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.

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

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.

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!!!

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!!!

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.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Excitement...
I just got an email from our CM that we are allowed to send a care package to Derek. We don't have an address yet but hope to within a few days. I am already starting to contemplate what to put in the box. I will make a small album of a few pictures with American & Vietnamese translation in hopes the nannies will show him the book frequently. I will also send a blankie and a few toys. I am going to put something in for each of the children there. I can't wait to send it off to him. This brings much contentment to the fear of him not coming home. I now feel more confident that Derek will be HOME it will just be a little more time.

I am so nervous....
As most of you know, Vietnam time is 12 hours ahead of us here so that will officially make tonight November 1st there and as we lay our heads onto our pillows tonight and TRY to fall asleep the anticipation of "The Meeting" taking place there will mount inside if us. This will be a meeting that will hopefully be successful and provide us a light at the end of this hellish long tunnel. It will be the opportunity to demand the orphanage director to fix the baby dossiers and hopefully convince her to do it quickly. Wouldn't it be grand to get word for Christmas that our babies will soon be home. Today will be long and tomorrow even longer as we await our weekly update on Friay that will produce the results of "The Meeting" tonight.

On a side note, I wass cleaning up the yard and flower beds yesterday and poked myself in the corner of the eye with a branch (stupid move I know) and now have a dandy shiner. Makes for a diversion question for everyone to ask intead of an empty answered adoption question.

We received this update late this afternoon.....

J** has been working in Hanoi this week, but he is expecting the Nov 1st meeting to be a major event - PC officials, DOLISA, and the orphanage director will all attend the meeting, together with (Our Agency) representatives will keep families posted on the result of the meeting.

(Our Agency) has hired a local associate and a part time consultant in Da Nang in order to help J** deal with the L.C. orphanage affairs in a prompt manner. J** said he has more reasons to believe that the child dossiers can be fixed.

....so this is another positive side to our saga. We will anxiously await our update next week as that should really shed light on what needs to take place to correct the problem at hand.

Thanks again for your continued support and concern for our son and our family.

The uncertainty of this adoption we are swirled in the midst of has been udderly ridiculous and exhausting. I just feel like I can't go on fighting this. We now find out that the I600 form is going to be handled differently which for all of us who are going to be traveling (sometime) it is GOOD. It will most likely shed a week off of our in country stay. Lord knows this is good because I just want to get Derek in my home and move on with our lives. However...due to the fact that Derek's dossier is on screwed up mess with no end in sight to the repair of it, it could be an eternity yet until we get to the point of filing the I600. My concern is also that it is a 60 day process and there are documents in the baby dossier that must accompany the form and well.....the dossier is screwed up and the agency "has no access" to it. Therefore we don't even have an upfront abandonment report. I don't even know the real story as to how Derek got where he is. I have asked for it but was told there is "no access" to that information at this time. This whole process seems shady to me. Anyway I think it sounds like I am babbling so I will stop for now. We have also once again requested pictures and updates 2 weeks ago and still have not received any of that. As I sid before you would think this agency would be bending backwards for our comfort in the situation. Really with the agency president over there wouldn't you think taking a little time to send a few pictures and maybe a word or so about how Derek is doing would be the least the man could do. I realize he is busy trying to correct the problems that lie within the dossier mess but really a quick few pictures and we would be calmed for a week or so. We should be able to get something.
Okay I am stopping now.....

We got our update phone call this morning. we have been issued a form which might I add for those of you who have been following this for the duration...it is "THE FORM" that we have waited for since waaaay back when. We have been instructed to print the form, sign it, and FedEx it back to our CM for Monday. She will notarize it and send it off to the AZ office to forward to Vietnam. This is a step in a good direction. Not the end yet but a good step. We have been told that once the DIA has this document in our dossier they will forward it to the DOJ of Danang (where Derek is) and they can then beging their DEMAND for the orphanage director to fix her mistakes on the baby dossier and they will be matched together and the process will continue in a positive direction. I hope this means good and quick things are happening. I am setting our travel goal at May. It would be great to go before but I don't want to open a door that will once again slam on our noses. All in all I feel good about this news and I am looking forward to getting more info next week.

