We are almost on our way home!

We are packing up and getting ready to head out! We are just keeping our fingers crossed that our little Lyla is okay on the VERY long flight home. It was hard on us, so I could only imagine a little one. I know that Aiden and Phenix are very excited to meet their new sister and she is excited to meet you guys too!
We will post a message when we get back.

Talk to you soon.

Tiffany and Shane

Lyla enjoying the pool at our new hotel! Thanks for the swimsuit Ellie :)

More fun splashing!

Lyla enjoying her snack before going to the pool.

Our new digs!

Hello everyone.

We had our second embassy appointment yesterday and will pick up Lyla's visa on Monday on our way to the airport. We are so happy to be headed home!

We have been enjoying our new hotel with the pool....Lyla has really been enjoying our daily swims. She loves the water. We had some friends over today that we met from Colorado that have adopted a little seven month old girl from Vietnam, she is just precious. They are first time parents, and Shane and I have enjoyed watching them learn all the in's and out's of parenting. They are going to be wonderful parents and their little girl is so lucky to have them!

Nothing really new going on, just loungin by the pool for our last few days!

Second Interview Tomorrow!

Hello everyone!
We received some good news today....our second visa interview is tomorrow, and we will pick up her visa on Monday, and then we are homeward bound! Watch out Cincinnati, here we come!
We have contacted our travel agent and he is going to try to book us on a flight Monday evening, right after we pick up her visa. So, since we are going to be here for another weekend, we are going to switch hotels to a hotel that has a pool so we can beat the heat that way.

Lyla had her medical exam today and everything went well. Of course, she wasn't happy about people poking on her, but she handled it like a little lady. We found out that she weighs a whopping 18 pounds, in which I would bet a couple of those pounds she has put on since being with us :) We are thrilled to have a light at the end of the tunnel and know that we will be seeing all of our family very soon!

No pictures this time...sorry.

A day out to the Hoa Lo Prison and meat market.

Hello Everyone.
Still hot here in Hanoi...today the weather channel said that it feels like 109 degrees outside. Hot! We took some picutres of our trip to Hoa Lo Prison also called the Hanoi Hilton by the Americans during the Vietnam war. Also, there are some pictures of the smelly meat market that we visited around the corner from the prison. Enjoy!

Tomorrow we pick up Lyla's passport and do her medical exam....after that we just wait patiently to be called for our second and last embassy appointment to obtain her visa. Please keep your fingers crossed that this happens quickly for us!


This is the "toilet" where the prisoners had to do their business.

A replica of how the prisoners were treated while at the prison. They were shackled to the ground.

This is a cell door in the death row section of the prison.

Pictures are out of order, but pigs feet anyone?....

This is a guillotene where the "bad"prisoners were beheaded.

The actual uniform that John McCain was wearing when his airplane was shot down during the Vietnam War.

Meat and Vegatable Market.

The only thing missing in this picutre is the smell! The hot weather and the meat make very undescribable smells!

Disturbing, but we had to put it on here.....dog...tail and all!

First Embassy Appointment....Complete!

We went for our first embassy appointment today, which is a two step process in order to get Lyla's visa, so we can head home. I didn't think that I would be nervous, but when we were on our way there, I started to get a little nervous about the interview. We entered the US Embassy here in Hanoi and they had to scan our bags, and then we were ushered into a room, where we waited for them to call our name. Once they called our name, we went into a different room and we were interviewed. The person interviewing us was on the opposite side of the glass window...kind of like prison, I guess! He just asked us simple questions....nothing to painful. The whole interview lasted about 15 minutes tops. We will now wait to be called for our second interview. Until then, we will pick up Lyla's passport and have her medical exam done on Thursday.

Lyla is doing great, and can't wait to meet her big brother and sister!

I think that Aiden is having so much fun with my parents, he may not want to come home with us!!

Tiffany and Shane

We are back in Hanoi from our mini vacation to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba. It was absolutley beautiful, unlike anything we have ever seen. We took a bus to Ha Long Bay, which took about three hours, then boarded a junk and this is where we stayed Friday night. Saturday we ventured on towards Cat Ba, where on the way, we stopped for swimming and kayaking. Obviously, since Lyla was with us I stayed behind on the boat, which was relaxing. After that, we stopped and took motorbikes through a small village, which was amazing. I have put some pictures below of some of the houses that we came upon, they were very primative to say the least. Some of the group, including Shane trekked through the mountains, where they saw some very large spiders (glad I stayed with Lyla!)

On the adoption front, we are supposed to go for our first embassy appointment tomorrow afternoon, then on Thursday, we will pick up her passport, and take her for her medical exam.
We will then wait to be told when our second embassy appointment will be, and this is when she gets her visa and we can travel home! Of course we are keeping our fingers crossed that this all happens quickly. We both want to get home to Aiden and Phenix!

We are planning on going to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where the body of Ho Chi Minh is held on Wednesday.
Actually, we tried to go today, and got all the way there, and it is closed on Mondays. We felt like when the Griswold's went all the way to Wally World and the park was closed :) Very disappointing.


These are some of the houses that were in the little village that we biked through. Yes, people live in them.

Another small house out in the middle of nowhere.

A beautiful view of Ha Long Bay.

This is the front of the junk that we stayed on..

A junk sailing Ha Long Bay.

The beach at Cat Ba. Very crowded!

And a picture of our big girl!

She is officially ours!

Lyla checking her email...

We had Lyla's Giving and Receiving Ceremony today, so she is officially our daughter!

It was a pretty short ceremony, a representitive from her orpahnage was there, Dr. Hong, and another Vietnamese official. The Rep. from her orphanage was able to tell us a little more about Miss Lyla that was cool to hear. She told us that when the little babies would cry at the orphanage, Lyla would take a toy over to them to make them feel better. Also, when the nannies would receive gifts of candy from the adopting parents that visited the orphanage, Lyla would be the first to accept any candy she could get. She is such a sweetie.

