August 28, 2007
We have now had Gracie in our family for 1 month and 9 days and it feels like she has been with us always. She still continues to learn and experience new things everyday. She has been greeted by many people since her arrival in the US. Everyone comments how cute and content she is. We definitely agree with them. Logan is still expressing lots of love for her. He always wants to hold and play with her. He has made the best big brother just as we figured.
We were given another open house party to welcome Gracie. Our friends Dena Corley and Jenny Lambdin arranged to have members of Club Fitness(gym we go to) join our family at Panera Bread on Sat. 8/25 from 8:00 am to 10:00 am to meet Gracie. It was very informal and turned out quite nice. We were able to visit with everyone and Gracie enjoyed meeting new faces. Gracie received several new outfits for her fall/winter collection. It is great to know we have such great friends who care about us and want to help celebrate the arrival of our newest addition.
Here are a few new accomplishments and adventures Gracie has experienced:
Walking big brother Logan to school on the first day 8/21/07
Getting her first professional picture taken by Shooting Stars(thanks Kathy
and Kris) 8/23/07
Rolls from front to back 8/23/07
First doctor appointment with Dr. Rojan 8/24/07
STATS: 14lbs 9.5 ozs; 23 ¼ inches long(I measured her at 25 inches); 14
inch head
Dr. Rojan said she is a GOOD baby, I do agree. We are going to do blood
work when she turns 1(HIV, Hep B and C)She got her first Rotavirus Vaccine
(oral)
She was a great patient.
Church directory picture taken with the family 8/24/07
Ate her first baby food vegetable (peas) seemed to like them 8/24/07
Got her first USPS letter in the mail(thanks Uncle Kevin)
Meet Thomas(10 mns old) a friend adopted from Vietnam 8/25/07
Received her first set of Immunizations at the Health Dept.8/27/07
DPT, Hep B, Polio, Hib, Pneumococcal
3 shots (2 in lt leg, 1 in rt leg)
Her lt leg was sore that evening and she developed a 102.2 fever the next
morning and still complained about her lt leg.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Another Day With Gracie
| August 18, 2007 Gracie has been the talk of our family and friends and yesterday Stephanie Kupferschmid and Jennifer England gave Gracie and us an Open House party at Forsyth Park. We were greeted by many people who are special in our lives. Gracie was such a good girl during the 3 hour party. She took a 30 minute nap at 8:15pm and got a second wind after waking up. The party started at 6:00pm and was to end at 9:00pm. There were decorations of ladybug balloons and red and black styrofoam ladybugs. Two large sheet cakes decorated with a tree and ladybugs and water and lemonade was to be had for all to eat and drink. The tables were draped with pink and green table clothes just like the colors in Gracie’s room. Everything looked great. The night went very fast and it was hard to speak to everyone. So we apologize to anyone who we did not get a chance to speak to but appreciate you coming to meet the new addition to our family. Logan had a blast. He was surrounded by many of his friends and was able to run, run, run…. He deserves it since he was so good during our adventure in Vietnam and had little chance to be a kid. The gifts were abundant and so thoughtful. We have not had a chance to open them since we would like to do it as a family. It is trying to get us all together but hope to do it some time today. Logan also received gifts from some considerate family and friends. He has been so wonderful during this transition in our family. He shows no jealousy toward Gracie and seems grateful she is in our lives. One evening when he was ready to say his prayers with Jeff he stated that his prayers were answered and he did not need to pray. Jeff immediately explained that there are many other people who need his prayers and he should continue to pray. We too believe our prayers have been answered and want to thank everyone who also prayed for us during this period in our lives. Gracie still seems to be adjusting well in her new family. She brings us joy everyday and is a very happy baby. She is learning everyday and shows us why we took the long journey to add her to our family. |
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Day 11 And Read What I Have Done
| August 16, 2007 Gracie has been home 11 days and she has met many new faces, done several new adventures and accomplished new milestones. Here is a list of the few adventures and milestones: Ate rice cereal Aug 7 did very well Met some of Daddy’s co-workers Aug 7 Went to big brother’s school to register him Aug 8 Ate baby food fruit Aug 8(bananas) did very well Went to Walmart Aug 8 First time in a Pool Aug 8(Lambdins) Went to Church Aug 12 Went to Mommy’s work place to meet some co-workers Aug 12 Went to first birthday party Aug 12(cousin Morgan) Slept from 9:00pm to 7:00am Aug 12 Went to Gym Aug 13(sleep most of the time) Grandma and Grandpa babysat when Mommy went to dentist Aug 15 Can roll from back to front(could do this when we received her) Attempting to sit up, needs some assistance Aug 16 Gracie is learning everyday and loves to watch her new big brother. She does not meet a stranger. She lets anyone hold her without crying. She flashes them a smile and buries her head in their chest. She has adjusted so well to her new surroundings. She wines and sucks her thumb when she is tired or hungry. When we lie her down for nap and bedtime she puts thumb in mouth grabs her new blanket(compliments of Darlene Jones) and goes off to dreamland. |
Friday, August 10, 2007
We Are Home
Day 22 & 23 Aug 5th – 6th Sunday & Monday
Written Aug 10th
Homecoming
This was the day we had been waiting for. We are finally going home as a family. This was probably the longest day we experienced here because we were so excited to leave. We weren’t scheduled to leave the hotel until 4:00pm so we tried to occupy our day with a trip to the tourist center for one last look at the comments on our blog. Between breakfast and running to the tourist center we still had about six hours to go before our departure. The rest of the afternoon we past the time by finishing our packing and watched the clock, played with Gracie and watched the clock, and watched TV and watched the clock. Needless to say the afternoon was a long one.
About 3:30pm, Logan and I started moving our luggage down to the lobby. Gracie was just finishing her bottle after her afternoon nap. She was in a good mood and ready to travel. Logan was in a very good mood. Although he finally got used to the cultural change in Hanoi, he was more than ready to get back home. The four of us headed to the lobby a couple of minutes early to say goodbye to the staff. I can’t say enough about the staff at the Hong Ngoc hotel. They provided a service that can’t be found in the States. We especially wanted to personally thank Mr. Tong for everything he had done to make our stay enjoyable. When we arrived at the lobby, the staff was busy with new guests but we were able to have a short conversation with Mr. Tong, who had his son with him, and took some photos with Mr. Tong and the boys. We said our goodbyes and told him we would see him in about 18 years. Then we exited to the car waiting for us on the street.
As we drove to the airport I told Becky I felt a little sad about leaving Vietnam since this is Gracie’s home in which Becky agreed. Becky and I will make sure Gracie knows where she came from and what proud heritage she is apart of.