BTW did you all check out my new ticker????

Well tomorrow should be a BIG day. We are expecting some kind of news...hopefully I'm not setting myself up for a huge disappointment. News could come in many degrees at this point. I have requested from our agency updated pictures, measurements and the developmental update that I asked for 2 months ago and was promised. We'll see how compliant they choose to be at this point. We received our packet of info about the possible 2nd adoption we would like to dive into but have no energy to do so. It is financially hard for us to do but if it is meant to be we will find a way. If only I were a good fundraising type of person. I would never make a good salesgirl that's for sure.

On an exciting note we are making plans to hop a plane to California to spend a few days with Michelle & Jeff. I can't wait to see her again. I am really missing her. I think a little adoption bonding time is needed. Not to mention I can't wait to take my FIRST plane ride and to see L.A. This is going to be great!!!

Stay tuned for what I hope to be a "good" update tomorrow!!!

We still have nothing NEW to report here. We are expecting an update on Friday and hopefully it will be a GOOD one. Our agency forwarded out an update yesterday to all families in the VN program explaining the delay which I was glad to see them do this way everyone knows what is going on and what to expect. Naturally our paqperwork delay will cause a backload for the other families in line waiting. Seems so unfair. I never imagined we would get so tangled up in this type of web. I am still trying to sort out in my head how this all happened and I just can't get to a rational reasoning no matter how many angles I try to look at. I have sorta started slipping into my anxiety and semi depression mode. Last night we went to Gymboree to buy a gift card for a friend of ours (we chose to do a g.c. since I just can't think about going to see their new baby and hold her in my arms while I am longing so badly for Derek to be there) and I left the store in tears. I want to buy things for Derek and I can't because the situation is still so shaky and I don't know when or entirely "if" he's coming home for sure. This is so hard.
Well I am trying to occupy my time by cleaning up the basement. We just got the girls a treadmill so Alyssa can continue running during her sports off seasons(which are few and far between) so I had to make a little extra room. The salon is very quiet this week and I'm not sure if that is good or bad. It just gives me more time to sit and think and stir around on this crazy computer.
We have requested information from another agency about another adoption. We will still carry through with Derek's adoption because even though not legally yet we are his parents and he does belong here. We will pursue another country through a different agency and hope that it is a smoother transition than this one has been.
Well when we get that update on Friday I will post the news.

We received an update today that sounded a little more upbeat and positive. The PC has recommended that the adoptions be pursued and that it will just take more time (not sure how long yet) and that it is still possible that we will be bringing Derek home eventually. We hope that the documents are fixable in a timely manner and that it won't take months. We are supposed to be getting weekly updates on Fridays now from Vietnam. This is a good thing and we are looking forward to hopefully better news soon!!!!
Thanks again for your continued support!

Thank you to all who requested to continue to follow our adoption. We have not had any more news and we aren't anticipating any for about 2 more weeks. The wait has been gruelling and it isn't getting any easier. I have maintained strength through this and have relied alot on Ativan to get me through the panic attacks. Looking at the nursery and the many piles of clothing have been so hard the past few weeks. We have started looking into compiling a new dossier for another country and hope to have that completed by Christmas or before. We still intend to pursue the adoption of Derek if the agency returns with news that he is still adoptable. We just don't want to wait to hold our child so we have decided to plunge forward and if we are meant to have 2 more children that that is the way it will work out for us. Keep us in your thoughts and we will continue to update you as we receive news.

Due to some things we have encountered in our adoption process we have made a very hard decision about this blog. We have been forced to change this to a private invitation only blog. I will be making the final cutoff on October 10th so that you will all have plenty of time to get on the list. If you would like to be put onto the invitation list you are welcome to leave us a comment and include your email address. Thanks for following our journey and as soon as things smooth out we will be back on here for all of you to follow to the end. Thanks for all of your wonderful comments and your much needed prayers and support.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.....

Let me hold my baby boy!!!!!

DEVASTATION!!!!!

