A loss remembered

What a long year this has been. In many ways we have been blessed, but in many ways this has been the longest year of our lives. Most of you know that we lost our first referral, Sophia Adelaide this year. Adoption agencies try to prepare you for this possibility, but you never think that it will happen to you.

You've stared at a handful of photos for six months, sent a Christmas package to her full of blankets and clothes, cards out to all of the friends and families with pictures, even had stationary made and pillows embroidered, and in just a few seconds, one phone call, life changes. I bet it is most similar to a miscarriage. God blessed you with a life that you loved before you knew if it were a boy or a girl. All you saw was a floating sea horse, felt a fluttery heartbeat, or a picture of a beautiful child thousands of miles away. You pray, you dream about the some days, and then God changes your path.

When the call comes, you search desperately for the light, your feet search for something solid, you feel the waves overwhelm you. Maybe you are like Peter you dare to look down. Your world disappears and you are too busy being consumed by trying to save yourself that you can't feel the hand; the hand that lifts you up. The hand that already knows your daughter, the hand that feels your pain, the hand that cradles the one you lost.

Sometime we are so lost in our pain that we lose focus on what is around us. This year, we have felt pain. The loss of a child, the loss of friends, the loss of comfort... but we weren't the only ones. We have numerous friends that have been through similar situations. I am sorry if we did not offer you the comfort or the support you needed. I'm sorry if we hid while your world crumbled, I'm sorry if we became distracted by our grief. This year as we lost what we thought mattered most, we packed our friends up and shipped them out of our lives.

So we are determined to start a new year with hope. The hope to reconnect with the past, the dream to unite our family, and the desire to draw close to our Father. Thanks for Your patience.

Old and New Friends

A friend reminded me last week that this would be the last Christmas without Dillen. We can't tell you how thankful we are for this past week and the recent good news. It really saved the holiday season! Although nothing has changed the situation in Vietnam, we are SO thankful to have a Christmas celebration that will actually feel like a celebration. So on this years list of things to be thankful for...

• Many new friends arrived at their forever home! Most recently, little Reese Holder arriving in Anderson with his forever family today! Of course the precious Anya home to Simpsonville from Vietnam this past October and Zane home to Spartanburg from Vietnam in November.


• Reconnection with our friends from the past! You weren't forgotten, just stored for such a time as this! We have had many friends from our past that have been such an integrated part of our adoption, praying for us, encouraging us and loving on us during this season of our lives! We are so blessed and thankful. We are even going to have a houseful from Michigan just after Christmas!


• We are thankful for our health. Although we have finally reached the dreaded 30's, we are blessed to be healthy. Chris has spent the last few months taking some aggression out playing indoor soccer with our friends from El Tejano, and it's back to running for me. We are finally going to stop putting off that 1/2 marathon that I always said we would do.


• We are so thankful this year for our family. We just had a wonderful Christmas celebration with Dad Myers. It was so good to have him and the bulldog up for a visit during the season. We are also blessed to be so close to the McLaughlin clan. For those of you that don't know, my entire family has relocated to the Greenville area and I work with my mom and one brother. I realize how lucky I am to have such a close family. We have two beautiful nephews and the best sister-in-law anyone could ask for.


• We are thankful that we both have jobs and a nice home to live in.


• We are thankful for a church that we love, and a church that knows how to love us back.


• And mostly, we are thankful for our little girl, that waits for us in Vietnam. We try to change our attitudes on a daily basis, knowing that one day when we talk to her about her beautiful country, we don't want to communicate our hurt to her. She will have enough of her own. We are thankful that God gave us the heart for adoption, the gift of a beautiful daughter and the patience to wait.

Merry Christmas

Its been so long!

So long since we've had some good news, it is almost unbelievable when something goes our way... but today, Friday... something did!!!! Although our I171H expired in November, our amazing, (did i mention wonderful?) social worker made some calls and found out that we won't have to refile our paperwork! Not only will we not have to refile, but we won't have to pay the outrageous filing fee, updated home study and weeks, possible months of waiting before we could travel again... if only our agency would have known before we got so upset. Apparently since we were granted our immigration approval (more than 6 months ago) our paperwork won't expire even though it has an expiration date. I know, all too confusing. So just to be safe, we have asked to get some type of official document stating these things, because our luck... we'll be stuck in Vietnam and Dillen won't be allowed to come home.

It is starting to feel a little more real now. Maybe her day is coming. We emailed our in country contact to let him know that our paperwork was good to go, and we got an immediate response. He tells us that he has asked the Red Cross to do what they can to get her home as soon as possible because we have waited so long. We are so thankful, and today we are hopeful. Soon, we will be a family TOGETHER.

