Gratitude

For a country that lacks many of the modern conviences that Western nations enjoy, one thing the people do not lack is a genuine sense of joy. For many, life is tough. Yes there are some who enjoy luxuries of life... but they are the very few. Most live on very little in comparison to my family. We were told that a university professor makes $100/month; many, however, may only live on $1/day. Now you may say, "But they can buy so much more with $1." True, to some extent...but not the extent where they are fat and filled as we are - by they way, I have not seen even one overweight person in VN - not one. And its not solely due to their body types - its because their financial situation does not allow many to enjoy the blessings of 3 full meals a day.

There have been times in my painting business when I will make an entire Vietnamese year's income of in just one day!

One of the most challenging aspects of this trip has been the "customer service" of the hotel staff. We are not staying in 5 star hotels... nice, but not luxurious. yet, with how we are treated, you would think my wife and I were millionaires - in fact we are. At one point in time on the trip we had to carry in my pocket over $5 million DVN - vietnamese money. The hotel staff serve us so graciously, humbly, and I think with genuine joy. I will often tip a restaurante waiter or belle hop (spelling?) just $1, and you'd think I gave them $100... to them, I did.

Below are some pics in Siagon... warmer there than in Hanoi, so in my early morning walks (5am-6:30am) I would see people sleeping in the streets.




This was a common seen. Many street venders (sell all kinds of small items: food, drinks, gambling cards, magazines, etc) will literally sleep right on the street where they peddle their goods - perhaps that is the only place they have to lay their heads.


I have prayed that this trip would change me life, Kaya's life, Kim's life, and obviously Evan's. I'm sure the thoughts above are one part of God's humbling of my heart. I wonder what else he will have for us?

Food we've eaten

When one travels to the other side of the world, a lot changes... land, culture, language, facial characteristics & food! My idea of a vacation is going new places and eating new things - this is definitely both! But for a boy who has spent his entire life in the good old MidWest of USA, seafood is usually a new, and most of the time, enjoyable change. Below are some pics of the very interesting foods we've eaten.

(1) kayla and i [eric] just got back from a 2 day trip to Ha Long Bay. Awesome experience. WE took a group tour of this world famous bay. (more pics of the trip to come in following blogs) We slept of a boat and just ate what they served us. This is what was served to last night's dinner... and we ate it.



(2) I didn't touch this one... but kayla, after the first bite, ended up eating the WHOLE PLATE = squid... actually a type of squid = cuddlefish!


(3) this is Josiah, the Gainer's seven year old son. Gainers are the other Holt family who are here in VN with us... what a blessing to have another family of kindred spirits with us in a foriegn land. This is a common dish in VN... broth with rice noodles and some meat and herbs.



(4) Nate and Greg Gainer... I ordered a "hot pot" for dinner, not knowing it was a dish you share with the whole table. I'm glad we did, because it had stuff I like (shrimp and fish), but things I wasn't so sure about: clams and squid. Nate digs in - he and kayla will try and eventually eat about anything.





(5) Its a blast to not only eat different foods (sometimes you don't ask you just eat), but also in different ways - CHOP STICKS! After a week, I'm getting pretty good. So much so that kayla and i thought it would be a good idea to buy a set of 10 chopsticks and take them back to USA and have the entire family use them for dinner once a week. So ehtan and ellyn, we're coming home with chopsticks... beware:)




(6) Evan... who needs biter biscuits (a special "teething" food for small children when their teeth are coming in) when you have baquettes!


(7) This is a picture from the day we went into downtown Hanoi and were pretty overwhelmed by the markets, people, smells, etc... it was like Asian Overload for us... so we saw Highlanders Coffee (similar to Starbucks) and made a mad dash for it--- it was a piece of heaven @ a very stressful lunch time:) Kayla is sucking down a fruit smoothie and i'm downing a baquette sandwich.



