We Made It..New Life in the frozen Tundra

We couldn't have asked for a better trip home!! We had to check out of our hotel room at 3:00 in the afternoon and since we didn't need to be at the airport until 9:30 we had the concierge hold our bags and we went out for last walk around town, dinner, and some last minute shopping. We returned to the hotel by 4:30 and just hung out in the lobby (there were a lot a seating area's). Our Holt SW came by and gave us Olivia's passport with US visa and had us sign a couple of documents that he had forgotten to have us sign earlier. After I had signed and set it on the table for Elliott to sign, I looked up and was talking to our SW and Olivia decided she would sign it, scribbling all over it. AAGGHH! At first we weren't sure what to do but then I remembered the business center at the hotel. I ran over with the document and asked if they could retype it for me (it was in Vietnamese) and for $5.00 (rediculous) we had a new fresh copy. We signed it and he was on his way. We were tired of waiting around and since it was a 40 minute drive to the airport we decided just to go early. So at 7:45 we headed out in a taxi to the airport. We got there and had to wait for an hour before the baggage check opened up but Olivia acted like a seasoned traveler. Sitting on top of our luggage on an airport cart we just waited for the counter to open up, then got our bags checked and headed through security to the gate. While we waited we talked to another American family who was heading home with their new infant son. They had been in VN for more then 3 weeks. The families that we traveled their with are still in VN and are still waiting for passports. We are the only family that we met on this trip that had things go so smoothly and going home in just 13 days. Praise God!! And thank you all for your prayers, I know that is what made all the difference!!

As soon as we got on the plane, Olivia sat in her seat, I put on her seatbelt, she smiled, put her head on my lap and fell asleep. She slept all the way to Souel!! We woke her when we landed and carried her off the pland. We had a 6 our lay-over in Souel and she just acted like a trooper the whole time, we feed her breakfast (she slept through the meal on the flight), went into the bathroom and "cleaned up...brushing our teeth and hair", and then just played around. We boarded our next flight and again she promptly fell asleep. This time she slept for about 1 hour(her normal nap), woke up and played and watched video's. She enjoyed getting meals and stayed awake like it was a normal day falling asleep again this time sleeping about 8 or so hours! Awesome. She was awake the last couple hours of our flight. We arrived in Chicago at 9:30 am and went through immigration and customs without a problem. Then things got a little crazy for a little bit. Seems that Korean Air hadn't checked our bags all the way through our Northwest flight home so we had to carry all our bags through 2 terminals to get to the Northwest counter (and no carts allowed on the airport train). There they rescanned our bags (hadn't they just been checked by customs?) and someone in Northwest flagged Olivia's ticket so when we went through security they made us step aside so they could search her.....can you imagine...a 4 year old!! She of course did NOT appreciate it and screamed through the whole thing. Now mind you......we had just gone through immigration and she was cleared there...again...AAGGHH!!! Needless to say she wasn't a happy camper any more. I did manage to take her into the bathroom and get her calmed down and cleaned up. I changed her into her "coming to America dress" and we boarded our last plane, she was started crying again but we got her settled down. I called my sister to tell her we were on our way and the pilot came on and said there was a problem with water leakage in the plane and we would have to unboard and take another flight an hour later. AAGGHH again! So we got off the plane, I went and sat down with a now crying little girl again while Elliott got our new boarding passes for our new flight. She fell asleep and slept through our hour wait, we preboarded and she continued to sleep all the way home. We woke her up to get off the plane. We were met at the airport by family and friends. Olivia smiled shyly at them but stayed calm. We we walked out to the cars and she was hit by the cold air she started to cry. By the time I strapped her into her first carseat she was a mess, wailing all the way home. Luckily we are only a 15 minute drive from the airport. She started repeating something over and over in Vietnamese that I didn't understand. Finally after 30 minutes or so I figured out she was saying something about Hoa (she best friend in the orphange). I started repeating Hoa's name so she would know that I knew she missed her and she started to settle down, I rocked her until she fell asleep. She slept for about 45 minutes and woke up happy. She was a bit shy at first but then took right to her big sisters. From then on it's been just wonderful. My friend Kelli had come up from Nebraska with her 2 little girls (adopted from China) and Olivia, Sam, Kelli's girls, and my big girls played the rest of the night. We put her to bed at about 9:30 and her sister Emily slept with her, she slept until 8:00 the next morning (miracle...no jet lag). She woke up happy again, ate scrabbled eggs with the other kids, and played again all day. The only this she didn't appreciate was having to take a nap!! Last night, our second night, again I didn't put her down until about 9:00, this time I layed with her until she fell asleep. She woke up once during the night, again I layed with her until she was back asleep and now at 8:00 am she is still asleep. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!! It is that that has made this transition so smoothly!!!
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

We're heading home!!

