A New Passport!

The last two days have been a whirlwind. Yesterday I had a regional review at work. That is when the South Area Leadership Team comes to our market to review our results and actions. The meeting was scheduled to start at 7 am, which meant we needed to be in the office by 6:15, which meant a 4:30 alarm. One problem, whenever I have something big going on first thing in the morning I continually wake up thinking I have overslept. So, I was up at 4:00 am. The review was stressful, but by 1 pm it was over and I had a wrap up with my team. Then it was time to run to Target and get the last few items I needed to bring down with me. A quick stop at the house to change clothes and it was time to head to the airport. Things went fine on the trip down and I arrived in Antigua about 11 pm. Jenny and I were excited to see each other again, especially since this time we know we will not have to say goodbye in a week. So we were up talking past midnight.

We got and early start this morning. As usual the roosters were crowing at 5:30 am so I was awake. Then at 6 am my phone alarm went off (also with the sound of roosters) and that woke everyone else up. We left Antigua headed to our attorney’s office in the city at 7 am and arrived there about 8:40. The attorney had a package ready for us to take to the passport office and directed our driver where to go. We got to the passport office and I used my very broken Spanish to let them know I needed a passport for my newly adopted son. After reviewing the documents, they sent me to the bank next door to pay the Q250 fee for a passport. Then it was back to the passport office to turn in the documents and receipt. We waited about ten minutes before they called us and sent us down to get Luis fingerprinted and photographed. That process did not take long and then after another five or ten minutes the passport book was ready. Here is a picture of Luis with the new passport.



After our successful visit to the passport office, we headed back to our attorney’s office so they could get a copy of the passport page sent to translations. We will be getting all the translated documents on Sunday so we can turn them into the US Embassy on Monday morning. Then is was time for the return trip to Antigua.

By the time we got back we were all starving and decided to head to McDonalds for lunch. The kids had a great time and while they were still playing I headed over Modelo Barberia to get a hair cut. They do a great job and it only costs Q12 (about $1.50). We spent the afternoon hanging out at the apartment and this evening we watched Star Wars – A New Hope, with the kids. It was the first time Luis had seen it and I think he really enjoyed it. The is familiar with the characters from playing the Legos Star Wars game and that seemed to help him follow the story.

Tomorrow is a packing day. We will be working to stuff all the things we brought down or bought in Antigua over the last five and a half months (including Christmas) into five large suitcases, two carry-on roller bags and five back packs. So, tomorrow we will see what the truly important items are and what can hit the trash here.

On Sunday we will go to church in the morning to worship once more in Antigua. We are really looking forward to being back at TWUMC! Our shuttle van picks us up at 1:30 in the afternoon to take us to our hotel in the city. We will finish the remaining steps in Guatemala City. We are praying that we'll be flying home by Thursday.

Right now, it feels surreal. We started Luis' adoption so long ago and I am so thankful for God's faithfulness in seeing us through this! It is hard to believe we are really close to being finished with the process. Thank you for your prayer support!

Another Week....but more progress!

Good afternoon!

Just a quick blog to let you know our attorney was able to get our certifications from the court on Thursday, and we've submitted our request for a new birth certificate for Luis. We are praying that we can get it by Thursday, but we don't have a confirmation of that. Not having a confirmation on the birth certificate delivery is causing a logistical nightmare for me, a planner who wants to plan!! We are trying to time Victor's arrival so we can get Luis' passport as soon as possible, but we don't want Victor to spend time from work here in Guatemala just waiting for the birth certificate. Ugh! Please pray that we receive confirmation, and that the birth certificate will be ready by Thursday.

It does feel good to make progress and check it off our adoption list. We have been blessed with a lot of progress in the last three weeks. And as soon as we have Luis' passport, we will be done with the Guatemalan side of the adoption. We will then submit our documents to the Embassy and await our VISA appointment. So as you can see, our excitement is growing as flying to the United States is becoming more and more near.

The weather is still amazing, and Guatemala is still in the dry season. What a blessing that our time in Guatemala has been without much rain. Without a car, we've had to walk basically everywhere, and it is certainly convenient that we don't have to schedule our errands around the weather. Actually, my only weather-related thought is "I wonder if it will be warm enough for swimming on Wednesday?" All three kids love the pool and we've already been to the pool twice this month.

We're not sure exactly how much longer we'll be in Antigua (see first paragraph) so I am trying to cleverly use up the food items we have in the kitchen. Yesterday, I had a grilled cheese sandwich and soup, Chris had a "grilled cheese sandwich not grilled" (a Chris specialty), Care had leftover pizza and leftover chicken, and Luis had leftover pizza, a hard-boiled egg and ham roll-ups. I thought we did a great job making use of the little bit here, little bit there.

School is still moving along smoothly for all three kids. We've doing a unit in Language Arts - poetry - and poor Chris and I with our math-y brains are both struggling through it. We're all more excited about our Space unit in science. This week we did some fun stuff learning about the planets, and we're still debating whether we consider Pluto a planet or not. Poor little Pluto, getting demoted. Maybe a field trip to NASA when we get back to Texas will answer the question once and for all, and give us peace of mind about it!!

Hope you have a great weekend!!

Feliz Dia de Carino!!

That's Happy Valentine's Day, in Guatemala.

I wasn't sure how Guatemala celebrates Valentine's Day, so I had asked Victor to bring some Valentine's candy when he came to visit last month. Boy, was I glad he did. It's a big deal here! Antigua was very crowded today. The upper echelon of Guatemala descended on Antigua. Seriously, I saw so many Hummers, Suburbans and Mini-Coopers today that I thought for a second we were already back in The Woodlands.

