Lots of News!

God is SO faithful!!!

I've waited too long to post an update and now have way too much news for one post. In an attempt to keep this as brief as possible (don't laugh), I'll use bullet points for the highlights. 

Here are a few of our praises:

*Our *5-4-5* account is growing!  In addition to donations to our PayPal account, a few very
  generous friends have given us a cash or checks.  So, the correct total of our adoption
  fund is not reflected on the meter on the sidebar.  As of today, our total is $2,786!!!  
  Our home study is covered and we had enough money to complete our first set of
  fingerprints and paperwork fees!  Isn't God good?!?

*We are now connected with One Way Ministries (http://1wayministries.org), a wonderful 
  organization whose mission is to boldly share the message of the One Way to receive
  eternal life and how to have that life in abundance, experiencing eternal life from today
  forward. Because they have allowed us to come under their ministry covering, we are
  now able to offer receipts for charitable contributions to all those who donate money or
  items for our adoption fundraisers.  We are completing those forms now for all those who
  gave in 2011.  God is taking care of EVERY detail!

*Because of your generous support, we were able to call our social worker at Lifeline
  (http://lifelineadoption.org) and set up our first visit for our home study.  We meet with
  Lynn on January 26th.

*We received our ABI / FBI clearance on Friday!  It only took 3 weeks!  Amazing!

*We received a scholarship from our placing agency, Children's Home Society and Family
  Services (http://www.chsfs.org)  in the amount of $3,000.  This will cover a large part of
  our fees with CHSFS and will leave us a much reduced fee of $3,400.  Excellent! 
 
*We have also received a matching grant from Brittany's Hope Foundation 
  (http://www.brittanyshope.org) for $8,000!  That means we will be required to raise $8,000
  in order to receive the full grant.  Seems impossible to us, but our trust is in our faithful
  God!  $2,500 seemed impossible just a few weeks ago!

*Juliana has $730 in her adoption account with Reece's Rainbow.   
  (http://www.reecesrainbow.org)  We are still working on completing paperwork in
  order to be an approved family with RR but look forward to building a relationship
  with this great organization.  Juliana is now listed under the "My Family Found Me"
  section and is listed as Julie if you'd like to read the write up about her.

*We have finalized plans for our HUGE Garage Sale.  We are holding the sale on
  February 3rd and 4th.  We have received many donations and have more to pick up this
  week.  We are hoping to make the $3,400 needed to pay our remaining fees at CHSFS. 
  Wouldn't that be great?

*We received word from CHSFS that Juliana is going to be allowed to stay in her foster
  home and not have to be moved to an orphanage as is regular procedure in Colombia!
  We are so thrilled and relieved.  We hated the thought of her having to be moved.  From
  the few pictures we have, Juliana seems very close to her foster mother. They seem to
  have a loving relationship.  We feel so blessed!

Here are a few of our prayer requests:

*Please pray for the Lord's direction and perfect timing in this adoption. 
  We long to clearly hear His voice regarding every aspect of this adoption.

*Also, pray for Juliana's health and safety.  We are so thankful for her foster family and
  are praying for God to shower them with blessings.

*Pray for our HUGE sale on February 3rd and 4th!  We need masses of people to show
  up and buy tons of stuff.

*Please pray for us to have creative and successful ideas for other fundraisers.  After
  raising the remaining $3,400 for CHSFS, we need to get started on the $8,000 for our
  matching grant.  Any ideas?

*Pray for our social worker as she works closely with us to complete our home study as
  quickly as possible.

*And finally, please pray for our clearance to come quickly from DHR.  The CAN forms take
  a very long time in Alabama.  We have been told to expect at least three months.  Our
  social worker said, "Alabama is the slowest state in the union for CAN reports!"  Evidently
  other states can have them returned in a matter of days.  Please pray that God would
  expedite our reports.  Our social worker cannot complete our home study without these
  clearances.

We are SO thankful for each of you who are

following along with us on this journey! 

Please know we have thanked God for each one of you! 

