Life at the Macklis house

Things are still going very well. Sara is enjoying meeting new friends daily. She has a runny nose, so we took her to the Doctor today. Luckily, it is just a cold and we got her a Humidifier for her room. She is still in a pretty good mood, but seems to be having trouble breathing through her nose which is interrupting her sleep. Hobbes is still missing! Here are some pictures since we have been home!


Great Grandma (94 yrs old)!!

Grandma and Grandpa Chabler
Grandma and Grandpa Macklis
With Mommy and my cousin Shaina
My dog, Gigi , my cousin Robbie
Aunt Leslie
1st bath at home!

MISSING CAT

With all of the baby excitement, one of our cats, Hobbes has disappeared. We are very upset about this. He has never been outside before and has no front claws or tags. Please pray for Hobbes' safe return. His brother, Calvin, is very upset. They have never been apart before.


Sara is doing amazing. All of the house guests are gone and we are adjusting to our new family of 3. Today we are going to take her into Gary's work.

Getting Back to Normal (Sort Of)

We are slowly adjusting to being home. We still have the 4 grandparents as house guests and we are still sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of the baby's room. Jet lag is still a problem and it is too cold in Ohio.

Thanksgiving was wonderful but went by in a blur. It was great to be back in the US and with our families. Sara's 4 cousins, age 12-15, are especially in love with her.

Sara's baby naming was during Shabbat services last night. Sue and I as well as her 4 grandparents and 1 living great grandparent stood on the Bima. The Rabbi blessed her and we gave thanks to G-d for our beautiful daughter in front of the congregation. Sue lost it during her part so I had to take over and finish. Several good friends including Hahn and John Wyman, Suzanne and Caroline Sproule, and Sue's surgeon from her breast cancer surgery , Linda Han, were able to join us and see Sara for the first time. Pictures to come.

Today, we are having a small get together at our house for more of our friends to meet Sara.

By Tuesday evening, everyone will have left for home and Sue and I can begin to adjust to being a 3 member family.

We're going home!!
On the flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles.
First ride in a car seat to Aunt Michele's house.
Squirming away from Aunt Michele.
In my new crib.
With Grandpa Chabler (Sue's Dad).

Welcome Home, Sara

It's about 4 am in Columbus and we are lying on the floor of Sara's room while she plays in her crib. Three of Sara's 4 Grandparents are in the house also but fast asleep.

The return flights went smoothly or as smoothly as possible on the day before Thanksgiving. The 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was a breeze. Sara didn't care for her bassinet, only sleeping in it for a couple of hours. It was handy for changing diapers and clothes, however. Getting through immigration and collecting our baggage took 1 1/2 hours and we were met at the end by Aunt Michele, Gary's sister.

Since we had a 10 hour layover in LA, we went to Aunt Michele's house in Redondo Beach to spend the night. Aunt Michele loved baby Sara and wanted to keep her. It was great that she got to meet Sara on her way home. Again, Sara was the only one who slept and we were back at the airport by 4:30 am LA time to catch our 6 am flight. LAX is a crazy place even at 4:30 on the day before Thanksgiving.

Sara slept the entire 3 hour flight from LA to Dallas. Then, another 4 hour layover in Dallas during which Sara entertained hundreds of people waiting at our gate. Unfortunately, the last leg of our trip was delayed 1 1/2 hours for a blown fuse on the plane. Sara slept through this wait as well as the 2 hour flight home. In fact,she had to be woken up on the way to baggage claim so she could see all of the people who came to meet her. About 15 people were there including her grandparents, her 2 other aunts, her 4 cousins and some good family friends. They made signs and a lot of noise even with all of the other people at the airport.

Sara spent the rest of the evening getting to know her grandparents and the family pets. At first, she was afraid of Gigi, our 90 lb dog (that's 40 Kg in Vietnam), but after an hour, while Gigi was lying quietly, Sara walked up to her and touched her paw.

We will have more pictures to post and now we can look forward to Thanksgiving and Sara's baby naming ceremony on Friday.

