What can happen in a week

I have neglected my duties here, so sorry. Everything has gone according to plan and we are home as scheduled. Our trip to Hanoi was almost too quick. Our first plane ride from HCMC to Hanoi went very well. It was nearly a two hour flight and we then found a beautiful city awaiting us. We found it to be very different from Ho Chi Minh City. We loved seeing the green rice fields and very different things along the way. Big billboards and large businesses lined the roads on our nearly hour drive from the airport to our hotel. When we arrived at our hotel we were amazed. We had heard that it was a great place to stay, and we were not disappointed. We were in a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment. It had a wonderful restaurant, swimming pool, and shopping. By this point many of us were content to stay in one place. We do wish we would have had a few more days to visit the local mountains, but we will keep that for a return trip someday. Mya became very fond of the buffet at the restaurant at every meal. I could not communicate that that is not the way meals always work. Oh well! There was a beautiful little lake within about a 10 minute walk from our hotel that was neat to stroll around. We were only disappointed with our washer/dryer in our room. I had heard it was there and I had plenty to wash. Well, it's a combined washer/dryer that doesn't really dry anything. It is very humid there so nothing dries well when you hang it out either. It was pretty funny to see Shawn ironing underwear to get it dry, a definite first in this household.

We left Friday night at about 9:00 to catch our flight home. What an amazing little traveler we have, yet another way she fits right into this family. She made the 4 1/2 hour flight to Tokyo, 9 hour layover, and then the 11 hour flight to Detroit without more that a couple of tears. I could not believe it. Our roughest part of the trip were the last 30 minutes of our drive home. We again stand amazed with this little girl. She had some fearful moments, but they didn't last too long. She was quite fearful coming into the house for the first time. It was dark and that did not help at all. Our sleep schedules are coming around, but it is taking a while. Mya has been sleeping in the day and awake into the night. That is not good when you don't like the dark. She is now very comfortable in the house, but the bath and the beds are still not safe for her. We will get there. She seems to love our karaoke machine, way cute!! As you can see by the picture, she still only prefers a few things to wear. I cannot communicate just how blessed we are to have this precious little girl as a part of our family. I was worried it would be difficult to feel connected with her, but we have fallen hook, line and sinker for his one!

I am very glad our kids took this trip with us. It may not be the right fit for every family, but for us it was perfect. It seems that having them allowed Mya to be more comfortable more quickly. On arriving home, she did not have to adjust to new people right away. The opportunity to visit and see this completely different culture will always have an impact on them. I think it made it easier for the people who have loved and cared for Mya for her entire life to let her go. They all loved the kids and could see the family Mya was joining. This was the first time kids have been adopted and left there care. I am so grateful for the amazing love and care they had given her, it was so evident in our several trips to visit.

Almost there!

Melanie is trying to pack for our trip to Hanoi, so I get a shot at my first post here. As most of you probably know, that means you won't get nearly as many of the great personal insights, but you will get the facts.

I believe Melanie last updated everyone shortly after we returned to Ho Chi Minh City. Since we then, everything that had to happen for us to return home on the 4th has occurred flawlessly (largely due to the efforts of Mr Minh and the Dillon staff here in Vietnam). Mya's health check went great, she received her Vietnamese passport, and we were able to be interviewed by ICS in time to schedule a Wednesday flight to Hanoi. We were also able to schedule our final interview for Mya's visa early enough that we should have the visa in hand Friday by 4:00 pm. Lastly, and probably most surprisingly, I was able to walk across the street to the local Vietnam Airlines office and purchase 5 tickets from Hanoi to Tokyo, so we can catch our scheduled flight home Saturday afternoon. That may not sound like much considering that the ticket agent spoke English, but there are apparently some concepts that I just can't seem to articulate well to those of another culture (think one-way travel and adopted child without a passport).