(8) This was one of our first meals in VN... PHO 24 is a chain of restaruants throughout SE Asia... and serve PHO - a traditional VN meal. Kim choose to use a fork... kayla thought chopsticks were the way to go... when in VN, eat like the VN:)

Other kids at the Orphanage

Here are some of the other children at the orphanage --they have children from birth (literally just days old) to teenagers. As we met each child, who has an eternal soul, it made us want to take more than just one home. They are precious and beautiful... and all need a home.

quick post from Kim

Evan is asleep so I have a couple of minutes before I go to bed to give you an update from Mom's perspective. Today was the first day for smiles and laughs and babbling noises. He is feeling much more comfortable. Evan and I did get a two hour nap today which was wonderful. It was heart renching when he woke up. He was not at all to happy to see me. It took about a full hour to get him back to being comfortable again. A warm bath and bubbles definatly helped. I am realizing how much of a "Dance" we are in. It has been said that all relationships are built on Time, Truth, and Trust. I am seeing this played out minute by minute with Evan. The greatest blessing of the day was all of the smiles and laughter and hugs. Once he felt comfortable again, he was a delight! Please pray right now for both of us. We are tired from all of the "dancing", but I wouldn't want to miss this dance for the world!

Funniest Story and Picture

We flew from Ho Chi Minh City (aka Siagon) to Hanoi today... Evan did very well. But by the time we got into the hotel it was around 1:00pm or more and we ate breakfast at 6AM today... so we were famished. So we (actually me [Eric]) insisted we finally go to a real live Vietnamese Restaurant to eat; so we asked at the front desk and they recommended one just down the street. First you have to understand that the restaurantes that don't primarily cater to Westerns or Tourists have a different feel to them - "earthy" would be a good descripter - sometimes dirt floors, open-air, untidy, etc. As we walked into the entrance the sight of the live food was a little unsettling for Kayla (what would soon be on your plate was still enjoying its last living moments = the seafood was all in tanks, even some chickens close by). We sat down and started looking over the menu... but most of the first 7 pages were filled with very strange menu items - truly Asian at its best... what caught our eye most was the grouping of items listed as "Snake Head"- snake head with noodles; snake head with rice, etc... (Snakes are somewhat mystical here in VN - at the market the other day I saw King Cobras in bottles, being fermented in alchol being sold as "snake wine") The more we read the more unsettled we became, but we couldn't just get up and go. So we finally found a few dishes that looked like we might be able to stomach them. But after thinking about the snake head meals (and I was the only one who noticed a meal with "dog meat") our appetites soon deminished. We quickly ate [only kim and I, kayla refused] and left. When we got back to the hotel the receptionists were quick to ask us about their suggestion. I stammered for an answer and finally decided honesty was the best approach: "I think it was a little too authenicate for us, particularly our daughter" [blaming kids picky eating habits sounded like an easy way out... and it was true]. I then mentioned that I thought the "snake head" items was a night unnerving for us... "In the states you usually don't eat snake let alone its head for dinner..." the two receptionists paused for a moment and finally realized our confusion... "snake head" isn't a snake, its a name of a type of fish in SE Asia!!!! We all had a very good laugh... realizing most of our appetite lose was in our mind not in the food!!!








Ok now for the funniest picture of the trip... as we traveled from the airport [located outside town in farming area] into the city, we came across this:








That puts a whole new perspective on the "this little pig goes to market..." Motorcycles are the primary mode of transporting everything- people, supplies, construction materials, food, etc... We finally came to this conclusion as to the limit of motorcycles' delivery ability: IF TWO MEN CAN LIFT IT, A MOTOBIKE CAN GET IT THERE!





Finally a few pics of us and Evan



Kayla bought [with her own $] an Ou Ai... traditional VN outfit.




Evan and Mommy at breakfast... as you'll be noticing the pics are mainly of kim and evan... mainly females caring at orphanages, so they are not used to men; and this time Evan cries when I come his way... totally expected and normal for orphans.



More snuggles:)



"________ has a funny hat"... is a funny song we sing in our family... and its always sung when our kids are this age and this happens... SO we sang "EVAN has a funny hat..."



