Have visas, will travel!!

Today the final piece of the travel puzzle has come together. Our much coveted, (not-so-long) awaited visas for travel to Vietnam arrived. We are very relieved to have them in hand.

The rest of our travel plans-- air plane tickets, hotel, arrangements for the animals, etc have been taken care of. We are happy to report that everything is nearly done with the exception of the packing. Well, for those readers who know Janie, you will NOT be surprised to hear that she has created VERY detailed packing lists that are PAGES long. These will make the packing quick and easy but we have not actually done any...yet.... Check back next weekend and you will most likely see what those lists can yield!!

Take me out to the ball game...

Here are a few photos from a recent trip to a Cincinnati Reds Baseball game. Michael's friend, Kenny won the tickets and we were pleased that he took us as his guest. The seats were great and so was the game-- the Reds won!!!

Travel Dates!!

Well, the day has arrived, we received our TRAVEL dates!!! We will be leaving home on September 13th and flying to Hanoi to arrive on Saturday, September 15th!!!! We are SO excited!!! As far as coming home... we are scheduled to depart Hanoi on Friday, October 5th and return home to Cincinnati on Saturday, October 6th!! Did I mention we are EXCITED!??!?!

We have already booked our flights and are in the process of making our hotel reservations. We will be travelling to Vietnam with our friend Dana (from our group-- the other 2-- Leslie and Emilie will be going on September 7th)!! WOW!! We leave 3 weeks from THURSDAY-- back to travel planning for us-- we have SO much to do!! AAAAHHH!!!!

Weekend Update

This weekend was a very nice summer weekend. It was relaxing and we had time to catch up with friends and family.

Saturday, Michael went to get a haircut. He chose to have it cut very short-- for our upcoming trip to Vietnam. Janie thinks it looks great!! What do the readers think!??


Later that evening, we had dinner with Mom and Roger at the new Riverwalk Cafe in Hamilton. The atmosphere was really nice (live music, etc) and there were SEVERAL tasty menu choices. We look forward to going back!!


Sunday, we had Leslie's BABY SHOWER to attend!! It was nice to spend more time with our group who will soon become our travel partners. Here are a few pictures from the day:

The Shower Honoree: LESLIE!!

The beautiful 'diaper' cake- made with 2 layers of diapers, onesies, wash cloths, toys, rattles, hair things, etc by Leslie's mom. It was INCREDIBLE!!!

Fellow traveller Michelle Cornett-- Leslie's sister!!

Our group-- soon-to-be Mommies!! Emilie and Dana

Going Bananas!!

Well, not much to report-- We are still awaiting travel dates and we are told that they will be here soon. Our agency also has told us that travel will most likely be 6 weeks (give or take) after referral. So, that still puts us in September. Usually, people get dates about 2-3 weeks before travel. Our acceptance package arrived at PLAN on Monday (per Fedex) and has to be reviewed before travel dates can be issued. Logically, we KNOW all of this information however, we would really like our travel dates NOW!! I think we may need a visit from the now-famous 'Patience Grasshopper'!!

Hmm... what else?!?

Yesterday, we went to the doctor to get our prescriptions for travel (malaria meds, antibiotics, etc). and that went well. It was nice to cross another thing off the getting ready check list. On Monday, we got a lovely baby gift from Polly and Lock. We think Iyla will LOVE her monkey rug (as seen above)-- thanks!!!

The families with our agency currently in Vietnam are doing well. They have completed their first visa appointment and should have the second one next week. It is hard to believe that will be us soon!!! We can't wait!!!

Party Time!!

Thursday night, we met the group for a celebratory dinner in honor of receiving our long-awaited, much-anticipated, REFERRALS!!! We had a nice time at Chilli's chatting, sharing pictures, and opening baby gifts. We are all looking forward to receiving firm travel dates so we can start making plans. The group has decided to book travel together which would be AMAZING!! Travelling to Vietnam with our great friends would be such a comfort for all of us. Hopefully, it can be arranged in terms of seats on planes, etc. WATCH out world- here we come!!

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

The famous GROUP!

Left Row: (front to back) Emilie, Bob, and Leslie

Right Row: (front to back) Dana, Janie, and Michael

Dana opening her present from Leslie. YAY stacking cups!!

Emilie showing us one of her favorite books-- she can't wait to read it to Ellie!!

Bob and Leslie enjoying dinner

Odds and Ends...