We received a call that there has been a total devastation in our adoption. Our baby along with the 4 others in the orphange have dossiers that are incomplete and incorrect and possibly unfixable. We are awaiting a call back from our agency in the next 3-4 weeks to give us insight as to whether the dossiers can be fixed and we can continue to move forward giving us at least a 8-9 month time frame from now until he's home or the worst case scenario being that Derek will never come home.
My heart hurts so bad!!! This is my baby boy who God has chosen for me and now He wants to take him away. WHY????????
I can't continue on with such a heavy heart. Please wish us well as we struggle through the next few weeks waiting for the Vietnam Officials decision.

WEEKEND OF FUN....

We had a fun time this weekend all the way around. Friday we chilled out with the girls after heading out for suppe at Friendly's. We also did a little "Derek shopping" again. Gymboree had a HUGE sale and I can't pass them up. I think we now own about half of the store. I just hope he fits into it all when he FINALLY gets home!
Saturday my girls had plans with their dad so they couldn't tag along for our Saturday night adventure but we were lucky enough to take my monm, brither (Ken) and hi 2 boys (Kyle & Kurtis) along to Balloon Fest. It wasn't such a success though due to the windy conditions only 1 balloon was brave (or crazy) enough to take sail. Look how beautiful though!


Here are my nephews looking as though they have about enough of it for the night. It was rather cold and windy and truthfully till it was all over we all had enough for the night...


Sunday Norm & I headed to Boyd's Bear Bingo for the afternoon. e didn't win a thing but we had a great time smiling across the table at each other. Then we went to a local fair Sunday night and stuffed our bellies FULL!!!!

I was hoping for a little jingle of news today but that didn't happen. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have an update again.

Stay tuned....

PLEASE DON"T ASK WHY......

Because I don't have the answer. Yesterday we received our update from our agency. Our director had spent 3 weeks in Vietnam trying to tie up some ends and speed along our adoption of Derek. No success!!!! Instead we were hit yesterday with the fact of no travel until late November or early December. And truthfully....I will only believe it when I get the call to go. We were so sure that this was going to be the final delay when they told us October buy that hasn't been the case once again. We have been at this point in the road way too long now. Actually I am still feeling shocked and the pani attacks are still hitting me pretty hard. I am fearful of depression at this point. How much can one family take???!!!! I just don't understand. Now they tell us December and I just don't want to be spending Christmas there away from my girls. It's going to be a loooooong 3 months ahead.

SULKING....
That's the only title I could think of to describe my mood today! I can't stop thinking about the update that is yet to come hopefully next week. Our program director is in VN until tomorrow and will hopefully return on Monday with a world of information for us. My fear....another stupid delay. I can't continue being nice guy everytime we get a delay anymore. This is getting crazy. I fear not so great news because whenever the director has good news he shares it and we haven't heard any news back from him in the 3 weeks he has been in Vietnam....SCARY!!!!!


On to better things....
I thought I would take a little time and tell you about Michelle's visit. We had a blast. It was a jam packed schedule but we got it all in. She did tell me it took a lot of sleep upon her return home to catch up though. Take a look at a few photos of things we did together:
Here we are picking Michelle up at the airport.

And we brought her to this...


We spent a few hours checking out Chocolate World in Hershey, PA

Oh and another great highlight was our trip to the Wing Buffet (50+ flavors of wings)

A trip to a local hangout...Norm was our "Party Wagon Driver"

I got in trouble for this one by security

Michelle climbed (not without difficulty) high on top of a rock at Little Roundtop in Gettysburg, PA

Michelle & I stormed Little Roundtop with our captivating ways



It was a truly emotional farewell for me at the return to the airport


It was an absolutely wonderful visit that I wish wouldn't have had to end. The greatest thing of all is that I have found a friend with whom I share a world of likeness with and even though we are on opposite sides of the U.S. we will always have each other. Thanks to the world of technology and my persistance to find someone from the same agency and the same adoption country as us I found Michelle!!! The only consoling words I could hear as she departed from the airport were Norm's words saying how wonderful it was to watch Michelle & I interact and have such a great time together. There was never a moment that didn't feel right. It was like we had been friends or sisters forever. What an awesome time. We now look forward to hopping on a plane and (as Michelle would say) "jet-setting" across the country to her home and to meet Jeff. We can't wait. How wonderful it will be to spend such an important time of our lives together in Vietnam. It really doesn't get any better than this:

