Sleeping Beauty....

This morning we are getting ready to get a required physical exam for Jasmine's immigrant visa. Here she is getting her beauty sleep so she will look and feel her best:)

made it to Hanoi....

This morning, we got up at 5Am, had a quick breakfast in the room, and got on the plane to Hanoi. It is much cooler here, around 80 degrees, and of course still raining for the most part. We did quite a bit of shopping for "souveniers", and will have to buy another cheapo suitcase tomorrow just to get it all home. I wanted to give Jasmine a little gift every year for her "adoption day"... November 18th, until she is 18 years old, plus we got some really nice hand embroidered tablecloths, Vietnamese coffee and tea, lacquered photo albums and so many other things. The Vietnamese are known for their lacquer paintings and other items. Then we were directed to a Western Vietnamese restaurant... which was, well, rather upscale. I was worried about the nice wine glasses, etc, but we did really well. The photo is of Jasmine outside of the restaurant. I tried to take a photo of her next to an altar in the hotel, but she was too afraid of it.

If anyone is waiting for an email from me, I cannot get the emails in the outbox to go out:(

Tomorrow we get her physical exam and submit all paperwork for the Visa, and hopefully we will have the Visa by Wednesday... then we can leave on Thursday, which means that we will probably get home on Thanksgiving day. Oh goody, airport on Thanksgiving Day.... I am so looking forward to that:)

we had a beautiful day today.

Today we went to China Beach at the Sandy Beach Resort and pretended we were guests there:). First we went to the ocean, where Jasmine was terrified. She screamed, not happily, when the water came up around her feet. We then went to the swimming pool by the ocean where we got the same reaction, but after a few minutes we played on the steps of the pool with no problem. Maybe we'll start swimming lessons in a few months when we get home:)

I actually had a real salad and vegetables today. I spent more money on food today ($25.00) than I have spent all week, but it was well worth it. Normally, I have been spending $3.00-$5.00 per day for three meals a day, but it seems that no matter what I order off the menu, it ends up being "pho", which is the traditional Vietnamese food consisting of rice or noodles, vegetables, "meat"... which I definitely do not eat... especially since many times it looks like tracheas and who knows what.

So we walked around all day, and went into a little play room that they had at the resort. I hope the photos will upload, otherwise we will have to do it tomorrow when we get to Hanoi. We fly early in the morning and get to Hanoi after a 1.5 hour flight.

we've moved on ......

Now we are in Danang for just a day and a half.... and it is still raining. We should be getting Jasmine's passport later this afternoon.
Plus.... we've had a huge transformation from a shy little girl to non stop talking and mischief. The photo tells it all. She laughs, then right when I go to take the picture, she sticks her tongue out. And now there is a smashed cookie al over the hotel room floor. She still is withdrawn around strangers. She will stop eating if the waitress walks up to the table or someone says something to us.

Today, our big trip was to the grocery store again, but it was much more pleasant this time. We could actually get down the aisles. I think that today was her first taste of ice cream ever.

We're going to the beach tomorrow no matter what, then off to Hanoi on Sunday morning.

Here's a photo of what I am talking about... plus the lovely view from our hotel.

The site will not let me upload photos today. Probably a weak connection. I'll try later.

still waiting in Tam Ky....

We're still waiting around here... and it's *still* pouring down rain. Jasmine does not like to be in the room, so we basically sat on the front porch of the hotel the entire day yesterday. This morning we went to the "grocery store".... kind of like one of our K-Marts... sort of:) Today is "Teacher's Day", so there were literally *thousands* of kids there.... I am not exaggerating...... We could hardly get down an aisle way. We bought some crackers and stuff for our flight to Hanoi, as well as a little aoi dai, a jacket and a cute blouse. Some things are so cheap here, like clothes. I think I paid the equivalent of 50 cents for the blouse and $2.00 for the coat, but other things are much more expensive than the US.. like diapers for example.

Tomorrow morning, we will take a van back to DaNang where we will pick up Jasmine's passport. We'll probably go to China Beach and maybe do some other sightseeing over the weekend. Then on Monday, Jasmine has her physical exam and I have a Visa interview on Tuesday. We will get the Visa on Wednesday and most likely fly home on November 27.... Two weeks here total.

Here she is sitting on the porch coloring. She is actually smiling, laughing and playing alot today.

Our first breakfast together....

We are stuck out in the middle of nowhere for the next few days. There is nowhere to go, no shopping .... nothing... plus it is still pouring down rain. We got so bored that we decided to go for a walk in the rain. We saw water buffalo, pigs and dogs, as well as a few people.

This morning we had our first breakfast together. She let me at least put food into hand and then she put it into her own mouth.... an improvement from yesterday. She likes noodles, chicken, banannas.... of course.... and granola bars... a new treat. Here we are soaking wet (me anyway)... having breakfast.
And here is the sleeping beauty.

Giving and Receiving Ceremony........

Yeah, the little princess is finally officially mine now. She's not too happy about it yet. She cried for the first hour or so, then we took a bath and got cleaned up to go downstairs to have lunch. I couldn't get her to eat one bite of anything. I ordered something that looked like what they would get to eat three times a day in the orphanage, rice, chicken and vegetables, and she wouldn't even look at it. Next I tried a bananna, her favorite, and no luck. The waitress/ attendant wanted to feed her, and I told her no. I want the food to come from me now, and no one else. Hopefully, if she gets hungry tonight or even tomorrow morning, she will take food from me.

The G& R Ceremony was not what I expected. I don't know why, but I expected more people to be there for some reason. It was just the nanny, the orphanage director, Jasmine, me, my in country representative, and the Department of Justice official. We signed the forms, the DOJ gave a speech about how many orphans need homes since the war, then I said something like she will have the best schooling, care, and love. That was it. Very short and simple.

The princess is napping right now. It has been raining pretty much non stop since I got here, with the exception of one day. Today, it is pouring sheets of water... not raindrops.... just like the first day I got here. It's a jungle out here! So, here we are in the town of Tam Ky which is the capitol of Quang Nam province. Everyone said, "you don't need to bring alot of baby clothes, toys and supplies because there are stores everywhere. Well, I am glad that I brought all of the stuff I did, because nowhere have I found to buy baby clothes or supplies either in Hoi An or here. If it's not raining tomorrow, we will take a walk and see what we can find. Might as well, .... we are stuck here for at least 5 days.