Another day another update

Hi all

Saturday morning here in Saigon and all is good! We are up and getting ready to head to the beach. Not sure how much I will be able to be online while there so I wanted to get one more update in!

Yesterday was good. Sandy and I walked over to the park with Trey in the Baby Bjorn (thanks BI!). He loves cruising around in that thing. There is a coffee festival going on so there were a lot of people milling around. My agency called and said that Katie had arrived and was on her way to the hotel so we headed back. A few minutes later the agency called again. They received a call from Immigration that we needed to resubmit Trey's passport paperwork. Yea, this could be trouble! So picked up what was submitted on Thursday and took it to a different office. Surprise surprise, it actually turned out much better - now his passport will be ready on 12.21!! Yippee! That means we will have his medical check that same afternoon, spend the weekend in Saigon and head to Hanoi on Monday. IF we get our I600 approval by the end of next week I am back on schedule. So fingers crossed!

The rest of the day was spent shopping and eating ice cream....a good day for all!

I head MN is really cold right now and that there may be a big storm hitting? Hope you all are surviving.

Next update from the beach!

An interesting day....

Hi all

We started today at the hotel breakfast...it is so funny, the staff here all goes crazy over the kids. When we walked in one of the servers came up and took Trey away from me. All the others crowded around - total rock star treatment!

Today was the day to apply for Trey's passport so the two dads and I (and of course our agency reps) headed over to the government building just a few blocks away. You take your life in your hands every time you go there as you have to cross a crazy intersection to get there. We went in and it is packed with people. We get the forms filled out then wait our turn to submit it all. The very official person behind the desk decided they didnt like the way the photos were attached and so we had to leave, go back to the hotel where we have access to a copier. Get that all done, back over to the Gov't building crossing the intersection of death for the 3rd time....nope, they are closed for lunch! Back to the hotel for lunch then back for the 3rd time to the big building. Third time was a charm! That was the good news. The not as great news is Trey's passport won't be ready until Dec 25th. That leaves only the slimmest of chances that I will catch my scheduled flight on the 28th. New Years Eve in Hanoi is looking like the plan.

The rest of the afternoon was spent planning our next week. We picked an incredible (hopefully) resort on the beach - about 3 or so hours from the city. We head out on Saturday.

Tonight a great dinner of Pho at a close restaurant and now Trey is once again crashed out.

That is the update from here. Tomorrow is pretty casual, probably some sightseeing and a bit of shopping plus Katie arrives.

And the crowd goes wild!

It is official - Trey and I are on big (small?) happy family! Here is how the day played out....

Up early as I was too excited to sleep (Sandy is getting sick of THAT!). We had breakfast at the hotel and left for the care center at 8. We got there and the kids are all playing on the floor - there is a bit pile of toys in the middle and the kids are mostly on their stomachs trying to grab something. They encouraged the 3 families to take their kids outside away from all the excitement. Trey and I walked around the compound for a while then hung out on a bench with one of the other families. It is really pretty there - flowering trees, a playground, a few of the older kids playing around. Trey is very content to hang out as long as someone is holding him (gee, tough job!). Once Trey crashed out we put him in his crib and played with the other kids. Yesterday afternoon I was able to spend time with his nanny and get his schedule, likes, dislikes etc so today we were just able to hang out. After a while most all of the kids were napping so back to the hotel we went.

At the hotel we packed up, big lunch (the food here is incredible! Every meal is a "THIS is my new favorite thing" type experience) and loaded back into the bus to drive over to the Ministry of Justice. It was a pretty amazing ceremony. Each family had their ceremony seperately with 4 representatives from the provincial government. Once we were all officially official we had to hang a bit longer for the paperwork. Then the 3+ hour drive back to Saigon began.

You would think that 3 kids all just tossed in with families and loaded into a bus would be a bit upset. I expected a chaotic ride back! Nope, kids were all perfect and mostly stared out the window in awe.

Now it is getting late. Trey is crashed out on the bed and looking pretty cute. Tomorrow I need to apply for his passport and start our journey home.

I will post some pics tomorrow!

Meet Trey

What a morning! We left the hotel for the 5 minute drive to the orphanage at 8:00am. Driving over we were all very chatty/animated/nervous. As we pulled up everyone on the bus got pretty quiet. Off the bus, to the front door, take off your shoes and walk in. Deep breath and there he is in a walker. One of my fears was that I wouldnt recognize him from all the pictures but I knew him right away. He is amazing. He cried a little at the beginning - it was so overwhelming for him (and me). His nanny took him after about 10 minutes and put him in his crib with a bottle. It was really hard to not just pick him up and feed him myself, but that is the way they do it and it is better to not interfere. Once he had the bottle he was a different kid. Quiet and curious. We walked away from the rest of the people and went in the doorway. From then on it felt like he kind of knew me. I am sure that is wishfull thinking but oh well!

This kid has a laugh that makes you fall over. He is so happy! He rolls around and sits up but isnt crawling yet. He is very cuddly.

Now it is still morning. We meet for lunch in about an hour so I think we may go hang by the pool for a few - it is hot today. We will go back to the orphanage at 2:30 this afternoon.

I can't put into words the emotions of this morning. There are so many ways to start a family and I am so humbled that this is mine. I am so lucky.

Ben Tre!

What a day! Let's start with the important stuff first...it is Tuesday morning and I have not yet met Trey yet. We are heading to the orphanage after breakfast. I was off on the schedule and we were not planning on leaving in time to get to the orphanage in time to see the boys. It was fine actually as we had a great day. We roamed around Saigon for the morning, what an amazing city! It seems totally chaotic and overwhelming at first but by Monday I was getting the hang of it. It is easy to see where the 7 million people are - all out on their scooters! I tried to get some pictures of it but it just doesnt do it justice. Brady - you could get some incredible shots over here!!

We had a great lunch at a Pho restaurant right across the street and headed to my agencys office. There we got to meet the people who are making happen over here for us. Great group of dedicated people. For any CHSFS family reading this there was no white board posted to get a picture of. After a 3 hour drive of watching this amazing life over here we hopped the ferry for a 20 minute ride across the Mekong River. Beautiful!

We had a buffett dinner at the hotel with the other familys and agency staff (there are 4 of them with us). Tons of great food - nothing too out there but a sweet/sour fish soup that was a little funky!

Now the good stuff starts! We will be at the orphanage about 8:15 and will have 2 hours to meet and get to know the boys. Then a break so they can nap and we come back this afternoon for a few more hours of getting to know each other. The G&R ceremony is tomorrow at 1:30.

I will try to post pictures tonight! Hope things are warming up in MN.

Hi from Vietnam

Hi all...we made safe and sound. The flights were surprisingly easy and we got here right on time. We were the only ones of the 3 familys to have all of our luggage make it.

We walked around a little this afternoon but the streets are crazy and we werent up for crossing them too often so we are back and hanging at the hotel. We will grab dinner with the other families tonight and make it an early night. We are heading to Ben Tre at noon tomorrow so hopefully we will get to meet Trey once we show up!

I will try to post again tomorrow with pictures - internet isnt working very well so no promises!

...and we're off!

Finally! Sandra and I hop a flight at 5:15 today. Our route is Minneapolis - LA - Taiwan - Saigon. We will arrive at about noon on Sunday (11:00 pm Saturday in Minneaplis).

Next update from Vietnam!