the day in pictures

first, major praise! our travel guy was able to get our tickets changed from friday night to wednesday night!!!! thank you very, very much for lifting this request to God Almighty! this was huge of ginormous proportion. the insanity of the 40-minute/$6 cab ride looking for korean airlines was worth it!

i've met my match and her name is phoebe! she is one tough, strong-willed child. she is processing so much but she is able to be as stubborn as they come in spite of it. little does she know, but i get daily practice with ben and sarah, so i've got my skills honed and in fine form! we got practice several times today.... whining and crying will not get her picked up. she is already understanding that when she stops, she gets what she wants. i promise i am not mean (actually, i sorta am...), but she would trample all over me and everyone else if i let her. she is learning the boundaries quickly. she ain't stupid, actually quite the opposite. the great part is that she loves all over me and doesn't hold a grudge when i don't give in to her. we are getting to be a good team... most of the time :) i know the photo album she received, and the hundreds of prayers, have made all the difference. God clearly put it in her heart. i'm sure more meltdowns are to come, but they can't be worse than saturdays. did i just say that? how stupid am i.....

proof that martha has not been taken hostage yet....
the famous hanoi water puppet show....

the water puppet 'band'. i'd never seen several of the instruments.

jerry showed up at the water puppet show too. looks like my lipstick after a long day :)

a close-up for karen and her co-workers, toby, and jeff....

unless you've been here, there are no words to describe the traffic and sounds. and yet it works. i have no idea how, but it does. we have not seen one accident. they seem to have a protective invisible force around them. and the horns never stop. and yet, it is like the vehicles are 'talking' with one another. they have their own language. nothing mean and angry about it at all, very unlike Americans when we honk. no road rage. we've seen 4 on a motorbike, and some carrying hundreds of eggs, 5 foot porcelain vases, chickens in cages, and large sony TVs.

thomas being goofy in his new hat (ben, sam, and chase -- be surprised when you get yours :)

a styrofoam rose girl named the phoebster. tomorrow, Lord willing, we get her US visa issued and we are done with paperwork. what a relief. if you would, please pray there are no glitches. most of the other families we traveled with get to hanoi tomorrow. it will be great to see them again. thank you again for traveling with me thus far, in your thoughts and in your prayers.

xoxoxoxo, jan :)