On the ride to the airport we were pretty quiet. We had gotten used to the traffic during our stay so we just sat and took in our last views of this beautiful country. This is in sharp contrast to the ride to Hanoi when we first arrived and were very chatty with the driver and amazed at everything we saw. Gracie was very content in the backseat in Becky’s arms. As we approached the airport, the terminal building looked more modern than when we arrived in Hanoi several weeks earlier. The departures must be in a different location than the arrivals because this terminal was completely up-to-date.
Hanoi Airport
The driver unloaded our bags and I gave him the last of the Vietnam currency in my pockets since I couldn’t convert them back in the states, but we were able to save a few coins and some paper money as souvenirs. We entered the terminal and was immediately confused on where to go. We walked from one side of the terminal back to the other finally someone looked at our tickets and pointed us to the side where we initially entered the terminal. There was a long line to the ticket counter but since I was carrying Gracie, the airline staff took us to the counter ahead of everyone else. Strike one up for Gracie; she’s already paying dividends. We finished getting checked in and headed for the gates to wait for our flight. As we left the main terminal and headed for the gates, we had to pass through immigration. Becky and Logan went to one booth and Gracie and I went to another booth beside them. Becky and Logan were quickly approved to leave but for some reason the agent took Gracie’s passport and left the booth. I could see Becky’s expression from the other side and we both looked at each other like “what the heck now”. The gentleman returned a couple of minutes later with Gracie’s passport in hand and gave me back all my papers and waved Gracie and I through. That was probably the longest two minutes of the entire trip. The four of us proceeded through security and made our way to our gate. We couldn’t believe this was the same airport we flew into. This part of the airport was very modern with many shops and lounges for the business class flyers similar to the airports back home. I kept thinking why would Vietnam want your first impression of this place to be that it’s run down since the arrival terminal looks something out of the 1950’s while the departure terminal is much more appealing.
We found our gate and unloaded our carry on baggage and got ready for the hour and a half wait. Gracie was doing great but we did have to take her for a walk from time to time because she got bored of just sitting. Logan loved the open space in this part of the terminal and he would run short distances whenever he could. I told him not to run too much because I didn’t want security to get too nervous. When we had about 30 minutes before we were to start boarding, they announced our flight would be delayed for 30 minutes. We weren’t happy to hear this since we only had a 2 hour layover at Hong Kong. Gracie was also starting to get tired and hungry. We were trying to plan her feeding during takeoff so it would help to depressurize her little ears but because of the delay this would not be the case. We went ahead and fed Gracie and changed her into her sleeper because we figured the aircraft could be a little cool. The one place we hoped the Vietnamese would have air conditioning would be on the aircraft. The plane wasn’t delayed any further so we boarded the plane and took our seats. I scouted out the plane before takeoff and noticed a row completely empty just a few rows up so I asked the attendant if we could use that row to lay Gracie down when we get to cruising altitude. She said that wouldn’t be a problem. Gracie cried during takeoff because she was getting very tired and she was required to be belted to the front of Becky during this time. Once the fasten safety belt sign was turned off, Becky and Gracie headed for the empty row were Gracie slept for the first leg of our trip. The attendants served a hot meal with two choices on this two hour flight. This is something you don’t get on domestic flights back home. The attendant asked me what my choice was but I couldn’t understand a word she said so by this time I was tired of trying to piece sentences together and simply shook my head and said I don’t understand. She gave me one of each of the choices and I gave Logan the one I thought he would like. Logan liked what he got so it all worked out. The flight went by pretty quick but Becky and I were very concerned about making our next flight from Hong Kong to L.A. because of the delay.
We landed at Hong Kong airport with only about 50 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave. By the time we exited the plane and they bused us to the main terminal, Becky and I were starting to worry we wouldn’t make our connection. As we entered the bottom level of the terminal, there was a representative from Cathay Pacific Airlines waiting with a sign that had several flight numbers listed on it; one of which was our flight to L.A. They pulled us, and several others, aside and checked our tickets and put small round stickers on the front of us so they could identify us. The leader had a 2-way radio and was in communication with a person at the gate. Our guide took us up escalators, down elevators, on a tram, and back up another elevator, rushed us through security and checked us through to our plane and made sure we boarded the plane. Logan loved the run through the airport and Gracie had woke up since the flight and seemed to marvel at the large building we were running through. Becky and I would have never made the fight if it wasn’t for the persons at Cathay Pacific and this made a huge impression on us. The 747 was already loaded and ready to go so it didn’t take long before we were taxing down the runway. Becky and I hoped that only our luggage got the same treatment as we did in finding the flight.
Flight from Hong Kong to L.A.
We took our seats and the flight attendants assured us we would have the bassinet we had reserved weeks ago, but they couldn’t set it up until after we were in the air. Because we had the bassinet, we had to sit with the bulkhead (wall) in front of us. Logan expressed his concern that we didn’t have TV screens at our seats because he didn’t see them on the bulkhead in front of him. He was quickly relived to find they were under the front of his seat and all he had to do was pull it up and lock it into place.
It was my turn to hold Gracie during takeoff. She sat quietly buckled in my lap but she was tired. Since we sat in the middle of the plane, there was a gentleman sitting beside me in the fourth seat. I tuned to him and apologized in advance for the noise that will come out of Gracie. He said she was very pretty seemed to be a very good girl. There’s a sucker born every minute. As we started to taxi, Gracie got very tired and started crying very loud. The guy sitting next to me was a little early with his “good girl” comment. As soon as we got in the air, Gracie fell asleep on me. Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendant set up Gracie’s bassinet and we quickly put her in it. She slept 13 out of the 14 hours we were in the air. Logan also got much more sleep on this flight than he did going over. I noticed he still managed to watch Spiderman III about three times during the flight. The kids did great and Becky and I even seemed to get several hours of sleep. The service on this airline is spectacular. They bring you a menu at the beginning of the flight for the two meals they serve and also provide snacks during the flights. They even know they have young passengers on board and bring them kid’s meals in advance of serving all meals. They are very polite and friendly and I can’t say enough about the quality of service. This was the flight that Becky and I were dreading the most and it turned out to be extremely comfortable for a 14 hour trip.
Flight from L.A. to Chicago
Although the flight from Hong Kong was on time, we only had two hours to go through immigration, get our luggage, go through customs and head to the domestic side of LAX. This is where the nightmare started.
We entered LAX and after some direction from one of the workers we were able to quickly proceed through immigration. We dropped off the folder containing Gracie’s paperwork so she is now a U.S. citizen. We were too tired and worried about our luggage to celebrate so we headed to the baggage claim carousel to retrieve our luggage. This place was getting very busy with all the incoming international flights. The idea here is to claim your baggage, go thru customs, drop our checked luggage off in the “checked luggage area” and walk over to the American Airlines terminal.