On The Way

We are currently at the Hong Kong airport waiting to board our plane to LA. Everything it Hanoi went relatively smoothly. The flight from Hanoi to Hong Kong was also routine. Hopefully the 12-1/2 flight to LA will involve a lot of sleep for everyone. The kids are busy running around a play area tiring themselves out. See you all very soon and Michele the soonest

Almost home

We are enjoying our time here in Hanoi (founded in 1010) Hanoi is full of beautiful lakes and lots of tall trees. The weather is also much cooler. Yesterday, we went to "Baby" Street and got Sara some really cute things, including a pink faux fur jacket for like $6!!! We will not be used to US prices when we return. Sara continues to be cute as ever. She now gives kisses.

We are looking forward to coming home on Weds. at 6 pm from Dallas on American Airlines. We can't wait to see everyone..

For those of you in Columbus, we will have Sara's Baby Naming (officially giving her her Hebrew name) on Fri, 11/23 at 8 pm at Temple Beth Tikvah in Worthington. All are welcome. Then, on Sat, the 24th we are going to have a small gathering at the house to celebrate Sara and her belated Birthday. Let us know if you are coming to the house so we can plan appropriately.

With my mommy at an outdoor cafe:


I like it when my Daddy feeds me.


My Daddy even changes my diaper which is not so easy because I am sooo squirmy!


With my partner in crime in the Hotel lobby.


Hoan Kiem lake in the middle of Hanoi:


Another botanical garden.


The future's so bright I gotta wear shades.


Somewhere on "Baby" Street.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Ohio

Well, par for the course, things did not go smoothly in Hanoi. Our plane was 1/2 hour late arriving so we rushed to the embassy. When we got there, they had no record of our appointment. Turns out Mr. Hiep only requested one. The embassy is very backed up so was unable to confirm our appointment. The soonest they can see us is Monday at 1:30 pm. This means a visa at 11 am on Tuesday and a flight out of Hanoi at 7 pm on Tuesday. After a lot of hard work by mommy and Todd Gallineck (PAPs, if you don't use him for travel, you are CRAZY), we can now fly into Columbus via Dallas on Wednesday at 6 pm.

We were sad to say goodbye to everyone at the Thien Xuan. We are staying in a much nicer hotel in Hanoi. The room is bigger and the floors are carpeted. The breakfast included cereal and pancakes. The weather is also much cooler. The highs are in the 80s and the lows in the 60s.

Mexican menu in Hanoi:

On to Hanoi and the Western Hemisphere

Yea, we're only a few days from home!!!We met the infamous Mary Ann Russell today. Things got off to a rocky start, but everything worked out. While we were waiting, Sara and Kevin helped entertain the waiting room. We leave for Hanoi at 6:30 am tomorrow. We will file our paperwork at 10. This means that we will most likely get Sara's visa on Monday and leave for home that night. Because of Thanksgiving, we cannot get a flight to Columbus until Tuesday morning. We are scheduled to arrive from Chicago at 6:30. Of course, a small chance remains that we could receive her visa tomorrow and could leave Hanoi earlier. However, it is still Thanksgiving week and most flights are already booked.

What do you mean it's only 40 degrees in Columbus?!

IT'S TODAY!!

We woke up to an overnight email from our Senator Brown's office that the trouble was a backlog of cases. We really began to worry that we would be here for weeks.

Then at 8:15 we received a call that our appointment with INS is at 10:30 am today!!

STILL nothing!!

Nothing new to report today. INS interviews are only done in the mornings. When we hadn't heard by 9 am we knew it would be another day. We played with Kevin and Bau some and did some laundry. We had dinner at a pretty good restaurant called Black Cat Glass Noodle that had Mexican food. Sue had a chicken burrito and Gary had beef. Finally, no noodles and no rice. Well, actually there WAS rice in the burritos. Sara does not like quesadillas!! She better learn to love Mexican food!! We didn't even take any pictures today, so here are some additional pictures of our trip!

This is what our hotel lobby looks like. We come down every morning to eat breakfast. The servers all love Sara. They serve everything from omelets, to tuna sandwiches to spaghetti with meat sauce. Of course, you can always get Pho if you get there early enough.
Another cute picture of Sara at the beach.

