The Final Countdown Has Begun!

It's hard to believe that since our last post, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's have come and gone.  The last two months have been a blur!  I'll attempt a quick overview to catch everyone up.

The abbreviated version is:

We leave for Colombia in FOUR days and meet our precious new daughter, Juliana Grace, in SIX short days!!!  We are FINALY bringing Gracey home!

Here's the slightly more detailed version:

Moments after I published the last entry, we received a call from our agency saying that we had been given a date to meet Gracey - JUST THREE DAYS LATER!!!  Needless to say, we flew into action and began making plans to travel in two days.  It was craziness!  Then, in a bizarre twist of events, everything came to a screeching halt the next day when our agency realized that there had been a mix-up and we had actually NOT been given an "Encuentro" date yet.  We were confused and disappointed and yet relieved.  It would have been a monumental task to mobilize our family of six for a trip of this magnitude in only 2 days.  In addition, it was doubtful that we would have been able to complete the adoption process before the holiday shut down on December 14th.  We are confident that God slammed that door shut for our protection.

The following day, we were contacted again with an official date to meet our Gracey - January 15, 2013!!!!  We were of course excited BUT January felt SO FAR away!

So, we took a deep breath and regrouped - AGAIN! 

The holidays were upon us.  We decided a quiet Thanksgiving was in order.  We made tons of our favorite Colombian food and enjoyed our time together - dreaming of our little Colombian princess.  Next, the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season began.  We had a wonderful time together celebrating our Savior's birth with our family and friends!  Then it was on to New Year's Day.  We hosted our family for a traditional Colombian feast called Bandeja Paisa!  It was "delicioso" and mucho fun!

Since then, we have been busily preparing for our trip.  The final countdown has begun!  We leave for Colombia in four days and get to meet our Gracey girl in SIX DAYS!!!
The journey has certainly been long and full twist and turns and we know more are sure to come.  However, we are confident that God is in control!  We continue to trust Him and rely on Him for everything we need.

We continue to be amazed by His grace and by the love and generosity of our family and friends!  We long for the day that we can hold our sweet girl and show her off.

Please pray that the next couple of days will go smoothly as we pack and prepare for our trip.  Pray for God's perfect peace and timing in the whole adoption process.  There are rumors of a renewed judicial strike in Colombia so things are still a bit uncertain. 

Also, we covet prayers for our precious Gracey.  She has been in her foster home for most of her life.  We anticipate that she will be scared and confused as she transitions into our care.  While we have been longing to hold her and love on her, she knows little about us. 

Well - that's the shortest version I could come up with!  Sorry! :)

We plan to blog as often as possible and do short updates via Facebook posts.  The estimated time for our process in Colombia is four to six weeks although Victor will only be there for the first two weeks or so. Thanks to all who are keeping up with us and remembering us in your prayers.  We are so grateful for each one of you! 

Our next update should be from Colombia!  Woo Hoo!!!