Finally all is in place and we’re off to Vietnam on Saturday, August 26, to get our daughter, Alyssa. We don’t have an exact date for the Giving & Receiving Ceremony, but expect it will be either August 29 or 30.
Once we get Alyssa we need to process paperwork with the Vietnamese, Turkish and US governments before we can come back to Ankara. So, we’ll probably spend about two weeks in Vietnam. In addition to Ho Chi Minh City, we’ll also travel to Phan Tiet province where the orphanage is as well as Hanoi to complete visa documents.
Obviously, we are all very excited to finally be on the last steps of this wonderful journey. Will try and update the blog in Vietnam and, hopefully, even be able to add a few pictures.
Looks like the G&R may be delayed by a couple of days. Not certain why, but we got an email from our adoption agency saying we should anticipate the delay. But, we’re still going on the same date and will hang out in Vietnam for a few extra days, if necessary.
At least we’ll be able to see Alyssa!!
After several hours in the orphanage, we all realized that the afternoon had slipped quickly by and that we needed to say goodby to our new family members and make our way to the hotel. Darkness came quickly during the hour long ride to the Novotel Ocean Dunes and Gulf Resort in Phan Thiet, which would be our home for the coming days. At the hotel, we were warmly greeted by the staff and got settled into our rooms in just a few minutes.
Now it was time for another kind of celebration — Jessie’s birthday. We had already planned to have a larger ‘official’ party once we returned to Ankara, but also wanted to recognize Jessie’s special day. So, we had a small family party in our room. Jessie opened several presents with great delight while Nancy, Grandma Patsy and I looked on. Her favorite was her own digital camera, which she had been wanting for a long time.
At dinner we joined all of the other families and much to our surprise at the end of the dinner, the hotel staff produced a beautiful birthday cake for Jessie. (As I said in an earlier post, Thao was super and I assume she was responsible for getting this cake for Jessie.) So, Jessie got to celebrate her birthday twice in one night. After that it was off to bed after a very long, emotionally filled day — one that we all will remember forever.