Once an orphan now a Beloved Daughter!!

Ha Thi Nien becomes.......







Olivia Kathleen Nien Brubaker!







OK so it only turns out to be one day early....but one day is one day! We have a flight out tomorrow night, yeah!!! Today we had our visa interview with the US Embassy and all went well. The woman who interviewed us was very interested in the story of her as she said it was highly unusual that anyone in her birth family was at all found but she received an all clear for her citizenship. Tomorrow at 4 pm we pick up Olivia's passport with her USA Visa in it, fly out tomorrow night and as soon as we land in Chicago she becomes a US citizen!!! YEAH!!!

Thanks for all your prayers....keep them up through our flights (3 total....27 hours of travel). We'll let our family know the details of our arrival and would love to see anyone who wants to meet us at the airport. Please understand that Olivia will probably not get out of my arms but she seems to love an audience for her antics so all are welcome.

Right now we are listening to fire crackers going off outside our window as people are already starting to celebrate TET. The town is getting more crowded and our hotel manager seemed happy when we said we would be leaving tomorrow. His response was, "thank you for staying with us, we enjoyed having you. We could now use your room for new guests!".....what exactly does that mean???? Actually all the hotel staff has been wonderful, very helpful, and very kind. I would recommend this hotel to any adoptive families ( I'm afraid it is expensive.....at least now with TET approaching, but quiet and as I said before, their help with Olivia has been incrediable... translating, helping us figure out what to feed her, providing us with extra bottled water, the hotel doctor, the list goes on and on).

So on to the next chapter of our lives.....and Olivia to another new beginning. We have learned a great deal through this process and I'm sure that God is not done revealing himself to us through this little girl. If your heart has ever stirred toward the orphans of this world we'd love to talk to you......a child in need of the love of a family is waiting...

Days 11 and 12 in HA NOI and Pretty Pink Fingers

Sunday(28JAN) afternoon, after Olivia-Nien, awoke from a nap we took a walk along West Lake and visited the oldest Buddhist temple(Tran Quoc) in Ha Noi. Unfortunately, Elliott was not able to enter the temple proper, because he was wearing shorts, which would have been considered disrespectful. After that, we continued our stroll along the lake, on an absolutely beautiful day-- sunshine, lite breeze, California weather!!-- as we stopped to watch some fly fishermen we were approached by two ladies, one of whom smiled broadly and inquired if we were Americans. Becky quickly chimed in that we were and that we were here adopting our newest daughter. The two ladies, Joy(group leader) and Deedee, were with a large group of 10-12 couples from So. California touring Vietnam for three weeks. We chatted for awhile, exchanging experiences thus far and then parted, but before they left they invited us to join them for an ice cream(the great ice breaker!) social the group was having later that evening. We(Becky) quickly accepted. As we walked and talked folks would generally stare at us inquisitively, especially at Olivia-Nien, something you get use to. Near the end of our turn around point we came upon a family that appeared to be adopting and Becky inquired if they were, and they were, for the second time. Their first was four years old like Nien. The parents were Ann and Malcolm, and a friend Colin, from Ireland. On hearing Ireland, we quickly inquired if they knew of another couple from Ireland here in Vietnam adopting, Frank and Kathryn. They did, having flown over with them. We asked if they had heard from them, or talked with them since Saturday, when they had taken their new baby to a hospital. They hadn't. We were a little bit concerned with no one hearing anything from them, but just figured--no news, is good news--and left it at that. We conversed a bit more, then parted, and walked a little further before making our turn around. By this time 4:45 we were all getting a little famished and dry of throat(especially Elliott) we decided to have an early dinner and take a break. We stopped at a little place along the lake which we hadn't eaten at before, were invited in by a couple of young waitresses, who promptly waited on us(we were the only patrons in the place--actually a floating dock, with tables and umbrellas), made suggestions of what we might like--fried soft shell crabs, Mongolian lamb, sweet potato buds with garlic, steamed rice, and noodles with vegetables, and a Tiger beer and whisked off with our order. If anyone has ever watched Iron Chef America on the Food Network that is the kind of meal we ended up having. What a feast!! Best meal we've had, worth the whole darn trip.

