Jasmine's Giving and Receiving dress.....

This is the dress that Jasmine will wear for our Giving and Receiving ceremony in Vietnam where all the papers will be signed and she can officially come home.     

You can also see photos of her clothes, shoes and just *some* of her toys.   She has lots more where those came from:) 

Today I bought a little artist's easel and chalkboard for her to discover her inner artist:)   

 

Re-doing our paperwork.....

The above photo is a view from our back porch.  

Now I am in the process of up-dating my "homestudy"  The homestudy is the part of the dossier that consists of medical reports, financials, psychological evaluations:), Child Protection Services background check, Department of Public Safety background check,  and home inspection.   I guess I could have become a criminal in the past year.     A narrative is then re-compiled and written by the social worker from International Child Foundation who is doing the evaluation.  

I spent the last two weeks "spring cleaning" my house,  every square inch, every closet, ceiling and wall.   Fourty eight hours prior to the home inspection, a huge dust storm called a haboob swept thru the area.    I know that it is called a haboob because I learned that when I was getting my PhD in traffic school last week:)    As of yesterday,  there was 1-2 mm of dust on every single item in my house.   I spent the entire day in between clients cleaning and detailing.  The outside of the house and porch was demolished with dust.  Everything inside and out was brown.   I spent the entire morning and night making it halfway presentable.   I was exhausted but the house is relatively clean now.  Yeah!

Today my last psychological evaluation and home inspection went well.   This will be the last one until Jasmine has been home for 6 months.   I think we have to do them every 6 months for 3 years or so.    

A little about our house.  I have lived here for almost six years now.   Unbelievable!  The house is located in a little unincorporated area called Arizona City.  There is not much here right now,  but Casa Grande is close.  It's worth it to be able to see the stars and not hear cars at night.  

The photos are of the front and back of the house where Jasmine, Spirit and I will live... at least until we decide to move some day.  You can see the little path that Spirit makes when she jumps off the porch to run over to the fence,  stick her head over and bark at people passing by:)  

Introducing Spirit.....

This is Spirit,  Jasmine's  dog-sister.  This is her photo from her birthday party a couple of years ago.    Spirit is great with kids and there isn't anyone she doesn't love.... unless you are another big dog... then, sometimes there is a little posturing going on:)   She works as a therapy dog on Thursday mornings for Pinal County Special Ed.  and Mary C. O'Brien Elementary School.      She is very much looking forward to a new addition in our house.  

The Unexpected Referral......

Here is the beautiful Vietnamese princess referral photo taken 5/6/08.    Date of birth: 8/10/06 to a single mother who has apparently died.   Her maternal grandfather relinquished her to the orphanage.  


On Friday evening 5/9/08,  Mother's Day Eve,  at around 4:30 PM,  the phone rang.   I saw that it was Commonwealth Adoptions and didn't answer because I was so tired of the constant bad news from them.     I broke down and checked the message and it sounded kind of positive, but nothing in particular was mentioned on the message about a referral.  

When I called back,  Ray Mak,  the Vietnamese program coordinator answered.  He told me that a little girl had become available in Quan Nam province in Danang at the Hoi An orphanage.   At first, I was very negative and skeptical,  and asked him about all of the things that could go wrong.     As we spoke further,  he told me that her dossier was completed and just needed to be sent to the QuanNam Department of Justice.    I almost fainted:)    He said he would email me her photo and medical records later that night.  I anxiously waited by my computer for two hours and nothing came.    I couldn't hold myself back, so I called him.   He said to just give him another 20 minutes which seemed like hours.  

That very night,  I emailed the photo to Dr. Dana Johnson,  a pediatrician specializing in International Adoptions at the University of Minnesota.     She was in her office on a Friday night and emailed me right back!   The princess is in the 90% percentile for weight (18.7#), height (74 cm)  and head circumference,  and might have some skin problems..... no big deal.   

I am still trying to find someone to translate the medical records,  but am told that "all is normal".