All is Well…Sorry for the Delay

Yes, we made it safe and sound and all is well. I will try to update at least once month.



So to pick up where we left off, the kids went to bed well the night before we left and were up bright and early without any trouble ready to get on an airplane. I think the anticipation of getting on an airplane was more fun than the actual ride. On our flight out of Bogota Joaquin and I sat together and then Jessica sat in our same row but on the other side between two ladies. The two ladies on either side of Jessica were awesome. I felt horrible not being next to her, but the Lord gave us great folks to sit with on the plane. The one lady held Jessica’s hand as they took of and was able to explain and answer all of Jessica’s questions. She helped Jess with her breakfast and was oh so sweet. I thanked her several times for her kindness. Joaquin and I sat with an older lady who reminded me of my grandmother. She fell in love with the kids and asked me to send her photos and to call her on occasion with updates. The kids were awesome and the flight was a breeze to Atlanta. Once we arrive in Atlanta we ran to our next flight after immigration and customs. The flight was boarding by the time we got there. We did clear stand by status but our seats were not close at all. Jesscia sat in row 10 and a kind lady switched me seats so I could sit with Joaquin in row 27. I explained to Jess what had to happen with our seats and she was great about it all. She sat in front in the aisle and I rows back in the aisle. I told her to turn around and she could see me. I told the flight attendant that Jess only spoke Spanish and today was her first day of flying. It was a short flight so all went well and we were in Cincinnati ready to see the rest of the family. When we landed in Cinti I told Joaquin that we didn’t have to get on any more flights and that much of the family was there waiting on them. He lit up like wild fire and was ready to get off the plane and meet the family. Tons of family were there and Jess and Joaquin met them with open arms, hugs and kisses. They were smothered with love and loved every minute of it. You would have thought they had known the family that was there forever, they were so excited to see everyone.


From the airport we went to get quick bite to eat and then to our house. Joaquin kept pointing to different things and asking “Is this the United States?” It was so cute. Jess kept saying to him, “Everything here is the United States!” They went to bed well and have done awesome since they have been home. Jessica is so proud of having her own room, she shares with Emi, but is still so excited. Joaquin has walked through the entire house asking “Is this for me?”

The first several days back were filled with exhaustion and staying busy teaching the ropes of the house. I am thrilled at how well Jessica and Joaquin have done. It’s a lot for them to take in and they take it all in stride. The biggest issue is going to be getting them used to all the flavor in our food. The first taste of everything gets a frownie face, but they are pretty good about trying things and letting me work with them to help them like it.

They were scared to death of the dogs, but after just a few days they trade kisses and are doing great. Yesterday Jessica told me “Tomorrow I want to learn English!” They have been asking a lot how to say various things in English, they are eager to learn and I am so proud of them. Emi and Nate are just glad to have us all home and get back in the swing of things. Jessica and Joaquin went to their first baseball game to watch Nate. They weren’t thrilled about being out so long, but thought Nate was famous when he put his uniform on. They thought it was cool.

Their most favorite item is the trampoline, they would jump on it 24/7 and they are infatuated with the animals even though they are still a little shy with them, but getting better. The family is loving having them here and we are anxious to introduce them to Eric’s family and to my dad’s side of the family. Everyone falls in love with Jessica and Joaquin when they meet them, they are so full of personality. Colombian’s have been described this way “Colombians wring out every bit of life, when they are happy, their whole body is happy, when they are sad, their whole body is sad.” And I couldn’t agree more! I love my little latinos and combined with my two red heads, life couldn’t get any better.

Jess putting on a concert after playing with sidewalk chalk (they had never seen side walk chalk before)

Ready or Not Here We Come!

