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.

Medical Exam Day!

Today we took Sara for her Medical Exam! She did better than we thought she would. Of course, she cried when she had to lay down on the table. Our little girl hates being still for a second.


Not your typical US Hospital! These people are all waiting for the Medical Exams they need to obtain a Visa
You can see she was not too thrilled! The Doctor even commented on her hair! The exam wasn't too thorough, just a "formality".
Next step: INS interview, but that probably won't be till at least Tues, then we are out of HCMC and off to Hanoi for Sara's Visa. Meanwhile, Sara continues to make friends. One of the servers at the Hotel made her a beautiful painting of her village. It will be a great memory of this trip that we will have forever. The staff just loves her!

It's Official!!

We are now officially recognized by the Vietnamese government as Sara's parents. We got word
late yesterday that our Giving and Receiving Ceremony might be on Tuesday. This morning around 10:00 am we got a call from Mr. Hiep that he was coming to pick us up in 40 minutes. We had just gotten back to the room from breakfast and hadn't showered or gotten dressed. We hurriedly got ready and as we were leaving the room, received another call saying he would pick us up at 1:30.

The ceremony was fast. It involved signing a bunch of papers with the director of the orphanage and the "President" of Binh Duong Province. All in all, it lasted 10 minutes, but was quite emotional nonetheless. We were the 36th family to adopt from the province.

Now we just need to get past the US government requirements and we get to come home. Hopefully, our first INS interview will be Friday. Next Monday is Veterans' Day and offices will be closed.

The Terrible Twosome:
Yesterday, we visited the Reunification Palace which is the former residence of the President of South Vietnam. This is where the famous photograph of the NVA tank crashing through the gates was taken.The palace is still used for official functions, but it otherwise still looks like a 50s-60s style house.
A display of gifts given to the President was in one courtyard including real elephant feet.

Another Cafe on Ly Tu Trung Street

The network at the hotel is still down so we found another cafe with free wifi. Sue is sipping pineapple juice with the baby while Gary has grapefruit.

Lovely in green (yes, it's actually not pink). Pizza Hut had high chairs so we went back twice.

This time in white.

Playing with the boys in the balls.

Finally some Pho (pronounced like huh) for breakfast.

Still Struggling

The internet is an iffy thing here in Vietnam. The networks often go down for extended periods of time. Of course, Gary thinks that it is something he is doing wrong. We are currently at Highlands Coffee connected to the wireless network of a cafe across the street.

We don't have anything new to report. Our adoption decree supposedly came back from Hanoi on Friday. It will be filed with the local Provincial Department of Justice today. Mr Hiep says our Giving and Receiving ceremony could be Wednesday or Thursday. In the real world, this means we'll be lucky if it is before next Monday. The 17th is as soon as we think we'll be home.

We have visited all the malls and bought new shoes for the baby. She has worn a variety of really cute outfits which we will post as soon as possible. We have gotten together with Bao and Scott a couple of times. Sara and Kevin together are double trouble. Pictures real soon, we promise

Gary and Sue

Internet Down!

For some reason, our computer has decided that it won't connect to the internet. The network in the hotel is working but we can't connect. Life has settled into a pattern of naps, going out for walks and more naps. All is well with us. Hopefully, we can get up and running soon.

Making the Best of It

With no G&R date in sight, we are just trying to make the best of our situation. We are enjoying ourselves, but want to know when we can come home. Being away is not going to be fun for too much longer. At least we have Sara to provide constant entertainment.


We had dinner with our friends, Bao and Chris, tonight at a restaurant called D'Liss. Chris is returning to Texas tomorrow night and Bao has hired a nanny here is HCMC to help him take care of Kevin.
The staff there just loved the babies! This guy in particular love Sara and kept playing with her. She would run into his arms when he held them out! We may go back there!

Sara had a bath after dinner that she did not enjoy at all!

Believe it or not, being a parent is exhausting. Now we know what all the other families were going through all these years in restaurants, etc.