First and Last Post from Hanoi

Hi everyone,

As you've probably figured out by now I do not have easy access to the computer in Hanoi. Plus, if anyone from work is reading this I cannot access my work email. We'll be home Thursday afternoon at 5:00 - hopefully - so we can catch up on all the fun stuff (Holly) on Friday.

A quick briefing:

Sunday - we left HCMC for Hanoi. The girls were great on the flight. Maia slept the whole time except when we were landing and her ears bothered her for a minute. Carolyn had Ilona cracking up in the back of the plane so loudly that the entire cabin was laughing. We got to the Sheraton and settled in for a few days stay. The room is really small. Al and I had to move all the furniture around to try to make room for two cribs. It is a room, not an apartment like we had in Saigon, so it has been a bit harder. Our luggage is in the bathtub, chairs are piled up on each other, etc, but we are making do.

Monday - Went for a walk in the morning, bought some groceries. We'll be glad to have US diapers. The diapers here are like paper. We had our interview with the US Embassy Monday afternoon, which went well. I met a wonderful family (Sarah) who had been following our blog and were at the Embassy at the same time. It was great to meet them and I hope they get all of their paperwork done in time to catch their flight Friday. We'll have our fingers crossed for you!

Tuesday - We took a tour of Hanoi, which was great. We went to the Presidential complex, the tomb of Ho Chi Minh, the one pillar pagoda, the temple of literature and then into old city. Then home for naps for the girls. At 4:30 we picked up their passports with visa entries into the US, so we were free to go at that point. Thank God. We are all just dying to get home. The other families that we are traveling with are leaving after us - we are the first ones out by several days - so it is really hard for them. We are all just wanting to be home and get settled in. Living out of the suitcase for three weeks with the little ones has been a challenge.

Wednesday - we are leaving for the airport at 9:00 pm tonite. We'll fly from Hanoi to Saigon leaving at 1:00 am Thursday. Then we'll catch our 15 hour flight to the states. We are scheduled to land back at home at around 5:00 pm Thursday. I CANNOT WAIT. We just want to be home. I think I've said that enough.

Sorry, no pictures to post, and this will be the last post until we are home.

Thanks to everyone for reading our journey and cheering for us from afar. We can't wait to see you.

Love Tina

PS- Jessica - Ilona is in 3-6 month clothes. We think she weighs about 16 lbs. I'm not sure of her pampers size. We bought huggies with us but they are long since used up. They are using small Korean diapers now. Good luck!