She's OURS!!

It is finally official and legal - Maiya Thanhlyn Clarkson officially joined the family today. It was a looooong day though! Torrential downpouring of rain meant that we couldn't take the hydrofoil across to Vung Tau for the G & R ceremony, so we had to do the 2 1/2 hour drive there again. Maiya hasn't been feeling the greatest, so I was a bit worried, but she slept most of the way there fortunately. There were 3 babies in the van and at some points all 3 were crying in harmony!

The traffic was interesting as usual - watching the various & creative ways in which people attempted to stay dry as they rode their scooters down the highway in the pouring rain! Note in the picture I attached there are actually 3 people on the bike, underneath the rain poncho! Which is nothing! What really amazes me most are the families of 3 or 4 on a motorbike, with a little baby sandwiched in the middle peeking over someone's shoulder as they fly down the highway!

The ceremony itself was quite, well, unceremonious! We got out of the van and walked through what looked to be a scooter/motorbike rental place and headed up to the second floor. Inside a small, unairconditioned room there were about 4 desks and one table in the centre. Each of the 3 families took turns sitting down and signing our names as fast as we could on what seemed like about 20 documents - they just put one after the other in front of us and said, "Keep going!" Then it was time for the official picture in front of the red velvet curtain with what apparently said "Giving and Receiving Ceremony" or something like that on it! And....that was it. Took all of 5 minutes or less to make Maiya legally ours! It seemed somewhat anticlimactic after the months of preparation and the excitement of seeing her for the first time, but nonetheless, it is amazing to know that finally she is ours forever.

We are still waiting on one document to be delivered, and have to go for her passport tomorrow (Tuesday). It will arrive Wednesday hopefully, then be sent to Singapore for her Canadian immigration visa. It sounds like we will be delayed a bit - looking at maybe the 25th now for coming home instead of the 23rd. But nothing is ever guaranteed when it comes to things being processed in the expected time frame!

After the ceremony we stopped for lunch. Vung Tau is a beach resort area, so there's lots of fresh seafood. Our translator ordered several plates of huge steamed shrimp and before they brought them out they said - "They are very very fresh. Do you want us to cut the heads off first or do you care if they are attached?" She then proceeded to order a variety of other dishes - carmelized fish, vegetable dishes, soup, more fish....it was all delicious...so everyone says.

Then it was back into the van for another 2 1/2 hour ride back to Ho Chi Minh City, with a brief stop to get the babies' pictures taken for their visa applications. All 3 babies managed to not cry for the photos, but by the time we arrived back at the hotel were making it very clear they had had enough!

But all in all, it was an monumental day in our lives and despite being sweaty and tired, we're elated about having the papers finally signed.