Good Morning Family and Friends,
Well it is 1:20 Sunday morning and I find myself sitting with a precious little man who is wide awake. He is just smiling at me like this is what we are suppose to be doing. I of course am smiling back thinking if you wern't so cute and it wasn't so cold outside I might just have to let you explore nature for a few hours while I explore the inside of my eyelids. :) I guess that is why God gives them just the right personality at just the right time.
I want to take this opprtunity to say a few things to everyone. First I want you all to know how special you are to me. Though I couldn't read the comments you were sending on the blog I could sense your presence and love all the time. Yesterday, I found 7 messages on my cell phone that people had sent on Wednesday, the day I left Vietnam, and what incredible words of love and encouragement they were. Between my awesome God, my loving husband and daughter and you all I could not have felt more love.

To my sweet family and friends, who have sent or given gifts, I want you to know that your thank you notes are coming. As always, I have great intensions. We are utilizing everything we have gotten. Hanna keeps saying, "Did I have to have this much baby stuff?" Of course we assure her she got more new things because she was the first. Haden gets the hand me downs.

Looking back on the last week of my life it is hard to believe it is already over, that I made it through and at the same time it is hard to believe I ever had doubts. You all know I was praying to get out of Vietnam but I was also praying and asking you to pray that God's will be done. How quickly he showed me his will was being carried out exactly as he planned. When I think of all the flights out of Vietnam that were possible for me to get on and how each of them fell through I stand in awe at how awesome God is in his work. I know his will was for me to stay right where I was because our precious baby would need so much more than to be home. I am crying right now thinking of how God spared him from flying when he was getting so sick because I don't know what would have happened to him had he been on a plane. I also stand in amazement at how God gave me the strength to trust him during the times that I just wanted to do things my own way. Haden is a true testment to God's favor when we walk in faith and obedience.
It is so nice to be home. I am getting back into the swing of things. Haden is obviously still trying to understand my swing of things. I am hoping he will soon learn the importance of sleeping when I want to and not when he wants to. I was so glad to be able to take Hanna to school and pick her up. It was great to tuck her into bed and to have a snuggle night with her and Jeff. I am so thankful to see Jeff every morning and evening and to go have lunch with him during the day. I love my life. God has so blessed me and I am so greatful.
On a final note, I learned one thing about myself while in Vietnam. I was not made to be a world traveler. I love being home and I love my life.
Thank you again to everyone for your love, prayers and support.
I just took this picture to show you how happy Haden is to be awake right now.
Love
Dedra

Our first night home was interesting. Dedra stayed awake all day on Thursday so that she could sleep and try to get herself adjusted to NC time. Haden on the other hand, decided that he was up at 1:30 am and he is still wide awake. The great news is he looks and acts like he is feeling much better. We have an appointment for him this morning with the pediatrician for a check just to make sure.

We have been worried about sibling rivalry showing its ugly head. What we didn't know was it would be the four legged sister that we would be the most jealous. If Haden is in one of our laps, Penny is trying to get in the other.

Hanna is doing great and the picture is of the four of them ready to head out to school. Dedra could be ready to field a few calls today, so give her a try.

They are home!!! After a wintry drive in sleet and snow Dedra and Haden are home. We had a surprise when we got home and had several friends here waiting on us when we got home this morning. It was wonderful for them to be here with us to celebrate their homecoming. After a short visit they left and our family settled down and started to try to get things going in a normal direction. Haden is in his own bed sleeping right now. Hanna had some wonderful snow to play in and Dedra and I just relaxed and sat on the couch for a few minutes.

This has been a fantastic journey that we have set out on. Chapter one will now close and we will begin the next chapter in our families life together. Thank you for being a part of this. Dedra and I feel wonderful about all of your energy and interaction with us through out the trip. I highly encourage you all to start using this as a way to keep your friends and families updated on your families. Thanks again for all the prayers, and we can't wait to see you all soon.

We love you all,

Jeff, Dedra, Hanna, and Haden

Dedra called me somewhere around midnight to tell me that they were in LA and were on the way to the next flight. Haden did well so our prayers were answered as they flew over the Pacific Ocean. God is good all the time!

