Easter with the Girls!

Micaela's first Easter! Once she decided the eggs had candy in them.....the Hunt was on! She has just been blossoming on a daily basis! She is a joy!

The cousins enjoying our Easter Gathering at Aunt Sandy's House! Jade, Micaela, Jennifer, Sarah, and Priscilla. All the beautys of the family in one place!

My Little Valentines!

My two beautiful girls posing for a valentine picture for their Uncle Michael.......They are just growing and learning so much together. Jade is such a big help. Mom had to have knee surgery. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Not only did I tear the meniscus in my right knee, I developed a Bakers Cyst! Ouch!!!!!!

Susan my dear friend is helping keep the fort moving.....taking Jade to school and picking her up! She's the best.....also giving me a break when she gets home with Micaela. The up side of it all is that Miki and I have a couple more weeks together! She definitely knows who her Mama is and lets people know it.

We've had our first visit with our social worker, Jan. Scheduled it right before the knee surgery. Didn't want to be sitting in my wheelchair or ambling around on my crutches on the first visit! But, she is cool! It definitely helps that she was my social worker when Jade joined the family......Life is good! Just starting to get a little stir crazy.....when you can't just get up and go and are stuck in the house you find you really want to be out and about!

Micaela is taking about 7 to 10 steps before she realizes she is walking and plops down. She continues to surprise and amaze everyone. She imitates and observes everything.

Can't believe that I am ready to go back to work. But, I know that the girls are in good places. Jade is finishing up her 5th grade year and having the activities that go with transitioning to middle school. Micaela will be in a nice home with a 2 to 1 ratio. Mom only has 16 months til retirement hopefully.....if Jade transitons well to our hometown middle school.....if not I'll stay where I am working so Jade can continue attending that school district.

As always, I leave it in the hands of the Lord to determine where our lives lead. So, glad to hear that Amy is in Vietnam and closer to Samuel! I wish her the best! And, hopefully, the rest are not far behind!

The Lady in Pink!

Look at that posture on my girl! Such a Lady! Micaela is sooo...drawn to books and believe it or not, Hip Hop! The girl has a Beat.....any time she hears music with a beat you will see her little head bobbing in time with the beat! And boy does she get down! I am so proud of how much she has grown. She is definitely on the go......you can't stop her once she is in her walker. Maybe I should try it. Looks like mom did stress her knees while walking and walking in Vietnam! And, like I said before, Thank You Lord for letting my knee hold up until I got home. I will be having knee surgery on of all days - Valentines Day! This one I should be able to remember........I kinda had a feeling that I did something to it when I was hobbling along that last week in Hanoi! And, then to top it off I had run out of meds. Oh well, wish me luck on Thursday!

Jade's Godmother will take me and pick me up on the day of surgery and then our dear friend Susan will be babysitting me and staying with us to help and take Jade to school while I can't drive. How comforting to know you have friends you can depend on in need! :)

Can't wait to hear that Amy is travelling and others will soon be right behind her!

Look At That Face!

What a difference a couple of weeks can do for a child! Micaela and her cousin, Cil, were getting to know each other at Michael's Dinner Celebration! We love you cousin Michael!

Micaela is now pretty much on a routine. She is smiling and laughing, pulling up and trying to walk, babbling up a storm, nods yes if she understands what you want her to do (scary), and imitates everything she sees her sister do.......Jade is in love with her sister of course. Miki has just eased her little self right into family life! When she turns on her charm there is no stopping her! She makes us laugh at her antics......Welcome home Micaela!

I hope and pray for those of you waiting for referral and travel. I don't envy the long trip but so look forward to seeing many of you united with your children! What a joy and blessing they are. Can't wait to follow your journeys.

I will be heading back to work soon and have this wonderful lady who was willing to watch over Miki for me. She cares for a 5yr old and now Miki. I feel good about leaving her with Ms. Luby. And, it will only be for a year or so. Then, I think I will be ready to retire and enjoy being a stay at home mom!

Soooooo! This is Jet Lag????