Birthday Blues

Today will be one of the happiest days on every other year but this one. Today is Dillen Marie's big day, her birthday. She doesn't know the pain that it causes us to not hold her, to not hear her voice or watch her taste a sweet treat. Our hearts hurt today.

We are thankful. We are thankful that Dillen's birth mother gave her a chance. We are thankful that we were chosen to provide a home for her when her birth family could not. There are many things to be thankful for.

Thank you for thinking of us today and keeping us in your prayers. Thank you for thinking of our little girl. We hope to make this a beautiful, memorable day, any other year.

Another week...

So again, another week with no news. The most unfortunate news is that because of our expired paperwork we couldn't travel to Vietnam to pick up Dillen right now if we did get a call. Even more unfortunate, we have a free extension available on our paperwork, if and only if we would have renewed it before it expired. We will be asking the Immigration Services for grace, but I sincerely doubt we'll get it... just not our luck. So it looks like we could be out $565.00 just to file the paperwork that we could have done for free if we would have had a competent agency. I would like to add that we had a wonderful friend taking care of us that worked for our agency, but it was best for her to move on. Although disappointed, we were certain that we would be travelling in a few months of her departure and things would be fine. We can't blame our agency totally for all of our circumstances, the country of Vietnam can take some blame along with the leaders in the province, but I would throw a majority their way. I will be happy to share with anyone the name of our agency and the problems that we have had privately. If you are interested in international adoption please check with us and make sure you are NOT using our agency. So as we continue to wait, and wait and wait... we did list some of our bows on Ebay, i think i confused some of you all that were interested in a purchase, so if you would rather find them on Ebay, our seller name is bmyers2306.

Expiring...

When you think about it, a lot more things expire than you realize. Aside from the obvious like Milk... things like medicines, coupons, gift cards all expire. In the adoption world things expire. Did you know we have already had to renew our fingerprints because those expire? Really? I guess my finger prints could change... I could burn my hand off, or chop it off. Do you have to get fingerprinted if you don't have any hands? What do they print and does it expire? Entry visas expire too. You can purchase a 1 month visa or 3 month visa to enter Vietnam. Thank goodness we didn't do that in July. One family's 3rd 3 month visa is about to expire! We don't know about everything that expires, but we found out yesterday that our approval to bring home an orphan expired. This is what we call a I171H. We just happened to be shuffling through our dusty adoption papers when I noticed the date on them...Expires 11/10/08. We probably should have gotten a phone call from our agency about a month ago, right? They should have given us a list of things that expire, don't they look at these papers daily?

So today we find out what is needed... I'm sure more money, more time... I guess we'll wait and see.

God's Mercy

Only a puny god could be bought with tithes. Only a egotistical god would be impressed with our pain. Only a temperamental god could be satisfied by sacrifices. Only a heartless god would sell salvation to the highest bidder. And only a great God does for his children what they can't do for themselves.

The first step to joy is a plea for help. Those who taste God's presence have declared spiritual bankruptcy and are aware of their spiritual crisis... Their pockets are empty. Their options are gone. They have long since stopped demanding justice; they are pleading for mercy.

~The Applause of Heaven

One week left. Seven days until THE day, Dillen's birthday. Never did we dream that we would be spending that day without her. Never did we imagine that two years after we started this adoption process, we would still be asking the Lord to bring our little girl home. We don't ask for condolences, or pity. We ask for your prayers as we beg for His mercy.

No forward progress

I don't know how long I can continue to creatively post that there is no news. Although our police investigation was "finished" nearly two months ago, it still hasn't been signed off on. From what we gather, the Ministry of Justice has not accepted our investigation, they keep asking for more information. What information you ask? We don't know. So with limited information from our agency, and no more families in the province we are left a bit in the dark. Hopefully we will hear something in the next few weeks, but having Dillen home for her birthday or Christmas is not probable. Keep us in your prayers, this is shaping into a very difficult month.

Believe me, when our time comes,

no devil in hell and no person on earth will be able to prevent

God from promoting and blessing us.

"And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint."

~Galatians 6:9

We couldn't go through this without the support of our family! Thank you for not only enduring this with us, but getting us through.

Dinner with Friends...

We were so glad to spend some time at home with the Blackwell family. It was good to finally see little Zane in person. We enjoyed a home cooked meal and plenty of stories and VIDEOS of our little girl! Thank you Blackwells!!!! On a side note- Chris was a little more popular than I was with Zane, however, I feel like if i had a hat on, it may have been my trump card!

What are you thankful for?