NEW PICTURE...
We were awakened today by the sound of the telephones rings. Norm answered as usual and I could hear our CM's voice on the other end. WOOHOO!!! I was hoping for a substantial update however there was no news yet. The positive to the call was that she told us she had placed a new picture of Derek in our inbox. WOW...what a great start to the day and week!!! I love the update days!!! Wish i could post the whole picture but I can't yet. So anyway he is really growing and SOOOOO CUTE!!!!! He is standing so i'm sure it won't be long until those sexy little legs get him from spot to spot. Oh are we in for trouble.
SNEAK PEEK...

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED.....

These are a fun way to learn a little extra about our friends in "Adoption World". Here it goes.
I will list the rules and then on to the game:

Here are the rules of this tag...


You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
**If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
**When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.
**At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
****Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog!

Fortunately for me I have an extremely short middle name!!!

A--Always on this crazy computer looking for any tidbit of info I can find or any encouragement out there from my friends.

N--Norm my hubby is the light in my life. He has been my strength and my contentment through some of the roughest of days on this journey.

N--New friends can be found through this process and I was fortunate enough to reach out and be persistant in finding one and along came "My Michelle".

Now I will TAG 3 people (Bet alot of you out there are glad I have a short name now too aren't you!!!):

Michelle--Harwells.org
Ange--The Road To Vietnam (CONGRATS ON THE NEW REFERRAL!!!)
Jonathan--Days of the Dragon

Have a good time with this it is fun!!!!

24 HOURS

In 24 hours Norm and I will be at the Harrisburg Airport waiting in extreme anticipation for Mihelle's plane to land. Soon I will be able to wrap my arms around my very dear long distance friend and feel the warmth of our friendship. We have journied through this adoption together for 11 months now and with the help of our webcams we have united in a new way. Seeing each other and sharing 4 days together will only add to the excitement of our bond. I cannot wait to see Michelle and to spend our days doing whatever the day brings to us. Keep alert as I will be sure to post some pictures of our exciting reunion together!!!!

Pictures....
No not of Derek but this is his crib bedding that I finally settled on. It looks so cute in his room and it is soft and cuddly. We just need Derek to complete the set. I am going to go to Babies R Us and buy a few of the coordinating pieces to this set. I have to hang the valances yet but other than that we are set. This is the Zanzibar pattern by Kidline. Isn't it too cute!!!!! I chose a design that will grow with him. We will be able to continue to use this on his toddler bed as he passes the next couple years. i also thought since he won't be much of a baby anymore once he is home that a little more mature of a set would be better. Not to mention the previous set I picked out was dicontinued and we didn't get all the accessories for with it and OMG I am all about the accessories!!!!

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS....

First I have to say that I am SOOOOOO excited to tell you that I am going to get to spend 4 wonderful days with...... MICHELLE!!!!! Yes, it's true. Michelle and I have become great looooong distance friends through our adoptions way back in the fall when we began talking. It was like a connection that clicked instantly and as time went on we needed to talk more and more and share all our ups and downs together. When I was down she was up and vice versa. We have complimented each other time and time again. We have shared incredible things through our adoption process. After all Michelle is the one who accidentally got our referral picture and fell in love with him only to find out "he" wasn't a "she" and it wasn't really her referral. She was such a trooper throught that. So I could go on and on with how many things have affected the two of us in mysterious ways. God has been so good. Anyway, I got a call from Michelle that she would be able to book a flight here to spend 4 days together. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!! She will be here in 12 days. We are going to have 4 whole days (not nearly enough but we'll make up for it) together to bond even more. I can't imagine what it will be like to pick her up from the airport. I have never done that before and it's going to be an awesome experience filled with tears of joy. Norm isn't sure he is ready to share me but I think he'll enjoy watching us together. He values our time together but I know he is excited for me to get to be with Michelle. He is a wonderful husband!!!! So stay tuned for lots of pictures of Michelle & I embarking on a new side to our friendship!!!!

