The Canuels

Our Story Continues- Like David and Goliath

2008-12-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

OK... so we gave the social worker our phone numbers and appropriate times to call and we waited. We had been undergoing a huge addition project to our home as we needed to prepare beedrooms and more room for our family. This project has taken us almost a year and a half but, kept our minds occupied while we waited. Otherwise I think it would have driven me crazy. I was doing some finishing work on some baseboards when the phone rand. I saw a number (from the states) that I did not recognize so did not answer it. Steve's grandmother, Meme, however DID answer it and brought me the phone. I gave her the look like...why did you answer the phone and put the phone to my ear. As I did I could hear someone with a Spanish accent call Maria and JP to the phone. I jumped to my feet and went running through the house to the backyard where Steve was working screaming "OUR KIDS ARE ON THE PHONE!!". Our Spanish was very little so I ran across the street with walk phone in hand to our neighbor's house who said if you need translation anytime just let me know. When they answered the door I called for Sally and she came running. I explained our situation and we walked over to our front yard. So there we stood, the three of us, on walk phones talking to our kids for the first time. It was sooo cool. All they wanted to know was when were we coming to get them and how much longer. They said they loved us and called us mommy and daddy. We had the opportunity to speak to them about 3 more times prior to going to get them.

In the interum we were sent pictures the children drew for us via email from the social worker.

We were told to put together picture books for the children that consisted of pictures of us, the immediate family (grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles and cousins), our home, their rooms and stuff we like to do. I had asked if someone could take pictures when they received the books AND SOMEONE TOOK VIDEO! They were very excited.

It was about this time that things started to go nuts. We were told by our adoption agency that that we were not going to be going to a major city like Bogota, Cali or Cartagena. We would be going to Cesar. The adoption agency could not tell us anything about the area. Steve was really good with research and started to search for where it was located. We discovered that it was in the northern tip of Colombia. Colombia has provinces called Departments which are like our States. Later we found out that we were to travel to Valledupar, Cesar. After more research Steve discovered that it was a very dangerous area. And on top of that our adoption agency said that they had never sent a family there before. We were already hesitent about going to Colombia in the first place but, to find out these things made our decission much more challenging.

Steve found out that there was a strong presence of the paramilitary there. We decided that we thought that they should move the children to a larger city. After speaking with the adoption agency they said that it was not a wise decission. It would look like we care more about ourselves then the children (which at the time our safety WAS on the top of our list) and there would be so much red tape it would be unbelievable! So moving the children was out of the question.

Steve had contacted the American Embassy in Colombia via email and after several days still no
answer.

We were to go over to my sister's house to talk to my brother n law who was from Venezuela but, had family in Colombia. We spoke to them and explained our situation. Their answer was not what I wanted to hear. They told us that it would be very dangerous to travel to Valledupar as we are caucasion and from the United States. "You'll get kidnapped" they said. On the ride home Steve said, "I know that you are going to be angry for telling you this but, we can not go to Velledupar. I do not want to risk our lives over 2 children - what good are we to them if we are not alive?" Unless a ticket falls out of the sky with Valledupar on it we are not going.

When we got home that evening Steve got back on the computer to do some more research. I am telling him at this point to "Stop doing research"! It was then that as he sat down and started to use it that a window popped up with a border that offered discounded roundtrip airfare to Valledupar. He chuckled and called me into the room. I said honey, I know it is not a paper ticket but, that is good enough for me!

Over the next couple of weeks Pastor Mark from our church (Calvary Chapel of Melbourne, FL) was teaching on David and Goliath. Steve attended a men's conference entitled "Facing the Giants". Basically we were being hit with everything God had that said...trust and obey me.

We had been talking to several patients about what we were going through and one of them who is very strong in faith was praying for us. For clear direction on what God's will was for us. We were so scared and confused as to if we should go to Valledupar of not. If we did not go then we would refuse these 2 children and would have to wait for others. Who knows how long that would have taken. She called one day just when we needed to hear it and said...I am not sure why but, God put it on my heart to tell you that where his work is being done Satan is right there to deceive and confuse. Thanks Donna G. and thank you God for guidence.

It was then that things started to become clearer. We got a chance to talk with a lady from the American embassy. She told us that she is permitted to travel there. It is not a red zone. It is not considered to be a border town because there is a large mountain range which seperates Colombia and Venezuela. It was about 3 miles wide and in order to cross into Venezuela one would have to travel either north or south several miles. She checked some records and told us that she could not find anything on Valledupar which is good because, it means that nothing is "going on" there else there would be "warnings". This made us feel a little better.

We also found out that there were more adoptions that had been done out of Valledupar and one of which was by an American family from Ohio, The Roberts. We were able to speak with them regarding their experience and it was all very pleasent. They had the same guide/interpreter that we would have. They adopted an older girl via the kidsave program.

We were coming home late one night from work and stopped to get Chineese for dinner. It had been a long time since we have done that. I grabbed a handful of fortune cookies (something I normally would not have done usually I just grab one for each of us). Steve opened his and it said something to the tune of a trip you are about to take will be successful. Mine said something very relevent to our adoption decission and our trip. Meme opened one and it made no sense. She said that she didn't like that one and opened another one and that one made no sense either. God is funny in how he communicates with us :) sometimes.

Well we finally made the decission to go to Valledupar. We felt that God wanted us to go there. To trust him with our lives. These were our children. The ones he wanted us to have that we have been waiting for. Now...all we have to do is make the travel arrangements.

We leave June 9, 2008.

An Answer to Prayers...Our Story Begins

2008-10-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

It all started about 4 years ago. Steve and I traveled to Orlando to attend an adoption seminar with an adoption agency. We had been considering adoption for some time unable to have children of our own for no known apparent reason. We just accepted the fact that God's will for us at this time did not include a biological child, so we decided on adoption. This agency's program sounded great so we took the information home and slept on it.

It was about this time that our next step in the plan was to go in with Steve's brother Joe, his wife Trish and another friend, Lisa on some investment property. They were townhouses in a vero beach community similar to Disney's Celebration off of Highway 60 just a few miles west of the mall. The market was great, the initial investment (deposit) was minimum and the end results were to help us pay off some debt and have enough for the adoption. The whole plan sounded great!!! Then guess what....The builder took 6 months longer than they were suppose to to get started and the plan fell apart as did the market. The stress level within our family intensified greatly!! It was not a pretty situation. I would ask God on my knees in one of the oupstairs bedrooms to help us with the sales and nothing would happen. I did not understand. Why would God let something happen like this to our family re: stress levels, financial stress and not able to continue with the adoption, etc.?

FYI: It wasn't until 2 years later would I understand. It is all in God's timing. He has a master plan for us which is better than any plan we could come up with for ourselves. We just have to be patient and wait. Had we sold the the townhouses when we did we probably would have turned around and put the money down on maybe a $600-700 thousand dollar investment property, the market would have crashed and can you imagine what trouble we would have been in? ALSO, The adoption agency we had put the deposit down with at that time was under investigation for withholding several thousands of dollars of families monies and dangling children in front of them only to tell them that sorry they were not available. It's all in God's timing. He has a reason for everything we just have to trust him.

Now fast forward 2 years - August of 2006 we sold the townhomes after a year and a half! We had been paying for both mortgages plus our home! It was a VERY stressful time and it was finally all over. Thank the Lord! Now we can move on with the adoption.

I only took me 4 months to complete all the paperwork required for our "package" which is called a dossier which includes: local background check, FBI background check and fingerprinting, background checks from Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Immigration Background Checks and Fingerprinting, Medical Letters, Psychological Evaluations, Reference Letters, and much more. I got it to our adoption agency about the 1st week of January 2007.

After the agency received the dossier then it gets translated from English to Spanish which typically takes about 4 to 6 weeks. This process took about 6 weeks - We received word that our translation was completed in mid February 2007. (Exact date to be entered here).

The next step is for the whole file to go to Colombia and you become registered with the country and approved to adopt from the country. This process was suppose to take another 4-6 weeks and it tool about 4 months. It wasn't until June 2007 (exact date to be entered here) that we received our letter from Colombia that we were registered and can now be placed "in line" for a referral. Our request was for a sibling pair of 2 children - one boy and one girl both under the age of 7 years old. We were also told that typically once you have your registration number that it should only take about 6 months for your referral (we expected a referral by December of 2007).

During this 6 months of waiting time there were several "opportunities" that were placed in front of us: (1) There was an infant that was ready to come home from the hospital, I had spoken to the attorney that was responsible for the infant's wellfare...the mother was ready to give up the child for adoption but, the father who had never been in the unborn child's life suddenly stuck his head in the picture and there could be no promise that there would not be a custody suit - we declined and informed the attorney if the father decides to "sign off" on the child to let us know...we never heard from him (2) My cousin's wife, Paula, had a family member pregnant with twin boys that were possibly going to be put up for adoption...we found out in January the girl lost them (3) We were offered a sibling set of 3 girls...we prayed and asked God if these were the children he had for us and if not to "Ax" the referral....the very next day the girls were unavailable to us as we were getting the process ammended to accept 3 children instead of 2 another family had taken them (4) There was a sibling pair of 2 girls and the same thing...we prayed and asked God if these were the ones and the very next day they were no longer available as they were removed from the private system and put into the public system and they were adopted out. The country never notified the agency that they were no longer available. February 2008 rolls around and we still do not have a referral! And there is that still small voice....be patient....in God's timing.

About this time all this was going on Lincoln Bruester had a song out which the key words that he sang became my "motto" they were "Strength will rise as you wait upon the Lord". The words were very appropriate for what was happening in our lives at the time. It would occasionally be played on the Z (thats Z88.3, .5, .7 and I think 97.9 or so for those of you who don't know it...it is a christian radio station). It had been playing occasionally and all of a sudden I noticed that they were playing it like crazy. I did not understand this as it was not a new song? I guess it was a way that God was telling us that the time is near.

I was involved with the Kidsave program (that's a whole other story) which we were trying to get started in Melbourne/Brevard County/Florida as there was not a program yet in Florida. We were dilligently working on trying to bring about 6 or 8 older children in hopes of getting them adopted. There were 5 key people at the time trying to organize the whold thing: There was Lori, Patty, Myself, Juan and another beautiful lady that for some reason at this moment her name escapes me - I am so sorry. Anyhoooooo...Steve and I are still waiting for a referral so we decide that we will host a sibling pair. They were a brother and sister. In speaking with our adoption agency they discovered that we had been matched with a sibling pair of our original request! We were so excited! On April 3, 2008 I was having birthday lunch with my sister and my mother at Makoto's (a Japanese steakhouse) when I received the call. I immediately called Steve then while on the phone with Steve's mother, Arlene, I told them all together. Wow!

We later learned that it would be a while before we could travel as the children had to undergo "training" to educate them on adoption, what it is etc. This process would take 6 weeks. We understood and agreed to wait.

As we waited the social worker asked if it would be OK for the children to call and talk to us. We said of course and emailed them our phone numbers and appropriate times to call them.
Then we waited........

7 Weeks in America

2008-09-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

This kids are doing fantastic. They are adjusting so well. In fact I had 2 of our friends over yesterday one of which is a social worker and adopted a little girl Maria's age (7yrs) from Guatamala several years ago. She said that both of the kids are doig super! JP is a hit at his school - he loves it and everyone things he is just a little ham. Maria's teacher is VERY patient with her. She has tested her a little and said that she knows a lot more than what we know. We just need to get it out of her. She has her first spelling test today, Friday 9/12/08. There are a few little minor things that we keep working on i.e. trying to get other children's attention while the teacher is instructing. Other than that she is doing great. She has become connected at the hip with her cousin, Taylor who is the same age and the same grade at the same school (not in the same class). We took them both to Rock the Universe (Universal Studios Christian Concert Weekend) in Orlando. THEY LOVE THE NEWSBOYS!!!!! Betty, Sonya and OKenny's the kids have not forgotten you. Sonya, Little JP still says "Gracias Senora Sonya" to me to be funny. I will try to keep in touch. Still working on home network. Will try to get pictures up as soon as I can. Love to all in Colombia! Blessings Wendy By the way...our case worker who was with Common Wealth Adoptions (Our adoption agency that went under) is great! If anyone knows how we might be able to help with a position and prayers for her and her family would be great!

School's In

2008-08-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, school starts Monday! The kids have had their physicals and we went school supplies/clothes shopping yesterday. We went to several stores...JP missed his nap. They were so cute...it was "are we going home now?" We would answer, No not yet a couple more stores. They would reply oh no....aye yi yi yi yi! :). Maria finally has her teacher's name and will be 3 doors down from her Aunt Trish (Bilingual/Teaches speach). She is excited. JP starts with his teacher who is a little nervous as this is her first Spanish student (has had other ethnic children before but, first spanish). She is super sweet and stopped by the house for an hour to get aquainted with him. Her assistant is from Venezuela and is bilingual so will be big help. Both are looking forward to seeing him in school. Thats it for now.

The First 3 Weeks

2008-08-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! I have yet to get my network set back up at home so bare with me a little longer. We have been working on getting the kids ready for school. J.P. will be starting VPK at the methodist church. He will have an English speaking teacher who has a bilingual assistant. She will be making a visit to our home tomorrow to meet J.P. to introduce herself to him. Maria will be attending public school with our niece, Taylor, she starts first grade. Her aunt is bilingual and is the Speach pathologist at the school so she will be onsite if we need her.

I will try to get things up soon.

Christina & Nickhil Get tHeir Sentencia

2008-08-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all your prayers! Christina and Nick got their sentencia! She will be traveling home with him on Saturday. Please keep them in their prayers for safe travel.

We are having home network issues so I have not been able to update on the Canuels.
Will try to get us back up this weekend.