Although we don't have her home, we are sooo thankful for the many faces of Dillen... enjoy!

this is her... "I've been caught!" face

this is the... "I already know how to do it!" face. You just hold it to your ear and talk.

this is her... "Daddy, please?" face

and her "but, why?" face... i just want to push the babies in the swing!

the exhaustion from being so cute!

Ribbons and Bows!

So we've been trying to keep ourselves busy, and not think about the looming holidays. This year has been difficult because of this lengthy process, and the amount of money spent. If we complete our adoption in 2008, we will be able to get some of our money back in taxes this coming year... if we don't, then no money. We have applied for loans and grants, and with the slipping economy things seem to be tight for these nonprofits, and for us. So we have decided to get crafty. I have never been much of a girlie girl, but crafty? I love! So in the next few weeks, you will see some of our handy work as a feeble way to raise money to bring Dillen home. All money received from our crafts will go directly to our adoption expenses and bringing home our baby girl. If the Lord blesses us with an abundance of money, we will spend 100% of it on bringing these children home or providing necessities to those children in need. I will not put a price tag on our crafts. If you wish to purchase any of our creations, you can send me an email (rushbrookemyers@gmail.com or b.myers@learningrx.com) with your address and I will mail, or drop off your order. Chris will also continue to list items on ebay. I have a few pictures of some hairbows that I have made. If you have a particular size or color scheme you are looking for, let me know and I would be happy to email you more pictures. Thanks!

Another weekend

Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.... I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens.... I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength.

-Philippians 4:6-7, 11-13

Oh what a trip!

Most of you know that the Blackwell family has recently returned with their little guy Zane. Chris and I will be making plans to head north for a visit, and I'll take some pictures when we are there. Although they came home with their boy, you don't know how their trip REALLY went...

On arrival to HCMC, Teresa became ill... and stayed sick throughout most of the trip.

Daniel lost his father while in Vietnam, he also lost a lot of time away from school (he's taking classes over the Internet), and almost 25lbs because the food was so bad. He apparently tried to live on Oodles of Noodles. Daniel, if you are reading this i think you could make a lot of money writing a diet book... How to live on Peanut Butter and Oodles of Noodles for One Month. I'm sure we've got a before and after picture!

There seems to have been an accident back at home while they were away, resulting in a possible broken bone for one of their other children.

While they were caring for Zane before they had their adoption ceremony, he fell in their hotel room. His eye was almost swollen shut and he has a large bruise on his face.

After leaving HCMC and flying to Hanoi the Blackwell's realized that Zane's shot records were still in HCMC.

As they were travelling home through Hong Kong, they were informed that none of their luggage made it on the plane, and Zane had to have is temperature taken because of the recent outbreak of the Bird Flu!

The sickness continues on the plane, this time it's little Zane with vomiting and diarrhea.

Once landing in LAX, they were informed that they were not on the next flight and would have to wait until the next morning to come home.

After talking their way onto that flight, their seats weren't together and the Lord blessed Teresa with a lovely lady (who was travelling alone) that refused to switch seats so that Daniel could sit with his wife and kids.

What an adventure! When you learn all the facts, aren't you just glad they made it home? We can't wait to see them and their precious son! Welcome home Blackwells!

Experiencing God's Patience

I joined a Bible study a few months ago at our church. It was a women's group of about 30 or so, that was going to study the One Month to Live book. I thought... well I've only got to give it a shot for six weeks and then I could throw my hands in the air and say, "I tried Lord!" I had already decided to never get involved in church again. Attending is one thing... invisible entry and exit, but actually getting involved? Finding people that will pray with you and for you, recognizing the lady two isles away because just last week you prayed for her father or mother... I just didn't need it.

So I went, partly to pacify a friend, partly because I wanted God to fail me once again, and partly because I was curious. I loved it. It was like reconnecting with a friend that you once knew. It was exactly what I needed in my life to live in this waiting, this year of nothingness, the moments of depression, it was everything I needed it to be. So for that God, I thank you. I tell about this group of women because we just started a new study... it is called Experiencing God's Peace. I decided that before i can experience God's peace, I should try to experience God's patience....

We received an email from the in country facilitator yesterday... he informed us that they need more time. There are some issues with Dillen's life story. I will post about our journey, and about how we miss our girl, and I will post news on travel, but this new information is for her to tell when the time is right. Pray that God gives us His patience.

And now they come home...

We are so excited to welcome Zane home from Vietnam to the freezing South! We heard from the Blackwells that all went according to plans in Hanoi and not only will they be home this week, they will be home Wednesday morning! We are so thankful! Lets pray for safe travels for the four of them and that they make that connecting flight in Hong Kong, they only have 40 minutes or so.