This is typical traffic in Ho Chi Min City. The Scooters far outnumber the cars. They are everywhere. Crossing the street is pretty much at your own risk. There are very few traffic lights in the whole city, maybe 10 that we have seen. The sidewalks are filled with people selling stuff, Scooters and people and it is very hard to walk.

Back in HCMC

Ok, it's getting to be like Groundhog Day. Every day is beginning to be the same. Needless to say, we did not have our INS interview today and probably won't make it home next Friday as planned. We are, of course, still enjoying our time with Sara. We are hoping to make it home for Thanksgiving at this point!!!!!


Here's another dress my parents got me in Vietnam.

A Much Needed Change of Scenery

Sunday night we went to the beach City, Vung Tau, with Bau and Kevin. Sara was a little scared, but she liked the Ocean and the sand. The sand made a huge mess! At least she got to wear her bikini while it still fits!

Here's the Hotel we stayed in. It was $25/night including Breakfast!



Here I am in my new dress and new shoes my Mommy and Daddy got me in Vietnam. Don't I look cute? The shoes squeak when I walk.

Mommy is constantly freaking out that Sara will fall of of the bed. Sara thinks it's very funny.

Sara wanted to eat the sand.

Bau's cousins took us to a nice Seafood Restaurant. Look at the size of the Shrimp!
This is actually Sea SNAKE! See the skin? We passed on eating that. Gary DID drink Snake Blood, though. They actually serve it. He had it mixed with Vietnamese Vodka. YUM!!! Apparently, it's supposed to make men stronger!
Sara was very antsy until she got to eat!
At the Harbor on our way back to HCMC. It's about a 1 1/2 hr boat ride.

Dragging On

We are just plum tired of being here. Tired of the having to eat every meal out without the benefit of a high chair, napkins, or knives. Tired of our small hotel room. Tired of people aggressively selling sunglasses, postcards, and balloons. Tired of risking our lives every time we cross the street. We don't mean to complain and we love having nothing to do but bond and enjoy our new daughter. We know our way around really well now. When we needed a new nipple for our Avent bottles, we knew exactly where to go to buy one.

We didn't get an INS interview on Friday so now it will be Tuesday at the earliest that we get in. Then another day for an approval and 2-3 days in Hanoi for a visa. The flight we have booked for Friday doesn't have any bassinet seats available so we may have to hold Sara for 14 hours. She doesn't like to be restrained for a minute.

Here is Sara's first sushi experience. She threw food on the floor and dumped a glass of water all over daddy and onto the floor. The waitresses just glowered at us. This is the first place Sara has been where she didn't make any new friends.
One of the shopping plazas had a babysitting service . Instead of leaving Sara there, we played with her for a couple of hours. She enjoyed rocking in the police car and she got acquainted with Winnie the Pooh and friends.


Mommy has even been sharing makeup tips with the little one.
Since Sara fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn, daddy was forced to take a nap with her.

Another Free Day in HCMC

We are still awaiting word of our INS interview. Monday is a US holiday, so it probably won't be until Tues which means we probably won't make our flight on Thurs. Meanwhile, Sara continues to entertain the city! She imitates everything and thinks she's very funny! Getting her to go to sleep at night is quite a challenge, so any tips would be helpful!

These 2 girls LOVE Sara. The one on the left is the one who drew the picture for her.

I like to play with my sunglasses, but I won't wear them. Don't I look cute?



Another admirer!

Tonight we went to Alley Boo for dinner. Sue's meal came in this Pineapple. The whole meal costs us $12 US. We won't go into detail about the 1 1/2 hr cab ride. During the entire meal people were walking up to us trying to sell us anything from Chicklets to lighters to books. It was very sad. One little boy was about 5 and his mother had him selling gum to people. There were 2 women with babies about Sara's age selling Chicklets too. I t made me think about what kind of life Sara may have had and how lucky we all are. There is a lot of corruption going on in the Vietnam adoption process and it is very sad for the innocent children and prospective parents. We hope the program will continue and children continue to find good homes with parents who love them and can provide for them.