The First Days

2008-07-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

The kids just went crazy in awe when we got them home. They loved their rooms. After breakfast we took a drive out to my sister's house as they were not able to meet us when we came home yesterday (Sunday night). It was too late for their kids. The kids swam at their house for a little while. Michelle (an "aunt") made finger foods for the kids for lunch. Then it was off to the beach. They were so funny....Maria ran down to the water and was not afraid of the waves. J.P. on the other hand didn't really want to and only got his feet wet. They both loved digging in the sand and loved how it felt between their toes. We met Aunt Trish and Uncle Joe and cousin Taylor for Pizza at Bizzarro's for pizza. The kids love pizza. After pizza we went over to Taylor's house and the kids went swimming. Maria wanted to stay and play for a little while and it was time for J.P.'s nap. We took J.P. home to take his nap. Later when he woke up we went to pick up Maria at Joe & Trish's. (Trish is bilingual and has been a big help translating and teaching good manners & how toos.) When we got to Joe and Trish's however, Maria wanted to ride in the car with Taylor to go get ice cream. After icecream it was home for bed. We'll write more later.

The Canuels are Home!

2008-07-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long to get this posted as you can imagine it has been busy these past couple of days. Sunday we were picked up from the residence (Betty's Place) at 6:15AM and wisped off to the airport. We made it there the 3 hours in advance as we were suppose to. It is a good thing though because it took us 2 hours to get checked in and through to the gate. We were only sitting about 25 minutes and they started boarding the plane. The flight left at 9:50AM and was aprox. 3 hours and 20 minutes. The kids did great on the flight. No screaming, crying or anything of the sort. I had packed them backpacks with stuff to do and it kept them content. We landed in Ft. Lauderdale about 2:30PM. There were about 3 other flights that landed the same time as ours so the "people traffic" was incredible. My mom was great helping me through everything with the kids...I do not think I could have made the travel without her. She was a blessing. (Thanks to God I was able to get to travel back with her on return date like we had been praying for.) After getting through customs (about 1 1/2 hours) we were escorted to immigration where we waited another 2 hours. All this time our family was waiting for us downstairs. We understand that an escort from our airlines should have taken us through to the front of all the lines because of the adoption but, they did not. Finally, we were able to leave immigration and we were escorted to the family. Maria saw Taylor and she ran and gave her a big hug. My dad, Arlene (Steve's mom), Joe & Trish (Steve's brother and wife), Taylor (my niece) and of course Meem all came down to meet us at the airport. It was really cool. We didn't get home until about 9:30PM. Our friends Donna & Tony had a huge welcome banner and some decorations out on the front entrance. Taylor put up some balloons and signs for J.P. and Maria to welcome them. It was nice. The kids came in and saw the house and their rooms and were totally floored. I got video and will try to put it up as soon as I can. All said good night and I put the kids to bed. They were use to sleeping in their own beds but in the same room at Betty's Place. I left them at night to go over to the next room (with a baby monitor on in case they needed me) to get them use to being seperated from me while we watched a movie at night and I did laundry. They did well! They both have night lights in their rooms and there are some more through out the house also. They have a big day the following day: To my sisters, the beach and over to Taylor's to play then out for ice cream. More details to come. Please continue to pray for Christina....she is still at Betty's and not sure when she will get sentencia. Thanks W

Going Home!

2008-07-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

This morning I had to get up really early as Tia Betty set me up with an appintment to get my hair done (Cut n Colored). Noberto of Noberto's is a very well known stylist and has a huge business. He is very feminine but, super nice and did a great job. He has everyone that comes in there treated like a princess. There were always at least 2 girls working on me at the same time. It was really neat! There are several different sections in his salon. The building alone takes up a whole corner of a block and is about 3 stories high. He lives on the top floor (making it 4 stories in a place that sort of looks like a pent house). Christina gave us the scoop. Later that afternoon I took the kids back to get their hair done in the "kids salon" as I wanted to do something special for them for the trip home. They had so much fun. This salon for kids is utterly a disneyland fantasy complete with a ball pool, a slide and a little play area for this kids. J.P. was taken and seated in a "car" chair and the grin on his face was worth a million dollars. At first I was just going to take Maria but, I am so glad that I took him, too. Maria was next with braids and ribbons. She had a finishing touch of a flower, glitter then lip gloss and stickers for her face. They had a blast. We walked back home then it was time for siestas while I packed most of our suitcases. Mom went with Christina to a art show at the convention center which had all handmade things from Colombians. When they got back we sat down for dinner. After dinner it was off to bed. I wanted to get the kids to bed early because we have to get up at 5:00AM to be picked up at 6:15AM. Our flight leaves at 9:50AM but, we have to get there 3 hours early. The kids didn't go to sleep right away as we were doing the finishing touches on the suitcases and I think they were probably a little excited. Later I updated the blog and now it's time for bed. I can not believe the time has come for us to come home. I can not wait to see and hug all the family. I know that several are coming to meet us at the airport. We will see everyone soon! Please pray for a safe trip with no hick ups. Luv to all. W See you soon, Honey! XXXOOO

Panaca - The Farm

2008-07-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

We got up and got dressed and went for breakfast. Patricia picked us up about 11:00AM. We all piled in the green car and headed for Panaca. Panaca is a place where the kids can see and touch animals: cows, pet goats and sheep, watch a dog show, catch rabbits and hold them, see chickens/roosters (some other birds too) and horses. It was pretty cool. We were able to spend about 6 hours there so it killed a lot of the day. The kids had a blast. They got to sit on a bull, milk a cow, pet some dogs and hold some rabbits. We had just gotten to the horses and it started to rain so we had to book it to the car. On the way home it rained really hard but, we made it home OK. When we got home we had to shower the kids. They got absolutely filthy chasing the rabbits. After showers it was into PJs and over to dinner. They wanted to watch a little TV after dinner which was fine because it gave them a chance to settle down. At about 8:00AM I put them into bed. They didn't get naps again today so guess they should sleep really good tonight. Tomorrow we plan to take the kids to get their hair done (at least me and Maria - we will see how JP handles it). Then maybe take them bowling or go to a market that is near here. I also thought about taking them to Crepes N Waffles for icecream. We'll see. One more day.

WE HAVE VISAS!!!

2008-07-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today we slept in until 9:00AM!!! I couldn't believe how late it was! The kids must have been tired too because they didn't really get up either. After breakfast (about 10:30aM) we all walked over to the "Park Line" (A line of about 5 small parks that the kids love to play at. Each one is mor like a "Station"). Christina and little Mira walked with us - She has still not heard anything about her sentencia so please continue to pray for her. There was a man with an ice cream cart that came and sat next to the last station where we were playing with the kids. He rang the bell only once to let us know he was coming then he sat quietly and watched us. He was amazing in that he did not sit there and continue to "ring the bell" to taunt the kids. Nor did the kids pester me for ice cream. There was only once toward the time we got ready to leave Maria asked for ice cream...at first I told her later that we would go to "Crepes and Waffles" where they had the really cool ice cream deserts once before. Then I got to thinking about how nice this guy was sitting there so quietly. I decided that it would be better to buy icecream from him. So, we did! He appreciated it. About 1:00PM or so it started to poor so we decided to boogie on home. We got soaked! After changing out of our wet clothes we had lunch then I put the kids down for their nap. Jaime and Silvia were to pick me up at 2:45PM to go get the visas. They were on time. Another 45 minutes ride in traffic and in we went. When we got to the window the guy handed me the papers in sealed envelopes and the kids visas. He told me to check the info on the outside of the envelope to make sure it was correct (basic info: name, address, mother's name, father's name, etc.). Well on Maria's info sheet they had her name in the spot where my name should have been. Good thing I checked it well. The man changed it for me and said "have a nice trip home"! I told thim thanks with the biggest smile I have ever had...then we walked back to the van. We had to make one more stop before home - I had some paperwork translated from Spanish into English which we will need once we get back into the states. I understand this can get very costly in the states so I had it done here. Then it was home. I immediately called my hubby (hi honey) and told him that we have visas! We are done and we are officially clearred to come home! After talking with Steve I called my other Mom - Hi Mom- to tell her the good news. She has been great helping Steve to get the house ready for me...cleaning and all. Thanks Mom! The kids were up when I got home. They watched a little TV then we had empanadas in the living room with everyone before dinner. After dinner Marie Antwenette and OKellys made that awesome pineapple cobbler pie desert they had made once before! It was soooooo good! We played with the kids a little more then put them down to bed. Tomorrow its off to a place called Palanka which is about 30 minutes outside of Bogota. It is a little farm which the kids can see and touch farm animals. They are excited. Guess that's all the excitement for the day! We miss everyone and can not wait to see you all. Until tomorrow. W

Visa Application Process

2008-07-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone....sorry I got tired last night and didn't get the post up from yesterday. Taking the kids to the park then will get you all caught up on yesterday. Luv to all 3 more days!

Silvia and Jaime picked us up at 8:00AM to go to the Embassy. We piled into the van and off we went. It took about 45 minutes to get there due to the traffic. It was totally different than I expected. I expected to see something like you would see on TV where you go through these large iron gates into this huge open courtyard-like area where there are huge beautiful buildings on both sides and many American flags flying. NOT...The embassy is gated but, mostly with a large white block wall. On a back road there is one wall where a gold seal that says "United States Embassy". Jaime droped us off then we walked down this long sidewalk where there were several lines of people outside the walls. We walked right up to the front of the line as because of the adoption we have special privelages. Through security we go (similar to that at the airport) then through another area and to another block wall. This opens up into an area which reminded me of an outdoor train station. There is a truss covered area where there are hundreds of chairs/benches, 21 window "stations" which have bullet proof glass and look like those at a drive through bank teller for one person. There are telephones outside each window which are similar to those used in a prison where a prisoner talks to a visitor. There were no flags and no flashy buildings. You give your paperwork to a "teller" then sit and wait for your name to be called. At about 9:45AM we were called to a window. The "Teller" told me that one of the forms was filled out incorrectly (it was 5 pages). I had filled it out in my name and it should have been filled out one for Maria and one for Juan. Then she asked me for our new I171H form (this is the one that I ran around like a chicken with her head cut off to get finished before we left). I did not know that I would need that form and did not have it with me it was over in my book which my mom had. Then the lady asked me for proof of the update from the FBI!!! I didn't have any copies of anything from them as the information is not permitted to be returned to me it goes only to the adoption agency. I paniced! I had to leave the window to fill out the new forms and find proof of the FBI stuff. We were talking to the adoption agency - they pointed out that the new I171H (which I had a copy of with me) had a statement right on it at the bottom that the background check was valid until 2009!! It was a whole hour before our name got called again to provide the newly completed forms and copies of the I171H. It was only then that the lady said "Great...all your paperwork looks like it is in order...please have a seat and we will call you". WHEW!! Talk about an hour of stress! After that I paid for the visas as the windows were closing for lunch..and we waited more. Finally they called our name and I went through a brief "interview" where I answered a couple of questions, signed a statement that all is true to the best of my knowledge and then was handed an appointment card for tomorrow to pick up the visas! The kids were excellent! J.P. sat in his stroller with 2 hotwheels cars for 3 hours without complaining. Maria was great, too! My mom was fantastic with the kids (no surprise to me) so I could concentrate on what I needed to get done. Then it was home. It was about 6:00PM and we still needed to eat. We decided to take the kids out for dinner since they were sooooooooo good. We took them out to Jenos for pizza and the "indoor" park. (Family ask me about that experience...this is too long to write details). Afterwards it was back home, showers and off to bed. My mom, Christina and I watched a movie and then went right to bed! I was so tired after getting up so early that I crashed hard. Tomorrow we don't need to get up early so we planned to sleep in. The main attraction - PICKING UP THE VISAS.

2008-07-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

The Embassy Dr. & Passports

2008-07-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

Jaime had picked up our papers that the attorney had flown to us from Valledupar at 6:00AM. This means we could go forward with the passports and the embassy Dr. visit. This morning after breakfast we took a quick walk up to Unicentral Mall to get the kids out a little bit before the long day we had ahead of us. We made it back in just enough time (12:00PM) to meet Silvia and Jaime who were our guides for the day. First it was off to get the kids passports. We had not taken passport pictures yet so...we needed to do that first. No worries though because just outside the building where you get the passports was a small office that takes pictures and makes copies. After pictures we waited in line which was short for us because we get special privelage due to adoptions. At the first window the guy was reviewing everything and said that we would need to go find a lady to sign off on Steve's visa. The copy we had cut off the bottom part of the visa and she would need to OK it. We found her then rushed back to the window. 2 minutes later Silvia comes running over and said hurry we need to come over to the next window - when we got there she said they were closing for lunch...we just made it - this is where you pay for the passports. Then we waited in another short line for the next window which prepares the paperwork for the passports. Maria signed off on hers...and I signed for J.P. Now we just have to wait for them to "put them together". Shortly thereafter the lady calls the kids names and we have passports!! We check everything to make sure names and numbers are OK. Next we walk over to a translaters office as there are some documents we need to get translated from Spanish to English for the children when we get back to the states. We leave there and then get to the Embassy Dr.'s office (which is not on embassy property by the way) about 2:30-2:45PM. The children's appointment is not until 4:00PM and the Dr. is not in yet. Silvia says sometimes that the Dr. is there and you can go early however the was not there yet so we had to wait for him. Finally, we go in to see him - he is very nice and speaks both Spanish and English (Silvia did not go in with us due to this). He checks their weight and height (Maria is 51" tall and weighs about 55 pounds, J.P. is 39 1/2" tall and weighs about 30 pounds). Asks us and the children a few questions and then we are done! We get home just in enough time to eat dinner and then Tia Betty had a special treat for the residents (especially J.P. & Maria). She knows a Vallenato band who is a good friend and are from Valledupar. They came and played for about an hour for us. I think this wore the kids out especially since they had no nap today. Showers and then into bed. Tomorrow its up and going super early. Jaime and Silvia will be here at 8:00AM to pick us up to apply for the kids Visas. My mom was a great help as the kids had to sit for so long at times. It would have been really hard for me to do all that I had to do and keep an eye on them, too. (Mom Arlene, I know that you wish you could be here, also. I know that you would if you could but, you are helping us out there with the office. We could not get through these last several weeks without you so, Thank you!) We will see all soon! Only 5 more days to go! [D&T ] :)