Enough of that, on to the important stuff. Mya is doing great. She is still very fearful of baths, bedtime, and unfamiliar clothing; but, Melanie discovered that a strategically used Oreo helps greatly. Not that we advocate bribing children (unless they are ours), but Melanie amazingly communicated to Mya that if she changed her clothes she would get an Oreo. The little thing stripped immediately and put on clothes that we had been trying to get her into since Thursday.

My biggest short-term concern has been the communication barrier. As I have already mentioned, our non-verbal communications are coming along very well. On top of that, Mya has learned all of our names as well as the English words please, thank you, cookie, walk, breakfast (I think), and ready (to be used to tell me that she is ready for me to repeat something that she found enjoyable). Each day brings a handful of new reasons to believe that she understands us almost as well as Mason and Mallory seem to, so I think we will be just fine. As Melanie said in an earlier post, we are continually reminded in so many ways how covered in prayer we have been, and this is just one more example. Thank you all!!!

Our last hurdle comes in Hanoi as we hope to be interviewed at 2:00 pm Thursday and then receive Mya's visa 24 hours later. If that works, we will board our flight from Hanoi to Tokyo at 11:55 pm Friday, lay over in Tokyo for nine hours, depart Tokyo at 3:00 pm Saturday, and land in Detroit at 1:30 pm Saturday.

Hope to see you all soon!

Ho Chi Minh City


An Giang


Ferry from An Giang


At the Rex Hote in Ho Chi Minh City

Sorry, sorry, sorry!!!

I am so sorry I have not posted sooner. We are doing so well as a new family of 5. Our ceremony went very smoothly as did our 5 hour drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. She played, slept and just took in the sights on our trip back.
She has had a few fearful times, but for the most part it has been amazing. There is no doubt we are living proof of answered prayer! I cannot tell you how obvious it is to us the way God is working through the prayers of his people. It reminds me so much of the way we felt walking through Shawn's back surgery. Thank you for your prayers!
It is good to be back in civilization. It seems like two different worlds: An Giang and Saigon. Both have been good to visit. But, as good as it was to see our litte girl's home town, we are definitely happy to be back in the city.
Our litte girl is amazing! Even with our huge language barrier we are doing really well. She is such an entertainer. I can't wait for you to hear her giggle, sing, and just talk for that matter. We are competely mesmerized by her, and we are sure you all will be as well. She loves to go out on the town, and she really enjoys shopping. The escalator and stairs bring a huge smile to her face. She ended up with a new Barbie and that was exciting too. She is taking life as a big adventure. This has exceeded all of our expectations, not just the process, but our little girl.
We hit Pizza Hut when we got back to Saigon, and she is a fan of pizza. Actuallly, we are finding she is a fan of food in general, except onions. Those she can find like Mason finds a mushroom.
We hope to be coming home on schedule, but that is not certain yet. We have the weekend to explore the city, and then we start working towards coming home again on Monday.
More to come...

4 visits, 4 different experiences

I can't believe how this week has transpired. We have now visited Mya 4 times and each one seemed so different than the others. On the third visit we walked into quite a shrill sound coming out of our little daughter. It was quite a noise and we hope it doesn't come back during our long flight back home. I think it was a happy sound. We also found out she is quite a climber! She climbed right up and on a crib trying to reach what she wanted on top. We waited all morning hoping today was the day for our G&R, but it wasn't to be. So, we headed back for one more visit. It was funny to find our kiddos dressed in the clothes we had taken the day before. I think Mya was wearing a 12 month outfit. It fit, what will the 3T & 2T outfits look like?? She is something else. I watched her leave the room today so I followed her. She went to a cabinet, turned the key, open the door, got out a pad of paper, closed the cabinet, locked the dood and snuck into the other room and colored on the paper. We will be watching out for this one!! She was quite attached to the people who care for her today. That was a good thing really, but it will make this coming separation a tough one. I left thinking I could not handle another visit without taking her with me. It was tough. On the drive back to the hotel we finally found the time for our G&R. It will be tomorrow morning, Thursday!! We were ready for a party!! We should be official tomorrow. Please pray for our little one, her world is about to be completely shaken, and for us that we can comfort her as she needs. We also have a lot to get done in a little amount of time. We will let you know how it goes!!
Thinking of you and celebrating from An Giang, Vietnam

