Hanging in Bangkok

We are having to work hard to make the best out of these last few days here in Bangkok!! This is truly an awesome place, and we will be back again but the trip is taking its toll.

Today we headed back to our favorite place Siam shopping center (sad I know) but it is huge, and you can eat lots of different foods, see a movie, go bowling, or shop of course! What's not to like- a little for everyone. Yesterday we tried out the bowling alley- very cool!! Petch hadn't been bowling before, and he gave it a shot, but fell down with those shoes on then decided to sit out for a while. In the end he did give it another try (without the shoes) and he liked it much better. We will have to work on that as some of you know we like to hit the bowling alley in Brookings.

Guess what else we ran into in the shopping center? Yes you could never believe it- a gaming convention! Just what a bunch of boys love best. There were some tournaments going on, and some game demos. The boys enjoyed looking around there a bit!

The last few days have been harder for Petch. He has been more outwardly grieving- I am sure all of his losses. We are glad that he is more comfortable with us, but it is hard to see him go through it and the communication gap doesn't help. Tonight he is back to his usual happy-go-lucky self. I am sure this is only the tip of the iceburg, but at least we won't be living out of a hotel for much longer. Everyone is tired of getting up to go to breakfast!!

We met another couple adopting their little one also through Holt and spent some time with them tonight. They are fun, and it was nice to talk to someone else adopting. We are all going to be going to our Visa interview on Thursday morning. That will be when we get the final piece of our approval (Petch's visa) to travel home. (I know some of you suggested we try and leave early -and trust us we are ready, but Petch is leaving on emergency paperwork which is good only for the 23rd of the month.)

Tomorrow is our last free day here in Bangkok. We booked a trip to the Water park, and we will be gone all day! Hopefully it will be a reprieve from the hotel room for the day. :)

Good night!

Back on Track

Well after some real nerve racking days of not knowing how and when we were going to be able to bring Petch home we were pleasantly surprised by how smooth our interview and paperwork was completed at the immigration office. We are back on track to bring Petch home with us to meet our Families, and Friends on Friday as earlier scheduled.

We have been doing very little the past couple of days mainly just killing time before we can leave. All of us are looking forward to getting back to our NORMAL life if that is what you call it! We are getting pretty homesick and can't wait to see all of our family and friends.

More Pictures from Phuket

Hello all!

We just got to Bangkok and as promised I have uploaded some photos for all of you to enjoy. I will add a few more in a couple of posts! Notice the boys got to float in a bubble at the pool. How cool is that?

Beaches, pools, islands, and fun!

Well we would love to post more, but we've been so busy working on our tans! :) Actually we have had a lot of fun resting, relaxing, and exploring this beautiful place. We have so many wonderful photos to share when we get back to Bangkok tomorrow!!

Wednesday we took a tour of the Phi-Phi islands by speed boat. We were shown such beautiful places it is hard to write about. One of the islands is where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. There were quite a few people at the beach area all swimming around in the fantasticly warm waters- not like our beach in Oregon! Then we were moved to another island called "Monkey island". Yes, it got it's name from all the wild monkeys that live there. It was really crazy. One of the guys on our boat even got bit by one of them. Thank goodness our group decided they would keep their distance. We were taken to two more islands, one for lunch were it started a tropical storm that was absolutely insane. We just had to laugh and walk around in it until our boat could leave again. At least it's hot, and we were wearing swimsuits anyway! The last beach we stayed at for over an hour and just enjoyed the nice weather again. Some of the group did scuba. Petch tried it, but the stuff was a little big for him. He seems to be pretty adventurous!

Today is our last day here. We will be going to see a popular show called "FantaSea". I think it has lots of elephants, dancing, and dinner. We will see soon.

We have continued to have some stress working with the immigration department in Bangkok on our case. Today they contacted us and set up an appt for Monday morning which we were told will now be our "interview". It's all long and complicated and boring, but this is very good news!! We have a few more steps to do to be able to leave the Country on Friday, the 23rd and we need this interview before the rest can be completed. Thanks to all for your emails, posts, and prayers that things will come together for us!

Love to all,
Hollie & the family

Technical difficulties, but all is well!

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it safe and sound to Phuket. Our resort is for sure Heaven on earth, the only problem being getting online. We haven't been able to get internet access in the room here at the resort, so that has made things difficult. We are pretty busy with keeping all the boys entertained so by the time we finish the internet cafe & business center have closed down. TOday we have figured out we can come to the lobby (which is indoor/outdoor by the way- and get online here with a prepaid card. I guess it will have to do!!

The boys are doing well. We took Petch to the beach yesterday, and we are pretty sure he hasn't been before. He enjoyed it a lot. We have some pictures to show above. Joe was sleeping, and Gabe was watching a movie so it was just the 3 of us. TOday we will head back as Joe hasn't been there yet, and we will plan to stay longer.

