New Pics

We visited the orphanage again yesterday. This time the girls were brought out to us, which was much cooler and gave us a little more room. We got to hang out for about 1.5 hours which was fun. They seem to be doing well. We managed to get a few smiles, but mostly stares and curious looks. I have posted the pics, so take a look.

Wit leaves today to head back to Hong Kong, so I will be flying solo until Friday. Neither one of us are thrilled about it, but because we have to fly back to the States before entering HK, we think it will be better if he is with me during that portion of the trip. Plus, he hasn't been back to the States in a year, so it is time!

Good & Not so Good

Not so good is no news on the ceremony. Now, we wait for Monday.

Good is that we are going back out to the orphanage tomorrow to spend some more time with the girls. We are up early to hopefully avoid some of the heat, so I will post more pics when we return.

No one said this was going to be easy.

Still Waiting

We are still waiting for our ceremony. We found out yesterday that their are 6 families with another agency (same province) who have been waiting for 10 days for their day. We are trying to get grouped with them, but who knows if that will happen or if it is even possible. Will keep trying.

Bittersweet

We woke up this morning thinking today was the day and today became the day...sort of. We saw our baby girls for the first time and got to hold and cuddle and snuggle and coo and kiss and everything else, but it seems that the suspense hasn't ended. Our ceremony wasn't today. We are hopeful for tomorrow. While being a very disappointing day from not reaching a conclusion, we did get to finally meet our two girls. And, they were everything we wanted and MORE!

The orphanage is situated about 2.5 hours outside of Hanoi in an agricultural community. When we arrived, the front of the orphanage was a "smoke salon" where people can come and get their hair washed/cut, smoke cigs, and get coffee. The orphanage is for disabled people as well. The front was ran by deaf girls. It was great fun for me to sign mine and Wit's name to them and meet them through signing. They very much enjoyed feeling a part of "our" world. In the rear is a dorm room sized building that contained 20-25 babies all <6 months old. It was both a wonderful sight and a sad sight, which left us fixed with many different emotions. The caretakers truly loved each child. They were wonderfully loving and provided the best care they can for all the babies. It was HOT. Let me say that again. It was HOT in the room. Luckily, the babies weren't bundled up, but in tees and pants, no socks and no hats. They were sweating. The caretakers were fanning away to keep them cool, flies away and beetles the size of my fist fell from the ceiling!!

Being at the orphanage brought a HUGE mix of emotions. We were terribly thrilled, but also saddened given that these babies were in need. It was way too quiet to be among 25 babies, there were no cries for 1.5 hours. The caretakers were 4 of the most caring, loving women I could have ever hoped for. At one point, she asked for Quynh back because she was hating to see her taken away from her. This made me happy. I totally respect her feelings and am very thankful for them. Our babies were well cared for.

We are hopeful for tomorrow. Not worried about it happening, just wondering when it will finally happen!

I am posting some pics in the Photo Album soon. Click on the link on the right hand side. It is password protected. If I haven't given you the password, give me a shout and I will send it, just don't want to share with the "entire" world.

More soon. B&W

Hello Hanoi!

We've both arrived and just had a short meeting with our agency's facilitator. We don't know for certain what time our ceremony will be, but we do know for certain that we get to see our girls tomorrow!! We are making a trip to the orphanage tomorrow around noon and hopefully will have our ceremony that afternoon, otherwise on Thursday.

I will post pictures when we return.

We had a great Vietnamese dinner tonight. Mai, if you are reading, we went to the same outdoor place you and I went to, and surprisingly I remembered all the yummy things you ordered. Tomorrow is definitely pho.

Have a good night/day.

Packing Frenzy!

Well, I have entered the packing frenzy! I leave tomorrow morning at 9am and will be in Hanoi at 10am (Hanoi time), Wit arrives at 4pm. I have all day Tuesday to get a stroller, formula, and whatever else I need before our ceremony on Wednesday.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS FINALLY HERE!!! (well, I can, but I can't believe it is for real this time)

As the plan stands now, Wit will be doing a back and forth exercise from HK to Hanoi and then we are off to the States to get US passports to enter HK and see both families, who are very excited as well.

Next post will be from VN.

No More Delays!!

Our ceremony has been confirmed for the 23rd!!! Finally, I feel comfortable saying that we don't expect any more delays. Now, we have to get ready...again!

Can't wait to update you from Vietnam!

Nothing New

Not much new to report on our end. We've been keeping busy by looking for another (bigger) apartment to secure before our lease expires this summer. Have found a couple of good ones, but Hong Kong needs a serious updating of all flats they offer. There just aren't many quality offerings.

Other than that, not much else going on. I believe Monday and Tuesday are VN holidays so we don't expect to hear much this week.

Hopefully more soon.

Certainties

Apparently there are 3 certainties in life right now: death, taxes, and DELAYS!

Yes, we are delayed.
Yes, it sucks.

No, we aren't going to kill each other and make death, taxes, and delays happen all in the same week.
No, we aren't that surprised. Our agency has been very good at explaining the circumstances.
No, we aren't giving up.

It looks like the ceremony will now be in May, perhaps towards the end of May.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Bali

When we have to wait, we travel! This last week we have been in Indonesia - Jakarta for a few days and Bali for the weekend.

Jakarta was interesting. Security is tight everywhere. You can't get into hotels or malls without your car being scanned. Bali was really cool. A beautiful place and beach. We had great seafood dinners on the beach in Jimbaran and went to Ubud for the day.

We stopped by Monkey Forest and fed the monkeys. I had told Wit that monkeys kind of freak me out, mainly because they are so human-like. I told him how to feed them, just place the banana on your hand and hold it out, then they will walk up and take it. Wit was holding it like a baseball and flung it as soon as a group started surrounding him!! It is a bit nerve-racking when they come in herds. They are so dang smart! One monkey proceeded to climb my back while I was there, that was a bit disturbing, but funny.

The shopping was really neat. If only we had more time, I think we would have come home with some gigantic Balinese furniture. There's always next time...

Now we are back in HK. Still no definite word on our ceremony date yet, but we are still hopeful for the 23rd.

Below are a couple of pics from our trip, we are really bad about taking pictures when we are on vacation.

Bali