Boy, I am sooo.....glad to be home! My bed never felt soooo....soft! After the bed in An Giang, the Rex, and the Somerset Grand. There is none to compete with what I have! Probably because it is at home primarily! :)

Micaela has now met the grandparents, the aunties, the uncles, the cousins, and the staff at Jade's school and mom's office. She is a pro! You definitely know when and if she chooses to allow you to hold her. What a big difference in these little wonders once they are home even in such a short time. Miki continues to blossom every day.....if you could can her smile and chuckle there would be a lot of content people on this earth!

Miki has definitely bonded with Jade and I. To the dismay of Uncle Michael she shuns him to the max right now. She does not want to have anything to do with him. But, we know that it will pass but it is hard to see him trying so hard and for her to blow him off! It is pretty fascinating watching her and learning her personality and the way she communicates. She is a very bright, alert, and happy child! She has come into our lives as if she had always been there! There seems to be this mental communication that allows us to understand and be in sync with her. She is just too cool! The family was definitely drawn to her and her personality!

Jade went back to school today...against her wishes of course! She decided that it was not right if I was still home and Miki does not start daycare. She should be able to stay home too! Jade has really fallen for her little sister. She has to be in charge of her and her needs. Let me carry her Mom! Let me put her in the car seat! You carry the bags for me and I will take Miki! And so on and so on......lets see how long she keeps that up!

But, boy the days seem to be dragging! By evening I can barely keep my eyes open. I feel soooo...exhausted! Hopefully, it seems to be getting better. Never thought I could feel so sleep deprived. And thank God my knee lasted until I got home! It looks like I have a meniscus tear on the right knee.....bummer! But, better here than over there! Will be off to see the Ortho guy after I have an MRI on the right knee. Hoping he will say I just strained it too the max!

We are doing well so far!

WE ARE HOME!!!!!

We made it! And boy are we tired! Lap tickets suck! Held Miki for over 20 hours! She got sick on the long leg of the flight and can you imagine me trying to run down the aisle with a baby projectile vomiting! Oh, those poor people that had the aisle seats got hit! I am sure they did not leave home thinking I better take some spare clothes on the plane just in case someone projecticle urps on me! Somebody was in the lavatory so here I am holding this kid urping up her guts and all I could do was say,"Sorry!"

I must humbly admit no one got mad! The flight attendants (Korean Air) were great! They just cleaned up the mess, the people just went and cleaned up, I cleaned up Micaela and myself and tried to shrink back into my chair! What a mess!

When we headed out to the airport, Luc, arrange the transport out. That was it. But, no one told me what to expect. When we left HCMC no problem, when you leave Hanoi, Good Luck! We were on our own......did not know how to navigate the airport. It reminded me of my days in China!

First, things are not easily identified. There was a huge number of people just hanging out. If you don't know that this mass of humanity are clogging up the lanes and entrances to the check in counters you could be cruising all night. All, I could see is this American going from one end of the airport to the other asking where to check-in for Korean Air?????Dragging suitcases, baby stroller, trying not to lose the 10 1/2 year old, keeping up with my brother and so on and so on! Well, now that I look back the natives probably go there to be entertained by the foreigners running back and forth trying to learn the airport system in Hanoi!

Finally, see the Korean Air sign (very small), get in line and let them know I need to purchase a lap ticket for an infant. Well, oh no! you can not do that here. You must go get ticket! Ok, where? Over there! Over there Where! Over there! So, there I go again....over there......over there......asking and asking where to buy lap ticket???? Over there.....Over there.....Well, guess what....Over there does not have a sign that says an airlines name, or buy airline ticket here! I decided to ask the lady at the pay over-weight baggage counter. Guess what? Over there is there! So, of course the computers are down, the time is close to take off, and I am over there! Finally, get the bloody ticket, thread my way back to the Korean Air line and then try to check in the luggage....well guess what....Americans have too much stuff in luggage! Were told we needed to redistribute the weight! There in all the humanity flowing around we are trying to redistribute....well, I thought I had....didn't manage to accomplish it. So, we said we would pay for the over-weight luggage. Guess where! Over there....over there....Thank God I already knew where over there was!!! The lady saw that I was back and smiled....and then guess what? She says I need the ticket number for the overweight baggage. So, where do I have to go? Over there, over there! Of Course! So, here I go working my way through the crowds to get the ticket #. When I hear, "Madame, Madame" the little man was following me to give me my passport, so I could take it Over There! Paid and went back Over There! So, by now I figure I am going to be in Hanoi longer! OMG! No way! So, all you see now is one big sweaty panting American hauling the rest of the family and trying to thread their way to the security! If I could have seen myself I probably would have been on the floor rolling with laughter!!!! Talk about a comedic moment! My brother had to keep telling me," Calm down, we will make it.....". and then little did he know what I had coming. Projectile vomitting!

