The Fordham Journey

Easter Update

2008-03-25T12:07:00.012-04:00

As I logged on to update our blog, I noticed it has been since December that we have posted. That is pretty bad. We probably won't have many viewers, I am sure most have given up on our updated anymore. We stay busy, needless to say.

Jett is doing well. He is finally growing some and eats pretty good. He loves candy and also feeding himself. He also is talking good. I am very proud of his vocabulary. His dad works diligently with improving his words and speech. He can say Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh(partially), and also his Vietnamese name- Gia Bao. He can also tell someone to do something "right now." I think right now, stop, and mine are his favorite words(behind "candy".)

We had a wonderful Easter. I was very grateful that Jett was here with us this Easter and I did not have to wonder where and what he was doing. I also know he had plenty to eat which was such a blessing. He wasn't much for hunting eggs after he found the first ones with candy in them. All he wanted to do was eat the candy. As I looked at him this Easter, I was very glad to know that one day I will be able to teach him what Easter is really all about. I am honored to know that God chose my family to show this little boy about the love of Jesus Christ and all that Jesus has done for us. One of our reasons for adopting was so we could do this, and now, I know we will be able to with Jett. What better time to reflect on that but Easter.

I have included a few pics from Easter of the boys. Also one of James with his Chicken. He loves to catch them and then hold them like a puppy. Also, our Donkey Festus. Jett will ride him, but not for long-so no pics. I will try to post more often for those of you who still check.

Christmas pictures and more

2007-12-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

Since returning from Vietnam we have not been that good at keeping up with our blog. I guess my goal is to post at least once a month(pretty sorry huh.) Jett, JR and James are doing well. Jett's new word(that I heard last night when I got home from work) is Baseball. Jon teaches him new words almost everyday. He is doing good, but a little sick now. He is also cutting 2 teeth.

Some of the pictures are from our Christmas play at church and some are just of the boys just playing around. Jett loves to dance so there is one of him danciing. I will try to add some more pictures later.

DeanAnne

Halloween and Beyond

2007-11-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

Halloween was a blast this year. Jett hates to dress up, but he is all about some candy. This kid will cry and cry because he can't hold another bite of supper, but you break out some chocolate chip cookies or candy and his stomach is instantly empty. He eats them like he has never seen food before. Here are the costume pictures. Jett is wearing a dog suit that J.R. wore for Halloween after he was born in August. He has finnaly gained some more weight, but he's still not on track with the two family fullbacks. I'm thinking maybe a wide receiver or quarterback!

We had a request for pictures at mealtime. I thought spaghetti would be a good choice since everyone does such a nice neat job with it.

James

Jett

J.R.

Jon

and DeanAnne!

How Time Flies

2007-10-30T06:47:00.000-04:00

Just thought I would take a moment to update the blog after I got a little reminder from our good friends Joe and Katie. Everything is going great. Jett is a remarkable child. He has been walking now for over a month and is in fact quite accomplished. I'll try to get a picture that shows his stance, it is so funny. He holds his elbows at his waist and puts his hands straight out to the side. His feet also turn out like duck feet. As he walks he swaggers at the hips and you can't help but laugh, sort of a Charlie Chaplin kind of thing. He says several words icluding juice, momma, da-da, me-ma and when in a good mood almost any single word you ask him to he will attempt to repeat. Halloween is just around the bend and I will try to post pics of the boys in their costumes. Jett is a puppy, J.R. a dragon, and James is a dinosaur. I'll try and post some of these pictures on Thursday.

new pictures

2007-09-07T12:55:00.001-04:00

I finally got some pictures to work and have been able to post them. I hope you enjoy. As you can see, we are really enjoying having baby Jett here with us. He has been such a blessing in our lives, and we give God all of the Glory for that.

He is doing well, but has mommy-itis. For those of you who don't have that problem, let me explain. When I am around(DeanAnne), he wants me to hold him constantly. If I don't, he cries the most terrible cry ever. I do hold him alot, but also have other things to do too. We are working on this, but I know I have a year of holding to catch up on. So, I hold him alot. I really think Baby Jett could conquer the world as long as he is on my hip. He can handle pretty much anything as long as I hold him. Thanks for continuing to follow our blessings with baby Jett, JR and James.

A Gift

2007-08-29T13:16:00.000-04:00

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

I was doing a little bible studying at lunch today and came across this verse. It was on our previous" journey to me" sight. It really touched me again today as I truly know this verse now. I have yet again experienced it first hand. We have recieved one of the most precious gifts from God in the past few months. God has entrusted us to care for another one of his precious children. The past month has been a joy learning Jett and his personality. He has done remarkable with adjusting to us and all of the changes. We have prayed about this and I can truly see God at work in our family. We owe all of this to God and give him all of the Glory.

"My cup runneth over." That pretty much sums up how I feel right now.

When I can remember to bring new pictures to work, I will post them. We have dial up service(yes, dial up internet service) at home and it takes way to long to download photos there.

Once again, thank you for the wonderful comments while we were in Vietnam. I still think of them often.
The Fordham Family

Back by Popular Demand

2007-08-06T14:18:00.000-04:00

So many people thought we were still on the long layover in Los Angeles, I thought I should at least let everyone know we made it home. We arrived in Savannah, GA on Thursday, July 26 at 5:00. We were so happy to see everyone and be at home. The meeting in the airport with J.R. and James was so emotional, I don't think I will ever forget it. I think the next time we go to Vietnam it will be as a family. Last night after the boys went to bed, I went in to check on J.R. because he was coughing. As he was laying there awake, I leaned over to tell him I loved him and that I was glad he was my son. He put his arms around my neck and he said, " Daddy, I'm glad you came home." Enough said, and If I leave him for that long again, you can rest assured that it wasn't my choice

Baby Jett is doing good. He had made some real progress on sleeping at night, but he's really regressed in the last few days. He acted like he was sick yesterday, so maybe that is the explanation. He loves the boys, and has begun to feel comfortable with getting down and playing with them in the last few days. He is really attached to DeanAnne and prefers that she hold him, especially in situations when a lot of people are around. He's mostly a happy and good natured child, but he struggles at times with maintaining his usually outgoing attitude like most 1 year olds do. We are really happy to have him here with us and we look forward to what each new day brings. Thanks to each of you for following along and lending support during this very rewarding time of our lives.

Here is a picture of Jett's first haircut.

And here is the first swimming trip. Jett liked it, but I think the boys had the most fun.

Los Angeles Layover

2007-07-26T04:35:00.000-04:00

We're sitting in the Los Angeles airport waiting on our 6:10am flight to Atlanta. We got here at 10:00 and it took us a couple of hours to go through immigration. But as soon as they stamped baby Jett's passport and visa for legal U.S. entry, he became a U.S. citizen. It's almost 2:00 am here and we can't enter the terminal until 4:00 am. Right now we're just sitting around at the Delta ticket counters waiting on 4:00. We arrive in Atlanta at 1:30. Can't wait to see everybody.