You are a blessing!

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

God Multiplied Loaves of Bread for Our Family Today!!!

One Dear Friend + A Basketful of Her Wonderful, Homemade Bread = $77 for Our Adoption!

PRICELESS!!!! 

Unbeknownst to us, our dear friend Jan Deuel brought a laundry basket

 full of her delicious, homemade bread to dance class this morning and

announced that the proceeds from selling her bread would go directly to our adoption. 

I was speechless! 

Such sacrifice and love.  Jan left with an empty basket

and we have seventy-seven more dollars towards our adoption of Juliana Grace! 

Thanks to all who bought her yummy bread but most of all

thank you for the encouraging words and smiles! 

Jan, you will never know how much your act of kindness meant to our family.

She humbly said this morning, "I can't adopt but I can help your family adopt."

THAT'S IT! 

Some CAN Adopt, Some CAN Give, WE ALL CAN CARE      

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father

 means caring for orphans and widows in their distress."

James 1:27

*5-4-5* FIVE FOR FIVE *5-4-5*

God called.  We answered.  We're figuring out the rest as we go!

We have completed our initial applications to our home study agency and our placing agency.

Our next step is to have our social worker come out to begin a home study.

However, in order to get things moving, we need to pay Lifeline a total of $2,000.  

This is just the first fee of many on this journey to Juliana.  

The expected cost of this adoption is at least $25,000.  

We are hoping to qualify for some grants but first need to complete our home study.  

SO, we're launching our first fundraising campaign 

 "FIVE FOR FIVE" or 5-4-5 !!!

Our goal is to find 60 friends who will commit to finding 20 friends

who are willing to "chip in" $5 or more toward our adoption.  

Juliana will be our fifth child so "FIVE FOR FIVE" seems fitting.  

We feel and hope that a $5 donation is something that almost anyone can help with.  

We will use this money specifically for our home study,

application and program fees and document expenses in the coming weeks. 

If you can help us bring Juliana home, we would sincerely and humbly appreciate your support.

Just click on the "Chip In" button on the sidebar of our blog to donate via Paypal.  

You don't even have to have a Paypal account. 

Then, share this post with 20 of your closest friends!  

Feel free to link our blog in an email or share on Facebook.

¡Muchas Gracias!

La Familia Nichols

EXCITING NEWS!!!

We are SO excited to announce that we are beginning another adoption! 

This past summer we learned of a precious little girl in Medellín, Colombia who needs a forever family.  Her name is Juliana and we are simply smitten with her!!!  Sadly, we cannot share her pictures online yet but believe us when we tell you that she is adorable!  She appears to be spunky and likes toys that make loud noises.  Sounds like she'll fit in perfectly around here!

Juliana just turned two years old.  She is a special needs orphan who has Down syndrome.  We learned about her through a couple of adoption lists we are connected with.  We were drawn to her immediately and began praying if possibly the Lord intended her to become part of our family.  We know from the world’s perspective, we have our hands full (and we do!) with our family as it is.  However, we desire a Kingdom perspective and we cannot deny the call the Lord has placed upon us (all of us!) to care for orphans.  We have asked the Lord to break our hearts for what breaks His.  And as absurd as it may seem,  we have a strong desire to care for this orphan!  We long for Juliana to be part of our family.

We have spent the last months praying and seeking the Lord for direction.  We seemed to be in a holding pattern because we do not have the finances to begin another adoption. We kept waiting to figure out a way to pay the fees on our own.  However, a few weeks ago, we sensed the Lord nudging us to step out in faith and watch Him provide for Juliana.  Very scary!  So, we're diving in and beginning the initial paperwork involved in an adoption.  We are gathering ideas for fundraising and trusting the Lord for each step of this journey.   

Also, we thought we would try to do things a little differently this time around and actually start the blog at the beginning of the journey instead of just a week before traveling like last time.  Can't promise how well we'll keep it up but our goal is to keep you faithful followers updated as we go along.  We covet your prayers as we begin the process of adopting again.