In adoption news...we received an update today that we should know more news in a few weeks. Our travel will still be hopefuly October but it has a potential of being later. YUCK!!!! We are praying for Derek to be HOME for Christmas. The paperwork is finalizing and the authorities are getting their loose ends tied up which will hopefully be quick and we can hop on that flight. We'll post more as we hear it!!!!

100TH POST!!!!!!

Well I hoped for this post to be really exciting a chock full of good adoption news....
Sorry for the let down!

Anyway I wanted to post a few pictures from our vacation to Atlantic City wih the girls. We had a great time and the weather was blistering hot! We didn't spend alot of hours on the beach because it was just scorching! Enough time to get a few good pictures though. The girls had a great time!

Here's Jessica sitting on the window ledge 32 floors high above the construction at the hotel. The next few pictures show the inside and outside of our BEAUTIFUL hotel we stayed in compliments of DONALD TRUMP!!!! Thanks Donald...we were so spoiled here!!!









What an awesome place...huh?!?!?!
Here's a few random shots of the girls having fun and hanging around. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great family time together.










So today Alyssa started Field Hockey Camp for 2 weeks and then she andJessie start back to school on the 28th. Farewell to summer and relaxation!!!!!

TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO.....

I just thought I'd humor everyone by showing you a few of my latest spending adventures. I will soon have us too broke to travel if I don't stop.
(Kimberly...I don't have the yard full but the house sure is getting cramped)!!!
I have been on a shopping frenzy and you aren't even seeing a quarter of it here. Since I have decided not to have a shower I thought we should start buying the things we are in need of. I have my eye on an awesome bedding set that I am working on finding at a great price. I'll find it....I hve perseverance (obviously).
So here is some of the goodies we've bought:

Naturally every nursery NEEDS a rocking chair. This one looks comfy for late night feedings and I should be able to doze off in it. Rocking makes me tired so I hope it works for Derek too!!!

Of course we need a place to contain all of that finger food since that's what he'll be ready to eat by the time he gets home. I thought the colors on this highchair were great. They match our kitchen perfectly! And it has the jungle animal theme on it!!! HMMMM!!!

When you can't have the real thing you substitute to make the space look occupied! This is a bear that we adopted for Derek at the Boyd's Bear Country while we were in Gettysburg. Jessica and I adopted twins. I named him "Thanh Dat" (Derek's VN name) and he lays on Derek's changing table. It sure isn't the same but sometimes when I look at it it reminds me that this is still real and we will get Derek home soon!

One might say that a woman loves her shoes. Well who says a little guy can't too. I do love children's shoes. Unfortunately alot of the ones in this drawer aren't going to fit and will be out of season. I'd say that it is safe to assume that we won't be wearing sandals in the fall!!!! If you think this is alot check out the next picture...

This isn't even a third of his clothing. We have 2 totes filled and his dresser drawers are packed. He certainly will be the best dressed kid in Dornsife!!! I have once again been able to become a "Gymboree-aholic". I just love their clothes and I wore them on my girls and now I am finding the cutest stuff for Derek too. At one time I thought boy clothes weren't cute...boy was I wrong.

So as you can see I need to stop spending now and start saving for the trip. I have worked on trying to finalize packing but I need to see what the weather will be there in October. A little cooler I am sure and hopefully the rainy season will be over til then. I know flight prices come way down so that is a help!!!

Well hopefully we will have some more news and hopefully new pictures in the next few weeks. Keep watching here!!!

My next post will be my 100th post so I'll try to make it a good one!!!!