I am up now and getting ready for the drive to Charlotte. To all our family and friends in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, we are going to get the winter that you have had starting ... This morning. So in the possible icy conditions several of us are going to drive to pick up our precious travelers. We will make sure to get some photos and I will try to post those when we have a chance today.

The finished flight and a 80 mile trip in the car and Dedra will finish her part of the journey that has taken our family over 20,000 miles to bring home our beautiful baby boy! (I am very tired right now, but, can I say beautiful in regards to a baby boy?)

I will post when we get home and the celebrations can begin!

4 am Jamestown time and I just confirmed that Dedra and Haden are going to the airport for the 7:10 departure on Cathay Pacific. They fly to Hong Kong and begin to run against the clock. Hong Kong is one hour back from Hanoi so they fly 2 hours but it will be 10 pm when they land. They have a quick turn around and will leave Hong Kong @ 11:40 pm. The flight to LAX will be around 12 hours depending on the wind speeds in the jet stream. They will land in LAX Wednesday night @8pm. They will then take the inter terminal bus to terminal 1 for the 10:45 US Airways flight that should land in Charlotte @ 6 am.

If all goes well they will be eating breakfast with us Thursday morning!!! I am so thankful for this. It is truly a testament to Gods glory and the answer to many prayers. They still must travel half way around the world, but I am praying that God will have a hedge of protection around them.

This could be the longest day of my life!!!!!!!

Breaking News!!!!

I just got off the phone with Dedra, and it looks like they are going to try to be on the scheduled flight out of Hanoi Wednesday night @7. They will fly to Hong Kong and the doctors are giving Dedra some medicine to use if there are any issues. The Hong Kong to LAX flight will be the key. If they make that with out issue they will continue and be in Charlotte Thursday morning @6:15 am.

I am going to work on some plans for LA if there are any problems. Between our friends and family in Southern California we hope to have them covered if they need to have an extended lay over.

We will continue to pray for guidance and safe travel. Dedra is trying to get her things together at this point. Then she will get Haden and go to the airport this afternoon. What a wild ride this has been. Thank you all for joining us.

I am talking to Dedra right now and things are looking much better this morning. Haden is eating better and his oxygen levels are staying above 95. Dedra sounds great and it looks like they will be coming home this weekend. She is going to upload some pictures and she will update today also.

Good Morning All,
Well, I am at the hotel right now for a few minutes. Woke up this morning in a great mood and the sun is actually trying to come out here. Yipee! I will have the nurses look after Haden several times today so I can step outside and enjoy it. Haden is doing so much better. He is acting like himself, staying awake a lot and smiling. He has the sweetest personality. He still does not want to eat. They are still giving him the IV with fulid and nutrients. He is also still not getting enough oxygen to be able to fly. He is fine on the ground although his levels still need to rise but he could be compromised in the air. He is getting breathing treatments every 6 hours now instead of every 4. They did lower the fluid they are giving him today. The doctor said they will assess him after lunch and see if we can at least come back to the hotel. There is a possibility that we will not be able to leave tomorrow. I will let everyone know as soon as I know something. I am fine and know that God started this journey, it is his will and in his time he will complete the journey. The doctors and staff at the clinic are just wonderful. The food on the other hand is not. :) Keep praying for us. We love you all and can't wait to be home. When I get another chance to come back and send another blog I will send pictures. If you want to e-mail me my address is dedrah@earthlink.net. Remember that I won't get it until I am at the hotel so be patient.
Much Love, Hugs and Kisses.
Dedra

I just got off the phone with Dedra and she sounds much better. I called earlier and she was sleeping, which was a good thing. While I was talking with her she put Haden on the phone and Hanna and I both got a chance to hear him talk back to us, so he sounds much better tonight. Dedra was feeding him some rice cereal and although his appetite was not fully recovered, he was eating a little. We need to keep seeing improvement and hopefully they will get some good news while we sleep tonight. I will call her as soon as I wake up in the morning and we should have something from the Doctors at that time.

Hanna had a good day with her friend Kayla. They played around and went to Kayla's horseback riding class. Thanks Jennifer for the picture. I think that she is ready for school on Tuesday. We will try to get her back into her routine.