Papers Miss the Flight! Still on Track! :)

2008-07-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

We woke up today with anticipation of the paperwork that was to be flown to us from Valledupar. After breakfast we called the guys (my dad and Steve) to check in then we had to wait for Jaime to call us. He was to go to the airport this morning to pick up the papers then call us to go to do passports and embassy Dr. visits today. About 11:30AM I received a call from Nora who explained that the papers did not make the morning flight. The plane left earlier than it was suppose to and they missed the morning flight however, they were to be on the evening flight. While we were waiting all this information we were trying to keep the kids occupied with crafts and stuff. I didn't want to wander off as we were going to have to leave the residence when we got the call from Jaime. So, when Nora told me that we wouldn't hear about the paperwork until the early evening we decided to take the kids out. They get wound up tighter than a top then they have all this energy they need to "run" out. We walked over to the parks for a couple hours where the kids could play. I chased them around for a couple of hours and we all had a good time. There was another little boy about the same age as Maria that was there playing with us. As it turns out he was being adopted along with another boy who may have been his brother. The family was from Italy. We chatted with his mom for a brief moment then they left and so did we. We went from the parks to grab a bite to eat at the empanada place. They were good as usual. After empanadas we came back to the residence and the kids took a nap. When they got up we had some time to kill before dinner. We grabbed the playdo and tried to be as creative as possible. One of the families staying here (the dad, Jim) had a birthday today so Tia Betty got a cake for him and we celebrated his birthday. After dinner we lounged around watching George of the Jungle on Tv (Disney Channel) and then put the kids to bed. Mom and I came back over to the kitchen for tea and another piece of this pineapple cobbler that was out of this world. We didn't watch a movie tonight. Just sort of hung out. I received a call from Nora at dinner to advise that the papers arrived in Bogota this evening however the office is closed. Jaime is suppose to go get them at 6:00AM in the morning and then call us at around 12:00PM to start the process of passports and embassy Dr. visits. Guess that is pretty much what we will be doing tomorrow. We only have about 6 more days to go!

Grandma's First Day In Colombia

2008-07-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up and my mom to Sonya's pancakes! They are so awesome! I do not know if it is the atmospheric pressure or what that makes them so fluffy but, they just are. After breakfast we decided to try to get to the parks (there are about 5 little ones in a row about a block from here). When we got to the second one which I think the kids love the most because it is like a merry go round mom decided to take a ride with them. After about 5 minutes or so we started to hear constant gun shots in the far distance. Many of them at one time and for about 15 minutes this went on. I had not heard that before and it made me just a little uneasy so we decided to book it back home. I wasn't extremely concerned about it as every Sunday they close off one side of the main streets in the city for people to ride bikes, rollerblade, run, etc and everybody was still doing it. There was even a mom and her 4 year old on a tricycle. At any rate I asked Ms. Betty about it and she said there is a military base out that direction and they were probably having shooting practice or something. We decided to take the kids to the mall where they have bowling and the movies. We started in the bowling alley but, they were having tournaments all day. There was a man and 2 children standing at the counter in the bowling alley and over heard the man tell us we could not bowl in Spanish then heard me reply "no habla espanol". The man was nice enought to translate...both to me and to Maria (to explain why we could not stay after we told her what we were going to do). Then we decided to go see a movie - Walle. They were going to do the same so they walked us to the theatre, helped us to get our tickets then find our seats. It was OK. The kids did pretty good through it. We had lunch at McDonalds again as it was right there. Then we walked home and put the kids down for siesta. After siesta we took them to Jenos for pizza and "the park". They played until about 8:30PM then we came home and got the kids ready for bed. Mom and I went to the next room to watch a movie with Christina after calling my dad and Steve to say good night. Tomorrow we go to get passports. The final process begins. :) Finally.

Tickets for Two

2008-07-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

After breakfast this morning the kids and I went to Avianca to get their tickets to come home next Sunday. I tried to explain to them what I was doing but, was easier once our dirver got there and could explain as he speaks Spanish. They asked if we were going home to Florida today and we told them no but, in eight days we will be going home. After we returned home from the tickets Christina and I took them to McDonalds for lunch and to play for a little while. The weather was a little cool and it kept looking like it was going to rain on and off so I figured it would be safer (due to the weather) to go to an indoor park. Especially with Mira going with us. Then it was back to the house and siesta. The kids laid down but, did not nap. I have a monitor which I can hear them in the next room and maybe they were too excited about grandma coming I do not know. Afer a little while I let them get up and watch some TV before dinner. We visited a little while with Jim, Linda and Jordan (an 18 year old Colombian child who was adopted at 4 months. He was back in Colombia for the first time as he did a birth search and was seeking his birth mother. They had found her and he came back to meet her.) They were really neat people. After dinner I got the kids ready for bed and they watched a little more TV. I put them into bed and Jaime picked me up to go get my mom from the airport. (The girls were listening for them via the monitors as they were going to sleep for the evening). When we got the the airport my mom's flight had been delayed for about 20 minutes so Jaime and I went for a cup of coffee. We talked a bit and after a short time we went back down to watch for my mom. I see her and she sees me and I point to the exit where she is to meet me. When I get to her she gave me big hugs...I think they were not only from her but, from everyone! She told me that after a few times of changing seats she ended up next to a cournal and his daughter. They got to talking and she told them the reason for her visit to their country. She told them she was a little nervous about getting off the plane and going through customs. They told her no worries just walk with us. When they got off the plane (and the bus) to the terminal there were 2 soldiers waiting for them. They told my mom to walk ahead for a minute and they would catch up with her. When they met up with her they walked her to the front of all the lines and right through customs to me! I told her that God was with her the whole way and arranged for all those people to change seats with her to seat her next to the cournal and his daughter. He handed her to me safely and securely! How cool is that. When we got to the residence we called our spouses to let them know we were home OK. The kids were already in bed sleeping so their greeting would have to wait for the morning. Then it was off to sleep.

Maria Gets Her Shots

2008-07-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today was great! Today was the last day for Maria's tutor as we will be busy next week with Embassy stuff. The instructor said she did pretty good. Afterwards we played in the garden here at the residence until lunch. Christina made quesadias. Then it was off to McDonalds to play in the "resteraunte parke" as the kids call it. We were only there for about a half and hour and J.P. had an accident (he wet his pants). So...it was back to the residence to get him dry pants. We had promised them ice cream so I went over to the grocery store to get some. I found some ice cream sandwiches which they weren't sure of at first. They wanted to know where the ice cream was. It was cute. It had started to rain so we couldn't go back out to the parks as everything would have been wet. So they played around in the room for a little bit then down for a siesta. I woke them up about a half hour before the Dr. came to give Maria her shots. She did very well and did not even flinch! She is so tough! We tried to keep it pretty low key afterwards so TV was pretty much it. After dinner they watched a little more TV then it was off to bed. I had called the airlines to get my ticket changed and tomorrow we go to their ticket office and get the kids tickets. You have to go there because they are the only ones who can help with adoption rates. Our attorney went to Aguachica today to get the birth certificates (the new ones with our last names on them). We should get them on Monday - we will be running around all next week getting all their paperwork done, passports & visas. Looks like we will just come home on Sunday. Less stress and just in case. I'm OK with that because I know I have a ticket now to come home. Now...it's a piece of cake. My mom comes tomorrow night so please pray for a safe flight. Also, continue to pray for us that everything at the Embassy and such goes smoothly. Christina and Nick still need prayers for their sentencia - she is here alone now as Nick went back to the states yesterday. I know that feeling all to well - Let's show them how God can move mountains by prayers as I am not sure they know him, yet. :) I have explained that my mom has 5 churches praying for all of us, of course all of our family and friends and their churches, too. I have also told her that I have put a "prayer request" on our blog for them. I am trying to "shine" for her so that God can be seen (in me). I love that song "shine" by the newsboys....haven't heard them in forever as I have no way of playing my ipod over speakers here. Maybe I'll grab my headphones sometime soon. Guess that was pretty much it for today.
Tomorrow is just a trip to Avianca, probably the park and daddy suggested getting a Domino's pizza for lunch to see how they like it. We'll see. Luv to all and SEE YOU SOON.

HE SIGNED! WE'RE COMING HOME!

2008-07-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

I woke up early this morning to get dressed for my trip. I had laid everything out for the children and had a schedule all written out for Tia Betty and Ms. Alicia (the nurse). I left for the airport at about 7:15AM this morning. Jaime picked me up and walked me as far as he could to the gate. He was very nice. My seat was all the way to the back of the plane and there was an empty seat next to me. After a few minutes a really super lady, Isabel, sat down next to me. We spoke very breifly at first and gratefully she spoke some english! Speaking I told her that I would be returning this evening and she said ME TOO! I said that maybe I can look for her on the return flight and we could sit together. She agreed. Upon landing she walked me through until I could see Luci waiting for me. I said good bye and would see her later. Luci and I went to her home where we called our attorney. We immediately left to meet her to sign the sentencia. After sentencia the three of us went to have a soda. She said that she would see us later...we could call her at 4:30PM to see if the pro qurador had signed. We went back to Luci's where we had lunch and looked at the pictures from Aguachica so she could tell me the kids story. Manuel came home for lunch and I got to say goodbye to Jeffrey, Luci's cousin. (Hey Roberts family....they all say hello!). Later we went to make copies of our passports as the attorney would need them to get the new birthcertificates. We walked them to the attorney's office where she told us that the Pro Qurador had signed. I jump up and ran around to the other side of the desk with tears in my eyes and thanked her. Then it was back to the airport. Our flight was delayed by an hour due to a thunderstorm. I saw Isabel and I shouted for her. She came over and sat by me. I turned to the window where Lucina was standing and introduced her to Isabel. After knowing that I would have company and a guide returning to Bogota she and Manuel returned home. Our flight was late by an hour due to a thunder/lightening storm which even killed the lights for a minute. They immediately came back on. God answered our prayers!! He is such an awesome God! Thank you for praying...and God thank you for answering our prayers and for the angels you sent to watch over me today (i.s. Lucina, Our attorney & Ms. Isabel). Tomorrow the attorney will travel to Aguachica to get the new birthcertificates and will overnight them to me for Saturday delivery. Silvia from the agency will help me with everything when I receive them. Maria gets her shots tomorrow as well. Other than that....Oh happy day! I am exhausted so..buenos noches. By the way can you guys also pray for Christina and Nick who are still waiting for the judge to sign off. Nick left this morning to return to the states and she is here alone now. I know that feeling... good night W.

WE HAVE SENTENCIA! Now back to Valledupar!

2008-07-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Today started just like any other day. We knew that the paperwork went to the judge on Monday, 7/7 and we were not sure when he was going to sign off on our case. I took the kids to the park after Maria's class this morning. We were there for about 20 minutes and my Colombian phone rang. It was Nora who told us we had sentencia!! I rushed with the kids back to the residence as I wanted to call Steve. He needed to get my ticket for Valledupar booked so I could leave in the morning (returning in the evening). I arranged for Luci our guide to meet me at the airport and also to take me back. I had to call the Dr. back and reschedule Maria's shots for Friday afternoon as I had made her appointment for Thursday - and I will be traveling now so I do not want her to have them with me not there. Jaimez/Silvia will be here at 7:15AM to pick me up and take me to the airport. That's pretty much how I spent the morning...preparing for my trip to Valledupar. The blessing is that the children do not have to travel with me. EVERYONE THAT HAS BEEN PRAYING THANKS! THEY ARE WORKING SO FAR! We are not out of the woods yet....the Pro Curador has still not been signed and he has 3 days to sign it. As of today he has not signed it. I will speak with our attorney tomorrow to see where we are with that. If he signs it tomorrow then, it is possible that I will be able to fly back with my mom on next Sunday. That would be sooooooooo cooooooooool! Please pray for the ProCurador to be signed off. (And of course for safe travel for me back to Valledupar and return to Bogota). The children will be in the very capable hands of "Tia Betty" and Alicia (a nurse who has been working with adoptive families/children for over 15 years and has been in the residence every day watching children). This morning while I was "working" Tia Betty explained to the children that they needed to watch TV so Mommy could get all this stuff done. They were excellent and I think in most part because they understood what I was doing and how important it was. When all was done I took them to McDonalds to play on the playground and to eat a McFlurrys. Afterwards we came back - it was too late to take siestas so they just horsed around a little before dinner. After dinner they watched a movie and then I got them ready for bed. They didn't have a nap today so they should sleep very well. Please pray for ProCurador signature and safe travel. More tomorrow! Buenos Noches!