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 
God sets the lonely in families. . ."  Psalms 68:5-6

It's ALL good!!

We headed to the US Embassy about 9am this morning. When we got out of the taxi, the lines just to get to the entrance of the embassy were incredibly long. Thankfully, Helena, our adoption expert here in Bogotá escorted us to the front of the line to a much shorter line where we were then sent inside the courtyard to complete the visa process for Camila and Leandro. In the end we were only there about two hours, as Helena expected. The concern about Angi Camila's name was not mentioned and both of their visas were approved. When we received the final adoption sentence in Medellín, an "e" had been added to Angi. Under the new laws of the Hague Convention, a child's name must remain exactly the same as the immigration paperwork. Our lawyer argued with the judge's office at length but they were unwilling to correct it. We were concerned that the change would cause a problem. We are so grateful that everything went smoothly and we are to return tomorrow afternoon to pick up their visas.

Next, we headed to the Delta office to change our tickets to a week earlier!! WooHoo!! In all of our planning, we knew there was a great probability that our tickets would have to be changed but we NEVER dreamed it would be for a week earlier. God is so good! He has been so faithful during our whole adoption process. He knew what our days would hold and He has orchestrated every detail. Sure wish I could remember to trust Him completely and stop worrying about things.

The kids have been pretty wound up all day today. Leandro has probably asked me 500 times if we are leaving tomorrow. Poor little guy -- he misses his "Papi" terribly!! We got do Skype a video call with everyone tonight and he was so happy but then cried himself to sleep.

Tomorrow we are going to take a quick driving tour of downtown Bogotá so the children can see some of their capital city. Then we'll head to the embassy to pick up the visas. I plan to get everything packed up tomorrow evening and be ready to head out early Friday morning. We were able to get seats on the same flight Vic and the girls were on Tuesday. The attendant said it is a full flight but she was able to find us seats together. We have to be at the airport 3 hours early for an international flight so we will be leaving about 6am. We should be arriving at home about 5pm Friday night.

We are so grateful for all of your prayers and can't wait for everyone to meet our new kiddos. They are VERY excited to see all their new family and friends. Please continue to pray for them and our whole family as we know these first few weeks and months are going to be quite an adjustment for all of us. We are so excited to begin this new chapter of our lives together.

I still hope to go back in and add some detail and photos from the last week or so.

His Mercies are New Every Morning

Thanks to each of you for your outpouring of love and support for us during these difficult days. There is so much to write but little time to focus on it now. Victor, Evie and Tori left the resedencia where we are staying in Bogotá very early this morning. Thankfully, they arrived safely home this evening. Victor has been able to be with his dad and brothers. The funeral for his mom will be tomorrow morning at 11am. Please lift the whole family up in prayer. Evie was very close to Melba and is very, very sad. I so want to be with her tomorrow to comfort her but I know she will be well taken care of.

Camila, Leandro and I are pressing on to complete the legal process. They are very tired and sad that their "Papi" and hermanas are no longer with us. Poor Leandro cried and cried tonight. We were finally able to reach Vic by phone and that helped a lot. Please pray for the kids. It is so hard for them to believe that we are their "forever family" now and that we will NEVER abandon them even if we are temporarily separated. Yesterday and today have been pretty tough days.

Please pray specifically tomorrow for our visa process at the US Embassy. We have a glitch or two with the children's names that we are hoping will not be a problem. We know God has brought us this far and trust He will not leave us now. We look forward to a good report tomorrow night.

I promise more pictures and stories from the past few days are coming soon!

Profound Sadness in the Midst of Great Joy

Victor's mother, Melba H. Nichols, went to be with her Lord Jesus Christ this morning. We are heartbroken but hopeful. We know that the Lord's timing is always perfect even though we do not always understand. We are so thankful that she will no longer suffer.

Melba was an amazing wife, mother and most of all - "Grandmommy!" She will be greatly missed by all of her family and friends. We covet your prayers during this difficult time. It has been very hard to be so far away. We have been in constant contact with Victor's father and brothers. Victor will fly home on Tuesday with Evie and Tori. Melba's funeral service will be Wednesday, March 18th. I am very sad to miss the service but it is unavoidable at this point in our adoption process.

