Lucy's Nannies and bunkmates

These are the kind women who care for Lucy and the other children in her room. The woman on the far right is so kind and cheerful, I picture her as a leader of the group (probably because she is not afraid to speak english to us). We are slowly trying to learn their names and the names of the other children. We've tried to make it clear that while we've come to bring Lucy home forever we truly do love all the babies in her room and are so thankful for the good care of the nannies.



The Gunslinger...

As most of you know, it is difficult to spend any length of time with John before discussion turns to a fun game to play. This trip is, of course, no exception. We've had many hours pass by in the playing of games. SkipBo, Phase 10, these are the warm-ups to more "hip" card and board games like "Wyatt Earp" and "Through the Desert". We've all had our lucky hands, and Mason is now affectionately known as the Gunslinger due to his consistent wins playing this western-themed card game, "Wyatt Earp". Game On...



My Lucky Money

Here you see on the left the remains of a decorative red envelope. This was a gift given to me by a kind Vietnamese woman at a TET celebration we attended in January. Tet is Vietnamese New Year, and a small group in Salt Lake celebrates each year. We thought it a good idea to take our children and experience some of the culture of their sister's land of birth. While there a kind woman gave me this envelope, and inside she had placed $2. "Lucky money". This is a tradition in Vietnam-to hand out money blessed with luck to those around you at New Years. I felt it a kind act of friendship, and decided I would save my lucky money and use it once we were finally in Vietnam. Well, here we are. And the money did prove to be very lucky. It was used to purchase this jade bracelet, a keepsake I wanted to purchase and eventually give to Lucy. I thought I did not have enough dollars with me at the market to make the purchase, but lo and behold, I remembered the lucky money. What a perfect time to use it! I hoped that in the spending of the lucky currency we might somehow bring good karma to our journey. Perhaps it still will...