vietnam. They also have twins they adopted before the moratorium.This gets us one-step closer to our referral. Yeah! There are 10 families with referrals, 21 families with dossiers in Vietnam waiting for pre-referrals. We are number 17 on that list.

September 13,2006

2006-09-13T11:43:00.001-05:00

September 13, 2006
Life goes on……It has been a while since I posted so I will catch you up on the adoption front. Our dossier made it to VN on Aug 11 and now we wait. That is about it. I have not heard anything from the agency regarding the status. They say they will not hear a thing until it is logged in with the DIA. Therefore, no news is good news. Patiently waiting

August 2006

2006-08-30T11:41:00.001-05:00

August 9, 2006
Rapid RabbitThat is what he calls me. Type A personality. Wanting to be in control. My D.H. (dear husband or darn husband) which ever the day brings is trying to be supportive. I was hoping that our dossier would be sent out today and be headed for Hanoi, Vietnam for translation. I knew the staff was working on getting it all put together, but as of tonight at 5 it is still sitting at the agency. Tomorrow will be another day and maybe our dossier will be sent.When it reaches Hanoi, it will take two weeks to be translated into Vietnamese. There are four offices that do the translation for the whole country, and they handle all the dossiers that come in from around the world. What a task that must be! If our dossier gets to Hanoi and is translated before the next matching meeting our dossier will be in the pile. Not that it would get matched right away, but at least it will be in the right place.There are sixteen dossiers from our agency to be matched which are ahead of ours. Right now matching meetings are scheduled every other month, and they are making approximately 5 matches at each meeting. Like everything in the adoption world, things can change with the drop of a hat. Nothing is set in stone. I will be patient Rapid Rabbit.Rapid Rabbit is a song that our boys listened to as toddlers in which the rabbit just can’t wait to be patient.
August 8, 2006
When I check our Fed Ex, tracking number today I was very surprised! Our dossier left San Francisco last night and arrived at our agency this morning at 9:19. I was told that the dossier would be assembled and notarized and then be sent off today to Vietnam. Therefore, our Dossier is officially DTV. (Dossier to Vietnam) This is a huge step in our adoption process. With all the joy this brings , it also means that the biggest wait will begin. This is the wait for a referral. Please pray for this little girl who God has chosen for us that she is safe, well fed and have nannies who take care of her. Also, pray for her birth mom that she may feel some peace about giving her daughter up for adoption for this is one of the hardest things she has done.
August 5, 2006
This week has been a busy one. Last week, we went to Des Monies to get our finger printings taken at the immigration office. They will run our prints to make sure we have not been convicted of any crimes so we can get our visas to go to Vietnam when the time comes. The prints are good for 18 months. If we don’t travel with in the 18 month time frame will have to pay $70 per person to get them redone and this time N will also have to have prints done since he will be over 18. We are hoping to travel and be home before they expire. After our fingerprints are sent, we wait. This can take up to 2 to 3 months in some states. Iowa however does it quickly, usually about a week. Our letter stating we where approved (I-171H) came back in less than a week. I was shocked. That was last Tuesday. Wednesday I headed to Des Monies to have this last and final document state certified $5 for each of the 10 documents we need for our dossier. After that I went to the bank for a cashier’s check. Getting a cashier’s check is generally quite easy to do but I was in Des Monies and do not know where anything is except the shopping areas. I looked up the address in the phone book and entered them into Lola (the name I gave my GPS system). Lola did the best she could but with construction, one way streets and traffic it was not an easy task. I eventually found the bank and got the money 10 documents $50 per document to be authenticated $500. Now I had to find Fed Ex. Luckily, I could just walk a few blocks to get to one. The lady at the Fed Ex office was very nice and wanted to help. She wanted to help too much. I had specific instructions on how to mail the package to the Vietnamese consulate. I need to provide a return envelope with postage paid to be sent to our agency. She insisted that I didn’t need another envelope that they could just go find one because Fed Ex is all over in CA. After a lengthy discussion, I finally got through to her that this is how it needed to be done. So much help so little time. I assembled the package, 10 documents with 10 state certifications a cover letter and our check. I wanted to check it over one more time, but she snatched it out of my hand to go weigh it. It was sent off before 2 pm Wednesday and arrived at 10:30 Thursday. I don’t think it has been sent out to our agency. I have checked the Fed Ex tracking site and no package found. Others that have sent their dossiers to the consulate have a one day turn around. I will wait until Monday if it has not been sent out yet I will call. So here we are waiting again. I’m getting use to it now. The next wait will be for a referral that will take months.

