The American Grill Out

Can you believe it’s been 2 weeks since we have met the kids. It feels like forever but at the same time it feels like just yesterday. I spent some time today thinking about how far they have come and I am really amazed at the progress. We have been around some kids who came from foster care and can’t believe the difference in general behaviors. But Jessica and Joaquin have learned so much that we can’t help but to be proud of them.

I woke this morning not feeling the greatest. A slight fever and a nasty head cold. It’s really okay, it could be a lot worse. I just hope I don’t pass it to any of the kids.

We took off for the park not long after breakfast, it was a beautiful morning so we took advantage of it. On our way there a guy, looked like Americian, asked us if we were in Colombia to adopt. I said “it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?“ He laughed and said he sees a lot of gringos in Colombia for the same reason. We thought it was funny he called us gringos, he was so sunburned and was in shorts, so obviously not a native Colombian. He must come here on business a lot. Anyway, of course we had to get an ice cream while we were there, it wouldn’t be a trip to a park without an ice cream. I thought about our first trip and how different it was coming this time with Jessica, she had fun and stayed with us with no problem. Joaquin was still trying to figure out the ins and outs of us and thought it would be cool to walk the opposite way as us and refuse to hold our hand when we were leaving. Luckily the walk is not too far, so the fussing was no big deal.


Jessica's I'm concentrating look

Nate Chilln'



About the time we got back the chef was starting up the grill for an American Grill Out in honor of Eric going home on Wed. They love him here and we so excited to have a grill out, which isn’t the norm here. The Frenchies ate their hotdogs and hamburgers with forks…ah, come on, use your hands for goodness sake. The Germans were just glad it wasn’t chicken and love the change. We of course ate it up. The chef was very proud and the owners acted like they had never had hotdogs and burgers on a grill. They were all exited and went back for seconds and thanked Eric for the idea. It was the perfect day for a grill out and almost felt like home for a few minutes. Anther couple came from a different Zuetana, they have been here for 5 weeks and are in the slowest court possible. They expect to be here for 3 more weeks, but their daughter, a baby, is beautiful. They are from Nashville TN so we hope to hook up again sometime back in the states, they are Vols fans, so we became immediate friends…smile!

Just before lunch Joaquin had one of his moments with Emilee, a not so good moment. He is awful to her, I haven’t quite figured out why, but will only be nice to her when it’s his idea to play and it’s always rough housing. So I made him sit on his bed for 2 minutes, like time out, which he hated. He also has a hard time listening to Mami. So I explained to him, while he was crying, that we all love him very much, and I named all of our names. I told him it was very important to listen to Mami and to be nice to Emilee. I asked him if he understood and if he would answer me he could get up and play. Well, this ended up going on for more than 30 minutes. He was mad at me but I couldn’t let him up until he could tell me he understood that we love him very much and that he understood my wishes to be nice to Emi and to listen to me. I knew he understood but was just being stubborn, refusing to simply say “Si”. (yes). Then Emi came in and grabbed a bottle of pop and said that daddy is allowing them to have gasiosa (pop) with the special lunch. Jouaquin loves pop, so about 15 seconds later he looked at me and said “Si!” I asked him for a hug and told him again how much we love him. Well, he has been a different child ever since. He listened to me all afternoon and was very pleasant with Emilee. He even let her put socks on him. Normally he would have kicked at her. He was very loving and affectionate and sat on my lap several times, just to be with me. I think something may have clicked today! Today we will chalk one up for Joaquin.

After lunch we packed Eric up so we don’t have to mess with it tomorrow. We did most of the banking so I won’t have to be going to the ATM a bunch. As we were packing we came across 3 things of candy that my sister and aunt bought for La Maria from Jessica and Joaquin. Of course when hey saw the candy their eyes were as big as half dollars. We told them it was for their friends at La Maria and that Aunt Jeanie and Aunt Jo got the goods for them to pass on. They were very excited and didn’t ask for one piece themselves. I thought it may spark some conversation about them wanting to go back and visit, but they didn’t say a word, they were just excited to go thru the rest of our stuff and ask if they could give anything else. They talked a lot about going to the US today, they were really excited. We again explained Eric was leaving in 2 days and they totally understood. We counted how many days we thought it would be before we get to fly and that daddy would be waiting for us. They are so excited to get home, which makes me happy.

We decided to stick it out here at Zuetana. We really feel too much change would not be good. If it looks like we are going to be here more than 2 more weeks, we probably will make the change for financial reasons. I just found out that not only is this Thursday a holiday but so is next Monday. Yikes, that’s two holidays, two days the offices are closed and no movement in paperwork. But it’s all in God’s hands, we’ll be home when He sees fit. Emi and Nate are ready to stick it out, they are doing great. Nate said the first thing he wants when we get home is El Mariachi…how funny is that. Emi wants Skyline, but said a soft taco sounds real good too. Nate said he is ready to pig out, we’ve all lost weight. They are learning what it’s like to not have a full pantry to help themselves to.

(Traci, the Zuetana outings and events are at an extra charge. Julie will try to get you in El Refugio first, which is a lot cheaper so don’t freak. El Refugio does not plan outings. However Lucia will try to plan at least one thing for you (as a group) while you are here. You are welcome to do more on your own, but don’t have to. We have enjoyed the outings but are paying the “price”)

An interesting note regarding eating habits with Jessica and Joaquin. Jessica will at least try things, and generally likes it if she tries. Joaquin has gotten better about trying things but sometimes you just can’t coax him. But before they are allowed to leave the table they have to ask permission. It’s just our way of adding some structure for them. So if they ask to be finished, and they really haven’t eaten well, we may say 3 more bite of chicken…or something like that. Both of them will shove however much we tell them they have to eat in their mouths, all of it. Sometimes they can hardly chew it up their mouths are so full. So we have been working on that. I have a feeling they had to clean their plates at the orphanage before they could play and so they got in the habit of shoving it in so they could be done.

Okay, well I better get some rest, time to hit the sack.
Love to all of you and again thanks for all the comments.

The Frenchies are on the far end, the Germans in the middle and then us. This is all of the folks staying at our house. The Frenchies are not so friendly and don’t appreciate Joaquin and his humor, only one of them speaks a little English. The Germans have been great and speak pretty good English, we enjoy them.


Here we are playing Jessica's new favorite game UNO!