Pictures

I had trouble attaching pictures to the last entry.

Sarah and dad enjoy having a drink together. We discovered at dinner last night with Hung that she likes strawberry flavored milk. (she told him that in vietnamese, when we tried to give her plain milk.)We found some in the market in the hotel. She also has enjoyed playing with her airplane.

Safely in Hanoi

God is Good! His goodness and mercy are amazing. After a not so good night sleep, (Sarah had several night terrors and crying episodes) we were prepared for the worst today. However, things have gone very smoothly. We had to wake up early to take a taxi to the airport. (Rush hour traffic in Saigon is truly a sight to see.) Once we got to the airport we were a little surprized at the difference in the domestic terminal versus the international one we flew into Saturday night. (It makes the greyhound bus station look like the Ritz.) We had an interesting flight. We had just started taxiing when Sarah announced De Dia! I am sure the spelling is incorrect but that means I have to go potty NOW! When I told her she would have to wait until the seatbelt sign went off, she wailed and announced more loudly DE DIA!!! Finally, several minutes later I was able to take her. She is amazing! She was able to hold it all that time without an accident. Midway through the flight she fell asleep across our laps and all was good except for the poor woman directly behind us who vomitted for at least a half an hour. Those of you who know me well, know that is the one bodily function I just can't handle. It may have been that or the unidentfiable entree they insisted on giving us, but nevertheless, I felt ill.
When we finally arrived in Hanoi we took a taxi to the hotel. That was an adventure. The driver got the address incorrect and took us to a very seedy part of town. We were relieved when he finally got us to the right hotel. It is a pleasant place to stay. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living space. Sarah has enjoyed having the freedom to run around from room to room.
Her disposition today is much better than yesterday. She has been happy most of the day. She has enjoyed playing with the airplane that Sam and Marli got her and the dolls that Tim got her. She has also intently looked at her photo album of the family. She had her first chicken nugget and seemed to like it. But mostly she liked the french fries. Yes, Heather, we will have to get her and Simon together for a french fry date.
Yes, Bella Sarah has been wearing your sandals. And although she isn't fond of wearing shoes, she tolerates your sandals best of all.
The weather here is warm but has rained very steady since we arrived. Looking at the forcast, it looks as though it will be much of the same for at least the next week.
Tomorrow we go to apply for Sarah's passport and have our interview for her immigration visa at the U.S. consulate office.

A new day a new beginning

Today was full of lots of emotions. Sarah had several times today where she grieved for her foster mother and showed her anxiety to be a part of her new life with us. But through her sadness it was reassuring that she clung onto us.

We are all finding it frustrating to not be able to fully communicate with each other. We have gotten the important phrases down like potty, eat, sleep. But there are definatly times when she gets frustrated that we just don't understand what she is saying.

We went out to the market today and she enjoyed shopping. What can I say, a girl after my own heart. (Marli, I think she is going to like going to the mall with us.)

Tonight we had dinner with Hung, Cuc and Vy. It was so nice to have Hung around to translate what she was saying. He also worked with her to teach her the English words.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Hanoi to process her Visa paperwork.

The Big Day!

We just awoke from our first night with Sarah. The last 24 hours seem very surreal. We left the hotel at a little after 7:00 a.m. yestesterday morning and drove to the town of Bien Hoa with the other Holt family that is here. They are a nice couple from D.C. adopting their first child, a boy named Vu. Driving into the town/village of Bien Hoa from Ho Chi Mihn was like driving from a bustling city into a very very poor village. We arrived at the orphange and were cheerfully greeted by the Holt representative Tuan, the orphange director, the social worker and lots of the orphange staff. We passed out our gifts and were told both children were arriving soon with their foster families. Sarah arrived first. Her foster mom kissed her and walked her over to us and introduced us as Ba and Ma. She approahed us hessitantly but eventually let me pick her up, while keeping a close eye on her foster mom. She then went to David a looked at him intently. Then without prompting kissed him.

We then went down to the section of the orphange where the little children stay. There were a lot of little babie and quite a few toddlers. There was also an older boy with a severely cleft lip and palet. He took to both of and really like having his picture taken and then looking at himself in the camera. We were able to see the children of the other Holt families we had connected with on-line. We gave them hugs and took their pictures.

We then got to spend time with Sarah's foster mother and father and little sister. We asked her foster mom lots of questions about her schedule, likes and dislikes. We could tell she really loved Sarah. Then it was time to say goodbye. Her foster mom held her for a moment and and kissed her. Then she muttered something to the director in Vietnamese and the director took Sarah to another room and the foster family quickly left on their motorbike (all three of them on one bike a very common thing here to see whole familie riding on one motorbike no helmets).