Lets also hope that we hear something about our adoption. Although the facilitator has told 2 families to send things to Vietnam by way of us next month, our adoption provider has no knowledge of when we should travel. They tell us "this is just the Vietnam experience." If you are in the process, you should know.... this is not normal. As always, we'll keep you updated.

To get you through...

There is no news to report. We once again tried to contact our adoption provider without a returned phone call or email. Even if they don't have any news to share, it would be nice if they attempted to keep in touch with us, or tell us that they don't know anything about our case. It would be nice to know that they called Vietnam, and tried to get an update about our case. If it wasn't for them, we would not have Dillen, and for that I am thankful. I am also grateful that we have met a few wonderful families that will always be in our lives. Other than that, we have no intention of ever working with our agency again or recommending our agency to anyone. So to get you through another weekend, here she is....

G&R for the Blackwells!!!!

We are happy to report that the Giving and Receiving Ceremony went off with out a hitch! The G&R began Thursday morning at 7:30 and they were already in Ho Chi Minh City in their hotel by 4:30pm. We are so glad that the Blackwells will be on to the next step before heading home. They have taken so many sweet pictures of our girl and even some video, that we can't wait to see. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to travel through Vietnam with Zane. They will have a few medical appointments in HCMC and then on to Hanoi for his official passport. We are hoping to get news about our adoption soon. The facilitator in Vietnam seems to think we will be travelling next, but we haven't heard anything from our agency in over a month now. We have given up hope that Dillen will be with us by Thanksgiving and hoping to have her home by Christmas. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Tea for Two and a Province Leader...

The Blackwells had a strange request Wednesday morning... Tea with the Province Leader. This was unexpected because no other family that we are aware of has been asked to tea with the leader. They reported that he was a very nice man and ended the tea with a "Congratulations, your Giving and Receiving Ceremony will be at 7:30 tomorrow morning."

Woohoo! They will be on their way out of the province by Thursday afternoon, some time Wednesday night our time! I'll post pictures of the ceremony as soon as it happens!

Really? A scheduled G&R?

Apparently the Blackwell's have a scheduled G&R for Thursday. Thouc is very sure that it will actually happen this time. Lets keep our fingers crossed for that G&R so they can travel back to HCMC, on to Hanoi and back to the US by the end of the week next week. We are so grateful to the Blackwell family for the pictures they have sent of Dillen and the time they spent with her. They truly have loved on our little girl!

Special Prayer

I just got back from a girls retreat in TN. About 25 or so ladies got together this weekend for some much needed R&R. It is so hard to be away when we get daily news from Vietnam from the Blackwells. I didn't have cell phone reception or a computer! Unfortunately Daniel's father passed away on Friday while they were there in Vietnam. They were unable to come home and be with their family for the funeral. Please keep them in your prayers as they try to finish this adoption as quickly as possible and get home to be with their family. Although they took their youngest daughter to Vietnam with them, they have three children at home and a son-in-law that need prayer and support as they deal with this death without the support of their parents by their side.

Still no G&R

I feel like this blog gets a little repetitive with words like waiting and no news and no G&R. Not just repetitive, but down right depressing. So here is the good news... Today when the Blackwells left the baby home for the night, it was the first time that Zane cried out for his family. It was the first time that he realized that he is supposed to be with them and not watching them leave as they go back to their hotel and wait for their G&R. He is starting to feel like part of them now, his comfort coming from three people that he has only seen for five days. As this process draws out longer and longer, I think of Dillen and the attachment issues that she may have or the possibility of developmental delay, speech delay, etc. But as i read Teresa's blog, and realized that in just 5 days Zane has realized he has finally found his family, I stopped. She is perfect, in every way for our family. She is already one of us. I know that not everyone is meant for this road, but those of us that are can truly understand when someone says that their child was born in their heart. Dillen is a special little girl, and we are one lucky family to welcome her home when His timing is right.

The Continued Surprises

I thought it was a fluke the first time i got a call from Vietnam, but after the second and the third, I realized that we are truly blessed to be in this process with the Blackwell family. They continue to ask about our case daily. Poor little Thuoc in Vietnam, I'm sure he's never heard English like the English that comes out of Pacelot South Carolina! They are collecting tons of miscommunication stories! They still have not been given a Giving and Receiving date. They are hoping for Thursday, because nothing happens on Friday in Vietnam. If they don't have the ceremony, the big debate will begin... where to spend the weekend. They will either stay in the province at their hotel where no one speaks any English, or travel back to HCMC with Thuoc. Lets pray for the G&R this week!

The only update they can give us is that Thuoc said that we would be the next to travel. He continues to tell them that the "Myers will travel next month, one month late." I don't think that will be this month, but hopefully we can be there by her birthday...

