These are more pictures of my brother's visit. The girls have adjusted so well to Lee becoming their brother. Ellis spends so much time with him during the day that she has accepted that he is here to stay. She actually enjoys the companionship, even though they bicker on occasion (what siblings don't?) she is very loving to him.

My parents with Lee. (Geema and Poppa)

It's funny to look at these pictures and see how Lee's hair has grown since then and how he has gained weight. Right now he weighs 35 pounds. When we picked him up he was 31 pounds. It's pretty amazing that a child of his size has gained weight so quickly, but he is an amazing eater and seems to enjoy each meal.

Over due update!

Eva made this wonderful poster and put it on our front door for us to see upon our arrival. We left it on the door for a full week. My brother, Dean, came by for a visit two days after we came home and took these pictures.

We are home

Thank goodness, we are finally home! Our travels went well, but I cannot express how happy we were to get off of that plane. Lee is doing well here and seems happy at our house. I still feel groggy from not having enough sleep, but am hoping to get caught up more tonight.
I will post some of my most recent pictures on another post soon. I know so many of you have mentioned to me that you check the blog so often so I wanted to let you know that we are at least home.
Thanks so much for all of your support.
Rhissa

These pictures are from our walk around a different neighborhood yesterday. I wish we had discovered it sooner, but it was very nice. This old church sits in the center of this quarter with shops all around it. Trip and I agreed we think this is the first church we have seen since we have been here. The architechture of this church is not typical of what we have seen here, but so much of this culture has been influenced by the French that we feel this church was built in that era.
This last picture of Lee is of him watching a man dig a whole in the sidewalk. We were in a store shopping and I think he could have watched that man for an hour. Nothing as exciting to a boy as a shovel and dirt.
Our plane leaves tonight very late. We will return to Orlando early afternoon on Saturday. Words cannot describe how happy we will be to see our girls. We have missed them and missed our family and friends so much. This trip has been full of everything, joy and sorrow, frustration and relief. It has been our labor together to bring this child home, and now our lives can begin together as a family. I will post when I get a chance, I may not have a chance in Soeul to get a connection. Other wise I you will hear from us once we are home!
Love to you all,
Rhissa

This is Lee begging to be held, as usual. He is hard to resist, but we are beginning to think we are being suckered.

The good news is that we have been given a time for an interview this afternoon. That means in all likelyhood we will be given his visa in 24 hours.

Upon receiving his visa we will have to see if there are any flights available for us to leave early, if not we will keep our sam flight on Friday.

I need to run, the girls want to come in to clean the room and we are going to lunch. I will update again later,

Rhissa

Lee was copying Trip in the park and trying to keep his balance on the edge of the sidewalk.

Tomorrow is his medical exam. We talked to our interpreter today and he said he is expecting us to have our second interview on Wednesday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. That way we would get his visa either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The second we get that visa in our hands we are calling our airlines to see what we can arrange for leaving.

Keep us in your thoughts, this has been a real nail biter!

These are some pictures of us in the park today. It's the same park we went to a few days ago, we are trying to ease Lee into playgrounds.

The first picture is of the entrance. The second pictures is of Lee at the entrance under protest because he remembered where we were and that we were trying to get him to sit next to the playground. The third is of Trip climbing the playground equiptment to encourage Lee to play too.

The fourth is Lee deciding to climb on very old looking equiptment in the park because it is almost identical to the play equiptment they had in the orphanage. After a while he became a little more comfortable and walked most of the time we were there instead of asking to be held. He has learned and seen so much in this past week. He has come so far, a week ago he almost cried everytime we were in a large group of people, now, after a week of carrying him and loving him he knows it's safe to just hold our hands. He is a good boy, really so willing to love and please. He's a great sleeper! I have a few more pictures to post. So I'll get to it before I go to bed!

Good morning to you. I am just about to get in bed but at least wanted to post. Nothing new happened today for us because of course it's Sunday.

We did, however, go to tea with our travel companions and had a wonderful time. The hotel we went to, called the Sofitel is just incredible. Their tea is even beyond what the Ritz offers for tea. I'd love to go everyday. Lee seemed to enjoy all of the chocolate they offered, but in the end stopped eating the chocolate to eat grapes and watermelon instead. Go figure.

He is doing much better in public and doesn't seem so afraid and overwhelmed. He is very shy when someone new tries to talk to him and clings on us, but generally, once he warms up to someone he is very affectionate. I know he doesn't look very happy in this picture, but I promise, most of his day is spent smiling. We are still having some moments of grieving, but I will expect this for a long time.