(Elliott wrote the above but is already tired of typing (pecking really) so I'm taking over.

We went back to the hotel and rested for a little while before joining our American tour group friends for ice-cream. I'm not sure if Olivia had strawberry ice-cream before but she loved it and boy did she ham it up for all people there. Making silly faces at everyone.

Monday started out the same as many days with Olivia refusing to walk. I have to say I was getting tired of it so I refused to leave the room with her until she walked at least down the hall to the elevator and made her stand beside me as we rode the elevator to the bottom floor. She was very, very unhappy with me and cried the whole time. When the elevator doors opened I picked her up and she immediately stopped......controlling huh? We had breakfast and returned to our room. She wanted to go out again and I kept saying NO CARRY, NIEN WALK. Finally she shook her head. She understood!!! We opened the door and she grabbed my hand and out we walked. She has been happy to walk ever since!!!!! VICTORY!!!!! There have been a few times when we were on a very busy street or when she is tired when I still carry her (normal for 4 year olds) so my arms are getting a break....YEAH!! Later that morning we went over to our Irish friends, Frank and Kathrine's hotel to see if everything was going on OK with them and their new baby. We were dismayed to find out that they had not been back to their hotel since Sat. morning. We went down the street to the local hospital but no one spoke English and we couldn't find out anything. We left them a note at their hotel and said a prayer for them and their safety.

We had her physical for her Visa in the afternoon. We went to the international SOS clinic for this and it was busy at the time we were there. Several couples with little babies that looked like they all had some kind of rash. Much to our happy surprise we found our friends, Frank and Kathrine there!! It seems that their baby daughter had pneumonia and they had been there with her since Sat. She had had an IV antibiotic and was doing much better and was being released that afternoon. Praise the Lord!!! It is funny how you barely know someone but can connect so quickly with them. We plan on spending as much time as possible together for the remainder of our time (as Frank says, until we wear out each others welcome!)

Olivia's visit went very well and they gave her a clean bill of health with the exception of a possible slight turn of the left foot. It certainly doesn't slow her down as she runs, climbs, skips, and jumps perfectly well. We had to wait around for the doctors report and then our SW took it and all her other documents to the US Embassy. They did not give us an appointment until Wednesday afternoon (bummer) as they want to check further into the situation with her birth father. That means we won't get her visa until either Thursday or Friday. We'll keep you posted on our return.

Last night we met another American couple (we met on the plane) for dinner and did not get home until after 9:00. Way after Olivia's bedtime so today we have just hung out at our hotel for some R&R. I did take Olivia into the hotel salon and had her fingernails painted for the first time. She is thrilled with them and keeps looking at them. She did tell the gal that painted them that she was worried about sucking her thumb with the pretty pink on them. We'll see if she tries it or not at bedtime.

God Bless you all......we really miss you. Keep up the prayers!

Beautiful Day

OK....I just wrote out a long entry and before I published it, it disappeared.....AAAGGHH!

I'll try to recap. It is a gorgeous 73 degree day and the sun is out for the first time since we arrived. Olivia is down for a nap so I thought I'd catch you up on our goings on.

Elliott and I decided to try and change attachment tactics. Whenever we are in the room Elliott is now in charge of all of Olivia's care. Hopefully this will help her to see her Dad is a pretty nice guy! She still insists that I carry her whenever we are out and about and if I try to put her down she has a complete tantrum. Very hard to deal with when people are already watching you carefully anyway. So I carry her......

Yesterday we went to a wholesale market. Very, very busy and crowded. People think nothing of pushing you out of the way if you are where they want to be. Even if you are in the middle of something. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. I was able to purchase some beautiful silk to make Olivia something with when she is older. We also went to see the Temple of the Giant Tortoise on a lake in the middle of the city. It was really neat to walk through the temple. People had left money as a sign of worship. We just walked through quietly.....I wish we could have told them about the one true God. We had lunch in a restaurant where they had the steepest stairs I've ever seen. It was quite the feat to carry Nien up those stairs but I made it, up and down! We had a great fish dish that Olivia loved.

Today we took a public bus out to a province in the country to see what it was like where Olivia was actually born. We couldn't go all the way to where she was born as it would have been disrespectful to the people there and also we would have tried to get approval from the local authorities to do it and we didn't want to try that. Once out of Hanoi the air cleared up remarkably. Hanoi is very smoggy, the countryside was sweet and clear. Amazing difference. If I lived here I would definitely prefer the countryside! After that we took a taxi to see the hospital that cared for Olivia for the first 5 months of her life until she was sent to the orphanage. It was very different from US hospitals in that much of the administration work was done outside the building. There was a huge sign that showed the immunizations for children, one was Japanese Encephalitis. Now that one we don't have!!