In Hong Kong

2007-07-25T10:58:00.000-04:00

About to board flight in Hong Kong for LA. Got visa at 4:30, left Hanoi at 7:10. Leave Hong Kong momentarily. Will post in about 14 hours from LA. Thanks for all the prayers and praise God!

Hanoi

2007-07-24T07:41:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Hanio late last night. All was ok. Our hotel is very nice and the view is wonderful. See the pictures(from our window.) Jett is still sick and we took him to the SOS clinic last night. He has a sore throat and virus(vomiting) so keep him in your prayers. He seems to get motion sick. He got sick at the end of our flight last night.

We had our VISA interview today and it was well. She said if no complications arise, we can pick up the visa tomorrow at 4pm. Please pray that no complications arise. If we get the visa then, we will all fly out tomorrow at 7pm. If anything arises, Jon will fly out tomorrow night and me and baby Jett will wait on the Visa. Please pray that this will go smoothly as we are all so ready to go home. We will keep you all posted as much as possible through the travel, and we hope the next post will be closer to Georgia. Thanks for all of the continued prayers.

JR and James: we love you and miss you. We hope to be home soon. Get mema to show you on the calendar when. You both pray for us to have a safe trip home. Please, please, please come and get us from the airport. Be good for mema and we will see you soon. We are so proud of you both for being such big boys while we have been going to bring baby Jett home. I have lots of sugar saved for you so get ready.

love,

momma and daddy

heading to hanoi

2007-07-23T04:13:00.000-04:00

We finally have all of our paperwork in hand. Praise the Lord for this miracle. We have a flight tonight to Hanoi at 7p.m. Unless something changes we will be in Hanoi by 9 or 10pm. Jett is still not feeling real well so we ask that you continue to pray for this little fellow. We will update further once we arrive in Hanoi. Please pray for safe travel for us and baby Jett. This will be his first flight. Thank you all for the continued comments and prayers. They really help us and we can feel the prayers.

JR and James: We still miss you bunches and can't wait to see ya. We hope and pray we will be home this week to see you. We will have to do something really fun so ya'll be thinking about it. You both be good for Mema and Papa. Daddy got you some new pajamas today- they match baby Jett's. James, they are green, your favorite color. We love you both bunches. Mema, give them lots of sugar for us and we will be there shortly to relieve you. I know you are ready.
love,
momma and daddy

Another Sunday Passes By

2007-07-22T06:44:00.000-04:00

Well another day is just about over. Sunday in Saigon and we haven't seen much outside of the hotel walls. DeanAnne has been sick all day and Jett is not feeling good either. He hardly slept at all last night. We suspect he has an ear infection now. We went out to eat lunch today at an Italian restaurant and it was really good. After we got back to the hotel at 1:00 we all laid down for a nap and no one woke up until 4:00.

This morning I went by myself back to church at the Saigon Evangelical Church. It's not to far from our hotel. I got there about 8:30 and all the seats with translation headphones were filled. I had to listen to the entire service in Vietnamese. The scripture was in Daniel and the sermon was about what kind of man Daniel was. I couldn't understand the sermon at all, but as I followed along in the scripture I imagined what that pastor was saying. I couldn't help but believe that the pastor was talking about Daniel's faith through all his circumstances. How nothing was under his control while he was in that lion's den, but God delivered him anyway. I thought about how King Darius put him in that lion's den because he prayed to God instead of the king. Once the king saw that Daniel was still alive the next day he brought him out of the lion's den, he made a decree that all Persia should bow before the God of Daniel because his Kingdom is everlasting and he delivereth and rescueth. It's amazing how you can sit under the Word of God even in another language and the Holy Spirit can still minister unto you. After the service they had a baptismal service. 33 new believers were baptized and it was great. The whole service lasted about 2 and a half hours. It was long but good.

On another note, I told DeanAnne one day last week, "What do you think are the chances of running into someone from Cochran here in Saigon?" She just laughed and said I wouldn't count on it. The last time I said that to her, we were on a cruise ship in the Cayman Islands. One night the elevator door opened and there stood Ritchie Johnson, one of my best friends from my school days. I couldn't believe it. So the other night I was in the elevator and this nice guy asked us where we were from. I told him Georgia and he said,"Wow, I used to live in Georgia!" So I asked where and he said, "Oh a little town around Macon nobody ever heard of, Cochran." My teeth almost hit the floor. I said, I live in Cochran! The man got so excited. He lived in Cochran in 1975-1977. He was a refugee after the war at 16 years old. His name was Trung Nyguen and he had attended the First Baptist Church back then. He knew people in Cochran and was so excited to meet me. We talked a long time. This was his first trip back to Vietnam in 32 years and he was going to tour the whole country. What a small world!

Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to get our I-600 and head on to Hanoi. Everyone please remember us in your prayers. We have a flight on Wednesday night out of Hanoi. We can only make it if everything works out with the visa. Please pray specifically for that. One of us will leave Wednesday regardless to be back with the boys.Thanks for following along and we hope to see everyone soon.

J.R. and James: We love you and miss you. Hold on and we will be home before you know it.

INS appt

2007-07-21T06:24:00.000-04:00

We finally had out INS interview yesterday. Sorry for not posting earlier, but it was a very tough day. I will skip the grueling details of the day, but we were finally notified yesterday evening that our case would be approved and our approved I600 could be picked up on Monday. We are very excited that we were approved, but picking it up on Monday is another day delay. We were hoping to be in Hanoi on Monday doing our VISA interview. Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction. We once again canceled our tickets to Hanoi and rescheduled them for Monday evening. We are now hoping to arrive in Hanoi on Monday, have the Visa interview on Tuesday, and pick up the Visa on Wednesday. We will come home after we have the Visa in hand. We have to have this Visa to bring Jett back in to the US. Please continue to pray that this will work out for us. We are so ready to come home and see our families and especially JR and James. Also, please continue to pray for us as we strive to complete this emotional process.

On a lighter note, we went out walking this morning. We walked down to the river and looked at many boats. The river here has alot of trash floating in it and also a lot of bamboo. It was nice to have a change of scenary. We then walked around town and went to the grocery store. Jett is on his second nap since we have been back in the room. You can see how tired he is. In one of the other pictures of Jett is a guy that works at our hotel. He has been very kind to us and always holds Jett. I keep saying Jett will look like him when he gets older.

Jett actually slept for 5 hours straight last night. This is a record for us and we were very excited. Before this, his longest stretch of sleep was 3 hours. We seem to have a very active newborn baby on our hands!

If you can't recognize the difference in the post, it is DeanAnne posting and not Jon. Maybe he will be back posting in a few days. I am not quite as informative as he is and talk alot more about Jett than the scenary. Thank you all for the continued prayers and support. Your comments are greatly appreciated and mean so much to us. These comments help us get through each day. We read and appreciate them all.

