Pictures from our day

We walked today for about 3 hours. It was so hot, we were melting. It is so tropical and sticky.

Here is a link to pictures from today: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CbtWzdq5ZNA4

The traffic is nuts here. Mopeds are the main mode of transportation and are everywhere and they don't have traffic laws and red lights don't mean much to them at all. Crossing the street is an adventure to say the least. Once you start crossing the street, they just go around you and you have to keep moving. If you stop, you'll get hit. It's quite comical too. I will post video tomorrow.

The Hanoi Hilton

Our hotel is on the grounds of a prison used in the Vietnam war called the Hanoi Hilton. This is the picture of it from our room. It's a museum now, so we will go there one day.

A few pictures

The view from our room. The tall building is the Melia Hotel, where other families are staying. And an excited boy in front of the view!

We arrived in Vietnam!

We are here in the hotel room eating pizza. It's 10:25 pm on Saturday night. We got to the hotel around 9:00. We arrived in Hanoi on time and our agency representative was there to meet us. Everything went very smooth. The flight was long, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Jimmy slept for 5 hours towards the end of the flight. I slept for about 2.5 hours and Ray didn't sleep at all. Jimmy also slept on our second flight.

We met Kris and her friend Joanne at JFK. Very nice ladies! They are at the Melia Hotel and we are staying at the Somerset. We'll probably meet up with them at some point tomorrow.

We'll be heading to bed very soon. Tomorrow we'll check out Hanoi.

1 more day!!!

We leave tomorrow! We'll be leaving the house around 7:00 am. Our flight leaves at 11:35 am. When we arrive at the hotel in Vietnam, we will have been traveling for more than 24 hours!

Our next post will probably be when we arrive in Vietnam! Wish us luck!

3 more days!

Jimmy says: "It's getting closer every day. We will be getting my sister 2 days after we get to Vietnam." Jimmy is very excited that his teacher and classmates will be following along on our blog.

We are booked into the hotel we wanted. It's called the Somerset Grand Hanoi and it's a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a full kitchen.

We'll check back before we go!

5 more days!

And we're off to Vietnam. We are very excited.

Some of you have asked if Jimmy is coming with us and yes he is. We'll be getting some school work to bring with us. He'll probably miss 3 weeks of school, but he will have such a great experience that he'll never forget. We are so glad that he is coming with us and will be able to meet his baby sister when we do.

Our timeline in Vietnam

This is our timeline in Vietnam. It is along the side of the blog too and I will update it as we go along. As long as everything moves along on schedule, we will leave to come home on 10/17 or sooner.

Our timeline in Vietnam
9/28 - Leave JFK at 11:35 am
9/29 - Arrive Hanoi, Vietnam at 7:40 pm
10/2 - Receive Emelia at the Thai Nguyen Orphanage
10/2 - Giving and Receiving (G&R) Ceremony
?? - Apply for passport with photo
?? - Have first embassy interview for Emelia's Visa
?? - Pick up passport
?? - Medical exam
?? - 2nd interview at the US embassy for Visa
?? - Pick up the Emelia's visa - 1 full business day after the 2nd interview
10/17 - Go home?

G&R is set!

We got the call today. Our G&R is set for 10/2/07! We have to be in Hanoi by 9/30, but we will go on 9/28 because there are no seats on the 9/29 flight. Oh well, we'll get an extra day of rest before we receive Emelia. We are very excited and just relieved to finally have the date.

Orphanage Donations

Here is a link to pictures I took of all the goodies I purchased and will bring to the Thai Nguyen Orphanage. Thanks to all those who donated money or goods.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CbtWzdq5ZNAa&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Now for some good news

We are going to Vietnam! We received our visa/travel call today! The tentative date for the Giving & Receiving Ceremony (G&R) in Vietnam is Monday, 10/1. So we will have to arrive by at least the Sunday, 9/30.

I will let you know when we have more news!

One year ago today ...

my mother went into the hospital. Little did we know that she would not get out until after Thanksgiving. She was home for about 6 weeks when she had to go back in again. After that she did not come out. At least she was home for Christmas and her 71st birthday. Her birthday dinner was a great night out. We're thinking about you Mom. Always.

A baby shower!

My family and friends threw me a surprise baby shower! I was shocked to say the least. I received beautiful gifts from everyone and had a great time! Thanks especially to my sister Anne and hubby Ray!

Here is a link to some pictures: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CbtWzdq5ZM_Y