Too much fun for a day!!!

We have been on the go and BUSY! Having so much fun with Halle-Grace.

Today, we picked up her Vietnamese passport, played with nanny, went to the water puppet show and now we don't want to go to sleep!!!

Aunt Suzie just called and talked to us and heard Miss Halle-Grace entertaining everyone! Hannah, we want you to know that Halle-Grace LOVED her "gabby" dog and purse! Aunt Suzie, she loved the books and Granny...the sleepers were just about perfect...a little big but everything is big on the tiny miracle! Granny and Kay Kay we can't wait for you to meet Halle-Grace! We miss you all!!!

We finally have a family photo together. Nanny took it for us at the water puppet show. We will have one made without mommy in a hat...later.

When we returned to the Somerset tonight the staff had surprised us with beautiful flowers and decorated Halle-Grace's high chair for the Mid-Autumn Festival that is kicking off!!! Hanoi is VERY busy!

And finally, Jason bought Halle-Grace's wedding gift tonight and I cried!!! I think the lady in the store thought I was upset that I was not getting the price I wanted on some other gifts...LOL...nanny was too busy looking at handbags *imagine that*

A full day...tomorrow, we are not looking forward to as Jason leaves for the US, however, we must move closer and closer to the day Halle-Grace and I will arrive on US soil!!! PLEASE PRAY THAT IS SOON, VERY SOON!

We love you all! Granny...thank you SO much for taking care of our Gabby girl!! We miss her!

The Devines in Vietnam

Still awake, waiting on Nanny

We had a super fun day in Hanoi. Here are some pics...

*Hoan Kiem Lake
*Sea of motor bikes
*The ladies at Highland Coffee playing with Halle-Grace

AND we have water puppet show tickets for tomorrow night. We will all be taking nanny to the show! I know Halle-Grace will love it...I am really looking forward to it myself!

It's Halle-Grace's last night before the "nanny invasion". This child will NEVER be the same...just ask Hannah & Hunter!!!

More tomorrow

The Devines in Vietnam

Shopping for Halle-Grace so she'll always remember her birth country!

One of my friends, Sherri, who adopted precious Kaitlyn from Vietnam in early 2007 gave us the coolest idea...while she was in Vietnam she boughts gifts for Kaitlyn that she gives to her on her birthday each year as a reminder of where she was born! I loved this idea so tonight we went downtown and did some shopping. Some of the items Halle-Grace will not get until she is much older (like a tea set...I want one for myself)! Other items include a jewelry box and so on! I may give her the gifts on her adoption day (Sept. 1st) each year as her birthday is in November. Just not sure...we have time to figure that one out. Jason is sleeping with the princess so his blogging will come later. Tomorrow night, we pick up nanny at the airport! We are excited to see her and I am sure she is somewhere on THAT LONG FLIGHT to Vietnam from Atlanta!

OH, we didn't make it to KFC...we ate at an excellent Italian Restaurant and it was SO YUMMY!!! Oh, I miss the food back home!

I have attached a photo of mom & Halle-Grace and one of her in her Vietnamese hat! She's funny! Daddy is getting sad!!! Pray for Jason. Boarding that plane on Friday is working on him. If Gabby were not at home waiting, we may have HUGE problems. We just pray that we will all be united again SOON at home in NC!

Good Night from Vietnam!

Reality of Friday is closing in on us....No Mer, I am not talking about your arrival....LOL!!!

Today has been very emotional! The fact that Jason will be going home Friday is quite overwhelming! Halle-Grace changes so much as the days pass and I don't want him to miss a thing!! He is the PERFECT daddy!!! He has done everything that I have with her and more! He changes dirty diapers, prepares bottles, reads to her, takes her for stroller and Baby BJourn rides and lets her pull on his ears and nose (I don't allow that)! Thanks to our family and friends for your constant support and love... and more than anything the prayers!

Friday is also a date of celebration! One year ago, September 12, 2007 Jason donated a kidney to Scott Thornburg. One year later, Scott and Jason are both doing FANTASTIC! God is GOOD!

We are finally finished with our 24 page response (that does not include any exhibits..that will make it close to 100 pages). We are hoping to submit SOON! We are waiting on our adoption agency to send us copies of the affidavits then it is GOING TO USCIS. PLEASE BE IN PRAYER about this document that holds the key to Halle-Grace becoming an American citizen and allowing us to re-enter the United States of America! It seems weird to even type those words, but I am afraid it is VERY real!

Tomorrow night Nanny arrives in Hanoi (Dana, I have NO idea how she will function without a Wal-Mart and by the way, the Hyland Teething Tablets are GOLD)! Our child will never be the same once "nanny" gets a hold of her. You think she is rotten now, OH MY!