JR and James: We love you very much and can't wait to see you. I loved seeing you on Mr. Kevin's computer yesterday. We are proud of you for being strong during this time as we work to bring baby Jett home. You both be good for Mema and don't let her get all of my sugar. Remember every time she kisses you, it is from me and daddy. We have lots of special prizes for you when we get home. Remind Mema that you need to say your memory verses at night for her so you won't forget. We love you so much and are so proud of you. God is proud of you too for being such big boys while we are gone.

love you bunches,

Momma and Daddy

No News Yet

2007-07-19T02:36:00.000-04:00

Well things have come to a grinding halt. We have sat in the hotel now for three days waiting on an INS appointment. No one can tell us the status of our case. The facilitator has called, but can't seem to find out anything. I haven't posted frankly because we have been discouraged. So much is out of your hands here, it's very easy to fall into despair. I want everyone to please pray for an INS appointment as soon as possible. It is very hard to be so far away from our family with seemingly no end in sight. DeanAnne and I have discussed options for one of us returning next week to be with the boys if we are still in limbo. We really have to place our faith in God here because we have no choice. I really believe that he has led us all this way and allowed us to go through this for a purpose. We will definitely be stronger after it is over with. Thanks to each of you who has continually lifted us up in prayer while we've been gone. Continue to pray for our strength and for God's will to be done. I still hope to get word of our interview any time now and we will pass the news on as soon as we know. Thanks so much to each of you.

Just Waiting!

2007-07-17T05:18:00.000-04:00

We're still sitting around today waiting to hear from the facilitator about our INS appointment. I hope that no news is good news. Maybe he'll call in a little while and confirm a Wednesday appointment.

Last night we took our facilitator out to eat at the Rex Hotel. The food was very good and they had traditional Vietnamese music being played by a group there. It was very interesting to hear.

After we left the restaurant, there was a terrible commotion outside. It seems that the Vietnamese soccer team had advanced in the Asian Cup. There were hundreds of young people on mopeds racing around the circle below the Rex waving Vietnamese flags and banners. This excitement continued well into the night as the groups went all through the city. They passed our hotel very late yelling and chanting. The group was so large it pretty well shut down all traffic wherever it went. The picture was taken in the circle in front of the Ho Chi Minh City Hall. This is where the statue of Ho Chi Minh with a child is located.

So now we wait. Here are a few more pictures of Jett while we are waiting. Hopefully I'll have good news tomorrow!

Look Mom, No Hands!

Oh Happy Day!

2007-07-16T04:23:00.000-04:00

Praise the Lord! We just got back from our Giving and Receiving ceremony. We had to wait forever, but we were able to complete everything! We are so excited. We drove for about 1.5 hours and picked up the vice-director of the orphange.

We drove a short distance from the orphanage to the Provincial Department of Justice and then waited for 1 hour. Finnaly it was our turn to go into the second story office of The Provincial Department of Justice for our ceremony. There were two ladies inside and we signed 10 documents and a huge legal book similar to the logs for property deeds in a courthouse. The book had detailed information on DeanAnne and I and also on Baby Jett. The ladies and the orphanage director all signed the documents as well.

Once we were through, one of the ladies handed us a copy of our adoption decree and we took a picture. That was it. The ceremony lasted 5 minutes at most and we were back on our way to the hotel. Our facilitator will be stopping by to get some documents from us to file with INS for our interview. Hopefully the interview will be Wednesday morning. Everyone please say a prayer for a Wednesday successful interview. If we can leave Wednesday evening, we might possibly make our 7:50pm flight on Friday evening back home. Wouldn't that be awesome. Please pray for things to fall in place for us over the next few days.

J.R. and James: We miss you and love you. Get Me-Ma to let ya'll watch the video of baby Jett.

Sunday in Saigon

2007-07-15T09:27:00.000-04:00

After a whole lot of trying, we finally found a church to attend today in Saigon. Sue, our agency director , and I have been trying to locate an evangelical church and last night when we talked to the lady at the front desk at the hotel we found out she was a Christian. She gave us the name and address for the Saigon Evangelical Church.

We got there about 8 o'clock and Sunday School was in progress. They do not have many rooms besides the sanctuary, so everyone met in the sanctuary. There were about fifteen groups seated throughout the sanctuary and each one had a teacher going over a bible lesson with them. We waited around until Sunday School was over and then a gentleman directed us to a special section of the sanctuary. There we were given a set of headphones and an English translator translated the entire service to us. The church held about 500 people by my count and it was overflowing. Shortly after the service began, Jett had a bought of diarrhea and ruined his clothes. DeanAnne took him out and changed his clothes. Before she came back an usher came and asked her to let the nursery keep Jett so that she could hear the service. After a week here there is one thing I can tell you about these people, they are extremely kind and compassionate. DeanAnne took Jett to the nursery and felt comfortable doing it (for those of you who know DeanAnne, that says a lot for the nursery). After the service we went down to pick Jett up and he was asleep on the caregiver's shoulder. The service was extremely interesting and the pastor delivered a message entitled, "Where's Your Faith?" He used a scripture from the New Testament about the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee during a storm. Jesus was asleep on the boat and they woke him up, terrified that they were about to die. Jesus stilled the storm and asked the disciples "where is your faith?" The sermon really spoke to me as it seems Vietnam has been our "Sea of Galilee" and at times we have to be reminded that nowhere on this earth is out of His reach.

The translator that took us to Tay Ninh the other day stopped by and brought us some Vietnamese fruit. I don't know what all of it is, but the spiny one that looks like a sweet gum ball is a rambutan. The large pink and green one is a dragon fruit I think.

Tomorrow we will have our Giving and Receiving ceremony if nothing changes. This is an official ceremony where we will sign documents and after it is over the country of Vietnam will recognize us as Jett's legal parents. We leave early in the morning, so we are making final preparations tonight.

We went out walking tonight and it ended up pouring while we were out. We waited for about 30 minutes and the rain never broke so we went into the closest restaurant and had dinner. After dinner it was still raining, so we caught a cab back to the hotel and started getting ready for bed. Here are a few pictures of Jett at bath time. He seems to be doing better now and his fevers are lower and less often. Maybe now we can keep him well until we get back home.That's all for today. Pray for G&R pictures tomorrow.

Day at the Zoo

2007-07-14T03:47:00.000-04:00

This morning we decided to get up and make a trip to the Saigon Zoo. The zoo is located on the edge of the Saigon river. It's in a really shaded and beautiful park area. The zoo itself has some interesting animals, but many of them are in pretty bad conditions. The grounds are well kept though and there was a huge crowd while we were there. One of the things that amazed me most was that many of the grassy areas were trimmed by hand by staff at the zoo. I mean just a pair of over sized scissors. Then they gather the clippings up and carry them off in a basket.

The zoo was full of all kinds of animals, but I found the hippopotamus to be the most fascinating. Those things are huge. The one in this picture is a good 10 feet long and probably 3-4 thousand pounds. I don't think I've ever seen one out of the water. There mouths are full of teeth as well. It was really neat to see one like this.

There were also several other animals. Bears, deer, crocodiles, snakes, and monkeys.

The central area of the zoo had a stage and there were various acts like little girls twirling fire, juggling, and other stunts.