He watched some Thomas the Tank videos today and talked to the tv the whole time. I have no idea what he was saying, but he seems to enjoy talking to the television.

I will try to take some pictures tomorrow. I think I may be taking pictures of the baby of the couple we are traveling with. I can't wait, during some of my long days I wish I had some work to do.

Have a good day everyone.

Rhissa

Just in case any of you were wondering, the first two pictures here are the view outside of our hotel window. The tile roof building is obviously below us and although it appears to be vacant, I assure you that people probably live in there. Maybe even more than one family!


This is a picture of a cake at a bakery very close to our hotel. This picture does not do the delicate decorations justice. But just know that we ate some dessert from them last night and it was fantastic. This cake says 110,000 which means in American dollars it would be $6.87. I wish I could ship it home!
This picture of Lee is him gazing at all of the sweets in the bakery window. We bought him a piece of cake that had orange flavoring in it. He seemed to like it, but did not eat the whole thing. We told him, "Happy late birthday!"



This bridge is from a section of town in the Old Quarter. We didn't cross it but just enjoyed sitting at the lake for a few minutes.

We hope all of you are well. We are looking forward to Monday so we can start this ball rolling again. There is nothing we can do on the weekends but wait for the government offices to open on Monday.
Tomorrow we may go to tea with the couple we are traveling with. We have really enjoyed their company and their knowledge of this area since they have traveled here many times.
I will post again tomorrow.

Good News!

While all of you in America were asleep we received a phone call that gave us very good news! Our first interview was rescheduled for this afternoon. That means that while you slept, we got dressed up and went down to the US Embassy and had an interview with the woman who will submit our paperwork for Lee's visa.

The meeting went well and we are glad that part is done, now we just have to wait to hear of the date for our 2nd interview and get Lee's physical done then we should have permission to leave. They feel confident that our travel date will be on or before our original date. What a relief.

We have had a good but busy day.

Lee has been feeling some homesickness we believe and we are doing our best to comfort him. Even though my heart cries for him inside, I have to be strong enough to get him through this.

He is in the shower with Trip now, laughing and getting ready for bed. I think he has brushed his teeth either four or five times today. I think it's the taste of our cinnamon toothpaste he likes!

This little boy was so sweet today while we were getting some laundry done. While waiting for our appointment at the Embassy we were washing and drying and ironing some clothes. (Turns our the hotel laundry service isn't much cheaper than in America) So he wanted to feel busy too and started taking clothes out of the dirty hamper and folding them so neatly. I cannot believe a four year old little boy has the ability to fold this well, on top of have the patience to do it for nearly a half an hour. He really is so sweet. He is getting a little pumped up now, so I think he needs to lay down and get ready for bed. He missed his nap today because of all of our excitement.

No pictures to post now. I will take more this weekend while we are out at parks and the Old Quarter shopping.

Hello to everyone and thank you all for your emails. We love hearing from each of you. It means so much to have the support while we are so far away. Trip and I have been a great support for each other, I can't imagine having made this Trip without him.

I will say good morning to you, but now, I am getting ready for bed.

Rhissa

He is trying to learn how to wink. We enjoy his daily accomplishments.

We miss the girls terribly, but hear they are doing well. We are very grateful to Trip's parents for watching them now.

My connection is bad so I must stop posting. Enjoy the new photos.

Much love to all of you,

Rhissa

I don't know what the word for "again" is in Vietnamese but he kept repeating the same phrase over and over. I think we finally got him to understand the phrase "All done"

His laugh is contagious.

We took a walk in a beautiful park today. We wanted to give him the opportunity to play and run with other children but he was too shy. He wouldn't even go down the slide. I told Trip I would place a bet that by the time we leave he will be running to the slide alone. He seems to accept situations so well after a short period of time. Now he is sitting on my lap trying to observe what I do. I know if he watches me enough times he will know exactly what to do. He is very observant and quick witted.

Picture in the Old Quarter

This is a pretty common sight for me. Lee wants Trip to hold him most of the time when we are out in public. This was taken yesterday while shopping in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. It is a gorgeous area of thousands of markets. They sell almost anything you can imagine. They have one whole street dedicated to only selling fireworks and Tet decorations. This is the year of the pig so they have pictures of pigs everywhere.