New Pictures

2nd visit

Our second day in An Giang went by pretty slowly. We could not go back to the center until 3:00, so we spent time around the town. We have a store across the street with a grocery store, book store and several other places to browse. We browsed at some street markets but we will save the shopping for Ho Chi Minh. When we finally reached the center Mya came running straight into my arms!! I was beyond words. She was very calm, but also content just to be held. What a treat. We brought out the toys from the day before and the day got rolling again. The kids were very glad to see all of us again. Mallory was a big hit again. Mya was playing ball with her and now she says Mya seems just like part of the family. We know it will be a whole new ballgame when we leave the safety of the center. When asked Mya was able to say who her mom, dad, sister and brother were. Now we just need to learn how to say those words to her. This language barrier will be quite an issue. We will head back today at 3:00 again. Wednesday, tomorrow, will be the earliest we will be able to make this official. Please pray!! I have adopted a new song through this process and it is very meaningful still. It is called "I will wait" by Aaron Shust. If you are waiting in the adoption process I strongly suggest you find a way to listen to it. It helps out a lot on days it is difficult to wait. "When I am tired, you bring me comfort. When I am weak you give me strenght. When I can't walk you give me wings like an eagle. When I am alone you bring me peace. When I fear the unknown you give me peace. When I call you always answer me...We wait for you like a wathchman waits for morning, we wait for you like creation waits for spring, we wait for you knowing sometimes without warning you reveal your plans in ways maybe we don't understand. I will wait for your mercy, I will wait for your plan to unfold, I will wait for your mercies are new every morning" Yes, I claim these words right now! Thanks for checking in on us. I will post more as it happens.

What a doll!!

We have made it, but with a catch. It looks like we wil be delayed a bit due to problems with paperwork, so we won't be able to have Mya officialy until Wednesday at the earliest. But we have met her and it was great!! She took a little while to warm up, but she is a real ham!! She loved to show off. It drew us in very quicky. It was such a great first day. We played with Mya and her friends a lot, watched her eat, and get a "bath". They loved to play catch, play with bubbles, look at books, munch on fruit snacks and cuddle. They were pulling Mallory around all over and she loved it. Mya looked at the pictures of us that we sent over a couple of months ago and just laughed realizing it was us. Very fun! We will be able to see her every day until it is official. We hope today goes as well as yesterday. It has been amazing to see her homeland. We have drawn a lot of attention, especially Mallory. The kids love to say "hello" to us and just laugh. For any of you waiting to get your kiddos from An Giang, it is a great place. These kids are so loved and well cared for. It was told to me before we came over, but it has been so good to see it for myself. We will post again after the next visit.

We have arrived

We made it in at 11:00 local time last night. We all were able to sleep, we had a great breakfast and now we are headed to An Giang for a few days. We will meet Mya in just a few hours!! It is hot, even at 7:30am, but we were expecting it. We will post as soon as we make it to the city.

Our bags are packed and we are almost ready to go. We leave tomorrow and arrive in Vietnam late Saturday night. We leave Sunday morning for the province where Mya has lived her entire life, about a 5 hour drive. We check into our hotel and head to meet her, yea!! We are supposed to have what they call a Giving and Receiving ceremony on Monday where she becomes a part of this family forever. There is a possibilty that this will be pushed back to Wednesday and if so we will visit her at the center a few more times. It will work out. We will then head back to Ho Chi Minh City and begin the process to bring her home. It will take 1-2 weeks to accomplish this. Right now our plan is to come home on August 3 arriving home on the 4th. We could be home sooner ar later. But as we wait this time we will be getting to know her and she will be learning about her new family. We are amazed that this is finally happening!!