July 2006

2006-07-01T11:39:00.001-05:00

July 2, 2006
The month of May and June just flew by. Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to post. May was a busy month with school coming to an end and going to all the end of the year activities. P and I worked on the pre-adoption workbook With Eyes Wide Open. It took us the whole weekend to complete all the questions. Good thing it rained. Our first home study meeting went great. It lasted 2 1/2 hours, and time went by very quickly. Our second Home study meeting was at our home. The social worker arrived at one and left about four. She interviewed all the boys. It was fun to hear what the boys think about the adoption and their lives in our household. Overall the meeting went great; it was just long. With each interview with the boys, she told them that they could have a sister by Christmas. As she left our home she was hoping to get the report written up the next week.The next week went very fast and on June 8 she called to tell us we were verbally “home study approved” and she would write up the hard copy when she got back from Europe. That meant we would not have our hard copy of our home study until July.I kept myself busy while she was gone by collecting documents for our dossier. ( The dossier is a large stack of papers that Vietnam requires to adopt.) By the time she got back from Europe I had all the forms I needed to finish our dossier except for the home study. So, we wait.Once the final home study is complete. P, A and I will go toDes Moines to get our fingerprints taken at the Immigration department. Fingerprints will be check to assure the Vietnam government that we do not have a criminal background. Once that is done we will need to wait for the 171 form.All of the dossier forms have to be notarized and some will have to be state certified. More time more waiting.The final step is to send all the forms to be authenticated in San Fransisco at the Vietnam Consulate. More time more waiting and more money. It will cost $50 per document to get authenticated, about 400 to 500 dollars. After that, the forms get sent to our agency. They will check everything over and if they are O.K., they will send it Vietnam. And then the waiting for the referral begins.

My Mother Taught Me......

2006-05-05T11:35:00.001-05:00

A little humor as mother’s day approaches May 5, 2006
My Mother Taught Me.

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
“If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
“You’d better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”
4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
“Because I said so, that’s why.”
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
“If you fall out of that swing and break your neck,you’re not going to the store with me.”
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
“Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”
7. My mother taught me IRONY.
“Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
“Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM .
“Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
“You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.”
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
“This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
“If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!”
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.”
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
“Stop acting like your father!”
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
“There are millions of less fortunate children in this world whodon’t have wonderful parents like you do.”
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
“Just wait until we get home.”
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
“You are going to get it when you get home!”
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.”
19. My mother taught me ESP.
“Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?”
20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
“When that lawnmower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
“You’re just like your father.”
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.”
Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”
25. And my favorite: my mother taught me about JUSTICE.
“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”

May 2006

2006-05-01T11:38:00.001-05:00

May 2006
Our good news is that we finished the workbook and work sheets to start our home study! I turned it in yesterday, so we are officially starting our home study! What is next? You guessed it waiting. What are we going to do while we are waiting? Yesterday, I ordered 6 yards of good black dirt for our gardens and gardens to be. I think that will keep us busy for a few days. Pray we will not have rain. That would be messy. Pat will be at drill this weekend so I guess I have a lot of work to do!Our waiting time for this phase is not so bad. First, our file needs to be sent by snail mail to the agency to CR. It will take a week for the Social Worker to read and study the 160+-page workbook and our 24+ work sheets that we filled out over the rainy weekend. After that, we will set up our first home study appointment and then away we go onto the next steps of our journey. The home study can take from two to four months to complete. In the meantime, I will garden. Our oldest will be moving back from college tomorrow. He has not spent a full summer home in five years. For the last five years, he has been working at Camp Wapsie first as a camp counselor and then as the Camp’s aquatics director. He has decided this year that he needs a real job so he is assistant manager of aquatics at the CR country club. He is moving up but it always seems to be around water and children. Having him home for the summer will be a blessing and a curse. I will love having him home. His brothers on the other hand have to readjust to a new pecking order and may not always appreciate having him in the house as much as we do. Life is always an adventure at our house. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

