Homecoming Vietnam

Wow. It is so hard to believe that we haven't posted to this blog since 2008. My how time flies. I remember as a child that it seemed like it took forever for Christmas to come around. Now it seems like it comes three times a year.

So many things have changed over the last five years. Jett has just finished his first year of Pre-Kindergarten and he is really looking forward to starting Kindergarten next year. He is such a smart fellow and charming as well. He seems to be a celebrity around town. I have lived here all my life and sometimes I don't even know who some of the kids are that I overhear saying, "There's Jett!"

In 2007, DeanAnne and I set a goal to try and return to Vietnam every five years so that Jett could see the country and have a better understanding of his roots as he grew up. I also wanted J.R. and James to be able to explore Jett's homeland. Those of you who followed our blog originally will recall that they stayed with my mother during that month that we travelled. Fast forward five years and now we stand ready to return for the first time. I guess it is a homecoming of sorts for a little boy who has only really known the home he has become part of on Rebie Road in rural Bleckley County, Georgia (that's about as far away from the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as you can get, 9390 miles to be exact).

On Tuesday, May 29, we will depart (this time with the entire family) for Saigon. We will spend approximately 14 days in the Thien Xuan Hotel. This is the same hotel we stayed in for weeks in 2007. We are looking forward to returning, this time on our own schedule. We felt that it would be fitting to crank this old blog up again to chronicle the experience. I hope that many of you who joined us the first time will follow along with us again. Many of your prayers, comments, and encouraging messages sustained us through many dark moments during that month five years ago. I hope that many of our new friends will share in this experience with us this time as well.

Remember us in your prayers as we leave out Tuesday evening from the Savannah Airport for New York City. From there it will be on to Tokyo, Japan and then down to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The entire flight is a little more than thirty hours with layovers. The longest leg in the air will be about 15-16 hours. The boys have never been on a flight like this, so pray for their peace and patience (ours as well).

I couldn't finish out this post without putting some pictures of then and now. The picture below is the first picture we have of DeanAnne and Jett within moments of meeting him for the first time. Just looking at the picture makes me emotional. I went back and read the post with this picture and looked at the many comments that people left for us. It brings tears to my eyes. God has been so good to our family. We have been so blessed to share these last five years with Jett. I am looking forward to the next five.