We are in HCMC and are in our hotel room.  It is a very nice room … nothing fancy, but very clean and nice.  And, free WiFi, so who is to complain. We settled in around noon on Saturday … around 1 AM Saturday morning for everyone back home.

The plane ride from Hong Kong to HCMC was pretty rough.  There were a couple of kids in front of us that ended up throwing up and there were several people, including Kelly, who felt pretty poor after we landed.  It wasn’t continuous, but we had long stretches of moderate turbulance.  And, on a 2 1/2 hour flight that can really wear on you.

But, we got here safe and sound and were met at the airport by the agency’s representative.  Then, when we got to the hotel we were met by one of the other families that is already here.  I think we are going out this afternoon to get a few things done.  Hopefully tonight I can post a few pictures.  I’m kinda tired …

One of the things that we did find out was that our Giving and Receiving Ceremony has been postponed until Tuesday or Wednesday.  We will still get Mia tomorrow morning, and the representative is going to help us get some of the other things done in the mean time.  However, keep praying that the delays are minimal.

Thanks ….

Cameron

After traveling for almost the last 24-hours, we are currently in Hong Kong.  We will be leaving in just a couple of hours for Ho Chi Min City.  After the first 4 hour flight to LAX, we were not sure how we were going to fair for 14 more hours, but it wasn’t too bad … just boring.  Actually, the food on the plane was pretty good.

We ran into a group of people from the Tulsa and Arkansas area that are also going to HCMC to pick up babies, so it was nice to have some friendly faces around.

I haven’t been able to find Wi-Fi access in any of the airports yet, so that’s why I haven’t updated anyone.  But, as soon as we get into HCMC and into the hotel, we should be able to post more!

Cameron

Last night, after talking to our adoption agency in the afternoon, we had pretty much decided that is was going to be mid-October before we went to get Mia.  Kelly and I were pretty good with that.  Today, they called and told us that our Giving and Receiving Ceremony will be Oct. 1st, so we had better hurry up and get over there!  We just bought our tickets tonight, Kelly worked on child care all afternoon, and it looks like we are ready to go.

We will be leaving next Thursday night, Sept. 27th, at around 9pm.  We will have a four hour flight to LA, then a 14 hour flight to Hong Kong, followed by a 2 1/2 hour flight to Ho Chi Min City.  That is a long flight.  We have scheduled our flights back on Oct. 12th, which is pushing it.  However, we talked to our travel agent, Todd (yes … the same Todd that everyone uses.  And who wouldn’t?  Your crazy if you don’t use him), and he felt that if we needed to stay a little longer, the flights the following week looked reasonably open.  So, that is the plan.  Throw in Columbus Day on Oct. 8th, for which all the US Government offices that we need will be closed, and we have a little challenge on our hands.  But, that has never slowed us down before.

Keep praying for the process, especially while we are in Vietnam.  It would really be great to fly out on Oct. 12th, especially for the our kids here in the US and the people that are helping take care of them.

I”m not sure if I will post anything until next Thursday.  Hopefully the next post will be with pictures from LA or Hong Kong.

Cameron

Well, we talked with our adoption agency today and it is official … the government of Vietnam has decided to wait on signing an Adoption Decree, and thereby not set a Giving and Receiving date, until there are more families in country.  Those other families are right at the point of getting their “third letter” so we are looking at the beginning of October, at the earliest.  I’m hoping we get to stay for birthdays and then get Mia before hers!

The adoption agency was nice enough to send us an international cell phone in the mail to use while we are there.  My friend had already given me one to use, but it was still nice of them.  A small peace offering??

Cameron

As is typical, we have yet to have a Giving and Receiving set.  So, it is very doubtful that we will be traveling this next week.  They have told us to get our Visa’s, so hopefully it is coming sooner rather than later.  Our Visa will be good for 30-days, but you can get an extension on that.  It only seemed to make sense to have it rather than sweat a short turn around time.

The process, to be honest, has been very frustrating and emotionally draining.  Because of that, I want to refrain from commenting on that process.  In the end, when we have Mia, I am sure all the frustrations and disappointments will be more than worth it.  However, when you are in the middle of the process it does not make a lot of sense.  I realize that you are dealing with a foreign country and language barriers, etc.  But, for people like us that are analytical, it is not a very streamlined process and there are not a lot of opportunities for factual answers to your questions.  But, no one said it would be easy, did they???

Keep praying for us and that the process continues to move forward and that Mia continues to be taken care of in county.  I will let you know when I know more!

Cameron

We heard from our adoption agency tonight and they told us that the Vietnamese government has accepted our third letter and will be issuing an adoption decree early next week.  They have confirmed that our TENTATIVE Giving and Receiving (G&R) Date, the date which Mia is officially ours, is still September 24th.  That will not be firm until the actual decree is signed.

That said, we would probably be leaving around September 21st.  I wrote our travel agent tonight, although it is a little early, but we should probably start talking about plane tickets as we will need to buy them as soon as the G&R is set.

The one issue we are trying to work around is the birthdays we are going to miss.  Those that know us well know that all but two of the birthdays in our family happen between Sept. 22 and Oct. 22.  We will miss Zach (9/22), Brit (10/3) and Luke (10/5), not to mention Kelly (10/1) and I (10/4) will have to celebrate in Vietnam.  Mia fits well in our family at 10/21 and Max rounds things out at 10/22.

Keep praying that everything continues to move on God’s time table and the He works out all the final details for the kids.

As always, if you have any questions, please ask!

Cameron

This afternoon we had a conference call with the agencies involved with our adoption of Mia.  There has been a lot of noise on various web sites about adoption … in Vietnam and in other countries.  Vietnam, being so newly opened to adoption, has a lot of questions associated with it as these agencies try and get enough experience to make the process go smoothly.  So, we wanted to talk with everyone to make sure that we were as prepared as we can be before going.  I think Kelly and I feel pretty confident going forward that we have done as much as we can before actually leaving for Vietnam.

At the end of the call, we asked about time frames.  They again told us that our third letter should be received this week and they told us that they expect our travel date to be on or around Sept. 21st with a “Giving and Receiving” ceremony on or around Monday, Sept. 24th.  This pretty much means that we will miss Zach, Britt, and Luke’s birthday’s.  But, it is getting exciting … and quite a bit stressful … to know that the day is coming quickly!

Cameron

We heard over the weekend that we will probably get our “third letter” this upcoming week.  This is the final authorization from the Vietnamese government and it means that we will probably travel by the end of September.  We have heard that before, and been disappointed, but it does seem like we are close.  Now we have all the stress of getting things done as the actual date may come!  Up until know, it has seemed a little like a dream.

I will let you know as soon as we hear something.

Cameron

 We received new pictures today.  They speak for themselves.  She is so cute.

Cameron

Our paperwork was received earlier this week in Texas and was sent over night to Vietnam on Tuesday.  We are hoping to hear back today that it was received.  So, we are actually back on the road to making some progress.  We were told that we will be traveling with at least one other family and Kelly actually received an email from them today.  So, at least we won’t have to be ignorant alone over there.

I would still think we are at least a month away from traveling, but that is all in God’s hands.  I think Kelly and I have a certain amount of peace at this point that everything will happen when God wants it to happen.  We were reading as a family this morning in Proverbs 16 and all the references to man having a plan, but God directing his steps.  So, I guess we go when He says we go!

We were hoping to have some more pictures by now.  If we get some, you know I will post them.

Cameron