Petch and I did legos for like 3 hours last night. I was beat, but it was something to interact with him with and he seemed to really like it. We built a fire truck! This morning he picked them up again- we tried to distract him! LOL

Devan is enjoying the swim up bar. He wishes his friend were here to enjoy it with him. Everyday at 5 is buy one, get one free.

Having trouble loading the pictures for some reason-frustrating! I will try to add them later on.
Love, Hollie & Devan & Gang

Good news and bad news!

Hi friends and family!

First of all I want to say thanks for all the comments and emails. We look forward to having some comments and contact with all of you at home.

Well Wednesday (Tuesday night there) was our board meeting with the Department of Child Welfare. Things moved fairly quickly there, and we were very pleased that we were given permission from the board to officially adopt Petch. Then things sort of got frustrating...... Most of you know the struggles we have had adopting our son due to complications of proving his citizenship. It is an unusual case, and have already had struggles getting here. I won't go into all the details as they are difficult to understand even for us, but we have to complete an extra step in order to get approved for the adoption. Wednesday in the afternoon we had to go to the Bangkok/US immigration office to submit documents of our case and await their review of them -and hopefully will have adequate documentation and receive approval. Well they did not receive information from the US immigration office that they needed to fully begin review of our case. It was frustrating, and stressful as we did confirm that the information was sent to them- however for some reason they didn't have it! Lucky us, right?! It seems that whenever there is a bump we hit it!! We are hoping the missing paperwork will be resolved by tomorrow (Friday) and have had much assistance and support from Holt to get this resolved ASAP. We have a few more steps before we are complete with all the "clearances", and do not want any delays.

That said, today was Thursday and after a quick (and very hot) trip back to the Immigration office to give them our emails of the follow up on missing papers we took the day off!! :) We went to a mall, got Petch a red PSP and Joe got a skateboard. Then we ate at some great places, and headed back to the pool. We traveled by the sky train, and I want you all to know we did a lot better-we didn't look quite as unable as the last time! We are turning into City folk now!!

Petch is still full of smiles. He did say "mom" and "dad" on his own today!! HOORAY.... He also said "yes" and "no". Progress. He is swimming like Michael Phelps (or dad thinks so) after only 2 short days in the pool. He is amazing, of course.

We are planning to go to Phuket on saturday. We don't think that there will be any hold ups since the immigration office is going to need time to review our documents. WE found a really nice resort with a 2 bedroom villa that will give us some more space, and more childrens activities. Booking that has also come with its challenges due to our family size (I know they aren't even all here), and due to Petch's documents. Devan will take his paperwork to the Thai airway office tomorrow and hopefully they will let him pay!! :)

Hope you enjoyed the photos, not as many since there has been a lot of meetings and phone calls lately trying to arrange things for the next week.

Love to all,
Hollie, Devan, and the three musketeers (or stooges) whatever you prefer!!

At last.

At last we have him! Tomorrow we will attend the DSDW board meeting and get final approval to adopt Petch forever!

Today was truly an awesome day. I cannot express in words how wonderful it was to see so many smiles this first day. We decided to go to the Siam aquarium today (thanks Hirally for reminding us) to break the ice after Petch was dropped off with us this morning. We could tell he was a little nervous, so movement would be good.

In order to get to the Aquarium we had to take the Sky train. Sounds simple, right?! Well you know we live in a very rural community so it in itself was a venture for the day. After several tries, and assistance we all got in and actually got off in the right spot! We almost went back the wrong way, but luckily we (okay Devan)realized it before it was too late.

They have a great aquarium here in Bangkok, and the boys really had a great time exploring. Petch had a disposal camera, and not only went through his camera but Joe's as well. Smiles all the way (big ones too). He hasn't talked that much, but tonight he seems to be a little more verbal. I have tried to use some Thai phrases/words with him, but he just looks at me and smiles- so not sure if he understands me or just thinks I'm weird.

Then came the swimming pool. Petch told us he couldn't swim, and the social worker confirmed he hasn't been in the pool before. When we looked at it together that first day he told the social worker "it looked deep". He got his swim trunks on and we all went down to the pool. The boys jumped in and we showed Petch where it was more shallow (although it is pretty deep). He got in and then decided to try the floaty- only one problem he decided to try the floaty by jumping on it from the edge. After drinking some pool water, I think he realized it was not the best idea!! All ended well though as he dunked his head under and tried so hard to swim like the boys. We were so proud of him!

