Barbeque

Here is our room from both angles.

Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures from Bogata.

July 4th in Bogota

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

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

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

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.