Welcome - ยินดีต้อนรับ

Hello all family and friends!

With great excitement, we started our adoption journey in August 2008. We are now first time parents through adoption of an 8-year-old son from Thailand. We have chosen to build our family through the adoption of a son from Thailand because this is where we feel God is leading us right now.

It took 1 year and 9 months to bring Ray home and it was totally worth it!

We appreciate all of your love and support. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Ann & Bryan

Monday, May 17, 2010

Last Weekend in Thailand

It was hard to say good-bye to the social workers from the TRC and to the Sutton family all in one day on Friday.  Because of the emotional overload, that's really all we did.  Hopefully we will see them all some time in the future.

Saturday, May 15th
We went to Chatuchak Market today for some authentic Thai crafts...it was HUGE and full of Farangs (foreign tourists like us). We had fun bargaining with the sellers and got some really nice things. Finished the day by watching "Fantasia" with Ray...he loved it...especially the Sorcerer's Apprentice with Mickey!

Sunday, May 16th
We had a great day today outside the city of Bangkok.  Local friends picked us up and dropped us off in their red BMW.  They took us to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand from 1350 to 1767.  It is about an hour and a half drive from our hotel.  We went to a Buddhist temple with (they claim) the largest Buddha in the world.  It's called Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit.  Then we went to Klong Sabua floating market and ate lunch while watching a historical performance at the only Water Theatre in Thailand.  Ray really enjoyed this part of the day!  Afterwords we got some Sai Mai for dessert which is something like cotton candy wrapped in a crepe.  Ray LOVES this so much he didn't want to share at first.  We ended the day at the former Grand Palace now referred to as the Ancient Palace (Bang Pa-In Palace).  It is much different from the Grand Palace in Bangkok as it is more spacious and less grandiose.  I enjoyed it as is was more peaceful and quite....even thought it was raining today.

Our friends explained to Ray at the end of the day that in one more night we will be flying to America and his face lit up with excitement.  I think he's curious about the plane ride mostly.  But it made us both happy to see that he is ready to come home with us!


TODAY - Monday, May 17th
We have nothing planned today other than PACKING!!!  We'll leave between 2-3am for the airport (which is 2-3pm Monday WI time).  Last day in the Land of Smiles!

4 comments:

chaniemom said...

What a fun day you had on Sunday! You'll have to tell us how to go there if and when we can ever make it back. I'm so thankful that you have his visa and are packing to go home!

Kelly said...

Thank you for sharing your journey. It was our wish to adopt a little guy from Thailand, but then my husband lost his job, and we already have 4 girls, so Thailand was a little dicey on us anyway. We continue to pray for that little guy, and are always overjoyed when another child meets his parents. We'll keep checking in. Kelly

Megan said...

You are currently in the air somewhere headed to America!! Congrats you guys and can't wait to hear more!
Blessings~

Amanda said...

I am hoping you have made it home safely.

Why are we adopting internationally and not domestically?
While we think adopting domestically is extremely important, our hearts are drawn to the waiting children in other countries. Some of our closest friends and relatives have adopted, are adopted themselves, or are planning to adopt internationally. This has been a wonderful experience for them, as I am confident our adoption will be for us.

Why are we adopting from Thailand?
The number one reason is simply...that's where our son is living right now. Also, the Thai people are extremely laid back and friendly and the adoption process is very straight forward in Thailand and has been around for decades so there should be no surprises or corruption. After researching our other options, the requirements to adopt from Thailand fit our requirements. If we decide to adopt again, we will reevaluate the different countries and domestic programs.