Bye Bye Again Daddy

2008-07-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

Steve had to get up this morning at about 5:30AM and left at about 6:30AM. His flight left at about 9:50AM and reached Ft. Lauderdale at about 1:30PM. We all miss him terribly all ready but, I promis not to make everyone cry this time. I was of course as last time Steve left a mess. I appreciate the pep talks from my mom, Arlene (mom#2) and my sister. They helped a lot. So thanks guys. I also receive an email almost daily now from my cousin Angie which is really nice. She is affiliated with a ladies prayer group one of which is a patient so keeps each other informed plus they all pray for us. We didn't do too much today...the children & I played in the garden (Tag, Monster and Hot/Cold), we popped over to the park for a few then it was back for a nap. Mommy even took a nap. After I woke up I felt recharged and stronger. I had been praying for strength because this morning I didn't know if I could handle too much more. I know everyone has been praying for me (Steve and the kids) and I feel it. So thanks and please, keep praying. While you are praying we need lots of prayers for the judge and the "D.A." to sign quickly (maybe tomorrow) :). I should hear something from our Agency rep tomorrow is she is suppose to call our attorney to see where we are in process. Nick & Christina got good news today...they are also in the same stage as us which is great because they were way behind us as of yesterday. I will keep everyone posted. After naping the kids watched "Shrek" until dinner. After dinner we went back to the room and I got the kids showered and ready for bed. Especially Maria which had been difficult because of her cast. We didn't get her shots yesterday as the Dr. called and was sick. She had referred us to a local clinic but, I think I am just going to call her back tomorrow and reschedule her home visit. Tomorrow will probably just be a day for the park as Maria has class in the morning and also I need to make some calls. I also want to stay close to the house and wait for Nora's call. I was given a local Colombian phone that belongs to the residence so I can receive calls. Guess that is it for tonight. Buenos Noches.

On the Mountain

2008-07-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Maria has class this morning and afterwards we are going up to a place Monserrate. It is like an overlook which has a cathedral on it. They have mass and a priest lives on site. From there you can see the entire city of Bogota. It is really pretty. I will try to get some pictures up. Maria was suppose to get her shots yesterday but, the doctor was sick. Ms. Nora was here this afternoon and she said that our case just went to the judge. We now have to pray that they sign off on it quickly (they have up to 10 working days). After the jusge signs off on it then it has to go back to the guy (Pro Curador) who has to sign off on it AGAIN (he has 3 days to do so). Once he signs off on it we will have Sentencia. I will then fly to Valledupar in the morning, sign and fly back. They said that the judge may or may not want to see the children. If he does then they will have to fly back with me. After Sentencia then our attorney has to drive to the city where the children were born and get new birth certificates in the Canuel name. She will then overnight them to me here in Bogota. Then we start the Embassy process. After dinner we all came back to the room and watched TV. Steve and I made some arrangements - my mom is going to come out on Saturday and stay for eight days. That will help pass some of the time.
Guess that is it for now. Steve leaves in the morning to go back to the states. I will miss him and I am sure the children will, too. Until tomorrow. W

Science & Pizza

2008-07-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

This morning we got up a little later than usual. We got dressed and headed over to eat breakfast with Larry and Andreas (Nick & Christina had already eaten). Then Steve and & tried to figure out what we wanted to do with the kids today. We decided to take them to the Science Center here in Bogota. It was only about a 15 minute taxi ride there. When we got there the security guard and a lady standing there arranged for an English speaking person to come and be our guide. Her name was Paula and she said that she has only been working there for about 3 weeks. She was very nice. She walked us to get our tickets, helped us with which ones to buy (the prices included different things) and then walked us around the place. We went to the 180 degree round I Max theatre first. They had a pretty interesting movie (it appeared to be about roller coasters and such - it was all in Spanish so that's the best I could guess). Judging from how the movie went I think Maria will be on every one of them at the parks. J.P. wasn't so sure. Afterwards she walked us down to get our lunch and came back in 20 minutes. Then she took us down to the main level where we just let the kids play with this and that. We thought the Science Center would be good for them because there are a lot of times where we are telling them "do not touch" this is one place that they can TOUCH ALL YOU WANT! They loved it. Paula's shift ended at 2:30PM so considering the fact that she spoke English we thought it was best to have her help us get a taxi back to Betty's Place. She walked us across the street to a large mall and then helped us to get a taxi from "the loop". We thanked her, gave her a tip and into the taxi we went. We returned back to Betty's about 3:30PM. Our agency representative had called while we were out & we attempted to return the call. We think she was just checking in as she is suppose to stop in and say hello tomorrow. She is from Medilline but, will be in Bogota tomorrow. Maybe she will have good news...we shall see. We put the kids down for a nap and they slept until about 5:00PM. We let them watch some TV until 6:00PM and then we were off to Jeno's Pizza. They have the huge large indoor playground for the kids which they love. We had to laugh at JP as he hooked up with these 2 young girls who thought he was just the cutest thing! He hung with them on slide for about 20 minutes or so. We had to peel him away to come eat the banana split we got to eat between the 4 of us. You should have seen his face...in fact, watch the pictures we took - you'll see it! He's a little disappointed. Afterwards, we let them play for a little longer. All of a sudden I found myself talking to these 2 young boys about Maria's age. In speaking with them I find out that they are cousins and that one of them is from MELBOURNE, FLORIDA!!! His father is American (a missionary) and his mother is Colombian (who speaks English) and was here visiting her mother. It was sooooo cool! Turns out they live in Suntree. We exchanged phone numbers, invited them to Calvary - they mentioned that they had been wanting to go there - we told them to call us and we would love to go with them. Imagine - God works in mysterious ways...all this way to bump into more christians from our home town. She would like to get together when we get back as it may help Maria and J.P. adjust. They will probably feel homesick and may help them...sort of like Betty's place did for us. Afterwards we headed back to Betty's, called family and put the kids to bed. We are tired so we are going to bed. Talk to all later.

The Salt Cathederal

2008-07-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today we slept in a little later than usual. We had breakfast with everyone and then about the time that we were done our driver arrived to take us to the Salt Cathederal. The kids were excited that they were going. We piled in the car and off we went. Patricia was good at pointing out some cool stuff as we went along. She showed us the refining plant where they take the raw salt and process it for exporting. She also explained that Colombia is the 2nd largest exporter of flowers, especially ROSES. You will see pictures of all in the album marked "Salt Cathedral". We passed a government castle and a bridge that were over 600 years old. The Andes mountains surrounded us on both sides. There were portions of the trip where you could see houses on the mountain side. Most of the these areas she said were where the least fortunate people live. There were some homes on the mountain side that were large homes with multi-levels and were where the wealthy people lived. The Salt Cathederal is the first tourist attraction. It was very cool (not literally - It was not as cool as the caves we went into when we lived in St. Louis). Maria and J.P. had a great time touching and tasting the salt which was everywhere. By the end of the tour little J.P. was ready to sit for a while....I think he was tired. The tour took about an hour. We were with some other English speaking families on the tour - our guide also spoke English. After the tour we had a small cup of coffe at the bottom of the mine then we made the hike back up to the entrance/exit. We let the kids play on a playground for about 10 minutes and then we were off to find some lunch. Patricia took us to theis really cool place. Steve had chicken, beef and sausage with french fries, an arepa and a piece of banna bread. I had the same except the beef and chicken. The kids both had what else but CARNE, their favorite. The rain started to come in about the time we got ready to leave. I thought the kids would sleep on the way home but, they were too wound up. We got back into Bogota around 5:00PM and piled in the room for a quick siesta before dinner. Dinner was a simple red beans, rice, carne, plantains and guak. Just enough after the late lunch we had. The kids didn't really get a good siesta so after dinner they were ready for bed. We got them in their jammies and they fell off to sleep. We watched a movie and then we went off to bed. Tomorrow we'll catch up with Paster Mark at Calvary Chapel Melbourne (ccmmelbourne.com) on the web then probably go up to one of the local flea markets. It will be an easy day. Don't forget to check back for the pics. We'll try to get them up ASAP. Hasta Luego

Barbeque

2008-07-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

2008-07-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Here is our room from both angles.

Pictures

2008-07-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures from Bogata.

July 4th in Bogota

2008-07-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

Today the weather was perfect. The sun was out and it was cool. We walked down to the Unicentral mall with JP while Maria was with her tutor. When we returned we went out for empanadas and went to the park. We returned home about 2pm and the kids took a nap. About 4pm we started the grill and had our 4th of July barbeque. Nick, cooked hamburgers & hotdogs, corn (with the largest kernells I've ever seen) and the girls made potato salad with bacon. We had all the chips and veggies as well. For dessert the kids roasted marshmellows over the coals on the grill then they had brownies and ice cream. We sat for a while afterwards, had coffee and talked. The kids were having fun dancing to some vallenato we put in on the computer. Betty's husband, Ralfa, came over and played with the kids for a while. Even though there were no sparklers or fireworks we had fun.

Another family came in late Thursday night after me. It was a dad (Larry) and his son (Andreas). He was adopted a couple of years ago. I believe he is now 14 years old. They have returned to Bogata for a visit and to meet with Andreas foster parents. They were gone all day yesterday although returnd last night about 10pm. We had just finished watching a movie so we talked for a while.

Tomorrow we are going to the Salt Cathedral. It's suppose to be spetacular. It's a salt mine that has a church in it. The cathedral holds 2000 people and has services on Sunday. There are many tunnels and biblical sculptures carved out of the salt. They have tours (in english). Everyone says it's one of those things you have to experience once.

Talk to you all soon. Steve

Daddy's on a Plane

2008-07-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today was very exciting as we knew that daddy was coming back to Bogota today. Everyone was up and through the morning routine like clockwork. After breakfast I sat down with Maria and went over some homework with her. She is studing the alphabet, vowels, numbers, colors and shapes. We got through some of it and she said she would work on the rest later in the afternoon. We were pretty much killing some time because we were suppose to walk with Christina and Nick to a large park they found about 15 minutes walking distance from here. After they were all dressed and ready baby Mira included, we piled in the strollers and off we went to the park. The kids had fun playing for a while and it started to rain so we had to book it back to the residence. After some lunch I let the kids stay up instead of putting them down for a nap as the Dr. was to be here at 3:00PM to review their shot records. I didn't know if she would want to see the kids so, I didn't want them sleeping just yet. When she arrived the girls brought us some afternoon coffe and we sat down at the dining room table. After reviewing what was given to me by the social worker from Aguachica we came to the conclusion that Maria needed all her shots (Tuberculocious, Polio and Hep B she already had MMR) except chickenpox which we can give to her in the states (it is required by the Embassy but, we understand that they have been a little more lax about making the kids get it here in Colombia). J.P. has had everything except chickenpox and it is the same for him - he can get it in the states. The Dr. was going to double check about the chicken pox vax to make sure that the Embssy will allow it later. After the Dr. left I put the kids down for a nap. They both fell asleep and slept for about 2 hours. We had a half an hour to kill before dinner so I put in the movie "Free Willy". There was a part where they were showing a skateboard park and I told J.P. his daddy used to do that (Ms. Betty was in the room at the time and she translated for me) J.P. responded back to her "I can do that!". It was too cute. It really is a shame that we don't know more Spanish because I am sure there are so many more little cute things that they say that we do not know about. Dinner is Chicken, rice and delicious carrots and green beans. After dinner it was back to the room and I got the kids ready for bed. Daddy was gonna come in late and I didn't think it would be good for them to wait up for him. Well it's time....Daddy is coming now. Until tomorrow....Hasta Luego

I'm Back In Bogota

2008-07-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

I flew back to Colombia. I had a good flight although it was a long day. I treated 10 pateints from 9am-11am, changed at the office, grabbed some quick food and hit the road by 11:30. I needed t0 be at the airport in Miami by 2:30 and it is a 3 hour drive. After some rain and construction slow downs I arrived ay 3pm. It tok about 1.5 hours to check in and get through security. My plane was scheduled to leave at 5:30 and was only a few minutes late. We landed in Bogata at 8:05. We deplaned on the Tarmac and took a bus to the terminal. Immigration was very busy and had taken about an hour to clear. Wendy was waiting outside. Long day but very glad to see Wendy and the kids.

Stroller Success & a Bright Student

2008-07-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Maria had her second English lesson today. They went over colors and shapes. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to speak with the instructor, Mario, before he left as I was in our room with J.P.. By the time I was getting ready to go over to where they were studying she walked in the door and the instructor had already left. I assume that she did OK. I spent about an hour today creating homework for her to do tomorrow. I want her to do it on the days that she is not with the instructor. After "class" the three of us walked over to the store and got J.P. his stroller. You should have seen his face. I do not think I have seen him smile so big. He likes it a lot. We came back to the residence and had lunch then back out to a couple of the parks for a little while. They were small but, enough for them to play on. They at least had swings on this one which Maria loves. We came back to the residence and it was time for siesta. After siesta I had gotten some foam shapes and 8x10 foam sheets so they could do a craft and glue them on. It was simple but, something to do. They said they were making them for their papi who was coming tomorrow. We still had a little time before dinner so we took a walk to the baby store around the corner with Nick, Christina and Joe. On the way home we stopped back by another park and let the kids play for about 15 minutes. Dinner was carne, plantains with quak, and rice. Very good. After dinner the kids came back to the room and watched a little TV then down for bed. The day was pretty simple, really. Tomorrow we are gonna take a walk to a different park with Nick and Christina. I understand the walk is about 15 minutes. Maria has the homework I prepared for her today to do. And the Dr. is gonna be here at about 3PM to look at their shot records to see what they still need. It is much cheaper to try to get their shots done ahead of time rather than wait for the embassy Dr. to do them. Besides we want to break the shot dossage up a little if they need a lot of them anyway. Don't want to put all that stuff in their little bodies all at once. I spoke to Nora (our agency rep here in Bogota) today and she said that our paperwork is still in Phase 3 person's hands. He was suppose to have a maximum of 5 business days to sign it and supposedly he has not yet. She said that it will go to the courts on Monday. Originally, we were told that we should expect sentencia (the paper we need to come home)on June 7th or 8th. Monday is the 7th so I am not sure what this all means. Please continue to pray for us. I will know more on Monday. Steve comes in tomorrow night so please pray for safe travels for him. Also, please pray for Melissa's little girl, Ariana (I don't know if I spelled it right but, I think she is only about 3 years old or so). She just found out that she is very ill with Mersa. I believe that she is back in the hospital/emergency room today and is not doing well. Poor little thing. Melissa, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I would also like to give a shout out to Dr. Cooper's office. He has so generously allowed one of his girls to come over and lend a hand with some billing issues. Thanks for your help. Guess that is it for tonight. Buenos Noches.