Now that Olivia is stirring I think we are going to take a walk around the lake and see another temple and the botanical gardens near us.

WE GOT HER PASSPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God has answered all our and your prayers and we got the first step in heading home. Olivia's passport!!!!!!!! We talked to our Holt SW this afternoon and he was sorry to tell us that he had checked on Olivia's passport and they didn't have it ready. I realized that it was a stretch for it to be ready today and was thrilled just that they let us apply for an expediated one and that we could have it by next Wednesday so I just took it in stride that it wasn't ready today. Then about 30 minutes later he called back and said they called back and had it ready and that we had to hurry and they would pick us up to go get it. 5 minutes later another gal from Holt called and said we had to hurry and get a taxi and meet them there because the government office would close at 4pm and there was no time for them to drive to us and then get us there in time because it was 20 minutes until 4!! Nien was sound asleep so I had to quickly waken her and get on her shoes and sweater as Elliott darted down stairs to get us a taxi. We jumped in and made it to the office just a few minutes before 4. Lang was waiting there for us and a few minutes later we had it in our hands!!! We are now going out for a celebratory dinner as this is the end of the VN government side of this process!!!!!!!! Now we have a Visa physical and interview with the Embassy for the last part of her American Visa (and citizenship) part then we can head home. This could all happen on Monday and Tuesday or possibly Wednesday! That means if we can find seats on a flight we could actually come home on Wednesday or Thursday!

I can't believe it!!!!!!!!!

PRAISE TO THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

more later.....

Time flies when your having fun??

The past two days have been quit the challenge. Olivia has proven to be a little pendulum, happy and silly one minute and very unhappy the next. OK, more minutes of unhappy until this afternoon but things are looking up. She woke up yesterday happy enough but that only lasted for a very short time. I got her dressed while Elliott showered and got dressed. He came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist to get clothes out of his suitcase then returned to the bathroom to get dressed. For some reason he frightened her, later she would tell out Holt SW she thought he was a ghost. All that white skin I guess. After that I went in and showered and got dressed when I came out I was putting on my shoes and looked over at her sitting on the bed. She had her backpack and was trying frantically to stuff all her new belongings into it just sobbing. I went over and picked her up and she kept crying something I didn't know. I think she thought I was leaving her alone. I held her and rocked her until she calmed down and she hasn't let me out of her sight since. She won't even let Elliott hold her anymore. Needless to say, my arms, back, and legs are killing me from holding her constantly for the past two days. She started feeling warm, she wasn't eating well (we were told she is a good eater normally) and she also hadn't had a BM since we received her so today we took her to the hotel doctor. Sure enough, she has tonsillitis. The Dr. gave us a RX for some Augmentin, some nose drops for decongestion, and a stool softener. Last night when we had walked down the street for dinner a man tried to get us to ride in his rickshaw, since we were on our way to dinner we asked if he would come back this morning at 10:00 and we would take a tour with him ( he only wanted $4 for an hour tour around the lake). So after the Dr. we went out to see if he would come back. Sure enough he was there promptly at 10am, only he brought a friend with another one. We agreed to take both (I couldn't imagine him bicycling around, pulling all 3 of him by himself anyway). I got in one with Olivia and Elliott got in the other. Olivia was thrilled! It was really fun once I got over the terror of actually being in a little