Finally an Update

11/5 Eric trying on the kids noise blocker earmuffs.

All 3 of our kiddos 11/9

Big Brother Ethan 11/9

Haven's 1st Sunday and home a week. 11/9

Haven's 1st veggies. Yummy squash mixed with rice cereal. Ding, ding, ding we have a winner and finally a way for her to eat her cereal. In case you hadn't heard that is one of the few things that makes this normally sweet, easy going baby get so mad that she actually throws up on you...feed her plain rice cereal. 11/9

Haven's first trip to the zoo. 11/4

Haven is the sock houdini. She can get almost any kind off. You'd think she was from the tropics or something. Sorry girly, welcome to a real winter. Mom's trick is to put on shoes over the socks that are almost impossible to take off, but she still tries. You should hear her giggle when her toes are bare. 11/4

Miss Haven thinking she's big enough to hold her bottle. Sometimes we let her. LOL

Haven deciding she's had enough of tummy time. 11/4

Someday I'll remember to enter the pictures in reverse order since that's what Blogger adds first. 11/3--Eric giving his new baby sister a bottle. Also, Happy 3rd Birthday Eric. We made it home in time. Yeah!!!

Hi All,

Ok I'm quickly going to try and get an update done while Haven is napping. Crud, I think I jinxed myself as I just heard her in the baby monitor. Well we'll give it a try.

I know it's been a while of silence. Sorry about that. As you can imagine, we've been pretty busy settling in. It's going pretty well. Haven is a sweet, easy going baby (for the most part), and a good sleeper. Hallelujah!!! For those that know us well, you'll know that her 2 big brothers are not exactly laid back.

The time change transition actually went pretty well for Haven, and Mike and I are starting to emerge from the jetlag fog. Although I'll warn you, once the kids are in bed--we're zonked and soon going to sleep ourselves. So...don't call after 9:00pm if you want to talk to us in a good mood. Hee, hee. Or at least Mike seems to be getting to bed at a good time. You know after all since he's getting up a lot with the baby and all. Oh wait a minute, that's usually me. Hmmm...need to work on that. Thankfully, Haven was only getting up 1-2 times a night recently and in the last couple of nights has slept through the night since I added a 2nd cereal/veggies feeding into her daily routine. So we are feeling blessed.

The boys are doing great with having a new sister. Ethan is in his element. He loves to give Haven bottles, talk, sing, and play with her. He's really a great big brother. Haven smiles the most for Ethan of anybody.

Eric is doing pretty well, too. He also likes to give Haven a bottle. Although neither boy actually feeds her a whole bottle, it's fun for a minute. For the most part, Eric is off doing his own thing and leaving Haven alone, but he's been super nice to her...so we couldn't ask for a better transition. He is struggling a bit as expected with not being the youngest member of the family anymore. We've seen a few more fits and attitude, but overall Eric seems to really be adjusting well.

Mike's oncall this week so we're just trying to survive that and start gearing up for the holiday. We celebrate our first Christmas next week while with Mike's family at Thanksgiving. For some reason, I've had a hard time switching gears into holiday mode this year. Hmmm...wonder why. We'll be driving 3+ hours each day, for 3 days in a row so that should be a great test of how Haven does in her carseat, which obviously she didn't have in Vietnam. She really, really, dislikes the carseat cover, and absolutely hates the face flap. Poor child, still thinks she's in the tropics. Too badfor her, she can't see the boys' travel DVD player. She's quite the couch potato and loves TV...unfortunately. Her room at the orphanage had a double bed for her and 3 other babies to share and a TV in the corner...that's it. Whenever the TV comes on...she's glued. In Vietnam, soccer was her favorite.

Well got to go.

Blessings,
Shae

We're Home!!!

Hi all,

Many thanks to Dave and Sherry that already posted pics of our homecoming. That was one of my smartest moves ever adding them to the blog authors since I'm sure it would have been awhile if you had to rely on us to get it done. Ha!

We're home safe and sound and on schedule which is a miracle and with all our luggage. Now to just get settled in and survive jet lag, colds, and upset tummies.

We had a huge crowd welcoming us at the airport which was wonderful. Dave, Sherry, all the kids, and Mike's folks were there to meet us right away and by the time we were leaving the Departure area my Mom, Sister, her kids, and my Aunt and Uncle had all arrived.

We're so glad to be home and to be reunited with our boys now as a family of 5.

Love to all,
Shae

Welcome Home Haven!