Melba has been such a wonderful encouragement to us during our adoption! She already had such great love for her new grandchildren. Just weeks ago, she had meticulously planned gifts for each of them to welcome them into our family. We are so sad that Camila and Leandro will not have the privilege of knowing her personally. They complete a dozen grandchildren for the Nichols.

We are so thankful that the Lord has miraculously worked out every detail of our process so that Camila, Leandro and I will hopefully be able to return home by next weekend. Our plans at this point are to complete the necessary passport paperwork early tomorrow morning and then the kids need a vaccination before going to the embassy doctor. We will then all leave for Bogotá tomorrow afternoon. Victor and the girls will fly out of Bogotá Tuesday morning while I will stay to complete the visa paperwork for Camila and Leandro. If all goes well, we should be finished by Thursday or Friday.

I am busy packing and trying to remember how we got all of this stuff here! I'm pretty sure we're taking home more than we brought. Jenn, I NEED you!! Vic has taken the kids down for one last swim before an early bedtime. Gloria is going to pick us up at 6:30am to head to the passport office. Camila and Leandro are not morning people so it should be fun! At some point I'll fill in the events from yesterday if nothing else for our family memory book. This blog has been a terrific way to journal. I appreciate you guys following along and praying for us every step of the way. It is so obvious that God's hand has been upon us even during some difficult days.

I'm not sure what the internet connection will be like at the "resedencia" where we will be staying in Bogotá. Hopefully I'll be able to update a time or two. If not, I'll let you know when we get home.

Metro Cable and "La Mayoria"

After learning that Victor's mother had been fairly stable during the night, we decided to go ahead and have Gloria take us to two special places here in Medellín. I believe I wrote about riding the Metro train to the park downtown last Sunday. Well, today we rode the Metro train again but this time we rode until the end of the line. At that point we boarded a Metro Cable car and began to go up the mountain side. The city has constructed a Cable line all the way up this very populated area of Medellín. It allows the poorer people from this area to have affordable transportation down the mountain and then into the industrial and nicer residential areas of the city for work. It was amazing. We rode to the top of the line and enjoyed the sights tremendously. It was excellent for the kids to see some of the poorer areas of town and get a small glimpse into their lives as we passed overhead.
Next we headed in the other direction to a fabulous little restaurant called "La Mayoria" It is on the outskirts of town and is almost like a small farm with a restaurant on the premises. The main attraction are the dancing horses that perform daily. We were sad to learn we had missed the noon show today even though Gloria called and was told there would be two shows. The staff were very nice to the children though and let them run all over the farmyard. They each got to ride a little horse several times and pet many of the animals. Leandro was not interested in riding the horse at first but finally got on toward the end of our lunch. We ordered an appetizer we could all share. Today was a sunny, warm day but it was so cool under the thatched roof of the restaurant. We had a lovely time.

The kids' afternoon swim was cut short by a really huge thunderstorm. It poured down rain and even hailed a little. Luckily I brought lots of craft materials that kept everyone entertained until bedtime. Camila made a special card for her best friend at La Casa de María y El Niño. We have planned to go back to the orphanage tomorrow morning to have a small going away party for the children. We purchased sodas, cookies and some candy for all of the children. We think there are about 50 children not including the babies. I think Camila and Leandro are anxious to see their friends and say goodbye.