cart on the streets with all VN crazy traffic. They took us around pointing out things in very limited English and we finally came to a stop to tour HCM Mausoleum. They waited outside while we went in to the tour. After we walked across the grounds through all the security check points and just entered the actual building of the mausoleum, Olivia flipped out. Crying and yelling something. No-one around spoke English although several people tried to calm her in VN. I just thanked them and high-tailed it out of there and went to find out guys with the rickshaws. She calmed down once we got outside but I got a little turned around and ended up outside on the street but luckily Elliott came walking up (he had finished the tour). We made it back to our guys, I took Olivia to the bathroom (Asian "squat" pots....yuck) and we went on to ride to see the Temple of Literature, VN first university based on Confucius. Again, we barely started to enter and she flipped out again. This time pounding on my chest, crying, and yelling something. I again, made an about face and headed back. She was so upset that as I walked people surrounded me to talk to her (I'm sure asking her if she was being kidnapped) I began asking "do you speak English" over and over again to everyone who came up to us, and believe me, I was surrounded by people. After only a few seconds one woman said "English, English" and grabbed my hand and led me to a young woman we spoke great English (we actually had bought a few T-shirts from her a little while earlier). All this while Olivia is still screaming. I explained the situation to her, that I'm her new Mom and that she had only been with us since Tuesday. She quickly tells me that Olivia is yelling, I don't want to go there, I'm afraid. She helps me calm Olivia down and tell her that I won't take her there and that she is safe. Before I know it she is telling the crowd that had formed that I had adopted her and that Olivia was going to the US to live. They were seemed so happy for her and Olivia was handed some cookies that put a big smile on her face, another woman gave her an orange, I tried to pay for them but no-one wanted any payment. Now these are street vendors mind you. Olivia had a nice long conversation with many of them while the woman and another man who had joined the group told me what they were saying. She told them I was her Mommy and that she was going to America to live with her new big family and that (get this) all the other kids at the center (orphanage) were jealous and that she was very happy but very scared and that she was going to learn English and wear nice clothes, and that her Daddy looked like a ghost but isn't one but that she isn't used to him yet (HA HA) and on and on. I guess she really does understand that she knows what is going on. Pretty smart 4 year old huh? Eventually Elliott came out after his tour to find his celebrity daughter and dumbfounded wife there. We got back in the rickshaws and headed back to the hotel. Olivia talked to the driver all the way back, chatting happily. As we rode up to the hotel, what looked like another American couple snapped a photo of us. When we got out they came up to talk to us and we found out they actually from Ireland and were there to adopt their very first child, and 4 month old baby girl. They were so thrilled to meet us as they hadn't meet anyone who spoke more then broken English since they arrived on Tuesday. We ended up going into our hotel and visiting with them for three hours!! I took Olivia to the bathroom and she finally relieved herself of 3 days of build up and has now had several doses of Augmentin and is ssssooooo much happier. I think a combination of getting out into the fresh (smoggy) air, being able to talk about what she is going through with people who understood her, finally getting her system straight and the medicine helping her sore throat have all made for a much happier little girl. She still wants to to hold her but no more tears since we left the Temple of Literature and it's been a good 5 hours now. I will tell you, it is taking every bit of Maternal instinct in me to do this and I am exhausted!