For breakfast, I made blueberry muffins for the kids and sprinkled them with little candy confetti. We headed to church and lunch at McDonalds. The kids and I stopped at the little market on the way home and bought some knick-knacks. I am not sure how many more weekends we have in Antigua so I want to make sure we bought the keepsakes we would want for later.

Here is a picture of my three valentines, together, at the prettiest McDonald's in the world:



After we arrived back at the apartments, we relaxed together and just played. The next few weeks will get very busy so I am grateful we have been able to rest and have quiet time this weekend. The next steps will be to get Luis' birth certificate, passport, medical exam, VISA appointment, and finally, his VISA. It sounds easy, but in between these steps are translations, packing up the apartment, making flight & hotel arrangements, and trying to continue home school without too much distraction. Please continue to pray that all these steps would go off without a hitch. We are hoping to get home by mid-March.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Adoption Day!!!

Today we heard the glorious news that the Guatemalan Family Court judge signed the approval of our adoption! Remarkably, our file was in family court for less than two weeks! Victor and I are thrilled to now be Luis' parents in the official legal way - although we believed Luis was our son from the moment we were selected by Casa Para Ninos - on August 9, 2007.

Luis and I will have smiles that won't come off for a long, long time. Here we are:



Same goes for Chris and Caroline. Boy, are they excited!!!



It's been a remarkable journey for our family so tonight we celebrate God's faithfulness and sovereignty. (Which by the way for us means ordering Domino's, watching a movie and staying up late)

Our minds are spinning as we consider the next steps and the new timeline. A return date to the USA won't be known for awhile (it depends on the US Embassy) but my mind is in full gear for leaving Guatemala. We are praying to be home by mid-March.

Keep praying that these last steps move quickly and that no additional obstacles get in the way. Thank you for your prayers!!

It's A Wonderful Life

One reason that I don't update our blog more often is that I think there might not be anything interesting to report. What I mean is, most of the time, life in Antigua seems rather routine. Church on Sundays, school at home Mondays through Friday. Luis continues to adjust well, learn English, etc. etc.

But I would be remiss not to recognize treasures in the mundane. Earlier in the week, we made dinner and dessert for a neighbor with a new baby. Luis and I sat in front of the hot oven (with the oven light on) and watched butter melt in my casserole dish. He learned words like "gooey" and "melty", and after we finished making a layered cookie dessert, he said "yummy"! It's been a long time since I had time in my schedule to watch butter melt.

And on another night, after his bath, Luis and I watched the colored water going down the drain. He learned the word, "Whirlpool"!! How fun!

Tonight, Luis asked Chris to a "sleepover" - so here they are enjoying being brothers.



Before they went to bed, we watched another Saturday night Antigua fireworks show. I thought even the fireworks have become a routine occurrence!

But then I realized, how can seeing our dreams of Luis becoming part of our family ever become routine and mundane? How can watching miracles and experiencing answered prayers ever grow old?

So I quickly snapped a shot of the kids, caught off guard, but reminding me that firework shows aren't limited to Disney World and special holidays. Each day is worth celebrating.

Land of Eternal Spring

In my last post, I mentioned several things we miss about Texas. Today, I'll share our list of things we will miss about Antigua.

We'll miss:
Eating at Pollo Campero
The Weather - it is the "Land of Eternal Spring"
Beautiful scenery
Tuk Tuk rides
Singing "Eres Todo Poderoso" at church

I will NOT miss shopping at La Bodegona. Hopefully the picture I took the other day of La Bodegona will be last time I have to shop there.



For school, we've been having fun, as usual. We enjoyed making patterns with Chocolate Teddy Grahams (quite the find) and M&M's:



The kids and I are enjoying our new friends. Today the kids played soccer with the other family while I had some time (gasp!) by myself in the apartment. I did a little cleaning and organizing as I am starting to pare down our stuff in preparation of leaving. Although we have no idea when we'll leave, I'm definitely in the "getting ready to go" mindset. Hopefully it won't be too much longer!! Please continue to pray for our case in Family Court.

Enjoy your weekend!! We will!

Things We Miss about Texas....

We are really looking forward to being home with Victor, at some point. The best thing about February is we feel confident saying "We should be home NEXT MONTH!" Keep praying about Family Court #3, that we would have favor with the court and move to the next step quickly. Also pray for accuracy with the court so we can avoid common errors. Lastly, pray for our ability to continue in our patience! We are all ready to come home!

Here is a short list of the things we miss about Texas:
Obviously, we miss being home with Daddy
Friends & Family
All things TWUMC!!
One-stop shopping at Kroger
freedom that comes with having a car
speaking English and being fairly well understood*

* I compliment Guatemalans in their overall willingness to try to understand my very broken Spanish....I've never been given a "Welcome to Guatemala. Press 1 for Spanish, all others go home" treatment. I am grateful for that.

We've started our 3rd quarter of "Fettes Christian Academy" - which includes a unit on "Space" for science. We are having a lot of fun with that already. I have enjoyed home-schooling so much and will be sad when it is time to return the kids to traditional school. A favorite part of home-schooling is starting at 8:15, or 9:30, or 10:00 - basically when breakfast is done, kids are dressed, and I feel like starting class!! I know we will get our work done for the day....and I love the freedom of working at our own pace and time. Wow....waking up to a 6:30 A.M. alarm clock will be quite the adjustment for us!!! (I know, you all are rolling your eyes right now..)

Again, please continue to pray over our case and for favor. THANK YOU!!