It is 6 am in NC and I just got off the phone with Dedra. She had a rough day and was upset when I talked with her. Haden is still not eating and is having trouble getting enough oxygen between breathing treatments. There is now a possibility that they will not be ready for travel on Wednesday. She was going to the hotel to try to shower and change clothes and will call me back when she is there. Please continue to pray for her strength and Hadens recovery.

Hi all. I talked with Dedra a few minutes ago and she and Haden were doing fine. Dedra is tired and I can hear that in her voice, but I think she is hanging in there. Haden is doing better, however, he is still not eating so he is being kept on an IV. We will continue to watch him to determine when they might get a chance to leave the clinic.

Hanna and I went to church today and I feel that I had a word from God in our service. Our pastor Jake today reminded us that God is big enough even when we are not. He also reminded us that when we feel our most lonely moments he is here with us leading us and placing us right where we need to be. We need to remember that in this situation when it is resolved that it was " the Lord God who brought us out." God has brought us to this point and I will praise him what ever the results!

I am in the process of working out the details for Hanna this week. I want to thank all of our friends here in North Carolina who have called and offered help with her. I will do my best to work this out to where she is able to spend some time with each of you, and also spend some time with me. We did get Penny home today and our luggage has been delivered, so we are putting the puzzle back together piece by piece.

I know there are alot of you praying for my family, THANK YOU!

I just got off the phone with Dedra and she is safe and secure. The two of them have spent the last 12 hours at the International SOS clinic in Hanoi, where Haden has been treated for the early stages of pneumonia. They have given him an IV to try to keep him from getting dehydrated, because he was not eating. Please pray for all of us! Dedra was able to get onto the blog at the hospital and read some of your responses so keep it up. It looks like they are going to keep him on the IV until they can give him the second dose of antibiotics. All thoughts of them traveling before Wednesday have been put aside. Dedra's focus will be on getting him stabilized and the doctors there feel like they have had good response to the meds from other babies who have been fighting this same sequence of symptoms. Hanna and I went to sleep at 7pm tonight after a very long day. We will get up and go to church in the morning which will be nice.

Please join me in praying for protection for Dedra and Haden. I am also praying for insight for the doctors so that they can isolate the problems and get him the proper medicine so this does not get worse. Finally I am asking that His will be done in this. Dedra is incredibly strong in her faith and that will be seen by others there at the clinic and by the families that have sick children. I pray that her faith will spill over on someone and touch and change there life forever. Some good will come from this situation, I leave it in Gods much bigger hands!

Hanna and I are Home!

We had a great travel experience coming home and Hanna did a great job working our way through all the airports. We both had a few tears leaving Haden and Dedra, but God is in charge and he will protect them both. We made it, but our luggage is somewhere in LA. Hanna and I are going to try to stay up the rest of the day. We have talked to Dedra a couple of times and are hopeful that they will be here soon. We are going to pick up Penny after we get clean up and get clean cloths. Keep the prayers for Dedra and Haden!

Dear family and friends,
First let me say Thank You for all of your thoughts and prayers. Although I am not able to read your comments I feel your prayers with me. Most of the day has been difficult because I spent it trying to book a completely new flight just to get home but I was cut off at every turn. There were just no flights available for me to access via e-ticket. I then e-mailed our travel agent, which was sleeping because he in in the US, to tell him to try to find a completely new flight and we would just buy a new ticket on whatever airline he could find. He just got back with me recently and he has found a flight out of Ho Chi Minh City early Monday morning. I just need to be able to book a flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City for tomorrow. The booking desk is closed here right now so I will go at 7 in the morning and try to get a flight. If this works out I will stay in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow night and leave Monday morning. Pray God's will. If he needs me here until Wednesday then may his will be done. Haden is still not feeling very good nor is he eating much. Every time he is awake, which in not much, he is crying. I think his chest must be hurting hime from all of the coughing. His breathing is still a little rapid. Pray that he feels better. I just want to see him smile again. He is just precious and you all will just fall in love with him as we all did. If I have time tomorrow befor flying out, if it all works, I may take him back to the clinic and let them take another look at him. I just don't want him to get dehydrated.
I went to dinner with our friends that were in our group. We had a nice time together. I was glad to have company. After being sad much of the day I made it over a hump and things turned around. I am feeling much better with a smile on my face and just trusting God. Now I can move forward and make the best of the rest of my trip. Hanna gave me a list of things she forgot to buy that she would like me to try and get. Hopefully I will have time. I have talked with her and Jeff a few times today as they were on their trip home. When they got to LA I asked her is she was able to get some good American food and her response was yes I got McDonalds and a Dr. Pepper. That put a smile on my face. She also said she was glad to be back in a place with traffic rules.
Well I think that is all for now. I love you all and can't wait to be home.
Love Dedra