Everyone from our flight huddled around the baggage carousel waiting for the machine to start. After about 15 minutes, they announced on the load speaker that our flight’s baggage was moved to another carousel. We figured it was because of mechanical problems since there were workers wondering around our carousel with confused looks on their faces. We quickly moved to the new carousel and waited for our baggage. We waited and waited and waited. We finally got our luggage with only 25 minutes to make it thru customs and drop off our luggage and proceed to the domestic terminal. We quickly made it thru customs while Gracie was yelling because she was hungry at this time. The girl knows when to turn it on at the right time. We only had twenty minutes to get to the American Airlines terminal so we rushed to the luggage drop area at the exit. When we got there the workers said that area was closed and that we had to take our luggage to the American Airlines terminal next door. Becky and I couldn’t believe this. The baggage area closed at 11:30pm and it was now 11:35pm so we missed it. We didn’t have time to complain so we ran out of the international building and headed towards the building next door. Logan had one cart full of luggage, Becky had another cart full of luggage and I had Gracie in my arms running to the next terminal. We got to the next terminal with 15 minutes to go before our flight left. There was no easy way to get the luggage up a flight of stairs to the departure counter so Gracie and I took the steps while Logan and Becky looked for a way to get the luggage upstairs. Becky and Logan made it to the counter with 10 minutes to go but it was too late. We told the woman at the American Airlines area we had to make the flight to Chicago in ten minutes and she quickly said “you’re too late so you missed the flight”. We could tell by the level of customer service that we were back in the States. The woman is very lucky I had Gracie in my arms. She didn’t realize how long of a day we have had and the lack of sleep I was operating on. I could have easily ended up in the airport security from beating that woman. Becky commented that she had never seen me so mad. I took Gracie and walked away and paced for several minutes. Becky just started laughing or else she was going to start crying. Logan didn’t understand what was going on and thought we were still going to make the flight. After we calmed down, we stood in line to talk to the representative at the counter. She said the next available flight would be at 9:00am the next morning but she would put us on standby on a 6:00am flight. Logan was pretty upset by this news and buried he face into my side. The lady said we could go back over to the international terminal because the shops stayed open all night there. Becky said she couldn’t believe Gracie first night in the States and we going to spend it in the airport. Luckily the representative next to ours said there was a delayed flight to Chicago that might have some openings. Our rep checked and there were three seats available in the last row so we jumped on them. The flight was going to leave in one hour. This gave all of us a second wind. Logan was extremely happy again and was back to pestering his little sister. The time was 2:00am so I called Kevin to tell him of our new flight plans since he is going to pick us up at the airport. I didn’t realize until after I called him that it was 4:00am his time. I hoped he didn’t have trouble getting back to sleep after my call. This flight was going to get us into Chicago by 7:15am instead of 6:00am from our missed flight. The flight was uneventful and both kids slept for most of the flight.
As soon as we landed and entered the terminal we walked past a restaurant. Logan said “Dad, you smell that…………it’s American food”. He seemed to walk with a little more pep in his step. Gracie was awake and alert and ready to see what Illinois was all about. On our way to the baggage claim, Becky’s cell phone was all lit up with people calling. We quickly made it to the baggage claim and grabbed our luggage and headed for the exits. Kevin had called and said he was stuck in traffic and would be about fifteen minutes late. We didn’t mind because it was good to stand there and stretch our legs. It was suppose to be the start of a hot and humid week in the Midwest but to those of us returning from Vietnam, this seemed like it was going to be a cool day.
Kevin arrived about the time he said he would and we loaded up his van and were off to his house to visit before heading for home. Kevin and Sue had things ready for us back at their house. Sue had to work so she wasn’t able to greet us. They had bagels from the Great American Bagel Shop, cereal, and cold milk. This was the best. Logan didn’t have any problem getting enough to eat this morning. Kevin and Sue had planned for us to spend the night, if we so desired, so they had dinners ready and everything. We felt bad about them going though all that trouble for us but we traveled 10 thousand miles and all we had left was 150 miles to get to our home so we just visited Kevin until noon then headed for Forsyth. It was great to get a chance to take a shower and freshen up at their house after the long trip. Sue called from work and said she would have some open time so we stopped by to see her before we left Chicago. When we got to Sue’s office, she quickly took Gracie in her arms and toured the building showing off the new addition to the family. Everybody there was excited to meet Gracie and her brother Logan. They had heard of our trip and were happy to meet us. After about an hour visit, it was time to get on the road for home. We appreciate everything Kevin and Sue had done for us.
Gracie makes it Home
As we pulled up to the house, we saw our house decorated with a big welcome sign with lots of balloons that Jennifer Voorhees put up. That was just the start of the great welcoming we got from friends and family. As we entered our house we noticed the big bouquet of flowers from Becky’s gym buddies(Dena, Kelly, Jenny and Wendy) on the counter. There was a large bag of Del’s popcorn for us, a Lady bug necklace for Gracie and a game called “Find it” for Logan from the Lamdins on the table. There was a note from the Kupferschmids that read “dinner was in the refrigerator and all we had to do was place it in the oven.” Audrey Kupferschmid made a great little notepad for Gracie. The house was already clean because Dena, Kelly, Jenny and Wendy had the house cleaned for us while we were gone. We hope we have not forgotten anyone who provided us with a special gift. If so please forgive us. We told Gracie there was going to be a lot of people that care about us when we got home and everyone proved us right. Over the next couple of days, other people brought gifts for Gracie and food for us to eat. The love and support from everyone here has just been remarkable and we know we are truly blessed.
Logan wasn’t in the house longer than 2 minutes and he was ready to run the neighborhood. Becky and I brought Gracie in the house and then started to unload the car and unpack. This task took about two days to complete because shortly after we arrived home many people stopped by. It was great to see everybody and Gracie took all the new faces in stride. The Allsup family was running on adrenaline by now. I thought I could stay awake until 9:00pm but this proved to be a challenge. I hit a wall by 8:00pm and actually fell asleep talking to Dee and Tim from down the street. I hope they didn’t take it personal.
Becky and Logan were quick to recover from our long trip but it took me a couple of days to get my energy back. I called my supervisor on Wed to see if I could take the rest of the week off and return on Monday since we thought we would be ready for Gracie at home before we left but we didn’t have the little things from the store. My supervisor, Ralph Smith, has been very supportive and I can’t express my gratitude enough. It makes me feel great knowing that my management and company really care about my family first and the job second.
We will continue to post to our blog as events occur. We have so enjoyed sharing our joyous time with our family and friends and will present this journal to Gracie when she will appreciate it and understand her heritage and her birthplace.
Written Aug 10th
Homecoming
This was the day we had been waiting for. We are finally going home as a family. This was probably the longest day we experienced here because we were so excited to leave. We weren’t scheduled to leave the hotel until 4:00pm so we tried to occupy our day with a trip to the tourist center for one last look at the comments on our blog. Between breakfast and running to the tourist center we still had about six hours to go before our departure. The rest of the afternoon we past the time by finishing our packing and watched the clock, played with Gracie and watched the clock, and watched TV and watched the clock. Needless to say the afternoon was a long one.
