Thursday, November 29, 2007

Friday Update On A Thursday.....

We got our last week update today and no....we won't get a second one tomorrow I'm sure. Anyway it sounds like the work has started and the elves are going to be busy fixing the mistakes that were made. Hopefully the pressure will be VERY intense and the dossiers will get corrected quickly. Would make a nice Christmas gift now wouldn't it?!?!?!?!?!

Here's the update:
The Da Nang orphanage director, under the pressure of officials in PC and
DOLISA, is working on fixing the child dossiers.
After consulting the Department of Justice, she was told that the dates of
admitting the children into the orphanage has to be backdated.

Among some other errors, the biggest problem with the child dossiers seem to
be the sequence of processing required documents.
The children, are supposed to be officially admitted into the orphanage
(subject to the endorsement of the Population Committee Director at that
time), before advertising on local radios and informing local families that
a child is available for domestic adoption. For some unknown reasons, this
important step wasn't done until late afterwards. For now, we are not
sure how long it will take to get the documents backdated and also to fix
other errors. But with the support of the district PC and DOLISA, we
believe it would be just a matter of time.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

We are supposed to gt an update late today or tomorrow. Lets hope together for it to be chock full of GREAT information!!!! And plenty of GOOD NEWS wouldn't hurt either. The past few weeks have gotten harder. The anticipation of Derek's first birthday next week and the holidays coming have me completely stressed. I just can't focus on every day life at this point. Some moments I am sad and just with the snap of my fingers I can become very agitated and angry. I am more than ready for this journey to get us to Derek and back home again.

In different news....I just completed booking my first flight ever. We are heading to sunny California to visit with Michelle & Jeff. We will be going to see the Rose Bowl Parade as one of our highlights of the trip. I can't wait I hear it is beautiful. I am just so excited to fly. It will be a little sneak preview to the long flight to Vietnam. We will be spending New Years Eve with Michelle & Jeff in L.A. so I am excited and I am going to need to buy me something really special to wear for that adventure. Looking forward to the get away!!!!

As soon as we get our update I will post it HERE!!!

Monday, November 19, 2007

We found out about 2 weeks ago that we could send a care package to Derek so I set out to the store to buy what I knew I wanted to send. I ended up preparing a package for all 5 babies in the orphanage. When my girls were small like Derek my mom used to sew them "blankies". Just a piece of flannel with silky binding around the edges. Something they could cuddle, snuggle, and feel secure with. They had several so we were able to take them everywhere. They grew out of carrying them around therefore I knew this was an item that was safe to send on to the babies. So I bought the cutest fabric with duckies and froggies on it and off to mom's I went with it to request 5 blankies. I also found cute teething beads and I decided since we always see them barefoot and I truly believe in socks, I sent them along too. I hope the babes love their package when it gets there. I will be sending it out tomorrow to Jim so he can take it to the orphanage for them. It's an early Christmas for them. We are really hoping that there will be some news this week with the holiday thrown in there and the devastating storms.


BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER......

Yes the winter snow may look beautiful as it clings so soft and pure to the trees but...I hate it. I have to travel in it today an it is giving me a headache just anticipating it. I thought yesterdays pictures were bad well the following ones were taken this morning after 12+ hours of snowfall. More light snow is expected today. Oh BTW I didn't mention that it is 33 degrees here too. BRRRRRR!!! The girls were happy though....TWO HOUR DELAY!!!! Always a big YEAH for those days. Even for me because I can snuggle under the warm blankies a little longer!!



Sunday, November 18, 2007

Sunday Morning Snowflakes....

I hate the cold, I hate the snow, I hate waiting for my son!!!!
Today I woke up after an extremely restless night full of horrible dreams and looked outside....,SNOW. YUCK!!!! That meant cooped in the house and that meant pop open the bottle of Ativan. It will be a long day but at least I will stay warm. Hopefully the snow doesn't amount to much because we are going to the mall tonight to do "Evening Of Giving" to benefit a local Hospice program which helped take care of my Daddy before he passed away. They are truly special people with very warm hearts. Sooooooo I hope to get out a little tonight. I guess I'll spend the day wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace watching the NASCAR race. GO MATT!!!!

So I wanted to include a picture so you could see what it's doing here.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Vietnam Devastation strikes close.....

Here is a recent report from Vietnam News concerning the recent horrific storms hitting Vietnam. As you can see on the map the large area they are speaking of is very close to DaNang which is where Dereek is. Please continue to pray for safety as the report says this weekend will produce more storms.
Floods in central region kill 35; more downpours forecast

(16-11-2007)

HA NOI — Floods in central Viet Nam claimed the lives of another seven people yesterday, bringing the death toll this week to 35; 28 are injured and six are still missing.

As if that wasn’t enough, the central region is expected to be hit by torrential heavy rains followed by another flood this weekend, reports the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. This will be the 5th flood to hit the central provinces this month.

The rising water levels have left hundreds of thousands homeless, scores dead and remote regions holding on by a thread. Domestic and International aid organisations are rushing to the rescue, delivering money, supplies and hope to victims of this tragedy.

Nearly 400,000 houses have been submerged and more than 2,500 ha of rice paddies have been damaged. Landslides have destroyed several sections of national roads.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Wednesday sent messages to officials, government offices and people’s committees of affected provinces, demanding leaders focus on feeding people and fighting disease.

Dung asked local authorities to ensure students were returning to school and provide the materials necessary for farmers to restore production.

Statistics show that Quang Ngai Province was hit by five separate floods in the past month; 34 people are reported dead or missing.