Lee did much better in public yesterday and didn't seem as overwhelmed. He loved the toy markets. We will probably walk around some more today, there is so much to see. Life can get pretty boring in a hotel room. Lee prefers to be doing something! I promise I will try to force Trip to take a picture of me with Lee, so far I only have two!

Our paper work this morning

We met downstairs with Thuy this morning to complete our visa request paper work. The other couple we are traveling with were there too. We have enjoyed their company, it's nice to have another couple going through this process at the same time, we can relate to each other. They have adopted a son also, but he is 4 1/2 months old.
Our paperwork seemed like some kind of test. I felt like I kept asking Thuy for help. They asked so many questions I wasn't sure who they were asking, me, Trip, Lee? They asked for profession and I wrote Homemaker and Thuy laughed and said "No, they mean Lee!"
Once all of that was done we laughed about needing stunt doubles for things like that.
During the process one of the questions was what would his American name be? We knew his first name would be Lee (and have found out that that name has significance for him) and Trip offered that he wanted his middle name to be Peddy. I am happy with Trip's choice, he said it only feels natural to give him his name. So his name will be Lee Peddy Parker.
We went to a wonderful market section of town today. It's a sight worth seeing, the prices are very low compared to US dollars. I bought a very large Pashmina/Silk scarf for $3.00.
We bought Lee some "Chi Nung" dolls. They have kept him busy all afternoon, now he is napping.
He really seems to like pillows and our very soft blankets. I saw what he was sleeping on in the orphanage. It was a bed low to the ground about the size of a full bed and it had no mattress but only wood slats to lay on. The ladies rolled out a thin beach type mat that looks like it's made out of some kind of straw and put that on top of the slats and that's where they sleep. Five boys to a bed, no pillows. They said he always woke up at 5:30am while he was there, but so far with us he's been waking up around 7:00...must be the bed.
We are not totally satisfied with the date we have been given for our first interview, I have an email in to our agent to see if something can be done, but I am not hopeful. I will give more info in my next post.
I have a new nephew who was born yesterday I hear! His name is Owen, he is the son of John and Rachelle. I'm assuming all as well, I'm sure I will hear something more soon!
Lee is awake and Trip is back from his walk, so I will post again later,
Rhissa

First let me apologize for any errors in my writing, I do not proof read or even spell check before I send because I'm trying to be efficient with time, not to lose my connection. It's happened too many times and I know just to keep moving to get my post up!
Somewhere Lee has seen someone stand at attention because he did this yesterday while playing in the room. His play was soooo wild yesterday. We see he is getting very comfortable! But also he is trying to grasp all that is around him. Yesterday we learned that we need to step in the roles of parenthood immediately and guide him. He does not like to hear the word no because he has quickly figured out what it means.
He love the Power Rangers, he calls them "Chi Nung!" and has a lot of sound effects that follow. I have to record him in Chi Nung mode, it's very cute.
I will post more either later today or tomorrow. We are doing well and are waitng to hear now about our appointments for our interviews. We have some paper work to fill out at 9:ooam this morning. The young lady who is helping us in Hanoi, Tuey, is very nice.

On the airplane yesterday I cried for him. He was partially excited and confused. Sat next to him and Trip was the isle over. You can see in this picture he is a little afraid. This is right after we sat on the plane. We were given Business Class tickets for this flight, we don't know why, but it's always nice to have an upgrade! We had to walk out to the plane and climb up stairs to get on, so I think seeing the big plane was a little frightening for him. When we started to take off, I will never forget the expression on his face. I couldn't explain to him that it was okay and he had tears in his eyes. His cries are so quiet, not at all like a wailing cry but a very hoarse kind of fast breathing. Once we were in the air, about five minutes after we took off, he smiled and took his hand and shot it through the air making the sound of a swoosh. He was okay with it then. I found it so beautiful to see the contrast of him being born into his provence in complete poverty, a word which has a new meaning for me after spending time here, and to see him leave with a linen napkin on his lap.

Lee yesterday at lunch. He enjoys going out to eat with us. He actually likes to be fed sometimes. They told me that they spoiled him in the orphanage and sometimes fed him even though he is able to feed himself. He has a way of charming his way into situations like that. I see I will need to be watchful of that trait in him!

I can't quite capture all of his facial expressions yet. He is full of personality and very full of energy. Part of his energy is that he is very curious about this world he has never known.

He seems to like his clothes and appreciates the ability to change into new clothes after a bath. I noticed after his bath yesterday and the day before he seemed to think he should be putting on the same clothes again. Now he likes to look at his things and his willing to let me give him something new to put on.