Prayer requests for us as we travel:
1. Ability to make our flights
2. Travel safety
3. Ability to sleep when we should to be rested when we reach Mya
4. Eyes to take in much of Mya's homeland in order to share it with her as she grows
5. Know what questions to aks her caretakers
6. Timing of all our appointments
7. Trust God's timing in everything
8. We would be a good ambassador for our agency, country, and faith
9. Bonding, bonding, bonding with Mya
10. Mya would not be fearful, but learn to trust us quickly
11. We will learn how to communicate through the language barrier
12. Health


We will try to post before we head to the province.

New Picture, our first real smile

Sadness and Gladness

This has been quite a month. We have been waiting so long for news of travel and in the midst we received some news of the death of a very dear friend. We have realized that our delayed travel has allowed us to be here rather than in Vietnam to receive that news. I thank God for answering our prayers in his wisdom, He is fully aware of the bigger picture. We have grieved and will continue to do so for a long time. In the midst of our saddness has come news of a due date!!!! We will have held our little one by this time next week. We will leave for Vietnam on Friday, meet Mya on Sunday and she will be ours on July 23!!! Wow!! I was 15 minutes from departure to take Mason to camp when we got the call. We still took the planned mini vacation to take him on the 12 hour drive to camp. He will have to meet us in route to Vietnam, taking his first solo flight to get there. He thinks life couldn't get any better. So, I have returned home with 5 days to prepare for our trip and the arrival of our girl! My head is spinning a little, but it is great to know we will be leaving so soon!! Mya here we come...

No news is so hard to report

I realize it has been over a month since I posted. We have gone through this time with no progress and I cannot begin to expain how tough it is to wait patiently. The wait will come to an end, but at the moment that is hard believe. Our paperwork is still in Hanoi waiting for approval to move. As far as we know, nothing is wrong. So, we wait. That is definately the buzz word in the process. We have been told to look towards the end of July for travel, but right now I cannot count on that. We need to see something move before we can let our hearts go again.

Our longing builds each day. A couple of weeks ago we received pictures of Mya looking at pictures we sent her of the family. I cannot explain what a treasure that is. I hope it will make our first meeting with her better. We are so excited to bring her into our lives and we have dreamt about it for over a year. For, her it will be such a new situation with out the ability to really process what is happening to her. We are trusting in God's grace to poor over all of us when the time comes.

Finally decided to take the plunge

Well, after months of following the other bloggers, I have decided to journal our journey. We started down this road in March of 2006. Our hearts were stirred and off we went. In August of 2006 we visited a waiting child list from Vietnam and were drawn to a beautiful little girl. At that time she was matched with our family. We have worked diligently since that time to do everything required. The easy part has been what was required of us; paperwork, appointments, paperwork, errands, paperwork. You get the idea. The waiting has been the faith building side of it. We have been given the peace and patience that are NOT from us. There is a verse that has become a lifeline...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:13

I cannot explain to anyone exactly what it is like to wait without a solid "due date." When we began we thought we could have Mya home by April and now we are hoping to travel in June. It may not seem like a big difference to others, but to us it feels like years! Our life somehow has felt like it has been on hold since last summer. I am sorry if we have been withdrawn from any of you during this time, please know it has not been intentional. As our time to go is getting closer, I am finding myself even more distracted. As much as the wait has been long, my confidence in the Lord's hand in all of it has grown so much deeper. We have known all this time that the date of our meeting has been set, and we have to trust that God's timing is perfect. Not only are we being prepared for Mya now, she is also in His perfect care through each and every day. Many days we need a reminder, but through all of it He is faithful! Our hope is sure!

Well, this wasn't meant to be negative, quite the opposite. The whole family is excited to go get our girl! We are all planning to make the trip and even Mallory is ready to go since the immunizations are behind her! We are waiting for our paperwork to travel through about three more stops before we find out the day we will bring her into our family forever. Her paperwork has been sent to Hanoi to be matched with our. So stay tuned for info to follow in the next few weeks about our plans. Pray for us as we wait and prepare!