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

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."

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……

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.......

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

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

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

New Photos

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

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

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

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

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........

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.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Approval Process Begins

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!

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

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.

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

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......

Ferry on the Mekong Delta

Ben Tre Day 1

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!!!!!!!!

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

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........

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!

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!

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!

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

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..........

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?

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

September 2006

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

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

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

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......

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

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

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.......

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.