Today is again for me another day to reflect. I think back to the beginning...I remember attending the adoption seminar in Camp Hill, PA. Norm and I were so excited to go. We hadn't told anyone so it was a secret trip that night. We were one of the last families to leave. We just couldn't hear enough. At the time we were in the mode of China and that is the choice we made when we walked out the door that night. We looked at each others excitement and knew it was time and this would be the right choice for us to make together. We called the very next day and asked for a packet to be sent as we were ready to commit to adoption. WOW!! What an excitement that filled our hearts. After many phone calls and a preliminary application we found we would not be accepted by the China program due to my health issues. We were upset and felt the bricks in our wall being laid. The agency suggested the "NEW" Vietnam program and it sounded very hopeful and we approached it very optimistically. The process moved along rather quickly as we were very excited to get our required paperwork done as fast as we could and get on that list. Much to our excitement we made it to #5 on the waiting list. Things moved along just not quickly enough for us and in March we received word that there was a boy approximately 3 month old available. Would we be interested....I called my mom first because she is my focus factor and she talked me through it. She made me realize that God wanted this little boy for us. I hung up in glee and called Norm right away. I told him to come home as quickly as he could. He only works next door and it seemed like an hour until he showed up. I told him about our opportunity and we cried together as we made our final decision and called our CM. She answered and we told her "Yes, we want the baby boy". I remember how excited she was and we heard a quiver in her voice. So the paperwork got finished and sent off to Vietnam and what we had no expectation of...the hardest wait of all. It has been 4 months, 3 weeks , and 4 days since that referral and we are still waiting to travel. It is 4 months and 1 day today since our dossier was logged in. This is the gruelling part since we were supposed to be able to travel 3-4 months after log in. It looks like another 9-10 weeks before we go. We have been on the ups and downs of this roller coaster way too long. We have hit almost every brick in that wall that started way back at the beginning and now we just want the wall to crumble and let us through. Derek is growing so much and we have been truly blessed to have gotten updates and new pictures of him periodically but it just isn't like having him home. We'll continue to persevere in this process with our heads held high, our hearts filled with joy, and most of all our arms open wide to accept him into.
We have met some wonderful people along this journey so far and I have been blessed to have found a wonderful friend all the way across the country from me. Our distance from each other hasn't stopped us from growing closer, sharing joy & pain, and anticipating our travel to bring home our babies together. Michelle has been a true blessing to me. She picks me up when I am down and she makes me smile everyday. Her name among many of you on the forum and in blogs that I follow each day have become a part of our family. When I speak your names people know who you are.
I want to thank each one of you who has been praying, encouraging, reading, or even thinking about us as we travel through this wonderful adoption experience. You are all a special part of our lives.
Teresa

Just wanted to throw in a few pictures of us in Gettysburg!!! We really had a great time! We are now planning a 2 day trip to the beach with the girls hopefully Aug 6 & 7. The next 2 weeks are hectic. The girls are leaving Sunday to go with their bio dad camping for the week and will return on Friday to come see me before heading out Sunday to attend a week of e=overnight bible camp. Jessica is a camper and Alyssa is a counselor. They will return on Saturday and spend that day and Sunday with their dad while Norm & I head to the Poconos for the Nascar race (which I would like to thank Tony for hooking us up with those tickets...free of charge) which I can't wait to go to. We will pick them up Sunday night when we return and then hopefully be heading out early Monday morning on the bus to Atlantic City for a 2 day getaway at the beach. Thanks to Donald Trump we will be able to stay at the Taj Mahal free of charge Monday night and eat at their delicious buffet also free of charge. We will ride the casino bus down and get our money back for those tickets and we will only have to pay for our tickets back home. All in all it will be one inexpensive getaway!!!! That's my favorite kind. Then the girls have a little down time until Alyssa starts field hockey and band camp for 2 weeks and then school starts. Remind me again...WHERE DID THE SUMMER VACATION GO???? I'm sure Shara & Jenna out there in blogger land can relate on this one.
Anyways...here are those pictures:

ALYSSA eating and goofing around as usual. Always have to be the smarty pants!!!

JESSICA eager to start our adventures

NORM doing his favorite thing...eating GOOD'S potato chips

Teresa...I hate my picture taken so I took my own and YUCK!!!