There was a small amusement park inside as well. One of the neatest things I saw were miniature cyclos for kids to ride other kids on around a little track.

They also had several elephants which interestingly enough can be found wild in the central highlands region of Vietnam. Here's a wild one now that has scooped baby Jett up and is about to carry him away!

After the zoo trip we walked down to the Diamond Plaza. It is a huge office building with a mall on the first three floors. The fourth floor has a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, pool hall, and bowling alley. The US Consulate also has office space here and we will go here for our INS interview next week. We have to get past this interview so we can go up to Hanoi and file at the Dept. of State for Jett's visa.We went on into the Pizza Hut and shared another pizza.

We are all in the hotel napping now. Tomorrow is Sunday and then hopefully we will get this show back on the road Monday. I'm really ready to make some progress.One last shot of baby Jett for everyone.

J.R. and James: Be good for Me-Ma. We love you and miss you very much. Hope to see you again soon. Love, Momma and Daddy.

Chad: I just thought I'd show you a picture of the Bohannon's Builders Supply in Saigon. I knew ya'll were looking to diversify, I just didn't know how much. That motorcycle with the bed on the front is their delivery vehicle and I have seen them haul as much as you could get on a pickup truck and that is no lie!

Day Out of the City

2007-07-13T05:45:00.000-04:00

Today I got up about 5:30 and took a ride out of the city with our agency director, Sue. DeanAnne stayed behind at the hotel with Jett because he has been sick for the last couple of days. His fever last night was 102.5, but we finnaly got it down and he's doing pretty good. Sue and I rode in a rented vehicle out of Ho Chi Minh city through the town of Cu Chi and on to Tay Ninh. Tay Ninh is the world center of the Chao Dai faith. It is a little known religion practiced mostly in south Vietnam that combine elements of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. We saw several Chao Dai temples on our way and they are eaily distinguished by the symbol of the all seeing eye that is similar to the eye above the pyramid on the US dollar.

The trip out was very interesting. We drove through rice field after rice field. South Vietnam is pretty much nothing but delta and well suited for rice production. Most of the work is done by hand or oxen. I saw some oxen pulling carts on the road as we passed.

There are also many cows in the delta. They cross the roads in front of vehicles while travelling. There are a few fences in some areas, but most of the animals free range or are tethered with ropes in a certain area.

We also pasted numerous brick kilns in the process of firing brick. I guess this area is also suited well for clay excavation to produce bricks.

There are also numerous buddhist temples in this area. Many of them are involved in production of some kind. There were numerous places to buy elaborate wooden caskets or stone mausoleums with built in altars. We passed several cemeteries where the dead were buried in unique above ground mausoleums.

We also crossed several rivers in this region. The scenery on the rivers is very unique. The houses are old and ricketty. It really reminds me of scenes out of the movies.

I'll throw in a picture of Jett for everybody to see. He's really doing good. Can't wait for ya'll to see him.

The mission team from our church leaves today for the Dominican Republic. Everybody remember them in your prayers. Pray that their work will be fruitful and far reaching. Also remember the Vietnamese people. For all practical purposes, this place is unreached by the gospel. There are a few Christians here, but not many. I have only seen one catholic church outside of Ho Chi Minh and no evangelical churches. Vietnam reminds me of what Jesus said in the bible about the harvest. The fields here are white unto harvest, but the workers are few. Pray that the Master will provide workers. Pray that the Vietnamese can have access to bibles in their own language so they will at least have the opportunity to read and make their own decision.

Out and About in Saigon

2007-07-12T01:55:00.000-04:00

Today we got up and went down for breakfast in our hotel. The food is very good here and breakfast is included in the price of the room. The foods are a bit non-traditional but there are some similar things. I eat either beef pho(noodle soup pictured below) or beef steak and french fries every morning. You have to get down early to eat the pho as it is very popular.

After breakfast we went out walking and ended up at Independence Palace or Reunification Palace. This palace was the presidential office of the South Vietnamese government until it dissolved on April 30, 1975. By this time the American forces had been withdrawn from South Vietnam and only essential military personnel and embassy staff remained in a show of support for the South Vietnamese Democratic government.

Symbolically the capture of this palace by North Vietnamese tanks on April 30, 1975 signaled the reunification of the entire country under communist control. This day is a public holiday in Vietnam known as Reunification Day. These gates pictured are the very same gates shown during the North Vietnamese invasion.

Before this event took place all Americans had been evacuated from Vietnam along with thousands of Vietnamese refugees fleeing the communists. Those who did not escape were re-educated by the North Vietnamese in concentration camps.

The palace is very nice and has a beautiful view. It is about 5 stories, and includes a theatre, a gambling room, rooftop helicopter landing pad, various meeting rooms, and an underground bunker.

From there it was on to the War Remnants Museum. This is a museum constructed to show pictures and effects of the Vietnam War. In Vietnam the war is referred to as the American War. The walls are covered with photographs of bombings of churches, villages, children, and other areas. It even has jars with preserved fetuses that were supposedly aborted or damaged by Agent Orange. It is very gruesome, but a site that is worth seeing. I try to remember that there are two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

The grounds around these areas are well cared for and very beautiful. The city really has some very nice areas.

After the museum it was back to the hotel. Jett went to sleep very quickly so we decided to order room service. Everything on this tray was $5 and it was brought to our room. I just had to show you the squid that was in one of the dishes. It is very good. I tried to get DeanAnne to eat a piece and let the tentacle hang out of her mouth, but she was to embarrassed.

Another note for those who are yet to travel; The streets of Saigon are filled with beggars. Many of them walk on their hands with flip flops for gloves. Some of them are missing limbs or have severe deformities. Some of them are very old ladies. They will pursue you relentlessly for donations or to sell you something. If you are seen giving to one, many more will follow you. Many of them claim their deformity is a result of the war. You have to prepare yourself mentally to turn these people away. If you even stop to talk to them or look at what they have to offer, you will be in a situation. Sometimes it is very hard not to help these people, but many of them are nothing more than con artists waiting to prey on sympathetic travelers. Just a word to the wise so you can be prepared. Most of them are not intimidating or scary, just extremely persistent.

J.R. and James: It was good to talk to you on the video phone. We were so proud to see you both and Julian too. We love you and miss you. Love momma and daddy.

Here are a few more pictures of Jett. He really likes it when Daddy feeds him supper. Oreo cookies! I'll make up for it at breakfast so he can get some dairy products, ice cream!

He has really improved in many areas. He is pulling up and standing on the edge of the bed and chairs. He has also learned to patty-cake. I say patty-cake, patty-cake and clap my hands and he will stop what he's doing and mimic me. It's pretty amazing after only 4 days.

He's been running a fever the last two days. Even while sick he still smiles and laughs alot. We can't wait to get him home for everyone to see!

Feels Like It's Raining All Over the World

2007-07-11T07:50:00.000-04:00

Just got back from supper on Wednesday night here and it has rained all day long. Our friend Joe has been in the SOS International Clinic for two days now with kidney stones. Please remember him and his wife Katie in your prayers as they are here in Vietnam with their first child and all these technical difficulties. We hope he will be able to get out tomorrow. Katie has stayed with us pretty much all day and we've let the boys spend some time together.

