We Have Ava's Passport

Well I went and picked up Ava's passport this morning. We will have her visa medical tomorrow and then all we will be waiting for is our 2nd interview with the embassy. The group of families before us received word that all but one of their cases has cleared. The one that didn't clear was aware that there may be a delay. Please pray that everything is cleared up so that they can go home.

Erin & I went out with some of the other women (and baby Jake) to the quilt shop. It is a non- profit place that sells quilts that the women in a village north of Hanoi make. They are beautiful. I am going back with Davis and we are going to order a set for Ava to be made and shipped to us.

I don 't have any pictures from today so I just posted some random ones from this week. Enjoy!

Layin' Low

We didn't do too much yesterday. We just hung around the apartment all day. After breakfast we took Ava to the SOS International clinic. She has a rash that is just getting worse. We saw a Dutch doctor and he prescribed antibiotics, oral steroids, and a strong steriod cream. She already looks much better this morning.

I am going this morning to pick up Ava's passport. I am hoping that the 11/3 families hear today about their 2nd interview. I have such a peace about this whole process. I truly believe that God is at work and His hand has been in every aspect of this adoption. I KNOW He will see us through and bring us home on time.

Handicraft Bazaar

We just happened to luck up and find out about the Handicraft Bazaar that was being held today. Many ethnic groups from all over came to sell their handmade items. We had a great time looking through everything. Of course we made SEVERAL purchases. We also got business cards for many of the shops and are going to hit them next week.

Peyton. Ava, and I had a "date" for dinner tonight. Davis and Erin didn't want to eat where we wanted to so we went our separate ways. Peyton played pool while Ava and I watched. Next time Davis and Erin are taking Ava with them. She gets a little impatient at the table if it takes too long or she's not being fed.

The group before us (Nov 3) didn't hear from the emabassy this week like they were hoping. Pease pray that they hear Monday and that we hear soon after. I'm not hoping to come home early, just on time.

So Many White People !!!

Sometimes it's hard to believe that we are in Vietnam. There are so many white people here! There are Americans, Europeans, & Australian/New Zealanders EVERYWHERE!! Most of them are not adopting parents they are tourists or they live here. I never saw this many white folks in Beijing.

We had a great day today. Ava is back to sleeping all night. She hates to be put down though. She wants to be held standing up all the time. We met up with two other families today and went to lunch at KOTO. KOTO (Know One Teach One) was founded by two Australian chefs who teaches street kids how to cook so they will have a trade when they're older. It was very nice. We went to the Temple of Literature after lunch. It used to be THE temple for learning Confusionism in it's day.

The Other Shoe Has Dropped

Well we new it was too good to be true. Ava had us up every 3 hours last night from 8-6:30. We think it is her ears. We didn't leave the hotel today except to go to our big Embassy interview. It went fine. The lady asked a few simple questions and said we should hear something the week after Thanksgiving. Please continue to pray that everything clears with out a problem.

1st Embassy Appointment

We found out today that we will have our 1st Embassy appointment tomorrow (Thurs). We will meet in the lobby at 1:30. This is great news. I didn't expect to have it until Friday at the earliest. The second interview is the most important. When we get the call for the second interview that means that the paperwork has cleared.

We finally got out and walked around Hanoi today. We went to the Old Quarter. We didn't find much to buy. Peyton got a military toy set and I bought some Vietnam t-shirts for the kids. We found another restaurant that we really like-Kiti. Ava is still doing great. She slept 10 hours last night and only got up once. That's the first time we've had to get up during the night with her.

Ava is Amazing!!

This kid is unbelieveable! She never cries, she loves to play, she's a very good eater, and she SLEEPS!! The first night she slept 13 HOURS and last night she slept 11 HOURS!!! Yesterday I went and applied for her passport and we had the Giving and Recieving ceremony yesterday afternoon. It is a simple ceremony but I teared up. The official made a speech about how they want us to love are care for Ava as we would a biological child. She asks that we teach her about Vietnam and try to bring her back to visit when she is older. We were the first family to go and sign the book. After that was signed the official told us congratulations and that Nguyen Thi Ha was now our child. She's OURS!! Today we started the scaring process- applying for Ava's US Visa. Please pray that everything will go smoothly over the next few weeks.