What kid doesn't like a warm bath... Evan loves his bath... splashing and "grabbing" the water as it came out of the faucet.

Pride in our BOYS & Gotcha Day

While four of us are in Vietnam, two of our clan are back in the USA, Ethan and Ellyn. Ethan participated in his very first PINE WOOD DERBY... and brought home the SILVER!(pictured below with his trophy) He won almost every race he competed in. He worked hard on his bright red car with a briliant blue stripe down the center. GREAT JOB SON at working hard and enjoying a day of fun.

Here we are signing the offical papers.

All the ladies love Evan. He is described as easy going, cuddly, and loves people. Of couse, his being really cute and kissable probably has something to do with it too:)

Here is an older child at he orphanage that we were able to meet and take gifts to.

Mrs. Binh, the orphanage director, was very attached to Evan, and struggled at holding back her emotions on several occasions. It was obvious within minutes that the children at this orphanage are loved as sons and daughters. I struggled with thoughts of "I'm taking this child from them" and yet as one child left, a new born was admitted to the orphanage today -- and it will be loved as their very own children.

This is mostly what we are doing right now - laying low, playing, singing, & laughing with Evan...

The First Magical Moment for Mommy

Here's a very brief video... hope it puts it more into real life for you:)

It was WORTH it all

If a picture is worth a thousand words,

the the real thing is worth infinitely more.

After many months of waiting the moment finally arrived for us to touch and hold our son. In a rare occasion we were able to go to the orphanage today to visit Evan. It was truly a "golden moment" in life -- one of those moments you won't ever forget. Tomorrow we go back to for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony (G&R). Again, it was God's Gracious hand that allowed the G&R to be tomorrow, because none of ou five suitcases came until just two hours ago. Going without gifts was awkward but Mr. Binh was very, very gracious. He & his wife are precious, loving, patient and caring. For any other Holt families who might be adopting out of this orphanage- be assured that your children are deeply loved there!

BELOW: Kayla our oldest with now our youngest:) "Look guys he's a TWO finger sucker:)" Evan had no problem being held by kayla.

"I think we have the same shape of nose:)" Eric with Evan. Wow! He is definitely a "feather weight." Like so many of the Vietnamese children, Evan seems so tiny; but then again when I walk through a crowd here in VN I tower in the crowd.

What a WILD Jounery

We were SUPPOSE to leave friday AM from Columbus @ 1:00 and fly to JFK (New Yourk) - but the flight was cancelled with just one hour before departure because of the snow storm on the east coast. At first we thought it was a cruel pill to swallow - for us to spend the last two years doing all kinds of things, having a wonderful "send off" at the airport - and then a few inches of snow cut us off from traveling, and the airlines refused to rerouted us to the West Coast, even though that was the direction we really needed to travel anyhow. But, by God's Grace alone, the snow ended up in a BLESSING. We ended up rescheduling our trip, starting from Cincinati flying to LAX (Los Angelos - who knows what the X stands for?) - which meant a 5 hour trip, followed by a 14 hour trip, rather than one long, eternal 19 hour marathon! But to do that, we had to get to Cincinati. Well, get this: in the midst of the cancelation, the airlines rerouted 2 of our 5 baggages to Atlanta - who knows? Again, at first we were frusrtated, but in the end that TOO WAS A BLESSIng - because, we had to drive to Cincinati right away to catch the necessary flight; but there was NO WAY that our 5 large pieces of luggage would fit into an average sized car (beside our 5 smaller carry ons- yes I know, we over packed- very clear now:)). So because the two biggest pieces of luggage were transported for us, free at charge might I add, we had just enough room to squeeze us all in a car and run down to Cin. -THANKS mom and dad crawford for rearranging your entire day to get us on that plane!!! Its amazing how love comes out in different ways through different people - that we my parents (eric's) great act of love for Evan.

