Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Big Day!!!

We did things right this time, we ate breakfast FIRST, then all of us got all dressed up and headed over to the board meeting.  Wi was really fussy this morning as none of us can seem to shake this bug we have gotten, ugh not a good time for this.  But off to the meeting we went!  There were about 30-40 families there, all of these gorgeous children getting the families that they so deserve, just speechless watching these families be made.  We found out that we were number two on the list to be presented (yay!) and also received Wi's passport.  The first couple to go was the Swedish couple that we had met earlier in the week.  Their little guy (I mean TINY 10 month old baby) had been sick also with a fever and throwing up but today was a bit different.  Apparently one of the board members is a doctor so they requested that family go first so that she could give their son a quick look over.  We sat with their things while they went in and just a few minutes later they came rushing back out, the mom in tears.  When the doctor\board member looked at the child, they determined that he was actually quite sicker than orignially thought and sent them straight away to the emergency room.  John and I really like this couple and the reality of life really brought things into prespective for us.  We helped them get their things together and gave them our info both here and at home in case we can help in any way we can.  Then they called us in, so we took a moment to thank God for Wi, each other, our families and our friends then went into the meeting...
I think it is funny that we were so worried about this; the "board" consisted of three women, one in her 20's, the other who looked like the sweetest Thai grandma anyone could hope for and the third I would guess to also be in her mid 60's that we had actually spent time with on Monday, talk about luck!  Wi played with some toys they had for him, we answered some easy questions, they asked Wi who his mom and dad were - he got a huge grin and pointed to John and I respectively, then the matriarch of the situation with tears in her eyes, thanked John and I for giving one of their children (the Thai's) a great life already in this first week.  She gave us the wai, stopped me on our way out and whispered that she hoped she would see us again.  The whole thing took less then 20 minutes but Wi had everyone laughing through most of it so the time flew by.  We walked back out to the waiting area for some paperwork, talked with some of the other families, Wi got to hang out with his little friend one last time, and off we went to the hospital for Wi's Visa medical exam as a family of three...as far as Thailand is concerned anyway, we still have one more government to make it through.
Wi did excellent at the doctor's, although they had quite a difficult time trying to figure out the paperwork side of it.  I will have to double check that later and make sure we have everything we need.  While there, we saw the family with the sick child, it is not our story to tell, but please keep all of them in your prayers as they may have a long road ahead of them.  After the hospital visit, we made a quick nap stop at the hotel then literally ran to the Embassy to turn in our Visa paperwork.  Again, everything there went relatively smoothly, Wi was still holding up like a champ and other than needing one more copy made of our homestudy all of our paperwork was in order!  They told us to stay near a phone tomorrow as they would be calling us to set up our Visa interview.  The binder that I have worked for two years in preparation for this week is so far serving me well.  I know you may think I am insane, but you have to be extremely organized for this process and luckily, I am kind of anal retentive, so yes, I am proud of my color coded, chronologically ordered binder and I am not ashamed to say so!  Off to sleep as we have another big day tomorrow!
Love,
Nancy, John and Wi

Newest member of our family!


Wi and his friend from Songkhla - it was so hot in the waiting area that we had to roll up Wi's pant legs as he was sweating through them - uugghh!

2 comments:

Maci Miller said...

CONGRATS!!!! So exciting to see this post and pictures! Your sweet boy! Your family of 3! So glad everything went smoothly and your planning and organizing came in handy! I remember those ladies at the board very well and how sweet and loving they were. So sorry to hear about that other family. Hope it all works out for them. Can't wait to talk to you and catch up more! We are snowed in so I have all day to talk!

Ellie said...

Such a sweet, sweet photo of Wi and his little friend!

You will have to tell me all about your handy dandy binder! Sounds like you had your organization DOWN! I'd love to hear your system! :) In your spare time, of course :)