Tonight we went out to eat at the Texas Bar BQ restaurant and man is it good.

The tables are outdoor and covered by a large canopy. Country music blasts over the speakers while you eat. It really feels alot like being back home. I enjoy eating at this place and this makes twice that we've gone. Check out the tops on the Coke cans, bet you haven't seen one like that in a while!

Last night we ate here and when we left I caught the worst taxi you have ever seen. The driver was young and he kept choking the taxi down. I gave him a card from the hotel which is a bout a $1 ride from the restaurant. Thirty minutes later we are nowhere near the hotel. DeanAnne says, "Don't you think we need to get out?" I said sure, and we'll just wait until daylight and walk towards the Saigon skyline. He finally stopped and asked some people how to go. Once we got in the area, he still wasn't sure where we were so I just told him to stop and we'd get out. We walked the next few blocks and as we were going up the stairs into the hotel I saw him come putting along by. I guess he just wanted to make sure where it was for the next time. I cannot stress enough to those who are coming what a barrier, language will be. Vietnamese is a tonal language and cannot be spoken mono tonally as we speak english. For example, I can speak Vietnamese words and 9 times out of 10 the person I am talking to will not even realize I am speaking Vietnamese. They sure don't understand the slow drag southern drawl Vietnamese that I speak. Thien Xuan, our hotel comes out like "tin swan" with about 7 syllables. They just smile and act like I have said hello. Well that's about all for today. Jett is running a fever and he's in a foul mood when he gets ready to go to sleep. I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow and a better feeling little boy. Until next time, adios or rather tam biet as the locals say!

Tuesday's Gone with the Wind

2007-07-10T07:34:00.000-04:00

Last night we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called Pomodoro. It was very authentic, and very good. We came back and went to bed. Jett woke up a couple of times in the night, but he slept until 9:00. Once we got up and checked the e-mail, bad news had befallen us. Seems our Giving and Receiving which was scheduled for Wednesday, was cancelled and rescheduled for Monday. This really floored me as it will significantly postpone our return, possibly by as much as 5 days. It just doesn’t seem fair, but I have learned one thing through this entire adoption process; when things don’t go the way I planned that just means they went according to the plans of the One who knows much better than me. Please continue to lift us in prayer and our family daily. DeanAnne really got emotional this morning when J.R. said, “Momma, I’m ready for you to come home.”

We went for lunch later in the morning and you’ll never guess where; Pizza Hut. We were supposed to meet our friends Joe and Katie there, But guess what. There are twoo Pizza Huts in Saigon and we both went to different ones. The Pizza Hut was very nice and similar to the ones at home except that it was four stories tall. The menu was pretty much the same. We had a “Country Delight” which has sausage, ham, mushrooms, and pineapple. You couldn’t tell a bit of difference between it and one in Georgia, very good. The service was very good as well. After the waitress took our order, she said that it would be out in 17 minutes. I thought that was a pretty specific time, but she was right on the money. The cost for a large pizza and 3 drinks(no free refills here)= $10. The oddest thing about the place was that the bathroom was on the top floor. Air conditioning ends on the 2nd floor, so those last two flights of stairs were hot! I told DeanAnne I needed to go, but by the time I reached the top I had sweated it all out. I just turned around and headed back down. All that effort for nothing!

Better news came a little later when our facilitator stopped by the hotel and told us he had already arranged for our medical exams to be performed this afternoon. That will help us to move things along a little faster after our Giving and Receiving. Every person, babies included, who wish to travel from Vietnam to the U.S. must first have a medical examination before an entry visa will be granted. This examination must be performed by an embassy approved doctor at an approved facility.

We went to the Cho Ray hospital for our appointment. There were many people there waiting for appointments for a visa examination. Most of them were adults, but there were also a few other adopted babies there for examination. The examination went very well and Jett did not even cry during the exam.

He made up for it in the taxi on the way back. He was very tired and he missed his usual afternoon nap. He is asleep now after much struggling. It has always been amazing to me how the sleepier a child is the harder it is for them to go to sleep. He fought the good fight, but eventually sleep won.

We have the rest of the week free now. I don’t know what we will do but our next appointment is for our Giving and Receiving on Monday. I think we will see a few attractions and just rest. Thanks for visiting our site and please keep the comments coming. They are a great source of comfort for us. For those of you who doubt that I am in Vietnam because you never see pictures of me, DeanAnne snapped this photo at the hospital. My feet were very tired so I had Jett to carry me. Isn't he a big boy.

J.R. and James: Momma and Daddy miss you alot and we hope to be home with baby Jett very soon. Remember to pray for baby Jett to come home when you say your prayers tonight. We love you both! Here's a smile and a wave from baby Jett just for both of you!

Cyclo Tour of the City

2007-07-09T03:45:00.000-04:00

Last night we went out to eat with the director of our agency, Sue Hedberg. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant called Lemongrass. The food was good and DeanAnne and I both had pho. Pho (pron. fer) is a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup and it is served in stalls, cafes and by street vendors all over Saigon. It is full of noodles, meat, and vegetables. You don't usually eat the broth, just the ingredients. After we left the restaurant we walked back to the hotel and I took this picture of the Ho Chi Minh City Hall.

Last night brought back old memories. Jett is 1 year old, but he still takes a bottle about every 3 hours. He has not had anything food wise but cereal mixed with water. His caregivers held him alot and he has not developed muscularly in his lower body because of it. He can stand and cruise down the edge of the bed. He moves around really good and I think by the time we come home you'll probably see alot of difference in his lower body. He is a very happy baby and only cries when he wants a bottle. He is very interested when we are out walking and really pays attention to the things going on around him. He also smiles and laughs alot.

We went to the grocery store this morning to try and find some baby food for him. We think that if he gets some real food in him he will be able to go longer between meals. After we left the grocery store we started walking back. Some cyclo drivers begin following us and hassling us. I finally gave in and we let them take us for a ride.

A cyclo is a bicycle with two wheels on the front and a seat for a passenger. The driver sits on the rear and pedals the contraption. They are a common sight in Saigon and many of them are very old and dilapidated. The drivers will follow you around and aggravate the stuffings out of you to give you a ride. They are notorious for sticking tourists as well. Settle on a price before you get on the thing. Every one that comes by me pats his calves and says"Very strong, I give you ride!" So today I decided I would test one out. It is a really good way to see the city. We rode by a lot of places today.

We saw the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House and the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The streets are very busy and It gets kinda scary sometimes as the trucks and motorcycles zip past you. I am still amazed at what people haul on their motorcycles and bicycles. They carry things you can't even imagine. Here is a picture of a bicycle so you can get an idea.

We saw several booths while on the ride selling dog meat and kangaroo meat. We also passed several Budhist pagodas where people go to pray and offer incense. These incense altars are burning all over the city. Many shop keepers burn them right in the doorways of their shop. At the temples, some of the incense sticks are 4-5 foot long and as big around as a broomstick. They also burn huge incense coils in the pagodas that are suspended from the ceiling.

