Piper’s Friends Playground Fund

Hi Friends!  With Piper’s first birthday coming up, we have done a lot of thinking about what is important to us.  We realize how much our friends and family mean to us.  We would have never made it through the past few years without you!  We are having a big birthday party and welcome home [...]

afternoon at the park

[peek!]

[my little love]

[treasure hunt]

[slidin' with Nana]

[love this thing!]

[what a thrill!]

vietnam favorites part 2 – Hanoi

Sites:

[a group of nuns visiting the Temple of Literature]

[the gardens in the Temple of Literature are so luscious and green]

Temple of Literature -  This is a short walk from the Horison Hotel.  It was a great place for taking pictures.  Also, Craftlink is about a block away which is a bonus!

[view from our taxi as we [...]

vietnam favorites part 1 – HCMC

Here is part one of the long-promised tips for my friends who are traveling to VN to get their babies later this week…
Sites: 

[candles at Notre Dame]
‘Ho Chi Minh City Tour’ -We did sign up for a city tour through the Duxton entertainment desk (different from the concierge).  The name of the tour company was Hoi [...]

a little yard work

Yesterday we did a little yard work and planting.  I know it’s late in the season for planting, but better late than never, right?  It feels like we are just now finally getting adjusted and are finding our ‘groove’ as a family.  Although everything has been great with Piper, it still seems to be taking [...]

dance

[this beautiful thing is my cousin's daughter, Amelia]

[On Friday, we went to watch Amelia's dance showcase at the Colorado School of Ballet.  It was the end of her intensive training week there.]

[Piper's FAVORITE thing is dance, so she was in love.  She watched intently as the big girls danced and clapped at every single intermission.  This dancing [...]

my little cutie

[P didn't get what was so funny last night.  She had NO CLUE that an O was stuck to her nose.  I love this girl.]

first playdate

[Piper and Cassidy.  Piper loved hangin' out with a 'big girl'!]

[Cassidy showing Piper her toys.]

[Piper and Shane...so cute!]

[having a little lunch]

[such a handsome little guy!]
We met Laurie from Pho for Five at Kyndra’s house for a playdate today.  It was so wonderful to meet them in person!  Jackson, Cassidy, Shane and Finley are all so adorable!  Finley is [...]

to the big pool

[P loves the water]

[so tiny]

[holding on to momma's foot]

singing and dancing

[thank you for the outfit Aunt Kaye!  sooo cute!]
We went to a sing & dance event at PB kids today.  There was a wonderful musician who had the kids all singing and dancing and clapping.  Music is Piper’s absolute favorite thing so she had a blast.  At first it was a little overwhelming for her [...]

first backyard pool

[my happy girl]

Can it really be this good?

This is Darren again, doing some freelance blog writing for Nicole. We have been going at about 100 mph every minute since we got here, and now it’s starting to hit her pretty hard. She’s getting some shut eye, trying to avoid coming down with what she thinks she’s coming down with…
Our head facilitator and [...]

good girl

[so the thing is that my mom has had horrible internet and major wordpress issues again in HCM.  i talk non-stop and keep her pretty busy but i am a VERY good girl and am adjusting really well.  mom says i am an easy laugh.  my mom is hoping to have lots more posted today [...]

hello there

[hello world!]
We are so sorry we haven’t posted in the past few days. We had a horrible internet connection and it made it impossible to post. We just got back to HCMC. We stopped on the way from the airport to apply for Piper’s passport and just checked into the Duxton Hotel. It is nice [...]

test

i can’t get wordpress to work. ugh!!!!!!! if this ever shows up it will be a miracle.
so frustrating!

in love

We are so in love. We met Piper today and she stole our hearts. I have so many things to say and tons of details to give, but we are absolutely exhausted and our internet connection here is really terrible…. We leave for our G&R tomorrow morning at 8:30 and then she [...]

today is the day

[a white orchid in our room]
Today is the day that we meet our daughter.  I can’t even believe it.  We leave in 2 hours to go to the province where she is living and meet her for the first time.  I have more to post about HCMC, but I need to go get ready so I [...]

hcmc

[our hotel]

[our greeting]

[our room]

[view from our room]

[hotel pool]

[well deserved]

[first meal in VN]

touchdown

[first sight of our daughter's birth country]

[Ho Chi Minh City from the air]

[touchdown]

one down eight to go

We made it to Seattle!  Our first out of 9 flights on this trip.  Three more flights to go before we meet Piper!  It is starting to feel a bit more real I think.  We are very glad the first one is over and that we will be in EV*A Deluxe for this next one.  [...]

almost

Every night I dream
we are there my baby girl
it is almost true.
I love you Piper. We will be there soon.
 

exhaustion and excitement

We leave for the airport today at 4:30.  In 8 hours and 15 minutes.  I can’t believe we are leaving for the airport to fly to another country to go meet our daughter.  I haven’t quite wrapped my head around that yet.  Holy macaroni.  I am going to be a Mom!
We are mostly packed.  I [...]

almost ready

We are almost packed and ready to go.  We basically just have to put our clothes in the suitcases.  My Mom is coming over today to help me with all the little last minute stuff.  I totally have mush-brain.  I also really really hope that we aren’t getting sick.  Both D and I have horrible [...]

a monday haiku

Why’d you stop making
my fav deodorant just
before my big trip?

the date I have dreamed of

Our Giving and Receiving Ceremony is tentatively set for April 22nd.  This is the ceremony in which Piper will officially become ours in the eyes of the Vietnamese government.  That means that we will be able to meet Piper on Monday!  After that, we have to jump through several other hoops and go to a [...]

WE ARE APPROVED!!!!!!!!

WE GOT IT!!!!!
We got our long-awaited I600 approval this morning! It took 27 business days and 37 calendar days for those of you keeping track. I don’t have any other information yet, and I will post more later.
I just wanted to say that
I AM GOING TO BE A MOM!!!!!

hanging on

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
-Mary Anne Radmacher
 

awwwww

When I opened the mail yesterday there was a letter from D’s parents. I opened it up and was surprised to find this adorable picture of my handsome husband and his childhood dog, Salty. His full name was H. Salt Esquire III.
*All together now* Awwwww.
I only have a few pictures of D from his childhood [...]

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