Getting to Know You...

Greetings - well my title says it all....Kenny and I and Dad have been very busy getting to know one another. Sometimes he's having a blast and other times he realizes he's somewhere new and wants the other life back. This is to be expected and we trudge through the late nights (well, I do that, once again Dad got a solid 12; things are'a'changing' tonight) anyway, Kenny is getting used to our voices and especially the new language - we are a lot more high pitched than the VN - and of coures the way we feed, rock and soothe is very different for him. Westerners are all about holding close, coziness etc and in the orphanage they had so many babies that the kids were fed two at a time from the floor or bouncy. So I try, although I still give kisses way too much (love under the chin!) Kenny's cold is getting better and we were so lucky to come when we did; the babies don't fare well at all in the winter and pneumonia settles in very quickly. I'll let you guess the rest.....

HaNoi is CRAZY - the streets, the vendors, the women walking with huge packs of fresh produce, the stimulation is overwhelming and we've been trying to give Ken little bits and pieces everyday. We had a great fresh fruit smoothies today; its kind of well known for certain cafes as the produce is quite delicious - happy surprise for me. Last night I craved a good ole burger and was pretty disappointed. Oh well, I'm not sick of noodles yet and I've been sticking to a lot of scrambled eggs.

On to other news....we have our first US Embassy visit tomorrow, which I am very nervous about, to say the least. There has been a lot of political issues overseas these days with Int'l Adoptions. We've seen this in China, Guatemala and Russia. Now the spotlight is on VN (just my luck). Anyway, our case is pretty black and white, but you never know. The folks who came out two weeks before us were cleared to go home in 3 week timeframe, and their babies were from the same orphanage as Kenny, so this is good news.

We plan on heading back out to the orphanage on Sunday. It will be time to donate all of the shoes, winter coats and new clothes that we bought. Through all of the generous donations that Dan received (the orphanage director was in awe) we were asked to purchase not only shoes, but clothes for the winter and new coats are needed. The kids have said how sad it is when they go to school because everyone knows they live in an orphanage because of their old clothes that look all the same....so I am really looking forward to that shopping spree. We are being taken by
the director of our agency to the store and then will deliver. Of course this will be our next video production. I must add that things do change like the wind out here; but it is on the "today" schedule.

So....in closing I ask for prayers; for those babies that are sick - a speedy recovery or a match with a family to bring them to a new life and for our first US Embassy visit tomorrow - I'll dress Kenny in a Bears outfit, maybe there's a fan who works there???? Lots of Love and we miss you all so much! Thanks for keeping in touch.