On the official side of things, yesterday we applied for her passport and yeah (Praise the Lord) they did allow us to do an expedited passport for hopefully we will have it by next Wednesday at the latest and then we'll just have to get her Visa physical and have an appointment with the US embassy for her American visa. If we get the passport by Wednesday morning we can probably have the physical in the afternoon and the Embassy appointment on Thursday morning, pick up the Visa on Friday and leave here as originally scheduled on the 3rd. It could, possibly maybe, happen even sooner. Now wouldn't that be something!!!!

Hugs and Kisses to my kids at home! We miss you!!

Our Little Girl is Finally Ours (Gotcha Day!)

Our giving and receiving ended up being on Tuesday morning at 11:00. Our Holt guide (actually a social worker) meet us at our hotel at 10:00 in the morning and we went to the DOJ office (District of Justice, where the Hanoi Peoples Committee is) and arrived around 10:30 before Nien did. We waited inside but after a few minutes a woman came down and told our Holt SS that we shouldn't arrive early. So we went out and walked up the street and waited until a few minutes before 11:00 when he got a call that Nien and the orphanage staff had arrived and then we all went in "on time"! The giving and receiving was very formal but only took maybe 15 minutes. The woman who had told us we shouldn't have arrived early was in charge. She asked us if we understood that we would be responsible for bringing up and educating Nien until she was an adult and then had us sign a book that all adoptive families sign acknowledging what we had agreed to and we then were asked to stand in the front of the room stood along with the director from the center and were officially presented with our adoption decree. All the time Nien sat with the social worker from the center and cried quietly, again, although I sat next to her she wouldn't let me touch her. When it was over they told us we could then take her back to the hotel. I was very worried since up to that point we could not even touch her without her becoming even more upset. I was very relieved when our SS said that the center staff would be happy to return with us to the hotel to make it easier on Nien. They were so kind to her. We all returned (7 of us in all) back to our hotel room. Nien walking in between the center SS and director. When we got into our room they showed her around while she cried harder and harder. I pulled out some toys and we sat her on the bed with them, surrounded by several of us. We got her settled down to a quiet cry and one by one each of our "guests" quietly whispered to her (I'm sure they told her good-bye and to be a brave girl), and then left. She cried harder and harder as each left. When all were gone I was able to pick her up and she clung to me as if for dear life. Arms and legs wrapped tightly and fist clenched to shirt. We knew she hadn't had lunch so Elliott ordered some VN chicken noodles, rice, and fruit from room service (as close as the hotel had to her normal lunch, much fancier I'm sure). She was not interested in eating at all but instead I just held her until she finally cried herself to sleep. She slept for maybe an hour and a half and when she woke up she was a different girl. Quiet but much calmer. She came right to me and again clung on. We took out color crayons and coloring books and played with the Polly Pockets we had taken out earlier, and her dollie (we gave her that at the party the day before). I got her to go in the bath room and go potty. The only thing she would not do is take off her jacket. After a while, we had a ring at our door and they wanted to clean our room, so we changed her clothes, but on our shoes (and of course winter coat since it is all of 65 degrees here) and went out exploring. We then came back into the hotel and sat in the lobby area where they serve drinks and food and had a drink. We got her an apple juice and she drank it right down quickly. We ordered her a second one. She sat on my lap and we played with her new toys (we had to put everything in her backpack and she had insisted we took it with us when we left our room.) There were a few times when she got worried and clung to me but she relaxed more and more as each hour went by. She really seemed to enjoy watching Elliott but didn't want him to hold her at first. Finally after walking and exploring the hotel for a few hours she let him pick her up. We came back to our room and continued to play. Eventually I took into the bathroom and had her go potty again and gave her a bath. She seemed angry with me and kept repeating something (I think she was trying to tell me she already had a bath this morning) but we were just trying to follow the schedule Holt gave us. She didn't fight, just had grumpy look and kept saying the same thing, over and over. We got her dressed again and thought we would go out for dinner but then it didn't seem like a good idea take her out again. So we just stayed in room and played. Elliott watched a little TV but we couldn't find any children's programs on it. Eventually I warmed up the left over noodles and rice from lunch (using hot water from our in room tea pot) and she let me feed her that and she ate some fruit. I put her in her new pajama's (from Grandma Von Feldt) and tucked her into the middle of our king size bed and layed down with her, Elliott on one side and me on the other. We were all asleep by 8:15! It is now 2:30 in the morning and I am writing this in the dark while the two of them are fast asleep. At 1:30 this afternoon (Wednesday) we will apply for her passport. Our departure home will depend on when we receive that. It could come in a matter of a few days or take up to ten! All around us they are getting ready for TET (the VN new year) so hopefully they will want to get their business done and we'll get it on the sooner side of things!


Overall, I guess the day went better then I expected and she already has us wrapped around her finger.

More pictures of our first visit

Here's some more pictures from today. You can see all the pictures from our trip at http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h312/brubaker6/Adoption%20Trip/

we'll add to it daily.

Our first visit

This morning we went and visited with Nien at the center. The Holt VN staff met us at 8:30 this morning and drove us to the center. When we were walking through the patio just outside the childrens rooms we saw Nien and her 2 friends that we recongnized from our previous photo's looking out the window at us. We were taken to a room upstairs that was all set up for our "party". It was very nice. First we were introduced to the director of the center and then some of the caregivers and children came into the room but Nien wouldn't come in. She grabbed onto one of her caregivers as soon as she saw us. It was obvious she knew who we were but wasn't about to come into a room where we were. I took out some fruit snacks that we had brought, went out and offered it to her. She took them from me and then grabbed her caregiver again. After some coaxing from several of the caregivers, the orphanage director, and Holt staff she finally came into the room. The "party" was actually an unofficial G & R and was very formal and nice. The orphange director said a few words telling us she believed we would take good care of Nien and that she would be missed as she has been at the center longer then any other child. The center is for children up to age 3. Since we had "spoken" for her she was kept there and not moved to a center for older childen. It is nice that her surroundings were not changed twice in one year. They had fruit, rice snacks (looked like chex rice cereal), cookies, and coffee. We took lots of pictures. I'll post more pictures on photobucket at