Two helicopters transported 2.5 tonnes of food from Quang Ngai City to Tay Tra District yesterday. This was the first time aid made it to the district since flooding started four weeks ago. Local authorities were unable to transport supplies by road due to landslides.

As many as 2,400 households are facing the possibility of starvation. The two helicopters lowered goods to isolated areas including Tra Vinh, Tra Tho and Tra Thanh.

Vietnam News Agency Correspondent Tri Phuong yesterday reported that Quang Nam Province has spent VND15 billion to help victims restabilise their lives and most students had returned to school.

Chairman of Phu My People’s Committee Huynh Van Nam said the district presented VND1million to two men for their daring rescue of three trapped people.

Raising donations

The Party Central Committee’s office on Wednesday raised VND300 million from leaders and staff to support flood victims in the Central region.

Organisations and people in Ha Noi have sent VND1.6 billion to affected provinces. Meanwhile Binh Thuan Province has sent VND310 million.

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society in co-ordination with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have sent nearly 5,000 boxes of family appliances and 420 tonnes of rice to victims.

The Canadian Embassy yesterday announced it was sending C$100,000 to flood hit areas including Son La, Hoa Binh, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. — VNS

Friday, November 16, 2007

It's Friday....
Today is our weekly update day. The news we received is sad and I am passing it on to all our readers so you can pray for the lives involved.


In the past 2 weeks, there had been typhoons and rainstorms hitting central
Vietnam, including Da Nang. Although those storms are not new for the
people there, the storms have caused serious flooding problems in Da Nang,
especially in rural areas. But the orphanage in Da Nang is located in a
higher area and the kids are well protected. The threaded message is a
report from our associate in Da Nang.

Because of the flooding, government officials are putting aside everything
else and gave priority to handling the floods and sending relief necessities
to affected families there. Not much was done in regard to the child
dossiers. Jim will be contacting them next week.

-----Original Message-----
From: Hung Hoang

Hello Ray,

I called the orphanage about the children yesterday and got confirmed that
all the kids are fine. The orphanage is located on a high area so it was not
flooded. The kids were well taken care of during the time that the flood
came. Only the rural areas of Danang city have been seriously flooded while
the orphanage is located in the urban area. I have just come back from the a
joint rapid damage and needs assessment in Danang and Quang Nam province
with other international agencies so I learned that only Hoa Vang district
in Danang was badly affected. Just let the parents know about the kids'
situation so that they can have peace of mind.

Best regards, Hung


We are so thankful for the safety of Derek and the other beautiful babies in the orphanage. Hopefully relief will come quickly and we will get back on track again.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

BTW....Our Friday Update didn't share much news with us. Here is a copy of it:
The Vice Director of Lien DOLISA has met the orphanage director one more time during the week. Jim is contacting him to find out if he was successful in pressing the orphanage director to work on fixing the child dossiers. Hard to tell as the orphanage director is still not eager to cooperate somehow. The PC meeting in last week has made it clear that the DOLISA will replace her if she is not cooperative.

And DOLISA is supposed to contact the Da Nang DOJ to seek their advice on fixing the child dossiers. We have no information on whether that has been done yet, or any initial results so far. But Jim is optimistic that we will get some kind of confirmation on that as early as next week. We will keep families posted.


I have confidence that e will hear more news early in the week regarding hopeful progress. We continue to worry that if the OD needs to be replaced that it will add on a lot more time in the fix ups as she it will be a time consuming process of hiring someone new and acclimating them to the situation at hand and then digging n to fix things. This could take more time. We are also concerned with the increase of "NOID's" being reported that there will be moratorium measures taken and our baby boy won't come to his HOME. Please continue to watch over us. We trul appreciate all of your prayers and concern. What a wonderful family we have made in the adoption world!!!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Yesterday we received an absolutely adorable picture of Derek (which by the way I would pass it on if I knew how to convert it from a word fike to one that can be copied into my pictures file). Included with it were a few details we were curious about. He is now 22 pounds and 30 inches tall. He is walking everywhere and he is eating rice, bread, noodles, banana, and cakes. He is babbling cha, cha and ba, ba. If anyone knows what those translate to we would love to know. He smiles and he interacts normally and closely with his caretakers. We were thrilled to get this news. Now we await our Friday update. Stay tuned!!!

Monday, November 05, 2007

After a busy weekend I woke this morning refreshed and ready to face another week of waiting. Yes it is getting harder, the wait is unknown yet and we are getting so close to Derek's birthday knowing we won't have him in our arms for that or for Christmas. It is VERY hard. I am attaching a copy of the update we received on Friday. It is another step in a forward direction with still unknown results but it is none the less POSITIVE! This Friday should produce more news in the next step of the process. Let's hope that this week of the paperwork being at the SOJ will produce results that are going to be quickly repaired and the process will proceed on a timely basis.

From Mr. Jim Mayhew's report regarding yesterday's meeting with LC PC, LC DOLISA and orphanage director:

We met with the Vice Director of the PC for Lien Chieu, who is totally and completely on our side in getting this straightened out and the new vice director of DOLISA, Mr. Thanh who will be the person overseeing Ms. Mai, the orphanage director.

Ms. Mai has been ordered by the PC and her DOLISA director to repair these dossiers.

Mr. Thanh asked for one week to take these dossiers to the SOJ and soliciting their assistance in making the proper corrections and getting the files in order so that we will be able to properly process them with the SOJ and the CIS.

Ms. Mai was given the new CIS requirements for the child dossiers preparation and Mr Thanh acknowledged that the problems with the dossiers should be solvable.

This does not mean that we are through the hoop yet but it is the first step in the right direction.
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