An Easy Day

2008-07-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today was sort of uneventful. After breakfast I had Maria do the homework I had written out for her the day before. I want her to review it every day. She has lesson again tomorrow at 10:00AM. (I want to thank everyone who has been praying for the practice. Steve told me this morning that we got 3 new patients in the office today. Very important for us. I thought it would be good to share as God is answering, prayers are working so please keep praying.) After homework we headed down to the mall so see about hunting for a stroller for J.P. I can't believe how expensive they are here! You have to get one with "huffy" wheels or the sidewalks and walkways here eat them for lunch. It was challenging looking for one without someone with me who speaks Spanish as I could ask how much but, not: do you have one in a box, do I have to take the floor model. do I have to put it together?? I thought I would have someone come back with me to get it. On the way home the crazy weather started blowing in- sprinkles then cool breeze then sprinkles again. We managed to make it home pretty dry. After returning the kids played for a little bit and then Ms. Betty told me of another place near by that I could look for a stroller. They did have some but, I wasn't sure how much I wanted to spend on one here they range from about $60 - $260. Isn't that a little expensive?? I don't know I've never had to buy a stroller before. I didn't want to do anything without talking with Steve first so I didn't get one yet. In the morning one of the locals is gonna be here to take the other family out and he knows where all the cheaper stores are so he is gonna give me some ideas as to where else to look first. Just thought it would be easier to get one here rather than have Steve try to drag one on the plane. (Besides there are luggage restrictions. ) We stopped at a little restraunt next door and got some empenadas to bring home for lunch. I also introduced the kids to apples and peanut butter (hey sis, they like it too! Teaching them the same crazy thing I taught Blake! :)) While they were eating Silvia and Jamier our agency people here in Bogata stopped in for a second. They brought me some forms that I needed for us to sign when Steve comes for the Embassy. They didn't stay long. Afterwards it reminded me that I still needed to check on the kids shot records to make sure that they had everything that they were required to have to "check out" of the embassy. As it turns out it looks like J.P. has had everything required but, Maria needs a lot of stuff I think. The Dr. provided to us by our agency is going to stop by on Thursday at 3:00PM to take a look at the records, give me her address, schedule the appointment for the visit and let me know how much everything is going to be. I plan to make the appointment for the office visit for one day that Steve is here in case one of them have a reaction to the shots. I received an email from Luci today that said that she will email me when she speaks to Dollys our attorney this afternoon. I have not received the email as of yet. I may try to call Luci tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last official day of phase 3. Then it is suppose to go to phase 4 where the judge gives his final approval called sentencia. He has up to 10 days to do so. I understand that the average timeframe for this part of the process is 3 to 4 days. Please pray for 1 or 2 days. Steve will be here the day after tomorrow and it would be neat if we can get it quick. It's about an hour or so before dinner and the kids were getting wild so I decided to take them to the indoor McDonalds "playground" as it was still raining on and off to let them play out some of this energy they had bottled up inside them. Dinner consisted of J.P.s favorite, soup (I think it was celery), CARNE, rice, potato/onion/cheese caserole and brochlii/cheese caserole. It was delious as usual. After dinner we came back to the room and it was our usual routine. Jammies, a little TV, we have implimented prayers then bed. I usually get my emailing and catching up with family done about this time as well. My mom and dad got to talk to the kids a little tonight. They stayed still for a couple of minutes in order to do so. Very unusual. Tomorrow, Maria has her lesson so I think we will skip the the mountain tour we were invited to go with the other family here. Will probably wait for Steve to do something if we decide we are gonna do any tours at all while we are here. While Maria has lesson maybe J.P. and I will go get his stroller. He absolutely loves it!! Maybe it is because he has never had one? He thinks it is a car or something! I think most children his age don't want to be in them about now but, luckely he does. If we get the stroller I may try to take them either to the other parks again or if it is raining maybe just to movies. I guess we will wait to see what tomorrow brings. By the way go to 6/21's date (I think there are 2 posts) as I have just added a video clip of J.P. and Maria dancing one of the last nights we were with Luci and Manuel. It's awesome. Good night all. Lots of Luv. W

Crepes N Waffles

2008-06-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Today Maria started her English class. Mario was her instructor. He started her with the alphabet, numbers 1-20 and vowels. He said she is very eager to learn and wanted to continue with homework as he left. He gave her home work of practicing these lessons and he will return on Wednesday for lesson #2. I have already gone through in pen and have written out for her what she needs to practice. We will work on it tomorrow @ 10:00ish in place of the instructor coming. We decided she will have lessons on just Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays instead of everyday. J.P. sat in with them for the 1st 1/2 hour however, it wasn't long I discovered he was sort of interrupting the study (I had asked at the start of the lesson if he wanted me to keep J.P. out or was it OK for him to sit at the table) so I decided to remove him from the room. He was a little disappointed so I took him into the family room with the 2 books I had here that were English/Spanish and tried to read some with him to make him feel better. Lunchtime rolled around and I warmed up the pizza we had left over from last night. After lunch Ms. Betty needed to take a ride to grab a quick light lunch and asked if we would like to ride along. The kids had not been out of the house yet so, I agreed and we piled into the car. She took us to show us a nice park where we could come when Steve got here (it would require a cab ride there and back) and then it was off to "Crepes and Waffles". This is a chain of restaraunts that are everywhere. It is very hard to get in due to parking issues - there isn't much of it. They have crepes and waffles of all kinds not just desserts. It was very crowded which ment the food was good. We sat out on the patio and I got the kids a really cool looking vanilla sunday complete with paper parrot, chocolate button eyes and mouth, and a waffle cone sombrerro. They loved it. After ice cream it was back to the residence and siesta. J.P. falls asleep and I take Maria into the other room and we do some water painting with the little kit that I got them. Dinner was amazing as usual with cocoanut blueberry rice & chicken. We had dinner a little later tonight as Nick, Christina and Joe had a late lunch. The kids had icecream earlier so it was probably better as they were ready for dinner when it was time. I have had them watching the Disney channel hoping that because everything is in Spanish here they would get to know the shows and characters so when they get back home...and everything is in English...they will be able to figure out what's going on and who is who much easier cause they would have already seen it. We had a little excitement for 2 minutes tonight. All the electric went out in the house - JUST FOR ABOUT 2 MINUTES. I was working on my computer so I had light, I gathered the kids up and we went to the other room where Christina was with Mira. Sonya, one of the staff, came in with a candle. When I went over Christina had mentioned that the guys had gone to a movie and were not home. A couple minutes later the lights all came back on. It was interesting. All are OK and snuggled in to sleep for the night. I am in the process of trying to get laundry done so will be up for a little bit yet. We didn't make it to the mall/movie today. Maybe tomorrow. I still am looking into getting a stroller for J.P. Just haven't gotten there yet. Until tomorrow.

"Giddie Up"

2008-06-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today we went with Nick, Christina and her brother Joe to the "flea market" located at the top of this huge hill. Ms. Betty took us in her car to the top and dropped us off around 12:30PM or so. There were many booths with lots different jewelry, handicrafts and art. The art is fantastic here. The weather was rather unusual...it was like it couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to sprinkle, shine or cloud up and cool off. It would change literally ever 5 or 10 minutes. It was crazy. After walking the rows of booths we followed the main road down the hill back to Betty's place which was about a 35 minute walk. We were about 5 minutes from Betty's place and poor little J.P. mumbled 2 little words "chi-chi" mommy!! Joe knows some Spanish so he was able to tell J.P. to hang on for about 5 minutes and we would be home. I picked him up and carried him most of the way and Joe was nice enough to carry him the last block or so as he could tell I was getting winded. (It's that whole 2 mile high thing.) When we got home and J.P. got in the door he bolted to our room...didn't even bother to close the door. :) It was after 3:00PM so the kids went down for siesta. J.P. finally falls asleep and Maria and I slip out of the room to let him sleep peacefully. (Just so everyone knows I am just in the next room...not to worry about leaving him alone in our room :) ) He sleeps for about an hour and maybe 15 to 30 minutes and he comes sleepwalking into the room where Maria and I are. He has some cookies for a snack and then it's off to play with the playdo until dinner. For dinner we had decided to go to this pizza place up the block that has this slide on the premisis of the restaraunt. Once inside we discover that there is not just a slide but, this little outdoor kids playland. It was great! We ordered what else but, pepperoni pizza (they don't seem to like the pepperoni so they take it off I discovered). Then off they went to play. There was a 4 lane slide, a huge pool of balls, a jungle gym thing complete with tunnel slides, etc and a wooden, roped bridge to play on. They played for about an hour or so then it was time to eat. After dinner we let them play for another 20 minutes or so then we started back home. They didn't want to leave of course so we had to bribe them with icecream upon the return to "la casa". Joe was nice and threw J.P. up on his shoulders as Maria jumped up on my back. (Nick and Christina had little Mira in the baby carriage and were cracking up because all the kids kept saying was "giddie up horsie" or something like that in Spanish.) We raced each other to the corner and then it was time to put the horses to pasture....we were tired. Each of the kids grabbed my hand and we walked the rest of the way home...well almost. Poor J.P. was so disappointed that the horsie stopped I had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way home...he wasn't keeping up..mostly I think the combination of all the walking we did today, the short nap and the hard playing they did on the playground plum wore him out. We get back to the house and the kids run to the kitchen where they patiently await their icecream scoop. Then it's back to the room. I get them in their pjs and let them watch TV for about 10 minutes or so to unwind (the Canuel thing again) then I put them in bed. They both give me a kiss and say goodnight. Maria asks me if she has English lesson tomorrow and I tell her yes. Now, all is quite and it gives me a minute to say good night to my honey (the kids say goodnight tonight too) and to some family. It also gives me time to return some emails I received and write the blog for the day. Tomorrow we will either try to get to this big park (if Ms. Betty has time to show it to us) or I might try to take them to a movie - Walle. We shall see. Good Night Moon!!

A Cat and A Butterfly

2008-06-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ok. I understand from Steve/Doc that you guys want more pictures. I do not have any "new" ones from Bogota but, I did put about 50 more pictures up via albums. Take a look they are from when we went to the picnic with Lucy's school, Miscelaneous pics and from when we went to dinner with Lucy, Manuel & family at this authentic Colombian Indian restaraunt. The food was fabulous! You basically walked through this whole cut out of a brick wall the shape of the opening of a door. There was this tinned roof pavilion which seated about 3 eight foot tables under it and one small table out in the open. The area where the food was being prepared was pretty cool, too. It was really neat to see the people cooking. Today it was raining when we woke up so the planned walk to the other parks was out. I didn't feel like taking the kids to the "Flipper" place yet via taxi on my own. Maybe next week we shall see. Instead I decided to take them back to McDonalds. We got J.P. back into this ridiculous stroller (I think we wore the thing out last trip) and off we went. It wasn't until about 15 minutes or so into the walk did I realize that I had gone the wrong direction. Now, you have to understand this was no easy road to travel. There are not really sidewalks and most of the walkways I needed to travel on are torn up. We turned around and walked all the way back to Betty's Place. The kids kept asking are we going home? I kept promising them that we were not but, that we needed to go back this way so I can get us to where we need to go - in the right direction. We finally got to McDonalds. I got the kids their happy meals and we went into the play area. After they ate I turned them loose and they ran around, up, down and every other which way the play place went. A lady came in with 2 girls I think she said that they were 2 and 8 years old. She was French. Her husband worked for ICBF and all I really got was that he signed off on a lot of adoptions. She worked in the Belgium Embassy re: Visa department. She obviously (you probably figured it out by now) spoke English. Not very well but, well enough that we could talk some. She had told me that she has been in the country for 10 years and they were leaving to go back to France in August. Her husband got a job there. She had mentioned to me that she also needed to get the girls out of the house before they drove her crazy. We talked for about a half and hour and then it was time for her to go. She asked where I was staying and if I would like her to give us a ride home. I thanked her but, declined her offer as some of the folks from McDonalds had come in to draw on the kids faces and J.P. had been patiently waiting for his turn. I didn't have the heart to make him leave right then despite the fact that it would have been much easier on me with that stroller walking back. J.P. returned to me with a black nose, whiskers and 2 triangles painted yellow (I think for ears) 1 over each eyebrow. Maria returned as a butterfly. I didn't have a camera so I took a picture of each of them with my phone. Now, if I can just figure out how to get them off my phone - the country thing is an issue. It appears that I can not call out on my phone but, I can receive calls. We try not to use my cell phone as it is VERY expensive. Only in emergencies (i.e. Steve trying to track me down) or something like that. Oh, I almost forgot!..Thanks Uncle Don and Aunt Janet for your call today! It was nice of you to take a minute to call. Sorry I couldn't talk longer but, it would have been really expensive. I did try to call you guys from my computer but, for some reason it wouldn't let me. I am not sure why. I will try one other thing tomorrow to see if that works. Else, will have to catch up with you when I get home. After we returned home the kids had some water and a lollipop from the girls who work here then it was off for siesta. We got a little off our schedule today because of the little detour getting to McDonalds. It is now about 3:00PM. J.P. finally falls asleep and Maria of course is wide awake. I shush her ( I know you love that term Jen) silently with my finger over my lips and pick her up along with her DVD player. I had put pillows under the covers to make it look like we are both still sleeping in our beds. We both slipped out of the room and I shut the door. I guess I got almost 1 1/2 hours before J.P. came hunting us. If he wakes up during his naps and he usually does, as long as he sees someone there he will go back to sleep. Else he is up.
I have them go back to the room and watch TV for about a half and hour because dinner is at 6:00PM. Tonight was a bean, rice and ground meat soup with plantains and guak. They made this awesome dessert which was made of passion fruit. It was sort of like a thick solid pudding served inside the empty fruit skin. I wish I had my camera. It was really cool. After dinner and dessert we made out way back to the room where they wanted to watch a little more TV. I let them watch until about 9:00PM tonight as it is a weekend night. They went to bed with no problem. We explained to Maria today that I have given her a privelage....at siesta time she needs to lay down until J.P. falls asleep (he will not take a siesta if she doesn't). After he falls asleep if she is good that morning then she may get up. If she was not then she looses the privelage of doing so. Also, if she gets up and purposely wakes him up then not only does she immediately go down for siesta but, she looses the privelage for the next day. She smiled when we explained it to her so...I think she gets it. She is so stinkin smart and so is he. We talked a little with family via skype today which was nice. Thanks again for everyone who is keeping in touch. I miss everyone terribly and it takes every ounce of strength not to burst into tears at the stupidest things. Like a couple of days ago during the first McDonalds trip we were leaving the house and I saw a dalmation walking up the sidewalk. At first glance I said Awwww and then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I burst into tears. Ms. Betty was there to see us off and she immediately put both hands on my shoulders and turned me away from the dog. She was talking to me the entire time...giving me strengh and encouragement. The children didn't see me and she straightened me right up so it went unnoticed by them. I have my moments I guess but, all I have to do is look into my childrens eyes and see their smiles and I know that it's all worth it. I guess this is my "Labor" time. Even though it is extremely hard I am sure once it is all over that I will only remember the parts of us laughing and having a good time. I won't remember how much I missed everyone. OK enough of that!! It's almost 10:00PM my time and I guess I should get myself to bed. Tomorrow we are gonna go and walk the local "flea market". Ms. Betty is gonna drive us up the hill and we are all gonna walk back down. Monday, Maria is suppose to start English lessons and afterwards we might try to go to a movie. We'll see. Luv to all. Hasta Luego - Chow for now.