After a couple of hours of riding around, it began to rain. This is the monsoon season in Vietnam and rain comes almost every day. The cyclo drivers pulled over and let us stand under a shop's awning while they put the covers up on their cyclos. Here is a picture of DeanAnne's driver assembling her cab. The rain was short and we headed back on our way. It was really hot and Jett was getting restless so we headed back to the hotel. The weather here is very similar to Georgia, hot and humid. The humidity doesn't go away here though since it rains much more frequently than back home.

Thanks for checking up on us. No adoption work today or tomorrow. Wednesday we will go to the Binh Duong People's Committee offices for our Giving and Receiving. It's really nice here, but I'm ready to move through this process and stand on familiar ground again. It can be very unnerving at times when you think about how far away from home you are and how little is under your control. We have to put everything in God's hands. The language is a very significant barrier. I recommend to anyone coming to get a phrase book and practice a little before you come. If you have any Vietnamese friends, get their help. Most of the Vietnamese people speak enough English that you can understand them. The problem comes when they try to understand you. I know this thick southern accent I got probably don't help any either. At times it can be a real problem. You ask a question and the person just smiles at you. So you say what you think is a similar word in Vietnamese and they don't even recognize what your saying as Vietnamese. Both of you smile at each other and say thank you while walking away. The people are very nice though. I doubt there's anywhere else in the world you can make such a fool out of yourself and not feel really embarrassed by it.

Drumroll Please!

2007-07-08T01:03:00.000-04:00

May we introduce the newest member of the Fordham family, Jett Reuben Fordham. We will call him Bao (Bow) as that is his Vietnamese name and he seems to respond to it. The very first meeting was very emotional and he was scared. he quickly warmed up to DeanAnne , but would cry sometimes when he saw his 20 year old caregiver. He is very small but he can pull up and sit unassisted. he was very scared of me at the first meeting, but now since we are in the hotel room he doesn't seem nearly as frightened. This post won't be long as I have not got much to say. Everything is so overwhelming. 18 months of prayers and dreams came together today in one moment and it was extremely humbling. We are so thankful to each person who has lifted us up in prayer. Now we ask for special prayer as we go for our Giving and Receiving ceremony on Wednesday. This is an official ceremony in the province where he lives. After this ceremony we will be recognized by Vietnam as his legal parents. The next steps will be a series of interviews with U.S. immigration officials. Please pray specifically for his INS interviews and that all requirements for his visa will be met and approved as quickly as possible so that we can travel back to be with J.R. and James soon. Sometimes these steps can really prolong travel.

To my Sunday School Class and Church family: We miss each of you and hope that we will be back ASAP. Please pray for us this morning when you all meet and we hope to re-join you all soon.

To J.R. and James: Say hello to your new baby brother. Ask Me-Ma to help you say his name so you can talk to him when we come home. We love you both and miss you so much.

To all my close "guy" friends: Jett's caregiver asked me had I tried "meat dog". Apparently dog meat is considered exotic here and can be bought from the vendors on the street. I heard today that the lighter colored the hair, the more tasty the meat. I haven't tried any yet, but I might if I get the chance. I'll let you know what I think.

Jimmy: I haven't seen any live chickens, but plenty of chicken meat. The chickens are dressed whole with the entire length of their neck minus the head. The head is sold separately. Just knew you'd be interested in that.

Saturday Trip To the Market

2007-07-07T06:57:00.000-04:00

Today was a busy day. We got up this morning and met with our agency representative, Mr. Hiep. He will pick us up at 9am on Sunday and take us to meet Jett for the first time. We are very excited. I don't think I can describe how we feel right now. I'm sure that first meeting will be very emotional. We have invested a tremendous amount of emotion into this over the last year, and it will all climax tommorrow. We can't wait.

After we met Mr. Hiep, our friends Joe and Katie came over to the hotel and took us down to the Binh Than market to look around. (I'm the dainty looking bodyguard on the right for the three celebrities on the left.)This was an amazing experience. The market is one of the most interesting places I have ever been. We entered the market right down the street from our hotel. The side we are on houses the meat and vegetables. You can find almost anything you can imagine here. The aisles are filled with live fish, shrimp, crabs, beef, pork, and things I have never seen before much less know what they are. The smell is putrid, but it is so interesting to walk through. We bought a few things today, but not a lot.

The market has every thing you can imagine. Clothes, jewelry, purses, collectibles, medicine, herbs, coffee, you name it. The price is negotiable on everything. The clothing sales people are very pushy. Some young girls grabbed me today and pulled me into their booth. They keep saying, "We have your size!" She tried to unbutton my shirt so I could try one on. Some of them would make excellent car salesmen. I also don't believe that many people have my size. I am something of a rarity here. I don't speak Vietnamese well but I can pick up on remarks that people make as I am passing about my heighth. We have not met any rude or mean people here. The people are very gracious and polite.

There are a lot of places to buy things in this area. People are set up to sell all up and down the street. There are also a lot of older women cooking, selling fruit, or taking things to the market to sell.

Many of the items are very cheap. We bought DeanAnne a backpack to replace her torn one. It was a North Face and it only cost $10. Many people are walking around begging for money. If you give any to them others will follow you around and beg. Many of these people are handicapped and you feel very sorry for them. There are also alot of very young children roaming around by theirself begging.

Well it's almost dark and I think DeanAnne and I are going to go get something to eat. Next time we should be able to post pictures and tell you about baby Jett. Until then, thanks for checking on us.

Safe and Sound in Saigon

2007-07-06T02:05:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. This update is from our hotel , The Thien Xuan. We had to stay in a suite tonight because the regular rooms are booked up. We should be able to move tommorrow. I am totally overwhelmed right now, so I'll start from the beginning (especially for those who are coming to Vietnam in the future).

We arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport (Saigon) after a 2.5 hour flight from Hong Kong. Before you exit the plane the stewardesses will give you a declaration form to fill out and carry through customs. I was really nervous about this because I had heard people had problems sometimes coming through customs and immigration. The form was really easy to fill out. You have to keep it with your passport at all times while in Vietnam. Once we got off the plane, we had to walk down a long corridor that leads to a large open area where immigration officials have numerous lines set up. I assume they are military people, and many of them are younger. You have to wait in line until they call you forward and then they will look at your passport and visa. They want to know how long you will be staying and where you will be staying. Some people are detained longer than others for questions, but we went right through. Next you go on to collect your baggage then proceed to customs before you exit the airport. Here they will x-ray all your belongings and remove a portion of your declaration form to retain for their records. Once you clear customs you may exit the airport. It is like a mad house once you go through those doors(see picture above). There are hundreds of people standing there either waiting on someone or just watching people walk out. There was a staff person from our agency holding a sign up for us. I didn't have much trouble finding him and he led us out to the taxi.