After the ceremony we went to see her "room". It was a room for the toddlers. There were I think maybe 10 cribs against the walls with mats in each. On the floor was a big mat. Lunch was brought in for the children. Rice, fish (looked like tuna but I'm sure it was something different), and soup (broth with some kind of green in it). The three were mixed in a bowl and the kids ate, some were fed by caregivers some ate by themselves. Nien was fed by her caregiver and would not let me feed her at all. She would look very grumpy whenever Elliott or I tried to reach out to her. A little boy, (one of her close friends) played with us a lot and wanted me to feed him. He was a character and acted just like a 3 year old should. His birth parents have him living there temporarily as they are too poor to care for him right now. Holt is working with them to help them get on their feet so that he can go back to them. After a couple of hours we were told it was time for the children to take a nap and we had to leave. We will go back tomorrow morning to visit some more and try to help Nien get used to us before we have our official Giving and Recieving ceremony (the official adoption) tomorrow afternoon. I would say that all though the center looked very poor (nothing as nice as Sam's looked like in China), the children were very much cared for. There are only about 30 children there, mostly babies under one year but about 18 workers....good odds. One thing that was interesting was that they had a big board with pictures of the kids at the center and some kids that had been adopted in their American homes. A lot of pictures from the center had pictures of Nien in them. She has been there a long time and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be very missed. Please pray for her tomorrow as I think this will be very hard for her. By the way, you'll notice how warmly everyone is dressed (winter coats and hats), it is about 65 degrees here and everywhere everyone is dressed like it was a cold winter day. I guess for them this is winter......I wonder what Nien will think of snow???? You notice that I am calling her Nien.....we are going to have to call her Olivia-Nien for a while to help her transition. Just like we will say Daddy-Ba to help her learn her new language.

We Made IT!!

After 3 long flights (ok, 1 short, 1 very long, and 1 mid-range flights) we made it into Hanoi. The flights were long but comfortable (as comfortable as 24 hours of flying can be). We were met at the airport by a Holt Rep. who spoke very little english but was very nice. We are now checked into the Hotel Sofitel Plaza. Very nice and the bath tub is waiting for me to take a nice long soak!! We will be picked up bright and early in the morning to head to the Hanoi Center for Undernourished Orphans to have a "party" and meet Nien for the first time. I am excited, exhausted, and nervous. More tomorrow.......

We're OUTA here!!

In about 4 hours we'll be "leaving on a Jet plane". There's so much to keep in your prayers.....my kids at home, that they stay healthy and happy, safe travels for us, and of course for peace for little Nein (Oliivia). And whatever else you can remember to pray for (I'm too tired to think straight but plan to "catch up" once we get on the plane from Chicago to Souel!)

1 Day Left!!

Can you believe it!! After looking at this sweet little girls pictures for a whole year we're finally going to get her!! Just like Elliott said, it's all coming together in the 11th hour. Our passports arrived safe and sound today and our plane tickets showed up as well. Our agency found us a hotel room, but are still working at trying to not have us have to be delayed because of yet another change in procedure by the VN government. New processes mean constantly changing (tweeking) procedures. I'm STILL doing laundry and finishing packing and hope to get this mess of a house picked up before I take off. In about 65 hours from now, we should see Olivia face to face for the first time!!

PRAY for safe travels and PEACE for Olivia!

JonElliott is 13!!

Happy Birthday JonElliott. Our miracle baby. It's hard to believe he can possibly be 13...an official teen-ager (yep, that makes 4 in this house). He's an awesome kid with a kind heart and a super sense of humor. He has a sensitive heart and really cares about what is going on with others. He works hard and is doing great in school. He moved from homeschooling to a small private school this year and has done a great job with the transition. He likes to walk when he talks and sometimes makes me dizzy walking around the kitchen when he is telling me a story or about something that happened in his day. His brothers both adore him, for Mike he is someone to stay up late with, play games and watch movies with and talk to until the wee hours of the morning. For Sam, he is a punching bag and a horse to ride on and Jon takes it all in stride! His sisters also think he's pretty cool. He and Emily have long since been buddies, playing soccer, skating, hockey, and "night games" (outside running around kind of stuff), they just hang out together alot. Jayne and Jon compete with each other in the fastest talker competition, and she always understands what he says even when we don't!! The kids all sat around the table tonight with ice-cream cake just laughing up a storm. Earlier Elliott and I had taken JonElliott out for dinner to "Bubba Gump" for a great dinner of shrimp. It was so fun and a fabulous release from a rather stress filled week.

Happy Birthday JonElliott, you are a joy and a blessing!! Mom and Dad

Things are looking up!!