Victor was able to talk with his Dad this evening. His mother's condition continues to decline. With his Dad's encouragement, Victor has decided to continue on with us here in Medellín until further notice. It has been a hard decision as he feels like he needs to be in two places at once. Please continue to pray for Melba and the whole Nichols family. An EEG was done this morning and the family will learn the results in the morning. We so appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

A Day of Extreme Emotions

"Pueblito Paisa"

Today has been quite a day! We received word early this morning that the judge had signed our final adoption decree and that we were to be at the courthouse at 11am to sign the papers. We were shocked and amazed! Typically, families are here in Medellín at least 3 weeks before going to Bogotá to complete the embassy paperwork. We fully expected that Victor and the girls would be returning home late next week and we hoped that I would travel with Camila and Leandro the following week. Everyone involved in our case is absolutely stunned! Apparently we are the first family anyone knows of who have had their interview and received setencia in just 10 days. We know that God's hand has been in our whole adoption process and we are giving Him the glory. We were thrilled to tell the children that they are officially part of the Nichols' family.

Before our appointment at the courthouse, we took a quick trip to "El Pueblito Paisa." It is an interesting park that is a replica of an old village town here in Antioquia. The flowers on the balconies were beautiful and the views of the city below were great. Each time we've driven to see the views of the city, it has been very hazy and not great photos. Gloria has been very disappointed. We picked up a few souvenirs and then rushed off to court.

Our visit at the courthouse was simple and quick. We were not even required to present before the judge. We only had to show our passports and sign the setencia. Now, a representative from the orphanage will travel to the town where the children were born to requests new birth certificates with the children's new last name Nichols Caskey. The children were born in different towns several hours from here. The rep. is hoping to make the trip there and back in one day. If that is possible, we should be able to apply for the children's passports on Monday and feasibly travel to Bogotá late Monday or early Tuesday. We are just so surprised by how quickly everything is moving along.

After a wonderful morning, we received some very difficult news this afternoon. Victor's mother, Melba, has not woken up since her surgery on Tuesday. The doctors expected that it might take a little longer than normal for her to come out of the anesthesia since she was so weak and compromised before the surgery; however, today they have become very concerned. We spoke to our sister-in-law this evening again and she told us that they were going home with Victor's dad to try to get some rest and be back early to the hospital. Melba's doctor told them this evening that the situation is very serious and that she needs Divine intervention. We are fervently praying for a miracle!! We appreciate all of your prayers on her behalf. It has been extremely difficult to be so far away while Victor's mother's health has declined so rapidly. We also need wisdom to know when and if Victor needs to fly home. Because of our early interview and setencia, he is allowed to leave the country now. It is even feasible that we could all fly home together next weekend. We are taking it one day at a time at this point ~ actually more like an hour at a time. We hope to wake to good news in the morning.

La Familia Nichols

We had great day today! Our interview was very relaxed and almost more of a visit at Casa de Maria. We had actually met the Defender of Minors on our presentation day but we didn't realize who he was. He was very positive about how well the children are doing. The kids both told him they are very happy with us. Tori asked him ¿Cómo estás? He thought she was so funny.

We were also told today that all of our paperwork is in order and was presented to the court by our lawyer this afternoon. Our lawyer does not expect our sentencia to take very long. We are so grateful to all of the people who are working so hard to help us complete our adoption. We feel like God has provided us with an awesome team.

After some more paperwork and photos for the kids passports and visas, we headed out on our little field trip. We had a great time stopping several times to look out over Medellín. Then we ate a wonderful lunch at a restaurant near the Artisan shops. We all ate a typical Colombian meal for this area of rice, beans, avocado, maduro, and a choice of meat. It was delicious! The kids were thrilled to have beans. Camila has asked me several times if we have beans in the States.

Next, Gloria took us to an Artisan shop. We bought a few mementos to have in our home to remember our time in Colombia. With two little ones, it was a short visit but I think we made some nice selections.

By the time we got back to the hotel, a storm had come in so we let the kids watch a movie before going down for a swim. Leandro is working so hard learning to swim. He is very serious about it and loves for his sisters to praise him. Camila is learning new tricks every day. All the kids had a blast and fell into bed. Yippee!

Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers for our family. We'll keep you updated as things progress. Below are a few more pool pics in the daylight.

Change of Plans

Whew! A lot has changed in the last two days!