About 3:30pm, Logan and I started moving our luggage down to the lobby. Gracie was just finishing her bottle after her afternoon nap. She was in a good mood and ready to travel. Logan was in a very good mood. Although he finally got used to the cultural change in Hanoi, he was more than ready to get back home. The four of us headed to the lobby a couple of minutes early to say goodbye to the staff. I can’t say enough about the staff at the Hong Ngoc hotel. They provided a service that can’t be found in the States. We especially wanted to personally thank Mr. Tong for everything he had done to make our stay enjoyable. When we arrived at the lobby, the staff was busy with new guests but we were able to have a short conversation with Mr. Tong, who had his son with him, and took some photos with Mr. Tong and the boys. We said our goodbyes and told him we would see him in about 18 years. Then we exited to the car waiting for us on the street.
As we drove to the airport I told Becky I felt a little sad about leaving Vietnam since this is Gracie’s home in which Becky agreed. Becky and I will make sure Gracie knows where she came from and what proud heritage she is apart of.
On the ride to the airport we were pretty quiet. We had gotten used to the traffic during our stay so we just sat and took in our last views of this beautiful country. This is in sharp contrast to the ride to Hanoi when we first arrived and were very chatty with the driver and amazed at everything we saw. Gracie was very content in the backseat in Becky’s arms. As we approached the airport, the terminal building looked more modern than when we arrived in Hanoi several weeks earlier. The departures must be in a different location than the arrivals because this terminal was completely up-to-date.
Hanoi Airport
The driver unloaded our bags and I gave him the last of the Vietnam currency in my pockets since I couldn’t convert them back in the states, but we were able to save a few coins and some paper money as souvenirs. We entered the terminal and was immediately confused on where to go. We walked from one side of the terminal back to the other finally someone looked at our tickets and pointed us to the side where we initially entered the terminal. There was a long line to the ticket counter but since I was carrying Gracie, the airline staff took us to the counter ahead of everyone else. Strike one up for Gracie; she’s already paying dividends. We finished getting checked in and headed for the gates to wait for our flight. As we left the main terminal and headed for the gates, we had to pass through immigration. Becky and Logan went to one booth and Gracie and I went to another booth beside them. Becky and Logan were quickly approved to leave but for some reason the agent took Gracie’s passport and left the booth. I could see Becky’s expression from the other side and we both looked at each other like “what the heck now”. The gentleman returned a couple of minutes later with Gracie’s passport in hand and gave me back all my papers and waved Gracie and I through. That was probably the longest two minutes of the entire trip. The four of us proceeded through security and made our way to our gate. We couldn’t believe this was the same airport we flew into. This part of the airport was very modern with many shops and lounges for the business class flyers similar to the airports back home. I kept thinking why would Vietnam want your first impression of this place to be that it’s run down since the arrival terminal looks something out of the 1950’s while the departure terminal is much more appealing.
We found our gate and unloaded our carry on baggage and got ready for the hour and a half wait. Gracie was doing great but we did have to take her for a walk from time to time because she got bored of just sitting. Logan loved the open space in this part of the terminal and he would run short distances whenever he could. I told him not to run too much because I didn’t want security to get too nervous. When we had about 30 minutes before we were to start boarding, they announced our flight would be delayed for 30 minutes. We weren’t happy to hear this since we only had a 2 hour layover at Hong Kong. Gracie was also starting to get tired and hungry. We were trying to plan her feeding during takeoff so it would help to depressurize her little ears but because of the delay this would not be the case. We went ahead and fed Gracie and changed her into her sleeper because we figured the aircraft could be a little cool. The one place we hoped the Vietnamese would have air conditioning would be on the aircraft. The plane wasn’t delayed any further so we boarded the plane and took our seats. I scouted out the plane before takeoff and noticed a row completely empty just a few rows up so I asked the attendant if we could use that row to lay Gracie down when we get to cruising altitude. She said that wouldn’t be a problem. Gracie cried during takeoff because she was getting very tired and she was required to be belted to the front of Becky during this time. Once the fasten safety belt sign was turned off, Becky and Gracie headed for the empty row were Gracie slept for the first leg of our trip. The attendants served a hot meal with two choices on this two hour flight. This is something you don’t get on domestic flights back home. The attendant asked me what my choice was but I couldn’t understand a word she said so by this time I was tired of trying to piece sentences together and simply shook my head and said I don’t understand. She gave me one of each of the choices and I gave Logan the one I thought he would like. Logan liked what he got so it all worked out. The flight went by pretty quick but Becky and I were very concerned about making our next flight from Hong Kong to L.A. because of the delay.
We landed at Hong Kong airport with only about 50 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave. By the time we exited the plane and they bused us to the main terminal, Becky and I were starting to worry we wouldn’t make our connection. As we entered the bottom level of the terminal, there was a representative from Cathay Pacific Airlines waiting with a sign that had several flight numbers listed on it; one of which was our flight to L.A. They pulled us, and several others, aside and checked our tickets and put small round stickers on the front of us so they could identify us. The leader had a 2-way radio and was in communication with a person at the gate. Our guide took us up escalators, down elevators, on a tram, and back up another elevator, rushed us through security and checked us through to our plane and made sure we boarded the plane. Logan loved the run through the airport and Gracie had woke up since the flight and seemed to marvel at the large building we were running through. Becky and I would have never made the fight if it wasn’t for the persons at Cathay Pacific and this made a huge impression on us. The 747 was already loaded and ready to go so it didn’t take long before we were taxing down the runway. Becky and I hoped that only our luggage got the same treatment as we did in finding the flight.
Flight from Hong Kong to L.A.
We took our seats and the flight attendants assured us we would have the bassinet we had reserved weeks ago, but they couldn’t set it up until after we were in the air. Because we had the bassinet, we had to sit with the bulkhead (wall) in front of us. Logan expressed his concern that we didn’t have TV screens at our seats because he didn’t see them on the bulkhead in front of him. He was quickly relived to find they were under the front of his seat and all he had to do was pull it up and lock it into place.
It was my turn to hold Gracie during takeoff. She sat quietly buckled in my lap but she was tired. Since we sat in the middle of the plane, there was a gentleman sitting beside me in the fourth seat. I tuned to him and apologized in advance for the noise that will come out of Gracie. He said she was very pretty seemed to be a very good girl. There’s a sucker born every minute. As we started to taxi, Gracie got very tired and started crying very loud. The guy sitting next to me was a little early with his “good girl” comment. As soon as we got in the air, Gracie fell asleep on me. Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendant set up Gracie’s bassinet and we quickly put her in it. She slept 13 out of the 14 hours we were in the air. Logan also got much more sleep on this flight than he did going over. I noticed he still managed to watch Spiderman III about three times during the flight. The kids did great and Becky and I even seemed to get several hours of sleep. The service on this airline is spectacular. They bring you a menu at the beginning of the flight for the two meals they serve and also provide snacks during the flights. They even know they have young passengers on board and bring them kid’s meals in advance of serving all meals. They are very polite and friendly and I can’t say enough about the quality of service. This was the flight that Becky and I were dreading the most and it turned out to be extremely comfortable for a 14 hour trip.