We rode the taxi back to our hotel and boy is that first trip an experience. No amount of people telling you about the traffic will prepare you until you see it for yourself. There are 1000's of motorcycles and I am not exaggerating. People blow their horns non-stop and for no apparent reason. Chaos is about the best description I can think of. Multiple lanes of traffic merge at intersections with no signal lights. Just a lot of stop-n-go and horn blowing. It's no wonder foreigners are not allowed to drive here. It would take some time to learn this stuff. You would be amazed at what some people haul on these motorcycles. I saw one with a full size bed mattress on it. It is amazing. It is also very noisy here. Vehicle noise and horn blowing are the constant background. This picture is out of our hotel window. It is a side street so it is not as busy. This is a four way intersection with no signs or signals. People just come and go all 4 ways without stopping. It's pretty neat to watch.

The hotel is really nice and I think we will enjoy staying here. I hope to go out today and see more of what is around our hotel. I'm sure we will get something to eat later on, but I am wore out with only 7 hrs. of sleep in the last 48 hrs., and that was in an upright airplane seat. Well that's all for now, more later!

The Hong Kong Connection

2007-07-05T18:12:00.000-04:00

We landed in Hong Kong at 5:00am (5:00pm back home).The airport is almost deserted at this time of day. We leave at 8:50am on our flight to Saigon. The Hong Kong flight lasted 14 hours. I was able to sleep about the first 7 hours (and I use "sleep" loosely). It's hard to describe a 14 hour plane flight. All I can say is that it feels better landing than taking off. I didn't practice sleeping in the upright position enough. The Hong Kong airport is a really beautiful place. It is surrounded by water and mountainous islands. It has been raining and the clouds and fog are hanging around the mountaintops. I threw in a picture for everyone to see. We leave here and we have a 2 1/2 hour flight to Saigon. We should be in our hotel around 12:00 if we don't have any trouble. More to come.

J.R. and James: Momma and Daddy sure do miss you. We love you both and can't wait to get back home to see you. J.R. , I haven't seen that pond you wanted yet, but let me know if you think of anything else and I will look for you. be good and we will talk to ya'll soon. We love you!

And They're Off!

2007-07-05T00:46:00.000-04:00

It’s 4:00 right now and we are sitting in the Atlanta airport. The flight out of Savannah was great. When we got up in the air out of Savannah the pilot sounded the tone to unfasten seatbelts. Then he sounded the tone to fasten seatbelts again. It sounded like a doorbell, Ding-Dong. No joke, that’s about how long the flight was. Savannah airport is very nice. The boys were able to go all the way up to the TSA search point with us. There is only one concourse, so they could really see what was going on. They must have ridden the escalators up and down 100 times. After much hugging and kissing and crying we made our way down to the gate. Momma and Daddy hung around with the boys and they watched our flight leave. I am really impressed with the Savannah airport. It is nice to go into such a small airport, no lines, no crowds, and no waiting. We can make it there in less than two hours and minus the chaos. It’s nice to fly into Atlanta and get to skip the TSA search lines that are sometimes there. Next flight leaves at 5:30 to Los Angeles. On a lighter note, I was really worried about the size of the seats on the airplane. At 6’3” and 285 lbs. I am hardly the average American. DeanAnne and I had a pair of seats on the two seat side of the airplane. I was able to comfortably sit in the seat and DeanAnne didn’t mind lying in the floor as long as I kept my feet out of her face. That’s all for now, more in L.A.

Well here we are in Los Angeles. It's almost 10:00 here and our flight leaves at 11:50. 14 hours later we'll arrive in Hong Kong. The Los Angeles airport is very confusing. It's layout is nothing like Atlanta. We had to leave the concourse we were in and travel to another separate concourse that is for international flights. It was about a ten minute walk and their were no signs that clearly marked the way. It was chaos on the inside. Apparently a lot of flights to Asia leave out around midnight. We finally made it to our gate and here we sit now. We are flying out on a 747 and I can see it out the window as I type. Man is that thing big. It has an upper level where the pilots and first class passengers ride. The middle level is economy and it runs from the nose of the plane to the tail. Of course DeanAnne and I will be riding in the cargo hold, about as nice as we could afford. I sure hope I can hang on until they let the wheels up. I really don't want to fall out. That's all for now. Next chapter: Hong Kong.

Last Day

2007-07-03T08:49:00.000-04:00

Well today is the last day to get ready. We stayed up until 2am this morning packing bags and going over documents. You have to take so many things with you that it just feels like your leaving something for sure. Tomorrow morning we will pull out around 9 am. My momma and daddy will be taking us to the airport in Savannah. Our flight doesn't leave until 2:30, but we will probably go eat somewhere together before going on to the airport. James and J.R. are very excited to be able to go to the airport and see the airplanes. Leaving the boys will by far be the hardest part of this trip for DeanAnne (Jon too!). We will pretty much miss the month of July 2007 in their lives. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Nothing in life that is worth having comes for free. Just as Jesus payed the ultimate price that we might be adopted as sons and daughters into the family of God, our family must pay a price to bring Jett here into our family. DeanAnne and I know that when we come back at the end of the month and we are re-united as a family with J.R., James, and Jett every minute gone will be worth it. We are not the only ones who are affected by this trip. Many of our family and friends are also affected. They will be taking care of the boys, feeding animals, taking care of the house, etc. So many people are playing a part in this adoption and we are so grateful to each and every one of them. Please remember my mother (Debi) in your prayers as she will have our boys for the entire time. Then the week of July 14-21 she will also have my nephew (Julian) as my brother (Robert), his wife (Dale), my daddy (Jerry), and several more of our neighbors and church family will be traveling to The Dominican Republic on a mission trip.

DeanAnne's office is giving her a shower today. She was really excited. After she comes home from work today we will make some final preparations and then we will be off tomorrow. I'll try to keep everyone posted as we progress through our trip whenever possible. Thanks for your support and continued prayers.

*QUICK OFF TOPIC NOTE: Just thought I would share something with everyone for what it's worth. Saturday night DeanAnne and I took the boys to Chic-Fil-A in Dublin to eat and play on the slide. While the boys were playing I ran across the street to Office Max to pick up a few things . While I was in Office Max I saw Herschel Walker. For those of you not from Georgia, Herschel Walker carried the Bulldogs to a 1980 National Championship in what is considered to be the best freshman year for a college player ever. He is ranked in many top 100 college players ever polls as #2. He left UGA after his junior year and joined the now defunked USFL. After the USFL he went on to play in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys. He was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for 5 players and 6 draft picks. This trade is considered to be the turning point in Dallas Cowboys rise to dominance as they acquired Emmit Smith and several other powerhouses with the draft picks they got for Herschel. He went on to do very little for the Vikings. He played for several other teams and was eventually re-acquired by Dallas where he retired in 1997. He also was on the U.S. bobsled team in the 1992 Winter Olympics.He is a born-again Christian and commented freely about his faith in numerous interviews while in the USFL. In 2006 he claimed on a talk show to still do the same routine everyday he has done since high school 2500 sit-ups and 1500 push-ups daily.

