Sweet Babies at Go Vap Orphanage

I would like to share some of the pictures of the sweet babies that were in Lucy's room. This was one very small room in a very large orphanage. I held or hugged every baby in this room and sobbed the entire time. I can't put into words the emotions that I felt, but I'm sure they will stay with me forever. All these babies were just so...alone. The nannies were very sweet and did the best job that they could, but it's just not a home - not a place that a baby should grow up.

We're Home!!!

We made it home this morning. It was quite a miracle that we made the flight! Wanted to post a picture of the Greder family all together. Lucy loved meeting everyone.

It was so nice to see the boys again! Glad we're home. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.

In the next couple days I'll post some of my favorite picts of Vietnam. It was such an amazing experience and I'm so thankful I was able to go and be a part of Lucy's adoption.

Monday morning

Lisa has an interview today at 2 for Lucy's visa. If all goes well and we get her visa today, we will be flying out tonight at 7pm. (we're 12 hrs ahead). If we make that flight, we'll land in st. louis tuesday afternoon at 1:30. If we don't have Lucy's visa by the time we have to board we'll come back to the hotel and get the next flight out.

Lucy seems to be feeling a bit better today. I think her antibiotic is starting to help. Lisa and I are anxious to get home and see our families and I know there are lots of people waiting to meet Lucy!

Lucy's Dr. visit

We ended up taking Lucy to the dr today because she was really congested and was having a difficult time breathing off and on. The dr said she has bronchitis, a bacterial infection and an ear infection. The visa appt. is tomorrow afternoon and if we get the visa quickly, we'll be able to make our 7pm flight - otherwise we'll get the next available flight out. The monday night flight will make our arrival time in st louis tuesday afternoon. We're praying we make that one!

Lucy's photo shoot

Lisa and I took Lucy down to the courtyard this morning to snap a couple pictures. Just wanted to post a few. She couldn't be any sweeter!!!

We're in Hanoi

We made it to Hanoi this afternoon...thank goodness. Lisa was a little nervous about flying on a smaller plane and wasn't happy about how old it was. It didn't help much when I pointed out that it still had ashtrays on the arms of the seats! We are praying that we get to come home a bit early, but still aren't sure. We'll keep you posted - there's one paper that we are hoping is ok so we can come home early next week.

Our Hotel

Here are some pictures of our hotel. The first two are of the breakfast buffet which is an amazing spread! I wish I could really try different food, but I'm sticking to bread and peanut butter for breakfast because I can't afford to get sick. We are on the go constantly and I would be miserable. The other pictures are of our room and the front of our hotel.

For Mom and Dad

Mom, there is Diet Coke here,but it's called Coke Light - It's actually not too bad. Lisa and I go to the desk and get 6 at a time and you should see their face! They always say "6?!"

Dad, I thought of you the second I saw all the power lines. I rember how you would always 'police' the number of cords we would plug into one outlet when we were younger so we didn'tstart a fire .The pictures don't do it justice...it's like this all over!!

I did call and talk to Eric, the boys and mom this morning and it was so nice to hear their voices. I miss you all.

Wed morning

It's Wed morning here and we are going to get Lucy's passport today and fly up to Hanoi tomorrow. Last night we ate at an authentic Vietnamese restaurant with our guides. For any of you who have seen Andrew Zimmer's Bizarre foords...yes, it's like that! Lisa and I were so scared that we'd end up getting sick, but didn't want to offend them so we took small bites of most things. Sorry can't get the second picture of the 'meat case' off..anyway, this restaurant was outside and it was hot! There were lots of bugs and no refrigeration for the food. The restaurant has been there for 60 years and he told us the meat was fresh, not frozen.

Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City

First off, we received our luggage this morning...thank goodness!!! We took Lucy for her doctors appt and she weighed 16.5 lbs. Everything else looked great. We are getting ready to go shopping at the market and then we are going to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner with one of our adoption helpers. So far we've not ventured out with the eating. Lots of french fries! We did order pizza and it had an egg in the middle! Along with 'sausage' and whole green olives. It looks like we will be heading to Hanoi thurs. It's so hard to put things into words. It's just amazing here. I'm so greatful for everyone helping out so that I can be a part of this adventure...especially our mothers who are watching the boys... thanks.

WE HAVE LUCY!!!!!!!!!!!

What a day! We have been very busy today, but started this morning at the orphanage. I can't even begin to put that part into words, so I won't try right now. Long story short, we walked in to Lucy's room in the orphanage and they handed her to Lisa and she just watched Lisa. It was amazing! We've been running around all day getting things done for Lucy's paperwork so we can go to Hanoi to finish things up. Lucy is the sweetest little thing. So tiny and beautiful. She's very laid back. I'll post a couple picts, but they're pretty big files so I'll have to upload more to flickr later. Thanks for the prayers, comments and support.

Shopping then sleep

It's almost 8 in the evening. Lisa and I took an adventerous motorbike ride to the market and bought some clothes to wear tomorrow for the giving and receiving ceremony...don't laugh at them. We had limited time and were exhausted!!

I put some pictures on my flickr account and am going to try to post a link. There are just too many to put on the blog right now. We are so tired and are getting ready to head up to bed. I will upload my favorite from the market today... It's a Coach fabric print on a shoe, with a Bebe label, and a Dr. Martens buckle. It was so funny - I know, I have a warped sense of humor.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18278633@N08/ This is a link that I've uploaded some picts to. There aren't a lot, but we need to get to bed. Keep us in your prayers that tomorrow goes smoothly!

WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I can only leave a quick note for now. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City about 12 noon (Vietnam time) Sunday. We spend several hours in the airport trying to locate our luggage - apparently it didn't arrive with us, so we had to fill out forms and we're hoping it shows up very soon. (All the luggage didn't arrive from the Hong Kong airport) We made it to the hotel fine. The drive from the airport was amazing! We've spent our time so far (just a couple hours) trying to find clothes for Lisa and the baby for her Giving and Receiving ceremony in the morning. We're off now to look again and get a wi fi adapter and then I'll be able to post pictures. It's been a great adventure thus far and will be even better in the morning when we go to the orphanage. Gotta go. Love to my boys...

Getting ready to go

Lisa and I leave tomorrow night (friday) for Vietnam! We fly out of St Louis at 7pm

Lisa received approval!!!

We are going to Vietnam!! Lisa just received her approval and we are heading to get baby Lucy probably early next week (possibly sooner). She'll find out today when we are heading out. Please pray for our safety.

It's Pirate Day!

Drew wanted to be a pirate today, so we went to the dollar store to get some 'pirate things'. He picked out an eye patch, a treasure map (placemat), and pirate snacks (iced animal crackers). After he got bored with that he took my eyeliner in the bathroom and made 'mad eyebrows'.

Trip to downtown St. Louis

The boys and I headed out to go to Grant's Farm today, but when we arrived we found out it didn't open for a couple more weeks...so, on to plan B. We headed downtown to check out the city. The boys each had a friend spend the night last night and they ended up coming along. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.

We went to the arch, stopped and had a milkshake and played in the fountain.