Flight from L.A. to Chicago
Although the flight from Hong Kong was on time, we only had two hours to go through immigration, get our luggage, go through customs and head to the domestic side of LAX. This is where the nightmare started.
We entered LAX and after some direction from one of the workers we were able to quickly proceed through immigration. We dropped off the folder containing Gracie’s paperwork so she is now a U.S. citizen. We were too tired and worried about our luggage to celebrate so we headed to the baggage claim carousel to retrieve our luggage. This place was getting very busy with all the incoming international flights. The idea here is to claim your baggage, go thru customs, drop our checked luggage off in the “checked luggage area” and walk over to the American Airlines terminal.
Everyone from our flight huddled around the baggage carousel waiting for the machine to start. After about 15 minutes, they announced on the load speaker that our flight’s baggage was moved to another carousel. We figured it was because of mechanical problems since there were workers wondering around our carousel with confused looks on their faces. We quickly moved to the new carousel and waited for our baggage. We waited and waited and waited. We finally got our luggage with only 25 minutes to make it thru customs and drop off our luggage and proceed to the domestic terminal. We quickly made it thru customs while Gracie was yelling because she was hungry at this time. The girl knows when to turn it on at the right time. We only had twenty minutes to get to the American Airlines terminal so we rushed to the luggage drop area at the exit. When we got there the workers said that area was closed and that we had to take our luggage to the American Airlines terminal next door. Becky and I couldn’t believe this. The baggage area closed at 11:30pm and it was now 11:35pm so we missed it. We didn’t have time to complain so we ran out of the international building and headed towards the building next door. Logan had one cart full of luggage, Becky had another cart full of luggage and I had Gracie in my arms running to the next terminal. We got to the next terminal with 15 minutes to go before our flight left. There was no easy way to get the luggage up a flight of stairs to the departure counter so Gracie and I took the steps while Logan and Becky looked for a way to get the luggage upstairs. Becky and Logan made it to the counter with 10 minutes to go but it was too late. We told the woman at the American Airlines area we had to make the flight to Chicago in ten minutes and she quickly said “you’re too late so you missed the flight”. We could tell by the level of customer service that we were back in the States. The woman is very lucky I had Gracie in my arms. She didn’t realize how long of a day we have had and the lack of sleep I was operating on. I could have easily ended up in the airport security from beating that woman. Becky commented that she had never seen me so mad. I took Gracie and walked away and paced for several minutes. Becky just started laughing or else she was going to start crying. Logan didn’t understand what was going on and thought we were still going to make the flight. After we calmed down, we stood in line to talk to the representative at the counter. She said the next available flight would be at 9:00am the next morning but she would put us on standby on a 6:00am flight. Logan was pretty upset by this news and buried he face into my side. The lady said we could go back over to the international terminal because the shops stayed open all night there. Becky said she couldn’t believe Gracie first night in the States and we going to spend it in the airport. Luckily the representative next to ours said there was a delayed flight to Chicago that might have some openings. Our rep checked and there were three seats available in the last row so we jumped on them. The flight was going to leave in one hour. This gave all of us a second wind. Logan was extremely happy again and was back to pestering his little sister. The time was 2:00am so I called Kevin to tell him of our new flight plans since he is going to pick us up at the airport. I didn’t realize until after I called him that it was 4:00am his time. I hoped he didn’t have trouble getting back to sleep after my call. This flight was going to get us into Chicago by 7:15am instead of 6:00am from our missed flight. The flight was uneventful and both kids slept for most of the flight.
As soon as we landed and entered the terminal we walked past a restaurant. Logan said “Dad, you smell that…………it’s American food”. He seemed to walk with a little more pep in his step. Gracie was awake and alert and ready to see what Illinois was all about. On our way to the baggage claim, Becky’s cell phone was all lit up with people calling. We quickly made it to the baggage claim and grabbed our luggage and headed for the exits. Kevin had called and said he was stuck in traffic and would be about fifteen minutes late. We didn’t mind because it was good to stand there and stretch our legs. It was suppose to be the start of a hot and humid week in the Midwest but to those of us returning from Vietnam, this seemed like it was going to be a cool day.
Kevin arrived about the time he said he would and we loaded up his van and were off to his house to visit before heading for home. Kevin and Sue had things ready for us back at their house. Sue had to work so she wasn’t able to greet us. They had bagels from the Great American Bagel Shop, cereal, and cold milk. This was the best. Logan didn’t have any problem getting enough to eat this morning. Kevin and Sue had planned for us to spend the night, if we so desired, so they had dinners ready and everything. We felt bad about them going though all that trouble for us but we traveled 10 thousand miles and all we had left was 150 miles to get to our home so we just visited Kevin until noon then headed for Forsyth. It was great to get a chance to take a shower and freshen up at their house after the long trip. Sue called from work and said she would have some open time so we stopped by to see her before we left Chicago. When we got to Sue’s office, she quickly took Gracie in her arms and toured the building showing off the new addition to the family. Everybody there was excited to meet Gracie and her brother Logan. They had heard of our trip and were happy to meet us. After about an hour visit, it was time to get on the road for home. We appreciate everything Kevin and Sue had done for us.
Gracie makes it Home
As we pulled up to the house, we saw our house decorated with a big welcome sign with lots of balloons that Jennifer Voorhees put up. That was just the start of the great welcoming we got from friends and family. As we entered our house we noticed the big bouquet of flowers from Becky’s gym buddies(Dena, Kelly, Jenny and Wendy) on the counter. There was a large bag of Del’s popcorn for us, a Lady bug necklace for Gracie and a game called “Find it” for Logan from the Lamdins on the table. There was a note from the Kupferschmids that read “dinner was in the refrigerator and all we had to do was place it in the oven.” Audrey Kupferschmid made a great little notepad for Gracie. The house was already clean because Dena, Kelly, Jenny and Wendy had the house cleaned for us while we were gone. We hope we have not forgotten anyone who provided us with a special gift. If so please forgive us. We told Gracie there was going to be a lot of people that care about us when we got home and everyone proved us right. Over the next couple of days, other people brought gifts for Gracie and food for us to eat. The love and support from everyone here has just been remarkable and we know we are truly blessed.