Today has been somewhat difficult. I am not sure what Jeff may have posted earlier so is I am repeating forgive me. I had to scratch any chance of going home with Jeff and Hanna tonight because Haden's sickness got much worse last night. He ran a fever all night and coughed and cried all night as well. He was having to work very hard to breathe. This morning after being up all night with him I called the medical clinic at 5:30 and made an appointment to take him in again. We got to the clinic at 11:30 and did not leave until 3:15. This did not allow us much time with Jeff and Hanna before they had to leave. The doctor did several assessments and had some chest x-rays done. She had the nurses spend about and hour cleaning Haden's ears out so she could see in them to check for infection. After everything was said and done she said it was still bronchialitis and that it can cause the fever. She could not find any infection anywhere. He had a breathing treatment. She sent us home with an inhaler to continue every 2-3 hours and actifed for the congestion. She wants him to be reassessed tomorrow morning. I feel like his breathing is a little better after the first two breathing treatments. I pray that by morning it will be much better. He is still running a fever so he is getting tylenol for that. He is not eating much so that concerns me. I have to keep a close watch on him for dehydration. Keep him in your prayers that God heals him quickly. He is so miserable.
On another down note, I had to send Jeff and Hanna home today. That was far harder than I had even anticipated. I have cried on and off all evening. I am not upset because I am alone, I just want to be with my family. I have contacted the travel agent and am waiting for him to respond to my e-mail. I told him to do whatever he needed to to get me on a flight tomorrow night. I don't know if it is possible but I am Believing God to be big and get me home. Please pray for this as well. I am feeling a little better now and hopefully tomorrow will be even better.
Other than these couple of things there is no other news. God willing tomorrow the news will be I am going home.
I love you all.
Dedra
Jeff and Hanna, I love you and miss you so much. I can't wait for us to all be together again.
Hugs and Kisses
Dedra and Mommy

Now if we could only get a Ticket we could get out of here!

We have had our second meeting with the US Embassy and we should be getting a visa for Haden @ 2pm on Friday. Now if our travel agent can find a seat for Dedra on our flight from Hanoi to Hong Kong, we have seats open the rest of the way home and we can all travel together! Please pray that Todd would find something today so that Dedra does not have to try to make it by herself with Haden. I would also ask that you all pray for the families that are here with the second group of babies. All of their babies are now sick with the change from the mountains in the North to Hanoi.

We will update as soon as we know something!

Houston we have a problem!!!

We have run into a problem on the way home. We found out yesterday afternoon that the agency did not expect us to be able to convince the US Embassy to allow us to have our second interviews so quickly. They did not have all of our documents and medical examinations complete before the time for our second interview. This would extend the stay for the families at least another 5 to 7 days, because the Vietnamese offices celebrate MLK day on Monday and will not be working! Our staff here informed us there was nothing that they could do and we would just have to wait. So the American in us went into action.

We found the international office that is responsible for the baby examinations and went to the clinic to try to persuade them to change the process and schedule for the baby examinations. After a meeting with the Clinic Manager Maxine Ash, we were able to convince her to examine the babies this morning instead of in the afternoon. We then had to get the passports for the babies.

Time is a funny thing in Vietnam, the watch is useless here. We had a meeting set for the passport office @ 9 am this morning. At 10:30 I got up and walked out of the office, without my passport for Haden. We have a joke with our host here. He will tell us 15 minutes for something and we always ask, "Do you mean 1 5 minutes, or 5 0 minutes." He politely laughs, but he is starting to understand we can tell time. The good news is we got the passports finally, and raced back to the waiting babies at the international clinic.

Now it is all down to a visit with the emabassy at 3:15. If that goes well we should get a travel visa for Haden on Friday, and he will be able to travel.

The bad news is Dedra and Haden will need to travel seperatly. Oh, and Haden now has a broncial type of virus that is sweeping across the far east. We will update ASAP. Keep us in your prayers.