Most of the clothes I brought for him are too big. My guess is that his size is more of a 3T instead of 4. I was right with his shoe size though, he is somewhere between a 10 and 11.

He seems to enjoy watching television, the remote has offered him hours of entertainment!

I'll post more pictures later!

Lee fell asleep on the drive back to the hotel from the orphanage.

This is Trip giving him a piggy back ride in the orphanage while we were waiting for some paper work to be completed. Lee liked this very much!

First picture of us together

This picture was taken just after they announced our adoption was accepted by the Vietnam government and declared us his parents.

First picture of us together

This picture was taken just after they announced our adoption was accepted by the Vietnam government and declared us his parents.

This is my first photograph of Lee. After I hugged him I scooted back just far enough to take this picture. After I showed him this picture he was very curious about my camera and kept pointing at all of the thing he wanted me to take pictures of!

He is here with us!

We are back at our hotel after a morning full of emotion. Lee is here with us smiling and playing with a little airplane toy they gave him from the orphanage. I can't put any of it in to words, we have it on video but when we pulled up to the orphanage I saw Lee standing in a blue and red sweat suit with a smile on his face at the entrance. My world stopped and I jumped out of the car and just held on to him for so long. Of course I was crying and Trip was holding the video camera choked up as well.
We had a very long visit at the orphanage and I was able to ask several questions and give gifts to the children. They loved the candy. Lee was proud that it was from us and the director passed it out to all of the children.
Lee is very loved in that orphanage. Beyond what I could have imagined. Everyone said that he has been their favorite for years and they have all been rooting for a family to take him once the adoptions reopened. There were a lot of tears upon our arrival, many of the workers were consoling each other about Lee going. I just stepped back and let them grieve over him. They said his "mother" the woman who has cared for him his whole life could not stand to be there so she never came in today. They gave me a picture of her and said they were very attached. I tried to do my best to let them know how much we loved him and take could care of him. They seemed happy with us, but watched us constantly while we interacted with him.
Lee cried the first time we had to put him in our van to take him to our adoption ceremony, he was very stressed. They said yesterday he cried all day and came to them and said he had changed his mind about going to America.
He seems very happy now and has taken a strong liking to Trip and his goofiness. He's very huggy and lovey, he has kissed me several times and asks to be picked up on occation. The only thing he says in English that I understand is "Hey" which is what he is currently calling Trip.
I will try to post some pictures. I had a problem posting last night but I will give it another try.
Know we are well and very happy, he couldn't be cuter and more full of life. He's smaller than I thought he would be but very strong and wirey.
He is fantastic at sound effects and pretend fighting. I think he will fit in well with our friends and family.
I need to run, but I will post pictures soon.
Thanks for all of your prayers...they have been answered.
Rhissa

We are in Da Nang

We just arrived in Da Nang with Madame Chau. She has been very nice and helpful.
We had a brief but nice stay in Ho Chi Minh City. What has amazed us most is the motor bike traffic. There are tons of people riding mopeds everywhere! We have even seen families of four riding on one bike. The children either stand on the foot pad and hold on to a parent or ride on the seet between the parents. Needless to say, car seats aren't required here.
Madame Chau told us today that she has met Lee twice in the past month and that she gave him our family album about 3 weeks ago. She said he is a sweet boy who smiles all the time. She said he always seems to be happy when they speak. I'm almost in disbelief that we are going to get him in the morning.
We will leave Da Nang on Tuesday and fly up to Hanoi. Our first interview is tomorrow, we then apply for his passport which she said we should get in about one hour. We will wait in Hanoi for our second interview. The wait is for all of the paper work to go through here. Once the US Embassy is notified that we are allowed to travel with him then we will be allowed to leave. Madame Chau said she doesn't think our trip will be delayed at all. If I travel home early, I won't be able to leave until after our second interview which she is guessing will be Friday.
Trip and I are about to go out and walk around. Our driver told us that there is a beautiful bridge at the end of our street.
I'll post tomorrow for sure!

We are here!