Logan wasn’t in the house longer than 2 minutes and he was ready to run the neighborhood. Becky and I brought Gracie in the house and then started to unload the car and unpack. This task took about two days to complete because shortly after we arrived home many people stopped by. It was great to see everybody and Gracie took all the new faces in stride. The Allsup family was running on adrenaline by now. I thought I could stay awake until 9:00pm but this proved to be a challenge. I hit a wall by 8:00pm and actually fell asleep talking to Dee and Tim from down the street. I hope they didn’t take it personal.
Becky and Logan were quick to recover from our long trip but it took me a couple of days to get my energy back. I called my supervisor on Wed to see if I could take the rest of the week off and return on Monday since we thought we would be ready for Gracie at home before we left but we didn’t have the little things from the store. My supervisor, Ralph Smith, has been very supportive and I can’t express my gratitude enough. It makes me feel great knowing that my management and company really care about my family first and the job second.
We will continue to post to our blog as events occur. We have so enjoyed sharing our joyous time with our family and friends and will present this journal to Gracie when she will appreciate it and understand her heritage and her birthplace.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Farewell To Hanoi
Day 19-21 Aug 2nd – 4th Thurs-Sat
Written Aug 4th and submitted Aug 4th
The last couple of days have all blended together. One by one the other adoptive parents have left Hanoi each day since we have received the children’s visas last Wed. The Allsup family is more than ready for the long flight home. Logan has been great but he needs more space than what the hotel has to offer. He needs to spend some time with people his own age because he is bouncing off the walls.
We are trying to find things to make the days go faster but we’re done shopping and we’ve seen every museum and local sight seeing thing there is close by. I noticed some day trips in the tourist center that we could take but they are all a 2 hour van ride from Hanoi and that doesn’t sound appealing nowadays. Our last few days have pretty much gone like the following schedule:
Go to breakfast
Walk to the tourist center to check the comments on our blog
Walk around the lake
Walk back to the hotel
Put Gracie down for her nap
Read
Play with Gracie
Go somewhere for a late lunch
Back to the hotel room to play with Gracie
Order room service
Watch the wonderful B movies on the one channel we have in the hotel room
Saturday we did the same schedule but when we put Gracie down for her nap, we started packing. This was a good feeling but when we finished our packing it was only 1:00pm so we still had a lot of day left. We are really trying to rush this last full day.
We received an email from Becky’s brother Kevin asking what we planned to do when we get to Chicago. We replied that as long as it included drinking COLD cow’s milk and eating cereal and bagels we didn’t have any set plans. We have been three weeks without milk so we have been all going threw withdraws.
Gracie first came to us just over two weeks and since then she has made some remarkable improvements physically. When we got her she didn’t grab for anything and she could barely lift her head up for more that 10 seconds at a time. Even when she was sitting up her head would hang forward. Gracie had rashes on her head, under her neck in the front and rear in which some of these were open and oozing, and a different type of rash altogether under her feet. Within one week the rashes were almost completely gone and the only rash that was still obvious was the one on the bottom of her feet. It’s amazing what a little air conditioning and a nightly bath can do to clear up the skin. After ample “tummy time”, Gracie has no problem keeping her head up and she can even start from a lying position on her back and we can pull her up (holding onto our hands of course) to a standing position. She grabs for everything that comes within reach of her and the rash under Gracie’s feet is almost gone. I think she really started to get comfortable with us after one week because that’s when she started talking to us. She sounds a lot like the cat that Logan always wanted but can’t have at home(due to allergies.) So we now get a great voice to go with her open-mouthed smiling face.
Although we are anxious to leave Hanoi, these last few days have been very important because they have enabled us to get to know Gracie better. I can’t think of an easier way for a family to spend quality time together than being sequestered to a hotel room with absolutely nothing to do. If Gracie is happy in this hotel, then I can’t wait to see her face when she gets home and is surrounded by all the people that love her.
We would like to thank everyone who has taken time out of their busy schedules to read our blog and follow our travels the last several weeks. It really means a lot to us to read the encouraging words from the people back home. Those persons that have left comments and sent personal emails have allowed us to stay connected back home during this time away and it’s proof that we have many caring and loving friends and family. Again, we are very thankful.
Written Aug 4th and submitted Aug 4th
The last couple of days have all blended together. One by one the other adoptive parents have left Hanoi each day since we have received the children’s visas last Wed. The Allsup family is more than ready for the long flight home. Logan has been great but he needs more space than what the hotel has to offer. He needs to spend some time with people his own age because he is bouncing off the walls.
We are trying to find things to make the days go faster but we’re done shopping and we’ve seen every museum and local sight seeing thing there is close by. I noticed some day trips in the tourist center that we could take but they are all a 2 hour van ride from Hanoi and that doesn’t sound appealing nowadays. Our last few days have pretty much gone like the following schedule:
Go to breakfast
Walk to the tourist center to check the comments on our blog
Walk around the lake
Walk back to the hotel
Put Gracie down for her nap
Read
Play with Gracie
Go somewhere for a late lunch
Back to the hotel room to play with Gracie
Order room service
Watch the wonderful B movies on the one channel we have in the hotel room
Saturday we did the same schedule but when we put Gracie down for her nap, we started packing. This was a good feeling but when we finished our packing it was only 1:00pm so we still had a lot of day left. We are really trying to rush this last full day.
We received an email from Becky’s brother Kevin asking what we planned to do when we get to Chicago. We replied that as long as it included drinking COLD cow’s milk and eating cereal and bagels we didn’t have any set plans. We have been three weeks without milk so we have been all going threw withdraws.
Gracie first came to us just over two weeks and since then she has made some remarkable improvements physically. When we got her she didn’t grab for anything and she could barely lift her head up for more that 10 seconds at a time. Even when she was sitting up her head would hang forward. Gracie had rashes on her head, under her neck in the front and rear in which some of these were open and oozing, and a different type of rash altogether under her feet. Within one week the rashes were almost completely gone and the only rash that was still obvious was the one on the bottom of her feet. It’s amazing what a little air conditioning and a nightly bath can do to clear up the skin. After ample “tummy time”, Gracie has no problem keeping her head up and she can even start from a lying position on her back and we can pull her up (holding onto our hands of course) to a standing position. She grabs for everything that comes within reach of her and the rash under Gracie’s feet is almost gone. I think she really started to get comfortable with us after one week because that’s when she started talking to us. She sounds a lot like the cat that Logan always wanted but can’t have at home(due to allergies.) So we now get a great voice to go with her open-mouthed smiling face.
Although we are anxious to leave Hanoi, these last few days have been very important because they have enabled us to get to know Gracie better. I can’t think of an easier way for a family to spend quality time together than being sequestered to a hotel room with absolutely nothing to do. If Gracie is happy in this hotel, then I can’t wait to see her face when she gets home and is surrounded by all the people that love her.