Yesterday we started out on a trip to the zoo and ended up moving out of our apartment and into a local hotel. After discussing the pool situation and other concerns at the apartment with several people, we decided to look for another place to stay. We were not able to find another complex with a pool on such short notice so we made the decision to move to a local hotel where many adoptive families stay while they are in Medellín. We had not stayed here originally because we had hoped to save some money at the apartment and also have a little more room for the kids. But when the kids got up EVERY morning and sadly looked down on an empty pool, we decided that the pool was a priority. Silly Leandro would walk around all day with his goggles on. It was pitiful! The weather has been really warm here on most afternoons and there's no better way to wear out 4 active kids. So, in an hour and a half we threw everything in the suitcases and made the move. We are in a nice suite and the hotel gave us an adoption rate that includes a huge buffet breakfast. They also did not charge us any extra for so many people. So, I think we'll come out fine. The kids are SO happy to have a pool. Even though it was dark and sprinkling when we finally got moved in, they insisted on getting in the pool!!

This face says is all!! The move was worth it!!

Today, we regrouped and headed to the zoo . It was a fun outing. Angi Camila and Leandro had never been. There were some unusual animals and lots of pretty flowers. Tori and Leandro were most interested in the monkeys. We only stayed a couple of hours as everyone was excited to go swimming again.

My favorite two MONKEYS!!

Gloria took me to the Exito (the WalMart here) to buy some food for smaller meals we can fix here in the kitchenette while Victor took the kids swimming. The sun was pretty strong today and they are all already tanning. I'm the only Gringa in the bunch.

The other big change is that our interview with the ICBF (child welfare system) has been moved up from next Monday, the 16th to tomorrow, Wednesday, the 11th!! We are thrilled as this means that things are moving along. We are not sure why the interview was changed but we are thankful! Of course as with everything in this process, things can change quickly but everything is looking good. We thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We will have the interview at the orphanage at 9:30 in the morning. Please pray for peace for the children.

After the interview, Gloria is going to take us on a drive up the mountain to a look out point over the city. She says it is a beautiful place to take pictures. There is also an artisan market there. We are looking forward to purchasing a few souvenirs for the children to have as keepsakes. Looks like we'll be going on a little outing every morning for a few days as we want to see all the wonderful sights here. We had wanted to space things out a bit but now we want to make sure and fit things in as it looks like we might be moving on to Bogotá by late next week. I think it will be fine though because most of the outings will only be in the morning and will leave plenty of time at the pool. We are excited that the kids like swimming so much as we spend lots of time at our local pool in the summers. Angi Camila is quite the little swimmer and Leandro is anxious to keep up with Tori, the fish.

On the home front, we want to thank you for your prayers for Victor's mother. She did have the surgical lung biopsy this morning. The doctors decided that the risks of waiting until she was stronger were greater than the risks from the surgery. We talked to Victor's brother late this afternoon and he said that the surgery went as expected and she will be in CCU for several days while her lungs have a chance to heal. Please continue to pray that the doctors can determine what kind of infection she has and decide on a treatment quickly. Also, Victor's dad is very concerned and extremely tired.

Sorry this got too long. Guess I shouldn't skip a day posting. I was just too exhausted after we got moved and everyone was asleep last night to be coherent. Speaking of being coherent, I better head to bed so I'll be able to complete a sentence in the morning at our interview.

¡Hasta mañana!

Technology is Amazing!!

I was remembering yesterday how excited I was to be able to fax a letter home when I moved to Iquitos, Peru in 1991. Turns out, it wasn't that great a mode of communication and I resorted to an occasional hand written letter and a weekly call from my parents. When we moved back to Peru as a family in 1999, email was the new thing but the connections weren't reliable and it was expensive. My how things have changed!! On this trip we have easy email, facebook, a blog, video calls on Skype and even $.02 a minute calls home to those who don't have Skype capabilities! Being connected is WONDERFUL! We so appreciate your notes, comments and most of all your prayers.

