miami

ThanksGiving at the Nguyen Ly's house

Song kneading bread (in her sleep).

song is growing

 At one month, she cuddles inside Hai's sweatshirt,

 at six weeks her Chi (big sister friend) Khanh speaks to her in Hue dialect,

Storytime! Hai is reading to Song, who reaches out to read along!

 Thanks to the Northside Friends for Snugglepuppy by Sandra Boynton in Braille!

more family photos

 sleepy not long after being born, song and youme whispering in sleep?

 our friend peter recommends Song learn from Frank Zappa

this is where we think Song gets her cheeks and puzzled expression from, youme's baby picture "experiencing culture shock since july 1, 1970"

pictures of being pregnant and Song new to the world!

Hai and Youme signing I love you to Song inside

Edith and Youme the night before Youme went into labor

Hai holding Song in the kitchen

 Yana ,Youme and Song (bundled in Dominik's musical wrap!)

Youme and Song by the books and the window.


David helping to wrap up Song for a walk on a windy day.

our heart
Song Nguyen Ly
born October 14, 2010

What is in a name?

After a long journey, Hai has his birth name back and I now share it! We have together added Ly and our story follows.
Hai was adopted at ten years  old, his birth name is Hai Van Nguyễn.  We have added Ly (The L from Landowne), the meaning of Ly is plum tree, or children's tree (the chinese characters are actually child and tree). When Hai was little in Vietnam at the orphanage the other children asked "Who is your mother?", and Hai said "my mother is a tree and my name (Hai) means ocean, so it is my job as water to care for the tree". Additionally Youme's mother's family name is Timberlake. So we are Hai and Youme Nguyễn Ly. A grateful and growing family!

New Address in Chicago!

Dear Friends, Dear Family,
Our new address is

620 S.Oakley Blvd
Apt.2
Chicago,IL 60612

We have filed the paperwork with county to retrieve Hai's birth name and if all goes well, after September 7th, we will be

Hải Van Nguyễn Ly and Youme Nguyễn Ly

Nguyễn (Vietnamese pronunciation: [ŋʷjə̌ˀn]

as always we can be reached via a comment here and/or through haiandyoume@gmail.com

Great Love, Hai and Youme

Very Happy Birthday

Dear Friends,
July first is Youme's 40th, we are celebrating by being six months pregnant, healthy, and very, very happy! There is lots to share from our last entry- meeting new friends in Vietnam, returning to Chicago, completing the spring semester and hurtling into summer. Nasturtiums bloom in our window garden which Edith planted with local plants and the prehistoric ferns which grow abundantly in Miami. We have come through Youme's unexpected abdominal surgery (with the baby 21 weeks along) and are now feeling strong, tonight we are preparing for this year's National Federation of the Blind Conference in Dallas,Texas. Mali Under the Night Sky, A Lao Story of Home, is the next Youme picture book to be produced through Cinco Puntos Press. We hope to soon share a student documentary project in which Hai plays a major role.
We are, as ever, so grateful for the work and play that you each bring to the world.

Hanoi and Nguyen Dinh Chieu School

 (the two images show the red painted bridge on green Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, as seen through weeping willow branches, and a classroom of bright happy second graders at Nguyen Dinh Chieu school-which Hai attended as a child!)

It is our second day in Hanoi, so many senses are filled as we are staying in "the old qurter" where streets turn into one another and overflow with small businesses of every variety. It has been an adventure to get a little lost as we navigate, we have managed to find Hoan Kiem lake, delicious pho shops and small open air coffee shops. Markets densely packed with vegetables, fruit and meats. The growing excitement as Tet (the Lunar New Year) approaches, and red and gold decorations fill the streets, there seem to be flowers and oranges everywhere. The city is also celebrating it's 1000th birthday and we are grateful to celebrate with it. Our most moving experience so far was the visit to Nguyen Dinh Chieu school, which we found out about almost by chance, we asked kind ms. tinh (she works at the guesthouse where we are staying)if she knew of any schools for blind students, and she said,maybe nguyen dinh chieu? 1000 students attend , 150 of whom are blind, k-9. The blind students attend the same classes as the sighted students and a few additional classes.We toured their computer center, met some students and teachers, and just as we were leaving a teacher approached us, to have translated that she remembers Hai! The translator asked "Do you remember coming to this school," and Hai said,"Now I do, yes!" All the way from Ba Vi (100km) Hai had a brief chance to attend this sleepaway(at the time) school, and ms. nguyen remembered that shy student! We will post pictures! thank you to all the teachers who can remember students, and who reach out to shy children! We are so grateful to have some ground returned to under our feet. Tomorrow we will visit the orphanage in Ba Vi. It is possible that no one is still there from 1992, but we again are feeling so very moved that we can stand in the places where Hai was a child. We couldn't be here without all of you dear readers, thank you so much-in vietnamese "cam on rat nhieu!"

To Vietnam

(the image taken by Friend Carl Hersh shows Hai and Youme with our dear young reader friend, she came in so sweetly and opened her arms to hug us as we took a moment to appreciate our signed certificate. There are flowers and a green ribbon on Hai's cane.
We depart on February first for two weeks in Vietnam. Hai's first time back since 1992, when he was ten years old. We fly into Hanoi. We have contacted some friends of friends who live in Hanoi,also the Sao Mai Computer Center for the Blind and Cherie Clark who has worked in Vietnam with adopted children for many years. We will be documenting our trip and look forward to sharing with you. We are so grateful for your support and encouragement!

From right to left Yana Landowne, Youme's sister, she made sure that everything and everyone was in the right place at the right time, bringing so much love, Dear David and Edith Landowne, Youme's father and mother, luminous and supportive, Youme and Hai, Dear Uncle Joe Landowne with his hands on our beloved and brilliant Grand Dad Milton Landowne's shoulders, and our heart and soul little brother Lionel Vital. Behind us the garden of the Miami Friends Meeting House and the palm frond that walked the mile with us from home to meeting. The sun is shining and so are the people. Photos by the radiant Samir Bitar!

This is the sunrise from Miami Beach where our wedding day began! Silhouetted seagulls in the golden pink dawn, our wings of joy.





Joe, Youme, Hai and Grand Dad!
We are very much in Love! This is us smiling and so grateful for the community support from near and far! We feel it, we love loving you!