Hurry up and wait!

Wednesday, Sept. 12, Bangkok
Soon after our last post, Beth and Jack arrived. We went straight up to our room and played for about an hour. They did not seem sad or upset to have just left their foster mother, and we wondered whether they really understood what was happening.
We joined the Baurs for lunch at McDonald's. Thought we'd see how they took to American food... chicken McNuggets and fries were good, but hamburgers were not! Might take some getting used to the taste.
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in our room. Except for a short trip to the swimming pool. Beth cried when we tried to help her put on her swimming suit. She had never worn one before. So we let her just wear shorts and a t-shirt. When we got to the pool however she really panicked watching us get in first. They had never been in a swimming pool before! So, we packed everyone back to the room and just played some more.
Jack threw a tantrum when we tried to get him to take a nap. We're getting broken-in quite quickly, huh? So anyway, by the time we went out to dinner he was exhausted and fell asleep mid-chew. Back in our room we just watched t.v. and let them fall asleep on their mattresses. They both fell asleep clutching their little flashlights (what a lifesaver, Dani!)

Today was our first big day for official government business. We started with breakfast at 7:00 and met Mo at 8:15 to go meet the Thai Government officials. Our turn finally came at 10:30. It went smoothly and we were done in about 10 minutes. From there, we took a taxi directly to the US immigration office to file our paperwork. When we arrived, it was the lunch hour so we waited until 12:30. But when we went up to the top floor we discovered that they had an extended lunch/meeting until 1:30! We walked (in the HEAT, all dressed-up) to a playground about 7 or 8 blocks away. We discovered this was also a first for them. Mitch had to climb and slide and swing (not to hard for him) to show them what to do! Back at immigration, we still had to wait 2 1/2 hours (in a small gov. waiting room) to be called back for our 8 minute interview. The DMV office is nothing compared to this office! By the that time, we were all worn to a frazzle! It was also discouraging because by then we had missed our window to request an appointment at the Embassy. Finally, the immigration officer informed us that we would have to return tomorrow afternoon to get our papers and then go to the consular office at the Embassy accross the street to make our appointment. Long story short it looks like we need another miracle just to get us out of here on Saturday, and Monday might be ify also!! We are really hoping somehow we could get put on some kind of fast track and pick-up the visa's on Friday and fly home on Saturday! Stay tuned. Please pray that our case will be expidited.

Well, we finally made it back to our room, but with two exhausted and hungry kids! Beth finally seemed to understand what was happening and burst into tears. Mommy held her until she calmed enough to drink a little milk. Daddy went to get some take-away (take-out) dinner, and we decided to do bath time. They both perked-up amazingly, and by the time dinner was over, they were back to laughing and playing happily with Daddy (Best part of the day says daddy).
Whew! What a couple of days this has been, and it isn't over yet! But everytime we feel frustrated and challenged, we try to think of how difficult this is for the kids! It puts things into perspective.