off to the embassy!

We just received word that our Embassy appointment is at 2:00 this afternoon. Woo hooie!

brace yourself, this is gonna be a long one.

It is starting to look like we might have one of the shortest VN trips to date. Though still remote, there is the possibility that we could head home as soon as Tuesday evening. If we are able to schedule our embassy interviews for Monday afternoon, Beckett's visa should be ready around 4:00 on Tuesday evening. If everything falls into place and we are able to get seats on a plane we could be sleeping in our own beds before the end of the week. I'm not holding my breath though, and neither should you.

Our trip from HCMC to Hanoi was better than I expected. Beckett did extremely well on the flight. He only fussed once for about five minutes, but never any full out crying. We had to feed the boy three bottles during a two and a half hour flight in order to keep him happy. I'm not sure that bodes well for out trans-pacific leg... no way can we carry enough supplies for the 38 bottles that yesterday's flight suggests he would need.

The landing in Hanoi was by far the roughest touch down I've ever experienced. As opposed to slowly descending until the landing gear made contact, it felt like we suddenly dropped 20 or so feet and hit the runway with a jarring thud. The impact was so hard that some of the oxygen masks deployed. Once we had come to a complete stop the captain announced that he was training a new pilot and apologized for the hard landing. I know that pilots have to get a certain amount of on the job training, but maybe the new guy shouldn't try landing a jet in a downpour if he doesn't feel fully confident. Just a thought. As if that wasn't enough excitement, the shuttle bus taking us to the hotel was being driven by a crazy person. In the course of a 25 kilometer drive he got so close to a minibus that the side view mirror scraped along the side of the bus, he hit a lady on a motorbike causing her to fall completely off and lose one of her shoes, and when we pulled into the hotel, he collided with a street sign and only avoided hitting a pedestrian couple because all of us were going completely ballistic. Talk about a wild ride!

The hotel here in Hanoi is wonderful. The rooms are spacious, the beds are plush, and the room service is phenomenal!

Despite the fact that I knew this wasn't a vacation, I have to admit to hoping that Beckett would be up for a little more exploring. I'm so glad that we decided to take a tour of HCMC the day before we went to Vinh Long, as it would not have happened otherwise. I had grand plans for amazing shopping, but since we got the babe it became clear that we would be better served staying close to the room. He's a great kid, don't get me wrong, but there is so much change in his world that a short trip to the grocery store leaves him fussy, tired, and suffering from extreme sensory overload. It simply hasn't seemed like a good idea to venture out to many restaurants, landmarks, or the like. Even so, I feel like we've gotten a taste of what the country has to offer, and I so look forward to bringing him back to VN so that we can all experience his birth land from a different point of view.

Tonight we plan to head down to the hotel restaurant for dinner and maybe do a little shopping if Bex is up for it. Tomorrow we have been told to stay in the hotel room and wait for the phone call confirming our embassy appointment.

Once we have a firm return schedule we'll let you know.