One more step down

We are still waiting for the Dong Nai officials to complete their end of our paperwork, but the US Embassy has been moving ahead on their end. For those of you who don't obsessively keep up with the state of adoptions in Vietnam, you have missed quite a roller coaster ride. Sadly, some agencies who work in Vietnam are more concerned with their own bottom line than with the well-being of the children who come into their care or the prospective adoptive parents who hire them. As a result, the US Embassy felt it was necessary to investigate the status of more than a few of the children for whom visas were applied, and even denied some, causing the parents to have to leave Vietnam without their children. In order to avoid future occurrences of this scenario, new regulations have been put in place. Parents need to apply for the child's visa before they travel and the adoption occurs. This way, if there is anything questionable about the situation, all parties involved know before hand. So, we applied for K's visa as instructed and have been waiting for that approval as well. I was so grateful to find good news in my inbox this morning. The US Embassy in Hanoi has notified us that we have preliminary approval for K's visa and that we are welcome to travel. If only...

Aside from adoption drama, life continues to go on. It is all Christmas all the time here. The tree is up, the house is decorated, and Christmas carols are on the stereo. The little boys have been getting into the spirit of the season, often singing to themselves as they go about their day. While it is wonderful to listen to, I think we need to work on some of the words. At the moment, D seems to be under the impression that the chorus to "O Come All Ye Faithful" is "O come let us play baseball", giving me recurring visions of Little League teams visiting the stable and offering gifts of baseballs and mitts.