My welcoming committee at the airport!

I finally met my two brothers.

One happy family of 5

I got to meet a few cousins.

My first nap in Omaha. I love Grandma!

Prayer Requests

Hi all,

Just a few things that really appreciate prayer for.

1) For Health. Haven still has a bit of a cold. Shae's has been getting worse. Also, Shae's been having tummy trouble the past few days and it keeps getting worse...just what we need when embarking on a 30+ hour journey.

2) It's been pouring here for days. The water stands 6+ in the streets in most places. Please pray that doesn't delay our flight out tonight. We can't afford to be late into Hong Kong as we only have 50 minutes as it is.

3) That we make all our connections especially the international flight out of Hong Kong.

4) For safe and easy travel.

5) That we do indeed get home Sunday AM. Eric's 3rd birthday is Monday.

6) That Haven does really well with all the flights and travel. Even a good baby has their limits. We're also worried about being able to have enough clean outfits for her fit in the carry-on. She is a little laundry producer.

Love to all,
Shae

Haven in her Panda Costume for Halloween. We went Trick or Treating with a bunch of other families amongst the rooms organized by the Hotel.

Miss Haven.

The One Pillar Pagoda. Today was our last day of sightseeing but it rained hard all morning. Once it stopped we ventured out, only to get caught in a downpour here on a no cars allowed area. So we hoofed it to the nearest taxi. Haven stayed pretty dry, but not so for the rest of us.

Hmmm...one of the other pictures might have shown it better. This was taken out our hotel room window. The water is standing at least 6" deep in the street making it kind of hard to maneuver or stay dry.

Alexa and Haven. We said goodbye to our friends Leanne, Nic, and Alexa on Wednesday night as they took off for home. We've missed them a lot these last few days.


The Hanoi Opera House, which was supposedly modeled after the Opera Garnier in Paris. Mike and I have seen both, but couldn't tell you if it's a good likeness.

All of us ate at the Chocolate Buffet at the historic Metripole Hotel on Tuesday afternoon. At the beginning we girls were sure we were in heaven, by the end we were groaning and didn't want to hear the word chocolate.

Another view of a house of a ethnic group.


One of the houses of the different ethnic groups of Vietnam at the Ethnology Museum we saw on Tuesday.

We leave tomorrow evening, Saturday at 8pm, and are getting excited and trying to finish up the laundry. I think Haven sees each finished load as a challenge to make more. Hee, hee. We've been very grateful to have an all in one washer/dryer in the apartment which we've used a lot. We're hoping the American diapers do a better job as right now Haven needs a new outfit several times a day. What her soiled diapers don't get, her spit up does. Keeping Mommy busy. We're trying to break the news gently to her that she's not an only child even though it appears that way and when we get home...things might be a little different. LOL See you Sunday AM.

Love to all,
Shae

Pumpkin Carving

This sure made for a fun day with the kids. We will bring down Ethan and Eric's pumpkins if they still look good tomorrow. We heard a lot of "eeaaww" while making these, but I think they enjoyed it...for a minute or so.

Trying to get 5 kids to look a camera and smile is nearly impossible. But we tried very hard, and lucked out a couple of times.

Ethan had the most difficult time with this. He would not put his hands in to feel the pumpkin innards. But Ethan did finally put his hand in to feel the cool, squishy substance. The most fun was listening to him in the bathroom trying to wash his hands. Chef school is probably not in his future.

Eric didn't mind it as much, but some of his expressions were good. Most kids don't like to be bothered with washing their hands. But Ethan and Eric weren't really sure why a parent would encourage them to get their hands dirty in the first place.

Mike and Shae, it's something to build on for fall in 2009.

Well, it's been just over 2 weeks now, having the boys with us. Now they are spending two nights with Grandpa and Grandma Dalke. Our family of 5 wondered why the house was so quiet last night. It's only been one day removed from the chaos, but I miss them already. Can't imagine how their parents are feeling. But Sunday morning will be a great reunion. Haven doesn't know what she is in for. I'm sure these two energetic, silence challenged, glow-in-the dark companions will quickly introduce her to the good life. They may have picked up a few new words, but I can't take all the blame for that. However, they do know Ephesians 6:13-18 quite well now. And that we will take credit for, they had Ben and Drew to help teach them those verses.