Definitely a great day today!! It is obvious to us Petch tries very hard to do what the boys are doing. Tonight at dinner he pointed to the American breakfast, and told us he wanted it for dinner- then giggled. He chose the grilled ham and cheese instead (with the help of our waitress). I do believe he liked it too! The boys are all having a great time together. Devan and I are very pleased and grateful to have such great first day together. Petch is a sweet, happy, and handsome little boy!

Meeting the Foster Family

Today we got up real early due to someone in our group AKA Joe not quite being adjusted to the time change. It really is a bummer when you can't go back to sleep at 5 A.M. We were able to take Petch today with the Social Workers to a big shopping store and buy some toys for him and his foster brothers. He seemed pretty relaxed to be with his big brothers and was full of smiles.

After lunch we were taken back to the hotel where we had a little free time just with Petch with no interpreter for the first time, WOW!!!!! we really don't know any Thai to speak of, it's a good thing that kids have a language that is universal. Joe, Gabe, and Petch played together as if they had been together for a long time it was neat to see them playing soccer in the hall of the Hotel just a laughing and giggling on like no other strangers that I'd have ever seen before.

In the afternoon the Social workers drove our family to see Petch's school and his Foster family house. It was very emotional seeing where he has attended school for so long and being able to say goodbye to his teachers, and student friends that were there waiting for us. His friends were quite happy to see cameras. We were able to talk to his current teacher and see how he has been and what his strong suits are, by looking at his homework tablets i know our kids could get a lesson in penmanship from him.

After seeing his school we walked to his house and were able to sit down and talk with his Foster Mom. All of his Foster siblings were also there, it was very important to us to get to see where he has been growing up and see what kind of family life he has had. It is tough to think about him saying goodbye tomorrow morning to his Mom and siblings that he has for so many years and jumping into our life full time. What a jump it is going to be! We can't wait!!!!!!

Tonight is our last night without Petch, something we have been waiting and praying for so long. Here are a few pics from today of him with his teacher and of his school and his amazing smile.

On our way home from his house today our Social workers gave us a snack that they really liked and thought we should try. I think they probably should come up with a better name because the name sweet hair doesn't have that appetizing of a name, although it did taste better than it looked.

Our first day with Petch!

What an awesome day!!

Petch came to the hotel today and had lots of smiles for us, although he is a little shy. The boys were great with him, and did wonders for breaking the ice. We met in the hotel, and had a brief orientation. We learned that Petch is 9 now, estimated birthday is in August. We also learned the Thai say "Pet" instead of "Petch", but for obvious reasons you may all continue to call him "Petch".

We played in the meeting room of the hotel for a bit, then we took a tour of the hotel. He hasn't swam before, and told the Holt staff, Pat he was a bit nervous about the pool. All be honest it was nice to have an interpreter all day. Wish we had them everyday!! Then we went to lunch with the social worker, Pat (the Holt staff), and our family. They decided to go to KFC since Petch tells us his favorite food is chicken!! (Lily will be happy about that.) Petch darted out into the street about 10 times, so we could see we are going to have to keep an eye on him. :)

We ended in our hotel room, showing him were he will stay with us on Tuesday. He seemed to be pretty interested in all things electronic, so I guess he will be pretty happy in our family. Hehe.... He liked looking through his new clothes and put right on a t-shirt we got him. It was funny.

Things we learned about Petch today:
1. He is an active boy!!
2. He likes to smile.
3. He is interested in hanging with his brothers.
4. He can count to ten in English, but that's about all.
5. He is perfect! :)

Tomorrow is a busy day for us. We will meet him and the staff in the lobby and go to the mall to shop and have lunch. Then we will drive around 2 hours to his foster home and meet his foster family. We also learned that we get to see where he has gone to school which is very cool.

Love to all of you! Send us an email too if you wish at hollie.strahm@charter.net. We will be checking it as well.

Devan, Hollie, Gabe, & Joe

We've landed!

Hello to all of our friends and family!

We are happy to say that after a 27 hour trip we made it to Bangkok. We got in around 11 pm Thailand time last night, and arrived at our hotel. We were starving, but happy to see since it was Friday night there was a lot of activity still outside our hotel. There is a grocery store right across the street we headed over to and got some snacks and take out authentic Thai food (which was awesome).

Today we slept in and then took a tour to the Grand Palace, then went on a canal boat ride in some really brown water. It was fun though, and cooler than walking around the Palace. It is very warm and the boys were looking pretty wilted after the busy afternoon, so we came back to the hotel and order Pizza Hut which they were very happy about. The time change, and lack of sleep has gotten the better of us tonight.

Well tomorrow is the big day we meet Petch!! We will meet in the hotel lobby around 10 AM, then will get to see Petch for a few hours. Can't wait, I have butterflies in my stomach right now thinking about it. We will post more tomorrow! Here are a few pics of our trip today to tide you over.