Great News! We have our second interview with the Embasy Thursday @3:15. It is possible that Dedra and Haden will now be able to leave with Hanna and I on Friday night. Please continue to pray for that sequence of events so that we can all come home together!

Halong Bay

Today we went on an incredible journey and saw a piece of God's creation that was remarkable! This morning we took a van with one of the other families 3 hours to the north to a place called Halong Bay. The bay is only 15-18 feet deep, but has over 3000 small limestone islands that climb out of the sea over 100 feet. The Vietnamese legend is that a Dragon came to aid the vietnamese in a war against China somewhere before the 10th century. The legend says that the Chinese boats were destroyed against the rocks of the islands in the fog as they tried to come ashore.

When we got to the docks they had a private junk that took us out for the day. The crew cooked the best meal that we have eaten since we have been in country. To top it all off, your prays were answered and we had the first day of sun since we have been here. The day and the sunshine lifted all our spirits. We explored two different cave areas one that had not been found until 1991. We then relaxed on the boat for the rest of the day. We were blessed by the experience.

God is Great, all the time!

We are still here!

It seems that msn was knocked out for the last 20 hours or so here and we have not been able to access the blog or email. We found another couple from Dallas that have a blog and they have been blocked from reading responses also. I will continue to post and we will be able to enjoy all your comments from Hong Kong. Keep them up. We think it will be wonderful for Haden one day to see all the people who followed us on this journey.

We are still in Hanoi. Everyone in the family are doing fine. Hanna is in her words,"PERFECT." Dedra and I are a little less than perfect, but we are hanging in there. Haden is doing great, although he is waking every 1 1/2 hours through out the night. Life with a baby.

The sun never shines in Hanoi! This is a very dreary city, but the people are very friendly to Americans. We have learned our way around the city and now the cab drivers have to deal with negotiating the fare with me! I LOVE IT! I found myself bartering yesterday with two drivers and after all was said and done Dedra laughed because I was negotiating very loudly over a difference of between 25 and 33 cents. You just can't take that out of me.

The citizens of Hanoi do not believe in order. All traffic situations and lines are a suggestion only. They drive on either side of the road. All lights appear to be optional and if someone wants to turn from any lane of traffic they do! I really enjoy riding around in the caous.

Crossing the street is equally as exciting. If you want to cross you make a line and then wade into the traffic. You can either inch your way through or you can just go and the cyclists realize you are not stopping and they go around or behind you. I have included a couple of pictures of the traffic so you might get an understanding.

Today we are going to the Temple of Literature, and Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. I will have some pictures for you this evening. It looks like Tuesday we will get a car and go to Halong Bay for the day. Then we settle in for the Embassy again Wednesday or Thursday.

Pictures and words could never describe this place! God has blessed us with this adventure.

Shopping Day.

Today we went shopping. All the families got a small bus and rode 30 miles to a town called Bat Thrang. The town is dominated by ceramic craftsmen. All the shops in this town sell the different ceramics. Hanna found a very beautiful tea set. We have been playing tea party all day. We came back to the Hotel and then the four of us went down to the "Old Town District." This area of Hanoi has streets that are set up to sell a certain product. We saw products like childrens toys, sinks and toilets, welders, party supplies, sporting goods, silver, and silk. We walked on the side walks where possible and if there was no room you walk on the street with the mopeds. Pictures and words can not describe the number of mopeds moving on the streets. It is like a river that never stops! We bought Hanna and Haden some traditional outfits and I will have some pictures tomorrow with them modeling.

We made it out of the Embassy.

Our Embassy interview is finished however not without a little excitement. As we walked up to go through the metal detectors there was a fabulous seal and sign declaring this the US Embassy. I thought that it would make a terrific photo for the blog. The gentleman behind the counter however was not as thrilled that I would take a picture. He told me that if I did not erase the picture he would make a report and that the report would...Go down on my permanant record! Golden Boys in Hanoi! Well, I did erase the photo, so, you will not get to see the source of the trouble. We did finish our interview after some interesting questions.

Is the child under 16? Haden was sitting in Dedras lap drinking a bottle, I hope he is under 16.

Has the child ever been married? I was again mystified! Although he is my son.