April 2006

2006-04-20T11:34:00.001-05:00

April 2006
Waiting is the hardest. For those of you who know me, you know that when I decide to do something, I roll up my sleeves and get to work. When you are pregnant, you know that waiting is part of the game and you want to wait so the baby will be developed and strong to enter the world. That makes sense to me. With the adoption process, we wait for one thing to finish before you move on to the next. Right now we are waiting to do a pre-adoption class. I know that there is a lot of paperwork yet to complete, biographies to write, and certificates to find, so why can’t I be working on that? The people from the agency say they don’t want to overwhelm us with all the paperwork. Well, I know how to pace myself. This is not difficult compared to what we have done in the past. So, let us roll up our sleeves and work. Good old farm ethic. So what do I do? I wait, I garden, I surf the net for anything that relates to adoption and Vietnam. My husband thinks I’m addicted to the net. Not such a bad thing, there are worse. I haven’t blogged much because there isn’t much to say other than vent my frustration. But even though waiting is hard, we know it is for a good purpose, a life long dream and part of God’s plan.
Welcome to our journey! We have just started this adoption journey and it is all I can think about. After choosing an adoption agency and registering, we started on the pages and pages of the application. DHS application, DHS fact sheet, physical exam reports, agency agreements, reference letters, background check release forms for city, county, state, 10 year residential history, plus birth and marriage certificates, and family photo. If we had all this paperwork for biological kids, we would have fewer children in the world. On second thought, it sure would be good birth control. That is just the beginning. There will be much more to come I am sure. Don’t get me wrong; I will do all of this to adopt a child. Actually, I would much rather be doing paperwork than waiting. At least I have some control of the time when I am filling out forms and finding certificates. Right now I just have to wait and wait for everyone else to get their job done. Therefore, I will be patient. Good thing it is spring and I can work outside on landscaping and planting flowers.

The Beginning.......

2006-03-11T10:33:00.001-06:00

The Beginning……..
This journey to adoption has been a long time dream. I have dreamt about adopting a child since early childhood. As my life unfolded, my husband and I have been married for 23 years. We have three biological boys/men of whom we are very proud. The dream of adoption would pop up every now and then, but it never seemed like it was the right time.My husband was deployed last year to serve our country with the Army. He left the day after Valentines Day 2005 and was gone until Feb. 2006. This year gave me time to soul search and become closer to God. I took each day at a time and put all my trust in the God that he would allow my husband to come home safely and he did. He has traveled the world many time and I have always teased him that when he traveled just find a little girl, put her in your suitcase, and bring her home. He never did. However, after he got home from overseas this year, everything seemed to be settling back into place, and our family was complete again, but I had an uncontrollable feeling to go on-line and google the word adoptions. As I did research, doors opened and the possibilities were revealed. I trust in God and know that he will show me the way that is right for my family. If this adoption is in God’s will, it will happen. I was overcome by emotion. It was time to explore the adoption dream of mine. I did not tell my husband for a couple of days after that. I did not know how he would take it. One evening after he came home from work I told him I did a very bad thing on the Internet a couple of days ago. I googled the word adoption. Silence…Finally, he said ………… What about retirement and how much is it going to cost? I should have known. Well after a few days of thinking, discussing, soul searching and then more research and discussing, we came to a decision that yes, we would take the journey and see where it leads us. If God is leading us to do this, we will see where he will take us. Doors have been opening, but a couple closed only to then have another one open.I invite you to follow us through this adoption journey in search for a forever family for a little girl.