This week has also been quite busy. Last weekend, we were visited by Janie's Mom and Marty. We all had a great time celebrating Iyla's referral, as well as going to Brown County for some shopping. Thanks guys-- come back anytime!!!


Sunday, we visited Mama (Michael's grandmother) who had purchased a very useful and incredibly LIGHT umbrella stroller for the wee one. We spent that evening putting the stroller together and trying it out with some (fairly) cooperative cats. Here's a picture of our newest addition, Panthera trying out his new ride:

Monday and Tuesday we spent working on Iyla's lifebook. A lifebook is a scrapbook that provides background information for an a child who has been adopted. We were glad to be able to add pictures of her to the book and we are happy with how that project is coming along.
Tuesday evening, we were greeted by a large box sent from Janie's Dad and Honey. We were VERY excited to find our large travelling-type stroller inside. Again, we HAD to put it together right away and here is the finished product:


Thanks again Dad and Honey!!!





Wednesday night we spent organizing the office. Sorry, no pictures (it really looked as if a tornado busted through the place!!). We also worked on paperwork to get ready to travel. We spent time working to complete each item PERFECTLY-- we read the instructions for each form a few times just to be sure. We certainly would like to minimize travel hassles (especially due to paperwork errors!) As we were busy cleaning up, the cats had their own idea of how to spend the evening:

Nice-- Thanks cats!!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered-- She's (Nearly) Ours!!

Well, yesterday we received the much anticipated DHL package containing our official referral paperwork, travel info, and agreement to accept our referral!!!

We carefully read all of the documents (twice) and signed on the dotted line. Here are a few pictures of us signing our paperwork to accept Iyla as our daughter:

Now, today the package gets dropped off at Fed Ex, set to arrive in McMinnville, Oregon sometime on Monday.

Next step, travel plans and more preparation!!!

And her name is....

*(One more referral pic!!)

Well, after much debate we have come up with a name for our beautiful daughter.

Her name is: Iyla Brynne Gustin.

Iyla is pronounced EYE-LA and we think it suits her very well.

A big THANKS for all the input from family, friends, strangers on the street (no, not really), coworkers, etc.

In other news, the International Adoption center (Dr Staat) just called with the WONDERFUL report that all looks well with our daughter's medical reports. She said our daughter looked healthy and happy and that she had NO medical concerns regarding our referral at all. What a relief!! We look forward to having Dr Staat look over little Iyla when we arrive home.

And finally, travel news. Well sort of...

We were told to go ahead and obtain visas (90 day expiration) and our agency believes that we will travel in first part of September!!! Well, we will have to see!!!

Ready? Set?! REFERRAL PHOTOS!!!

Here she is:

Little_____ (still not sure of the first name yet) Gustin. We are still tossing around ideas however, I THINK we have narrowed the list down to three main contenders. We have received lots of input and we will just have to decide.

Well, you have waited long enough..... or maybe not?!.....

Baby Gustin was born on April 8, 2007- Easter Sunday--- and without any further ado-- we present her here for your viewing pleasure!!

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We're going to Kentucy, We're going to the Fair....

Last week, was known as 'Fair week' around this area. Of course we could not miss out on such a momentous occasion and did not want to deprive our readers the chance to see all the goings on at the annual Butler County Fair. Michael was even kind enough to help with the fair's computers (third year and counting) and worked at the livestock auction on Saturday to ensure that everything went off without a hitch. Here are some pictures of the various fair sights. Note the congratulations sign-- yes-- that is for us and our REFERRAL!!!

Referral News

Well, readers the time has FINALLY arrived, Michael and Janie received their long-awaited referral on Friday, July 27th. The call came in the early evening, around 6:45pm (EST) and we were of course ELATED!! Our agency informed us that we had been matched with a little GIRL who was born in April. The match was approved by the DIA so, we have been OFFICIALLY referred!! YAY!! Now comes the hard part, waiting to see the medical report and pictures of our little dear. Apparently this takes about a week to prepare so, we are getting very excited/anxious. As SOON as we have pics, dear readers, you will too. We are however, happy to share something that keeps us calm during the wait (Leslie knows what this is-- she has seen it LOTS!!). It is our 'Patience, Grasshopper'. He helps us remain patient and upbeat during all of the rough waiting periods and we hope you enjoy him too. Also, feel free to spread him around the adoption community (and community in general) as we believe everyone could use a little more humor and of course, patience.