"Stroller Buzz"

2008-06-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

A routine getting perfected. We keep adding baby steps to our daily routine so the children know what to expect and what I expect of them. We are pretty much on our own today. Christina, Nick and her brother Joe went to the organization where they got their little girl for a tour. After breakfast the children were patiently watching TV (cartoon network) while I was trying to figure out what to do with them today. I decided to try to take them back down to the mall that Steve (hi honey) and I went to before he left. My sister gave me this fantastic idea of using an umbrella stroller to go places as it makes it a lot easier for her with her 2 children. I asked Nick if there was a stroller I could use and Betty did have one here that a family had left behind. It is a pretty sturdy one (it needed to be to hold my little guy) except the wheels are a little tough. They don't really roll right but, I made due with it. Before we left I explained to the gals here what my plan was and when I would be back. I also explained to the kids in my kindergarden spanish that I was going to try to take them out (vamos Unicentral Mall) and if they are not good I will turn around and bring them right back (porte bien, no porte bien then vamos la casa rapido), I asked them if they undersood and promised (intende, promido). They both shook their heads yes and said "SI!". I packed my little sachel with appropriate things (wipes, juice, crackers, my purse, tissues, etc) and off we went. I was really surprised at how much they listened to me. The first store we went into Maria was touching all the clothes and I asked her in Spanish not to touch and she stopped. I also asked her to stay right by my side and she did. We went into the big Exito and I looked around a little bit. We walked through the toy aisles because I was looking for some other stuff for them to do. Maria was looking at some things here and there but, not once did she ask me for anything nor complain about not getting anything. She said to me occasionally "look Mommy" and I did and said I see. They were very good. I found the "craft asile" and picked up some playdo, some paint stuff, a coloring book they could paint in and some foam shapes and construction paper for some stuff for us to do to kill time. Then it was back to the residence. It was about 12:30PM and almost time to eat something for lunch. We made one stop at the grocery store where I got some chips and a bottle of Cocoa Cola (I haven't had any in a while). Back at the house I got them seated at the table and I went into the kitchen to make one of my favorite lunches as a child - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Maria liked it with no problem especially after I told her that Taylor liked them. J.P. wasn't so sure and ate all of his chips first. I had to help him with his sandwich. After lunch they had about a half an hour before their Siesta time at 2:00PM. I opened the playdo and we had fun making different things: cars, snowman, pizzas, butterflies and snails. I am not sure if they have seen playdo before or not. I think they might have. They called it something to do with plastic in the name. We ordered pizza for dinner (oh how I miss Bizarro's - somebody have a piece for me) and ice cream for dessert. After dinner it was back to the room to watch "Free Willy" and then it's bedtime. Another day comes to a close. The days seem to be running together now (I don't have a calendar so it is hard for me to keep track). I had to ask family what day it was. Tomorrow - Saturday- we may either take a walk to some of the other parks or try to get to this place called " __ flippers" which has a lot to do for kids. It would require a taxi ride. We'll see. I called today about starting Maria with an English tutor. The cost is $30K pesos per hour which I think is about $18.00 per hour. This may help her learn. She starts Monday and will probably have them come to the residence 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from 10:00 AM to 11:00AM. After which we can go out and let them play somewhere. I am not sure how JP will react. I may have to do something with him while she is studying. We'll see. Guess that is it for now. Hasta Luego.

"Mack Donalds"

2008-06-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. We finally have a morning routine which makes everything much easier. The kids know what to expect now and are good. After breakfast I took them in the family room and put on cartoons which they enjoyed for over an hour! Yesterday Christina, Nick and I talked about taking a walk up to the McDonalds up the street which has a large play area for lunch today. We left the house about 12:15 and got to the McDonalds about 12:30. The kids had chicken nugget happy meals (and this time it wasn't with Salsa de Tomate...it was BBQ sauce for J.P.). When they were done (Nick had to leave to pick up Christina's brother from the airport. He will be visiting until July 3rd. He is in the service in El Salvador. He is married and has a baby on the way. We got to see a picture on his cell phone & even hear the heart beat. It was pretty cool. )we took the kids to the play area. It's not as big as a typical McDonalds play area with ball pool and all but, it was big enough to wear them out. It gave them a chance to play with some other children. They played for about 2 hours. It was pretty neat to watch Maria help some of the littler (is that even a word?) children. There was this one little girl...she couldn't have been more than 4 years old and she reminded me a lot of my niece, Taylor, at her age complete with all the little Shirley Temple curls. She had this little stuffed, fluffy brown dog which she carried around with her until she felt comfortable enough to play without him. She was adorable and Maria helped her for a while. After an exhausting playtime we walked back to the house and both kids fell exhausted into bed for Siesta. They were so tired they slept for a little over 2 hours! I got a chance to have some coffee with grown ups which was kind of nice. By the time they woke up they had a half an hour to kill before dinner. We had this awesome soup which is a big traditional soup here in Colombia. I will definately have to get in the kitchen and take notes. These ladies are the best at preparing meals. I have been here almost a week and we have not had a single soup, meal or dessert repeated. They make this picante mix that is very spicey and very good but, I can only do a little. (I'll have to find out how to make it for you Honey, Dad Martinez and Ken as I know you like hot stuff.)

Jorge - one of the local drivers stopped in and had some handicrafts with him. He wanted to know if anyone was interested in. I bought 2 beaded bracelets (10K pesos each - they had the American flag on one end, Colombia written in the middle and the Colombian flag on the other end. I plan to keep these for Juan and Maria to remind them of our journey to Colombia to unite our "Forever Family") and 4 woven ones (1K pesos each). Jorge is the nicest guy - he does a lot for humanity, etc. He buys meals/food and hands them out to the homeless. He goes and takes gifts at Christmas to needy children. He just does a lot. If anyone would like anything from him please let me know and I can get it for you. He has ballcaps, pins, a leather pouch with zippers that says Colombia and some other things. (Steve, He also has a 3 piece socker outfit that says colombia and we can get names put on the back of the shirts for the kids for 50K pesos - if anyone else is interested let me know. )

OK back to the Canuels. At dinner the way we have the table set J.P. sits in a wooden high chair (works out much better) at the head of the table. We were cracking up because Maria made a cute little remark that we all were speaking English and we need to speak Spanish. :) Joe, Christina's brother is a little bilingual and explained that it is very inportant for her to pay close attention and learn all she can so that it helps her when she goes home to Florida. She chuckles. it is for this reason that we are looking into possibly hiring an English teacher to come to the residence to work with her. After dinner, desert and coffee it is back to the room and the kids get their jammies on. Their bed time is now officially 8:00PM. They stirred for about an hour but, finally dozed off to sleep. All is quite on the Colombian front. I smile as today...was a good day! Hasta Luego! Good Night. Oh, I almost forgot. I got a really good compliment today....Maria had told one of the girls who work here that her mommy disciplines with kindness. I thought that was pretty neat.

A Day for the Park

2008-06-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

This morning was typical of every morning I think we have pretty much established a routine the kids got up about 8:00, we get dressed breakfast at 9:00, then it's off to wash the face and hands and brush their teeth. Today we planned to go with Christina and Nick on a walk to a small park that is near here. While we were waiting for Christina and Nick to get ready we played some games. I noticed today that the children are in a phase where they are fighting for my attention. I would help one of them with a piece of a puzzle and the other one would want my help with what they were playing with. This went back and forth for a minute until I caught on to what was going on. I immediately directed their attention to the courtyard and suggested we all go out and play until we were ready to go. At the park the kids played for a little while then we walked to a Mexican restraunt where J.P and Maria had what else but, Carne tacos. Then back home it was almost 2:00PM and I am trying to establish some sort of routine for the whole day so it is Siesta time. J.P. wanted to sleep on the sofa so I agreed. He finally fell asleep and Maria layed on the other sofa across from him both snuggled in a blanket. She didn't fall asleep so I let her get up and work a puzzle. Sonya had shown them some cards that had a Spanish word on them and a picture. I would hold up the card, Maria would say what it is in Spanish and I would tell her what it was in English. After we finished with the cards we snuck off to the kitchen for some chocolate ice cream. When we finished we went back into the living room where J.P. had just woken up (he wakes up on occasion to see if I am there and if I am he goes back to sleep) I wasn't right there in the same room with him so that was that. Steve and I had gotten them a game of Candyland (Dora's version) so I grabbed it for something new to do. They enjoyed it and it was easy to play. After Candyland we came back to the room for some Cartoon Network until dinner which is 6PM. After dinner it's off to wash the face and hands. They had short naps today so I thought it would be good to get them in bed early. I put in a movie to "wind them down" (Alvin and the Chipmunks). After the movie I got them in their jammies and it was off to bed. All is quite now and I finally got a chance to talk to Papi. (I love and miss you much). I am very excited as he purchased his ticket today to come back for a visit. He arrives on June 3rd and returns on June 8th. Please pray for the practice as I understand that it has really slowed down since we have had to give it divided attention with our trip to Colombia and the children. I believe in my heart that God sent us to pick up these 2 beautiful children. We have trusted him that he has gotten us this far and I can not imagine that he would just let everything go to pot now. So please pray for the practice in addition to all the prayers everyone has been praying regarding the adoption and the process. Our journey thus far (prior to Colombia) is truely an amazing one and it is wonderful to see how God has been working in this adoption. I am working on that story and will post it as soon as I can - progress is a little slow as my hands are full with the children but, I want to share it with all. Luv and kisses - especially to my husband who I miss dearly and can not wait to see in a week. Buenos Noches.

Ratoncito Miguel Was Here!

2008-06-25T03:58:00.000-07:00

I was awakened this morning by a little hand waving 2 bills of 1K pesos (about $.50 each) and the biggest smile I have ever seen. Maria was standing there telling me that Ratoncito was here.

We got dressed and then went over for breakfast. After breakfast the children played in the living room a while. Silvia and Jamiez our representatives from our agency stopped in to say hello. I showed them around a little bit and took them to our room so they could see the beautiful spacious place where we were staying. Afterwards we settled in the family room and I offered them some coffee. I am not positive but, I believe we are through the first 2 of 4 phases (In business days the "phases" consists of something like this the best I understand it - 1) Assistant to judge has 10 days to review, 2) Minor defender has 5 days to review 3) the "Pro Qu Rador" like the D.A. has 5 days and then 4) Judge 10 days to make a decision). Keep in mind that they do not have to take the full amount of time...and looks like they have not so far. Please keep us in your prayers. It looks like we may still be on target for sentencia as Dollys (our attorney) had guestimated provided that everyone else does not take the full length of time. (Monday, June 30th is a holdiday here) so July 2nd would be the last day of Phase 3.

Silvia and Jamiez also went over with me the required paperwork and what I would need to make sure I had everything ready. They gave me a list of things we could do (tours, etc.) in Bogota should I choose. They gave me phone numbers of an English teacher and I may look into having them come out a couple of days per week to work with Maria. I think she would really enjoy that as she loves to learn.

Later that afternoon we had Mac N Cheese and icecream, chocolate. It was fun to watch them eat the icecream. I think Juan was trying to scrape a hole in the bottom with his spoon as he wanted to make sure he got EVERY drop. After a little more play time the children needed Siesta. I let them lay on the sofa where I could be with the others and not confined to our room. After J.P. fell asleep (Maria was still stirring) she looked over at me and I had gotten her coloring book and colored pencils so she could color there instead of napping. She understands now though that she is to lay down as if she were going to sleep until J.P. falls asleep. Sometimes she falls asleep and sometimes she doesn't and I am OK with that now that she is older. J.P. slept for an hour today instead of his usual 2ish.

After they woke up it was more playtime outside and then a movie inside. Later the evening we had dinner and they children played some games. Now it is bedtime and everyone eagerly jumps in to bed. It's time to sleep.