If you would have seen us, you would have thought we were in the AMAZING RACE - literally RACING from one point to the next. Our longest layover, to this piont in time has been only 2 hours - our shortest was a SPRINT ACROSS LAX to catch the flight, that was half boarded when we showed up to the gate. (FUnny story = we have three carry ons, a computer and a video camera... by the time we were done with our srint across LAX, I had all three carry-ons with kayla tossed over my shoulder like a soldier carrying his wounded mate safely home - OK I'm exaggerating with kayla, but I did have the overloadedcarry-ons on my back.) So here we are in Tapei, Twain, about one hour from our final flight into Siagon... we have now been awake (besides a lousy nap or two) for 36 hours... and its only 5:45 AM HERE!! So we have a whole other day to enjoy before the blessingof sleep hits us. We are in good spirits even though our BO is rounchy and our breath could melt paint off a car:)

If is misspelled or don't make sense, blame it on the sleep.
Eric writing for the clan

What We Might Have Missed

As I [Eric] awoke today, on the morning we leave to pick up our son, I was struck with the thought… “What might I have missed out on…?” If we had said no to the need and the prompting of God in our lives, what events would we have missed?

• Seeing our kids rally behind a cause to the point that they give freely and graciously from their newspaper route money to help buy gifts for the orphanage.
• Witnessing first hand how God can help a family living on one average paycheck pay for the $25,000+ of adoption expenses.
• The joy of getting to know some of the neatest families on planet earth – like Rick & Jamie DeBoest (one child by birth, three by adoption); Wetzels (2 by birth, 2 by adoption); John and Lynn Boal (2 adopted); Rochtes(4 by birth, 1 by adoption); our Holt internet friends; … Their stories stirred us onto where we are now at.
• Watching videos of orphans & being confronted with the reality that I live in one of the "richest countries in all of history" and being forced to stop and ask myself, "What can I do?"
• At each of the five major occasions when thousands of dollars were due for fees & expenses, what was missing just months before was now is full supply.
• Going through a significant life and job change right in the middle of the adoption process, and praying “God, no matter what happens to us please bring our son home.”
• Learning about the amazing emotional, physical and mental connections that are formed in the first weeks and months of a child’s life when a loving adult nurtures a child – and therefore go unformed when a child is abandoned.
• Becoming more concerned about others, less consumed with me.
• And best of all… hearing of other families who are now adopting because of what they see in us.

What might you be missing out on? I know that their are some of you who are reading this blog who have considered adopting... but that is as far as its got - simply a nice thought. I know it seems like climbing a Mountain - and at times it is - but I think that in the end we will look back and say "It was tough, but it was worth it."

Help us to help Evan

When we began this adoption process almost two years ago, we went into it with "blind" faith. Over the course of our process, we have learned an incredible amount of information that has opened our eyes to the reality of the needs of an adopted child. Much of what an adopted child needs a newborn infant is wired to do at birth. It is a process called "Attatching and Bonding". The newborn naturally attatches to their mother. This process occurs as the child has a need and the mother meets that childs need building trust in the bonding relationship. Some of this process has been interrupted in the life of the adopted child. What does this mean for our family?
1) We will be strangers to Evan. We have to help him learn to trust us as his Dad and Mom, sisters and brother.
2) We will have to treat him "younger" than his physical age. He will be starting over emotionally. You may see us "spoiling" him more than a child his age would be treated. Please remember that we have to go back in time to fill in missing gaps before we can move forward.
3) We will have PFI now. What is that you ask? Private Family Information. There are parts of Evan's story and background that we will keep private. As he grows and we feel it is appropriate, we will share this information with him. We will then give HIM the freedom to share whatever he feels comfortable with. With an adopted child, they have lost almost everything that defines who they are. We want to keep the things that are precious to who God has made him and how He patterned his life special to Evan. Please feel free to ask anything about our adoption journey. Please allow us to have the discretion over what we share about his life.
A helpful website I have found that answers a lot of questions about what life should be like for the adopted child the first weeks and months after placement is : http://www.a4everfamily.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=78
Feel free to read up so you can help us help Evan!