Pictures!!!

We got a frantic call last night from Vietnam... "something is wrong with your email and it won't let me send pictures of your girl!" What?!? That is our luck. We did receive some pictures, so we'll post them as they come. These should be the last pictures of Dillen we get before travelling to Vietnam. Notice I said, should be... not will be. You never know these days!

Can you see my teeth?

Small Update...

The Blackwell family is still having Internet problems but they were able send a new post. Here is what they had to say about our girl...
"Daniel is absolutely in love with Dillen. We all are and she is the sweetest baby girl. Her skin is like porcelain and beautiful doesn't begin to cover it. Daniel keeps saying her pictures do not do her justice. The nurses had on the pink dress you sent her with the pink rose buds on it and every time we would look at her they would smooth it out and shake their head yes. They wanted us to know they love that you sent your baby girl clothes. She can stand for about 2 seconds on her on but then plops down and just laughs. She is a thumb sucker like Zane and to be so small she can hang with the big boys. She loves to be held and whenever they put her in her crib she wants Chloe to get in there with her."
Wishing we could be there...

What?!? No Internet?

I can report that the Blackwell family arrived in the province and met their son for the very first time on Sunday afternoon. Zane was much smaller than expected, wearing 6mth clothing (he'll be 2yrs old in February) and feeling a little under the weather. He warmed up to them quite well and played for a few hours with Chloe in their hotel room. I got the phone call from Vietnam on Sunday morning. That's right, i said phone call. As my phone was ringing, i was staring at it trying to figure out what telemarketer was calling at 8am on a Sunday morning until i realized that all those extra numbers were country codes... it was Vietnam! It was soooo good to talk to my friend so far away, in the land that I dream of nightly. She held our girl, but did say that our Dillen, will be a daddy's girl. She said that she only wanted Daniel to hold her. She constantly reached for him. You can imagine Chris' delight when he heard that. I spent some money on the cutest girly wrap carriers to carry that kid all over Vietnam, and she's going to want Chris the entire trip! I don't think you could give Chris enough money to sling Dillen around his body and pose for a picture (no offense Jodi, but i did pick some girly fabric).

Anyway, we don't have new pictures yet to post, because the Internet was not working in their fancy hotel in Vietnam. $32 dollars a night might get you a VIP suite with a separate family room, extra bathroom and morning breakfast, but no Internet? I know it is killing you all, but soon enough we will post some new pictures... Until then enjoy one of Dillen and Zane from September... Also remember to pray that the Blackwell family has their Giving and Receiving Ceremony very soon!

One Post Away!

The Blackwells arrived in Can Tho and are only hours away from their son. They met Thuoc, the Vietnamese man who facilitates our adoptions, at 9am to begin their trip to Can Tho, took a water ferry for part of the way and safely arrived at 2pm to their final destination of the day, the Kim Tho Hotel. Tomorrow is THE big day. They will travel to the floating market in the morning and then to the Hau Giang Baby Home where both Zane and Dillen have spent their time waiting on us, their families, to bring them home. Like us, this has been a long road for the Blackwells. Their Journey to Zane has had many road blocks and after a year and half, on the third corner of the track God surprises them with another hurdle. Daniel's father had a stroke Thursday night here in the US. Pray that the Vietnamese will process their adoption quickly so that they can get home and be with him as he recovers. He is paralyzed on the left side and can not speak.

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. Proverbs 8:34

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He has mercy upon us.

Psalms 123:2

Their Journey Continues in HCMC

Sometimes you don't think about what time it is on the other side of the world. I spent most of the day on Wednesday trying to figure out what time it was for the Blackwells as they traveled across the globe. They left from Charlotte on EST to San Fran and gained 3 hrs in the air, only to lose an entire day when they travelled across the International Date line. I spent all of Thursday wanted the Blackwells to wake up, just to report on the sites of Ho Chi Minh City, their hotel, the weather... Finally friends, we have a report.

They arrived in HCMC and took an $8 taxi ride to their beautiful hotel ($40 a night). I sure wish American prices were more like that, we could possibly afford a vacation. They struggled to figure out their AC, but managed to get it up and running. The hotel they are staying at is right next to a shopping center (more like a market) that has plenty of last minute items that they will want such as sodas and water. They leave for Can Tho Saturday morning. They will have had two days of rest and recovery before a 6hr taxi ride through the south end of Vietnam. Thanks for keeping them in your thoughts and prayers. We will keep you all updated on their trip as it unfolds!

Almost there...

Well the Blackwell family has arrived in Hong Kong! They should be arriving in HCMC shortly and hopefully can get some much needed rest. I will keep you posted on their journey as we all continue to pray. Apparently both of their flights were completely full and a bit uncomfortable, but they made it! WOOHOOOO!!! More excitement to come from the Far East!