We would like to thank everyone who has taken time out of their busy schedules to read our blog and follow our travels the last several weeks. It really means a lot to us to read the encouraging words from the people back home. Those persons that have left comments and sent personal emails have allowed us to stay connected back home during this time away and it’s proof that we have many caring and loving friends and family. Again, we are very thankful.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
On The Home Stretch
Day 17 & 18 July 31th & Aug 1st Tues/Wed
Written Aug 1st and submitted Aug 2nd
Visa Interview at the US Embassy (Tue)
On Tuesday we tried to pass the day playing with Gracie and reading or watching movies while she was taking her nap. Later that afternoon was the last trip to the US embassy for the second interview. We have been waiting what feels like an eternity for this stage since we have arrived here in Hanoi.
We received a call from Martin in the morning that everyone must meet at the hotel lobby at 2:00pm Tues to get cabs to the US embassy. There was Alison, Nancy, Christy, Amy, Becky, Logan and I and all with our new additions. Everyone was very excited. Most of these mothers have been here one week longer than us so they were also tasked with getting standby flights as well. Gracie was in good spirits and seemed like she was ready for the process to end too. We entered the building, climbed the stairs to the second floor, we went through security and into the same room as the previous visit. We weren’t sure exactly what was supposed to happen, but as always we expected the worst and hoped for the best. Although we all had heard this was the easy part. We didn’t have to go to the interview room as before. During this visit we were called one-by-one to a widow in the main room to show our passport and pay the $380 US for the visa. After we sat for a few minutes we were called to a second window where an officer conducted a short interview with Becky. Gracie, without warning, decided she was very hungry and started to let me know rather loudly so I quickly made her a bottle while Becky finished the short 3 minute interview. Gracie finished her bottle and she was happy again. We took our seats and waited for the other to finish their turn. Logan and I decided to go across the hall and buy some hats as souvenirs of our travels to the embassy. There was a woman across the hall in another office that was selling the items so Logan and I went there. While I bought some hats, Logan thought it would be a good idea to go in the hall and run up and down the flight of stairs. As I walked out of the office after buying the hats, the security personnel were on their way to tell Logan to stop going up and down the steps. I smiled at the woman and said I was sorry and told Logan they would probably throw him in irons if she got to him first. Logan is just dying to just run around and play. We’re almost home buddy. All the interviews were complete within an hour and we were on our way back to the hotel. In twenty-four hours (Wed) we will have Gracie’s visa and the only thing stopping us from coming home is our flight doesn’t leave until Sunday.
The rest of the night we walked the Old Quarter to do some shopping. We dropped by the tourist center to read the comments on the blog. We sure appreciate all the comments from the special folks back home. Gracie just doesn’t realize how much she will be loved by her extended family and friends, but she will soon find out. We stopped by an outside shoe store to see about getting Logan some tennis shoes. Becky found a good deal for $15 US. Logan doesn’t mind walking the streets if we are buying for him. As Becky and Logan looked at the shoes, a merchant selling books approached Gracie and I. He started by asking if she was Vietnamese and how old she was and that he had a daughter at home the same age. This guy didn’t realize that I have been here over two weeks so I knew the drill but he was good. He finally asked my to buy some paperback books on the Vietnam War or some DVD’s so I quickly told him I have bought everything I wanted in the last two weeks and the only thing left to buy was my son’s tennis shoes so “NO THANKS.”. This night for some reason the merchants were especially pesky because he wouldn’t leave and was soon joined by the cigarette lighter salesman. I kept telling him I didn’t smoke but I don’t think he understood because he kept asking me to buy. Gracie seemed to take it in stride. Becky and Logan finished so I just left the two peddlers standing there and we headed for the hotel.
Gracie was very tired. She had sort of a mad cry so we got her ready for bed and fed her a bottle in which she practically cried through the whole thing then we put her to bed. This was the first night since she had been with us that she acted this way. She was screaming bloody murder. At first we thought she might be hurting. We did everything the baby manual(did we tell you she came with a manual, just kidding) said to do but nothing worked so we just put her in her crib and within minutes she calmed down and went to bed. The rest of us watched the movie Ice Princess on TV (remember, we only have one channel) then went to sleep.
The Day We Received the Visa (Wed)
This was a long day. The days seem to get longer the closer we get to leaving. After breakfast we went to check on some items that Becky had ordered. We met Christy and Grace at the lobby and went to a few shops not far from the hotel. Becky needed to pickup the diaper bag she had made and check to see how the painting of Logan and Gracie was coming along. If it was being painted in that studio then we were hoping to take a picture of it being worked on. The sales woman said the artist was working on it at another studio or at home. I didn’t quite understand where but just not there, but they said it will be done on Thursday. We stopped by another store to buy a decorative plate made of bamboo and then headed back to the hotel. We went to the room to let Gracie get a two hour nap and then headed to the VinCom Plaza with Christy and Grace to get smoothies and coffee at Gloria Jeans so we could get a break from the Old Quarter. Logan got his opportunity to play on the escalators again so he was happy. Poor kid is starting to get delirious. Both babies were very good on the trip. We had to meet Martin back at the hotel around 5:00pm because he was going to drop off the final paperwork. We didn’t want to be late for this meeting so we jumped into a cab about 4:30pm and sped towards the Old Quarter. We all went to our rooms to wait for the call but by 6:00pm Martin hadn’t called yet so we made up our minds to eat downstairs in the hotel restaurant. Before we left to eat, Christy called and said that she talked to Alison (quite the network here) and she said Martin had everyone’s visas but Nancy’s was not correct so they were trying to fix it for her. Nancy is supposed to fly out tonight so if they can’t fix it by 6:00 tonight, then she will miss her flight again because she will have to wait until tomorrow to get her son’s visa. Nancy has already been here a week longer than us so she was more than ready to go home.
We had to wake Gracie to go to dinner or she wouldn’t sleep tonight. Even though she only had about 30 minutes of sleep, she seems to always be happy when she wakes. We went down to dinner and soon after Christy and Grace joined us. While we were eating Nancy stopped by our table and said everything had been taken care of and she was on schedule to leave tonight. We were all very relieved for her. We eventually met Martin at our table so Becky went upstairs with him to go over the paperwork and give them their gifts we brought from the states. She was only gone about 10 minutes. We have all Gracie’s papers and passport and all we have to do is step on US soil and she will be a United States citizen. Wow!
After dinner we all retired to our rooms. Amy had to run to the store because she was leaving at 8:00am the next morning so we sat her Collett while she gone. She and Gracie played on the bed together then they both started to get hungry and tired. About that time, Amy returned to get Collett and Becky got Gracie ready for bed. Gracie gave me a run for my money tonight trying to take her bottle. She was throwing another fit like the night before. She was fed, burped, clean diaper, and everything else we could thinkof and she still cried so we put her to bed and she cried herself to sleep. She was out in less than 5 minutes.