Answer to prayer

We are going to be able to go to the orphanage on Monday to visit Evan. We were praying that this would work out. Some friends who adopted said this was a huge help to their child to be able to see and interact with them the day before he became theirs and left the orphanage. Please pray that this would be a special time for Evan to begin to feel comfortable with us. I know it will be hard to leave him there on Monday, but I think it will definatly be best for Evan and his adjustment! So praise the Lord with us. He cares for little Evan. Tuesday he will be ours!

This time next week

Well, we are finally down to less than a week until we leave for Vietnam. It is amazing when I think back about all that God has done to bring us to this point. His faithful fingerprints are all over this adoption. Last week I just found a picture of Ethan and Kayla coloring in a "thermometer" poster that we made to chart the Lord's provision for our adoption. God has now provided way above and beyond what that thermometer was originally intended to hold. For me the things that God has provided that mean the most are not the financial provision(although that is overwhelming and humbling), it is the many people that are prayerfully supporting us and encouraging us. God has put us in a place, where we feel an overwhelming sense of support and care. Even a friend of Kayla's is taking the time to write her a note each day we are away. We are seeing the Body of Christ at work in some incredible ways. So, I want to end this post with a verse of scripture that has always been dear to me. . . "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus thoughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20,21

Christmas in February

Sorry for the sideways pictures, but I have to download them directly from my camera because my computer has an issue with locking up when I want a picture.

Some friends from our Sunday School class at church gave us a big box of toys they had outgrown. I think my kids are loving the toys as much as Evan will. I had forgotten the fun of toddler toys since they have long been out of our house.

The pic of my loving hubby is of him trying to get batteries into the ball drop toy! Why do they have to make toys so difficult?

All this to say, it has been amazing to watch all that God has provided for our family. From sippy cups, to toys, to diapers, to a crib, to a deluxe backpack. . . the list could go on! I am humbled by the giving spirit of so many who have rallied around us during this exciting time in our lives.

Packing-R-Us

With less than two weeks to go until we leave, I must confess that my room is a mess. We are slowly getting things accomplished. After much debate over packing our gifts for the orphanage in a box or a suitcase, we have opted for a suitcase. My rationale was that it is easier to roll a suitcase than carry a box. My hubby's rationale was that you can throw a box away. Both good ideas.
It is such a joy to finally be at this stage. I am enjoying getting everything ready to go. It was especially fun to pack Evan's suitcase. I can't wait for those cute little clothes and shoes to be on my little boy!
A matter of prayer for us is the FLU. Ellyn had it this week. Kayla is going to bed saying she is hot and has a headache. My stomach isn't feeling too hot! Please pray that whatever we have we get through it and get well before we go. I guess it is better to get it now than when we have to leave!
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love endures forever!"

Travel Dates

First of all, I would like to say thank you for all who have been praying for Evan and our family. We found out Friday that we will be leaving for Vietnam on Friday the 22nd. We will arrive Sunday morning around 10am. Our Giving and Receiving ceremony where we will officially be given Evan is scheduled for Febuary 26th. It is our prayer that they will allow us to go to the orphanage on Monday to visit him. We know it will be hard to leave him there after seeing him, but we know it will be helpful to him to spend a little time with us before he leaves all he has ever known as his home forever.

Over the next few days, my goal is to organize my thoughts so we can figure out what needs done when!
We serve a faithful God!

WE'RE GOING TO VIETNAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I opened my e-mail today I saw a letter from HANOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have our son's visa Preapproval which frees us up to travel to Vietnam! Since it is already evening in Vietnam, we will have to wait until Monday to get our final travel dates. We could travel in as soon as two weeks. Last year my daughter was in a musical and one of the songs was talking about how God works in the "Eleventh Hour". It was my hope that we would have our approval before Tet. Today was the last day. God worked in the "Eleventh Hour"! Praise the Lord! He is faithful! This weekend will be a great weekend to tell of HIS FAITHFULNESS at our baby shower! We are going to celebrate!