The latest news...

The most significant problem we are still having is related to the power concentrated in the province. We our dealing with a government that has a communist perception on how government works, and that certainly does not provide equality for everyone's voice to be heard. The province officials do not care about our children in the orphanage nor do they care about our situation.
DIA is powerless over the actions of the province and can not force the province leaders to process any of the remaining adoptions. The province is like a small country, they rule themselves. Our agency has given us little hope that anyone can help our situation. Thuoc expressed how concerned he is about all of the adoptions, and asked that we pray for DOJ to cooperate. The Red Cross is legally bound to Worldwide by Vietnamese law. Fortunately, the director of the Red Cross is our advocate with the officials in the province. The director speaks often with the officials in the province, she has tried to set up meetings with the officials in the past and continues to try to get meeting set up with them regarding the remaining adoptions.
The DIA has tried to get these cases to move but the officials remain resolute in their efforts to prolong these remaining adoptions. Inquiries from the US Embassy have not been productive either. As painful as it is, we have to accept that the officials in the province are in charge, even big organizations such as the DIA and the US Embassy have been unable to break these officials.
Our fingerprints are about to expire for the second time. We will have to refile our paperwork and make a trip to the immigration office (a few hours away) to be fingerprinted for the third time. The cost just to do this will be nearly eight hundred dollars. At this point, we don't even know if they will ever let Dillen come home.

Nothing still

We still have no news concerning our adoption. We received and email from our agency this morning that said that the only information she received from Vietnam was that the "Red Cross is fighting for our babies". So as you can imagine, we are frustrated. We do not know what this means or if DIA has sent a representative to the province. We have no new answers or news concerning our girl. It has been 8 months now since we've seen a picture and five months since we were given her "supposed weight". This is beyond ridiculous now. We have no information from our government either, it's almost like no one cares, no one can help. But don't you people understand????? This is our ONLY child! This is our DAUGHTER! This is our life! Can anyone help???? Is anyone REALLY fighting? Doesn't feel like it.

Still nothing

I thought we were seeing the end. No news from Vietnam. No news that anyone from DIA traveled to the province to speak with the leaders. No news from our government. We'll give them more time, of course... time is all we have... patience however, running thin.

We'll post as soon as we hear something. The only news we got this week is that the director of our agency was going out of town for a family birthday party. At least someone can celebrate.

Steppin' In

Last week we took another step in our adoption. We contacted Sen. DeMint's office. We were warned that bringing any outside attention to our case could potentially anger the officials in the Province and they would not complete our adoption. What can you do? In the end, I want to be able to tell our daughter that we did everything we could to bring her home.

I received an email earlier today from our agency. Apparently DIA is upset with the Province Leaders. Their intentions are to send a representative from DIA to the province to help finish these last five adoptions. We don't know their time frame, but we are encouraged. This is a positive step.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support.

Update, anyone?

Our 6 yr old Golden Retriever, Ozzy is recovering at home. He spent last weekend in the Emergency Vet's office and had an emergency surgery on his heart on Monday last week. As you can imagine, we were a wreck. It feels like life has really dealt us a crappy hand. Ozzy had fluid build up on his heart and in his abdomen. When we took him to the vet last weekend he weighed in at 93lbs and when he went this past Friday for a follow up visit he weighed 86lbs. Poor guy! He'll have to have monthly check ups for a little while as he still has a blood clot near his spleen, but he seems to be back to the happy dog that he was before he got sick. Thank you for thinking of us and Ozzy this past week. He is happy to show off his shaved belly for any of his fans!

As far as our adoption goes... no real news to share. The facilitator in Vietnam has been in contact with the US Embassy and Vietnam's DIA. We are still waiting for the officials to sign the Letter of Invitation for the next few families. We do not know if putting this pressure on the officials will slow the cases or speed them up. I can't imagine them becoming any more slower... but whenever we say that... Anyway, as always, we'll keep you updated.

The Cry for Help

If we were in Vegas we'd say the cards are down. Our agency has contacted the US Embassy in Hanoi to intercede on our behalf. They can no longer keep the baby home open and pay monthly expenses as the Leaders sign Letters of Invitations every four months or so. There are still movement in the province and there could be repercussions with contacting another agency. We are hoping that the US Embassy and DIA can convince these officials to allow our children to come home as soon as possible. All five babies are just waiting for their Decision of Adoption to be signed. There is a chance that the Leaders of the province will deny all or some of the adoptions. We do not know what will happen to our children if this happens. Please keep us in your prayers as the US Embassy and DIA contact the Leaders.

On a side note, our Golden Retriever has become very ill. He is currenly in a life saving procedure at a Specialty Vet office. We feel empty and helpless. We pray for mercy Lord.

I barely hear You

We are still waiting on the Leader of the province to sign the next Letter of Invitation. Thuoc, our facilitator, has strongly warned that we cannot pressure, persuade or agitate the officials in the province. Without question, he feels any such maneuvers will continue to delay the process for all cases.

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Praise You in this Storm
Casting Crowns