Introducing Duc Minh Thu Pham

Well, after two years, and many ups and downs - we have a son waiting for us in Vietnam. Introducing Duc Minh Thu Pham. We haven't decided yet what we'll call him, so for now we're affectionally calling him "The Duke".





We've known about The Duke for several months now, but the adoption situation has been so bad in Vietnam, that we honestly didn't think that it would work out. He was born November 14, 2007, so is about 7 months now. I expect he's actually much smaller than the picture indicates.



So here's how I found out that we really did get The Duke ....


Last Friday, I was playing in the ocean at Tybee Island, when my girlfriend, Loree, said that Randy was trying to get a hold of me. I was on a long girl's weekend with 6 old friends from high school and junior high. As my girlfriends we're lined up in their beach chairs, I called Randy. When he told me we got official approval to travel, I said, "Are you sure?" Earlier last week we had also received a different "official approval to travel", which actually didn't mean we could travel. So I was bit a skeptical. When Randy finally convinced me that this was real, I said to all the girls "I'm going to Vietnam to pick up a baby" and a huge cheer erupted. And Loree immediately started crying.



At the same time, Randy was working a 24 hour shift in Olympia. So he was trying to arrange flights and visas during his job.

I got home Sunday night, and Randy had purchased tickets for Vietnam, leaving this coming Friday night. So, we've got a bit to do this week.



And this is my last week at work, for the whole summer. I'm going to take leave until Labor Day.

I hope to be able to update this blog while we travel, so you can get a first hand account of picking up "The Duke".



Vietnam, here we come!