And off they go!!!

It is truly happening. The Blackwell family boards a plane tomorrow bound for Vietnam via San Fran and Hong Kong. The plan is to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, travel to Can Tho on Saturday (about an hour from the baby home) and then finally to the Hau Giang baby home on Sunday to meet their son. We are hopeful that they will have their Giving and Receiving Ceremony sometime between Monday Nov 3rd and Wednesday Nov 5th. They will then drive back to HCMC, where they will have a few appointments and medical exams before flying north to Hanoi to receive Zane's visa to come home. We are hopeful that they can be home on Thursday November 13th. Please keep them in your prayers, as we know that the government officials have been more than difficult with the time frames. We have been blessed to know this family, and pray for this family throughout their adoption. We met up with the Blackwells this weekend for a farewell and to give them a care package for our Dillen. Please celebrate with us and lift them up in prayer as they journey to their son!

On a side note, we still do not have an update on our travels. The director of our agency was supposed to email us last week to give us an update on when our paperwork would be going to Hanoi and the cost of that, we did not hear from her. We asked for a receipt for our adoption expenses thus far nearly two months ago, and we still have not received that either. We do not know when this madness will end for us. As the economy seems to slip, we are more and more concerned about the debt that we are acquiring in this process. Please be in prayer for us during this time. We were unable to receive any grant money and both of our second jobs put us in more of a financial need than before. It seems like we can never catch up and it is very unlikely that we can get ahead of where we need to be to afford this adoption. We do not take your prayers for granted.

Another Family to Travel

As unfortunate as it may seem, we resigned ourselves to believing that we would not have any more updates, at least until the next two families travel.... and it's here! We just received word that the Blackwell family could travel sometime next week to pick up our beautiful son-in-law to be. Most of you will not be able to follow their blog because it's private, but we will continue to post their praises and prayer requests as they travel. Let's think of them as they scurry around getting ready for this amazing trip and prepare to leave a precious child behind for a few weeks. We'll continue to pray for their travel arrangements to go smoothly along with their in country experience. For some of you that don't know, this family has become dear friends of ours. Our heart breaks that we are not on the plane with them, however we rejoice knowing that they will hold our little girl, and finally be reunited with their son. This is good news! This also puts us one step closer to Dillen Marie!

A vacation would be nice right about now....

Hi Friends! Well again it's Monday, and as we begin another hopeful week, I can report that our agency has received our Name Affidavit, just in case the officials in Vietnam ask for it. Our friends the Blackwells will be able to take it with them to Vietnam when they go to pick up their little boy. This Monday is special because we have a new friend in the neighborhood, little Anya should have arrived home last night to SC. We are so excited to welcome her home. If you don't mind, continue to pray that our report will be taken to Hanoi and the Blackwell family will get their Invitation to travel. We are hoping for a productive week, but this is the email response you will get from our agency if you happen to be waiting to bring your child home from Vietnam... Thanks for emailing. I am on vacation until November 24 with limited access to my email. I will respond to your email as quickly as I can.

Updated Measurements

Still no news. The only update so far this week is Dillen's measurements. Dillen now weighs 17lbs and is 26 inches long. Today she is 10 months old. We are ready to bring you home sweet girl.

Another week begins

Thank God for Monday!
I know, I know all of you reading this just rolled your eyes. You see, in our house, we eagerly welcome Mondays because we are able to get more news about our adoption. We keep ourselves busy on the weekends... just to get to Monday.

This weekend was beautiful. Saturday morning I had some friends over for a babyshower for a dear friend. It was a bit of a crazy start, as I almost burned my house down making Monkey Bread. I spent the rest of the afternoon planting pansies and relaxing as Chris went off to work. Sunday it was off to church to hear the last sermon in the series One Month to Live. We have been blessed with a wonderful church home where we continue to grow our relationship with the Lord and each other. Then off to Fall for Greenville. Those of you reading that are not locals, this is a festival downtown where many of the Greenville restaurants set up tents out on the street and sell some of their famous foods in smaller portions for a fraction of the cost. This allows you to taste food from lots of restaurants so you know who you want to go back to.

What can you pray for this week, you ask? Pray that our Police investigation FINALLY goes to Hanoi. It's been complete now for two weeks, but it hasn't been submitted to the official so it can go to Hanoi. Also pray that the Blackwell family and the Lopez family get issued Invitations to travel to bring home their sons. Thanks for the positive vibes! Lets pray for a good, productive week.

What's in a Name?

