What a Beautiful Day!

It's official, we are now a family of three! An has held up remarkably well today. We arrived at the orphanage before her and when she got there, once again she jumped into Brian's arms. We had a few minutes to visit before the other family arrived. They were meeting their son for the first time. It got rather crowded and confused, with all the families/foster families but we were told what would happen when we arrived at the DOJ and then the other family went to tour the rest of the orphanage while we said good-bye to An's foster mom.

An was so excited I don't think she really knew what was happening and she didn't want to hug or kiss her foster mom or sister. Brian was too intriguing. After they left, Brian walked around the corner to pay the driver and she panicked. She went after him and then also saw her foster mom near their car and she just lost it. One of the orphanage workers gathered her up and tried to calm her down. She ended up getting into the van with us to ride to the DOJ and by the time we got there she had An willing to be in Brian's arms again.

The "ceremony" was short and sweet. We sat in a area with many other people, were called into a room to sign 4 pieces of paper and a book (right below you Mary Li)and then handed over our gifts and walked out. We then walked about a half block down the street to take a picture of the hospital where An was born. We walked back to the DOJ and found that the person that needed to sign our documents was not there and the Holt staff would get him to sign later or tomorrow morning and bring our documents to the hotel in Saigon before we depart for Hanoi. Did I really expect to walk out of there with everything???

On the ride back to the hotel, An fell asleep on Brian's lap:


She woke up when we arrived and has been on the go since then. We walked across the street to the Pho 24 and found that she can outeat the two of us. She's just learning to use chopsticks so its funny to watch her. She's great at noodles but other items are difficult for her. She showed us she could use a fork, spoon and chopsticks during lunch. I'm not sure if she's been taught to eat everything that's put in front of her or if she was really that hungry. At dinner tonight, she jumped right into Brian's noodle dish which had hot red peppers. She'd eat a bite, ask for water, eat another. At one point, it was obvious she was in discomfort so we distracted her and slid the plate away.

She has just played with us all afternoon - coloring, kicking a balloon and, within about 5 minutes of arriving at the hotel she found the computer:


Every time someone has set down at the computer she's on their lap to play with it. Right now Brian is distracting her with the balloon so I'm finally getting a chance to do this.

Well, it off to bath and bedtime. I should also probably start packing. It'll be good to get to Hanoi and settle in for a little while.

love, Wendi