Logan watched one of his DVD’s, I typed my journal (2 days worth) and watched some TV while the rest of the Allsup family went to sleep.
Written Aug 1st and submitted Aug 2nd
Visa Interview at the US Embassy (Tue)
On Tuesday we tried to pass the day playing with Gracie and reading or watching movies while she was taking her nap. Later that afternoon was the last trip to the US embassy for the second interview. We have been waiting what feels like an eternity for this stage since we have arrived here in Hanoi.
We received a call from Martin in the morning that everyone must meet at the hotel lobby at 2:00pm Tues to get cabs to the US embassy. There was Alison, Nancy, Christy, Amy, Becky, Logan and I and all with our new additions. Everyone was very excited. Most of these mothers have been here one week longer than us so they were also tasked with getting standby flights as well. Gracie was in good spirits and seemed like she was ready for the process to end too. We entered the building, climbed the stairs to the second floor, we went through security and into the same room as the previous visit. We weren’t sure exactly what was supposed to happen, but as always we expected the worst and hoped for the best. Although we all had heard this was the easy part. We didn’t have to go to the interview room as before. During this visit we were called one-by-one to a widow in the main room to show our passport and pay the $380 US for the visa. After we sat for a few minutes we were called to a second window where an officer conducted a short interview with Becky. Gracie, without warning, decided she was very hungry and started to let me know rather loudly so I quickly made her a bottle while Becky finished the short 3 minute interview. Gracie finished her bottle and she was happy again. We took our seats and waited for the other to finish their turn. Logan and I decided to go across the hall and buy some hats as souvenirs of our travels to the embassy. There was a woman across the hall in another office that was selling the items so Logan and I went there. While I bought some hats, Logan thought it would be a good idea to go in the hall and run up and down the flight of stairs. As I walked out of the office after buying the hats, the security personnel were on their way to tell Logan to stop going up and down the steps. I smiled at the woman and said I was sorry and told Logan they would probably throw him in irons if she got to him first. Logan is just dying to just run around and play. We’re almost home buddy. All the interviews were complete within an hour and we were on our way back to the hotel. In twenty-four hours (Wed) we will have Gracie’s visa and the only thing stopping us from coming home is our flight doesn’t leave until Sunday.
The rest of the night we walked the Old Quarter to do some shopping. We dropped by the tourist center to read the comments on the blog. We sure appreciate all the comments from the special folks back home. Gracie just doesn’t realize how much she will be loved by her extended family and friends, but she will soon find out. We stopped by an outside shoe store to see about getting Logan some tennis shoes. Becky found a good deal for $15 US. Logan doesn’t mind walking the streets if we are buying for him. As Becky and Logan looked at the shoes, a merchant selling books approached Gracie and I. He started by asking if she was Vietnamese and how old she was and that he had a daughter at home the same age. This guy didn’t realize that I have been here over two weeks so I knew the drill but he was good. He finally asked my to buy some paperback books on the Vietnam War or some DVD’s so I quickly told him I have bought everything I wanted in the last two weeks and the only thing left to buy was my son’s tennis shoes so “NO THANKS.”. This night for some reason the merchants were especially pesky because he wouldn’t leave and was soon joined by the cigarette lighter salesman. I kept telling him I didn’t smoke but I don’t think he understood because he kept asking me to buy. Gracie seemed to take it in stride. Becky and Logan finished so I just left the two peddlers standing there and we headed for the hotel.
Gracie was very tired. She had sort of a mad cry so we got her ready for bed and fed her a bottle in which she practically cried through the whole thing then we put her to bed. This was the first night since she had been with us that she acted this way. She was screaming bloody murder. At first we thought she might be hurting. We did everything the baby manual(did we tell you she came with a manual, just kidding) said to do but nothing worked so we just put her in her crib and within minutes she calmed down and went to bed. The rest of us watched the movie Ice Princess on TV (remember, we only have one channel) then went to sleep.
The Day We Received the Visa (Wed)
This was a long day. The days seem to get longer the closer we get to leaving. After breakfast we went to check on some items that Becky had ordered. We met Christy and Grace at the lobby and went to a few shops not far from the hotel. Becky needed to pickup the diaper bag she had made and check to see how the painting of Logan and Gracie was coming along. If it was being painted in that studio then we were hoping to take a picture of it being worked on. The sales woman said the artist was working on it at another studio or at home. I didn’t quite understand where but just not there, but they said it will be done on Thursday. We stopped by another store to buy a decorative plate made of bamboo and then headed back to the hotel. We went to the room to let Gracie get a two hour nap and then headed to the VinCom Plaza with Christy and Grace to get smoothies and coffee at Gloria Jeans so we could get a break from the Old Quarter. Logan got his opportunity to play on the escalators again so he was happy. Poor kid is starting to get delirious. Both babies were very good on the trip. We had to meet Martin back at the hotel around 5:00pm because he was going to drop off the final paperwork. We didn’t want to be late for this meeting so we jumped into a cab about 4:30pm and sped towards the Old Quarter. We all went to our rooms to wait for the call but by 6:00pm Martin hadn’t called yet so we made up our minds to eat downstairs in the hotel restaurant. Before we left to eat, Christy called and said that she talked to Alison (quite the network here) and she said Martin had everyone’s visas but Nancy’s was not correct so they were trying to fix it for her. Nancy is supposed to fly out tonight so if they can’t fix it by 6:00 tonight, then she will miss her flight again because she will have to wait until tomorrow to get her son’s visa. Nancy has already been here a week longer than us so she was more than ready to go home.
We had to wake Gracie to go to dinner or she wouldn’t sleep tonight. Even though she only had about 30 minutes of sleep, she seems to always be happy when she wakes. We went down to dinner and soon after Christy and Grace joined us. While we were eating Nancy stopped by our table and said everything had been taken care of and she was on schedule to leave tonight. We were all very relieved for her. We eventually met Martin at our table so Becky went upstairs with him to go over the paperwork and give them their gifts we brought from the states. She was only gone about 10 minutes. We have all Gracie’s papers and passport and all we have to do is step on US soil and she will be a United States citizen. Wow!
After dinner we all retired to our rooms. Amy had to run to the store because she was leaving at 8:00am the next morning so we sat her Collett while she gone. She and Gracie played on the bed together then they both started to get hungry and tired. About that time, Amy returned to get Collett and Becky got Gracie ready for bed. Gracie gave me a run for my money tonight trying to take her bottle. She was throwing another fit like the night before. She was fed, burped, clean diaper, and everything else we could thinkof and she still cried so we put her to bed and she cried herself to sleep. She was out in less than 5 minutes.
Logan watched one of his DVD’s, I typed my journal (2 days worth) and watched some TV while the rest of the Allsup family went to sleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)
.JPG)