Well so many of you have commented on Dillen's name... I've heard it all, from "I love it!" to "Are you sure you want to spell it like that?" and "I thought that only boys were named Dillen." Well Chris and I tend to over think things. Many of our friends in the international adoption community have kept part of their birth name. For Dillen her birth name is Le Ngoc Hoa, pretty huh? They actually call her Hoa (whaaaa) like the sound a baby makes when it cries. So we decided to talk to some Vietnamese and find out what is in a name... Hoa means precious stone and Ngoc means flower. They say it is a very beautiful name in Vietnamese. We decided to take that meaning and find her new name... after a few good laughs about Diamond Daisy and Ruby Rose, we decided giving her a stripper name wasn't the best idea. We found Dillen, a Welsh name meaning precious thing, that was it. Now Marie? This is where we jinx ourselves a bit. Marie means "A sea of bitterness". There is a lot of bitterness in these waters surrounding this adoption. However, we chose Marie (a form of Mary) because we loved it. We have a Mary in our life that we love dearly (this is a shout out to Raymond) and come on, you've got to admit if the Lord didn't like it, he wouldn't have made it his mom's name!

So, I write this Name blog now because we have a new request... a name affidavit. We have to send Vietnam a list of every name we have ever used ever in our lives... oh, the best part? It has to be notarized, certified by the Secretary of the State, Authenticated by the Vietnamese Embassy in DC and translated... For a mere cost of $72 before priority shipping. Lovely. As always, keep us in your thoughts as we continue in this boring stage of excuses, ridiculous paperwork and nothingness! Best wishes, oh and as always another picture of our girl to get us through the weekend. Don't mind the man in the photo he is the taxi driver of our friends that were there. Yes, Dillen is a lover of the simple man.

You still coming back?

I figured with no news it would be difficult to get you back, reading this blog. This is a shout out blog for all of those who have been diligently praying for us. Thanks! We didn't hear any news about our case today... just that our agency got a vague email stating that our investigation was finished....duh, we've heard that... that is not news. One of our dear families heard that they will need additional paperwork done that could take nearly a month, so if you think about it today. Say a special prayer for our friends Teresa and Daniel. They are our sister and brother in Christ. We could not be this well composed without them in our lives. They have been with us every step of the way in our journey, through loss, hard times, extra waiting and creative ideas. Think about them as they hurry to get this extra bit of work done. Thanks for checking in with us. We have special friends in this process as well, our neighbors. They are currently in Vietnam adopting Anya... you can follow their blog too if you'd like. We look forward to raising our girls together, they are just a few weeks a part!

Here comes another weekend...

Another weekend, which means nothing new for a couple of days. The good news? We checked a few things off of the list this week... The Bands had their Giving and Receiving Ceremony. The Blackwells had their Decision of Adoption signed and hopefully just a few weeks away from bringing home their beautiful boy Zane, and we have a finished Police investigation. 3 of 4 isn't too bad! Now we've got to get that Lopez family on a plane, maybe even the Blackwells with them and we will be one step closer to our girl! So as promised, to get you through the weekend...

Still holding...

Ok friends, I don't have any new pictures yet. We did hear that the province is hoping to get through these adoptions more quickly now... don't believe everything that you hear. We'll wait to see how serious they are, but word on the net is that the next two families could have their G&R together, meaning that puts only one more G&R before we go to Vietnam! Keeping our fingers crossed.... So do you think Dillen is as stressed as we have been? You be the judge...

More Good News!

Well, I am here to report that we have our Police investigation finished! We are waiting for our report to be written and submitted to Hanoi for the "final check" before we get our Decision of Adoption signed. However... the Blackwell family got their DOA signed. One more thing off the list! Apparently the Bands went back to the baby home for one last goodbye and a few more pictures... So more to come! Thanks for all the prayers, keep them coming!

One step closer...

We woke up with good news from the Band family. They finally had their Giving and Receiving Ceremony! Whew, one more down, two to go before Dillen can come home. This is exhausting! Still no news from our agency today. The Bands are now on their way to HCMC for some appointments and then off to Hanoi for the final step before heading home! This probably means the end of new pictures, unless they haven't downloaded them all. Don't worry, I didn't post all of them, so as we suffer through some uneventful weeks I'll post a cute picture so you'll come back. Until I have more bliss to blog...

Another weekend over...

Thank goodness! It is the end of the dreaded weekend. Those of you in the adoption process know what I mean. Nothing gets done on weekends. There is no news, no updates, nothing unless a natural disaster strikes, there is nothing to hear on the weekend. So, here we are sitting on the edge of another week. If you are following the family that is in our province now, you know they haven't had their G&R yet (http://www.angieband-jaydensjourney.blogspot.com/). They are hoping for Monday or Tuesday at the latest. The best news that we could get this week consists of four key elements...

