Our Vietnam Story

by Karl Smith - Father of Melissa and Karissa

I start writing this story, not at the beginning when Sharon and I first started the process, but at the almost ending, when we brought our girls home. Sharon and I applied to Wasatch International Adoptions to adopt two little girls from Vietnam. We went through the almost never ending process of gathering paperwork and getting ready for this moment when we could bring two sweet little girls into our home. This is the ending of that long journey and most of this story is my email to family and friends when we were finally bringing the girls home.

Sharon and I, along with Sarah, our daughter, traveled to Vietnam together. After arriving in Vietnam, we went to the giving and receiving ceremony for the first little girl, Melissa. Sarah and I would then work on getting her home while Sharon would stay and be the one to go to the giving and receiving ceremony for little Karissa. The following is my last email on my way out of Vietnam with Melissa.

Dear Everybody:

I am amazed at the power of collective prayer. As I told you yesterday, Sharon was able to get Karissa. Today, agaUSCISt all odds, she was able to get her a passport. Can you believe this -- the same day. She is coming to Ho Chi Minh City tonight at 10:00 pm in the afternoon. Looks like we will all be home for Christmas as planned. Keep those prayers going though because she still has to get past the Consulate interview. We are going to go tomorrow and get Karissa's visa pictures made and photocopied and have everything in place.

Today, as USCIStructed, Sarah and I went to the Consulate at 4:00 pm to get Melissa's visa. There was a big line of families adopting and they were all waiting too. As it turned out, Sarah and I were the first ones in line. I was a little worried that there would be some problem so I brought all kinds of paperwork in case they had any questions. To get the visa you actually stand outside at a window with a grate in it. The lady (a Vietnamese woman) said something incomprehensible over a speaker which we finally figured out meant "Get up here if you want your papers:. Well, that's what I think she meant, anyway. When we turned in our papers and got Melissa's visa and packet, the lady said "bla-wh-uu" or something like that. I shook my head and said that I didn't know what she was saying. So she said "fyao-crackle crackle - jik oou". Well, this went on for a while until I finally said, "Two big macs with fries and supersize that please". She seemed to accept this just fine. Everything went well and I finally found out what she was really saying was "Don't open your envelope and be sure to read all the USCIStructions carefully". The long and short of it is that we have Melissa's visa and she is officially cleared to go to America.

Sharon says that Melissa is our city girl and Karissa is our country girl. This is because the two hour drive to get Melissa was mostly in the city. The two hour drive to get Karissa was out in the country through rice patties and jungle. Sharon said that the grandmother of Karissa kept talking to Karissa and saying, "Go to America. Learn a lot and write to your grandmother". What an awesome responsibility we have taken on. I will never look at or listen to stories of immigrants in the same way again. You can't imagine the feelings as you wait behind that glass while the U.S. Government worker flips through your mountain of paperwork and you know that the next flip could send you back to the drawing board or come home with your babies.

I had no idea how much I could come to love these little ones so fast. It's like they have been waiting all this time to become part of our family. It makes my cry when I think of these precious little children. I remember this kind of feeling when my other two children were born but I didn't know I would ever feel like this again. Has the wait been worth it? Yes, a million times over. We are blessed and fortunate to have these little girls in our family. We will like them for always and love them forever!

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