Happy Christmas Eve

Christmas greeting from Vietnam. No visa news to report today. Tomorrow we will take another break from checking our email often as the embassy is closed for Christmas.

This morning was pretty low key. Just spent the morning tying up some loose ends, extending our stay in the hotel and changing Doug, Helen and Thomas' flight one more time. We found out today that some seats became available on Sunday's departure from Hanoi, so we decided that it would be good for them to stay a couple more days. More than likely we will still end up coming home separately, but it is two less days that we are each parenting on our own. More importantly, we were concerned that Julia might not remember them as well if we were apart for 3 weeks, so lessening that by even two days is a good thing. Surprisingly, as excited as the kids are to go home, they were excited to find out they are staying a little longer. The EVA airline office here in Hanoi now recognizes Doug's voice on the telephone because we have been changing our ticket so much.

The kids opened their presents in shorts and t-shirts today. (Grimy ones at that - 6 weeks here is beginning to take a toll on the few clothes that we brought!) Even on the other side of the world, they still needed to sort out their presents into piles before they were opened.

Supper tonight was at the Moca Cafe where the kids ate garlic bread and french toast for their Christmas Eve supper. (Interesting combo, I know.) Doug got pork chops and I got a beef stir-fry. And we all had some yummy desserts! They had good Christmas music playing while we were there. A nice break from the only other Christmas music we have heard everywhere else. The everywhere else Christmas music consists of the regular songs, but to a fast 80s disco beat - Silent Night is not quite the same!

There aren't a lot of Christians in Vietnam, so celebrating Christmas is something that is new and apparently is getting bigger every year. I read that the thing to do to celebrate it is drive around this lake in central Hanoi (about 3 miles from our hotel.) That must be the case because the roads were packed with scooters tonight! It was amazing.

We are having our Christmas dinner tomorrow night with our dear friends here - some of whom we will meet in about an hour. =) Doug negotiated the menu with the restaurant today. One of the things that they are serving is a banana flower dried beef salad. We will let you know how that is...

Well, Merry Christmas everyone. We wish we were there to tell you in person, but this will just have to do.

Thanks for your support and prayers. They mean a lot to us.

Love,

Barbie