Our Baby Girl

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Zoe's Passport/Visa Picture

Here's Zoe's picture that they used on her Visa. SLC was kind enough to give us the picture on CD.



Michael went to AIT for the Visa. He said it was very easy and it wasn't busy compared to yesterday. We have all of her documents now and will turn in the famous brown envelope in LA. I know for Guatemala there is a form G-884 you can fill out with the USCIS to request get back your information from the envelope. I haven't tried it for Tony's packet. I think I will send for both kid's packet after we get Zoe's COC.

Well, we leave in 12 hours!! Michael has gone to the bank to exchange more cash. We have been using cash for almost everything. Miss Zoe is napping and I need to start packing. We hope to venture out this afternoon. I've been taking pictures!! Wish you could see them. :) Soon!!

We have our Zoe!!!!!

Everything went well with our trip to St Lucys. Well, almost everything. Our taxi car driver got lost and we were 20 minutes later. The orphanage is in a neighborhood with narrow-winding alleys as streets. At one point, he thought we were at St Lucys and wanted us to get out and I refused because I didn't recognize the entrance. (I had seen pictures on Sarah's blog) We gave them Zoe's outfit and they dressed her and brought her in. At first, she didn't want to come to me and when she was placed in my arms she cried just a little bit. It didn't take to long for her to warm up to us. St Lucy's staff is so wonderful!!! They sat down with us and answered questions about her. They announced to us that we would be meeting her birth mom in 30 minutes. I was so glad to hear that Zoe's birth mom wanted to come to meet us and see Zoe for the last time. It was a very special meeting between us. St Lucy staff took pictures of all of us during the meeting and added it to Zoe's picture CD. There are about 500 pictures of Zoe while at St Lucys. The CD showed how many times her birth mom came to visit her. I was very touched to see that the birth mom loves Zoe so much.

Zoe is such a sweetheart!!!! Sorry that I haven't updated sooner. It's been hard to get on the computer since we got her. She loves to cuddle and does not like to be placed in her crib. She prefers to sleep between us. The bonding has gone very well! She did very well at the AIT meeting today. The interview was a breeze. We got the IR-3 Visa, so she will be an American citizen once we land in LA!!! Yay!! Today, we went to the Chinese Handicraft Mart and purchased Zoe's future Gotcha Day gifts. She did very well shopping!! That's my girl!! Tomorrow, Michael will go get the Visa in the morning. I want to go see Taipei 101 and maybe a memorial. We have a late check out tomorrow because our flight leaves at 11:20PM. I hope the flight goes well. I'm a little nervous about that.

Here's some pictures from St Lucy's CD. We still don't have a camera cord, but I do plan to add more pictures once we get home.

We're in Taipei!

We made it!! We arrived late Sunday night. All 3 of our flights went really smooth. The last flight was long, but we were very pleased with China Airlines. Anyone traveling to LAX, there is a great resting lounge in the International Terminal. Go up a level from the airline check in. In the middle of the food court towards the back by the restrooms is ReLAX lounge. We paid $10 an hour for each person and it was well worth it. Part of the cost is use of their computers, free wi-fi Internet, nice seating and selection of drinks and snacks. Give yourself plenty of time to go through security and get to your gate.

We're staying at the Rido Hotel and have an awesome view of the city and the Daan Park. We watched the sunrise this morning. Michael and I woke up around 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. We could see a lot of people walking through the park. Can't believe we're here!! Tomorrow is the big day!! Zoe we're here baby and we will see you soon!

I have some pictures, but we forgot our camera cord. Hope to buy one today, so we can post pictures.

Two Days!!

Can't believe we are leaving in two days!! It's been a long wait and I know a lot of you can understand. I'm going through my list and trying to figure out what we need to bring. I always seem to pack way too much!

Here's our travel schedule...

Saturday : Leave in the morning, layovers in Denver and LAX

Sunday : Arrive in Taipei at 8pm

Monday : Sitesee

Tuesday : See our baby girl! Ride the train back and forth from Taipei to Tainan

Wednesday : Appointment at AIT

Thursday : Pick up the Visa
Leave at 11pm. Arrive in LAX & spend the night

Friday : Arrive home with Zoe!!

Getting closer!

MORE DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE!!! Tony has 14 rings left on his chain!! Zoe is 9 months old today!

Typhoon Update

We have heard that everyone is safe at Zoe's orphanage. New updates about Taiwan are being reported in the news daily. It's very tragic to hear about how many people have lost their lives.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Aug. 14) -- Floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend have killed about 500 people on the island, Taiwan's president said Friday as he called on rescue crews to step up their efforts.
Morakot destroyed the homes of 7,000 people and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of $1.5 billion, President Ma Ying-jeou said at a national security conference, the first called since he took office 15 months ago.

He called it the most severe damage to the island in 50 years.
"While the rescue operation is still going on, we have started rehabilitation and reconstruction work, which is just as imminent but might be even more difficult and cumbersome," Ma said.
Morakot dumped more than 80 inches of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people still stuck.

Ma said the death toll includes 120 confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village.
Authorities have given up hope of finding anyone alive under the tons of mud that now cover Shiao Lin, Kaohsiung county chief Yang Chiu-hsing said. Instead of digging into some 170 mud-buried homes, a memorial park will be built on the site, he told reporters.

With rising public complaints about the slow rescue work, the government said its operations have been hampered because many areas of the country were cut off when roads and bridges collapsed. Rescuers have relied on helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas, and on Thursday authorities requested larger choppers from foreign governments capable of carrying earth-moving equipment and shelters. Many villagers have conducted their own rescue operations. More than 20,000 troops have joined civilian workers on rescue, cleanup and rehabilitation work, officials said.

Typhoon Morakot heading towards Taiwan

Please pray for Zoe and all the waiting babies during this bad storm. St Lucy is located in the southern part of the island and the storm is to land on the northern end. One good thing, I did read that Taiwan has a water shortage so all the rain should help.

Stay safe, Michelle and Todd! They just arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday to bring home their baby daughter, Tessa. http://helloholanihao.blogspot.com/

Taiwan issues warnings for Typhoon Morakot AP - Thursday, August 6Send IM Story Print
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan authorities have issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Morakot and say people in the north of the island should be on guard for torrential rain.

The Central Weather Bureau says that on Thursday morning, Morakot's center was about 400 miles (640 kilometers) east of Taiwan's eastern county of Yilan.

The bureau says the typhoon is packing winds of 85 mph (135 kph), and is moving west at a speed of about 10 mph (20 kph).

It warned ships in waters off northern and southern Taiwan to brace for the storm.

Morakot would be the first major storm to strike the island this year. Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan between July and October.

Paper Chain

Tony helped me make a paper chain to count down for Zoe. We made 28 rings and tore one off this morning. Tony loved having the paper chain for Christmas last year. I thought it would help him understand how much longer until his baby sister comes home.