I called my friend Mark Abney in Raleigh, NC to tell him I had just seen Herschel. When he answered the phone I said, "You'll never guess who I just saw at Office Max in Dublin." He said, "Herschel Walker". I think I was more amazed that Mark guessed it than I was at seeing Herschel. He was very friendly and he attracted quite a large crowd. I didn't see him refuse to sign an autograph for a single person, and in fact he carried on conversations with many of them.

Ready to Fly

2007-06-28T23:20:00.000-04:00

Well I just got off the phone with our travel agent, Todd Gallinek. He comes highly recommended from scores of adoptive parents. I hope he comes through for us. The plane trip is now finalized. This is what it looks like:

July 4 - Depart - Savannah, GA - Arrive - Atlanta, GA - Delta Airlines

July 4 - Depart - Atlanta, GA - Arrive - Los Angeles, CA - Delta Airlines

July 4 - Depart - Los Angeles, CA - Arrive - Hong Kong - Cathay Pacific Airways

July 6 - Depart - Hong Kong - Arrive - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - Cathay Air

Total flight time will be 23 hours in the air. With layovers the trip will take about 32 hours.If you notice we leave out of Los Angeles on the 4th and arrive in Hong Kong on the 6th. The flight is only 14 hours long but since we leave at 11:30pm on the 4th and we travel through multiple timezones we will land in Hong Kong on the 6th.

We are also flying out of Savannah which I have never done before. Tickets cost $10 more. We are almost centered in between Atlanta and Savannah but I would pay $100 extra to not have to drive in Atlanta.

Flying out on the 4th means we will miss the annual 4th of July shindig with all our Rebie community friends at Jimmy and Amy's house. We were gonna kill and barbeque a whole hog. Jimmy says if I'm leaving, then the hog killin' is off. Oh well, I guess it'll be the Piggly Wiggly meat counter for Boston Butts this year. I really hate that we won't make it since it has really become a tradition, but we've got important business to take care of this year and I think Jimmy and Amy will understand. I guess we'll just send J.R. and James in our place.

Wednesday Worries

2007-06-27T23:54:00.000-04:00

Well, we didn't get a whole lot done today. DeanAnne got some documents notarized, and I stayed on the phone and computer. Speaking of DeanAnne, let me show ya'll what she's doing while I work on this blog. She will probably kill me when she sees this, but I just couldn't resist. I'm gonna make some kind of reservation for flights tommorrow. Hopefully tommorrow night I'll have a flight itinerary. We have waited so long to get this far, and now that we are here, things are beginning to sink in. In seven days from now we'll be several hours into a 20+ hour flight. 10 days from now we will be meeting baby Jett. I'm ready, but I can't help but be nervous. Our friends Joe and Katie, who are also adopting, made it into Saigon today. I'm looking forward to hearing about what it's like first hand. That's about it for tonight. To be fair, I'll just post a picture of myself sleeping so maybe DeanAnne won't be to mad. And for those of you who are wondering, that is my natural hair color.

Getting Ready to Go

2007-06-26T16:19:00.000-04:00

We started out the weekend by taking a trip to Macon to buy gifts to take with us to give to various people we meet while on our trip. These would include Jett's caregivers, the orphanage director, drivers, coordinators, etc. Just a small token of appreciation for the part they are playing in this adoption. We bought several UGA items based on a recommendation by others to give a gift that is representative of our state or area we live in.

Last night we started packing and it was a task. I think DeanAnne and I had two different ideas about how much stuff to take. DeanAnne's suitcase is on the top and mine is on the bottom. We bought a new rolling duffle bag at Eddie Bauer this weekend. Low and behold the thing is to big to check in on a plane. Total measurements are(L + W + H) cannot be over 62 inches. The duffle bag is 65 inches! I think we could get it in, but the excess baggage fee is $100 per flight. We'll leave it home to be safe. If anyone needs a good Extra Large bag for a trip, storage, or to park a small vehicle in, let me know. I'll make you a good deal. There is also a weight limit of 50lbs. After we re-packed the duffle bag in a smaller bag, guess how much it weighed. You guessed it, 50 lbs. Looks like we will be shifting some items to another bag.

I called about plane tickets today. I hope we have some concrete plans in the next couple of days. I'm really looking forward to getting those details ironed out. Right now the cheapest flight is out of Atlanta on Korean Air. For a few hundred more dollars we can fly out of Savannah on Cathay Air. I hope to make a decision before Thursday.

Let Us Introduce Ourselves

2007-06-26T15:18:00.000-04:00

Most of you already know who we are, but I thought I'd give a little background for those of you who don't know us that well........ born on a rainy night in a one room shack on the outskirts of New Orleans, just kidding. My name is Jon and my wife's name is DeanAnne. We have been married for 5 years (is that right DeanAnne?). We have two sons, J.R. and James. J.R. will be four in August and James will be three in December. We live in rural Bleckley county on a farm that has been in my family for 100+ years. I drive a school bus for Bleckley County Schools( a fine bunch to work with if I say so myself) and work part-time as the attendance and safety officer. My brother Robert and I have farmed in a partnership for about 7 years now and we grow hay and cows. DeanAnne is a Physician's Assistant(PA) and she works for Eastman Pediatric Clinic in Eastman, GA. J.R. and James are currently un-employed.
Adoption was placed on our hearts about a year after we got married. Shortly after that J.R. was born and seventeen months later James was born. When James was almost a year old(October 2005), we once again felt led to open our home to an adopted child. We had no idea that 18 months later we would still be working on bringing a child home. God has used this experience to cultivate a new understanding of patience and longsuffering for our family.
In July 2006 we received a referral for a 1 month old baby boy who lived in an orphanage in the province of Binh Duong, just outside of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. We immediately set to work on coming up with a name. For several generations in my family, all boys have been named with the same initials, JRF. Our little boy's given name is Tran Gia Bao Huu (pron: Yah Bow Who Chong). We were torn for a while on how to save part of his given name while not leaving him out of family tradition. We finnaly decided to name him Jett Reuben Fordham. We will attempt to maintain his given Vietnamese name legally if possible along with his new name.
On June 25, 2007 we received an e-mail from our agency informing us that we have been cleared for travel to Vietnam to complete our adoption and we should be in Ho Chi Minh City on July 7, 2007. Since the flight from Georgia takes almost 24 hours, we will be leaving on July 4 or July 5. We have been chronicling this entire adoption on our adoption website at Journey to Me.com. We will continue to post to that site as we travel. I thought it would be great to have this blog as well to post on while we travel for the many people who have shown interest in our adoption.
I will do my best to make at least daily updates while we are travelling so that everyone can have an idea about what is going on. Please remember us in your prayers as I am sure we will face numerous challenges. I will try to give a lot of details as we have numerous friends that we have met through this process who are also adopting and will be interested in what is going on.
Feel free to post comments and e-mail questions as I know your correspondence will be of great comfort to us. We will also be posting daily to the boys, J.R. and James while they are staying with my momma and daddy back home. Thank you all so much for your kindness and prayers for us during this time. We are so grateful that you all have chosen to share in this experience with us.