Robeez Shoes have arrived

The Robeez shoes arrived today! We received 20 pairs of the most adorable little shoes I have ever seen. The sizes range from 6 mths to 18 mths. I'm glad there were shoe sizes for older babies. Hopefully they will get some use especially when the babies start to walk in them.

My Little Man's Birthday

What a birthday weekend! We went to an amusement park on Friday night. I think we broke the record for the most turns on a single ride. The Sea Dragon was the big hit of the night!

I couldn't get any volunteers to hold the pinata until they found out it didn't require a hitting instrument. The pinata had strings in the back that you pull and one of them is the secret string that releases all the candy inside.

Robeez....Good enough for Celebrities

If Robeez is good enough for celebrity children, it's good enough for orphans!





Thanks to other adoptive parent's blogs, I found this great company that donate shoes for needy causes. I just confirmed with the Robeez PR person today and she is sending me 20 pairs of little shoes for the babies in my daughter's orphanage.










More Robeez Info:

Heart & SoleCaring about first steps – it’s about more than the shoes we make. We also care about our communities. This is why we created Robeez Heart & Sole program of charitable giving.

The Robeez Heart & Sole program focuses on supporting the needs of infants and children in need. Today, we regularly provide shoes to disadvantaged children all around the world. Since the inception of the program, Robeez has donated over 135,000 pairs of adorable shoes and booties. That’s a lot of little shoes; so many in fact that if all those shoes were stacked up heel to toe, those donations would represent a height over four times as tall as Mount Everest! Here are some of the programs we have supported since establishing Heart & Sole in 2003:

International Adoptions
Many of our loyal customers are adoptive parents seeking much-needed resources for their new sons’ and daughters’ former orphanages. Robeez regularly supports international orphanages by sending shoes with families traveling to adopt children.

Requesting Donations
Each month, Robeez sets aside several hundred pairs of shoes and booties for donation. Please review the following information prior to applying for a donation.
Note: Program guidelines are subject to change without notice.

Step 1: Review Robeez’ Heart & Sole program criteria
The criteria below outlines the programs Robeez will consider for donations.
The program must directly support children in need under the age of four.
Donations are to be used for charitable purposes and may not be used for commercial purposes. (e.g. resold)
Previous approval of a donation does not ensure future approval. Each new request must accompany a fully completed application form.
Donation requests may be made once per calendar year (January through December).
The application form must be completed in full for processing.
Robeez does not generally provide support for the following:
Religious organizations
Fraternal organizations (e.g. Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis)
Political organizations (e.g. election committees)
Business associations
Social and fraternal clubs (e.g. regional support groups)

Step 2: Complete the application form
To manage the large number of requests received, please fully complete the application form providing as much information as possible to help us in reviewing your request.
Download the Application here in Adobe Acrobat format.

Step 3: Submit your donation application form and supporting documents by email, fax, or mail.
Email: heartandsole@robeez.com
Fax: 604-435-9075
Mail: Robeez Attn: Donations Coordinator
7979 Enterprise StreetBurnaby,
BCV5A 1V5
Please allow six to eight weeks for processing (two weeks for approval plus four to six weeks for preparation and delivery).

Step 4: Approval of donation requests
You will receive a response to your donation request within two weeks. You will be notified by phone or email.

Step 5: Delivery of your donationWe request that the cost of shipping be covered by the donation recipient. This keeps our donation costs down and allows us to donate a greater quantity of shoes. Deliver only to street addresses, no PO boxes. Options for shipping payment: cheque, credit card, or courier account. You will be contacted to arrange shipping details following approval of your application.

Questions?
For questions about Robeez’ Heart & Sole program, please contact Robeez’ donations coordinator at heartandsole@robeez.com or 604-435-9074 ext. 2034.

Read about the News Release about Robeez's Charity: Click here for the story.

Our Visas arrived!