Sarah cried a bit when she realized they were gone but stopped when we showed her, her new doll.

We then went to the Department of Justice for the formal giving and recieving ceremony. It consisted of waiting a long time in a crowded hot building then signing a few papers and then we were on our way. The other couple James and Adrianna had a much harder time with Vu. He cried a lot.

When we got back to the hotel we took her to the room and gave her a nice warm bath. We could tell she wasn't used to a bath in a tub like this. We then dressed her in a pretty new dress and went for lunch. She was very popular with all the waitresses. She talked to all of them and even told one in Vietnamese that we were her mom and dad. I was so thankful to the waitress for translating that. She also told one of them she was 4 instead of three then laughed. That is something big brother Sam would do. She ate a lot for a little girl whose not supposed to have an appetite. Although she ate very slowly, so maybe that was interpreted as not having much of an appetite. We then went back to the room and all had a nap.

After our nap we went out on the town. We bought her two pairs of shoes, a bottle and the formula they said she was used to. Bye the way the two pairs of shoes cost less than $10.00 at a fancy department store.

Then we had dinner. She had rice (com) and fruit. Then she had some of my hamburger and lots of my fries. Yes, Katie you were right she loves french fries.

Then we went back to the room and got ready for bed. She crawled up in her bed and we said prayers. ( this was something new for her) We all crashed. It had been a long emotional day for all of us.

This morning I woke up about 6:30 and peaked over at her. She was wide a awake but laying very still not saying a word. I wonder what she is thinking. We scooped her up and put her in bed with us for some snuggle time. Things went remarkable well for a first day and night. She is wonderful! We are so blessed! Praise God!

Hello from Vietnam!

We have arrived! After a very long day (days) of traveling we have arrived in Vietnam! All of our flights were on time, we made all our connections and and got all of our luggage. Praise God! Our hotel is nice and the food is great. We even got massages at the hotel today. We each had a one hour massage for a total cost of $34.00.

We met up with Hung and his 5 year old daughter Vy. Hung gave us a great tour of Saigon which included shopping and a visit to the War Remnants museum. This mueum was previously called the American atrocities against Vietnam museum. It was a very difficult thing to see.

We exhanged our money for the Vietnanese Dong. And since the U.S. dollar = 16,083 Dong. We are feeling pretty rich. We are also feeling like a novelty. People have been amazed at David's heigth. At 6'1" he may be an average sized American man, but here, he is more like Goliath that David. They have also been facinated by my blond hair.

Tomorrow is the big day. We leave in the morning to travel to Bien Hoa (about an hours drive) to the orphange where we will meet Sarah. Please keep us in your prayers.

Also, please excuse any typos or misspelled words. The blogspot website is in Vietnamese so I can't figure out where the spell check is.

Saying Our Goodbyes!

Definitely one of the hardest parts of this adventure was having to say goodbye to our kiddos at home. After many many hugs and kisses we tucked them in at Grandmas house and went home to try to sleep. We were able to sleep some but left bright and early to go to the airport.

We are now all checked into and waiting for our flight to LA. Good News! Our bags were all okay on the weight limit (one by only a few ounces) but no last minute shifting of stuff. (I can keep all the shoes I packed!)

Tim, Marli and Sam: We love you and miss you already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good News! Great News! Awesome News!

Our good news arrived last Friday September 14th with the quarterly update from Vietnam. We got great new pictures of Sarah, accompanied by the good news of a much better health update. She had not needed I/V fluids this quarter, she appeared to be eating a little better and she had gain a pound and a half. We were thrilled! What a great start to the weekend.

Our great News was that on Saturday, my dear friend Dena hosted a "not quite a baby shower" shower in Sarah's honor. It was great fun! Thank you all that attended and thank you Dena for a wonderful day!

Our Awesome news came at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning September 17th. Holt called to let us know we had Travel Approval. It arrived exactly a month from our providencial approval. (Finally we were on the short end of the average wait time.) All along we had been told we could expect 3 weeks notice from our travel approval until we were expected to be there. That was not the case for us. We were told we needed to be in Vietnam by September 30th and that we would have the official giving and receiving adoption ceremony on Monday October 1st. (If you are doing the math that is less than two weeks notice.) We are thrilled! We are finally coming Sarah!