I didn't end up writing yesterday because we called both of our parents in the evening. By the time we finished, I was too tired to gather my thoughts. Victor's mother is still in the hospital and has developed pneumonia. Please pray that the doctor's can figure out which antibiotic the infection will respond to before a biopsy of her lung is needed. It has been hard being so far away while she is so sick. We are so grateful to all the family who have stepped in and are working overtime to ensure that she is well cared for.

Yesterday we tried to establish a bit of a routine as a family. It was the first day we didn't have an appointment. Victor fought with a cantankerous washing machine all day and we tried to find places to hang things to dry. We also all pitched in to clean up our little "casa." The children played at the playground some more and worked at learning to play together. Overall, they are doing very well. Angi Camila and Leandro are in a bad habit of picking on one another and fighting quite a bit. We have been pretty firm in insisting that they treat one another kindly and ask forgiveness as needed. There have been lots of tears and some serious pouting and crying. Evie and Tori are trying to be good examples. I think it has been good for them to see how it looks when they fuss with one another. Sweet Evie told me last night that she wants to get along better with Tori now that she understands how upsetting it is to others. Please continue to pray as we work through all of these changes together. We want the children to know that we love them but we also want them to know that they must respect us and each other. Consistency is the hard part - especially since we are all tired.

Today we decided to go on a small outing by ourselves. We had heard about a park in the center of town called the "Barefoot Park." We took the Metro train from a nearby station and were there shortly. It was a neat area where people are encouraged to go and relax in wading pools. "Relaxation" is the theme but it was kind of a joke with all of the kids running around screaming and splashing in the water. There is also a fountain that sprays water up from the ground and our kiddos had a blast getting soaking wet. It was really hot when we arrived and felt so good; but by the time the kids were all wet and tired, a cloud cover had come in and it began to rain. Our poor Colombians thought they were going to freeze to death. We hadn't taken a change of clothes because we thought they would just be cooling their feet. Silly us -- we know better. Anyway, we had a nice time and enjoyed riding the Metro.

Tomorrow, our interpreter is going to take us to a zoo. We are trying to space out our outings as we don't want to wear the kids out and we also want to begin working on establishing some sense of normalcy with them. We sure don't want them to think that everyday life is a field trip everyday. It's a hard balance though because we do want to see and experience all of Medellín.

We received word that our interview with the child welfare agency here will be Monday, March 16th. That is exactly the 8 business days from the placement of the children with us that the process requires. We had hoped it might be a tad earlier since Victor and the girls are scheduled to leave Medellín on March 19th. Please pray for favor on our behalf with the child welfare agency (ICBF) and our judge. We are hoping that Angi Camila, Leandro and I will only need to be here a week after our interview. We will then spend a few days in Bogotá to complete the visa process before heading home. It will be hard on all of us to be separated.

Hope to have some fun pics from the zoo tomorrow!

Our Day in Pictures

Since yesterday's post was so long, I thought I'd give you a break and tell you about our day mostly in pictures. Hope you enjoy! We had a good day -- lots of playing, laughing, translating, talking things out and learning what being part of a family is all about -- good times and precious memories!! Thanks for the many prayers. We feel so loved and supported -- mil gracias!!

After a great visit at Casa de Maria y El Niño, we headed to an amazing outdoor mall here in Medellín with a small amusement park in the center. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a wonderful time. We arrived before the park opened so we walked around and then ate at a fun place called "Archies." The kids got to make their own pizzas. It was the first time Camila and Leandro have had pizza! They LOVED it!!

I'll add pictures in another post from the park!

Tesoro Mall -- great fun!!

These pics are from the amusement park in the center of the Tesoro Mall here in Medellín. It was a great way to spend an afternoon since the pool in our complex is closed for repairs and does not look like it will be open any time soon. The park was tons of fun and not too expensive. We plan to go back and play some more on one of the 1/2 price days next week.

Happy Kiddos!!

Beyond Exhausted!!

We are experiencing a new level of exhaustion!! Whew, I sure wish we were still in our 30s!! :) I believe the trip here and the extreme emotions of yesterday caught up with everyone today. We all had our ups and downs - luckily not all at the same time!