Scene off the top of Little Roundtop

YARD SALE.....
Yesterday and today I am spending my days having yet another yard sale to pass off the multitudes of clothing we bought for Derek. We had drawers and closet space packed with the cutest summer outfits for him. It was definately hard to part with some of them. Don't worry though we already had a stockpile of fall clothes for him in totes so we have dug those out and filled the empty spaces. I refuse to remove the tags and was them though as that was obviously a bad omen doing that with the summer ones. This way I am covered also in case somethings don't fit, I have the receipts to return them. When I don't have baby items for sale everyone is looking for them and now that I have them....nobody is coming for them. The prices are dirt cheap and they ae new clothes...what is wrong with people??? I guess I'll box them up and try again next spring.
So let this be a lesson....as hard as it is not to buy for your unseen little ones, try to hold yourself back. I got burned several times on this one so far. Who's to say the fall clothes won't be the same story....

As for the adoption...
Still the same news, October hopefully for travel. We just want Derek home for Christmas. Honestly Michelle and I joked about that statement back about 2 months ago when we were sure we would travel and be back in June or July and now we have to seriously hope that it will happen. Geez...who would've thought there would be so many delays and date changes??!! Since we anticipate an October travel I need to cover September and October for the salon and guess what...I have a wedding scheduled for Sept. 22nd and one for Oct. 27th. So there are now yet another 2 weddings to cancel doing in the salon. It's starting to give the salon a bad name and I am afraid people who don't quite understand the adoption world process will start to say negative things about the shop or myself. I can't afford to lose any more clients. On the up side to October...at least it may be a little cooler there and the airfare delinately goes down in price. So these are a few of the benefits to it.
We'll keep letting you in on the latest and hopefully greatest of the process as it progresses...slowly but surely!!!!

Today IS H***...
We received an update from our agency's Vietnam Director and were told that we would not be traveling to Derek until October at the earliest...it could even go beyond that. I have reached my breaking point!!!!! I am so disgusted and exhausted with this that I can't even think straight anymore. This isn't the news I expected to get right after a peaceful, restful vacation. The wait has been gruelling but this news has been the worst yet. Just a few short weeks ago we were told August and we began preparing for that and now it is extended another 2 months beyond that. Ridiculous!!! I am trying to sort out where the fault should be placed for this situation. I am trying to get some straight up answers.
Today will be yet another day of emptying drawers and closets to return summer clothes and replace them with fall clothing as it seems that it will be in the cold weather seasons when we finally get him home. I am so tired of waiting now. I knew International Adoption was difficult and that there would be ups and downs but this is totally crazy. According to Vietnam Adoption Law, dossiers have to be processed and a G&R date has to be done within 120 days of submission of the dossier to Vietnam. We are already beyond that so I don't know what happens now. Plus the fact that it's going to be more like 7 or 8 months from referral to travel rather than the stated 3-4 months. Geez this is nuts.
Keep praying...it's all we have left.

MUCH NEEDED VACATION....

