Monday, January 25, 2010

While we are waiting...

So I still have not yeard yet when our court date will be so I can not yet show you a picture of Zoe (our little girl) I thought I would show you all pictures from our trip that we took for almost 3 weeks to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. We left the day after Christmas and headed straight to Vietnam, then to Cambodia and ended in Thailand. We had a wonderful time. My sister Lindsay came with us to Cambodia and Vietnam and we met up with the rest of my family once we got to Thailand. It's crazy to think that the next time we take a family vacation we will have 3 children. YIKES! We will finally be outnumbered!!
I know there are so many things to pray about right now, especially with everything that is going on over in Haiti, but right now I am asking that you also keep our family in your prayers.
We had to change our immigration forms with the U.S. government because our application was for a 0-18 month old girl and our daughter is actually almost 2. It can take up to 3 to 4 months to get this application changed.
We would really like to pick her up in February or the first week of March at the very latest. So, will you please pray that we will be able to pick her up soon and that our paperwork will be done in the next couple of weeks!! We don’t want to wait until April or May to get her!
I was at the immigration office today begging and pleading to get her here. I am going to keep going every week until it is done. So- thank you for any prayer you send our way!


Here we are in Vietnam. We went to the Cu Chi tunnels which is where the Vietnamese soldiers hid out during the war. We saw lots of boobie traps and it was really sad to see all of this from the war. Vietnam is still Communist but is doing good. However, we learned some very crazy things about their country. They have a lot of orphans and that is so sad. I just wish more people were willing to adopt children, as there are so many out there who need our help. Vietnam was nice to see. I wish we were able to get out to the more greener part of Vietnam, but that is a long drive and we didn't have much time to go there. However, we did make it Hard Rock Cafe.

Here is what all the houses look like in Cambodia. They are built on stilts because of the flooding. We loved Cambodia. I must say that it was one of the most remarkable places I have ever visited (and considering the fact that I have visited around 100 countries that means a lot!!) We all enjoyed Cambodia and thought it very beautiful!

Here we are on Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia. This is a place where people actually live right on the water. It was neat to go and visit this place. I realize how lucky I am to have this nice house on dry land.

The main method of transportation. There are hundreds of people who live on this lake.

Here is kind of how the houses all look in a row. They fish during the day and then just sleep and hang out the rest of the day. The children take their own boat to their floating school.

Here is just a typical house on the lake.

Little girls waving hello. It was so cute because everyone was loving my boys. I don't think they see too many white children in Cambodia. Everyone especially loved Martin! He would bow to each person he met, and he would be loved and touched by everyone!

We spent a lot of time looking at all the ruins in Cambodia (with the most famous one Angkor Wat). The ruins were incredible! I have never seen such beautiful and amazing ruins as these. We have been able to travel all around the world and I was blown away with these ruins. Calvin and Martin were very excited as when I showed him the picture before we went he said they were the Indiana Jones Temple so we let him believe it. He even was able to find a hat from a local market that looked just like an Indiana Jones hat before we got to the ruins. The boys had so much fun. Lots of ruins, monkeys and adventure around every corner!

It was so hot while we went all over Cambodia. We were sweating like crazy. However, it was totally worth it to see what we saw! And believe it or not, this was actually their cool time of the year!

Aren't my boys so cute! Here they are with some locals dressed up in the old style of clothing that they would wear around the royalty.

Martin wearing a scarf around his little sweaty head! Just taking a rest. We walked for miles and miles. They did so well!

All throughout the ruins were these huge trees growing right around and through the buildings. It made the sites look even more ancient and fun.

If you have seen Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, where this is where it was filmed.

Yummy! We loved Cambodian food. It isn't too spicy so we could eat everything!

Cal just walking around one of the many ruins. We had so much fun exploring. It is the best place on the earth for little boys to explore!

Here we are at the back of Angkor Wat. This is the biggest and one of the most famous ruins. It is absolutely incredible. Believe me, the pictures do not do any of these sites justice. It is amazing to be standing right in front of these sites!

Here is Calvin with our guide Seth and Josh. This was Calvin's face almost the entire time we were going through Angkor Wat (because he was of course going through Indiana Jones Fortress). It was so fun to see him and his excitement.

Here is the entrance of Angkor Wat. We were so sad that we finally had to leave all of these amazing and beautiful ruins. This was definetly one of the best places we have visited.
I'll try to post the pictures of Thailand soon. It has been crazy since we got home from our trip. We are getting everything ready for our little girl and trying to catch up on everything we missed while we were away.
It is good to be home and I am nesting like crazy!!! My poor boys. I think I am organizing every room in our home!
Well, I'll post more pictures soon!

3 comments:

Tim O'Keefe said...

Thanks so much for commenting on my blog. I almost missed it. When you post, you never know where it will end up. A message in a bottle.

I admire you so much for adopting a Rwandan child. What a blessing for you both! I'd love to know where you went in Rwanda. Have you read LEFT TO TELL? How about John Rucyahana's book, THE BISHOP OF RWANDA? I loved reading your post and now I feel compelled to read back. I look forward to seeing your new bigger family.

Unknown said...

Jamie,
This is Becky Fisher currently in Nairobi trying to process our son's visa. Another family and ours sought out your baby girl and they brought her to us. We were able to spend a few minutes with her telling her, her mommy was coming and that she loved her and couldn't wait to get here. She's super cute! She already has 4 teeth (2 on top for sure and I think 2 on the bottom). Her belly was a little tight, like all of our kids are, which is either just big bellies or distention for some reason. Almost all our babies have distended belly buttons so that's something to possibly be prepared for. Good luck! She's a cutie!

4-more said...

Thank you for allowing us to post your blog!