Elliott was right.....the 11th hour. Today I got ahold of the Consulate and they did indeed have our passports, the man I talked to was very nice and he made sure they got done today and picked up by express mail this afternoon.....they are now in transit back to us. The plane tickets are also now in transit by UPS. The ticket printer in Seattle was still down and waiting for a part so they reissued our tickets...get this...in Vancouver WA and sent them out from there. We got a hotel reservation at a hotel near our agencies office and our itinerary that says we are to meet Olivia on Monday morning at 9:00am at her orphange and have a going away party with her and her friends!! The official "Giving and Receiving" ceremony is scheduled for 2:00 TUESDAY afternoon and she will legally become our daughter. From then on we'll be processing immigration stuff...her VN passport and her American Visa (an IR-3 so that she will become an American citizen when she hits US soil). Our agency is planning that I may have to stay an extra 4 days but will work on getting us out of there sooner if at all possible once we get there. Elliott will have to leave on the 3rd no matter what. I still have packing to finish and a hundred last minute errands.

More Details....

It gets better. No one seems to know where our passports went. The post office says they must have delivered them but just scanned it wrong. I haven't been able to get through to the Consulate to verify that they have them. Time is ticking....hopefully they are at the Consulate getting the Visa's in them. Our travel agents printer went down with our tickets in it. They had an ice-storm and the repair guy couldn't get in to fix it....hopefully today he will be able to and they will be able to print our tickets and express mail (better be fed-ex) them to us. We still don't have confirmation yet on a hotel....hopefully today. By the time Elliott got home I was a mess....he calmly reminded me that we can know that we are in God's will since we are being harrassed like crazy and that he won't worry because all will come together in the "11th" hour. I will breathe better on the flight HOME with our sweet girl. It's not over until it's over......keep praying.

(BYW, Mike was fingerprinted and FBI checked last spring just in case knowing he would turn 18 last year, boy am I glad we did that!!)

Details

We are supposed to leave in 4 days and there is still so much unknown. We had to redo our visa's (since our 1st one expired) . We overnighted our passports to the VN consulate in SF but they were closed on Sat. and Monday (MLK day) and so are only receiving them today. Normally it takes 2 days to process the visa and then they have to overnight it back to us. If 2 days means the day they receive it, we should see it on Thursday, if not Friday. NO TIME FOR MAIL DELAYS. I am waiting to call the consulate and explain the situation (that the VN government wants us in the country on Monday and Sat. am were the only flights we could get), hopefully it will help get them out a little faster. Also, Holt e-mailed and said we might have to stay longer then 2 weeks and that the hotel we wanted to stay at is full and we need to try and find another hotel. They did say that we shouldn't change any flight arrangements until after we are in the country as they are working on getting the appointments with the different government offices worked out so an end date is not secure yet. I will breath a lot easier when we are on our way home!!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning around 9:00 am we got THE call. Diana from Holt called and said we have been approved and they want us in Hanoi on the 22nd. Our plane tickets were already sent and we are ready to go (well almost). We leave Saturday the 20th at 7:00am, arriving in Hanoi VN on Sunday night the 21st at 11:00 p.m. A long trip but it will be well worth it. We should meet Olivia right away on Monday the 22nd. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all your prayers!! Continue to lift up Olivia.....her world is about to be turned upside down, pray for safe travels, for our kids at home, and for a smooth and timely process once we get there. If all goes according to plan....we'll be home with our sweet girl on Feb 3. One year and one day after our official application to our agency to adopt her. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Month Ticks By.....

Another month officially passes today in this never-ending adoption story. Obviously, "anyday" to us and "anyday" to the Hanoi officials are 2 different things and Olivia still waits. If the travel approval doesn't come very soon (like in the next couple of days) we run the risk of running into TET (VN new year) and having to postpone until March. Olivia's bag is packed, we have plane tickets on hold, it is time.....PLEASE PRAY WE HEAR TODAY!!

Happy New Year!!!! We spent New Years Eve at some friends house. They had us and 4 other families over. Our family (with 5 kids) was the 2nd smallest family there.....How's that for a house full? Kids and adults played games, talked, ate and ate and ate and a movie (or maybe two) was watched by a few and everyone over the age of 2 and under 65 made it until midnight. (one 1 1/2 year and one grandpa didn't!) What a great way to ring in the new year!! And to my kids joy..we finally got snow in Minnesota!! It was a weird December, unusually warm....it even rained over the week-end but Jan. 1 brought snow and I have barely seen my older kids since.

Today marks the 11 month point when our application was officially submitted to Holt for our Olivia and no the Travel approval did not come today....but I am hopeful....by weeks end. Keep up those prayers!