Wow, talk about fast service! I overnighted the visa applications on Tuesday when we found out about our travel dates. I received them on Friday. They weren't kidding when they said the San Francisco Consulate was fast and efficient. With our passport, airline tkts and visa, we are almost ready to go. Now if I could just get someone to pack our suitcases for us. Well, it's late and I have to get up early to prepare for someone's six year old birthday party. I'll post some pictures from the trip to the amusement park tonight and the birthday party. I can't believe we have two more weekends with our son. It will just be the three of us for three more weeks and then someone so special is going to enter our lives and touch our hearts in ways we can't ever imagine.

Airline tickets have been purchased

We just purchased our airline tickets today! A week ago, I didn't even think we would have made any travel plans this week.

I had previously inquired with our facilators back in January if there would be any possibility of me visiting the orphanage where I came from. When I spoke with our facilitator last night, she remembered me and had told me that it would be no problem to get a car and driver. However....she warned me that it would be a six hour drive each way from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho. The reason why it's a six hour drive is because most of the roads aren't "roads" and mostly dirt roads.

I told her that I really don't want to pass up the chance to visit the orphanage because I don't know when the next time we will be back to Vietnam. I'm hoping we return in seven years. But it really does depend on how our daughter is. If she gets sick or the exhaustion is just too much, I will not go. I refuse to put my daughter through the twelve hour drive in one day. I do have the option of someone babysitting. But I don't want to be away from her so shortly after we get her. It's a tough decision.

Point to Ponder

Wow, I was just reading my yahoo emails and someone mentioned that there are 120 families are on the waiting list for a child (from the same adoption agency). I can't believe when we were on the waiting list last September, 2006, we were number 11 in line. It just blows my mind how many families are waiting.

Travel Date!!

Today was just a normal day, I had to get up early to drop my son off to summer camp. The kids had a field trip to the zoo and it was just another work day for me. Then we received the much anticipated email mid afternoon. Our agency director had sent us an email to our home email address. Since I was at work, I didn't see the email of course. Then our social worker sent me an email at work asking if I had seen the director's email and even copied the text from the original email.

It took me a few seconds to register it in my head and then I just screamed over the wall to my coworker and then finally decided I'd better get on the phone to my husband who was working at home. He hadn't seen the email either and quickly checked it. We were both so excited! We are traveling to Vietnam July 6th or 7th! Our signing date is scheduled for July 9th. We have so much to plan that it just gets overwhelming if we think about it long enough. Our dreams are finally coming true and I just can't wait to enjoy the rest of our lives.

I did find out that I get to travel with another family that I have been corresponding with for the past few months. The other family has been waiting for four long months just like us. We were told that there were eight families traveling in July. They split it up so four families travel July 6th and the other half travel July 23rd. Thank goodness we were part of the first group. I think I would have gone mad if we had to wait until the 23rd. I can't believe that we will finally be a family of four in a few weeks!

I feel bad that our son couldn't really share the excitement about our trip. We told him over dinner tonight and he was more interested in the activities coming up in the next few days. He has another field trip at the end of the week and then we are going to take him to the amusement park on Friday night for a pre birthday celebration. His birthday party is this Saturday so as you can see, he has a lot of things to be excited about. Can you really blame him??

Some more Carnival Pictures

Sebastian was trying to give Mary a kiss on the cheek but I couldn't get the timing right on my digital camera. It was nice to have Mary join us even though she could only go on the little rides.









Mary's first amusement park ride. She has that look of doubt on her face. But then a little milkshake in the end is worth it!

Greek Festival

We went to a Greek Festival on Saturday. I found out about the festival through my friend at work and through my girlfriend. So everyone coordinated a time to meet and the kids enjoyed the carnival.

Memorial Weekend

We had some friends come over the day before Memorial Day. The baby was testing out Ava's toys to make sure it would meet standards.

Home Projects

The deck and furniture needed to be redone. It took two weekends and some evenings to complete. We had to replace some of the old boards and then paint/stain. The chairs needed to be sanded and painted.



This is the end result! I have to admit, I was proud of the accomplishment. Considering I had never sanded metal chairs before, I think we did a pretty good job. Now we can enjoy the rest of the summer on our "brand new" deck.



































Marley expressing his wish to join us outside.