He then laughed and said some of the questions he would not ask because they were too silly.

Pray that we have our second interview before next Thursday, because that would have us all ready to leave on Friday!

Good Morning America!

It is 5:55 am here in Hanoi and I am up. We have a busy day ahead of us. We will meet with the US Embassy at @ 2pm Hanoi time. For thos of you who have not figured the time difference we are exactly 12 ahead of our friends on the east coast, and 13 hours ahead of our friends and family in the central time zone. Haden had a good night of sleep, as did Hanna. Except for a bottle he sleeps through the night very well. Hopefully he will keep that up. I added some pictures while the bandwidth was open this morning.

Last night at the hotel one of the resturants had "Mexican Food Night." It was awesome! We ate the best meal we have had since we have been here.

I will update after our meeting and should have a good time frame for us all to travel home. Pray that the embassy will not have any questions regarding the timing of our process. Also pray that they will have our second meeting before next Friday. If that happens we will all travel together. If not Hanna and I will have to leave Dedra and Haden to travel together.

We had a great day today. Haden was awesome all day, and so was Hanna. She is helping out so much we are very proud of her. She got up in the middle of the night with Dedra last night to help her feed and change him. She also spent time today watching him and playing with him. She is very happy to finally have a little brother.

We are having some health issues with either alergies or some sort of cold. Dedra is coming down with something, and I can feel it creeping up on me also. We need to check to see if Fed Ex delivers to Hanoi. We need airborn!

Please continue to pray for us!

It is now OFFICIAL!!!! After a crazy 24 hours we have official custody of Haden. We met this morning with the officials for the communist party and they issued the documents for us to travel with him. We then flew back to Hanoi and are back at our hotel. We now have a meeting with the US Emabassy in the morning at 9 am. At that point we will know what the process will be to get all of us home.

The photo is from the Communist Party Headquarters in Da nang. I would never have guessed that I would be there!

We have Haden!!!

After a very rocky day with have our son and are at the resort. We have not had our official ceremony yet, but should complete that tomorrow when the local party leaders are available. We had a wonderful day. The four children being adopted in our group were in good spirits. There are two boys and two girls in our group. The other little boy had to go to the hospital today with his new mom due to some breathing issues. Please pray for him and his mother Stephanie.

Now on to Haden. He is so happy! He laughs and smiles all the time. He and Hanna had a great time today and Dedra and I are so blessed to have our children together at last! We gave him a bath and he loved playing in the water. He has such a beautiful smile and he seems very healthy.

The blog kills me with only one photo so I will keep sending messages and may pick up the pace to show some more photos. Our problem is there wireless service is spotty at best. I can not upload a photo, but will send one ASAP!

Your prayers are felt and very appreciated!

Flying to Da nang this morning.

WE are up and moving and heading to Da nang this morning. We had a long night with a story that will be very comical. We had brought an alarm clock with us and needed to be up this morning @3:30 so we can leave the hotel with the group @5. Our alarm went off and Dedra and I sprang into action. We showered and reorganized our luggage so that we did not take everything we brought for a short visit to Da nang. It was not until I went to put my watch on that we noticed that it was 2 hours earlier than we thought it to be. It seems that the electricty converter did not convert to the proper voltage and it made the clock go crazy! We tried to lay down, but at that point we were pretty much up for the duration. Hanna is very excited about seeing her little brother. She can't wait to snuggle up with Haden! Our flight leaves @6:20 this morning so keep up those prayers!

We need Granny's prayers in full force right now so please pass this on to her. The picture is an item that was on the menu at the resturant yesterday. The entree was under the Beef section. We have decided that from now on we will only eat shrimp!

Hanoi City was an experience that was both humbling and exciting. All our friends and family member reading this are unbelievably blessed. Went went to the "Old Section," of Hanoi today. We walked around a lake that has a temple called Nouc Son Temple. surrounding the lake were hundreds of little shops that sold a wide array of goods. We sat outside in the Vietnam version of Starbucks and had coffee and Hanna had a wonderful chocolate shake. The amount of movement and noise is almost too much to take in at once. Hanna found a beautiful traditional vietnamese outfit and is wearing it to dinner tonight. I will have a picture for you on a later blog. We found a section of town called the "SilkSection," that we will go back to later this week