We are finally in Vietnam! We just checked in our hotel in Ho Chi Minh about 45 minutes ago. Our flights were long and uneventful.
We are super tired, it's 1:00am here, we are exactly 12 hours ahead.
Madame Chau called tonight to let us know that we will be leaving Ho Chi Minh tomorrow at 4:00 and will then fly to Da Nang which is only about an hour long flight. Our G & R ceremony is scheduled for Monday morning at 9:30am, which will be 9:30 Sunday night for all of you on the east coast.
I will take a few pictures tomorrow, I'm happy to get to sleep in!
We are thinking of the girls and know they are having a fun time with Cheryl and Peddy Pa.
I'll post again tomorrow.
Rhissa

We are on our way

We leave in 5 1/2 hours and I'm not even in bed yet. Pure craziness today trying to get last minute details taken care of and errands run. Eva has been having some anxiety about us leaving so the school nurse called me today saying that Eva didn't feel well. After 15 minutes of hanging out in the school clinic and talking her grief through with the nurse she ended up going back to class. She has probably told me 5 times today that she doesn't want me to go which makes this even more difficult. I've finally resorted to telling her to suck it up, be brave and we will be home soon. What else can I do?
According to our agent, we will have our Giving and Receiving Ceremony (adoption ceremony) Monday. (Sunday night here) I think we are going to get Lee first thing Monday morning. We will be traveling with one other couple, they are already there but will meet up with us in DaNang. They are first time parents adopting an infant boy.
I probably won't be able to post anything until we land in Ho Chi Mihn City on Saturday, I think we will only be spending two nights there.
I cannot express how thankful we are to have so much support here in Orlando and so many encouraging words from everyone. This has been a true experience that could only precede the arrival of a child. I have learned that labor is not only physical, this has been a pregnancy of the mind, heart and soul. I look forward to all of you getting an opportunity to meet Lee. He has no idea how much he is loved on this side of the world!
Rhissa

One week away

We are getting pretty pumped about leaving in a week. I have been getting things together the past couple of weeks. I have had a lot of help from friends who are helping me get organized. Trip's parents are going to watch the girls for the first week, they are coming to Orlando on Jan. 25, then after that our girls will stay with our friends the Bramuchi's.
I have most everything together and went out last night to buy some gifts for the ladies who work in the orphanage. I've been told that the best gift to give them is really good smelling soaps and lotions, so I went to The Body Shop and picked up a few things. I've been told that these ladies make about $20.00 a month so they don't use their money to buy luxury items.
I'll post more within the next week. I'm sure this next week is going to feel crazy with last minute things!

Our travel itinerary is set.

We received our flight itinerary from Cheryl Graham today with a return itinerary for Lee. How cool to see that ticket confirmation for a child on our flight back! We will spend around 22 hours in the air and about 27 hours total traveling with lay overs. The way back will be a little faster, but still a full day of traveling.
I'll post more if there is any new news.

Our travel dates are set

We were notified this afternoon that we will travel on January 26. We will return on February 10. Our flights will be pretty direct (but long!) I think our total travel time is something like 21 or 22 hours. I plan on saving every mindless reading magazine (People etc.) until then so that can cover some time in flight! Needless to say we are excited. Thanks to all of you who have emailed and sent us your well wishes. Your support and encouragement means everything to us.
Tomorrow is Lee's birthday, he will be four. I had wished to be able to have him in time to celebrate his birthday with him, but I understand that this is all in God's timing and not our own. I will post again soon!

Still no word

I talked to Dick Graham earlier today, they have requested that we travel in two weeks because of the crazy cost in the flights but we are not sure what Vietnam will want us to do. Dick and Cheryl are waiting to hear from a woman who works for them in Vietnam named Madame Chow. She is the one who contacts the government on our behalf.
She is also the one who will meet us at the airport and travel with us during our stay to interpret for us. I will post more when I know, right now it's late and it's been a crazy day. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!

This is the picture of our girls that we put on our Christmas cards. If I can actually get a good one of them looking at the camera together, I will add that instead!

We have been given permission to travel

As most of you know we have been waiting for 6 months since the receipt of our picture of Lee to bring him home. What an experience this has been so far!
We got an email last night that was titled "Guess What?" from our adgents, Dick and Cheryl Graham with IAAP.
We were given permission to travel right away, they actually wanted us there by January 6, but we are not prepared enough to leave tomorrow! They are requesting a later date for us to travel, maybe next week. I was actually hoping to see an email from them now. We are just waiting to hear what our dates to travel will be.
In the mean time I have called our doctor to perscribe the neccessary medication for Lee. I need to pick it up tomorrow. I have several errands to run tomorrow, plus hair cuts for the girls, dance for Eva, eye appointment for myself and confirming our visas.
I'll post more when I know the date. We are getting very excited about bringing Lee home!