Another exciting happening is the arrival of my roomie and Halle-Grace's friend from the orphanage...Mer & Lulu! Mer and her husband, Tim will have their G&R Ceremony of Lulu next Monday. Tim can only stay a week, so Mer and I, along with the girls will be here in Hanoi at the Somerset Hoa Binh until the US Government issues Halle-Grace & Lulu their American visas. Remember there are 40+ of us in this LIVING nightmare.

Jason promises to blog tonight...we are SO excited to go to KFC!! I know you are laughing but Pho is OUT! I am so ready for some fast food, junk food, SUNDROP...
We are ALL ready to be home as a family and can't wait to see how Halle-Grace reacts to Gabby! Gabby LOVES children so I know she will be great, however, WILD WOMAN (Halle-Grace) may scare poor Gabby! LOL

We love you all and thank you for the continued prayers!!!

The Devines in Vietnam

Here's more CUTENESS!!!!

Bathing Beauty...in training and waiting for her CUSTOM JAMYE SHAW SUIT!!! Unlike most women, Halle-Grace loves the scales! Maybe it's because she will be 10 months old on the 19th of Oct. and weighs a WHOPPING 13 pounds! She is a PEANUT!

She is already trying to get into her mom & dad's profession (drug sales) I told her to just get by on that swimsuit figure...LOL! She is adorable. Going to bed! Halle-Grace and Jason are already there...response must be completed tomorrow if we want it submitted by Monday!!!

WE LOVE YOU ALL...Granny, tell GABBY TOO...we do miss her!!!

Working on our RFE response

Today we are working on our response to our RFE! Our attorney is submitting it but we want to make sure we add as much as possible too. Halle-Grace is teething but is a trooper! She is still loving life and SO are we! Please pray for our response to be what it needs to be and to show that we have shown our best effort to locate birth parents with the mulitiple ads, etc.

We will type later...lots to do to get this VERY important document finished so we can bring Halle-Grace home!

The Devines in Vietnam!

**Below are photos of Halle-Grace with her nannies at TQ (aka...angels)***

GREAT NEWS and of course more great photos.

Yesterday was so busy/crazy I didn't do much of anything and didn't have access to blog. We have officially moved 4 times and are NOW settled in an apartment for the rest of our stay! We are staying at the Somerset Hoa Binh Hanoi. It is VERY nice and too darn expensive! But that is just the way it goes!! OH WELL, I have to sell LOTS of Synvisc when I go back to work! I think Halle-Grace can increase my sales? What do you think? She is so cute!

SO, the GREAT news!!! As you know 40+ families with children in TQ received a RFE on July 19th asking us (the adoptive parents) to prove our children are, in fact, orphans. The ads completed their run-time on Aug. 31st...NO one came forward! We adopted Halle-Grace on September 1st! The first family to submit their rebuttal HAS RECEIVED AN APPROVAL!!!! Jason woke me up the other morning about 2am with the GREAT news! Here's the thing, we all received the "same letter word for word"...so you are probably thinking SUBMIT YOUR REBUTTAL!!! We wanted to wait on the ads to complete their run-time. Michael Valverde with USCIS sent all families an email telling us we could use copies of the affidavits vs. waiting til mid-September to submit originals! PLEASE GET ON YOUR KNEES AND PRAY! I am so serious! I know prayer works and all of the families need to bring their children home! IT IS TIME!!!

I will have Jason type about the "apartment hunting experience, Shannon & Halle-Grace lost in a taxi in Hanoi" and so on

THE DEVINES IN VIETNAM!!!

Judy *GRANNY*, give Gabby some extra love for us!

Watch our for HURRICANE HANNA...I read on Yahoo news it is coming for the Carolinas!

INTRODUCING...Princess Halle-Grace Khanh Devine

Somebody is a HAM, the "life of the party", loves to have her picture taken...and is already spoiled!!! You would NEVER believe this child left an orphanage 72 hours ago! It's amazing! She is saying DA DA...what is up with that?? Mama is the one who is going to live in her birth country until her leave is over...and she gets a visa! HATS OFF TO MY MANAGER, KANE ROGERS & GENZYME for being so supportive!!!
Today we are getting Halle-Grace's Vietnamese passport (could not do that yesterday). She just took her second dose of antibiotics and is feeling SO much better. No more smelly nose! WE FOUND AN APARTMENT....when you are waiting on a visa it is much less expensive to stay in an apartment that will rent by the month, etc. vs. a hotel room AND the hotel room is cramping wild woman's "new princess style"! She knows she is princess now!

We love you all!

Shannon, Jason & Halle Grace (keep praying for her US visa so you can meet her)!