We started the morning early again with a visit to the courthouse at 8:30. We have a wonderful lady named Señora Gloria who is driving and accompanying us to all of our legal appointments. We met our lawyer first and then waited in line for over an hour to submit our documents. The kids did not do so well standing still for that long. We were quite a site explaining everything in English and Spanish. I had taken snacks to distract everyone but we had to leave them in the car because we could not take a backpack in the courthouse. Next time I'll stuff them in my purse.

Our adoption case was entered into the court system and assigned a court. Now, we wait a week to 10 days before we have an interview with the child welfare system to see how we are progressing as a family. After that appointment, our case will be officially presented to the judge along with a letter saying that all of our paperwork is in order. At that point the judge has a prescribed number of days in which he can sign off on our adoption. When everything is finished here, we will travel to the capital city of Bogotá to complete the visa process for the children at the US embassy. The whole process is predicted to take about a month. Some families actually finish a few days earlier and others take a bit longer. According to our lawyer we were not assigned the "fast" court but not the slowest either. So, that's the process in a nutshell. I may not have all the details down exactly but things will be clearer as we move forward.

We were asked to go back to the orphanage tomorrow to meet with the director again. Evidently she presented the children to us before she completely reviewed their history with us. It could have been the extreme excitement from two girls and her inability to complete a sentence that helped her make that decision! We will gladly go back to Casa de María in the morning. We are anxious to learn everything we can about our children. We are piecing lots together as we talk with them and go about the day. We have talked at length about our visit tomorrow with the children because we do not want them to think we are taking them back to the orphanage.

Sweet Leandro had a pretty tough afternoon. Please pray for him especially. Angi Camila is asking lots of questions and trying her best to process everything. Leo doesn't ask as many questions but I can tell he is trying to figure out exactly what's going on. Both of them thought we were all going to live here in this apartment now. Tori even thought we have moved here! Oh my! Camila and Leandro also have been very interested that Victor and I are indeed married and live together. I don't think either of them have a true idea of what a family is. Please pray that Victor and I will be good examples for them.

Guess I better wind it down for tonight - one little curly headed girl is still awake and needs some assistance. She is beyond exhausted and having a hard time settling down. Please pray for sweet T. She is doing an amazing job of sharing and is by far the most bilingual of the kids. If she doesn't know a word, she just makes one up that sounds like Spanish. She is making everyone laugh - often. Camila keeps saying she wishes she could understand everything Tori says - she says A LOT!! She has learned "lo siento" (I'm sorry) well out of necessity and uses it for lots of other phrases too. Tori had a little trouble sharing Evie today as both of the other kids are very taken with her. She keeps gum in her purse and that has endeared her to Leandro.

Camila and Evie are getting along very well! I took them out shopping this afternoon to find a few items of clothes for tiny Camila. It was fun -- they held hands the whole time. We picked up a soccer ball and Tori and Leandro had a blast playing out on the court here in the apartments.

I'll close with a picture from this morning on our way to the courthouse when we looked fresh. I should have taken one from tonight to show the before and after.

Happy Meals!!

I can't even believe that our first meal together as a family was at McDonalds! We rarely eat there at home; however, our legal interpreter, Gloria, suggested we take the kids to a McDonalds within walking distance of our apartments. She said all kids like hamburgers and it is very kid friendly. She was right, of course, I just hadn't imagined our celebratory meal being at McDonalds. The McDonalds here have huge play places and since it was during school hours, we had the place to ourselves. The kids had a blast - it truly was a Happy Meal!! After a bit, we walked to a nearby grocery and picked up a few things for a light supper. Then we had a quiet movie time. Later we took all the kids down to the playground here at the apartments. I tried not to freak out while the kids did flips and hung upside down over the brick pavers. We don't even know where the closest ER is. I know their grandmothers are praying overtime for our protection. We had a great day!!

A Few Pics from our "Encuentro"

Since the grandparents have requested more pictures, I thought I'd oblige them and add a few that were taken at the orphanage right after we met Angi Camila and Leandro.