We do not have anything else going on, on the adoption front until next Monday, so we have decided to take a weekend trip to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island. We leave in the morning early, and will be back on Sunday afternoon. We won't have our computer, so this will be our last post until then.

I am sure we will have a lot of nice pictures to post when we get back, it is supposed to be beautiful there.

Take care,

Tiffany and Shane

She is a funny girl!

Napping on Daddy's shoulder while we strolled through the Silk Village.

You would think that she had been going out to dinner her whole life...such a good girl.

Already a drama queen, we are really in for it!

A nice warm bath and nap after a hard day of playing.

Hello everyone.

We have really been enjoying getting to know little Lyla. She is so amazing, it is like she has been with us forever.

Our Giving and Receiving Ceremony got postponed until tomorrow, so we are looking forward to that. We are not able to do anything else as far as her passport and visa until we have the ceremony, so we are ready to get things rolling!

We have still been trying to get out a little here and there with Lyla, but it is so hot. Yesterday, we walked up the street to look for a stroller and sweat was just dripping off of her little face. I looked on the weather channel and it said that it felt like 104 degrees here yesterday...I totally agree! I will update more later, and of course will post some pictures of our precious girl.

A few more things we have learned about Lyla:

She liked her new sippy cup.

She likes to nibble on table food.

She says DaDa

She is NOT a morning person.

Gotcha Day!!

Peacefully sleeping in comfort.

Starting to laugh and be silly.

Lyla's old room and a few of her buddies.

Just leaving the orphanage, she's so perect.

Getting her first toy. Looks excited, huh?

And toy number two and three. Only took her a second to figure out what to do with them. She loves to drop them and laugh.

Just another pretty picture. Proud parents.

The ride back to Hanoi, checking out her toys and gazing out the window at all the new sites. This is her first trip away from the orphanage, everything is a first for her.

About two hours in, hard to believe but she is already showing a silly side and laughing lots.

We finally have her! Today was such an amazing day. Dr. Hong and our driver picked us up at 9:00am this morning to go to BaVi. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, and when we pulled up, Shane said, "there she is!" She was standing outside with some of the other children and nannies. I went up to her right away and picked her up and gave her a big hug, very emotional! She didn't cry at all, she just checked us out. Right away the nannies wanted to know what we brought for her to wear, so I pulled out a few of the outfits that I brought, and they picked the little white skirt and top (which is a little big), but it looks so cute on her. The nannies then pointed to her head, and I pulled out a bow, and they all started to laugh....I think they wanted to know if I had brought a hat for her head. The nannies there really love these babies, that is very apparent. I know that Lyla was taken care of very well while she was there.

Shane held her and minutes later after being in his arms, she fell right asleep. It was so sweet.

Leaving the orphanage was pretty emotional for Shane and I both. Just mixed feelings taking her from all she knew, but we know she's in for a terrific life. One of the nannies told Dr. Hong to let us know she knew Lyla was leaving for a better life ahead, which brought them comfort.

I gave her a bottle on the way back to the hotel, thinking she may want to nap a bit longer. She had other ideas, wanting to sit with Dad at times and me at times glaring out the window and showing hints of her silly side. Here are some things that we have already learned about our little Lyla:

1. She has a very rhaspy voice and laugh.

2. She can stand and walk.

3. She loves for you to blow on her stomach.

4.She seems to have a playful silly personality.

5.She liked her bath.

6.She likes her bottle.

7.Actually, she is just perfect.....

Shane is going in the morning with Dr.Hong to apply for Lyla's passport, then in the afternoon we have the Giving and Receiving Ceremony and she will be officially ours!

We will post more later.

Out cold! I guess the days activities were more than she could handle.

Some of the nannies that helped take care of Lyla.

Our first meeting!

Another steamy day in Hanoi

Brass war statue at the Ho Chi Minh museum.

"Temple of Literature"

Entering "Temple of Literature".

Concrete dragon sculpture at Ho Chi Minh museum.

Dragon sculpture, "Temple of Literature".

Dragon sculpture, (Close up) "Temple of Literature".

A temple at "The Temple of Literature", erected in 1070, almost a 1000 years old.

Another temple at Ho Chi Minh Museum

We took a picture of this guy at the Ho Chi Minh Museum...we thought he looked like Ozzy Osbourne.

Me in front of a boat at West Lake.

I guess that this is some sort of vegatable market...

Very common sight on the streets of Hanoi.

Hello everyone!

We spent another day on the muggy streets of Hanoi. It has been so hot and muggy here. We have been going through big bottles of water just to stay cool. We decided yesterday to take a Saigon Cycle around town, which would be cooler than walking. It was a lot of fun. I just feel sorry for the poor guy peddling us around...he was smaller than me and cycling both Shane and I around town, not to mention he smoked about a pack of cigarettes while he was peddling away, now that is talent! I did take some video, but I am still trying to figure out how to get it on the blog. We have really been enjoying our time here...it is like nothing that either of us has ever experienced!

Tomorrow is our big day!! It is Lyla day :) It is about an hour and a half trip out to her orphanage, and we should be able to spend some time there. We are so excited that the time is finally here. We will hopefully have her Giving and Receiving ceremony on Tuesday, and then we will be able to apply for her passport and visa. We will make sure to take a lot of pictures.

I have been in contact with my parents and sister, and Aiden is doing very well. He asks about us a lot, but doesn't seem to dwell on it for to long. We miss him and Phenix so bad, but I don't think that either of them would have enjoyed themselves here. With the long flight here and the heat, they would have been miserable.

I will post tomorrow after we get our baby girl!

Take care,

Tiffany and Shane