We are bouncing around like jumping beans, getting everything ready!
Our flights are scheduled..and amazingly, our dear friends Tricia and her family received the SAME G&R date, although their son Liam is in a different orphanage. SO, we'll all leave out of Little Rock on the same flight, and travel together! She and hubby Rob, her 2 year old son Ben, my parents, Zoe, Brian and I will all get to enjoy the 30+ hour journey together! There may be moments, I expect, that "enjoy" may be a little too strong a word...some moments of the 15 hour LA to Hong Kong flight, perhaps...
We'll leave LR next Saturday evening (June 14th) and arrive in HCM City on Monday the 16th. We'll drive to the orphanage at Ninh Thuan (about an 8 hour trip east)the next morning and meet Sam that afternoon. (WOW!) We'll get a chance to spend time with him and the other dear children all the next day (Ninh Thuan mommies: I've got my list to keep my head straight--I'll take lots of pics and make lots of deliveries!)
Our G&R is Thursday, the 19th, and we'll head back to HCM right after that. Appointments and obligations there for a couple of days (and meeting Liam, who will be returning with his parents) and we'll all fly to Hanoi, for our visa interview. Hopefully we'll all head home on the 1st of July, arriving home to LR the morning of Wednesday, July 2nd.
This is all under the category of "best case scenario", of course. Any one of those steps could hit a snag and such, but...did I MENTION WE'RE LEAVING NEXT SATURDAY?
Hard to take it all in, but happy we're finally moving. Now: Lori, Nadra, other waiting moms...let's get you guys going, too!
The Russell family's journey to their new family member
About Us
- ShelleyR
- Arkansas, United States
- Brian, Zoe and I are excited to add to our family by adopting a little guy named Sam, who is coming to us from Vietnam!
Dillon families in progress...
- Lori (Sadie, NT)
- Nadra & Charlie (Drew, NT)
- Amy & Jim (Samuel, NT)
- Stormey & Jeff (Josiah, NT)
- Mills family (Vinh, NT)
- Stouders (Bennett, NT)
- Garrett & Heidi (Claire,AG)
- Shelley & David (Kalen-AG)
- Cynthia (Micaela-AG)
- Bill and Paula (David, VL)
- Leigh & John ((Dori) HOME
- JessicaV (Emaline, NT) HOME
- Ruth (Izzy, NT) HOME
- Kim (Issac NT) HOME
Other Helpful Sites
Our timeline
2/10/07--adoption information workshop(i.e., do we want to do this??)
4/10/07--preliminary application approval
5/1/07--formal application approval
5/15/07--home study begun
6/18/07--home study completed
6/22/07--pre-filing with Immigration--I600A
6/27/07--dossier paperwork mailed to agency
7/21/07--received I-171H
8/10/07--dossier sent to Vietnam
8/31/07--log in date
9/26/07--referral!
4/10/07--preliminary application approval
5/1/07--formal application approval
5/15/07--home study begun
6/18/07--home study completed
6/22/07--pre-filing with Immigration--I600A
6/27/07--dossier paperwork mailed to agency
7/21/07--received I-171H
8/10/07--dossier sent to Vietnam
8/31/07--log in date
9/26/07--referral!
11 comments:
I'm so excited for you. I came back from Ninh Thuan in March of 2007 with our son, Rocco. You are about to embark upon an unbelievable journey. Enjoy every moment and take tons of pictures!
Heather W.
Yea! I am so happy for you. I loved Ninh Thuan so much and I am sure you will too. It is so beautiful and the homes of our kiddos :o) I am looking forward to following your journey to Sam!!
Can't wait to follow along
Shelley. I'm just so stinkin' excited for you guys. Give baby Drew lots of hugs and kisses from his mommy, daddy...and especially from his big brother.
Woo, hoo Shelley...just a little over a week and you're on your way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (note: many exclamation points)
I'll be logging on every day to follow your trip. SAM IS COMING HOME!!!!!!!
Give Bennett some love from us.
So glad that you have made all of your travel plans! I am so anxious to see you with Sam....the 15th can't come soon enough!!!!!
xxoo
Iam so excited for you. Enjoy Ninh Thuan (which is actually nne not east and only about 7 hours).It is beyond beautiful and the ride there is spectactular too. Another suggestion. Be prepared that they may not let you take individual pics of the children in the orphanage. It seems like 1 out of every 3 or 4 groups gets to. What we did was just take lots of wide angle shots to get as many kids in the pics as possible and then posted them to our web album so their moms could see them.
We will be praying for a happy and safe trip!
That is so cool that you got your flights the same as Tricia's!!! That will make the time on the planes & in the airports go so much quicker. Can't wait to follow your blog on your trip!!! It will definately be a trip of a lifetime. Have fun getting ready.
Heather M.
i have been following your blog for awhile and i was so excited to see that you FINALLY got your approval!!! yay! how awesome it will be... i can't wait to read about your trip.
our daughter is also in the NT orphanage... would you mind emailing me (findingsweetness at gmail dot com) if you have a moment before you leave?? i know you're in "spaz mode" so i understand if you can't find the time! :D
I'm so happy and excited for you. This was one of my favorite times...trying to get everything done and get everything together and packed...enjoy these moments and this anticipation!
Everything will fall into place and it will be perfect!
Shelley!! I just wanted to tell you how excited I am for you and your family!! You've been such a source of encouragement to me through out my process! I'm so happy that you are FINALLY getting to bring home Sam!! YaY!!!
We are sooo excited for you Shelley! Have safe, happy travels and please send our love to Trung if you see him!! His picture is on our blog at http://trungmakesthree.blogspot.com. Thanks!!!
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