Today, Wednesday, I think we will try to get to the park as long as it does not rain. More tomorrow. Adios.

The "Nanny"

2008-06-23T19:31:00.001-07:00

Today went OK. Even though we all missed Daddy terribly we made it through the day. This morning everyone had a shower. After showers Maria came to me wiggling her loose tooth. I could see a little blood so I know that it was loose enough that it could probably come out now. She asked me to take it out so I gently did. It stopped bleeding within 2 or 3 minutes and didn't bleed a lot at all. Now we need to notify ratoncito Miguel. Now breakfast which I can happily say did not consist of eggs and carne!! Maria and I had pancakes!! Juan had eggs. After breakfast we waited for Ms. Betty to arrive so we went back to our room and the kids were playing, watching videos and coloring. During one of the many skype calls (thanks by the way for everyone who called me today: my sister, ken & cindy, my hubby, both moms and the message from Donna and Tony - it is nice of you all to be thinking of me at this time. It means a lot and it helps!). Ms. Betty came in with brownies and chatted a little with family. We had plans to go to one of the 3 parks walking distance from here but, it started to sprinkle so we couldn't go. Instead we played Uno, after grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. The sun came out and we played in the garden - Tag, monster where I chase them around, and a hunting game where you hide something and then they had to find it using hot and cold for direction. Afterwards we sat outside at the picnic table and colored for a bit. I looked over at J.P and he had his thumb in his mouth which is a sure sign that he is getting tired. We packed up the coloring book and crayons and went back to the room. I put a movie on thinking that if he layed there long enough his eyes would get tired and he would fall asleep. I had the movie playing in spanish and figured it would settle them down - it settled them down but, he would not sleep. I swiched the language to English and then he finally fell asleep. Maria is about the age now where I guess she really doesn't need to nap but, I want her to lay down and rest. If she falls asleep then she needed it if she doesn't then she didn't. After J.P. fell asleep I let her get up and color some more. (I am trying to get them into some kind of routine which should include meals, an outing, games and fun time, a movie, siesta then I am not sure.. and not necessarily in that order - just something). When he woke up we went over to the family room where Ms. Betty was sitting working on the computer. The kids played. We made a trip to the grocery store which is 100 yards or so from the front door here. I picked up some fruit, bread, peanut butter/jelly and cheese (for lunches here) and some stuff to do laundry. Yeah! I never thought I would be so excited about doing laundry. It's nice to have clean clothes. :) We had dinner about 6PM and everyone was there: chicken, white rice, mac n cheese and soup. Oh and lets not forget the yummy chocolate dessert. Ms. Betty was nice, even though she did not eat she sat with us at the table and was wonderful teaching the children table manners. Ms. Betty - Everyone calls her Tia Betty, is bilingual and is fantastic with children. She has this gentle way of explaining things to them and they immediately pick up and learn guickly with all - i.e. use your silverware, we do not use plastic or paper for dishes so everything is sort of formal but, not if that makes sense. Manners are what we worked on today - I would make the request and Ms. Betty would translate for me. I have learned a lot from her and so have the children. After dinner an Attorney visited to speak with the other family that is here. He was super nice and spoke well with the children. J.P. got so comfortable with him he started to sing for him. When the gentleman asked him to sing more J.P. told him he would sing for change. It was so cute. He and Maria sang some songs and the gentleman gave him 1K pesos. Bravo J.P.

Afterwards we came back to the room and the children watched some TV - usually the cartoon network. Maria was too excited to watch any more so off into bed she climbed anxiously awaiting ratoncito Miguel. Mommy is getting tired after a long day. Tomorrow we have a meeting with the CAII rep Silvia here at the residence at 11AM to talk and maybe we'll try to make it to the park for a couple of hours. Guess that's it for now. Until tomorrow. Good Night - Good night honey. Luv you all lots.

First Evening Without Papi

2008-06-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Wendy - After the mall today we came back to the room and Papi got ready to go. I didn't have the children take their nap just quite yet as I wanted them to be awake when Papi left. We were in the family room visiting with Ms. Betty and Juan was so tired he fell asleep in my arms. Maria was watching TV in our room which is viewable by huge picture glass windows (with curtains that were open at this time). The bell rings...it is time for Papi to go. He goes back to the room and says good bye to Maria and then brings his bag to the door. I lay J.P. on the sofa with a blanket covering him. I give my husband a big hug as tears fill my eyes (they are now still as I am writing this). I try hard not to cry (I am glad the children can not see me as it may upset them) but, I can not help it. This is the first time we will have been seperated from each other! (Other than the week he spent with Dr. Zane finger studying for florida chiro exams) It was really, really hard to say (not good bye) but, see you later.

After Papi left J.P. was still sleeping and I asked Maria to please take her nap now (she was in our room). I told her I was going to talk to Mr. Nick and Mrs. Christina (The other American family that is here right now adopting a beautiful little girl names, Mira). I came back a few minutes later and she was playing and I could see a tiny tear in her eye. I wasn't sure if it was because Papi was gone or if she didn't want to be in the room alone. I grabbed a blanket and asked her to follow me to the family room. I helped her onto the sofa and covered her up, gave her a kiss and told her I love her. The other couple had gone but, Ms. Betty was there and we were chatting as Maria watched "football" (soccer). A few minutes later we looked over at Maria and she was sound asleep. They both slept for about 3 hours (I think the atmosphere and the travel wore them out). They woke up at about 6:15 PM and we left for pizza at Archie's. Archies is only a short walk from Betty's Place. The other couple knew the way. They said that they have tried a couple of other places for pizza and Archies is the closest to home they have tasted. The children and I split a medium pepperoni, ham and salami pizza. I think this is the first time thay have had pizza and they loved it. Believe it or not Papi, Mr. Carne took off all the meat and ate just the cheese!! After pizza we came back and had a little play time in the family room. Then back to our room for a little winding down, watching TV, etc (The Canuel way is that when you go out they can't get to sleep right away they have to "wind down" first.) About 10P I shut off the TV and let them know that it was time for bed. Daddy called shortly and they got to say goodnight.
J.P. asked 2 times for him tonight and Maria although I think she understands where he is and what is going on, misses him. As do I. (I luv you honey as I know you are reading this). When Papi called to say that he had landed both children came running over to say hello and good night. They are sleeping now. I guess that is it for now. I will write more tommorrow.
Buenos Noches!! Luv To All and Miss You All Much. Wen

Bye Bye Papi

2008-06-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

Well today is my last day in Colombia. I fly out late afternoon.

We made it to Bogata safe. The flight was great and the children travelled well. Bettys place is awsome. The house is very nice. Our room is very big and nice. It reminds me of a mountain resport. I'm sure Wendy will post pictures once we get the cameral dilema figuered out. We gave Luci back her camara.

There are many restaurant walking distance from the house. Theres a grocery store almost right across the street. There is a dominos and McDonals. I dont like to eat fast food but that sure sounds good now. There are three parks walking distance that are very safe. Another family from New York is here. Theys have been here 10 days. They will show Wendy the "nieghboghood". They have adopted an infant. I believe he is a physician.

Staying here was a good decision. I feel much better knowing my family is here. It was a decision that Wendy and myself share mutually. We felt we would be much safer and the kids would be so much more comfortable here. Valledupar was a great experience that will last a liftime. We could not have asked for a better guide than Luci. She really cares about the adoptive familes. She stood right outside security in the airport within view of us while we waited in the terminal for an hour prior to boarding the plane! She was a godsend. We will all miss her, Manual and kids dearly. Hopeful we will all cross paths again someday.

Well I guess it's time to pass the torch to Wendy. Hasta Luega.

Kids Dancing - They Take After Their Momma :)

2008-06-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye valledupar

2008-06-21T06:02:00.000-07:00

We have made a decision to return to Bogata for the remainder of the time while waiting for sentencia. Living in a hotel that we can't go to the pool, can't walk out the front door without a guide for security reasons basically confines us to the room. You could only imagine what that would be like after 11 days with children. We will be staying at Bettys Place in Bogata. It's more of a residence style hotel with large bedrooms, family rooms and a playground for the kids. Wendy and I both agree this will be much better for the kids. We will have greater freedom to go out as well and I could return for a visit (something I culd not do if we stayed in Valledupar as I would lose two full days and one night and the price is double). We leave tonight about 7pm. Please pray for a smooth transaction.

Yesterday we spent the morning going to ICBF to get the necessary paperwork for the move. We had a nice lunch with Luci and Dolly before returning to the room where the kids took a nap. Later after dinner Luci picked us up and we went to a couple of Fiesta's (parties). We had a good time. It was wonderful to spend time with her family and experience true culture here in Valledupar. Everone at the hotel has been very nice and friendly with great service. They have gone above and beyond their call of duty catering to us and making us feel at home knowing we do not speak the language. Thanks to the manager Gladys and the staff at the Vajamar for taking such good care of us.

Dolly stated that she expects for us to recieve our Sentencia around July 7th. This is much longer than we anticipated although she said it's possible it could happen sooner. Upon the receipt of sentencia Wendy would need to travel back to Valledupar in the morning, sign and return in the evening. We have made arrangements for someone to watch the children while she travels. Steve plans to return over July 4th weekend. Thanks to everyone for all your continued support and the prayers. Please continue to pray for us!

Just another day

2008-06-20T05:31:00.000-07:00

We went to the barbeque yesterday. It was held outside of town on a very large piece of property. There was a big house, a swimming pool, a cabana and a bar area complete with grill , outside showers and bathrooms. There was also a soccer fields and a playground for the children. There were several other estates surrounding the property. These were the only single family type residences (with lawns) we have seen here in Colombia. When we left we dropped off two little girls and went to areas we have not been before so it was like a tour for us.

The kids had fun. JP swam almost the entire time. Maria ran around playing with the other kids. There were mango trees everywhere. Whenever you wanted one you just plucked it from the tree. The first bite was like......OK i'm not sure about this although after several bites it was good. We left a little after 2pm, came back to the room, washed the kids and put them down for a nap. They didnt wake until 5. Wendy put on Sound of Music for them and they really liked it. About 6:30 we went for dinner. We horsed around the room for about an hour after dinner then the kids went back to bed. It's 7:45 now and the kids have just awakened.

Today we are suppost to meet Dolly at 10 am. Hopefully we have great news. I need to notorize several forms today giving Wendy permission to travel with the kids back to the States without me. It's the Colombian law. Without this she would not be able to travel with the kids.

I leave Sunday to return home. My flight is at 9 am and I arrive in Bogata at 10pm. I dont leave Bogata unil 8pm. Over 10 hours in a an airport that no one speaks English bymyself is not goint to be a fun day! Oh well. I'll update later if we hear any news this morning.

School's Out!

2008-06-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

Wendy-Yesterday was the children's last day in school. Steve and I took some time to catch up with some phone calls, emails and went down to the pool. The children came home around 12:30 today. Juan Pablo (J.P.) was funny, he did not want to leave the taxi. :) I think he had too much fun at school. After lunch we came up to the room. We want to start teaching them more English so we are trying very hard to speak more to them in just English. One thing we did is teach Maria the Hokey Pokey. I do not think she has ever laughed so much at her crazy parents (yes, Steve too!). I catch her "singing" it (the best she can) every so often. I also sat down with her and went through the alphabet both in printed and written, upper and lower case. I wrote everything down for her and she would redo a line under me. She is VERY eager to learn. She is VERY smart and is going to be a great student.

Steve-We went to a unique restaraunt called El Hueco last night for empanadas, arepas and some cheese things. It was all cooked in a large pot. The restaraunt was basically outside with a brick wall around it and a small roof above preperation area and a couple of tables. See pictures. After dinner we went to a park where the children played. They had great fun. We came back to the room where they had showers, played for a little while then went to bed. Wendy and I watched a movie on JP's portable DVD player althouth began falling asleep about 30 minutes into it. I guess we we worn out as well.

Today at 8:30 we are going to a picnic at school to celebrate thier month long break.

We have not heard from Dolly as of yet. The Italian couple is still here so she is busy working on thier case. The judge has not sighned thier Sentencia yet so they are unable to leave. Dolly is suppose to travel to Aguachica today for them so I assume it was sighned yesterday. She is suppose to be back and meet with us tonight at 5:00 pm. Hopefuly. It is a danagerous and long drive.

2008-06-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Fiesta!

2008-06-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Manual's fiesta (party). We had a good time. There were many people there including the principle of the school. There were other children there to play with the kids. We stayed until about 10 pm. This is the latest that the kids has stayed up and they need to be ready by 7:15 this morning to go back to school. Wendy is getting Maria dressed now. Juan is still sleeping although will have to be awakened soon. We will be on our own again this morning. It gives us some alone time to rest together. The kids seemed to really enjoy school yesterday. They were excited about going again today. Unfortunatly today is the last day before a month long break.

The family from Italy recieved thier sentencia yesterday afternoon and had left for Bogata. They arrived in Valludepar June 20 for a total of 28 days. We have been here for in Valludepar 7 days. Hopefully we will be much less than 28 days. Keep praying.

Today we are suppose to meet with Dolly who will hopefully have a target date when she thinks we will be finished. I believe she will go to court today. We are hoping to be on step 2 (the 10 days). She had represented the other family so yesterday she spent the day trying to get thier Sentencia completed before close so they can fly out. They had been delayed several times and were very fustrated.

Several of you asked how Maria broke her arm. She had fallen while playing on a playground about 2 weeks prior to us comming to get her. Well it's time for breakfast. I will post pictures later.

School is in.

2008-06-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Luci for loaning us her camera. Without it we would not be able to share our wonderful moments with all of you. Also thanks to everyone else who has shown support through blog comments and emails. Even though we are a long way from home in a place that is much diffenrent with people speaking a language we dont understand it makes us feel like we are are close to home.