We made it to Seoul, had like a 5 hour layover and it was freezing in the airport! The girls tried to take a nap. But, we were out of Vietnam and going home! So, who cared. Got on the plane for the long haul to Dallas! That long flight time was what I expected....HARD! Arrived in Dallas, had to re-collect our baggage, check it in, go through the Immigration lines, wait for paperwork to be processed, go through security screening, find the next flight out (which of course had the gate changed) and we had about 3 minutes to spare! We passed the American fast foods and my mouth was drooling! But, so was everyone in the family! But, at least we only had another hour til we arrived home! LIFE WAS GOOD!

So, we were glad, we made it home. Our luggage survived! And, we thought we had lost Miki's stroller in the process. When we left Hanoi we checked it in. Arrived in Seoul and found out you would have to go outside to baggage claim and then work your way back in. NO WAY I told my brother. NOT Worth It! I will lug little Miss Miki! So, when we arrived in Dallas and were leaving the plane hauling all of our stuff plus Miki and a flight attendant asked me if I was waiting for my stroller? I said,"No". Thinking my stroller is floating around in Seoul some where. Lo, and behold! At the end of the hallway Jade yells! Mom! our stroller is here! Someone up there had mercy on me! What a relief because it sure helped while we were doing all the immigration processing. Love that girl to death but boy does she weigh alot! Carrying her plus an overloaded backpack and hauling the carry on luggage was hard on the old back and knees! So, the stroller was unexpected and a God Send! Thank You Lord!

Finally, made it home! It was cold! And Miki was wearing shorts and a t-shirt! All I could get to in the carry on and all the commotion! But, she still had her hoodie and mom's hoodie! Mom had none! Yay! the car was still in the Long Term Parking! Hallelujah! loaded everything and everyone in the car and headed off TO EAT!!!! Stopped at Jason's Deli! Had soup and sandwiches! It was great! Stopped at HEB on the way home and bought formula, and JUNK! It was nice driving down a secluded highway and relatively soundless commute.

We were so Happy just to be home where we could read the signs, know the routines, didn't have to play frogger, haggle for prices, understand the language, people didn't park on the sidewalks, and weren't on guard all the time! What do people say," We came, we saw, we conquered!" We went, we saw, we got Micaela!

Good Luck! God Speed! And don't want to be Ya! We did enjoy our trip....we were just ready to be home! It was a pretty expensive trip for us since we ended up staying the 3 weeks instead of 2. But, it is over and now a memory! And we can laugh at all the stressful moments!

The girls are asleep and the dogs have calmed down a little, and now mom is going to bed too! Can't wait to hear the adventures of the next groups to travel!

We are packed and ready to Go!

Woke up this morning and we ate in the apartment....trying to use up what we have before we leave. Had to go to the Citi-mart and buy formula for the trip home. Ended up having to use more dollars and got dong in return. So, when we got back to the apartment I sent Michael and Jade out shopping.

The weather is still nippy and they could travel quicker without Michaela and me! We chose to keep the room for one more day instead of checking out at noon! Otherwise it would mean that we would be out on the streets until 10:30pm. Bummer! Instead, this way the girls can take it easy, take a nap, and take a shower before we leave tonight. Uncle Michael can play his computer game and mom can watch TV. I would rather take it easy today anyway!

So, we leave here at 11:40pm on Wednesday. Arrive in Seoul, Korea at 5:40am. Leave Seoul,Korea at 9:25am and arrive in Dallas, Texas at 11:55am. Leaves Dallas,Texas and arrives HOME at 1:05pm, Wednesday! I believe that is right since we (Hanoi, Vietnam) is 12 hours ahead of the States!

See you guys soon! I hope the car is still in the long term parking lot! Oh, well! that's another story!