Good news

We have a 2:00 pm interview again at the embassy. It looks like all the concerns were sorted out. If all goes according to plan we should have our visa sometime tomorrow. Then that should be it! We'll probably try to get a flight out either or Fri or Sat depending on availability. At worst we would leave on time on Monday.

Anyways, God apparently still knows what he's doing!

More delays

In keeping with the theme of this adoption that we have to fight to accomplish everything we are now being investigated by the US Embassy. Apparently they are suspicious b/c of all the babies being adopted out of Phu Tho right now as well as the fact that our babies were a part of an association that they have never dealt with. They are investigating to ensure that everything is legit. Everything is on the up and up and we are not concerned about that it just is a matter of how long it will take them to decide that everything is on the up and up. We have no idea whether it will take a few days or a few weeks. All of this appears to be the result of Phu Tho being so backlogged with families and then now all these families coming through. We had to fight every step of the way to get her and it appears we will have to fight every step of the way to get out of here. Everything here has been a battle the adoption, the hotel, the taxis everything. We are tired and worn out and ready to come home and had hoped that what we were told that we would have visas by Thurs was true. It appears this is not the case and we still hope for Fri but feel that is a long shot. If we do not get her visa Fri then we will have to rebook our flights. Thank you for your prayers so far and please continue to pray. Jacob and I are both feeling ill although today he is better and Jaidyn has been upset for the last few days. Our bottle warmer/sterilizer which we thought was the best thing we had brought died today and we lost a bottle. Not a big deal just means we have to rig up other ways to sterilize things like frequent trips to the kitchen and cutting the disposable liners to fit in new bottles.We are just tired and ready to come home. Please pray the investigation will go quickly and we will still be able to return home on Mon. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Day out.

Nothing too big has happened the past couple of days. Just waiting around for a call from the US Embassy still. We went down to the french/old quarter again today. I bought a "ty ba". It's a kind of Vietnamese Lute. Looks like the picture below.



Here's a pic of St. Josephs Cathedral in the french quarter.


And then what post wouldn't be complete without another pic of Jaidyn.

Halong Bay

This morning we got our passport and an updated medical report for Jaidyn today. No problems there. Now we just are still waiting on a call from the US Embassy for another visa interview.

Yesterday we took a day trip out to Halong Bay. It was a 3 hour van ride out to the bay, we spent a few hours on a boat and hiked up lots of steps up to a cave. Then rode back.

Here's a few pics.


Halong Bay consist of a ton of mountain and rock formations that go for many miles all through the ocean. Hundreds of "Junk Boats" take people through the bay on day trips or overnight. We just did a day trip.



A stop at the beach for 30 minutes to give Jaidyn yet another first, wading in sand and ocean.




So after the boat tour we were waiting for our bus to come pick us up. There was a restaurant that we stopped and sat at for a few minutes. This was a part of their liquor selection. Apparently the real men drink their liquor with fermenting snakes siting in them for months.

Vietnamese Water puppet show

Tonight we went to a Vietnamese Water puppet show (was only 2.50 a person for the good seats). It was really interesting. Apparently it's an art form that was started by farmers over 1000 years ago and still remains uniquely Vietnamese. Basically behind this stage these puppeteers are waist deep in the water have the puppets on rods with intricate pulleys and levers to make them move. It's more interesting than it sounds. Also had to throw in another pic of Jaidyn just for fun.

Interview and Back by popular demand

So we had our interview today and it went ok but not great. She asked us a bunch of questions and the parts we thought could possibly be a problem didn't appear to be a big deal at all. However there was some other things that they wanted to look into further to make sure it was legit. We think they will investigate it and it will be fine, however, it doesn't guarantee a speedy turn-around time. We'll see. We've appreciated all your prayers, comments, and emails as we've continued through the red-tape nightmare. It has been very encouraging to us. We're addicted to your comments as much as your addicted to our blog ;)

Also, everyone kept saying in various ways that the last video wasn't cheesy and they wanted to see more. So we now give you more. Once again I'm going to put the disclaimer that this is grandma geared. When we first got her she wasn't really able to sit by herself or scoot, so she's showing off her new abilities aquired in just a few days.

Hoan Kiem Lake

We went to Hoan Kiem lake and the old Quarter yesterday with another family. Was definitely fun, and you get alot of practice at saying no thank you in vietnamese (khong, Cam On).

We have our I-600 interview today and apparently our case isn't quite as cut and dry as it could be. Without getting into a lot of complicated details, since our case took so long, it was caught in the middle of some law changes and the province not being fully aware and up-to-date on those law changes. It SHOULD be fine, but there's a little room for problems. We'll see. If today goes well, the rest should be home free apparently.