Today the kids are going to school. They will be going to the private school where Luci teaches that we visited yesterday. Her neighbor is going to pick them up at 7:45 and dropping them off at 12:45. It will be nice for Wendy and I to have some along time together. We are planning to relax a little by the pool. They will also attend tommarow and then Thursday is the barbeque at school. After that the kids will be on a month long break.

This evening we are planning on celebrating Manuel's (Luci's husband) birthday. We will be going for cake and drinks.

Last night we went out for chicken with Luci, Manuel and their two boys. Food is very resonable here. The entire meal for all of us with drinks was less than $20 US. Some things are quite expensive here and others are much cheaper than the US.

We were talking yesterday to Luci and she said the kids have not once asked for there foster mother. This is unusual as most kids begin asking for her. The kids have been calling us Mommy and Papi from day one. They have totally accepted us as thier parents which doesn't suprise us as this entire process was orchestrated by God himself.

We met with Dolly yesterday. She will be going back to court on Wednesday and will hopefully have a date when things will be finalized. So far things are ahead of schedule. Paperwork was submitted Friday. It arrived to were it goes by Monday. This typically takes 3 days. The first step is a 5 day process. Hopefully this will be completed by Wed. Then the next step can take up to 10 business days. We need prayes this step goes quickly. Then Dolly will travel to Aguchica to get the birthcertificates and passports for the children. This will take 2-3 more days. After that Wendy will fly to Bogata with the kids and get Visas with the US embassy and have physicals with the kids, another 3 business days and they are not opened on Friday. Then back to Florida!!! So on the long end it could take 3 more weeks. On the short end about 1.5 weeks.

Hasta Luego

Change of Plans.

2008-06-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Dolly is sick this morning but, Luci was here. She took us to the school where she teaches. The children played and Steve and I were introduced to 2 Colombian English classes. We sat in the classes while the children asked us questions. This was to practice their English. Dolly will be here this afternoon and we will talk with her about the upcoming processes. Attached are pictures from the school We are to go to Luci's house this evening. Also, Luci has arranged for the children to attend school there to help them with their English. They will go 2 days per week from 8:00AM to 12:00PM. We will go and "teach" other classes. We have been invited to a school BBQ on Thursday.

Feeling better!

2008-06-16T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I continued to feel bad most of the day. I stayed in the hotel and slept until about 5pm when Luci and her family picked us up. We went for a tour around the city. It is much larger than I imagined. There were people everywhere palying loud music and dancing in front of there houses. There were kids swimming in little rivers. There were areas with many kids playing on electric cars, blow up slides and moon walks. We stopped and let the kids play for a while. The houses and environment is soooo much different than the USA. It really reminds me alot of Mexico although the people are very friendly here and no one is trying to sell you things. We forgot the camera although I had taken a few pictures with Wendy's cell phone. I just have to figure out if I can transfer them to her computer.

Earlier in the day Wendy and Luci took the kids out. They wanted to buy me something for fathers day. They each made me a card and Maria picked out a T-shirt for me. The kids behaved much better yesterday. Hopefully as time goes by it becomes easier.

This morning I woke upfeeling much better. We will visit Dolly, our attorney at 9:00. We thought we may go to the pool afterwards and I will swim with Juan while wendy paints Marias nails and does her hair. The sun is shinning and it looks like it will be a beautiful hot humid day justlike the rest of them.

We have been in Colombia for over a week now. I leave next Sunday. Continue praying that things get finalized here and Wendy can travel back to Bogata with me. After the judge finalizes things we recieve the Sentencia. Wendy will then travel with the kids to Bogata and visit the US embasy. The kids will have to have a physical and passports and visas will be issued. This takes about 3 days. She can then come home.

Fathers Day in Colombia

2008-06-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a difficult day. The kids are getting very anxious being couped up in a hotel room. With Maria's arm in a cast she cant go swimming. There really isnt anything else to do here in the hotel so this makes it very difficult to occupy the children. We played several games although Juan wasnt to intrested and was into everything. Gladys the hotel manager had taken us out after lunch for a little while. We went shopping for new zappatos (shoes) for the children. We went to a park on the side of a river afterwards. There were many people swimming and barbequing. Wendy started feeling very sick when we were there. She had flu like symptoms. Shortly after returning to the room I became sick. We spent the evening running to the bathroom. Luci came over and had taken the kids down for dinner. She said they ate very well. She went to the grocery store to pick up some things for us and stayed the night to help out. It was a big help.
Today I feel better although still not up to par. Wendy feels much better. She is going to take the children down for breakfast and bring me back some food. We woke this morning and watched our worship service as it is broadcasted live on the internet. The message was great. Pastor Mark talked alot about children and it was very appropriate for us. Amazing how god talks to us when we ask for guidence.
Well this is my first fathers day so hopefully it will be a great day. Luci went home to clean u and has returned with her two youngest sons. She will be back in a few hours. Hopefully we will be able to take the kids out for a while.

2008-06-14T04:48:00.000-07:00

The first trip to the doctor

2008-06-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

The kids wanted to go swimming so bad yesterday. I had taped a plastic bag over Maria's arm using medical waterproof tape. Well.....it didnt work. Her cast was soaked and began falling apart. The hotel doctor looked at it said it need to be replaced. We were sent to an orthopedic center. X-rays were taken and a new cast was put on. She is not allowed in the pool. This is going to be so difficult because this is the only thing that thay can do here is swim. She had so much fun yesterday while swimming. It's gonna be rough telling her she can't go in anymore, especially with the langauge barrier.

There is another couple from Italy adopting who will be leaving in several days. They invited us yesterday to go to the Exito. We didnt go because we had just returned from the doctor. This is like Walmart. We had gone shopping there on the first day here. There is two of them in town. The one the family went to yesterday has a second floor which is a childrens playground. Hopefully we can start going there as a substitute for the pool. Also there is an area walking distance from the hotel where the kids can drive electric cars. The italian familty had told me about yesterday. We just need to find out if this is safe for us to go.

Jennifer, who runs our office is pregnant and due on June 28th. She had some complications and the baby had to be taken yesterday. This is going to make it difficult for everone working to keep things going as steady. We need prayes for the safety of Jennifer and the baby along with office to continue to run efficiently. Pray that the judge makes a speedy closure of our case so we can return home to get things back in order.

We are on our own today so I dont know what we are going to do. I'm sure there will be another adventer. Hopefully tomarrow will be all about good news! Hasta luego.

2008-06-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

We are all alone today

2008-06-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

We actually had our bonding meeting yesterday. I think Dolly (our attorney) had presented everything to the courts although Im not too sure due to the language barrier, sometimes it's difficult to interpret. Not too sure where we are. Dolly had driven last night to Aguachica to get the original birth certificates. I understand she will return next week. We met with her about 3 pm yesterday and the social worker and psychologist were still working on thier reports at 3:30. Not sure how late the courts are open and if this was completed yesterday. Initially Dolly was planning on presenting today. Maybe her assistant will present it today!

We had several meetings yesterday and did alot of walking. We went back to the ICBF and have recieved official custody of the kids while in Valledupar. We can go back and get permission to leave the area but must remain in Colombia. We are planning on staying for now. Keep praying that Wendy and the children will be able to travel back to Bogata with me on the 22nd!

Today we have no meetings. We will spend the day, hopefully relaxing at the pool (La placina). Luci asked that we remain at the hotel. She has a seminar today and tomarrow and will not be with us. Last night we went to her house. She has 3 boys and one girl. The kids had a lot of fun with them. It was a good break for all of us. It's been difficult for them in a hotal room.

Things are much differnt here. The roads are very narrow. No stop lights. Motorcycles everwhere and constant beeping. People walking out in the streets. Sometimes I think they are going to be ran over. Most cars and houses have no A/C. Cars are very small. We have been walking alot to all the meetings. Several blocks from the hotel. I feel very comfortable on the streets. No ploblems and people have been friendly. You cant put TP in the toilet anywhere in Colombia. The food has been good. Breakfast consists of Arepa, empanada, queso (cheese), fruit and Hurvos (eggs typically with ham). I have papaya juice and 1/2 cup of cafe leche (coffee with milk).Lunch and dinner i have had baby beef, fish and several varieties of chicken. We have eaten at the hotel everyday. I'm looking foward to eating out soon. Wendy eats Arroz con pollo everday. Juan eats like a horse. He was hombre (hungry) last night night at Luci's. Manual, her husband warmed up Pollo and platonos (chicken and bananas) for him. He ate a large dinner earlier, Spagetti pollo (chicken) plus half my carne (beef). This can be good for me. Maybe I'll drop a few pounds. We neen to go for breakfast now so Hasta Leugo (see you later). Steve

PS. Thanks for the posts. It's nice to hear from everyone. Makes us feel closer to home.

It's a Beautiful day

2008-06-12T04:14:00.000-07:00

It's about 6:30 AM and the sun is shinning. It comes up very early here and shines in our room, even with the curtains closed. It looks like it will be a beautiful day.

The meeting of the kids was very exciting. When they arrived at the ICBF we were upstairs waiting on the children in the room we decorated earlier. When Juan Pablo entered downstairs he took off running. They called him and he said he is going to find his "Papi". They were about a half hour late. We were so anxious while waiting on the children. When they arrived they ran to us giving each other hugs and kisses. They were very comfortable with us as if we knew each other for a long time. I think callling them several times prior really helped. Luci had her camera and took pictures so we will try to post later. Everyone at the ICBF was very impressed.

We have a meeting this morning at 8:30 to discuss the legal process. So far so good. Our "bonding" meeting is scheduled for Friday. This typically takes 8-10 days. Hopefully we will stay ahead of schedule!

Maria is an absolute angel! We bonded instantly and have been side by side since. She like to tickle me just like Taylor. I have been teaching her english words. She picks up quickly. Juan was a little bit of a handful last night although we managed. Wendy spent a lot of time with him. When he finally got to go swimming he callmed down. He is so adorable. God truly blessed us with two amazing children.

Both children slept with us last night. Maria snuggled in my arms all night. She had both dalmation stuffed animals with her. I woke up this morning with one of them in my face giving me kisses. Juan slept net to Wendy. He is still sleeping and Maria is next to me watching Cat in the Hat on her DVD player. I will talkto all later.

Welcome to Valledupar. Gotcha Day!

2008-06-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

It's 7:30 am and Wendy is wrapping gifts for the big party today. We arrived about 7 pm last night and is was dark, hot and humid, much like Florida. Bogata was very cold and I was freezing the entire time. We met Luci (our translator and guide) and Dolly (our attorney) at the airport. The hotel was on a street that we traveled about two miles or so on. It was a narrow one way street with many stores lining both sides, mostly shoe and clothing stores. It reminded me alot of Bay Street in Nassau Bahammas only the street was much narrower. There were many people out on the street. Motorcycles were everywere pulling out in front of us all over. There were vendors with carts that looked like large wheelbarrels selling fruits/veggitables. The Hotel Vajamar is very nice and reminds me of the typical Miami Beach Hotel. The people have been very friendly.

Luci is picking us up at 9 am. We are going to go to a Sony store so we can find a charger for the camera. Then we will go to the store for decorations and cake for the party. It is going to be held at the ICBF office. There will be many people there. We are very excited about meeting the kids today! After the party the kids will be comming back with us to the hotel and staying with us the remainder of the time. I'm sure Wendy will post later. Well I'm hungry so Im going down for breakfast! Adios!

Hola Colombia!

2008-06-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

We departed Ft. Lauderdale airport on Monday 6/9/2008. We got through security checks with no problems and no long lines. When we arrived at gate H4 the Avianca crew had not arrived yet. We boarded the plane at 5:50PM (about 15 minutes late). We were in the back of the plane but, had no problems finding places to put our carryons. Across the isle there was a mother (Luce) and 2 daughters (4 & 7 - the same ages as Juan & Maria!). There seats were not together but, close by. One of her daughters was seated next to us and I told her we would help her if she needed it. At one point in the flight her 2 children would sit together and she would sit next to us. We told her the purpose of her travel and she lit up like a shining star. She is originally from Bogata but, is now residing in Florida. We shared with her our adoption process to this point and how everything is being orchestrated by God. She was pleased to hear how he was working in the adoption and said she would continue to pray for us and our family. After arriving at the airport she helped us find our way to the baggage claim area, collect our luggage, get through immigration, find our friends from our adoption agency and delivered us safely to them. Thanks Luce for shinning! (Newsboys: Shine) Your guidence and assistance was greatly appreciated and I hope your vacation "back home" is a pleasent one.

After clearing immigration it's really cool! There is a small area on the other side of the "clearance machines" which has a large glass window wall. On the other side are hundreds of people/family members and friends waiting for loved ones to arrive with signs, flags & banners. It was pretty amazing to see. Apparently it is customary for many to "show up" to pick up loved ones from the airport. We had about a 20 minute ride to our hotel in which Nora - our adoption agency's representative/attorney in Colombia spoke with us some about what to expect over the next couple of days. When we arrived Silvia and her husband Jamier (sorry if I mis-spelled that) assisted us into the hotel, the Zentana. The Zentana is a quaint little place sort of like a bed and breakfast. It is very chilly here to us, in the 60s. Later this afternoon Silvia and Jamier will pick us back up and take us to the airport. We will stop by a store to try to pick up cord/charger so we can use our camera! Yes, we forgot the charger....we were going to bring the video camera but, could not get it to hold a charge. Knowing the charger and the video camera shared the same charger I didn't bother packing a seperate one for the camera. Then later when the camera didn't work forgot to put the charger in the suitcase. So, not sure if we will be able to post any pictures. We will try. After arriving in Valledupar this evening we will get to the hotel (Vajamar) and settle in, rest up because tommorrow is "GOTTCHA DAY"!