Tomorrow we'll pick them up and take them to Omaha for the weekend. They'll get to dress up one more time tomorrow. And we will have all 8 Dalke cousins together for a couple days until we get to welcome the 9th cousin. We are all excited for Sunday morning. We pray for safe travel. The Lord is good!

Have Visa, Will Travel

Hi all,

We have Haven's visa!!! So we are free to leave and will keep to the pre arranged schedule leaving Saturday night at 8pm Hanoi time, so 8am your time. Currently, we're supposed to land in Omaha at 10:30am Sunday morning.

Woo! Hoo!! Very excited and can't wait to come home and most of all see our boys. We've missed them a ton. Free video conferencing through Skype has been great, but I can't wait to give them a real hug.

Keep us in your prayers for the flights home. We have 4--Hanoi to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Los Angeles, LA to Dallas, Dallas to Omaha. We only have 50 minutes in Hong Kong so I'm kind of worried about making our connections as it is a huge and very long airport. Also of course the 14 hour plus flight to LA will be challenging so we'd appreciate all your prayers.

Love to all,
Shae

October 30th

Having lunch at KOTO-Know One Teach One, a training restaurant for under privileged kids after the Temple of Literature.

Temple of Literature.

The mandarins or doctorate degrees names were written on these stone turtles.

At the Temple of Literature.


At the Temple of Literature. There was a series of courtyards.
She didn't do too, bad, but has some great faces. Since that first day eating it twice, she's kind of boycotted though.

Haven's 1st Rice Cereal.

Hence, the name Church Street. This is the Hanoi Cathedral, in the flavor of Notre Dame under the French influence.

Dinner at Mediterano on Church Street.

Sorry we haven't posted in a couple of days. We've been really busy. Tuesday we were out seeing the Temple of Literature, Hanoi's oldest university, and the Ethnology Museum with lunch at KOTO.

On Wednesday, we had 3 different official appts. We had to pick up Haven's Vietnamese passport, go the International Medical Clinic for visa check-up, and then go file all her paperwork at the Embassy. Today, Thursday at 2pm we go back to the Embassy for our interview. Hopefully we'll be picking up her visa by 5pm tonight. Then we'll be done with all the official stuff. Please say a prayer for us when you read this that everything went well.

Love to all,
Shae

October 27

The Peanut Princess, aka Haven, in her "ride".

More from inside the market.

Inside the market.

Today we all went to the Don Xuan market, a 3 story indoor market.



Mike's dessert, the namesake of the restaurant, gelato ice cream in a frozen green tangerine.

Another picture of the inside of the Green Tangerine Restaurant.

Yesterday we had lunch at the Green Tangerine.

Friday night we all went to the Big C across town. It's like Super Wal-Mart on steroids. It's 3 levels with the Wal-Mart like store on the middle level. On the 1st level was individual shops and a Pizza Hut where we had dinner. The funny thing was it was almost like upscale dining. The pizza was pretty close to the same though.

Eric's Morning Ritual - Waiting for Coffee

Yup. It's that time of day again where I find myself waiting for the first cup of joe. Patiently waiting, watching every precious drip brewed just the way I like it. Sure you might think being 2 and 358 days old is a breeze, but lately I can hardly keep up with this crazy world. There is only so much fun a guy can have before he asks "When is this merry-go-round going to stop?!!" The parties, the games, the snacks, wrestling and playing and running and jumping and pretending to be a tiger, climbing in treehouses, picking apples from the neighbors tree, or off the ground, whichever is closer. I'M POOPED! I'm just not 2 and a half anymore. It's hard to know my own limits. Just last night I was at the zoo dressed as a tiger and growling at everybody. It was a gas! Me and the gang tromped around getting strange people to stuff goodies in our bags. It was like taking candy from a baby...well, a really large baby dressed up as one of the KISS members. I'm really not sure what that even is. But after that we met back at the shack and divided up the loot. It was one of my best nights yet. Then we were only allowed to devour a few items and store the rest... OUT OF MY REACH!! But you have to realize that at this age, I just don't see 9:30 pm very often anymore. I need to start taking it easy. Naps are getting longer, I eat more than I ever have. I think I even forgot to shave this week. I've really let myself go. Put on a couple pounds or so. You see, a lot changes when you aren't the baby of the family anymore, you gotta start taking responsibility for yourself. At least that's what Uncle Dave tells me. I tell myself it'll get better, yeah I'll start doing things different... but not yet. As long as I've got gas in my tank... or... well you know what I mean. Okay, coffee's on. I'll see you later.