1. The obvious, the Bands have there G&R and bring home Jayden

2. Fernando Lopez will travel to bring home their son Dat.

3. The Blackwell family will have there Decision of Adoption signed and last but not least

4. Our paperwork is ready to go to Hanoi for a "final check".



So keep those positive vibes coming and check back throughout the week. Your prayers are much needed. I certainly will post when we have some news... any news!

Really? Nothing new?

This is why I decided early on that i wouldn't be a blogger... I got tired of telling everyone that we still haven't heard anything... I guess though, writing it once is better than telling everyone individually that asks. We did receive more pictures, I will post them so you have something to get you through the weekend. Welcome to our lives.



Yesterday we received an email from our agency stating that there was a problem with our case. There are no specifics, not even one detail except that our facilitator in Vietnam says that the Officials "will not refuse" our adoption. Really? There was still the possibility of that? Because we don't have every approval known to the world. I am tired. I have been emotionally and physically sick for weeks now. I truely believe that the vietnamese officials that we are dealing with, are in it for the money. The longer our children sit in the orphanage, the more money is sent. There is a family connection between the staff at the orphanage and the province officials. If they really wanted to get these children home, I truley believe that they could. So between a shady province, non assertive adoption agency (that was being nice) and a facilitator that has no sense of urgency we will watch our Dillen grow up, not knowing how we long to hold her. Keep us in your prayers...

All is quiet

Those of you that keep checking to hear news, I hate to disappoint. All is quiet. The Band family did not have their Giving and Receiving Ceremony today (Tuesday) but like always, are hoping for tomorrow. Things have been quiet this week. We haven't heard any news about our case. The reality is, we haven't heard any truthful news about our adoption since the US issued our preapproval for our child's visa in early July. Chris and I were taking a walk just the other night and it hit me; we've been praying for our daughter to come home for over a year and a half. When we started this journey we were told that from start to finish it would be 7-10 months, well 20 months later... here we are. So, we were walking around the neighborhood with our long sleeves on and I remembered walking last year, thinking... this is the last time we will walk all bundled up without our girl. Boy was I wrong. We continue to pray, hope for a miracle, and trust in His time. Will you do that with us?

Another weekend of waiting...

For those of you who prayed with us for the family adopting their son this week in Vietnam. They did not have their Giving and Receiving Ceremony... not that it is a real surprise. So, continue your prayers for more updates and a ceremony for them at the beginning of the week next week. Until then, enjoy a few pictures of Dillen the Bands were able to take for us! New pictures are always so wonderful!

What are you waiting for?!?!

Everyone asks... if you have all these approvals and your daughter is in an orphanage, why are you still in South Carolina? I know, it is so frustrating and it doesn't make much sense to us, but we have to wait for a few more things. The province that Dillen is in is Hau Giang. Each province has leaders, and each province leader creates their own set of rules, or so it seems. Our leaders are re investigating each adoption in our province. This investigation has already been completed twice already but they just want a "final check". Once this is completed and our papers are taken to the capital, Hanoi, then we must wait for our Decision of Adoption to be signed and issued an invitation. We can not travel to the province without being invited. Crazy, huh? Well August 25th we were told our investigation was completed and our paperwork needed to go to Hanoi, only to be told last week that it was not completed. So frustrating, and disappointing! Because of the communication barriers, along with a 12 hour time difference, we have had difficulty understanding exactly where in this process our adoption lies. Right now we are praying and following another couples adoption in our same province. This will hopefully be a good indicator as to what is to come. Please pray for Angie and Norman Band as they are in Vietnam now completing the adoption of their son Jayden. You can follow their blog at http://angieband-jaydensjourney.blogspot.com/.

9 months old today

We started this process January '07 with the hopes of being finished by now. I don't think anyone anticipated the process to be this long, nor did anyone foresee the complications that it would entail, but the road known as international adoption is full of turns and roadblocks. Almost always, the outcome is the same, so you take the risk and wait... you don't know when, but some day a beautiful baby comes into your life. Chris and I first learned of our little girl on April 10, 2008. Almost 4 months old, Le Ngoc Hau was going to be our daughter. It took us a while but decided we would call her Dillen, meaning precious thing. We received DIA approval (the approval from Vietnam to adopt her) the end of June '08 and I600 approval (this is approval from the US to bring Dillen into the country as our daughter) July 2nd. So we have been waiting since July to bring Dillen home. We created this blog to share our adoption journey with you, our friends and family and to encourage those of you who are taking a similar journey. I hope you enjoy our posts, pictures and videos as we prepare for our adventure to Vietnam.