A month with many ups and a big down.....

I am sorry for not posting sooner, but we have been pretty busy lately. First I will begin with the good stuff. Jon, Natalie and I went on our first family vacation! We packed up the car and drove to Franklin, North Carolina to pan for rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Yup, that's right! Got right in the dirt, sloshed it around and found some pretty rocks. Jon is having a couple of them polished and cut, I can't wait to see what they will look like. The gems, in their natural state, look just like plain, old, junkie rocks to me! We had a great time and Natalie loved playing in the muddy water. Near Franklin was Cherokee, which is a Cherokee reservation. We saw a lot of really cool artifacts and learned a lot about the Cherokee culture.

Next stop was Daytona, Florida. Anyone that knows Jon, would say....well, of course! We got to Daytona USA with just enough time to tour the track, see the IMAX movie and get a picture taken. Natalie loved all the noise. During the movie, when the engines started up, she squealed with laughter. Our little adrenalin junkie!

The next morning we were off to Disney World. You can't go to Florida and not stop there. I think it a state law. LOL We stayed at a great Disney hotel, the Port Orleans - Riverside. And it lived up to its name. It was like being in old world Louisiana on a plantation by the water. Natalie loved the Magic Kingdom, though she was not too tolerant of the heat or waiting in lines. Ah well, that's what you get when you take a two year old. Live and learn.

The whole reason for our trip to Florida was because we were having a reunion with our Great Wall China Adoption travelmates from Natalie's adoption. There would be all seven families that travelled to China to receive our daughters, all from the same orphanage and all born in May, 2005. But more about that later.

On our third day at DW we met up with the D's, Jack, Bonnie, Ryan and Keira. Natalie and Keira took up as though they had never been separated. It was so cute to see them call each other "Baby!". I wonder if they really do remember each other......we will never know. Jack got us a room at the Dolphin hotel, so we could be close to them. It was very elegant and posh. The pictures do not do it justice. As a group, we went to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, and then Animal Kingdom on Thursday. It was so much fun sharing that with them. We had dinner with Winnie the Pooh and Friends at the Magic Kingdom. Natalie fell in love with Piglet and Pooh.
Then we went on the infamous, It's A Small World ride. Again, a BIG hit with Natalie. Animal Kingdom was great, but very crowded and hot. I think it would be better in the fall/winter when you can really stop and look at all the animals. Friday, it was Star Wars Day at MGM!!!!! The D's begged off (smart people - lol) and Jon went to frolic with all the other little boys and middle aged geeks. Sorry Honey. Natalie and I joined him, in the evening, after it began to cool down. Actually, it was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, we all left for the beachhouse, near Clearwater, where the rest of the gang were beginning to arrive. It was one of the most memorable weeks in our lives. All the girls have grown so much. The transformation from scared babies to beautiful, healthy, happy little girls was almost enough to burst your heart.
The girls took to each other as though they had never been apart. By the end of the week, they were calling each other by name. Even though there were seven 2 year olds, there was no fighting over toys. The girls got along so well. Everyone was wonderful and a great time was had by all. It's so amazing that you can take seven families, from different parts of the country and different walks of life, and everyone will get along as though they had been friends for a lifetime. I guess sharing one of the most emotional and joyous times of our lives created a very strong bond. We have already begun planning our next reunion.




OK, not to the not so happy......

As you know, we were finishing up our dossier (which had already been sent to our agency) and it was about to be reviewed and sent to Vietnam. Our next step would be to wait for our referral. Well, on Monday, June 4th (when we were leaving Daytona, actually sitting in the parking lot of a place for Jon to get his Visa pictures taken) I got a phone call from Kathy, our FTIA rep, saying that we should hold off on sending our workbooks and money because Vietnam is changing their adoption procedures. It seems, because there have been so many families submitting dossiers for matching, they have gotten overloaded. So, the IAD in Vietnam have stopped accepting family dossiers until they get more caught up. What this means to us is............according to Kathy, we are still on the same timeline for referral. What has changed is that we will wait to submit our dossier until we are close to receiving our referral. FTIA will tell us when to start gathering all the updated documents (our I-171h and homestudy should be ok). We will have to have everything re-authenticated at the Vietnamese Consulate. Then it will be submitted to the IAD in Vietnam.

Needless to say, Jon and I were very upset. Though we were able to put this in the back of our minds until we got home. It was very upsetting to see our finished dossier sitting on the dining room table, knowing that it will all have to be re-done. I am sorry, but it still gets me upset just writing about it. (It's not that I am angry at anyone. I understand that this is one of many things that are out of our control. It's just that we worked SO VERY HARD to get this dossier done, ran all over Lansing rushing to submit it to the agency. And now we have to do it all again. The VN authentication alone will be another $500!)