We have just returned from a much needed vacation away from the computer and the turmoil of the adoption. We had a great time in Gettysburg. We packed up Friday around noon and hit the road. The girls were in the back of the van chattering with excitement the whole way there. We stopped by a vistors center when we arrived and were informed that it was "Bike Week" and that we may have a lot of trouble finding a hotel vacancy. I thought...why not, nothing else is going right for us so that may as well be a problem too. Well there was a very dear and helpful lady working there that day and she made a few phone calls and got us hooked up with a great room right in the center of it all. We walked to every museum and attraction that we wanted to see. It was awesome!!!
Friday afternoon we hit a few museums and took a Ghost Tour at night. The tour was awesome...we actually got a few good pictures and Alyssa got spooked out alot. She seemed to have the attraction of the spirits. I was actually quite jealous. We went to an old orphanage and spent time in the basement where the children were kept. We got some pictures there of some spirits and Alyssa got to hear the rustling of dresses across the floor above us. She also saw the bottom part of a child sitting on a bench. It as really cool. We went back to the hotel exhausted.
Day 2 came. Saturday...we got up early and went to breakfast at the hotel then headed out to a few more museums and then caught the bus for a 2 hour battlefield tour. That was so cool. It was neat to see Alyssa correlating the actual locations to her history class lessons from this past school year. She would light up and remark about things she learned about that spot. It was fun. Norm was so absorbed in it all as this was his first time there. What a fun vacation. The afternoon we spent at more museums, went out for supper, took the girls to Boyd's Bear Country, and back to thehotel so they could go swimming. There was a bike parade but we went sightseeing instead. I needed the quiet time. At Boyd's Jessica and I adopted bears from the nursery. I did it for Derek and I named the bear "Thanh Dat" which is Derek's Vietnamese name. Jess named hers Aaron. Norm & I also made a stuffed monkey and dressed it in traditional Vietnamese attire for Derek while the girls each made ones for themselves too. We had to put beads inside them so we added lots of Bravery beads to Derek's since he will have to be brave to leave his country and travel to his new home here.
Sunday we were ready to head home so we packed up the van...just a few more things than we went with...and headed for home. It was early yet when we got back so we took the girls to Knoebels for some fun there. They had a ball. They went from one end of the park to the other and we drug behind them. When Norm and I crawled out of bed this morning...OUCH...Sore Legs!!!!!
So today i get to do all the laundry and put away all the stuff we drug along and drug back home. My work is never done.

NEW MEASUREMENTS.....

This just in...today we eceived NEW MEASUREMENTS on DEREK!!!! This is exciting. It is always great to get a new update of any kind. Kinda boosts the day a little. Still no travel news but at least we have a brief report on Derek.
Weight 19.8 pounds
Height 27.9 inches
Head Circ. 18.3 inches
Foot Length 4.4 inches
Wrist Circ. 4.1 inches

He appears to be tall and his foot size shows that he is probably going to keep shooting up. Been there and done that with Alyssa. His wrist is very tiny so I believe he is skinny. I think his weight is taken up by his height!!! Well another basketball player in the family!! He'll learn well from the girls.

We will continue to keep you updated.

ADDING INJURY TO INSULT.....

After finding out that we probably won't be traveling anytime soon (possibly August more likely September) I woke up to a crying day! I hate those days. I am overly emotional today about the following points:
1. We may not travel until late August or early September which will cause us to be trapped in Vietnam over the National Holiday on September 2nd. Now remember they DO NOT celebrate for 1 day...the celebrate for 2 weeks. So there will be no interviews or adoption related action in those weeks therefore posing a possible travel delay for us.
2. The girls will be back in school and I will lose my opportunity to stay in touch with them via webcam everyday. They will be staying with their dad and he doesn't have a computer.
3. I have to cancel yet another wedding in the salon. That makes 1 in July (which I could've kept scheduled had I known we weren't going to travel yet) and 1 in September due to the fact that we MIGHT travel then. Big money loss!!!!
4. I just want to have my baby boy in my arms.
5. I fear our paperwork is going to expire and we will have to have some of it redone before we can travel. Again MORE MONEY!!!

Then to top off the crying of my day....There was a robin building a nest on the archway above my salon entrance and Norm has took her nest away 4 times. Well this morning I noticed she had rebuilt a very small nest and she was just sitting in it. Norm decided to come check on me and WALAH!! he took the nest down and 2 beautiful blue eggs plummeted to the ground. So once again the tears flowed even heavier. Now the robin continues coming back looking for her eggs.

It is funny how the other day a client of mine who is a dear friend is a pastor in a local church and she is truly a shoulder for me to lean on through this. She tried to use the nest as a similarity to our adoption. She said God may be using this persistance as a sign for us. He is showing us that we need to continue building the nest for Derek and that we should be perservering constantly to have things prepared for his arrival. Everytime the nest is removed is like everytime our travel date gets delayed. Now I am fearful of what sign He is sending us by the destruction of the eggs. We have not gotten final approval yet and hopefully this isn't a bad omen of us not being able to carry out Derek's adoption. Okay well maybe I should stop thinking and typing because I am making myself cry again.

Please continue to pray for our travel and for Derek's health and safety.