Today was our final day in Bogota. We picked up the VISAs and have everything we need to fly out tomorrow. Andres will be picking us up at 6 am tomorrow and we fly out at 9:30. The kids are very ready to get on that plane, or at least they think they are. We went through a book I got for kids about going on a plane. They have been looking at it, but I talked about what tomorrow will be like and that we will get on 2 planes etc. I just think the more they know the better it is for them. Then they wanted to go through the picture book and see the “todo familia” and I told them who all would be at the airport when we got home. I am taking both books on the plane to go over again.

I thought the kids would be wound up today and they weren’t. They talked about going on the plane tomorrow a lot, but they were pretty calm all day. I knew it was going to be a good day when Joaquin put on his camo pants this morning. Yesterday he said, I want to take these to the US, but then this morning he put them right on, I was shocked. He’s conforming already; it must be going well. And I realized this morning I lost like 15 lbs while I was here. Not that anyone could tell, but I was happy. Now if I can just keep loosing when I get home I will be doing good. Also today Joaquin asked to fill his water bottle and asked for ice in it. My mouth about hit the floor! What’s up with this boy? I had to laugh at him when he asked. After about an hour he went back to his water bottle and looked for the ice, he was all concerned that it was gone. I told him it melted, that happens!




It was nice to take one last drive here in Colombia today. When Andres picked us up he had another family with him too. We made a first stop to drop off this family at an ICBF office and then made several more stops at various places on the way to the VISA office. It took all of 10 minutes to run in and pick up the VISAs and then we were off again. As we were waiting for the taxi a security guard was talking to Andres about who we were. Andres was explaining I was adopting the children and we would be leaving for the US tomorrow. Jessica was sure to tell them about my lack of Spanish. But this time instead of telling them that I only speak English, she told them I speak a little Spanish. I felt like I had graduated! I went from and English speaker to a little bit of Spanish speaker. Again, I had to chuckle. By the time we had gotten back from all the running around Andres had to do it was like 2 ½ hours later, which made the afternoon fly by. Andres is so good with the kids…oh and he sings to the radio in the taxi, which cracks me up.

In the car today Jessica asked if we could go to La Maria and visit. Fine time to bring that up. We would have loved to have gone earlier in the trip but today was a little late. We didn’t want to just ask her outright if she wanted to visit, we wanted them to bring it up on their own if they wanted to go. She definitely wasn’t ready the first few weeks, and I hated to go without Eric, but knew she would have been fine going anytime within the last two weeks. We sent our items for La Maria with Lucia with a card attached saying it was from Jessica and Joaquin. Maybe someday we will come back to Colombia and go for a visit when they are older.

Also when we got back, James the beloved guy who works our front desk most days, stopped by. I was bummed when we went to breakfast and he wasn’t here. He worked at one of the other houses and when he got off work he stopped by just to see Joaquin and Jessica. He actually had tears in his eyes when he left, he said, “I just love those two.” Joaquin and James especially bonded, Joaquin loved to give James a hard time. James gave Joaquin several hugs and I think would have stayed to play. Joaquin was focused on a game when James was here and about 10 minutes after James left, Joaquin went looking for him. I think it sunk in for Jaoquin that he was saying good bye to Colombia. I had to explain that we wouldn’t see James anymore that we are leaving for the US and all new people, places and things. No tears, just a deep look in Joaquin’s eyes helped me to realize that he was thinking beyond what he had thought before. He already said some good byes to his friends at La Maria, and now he says good bye again. It’s all so much for these kids to go through, but they do so well with it all. I feel very fortunate to have had some wonderful people around us here at Zuetana. It may be expensive and the food may not be wonderful, but the people here make up for it. At the end of the day Lucrecia came into our room. She came with a gift. I cried when I opened it, it was a Bible, in Spanish, and she wrote a note inside. How very special, maybe one of the most treasured things we will bring home. Then Lucia called to wish us well and said to be sure to tell Eric hello and all the kids.

So this is it from Bogota a beautiful city with beautiful people. We are so grateful to the people here who have welcomed us with open arms and helped us along the way. We will surely miss Colombia, but I have a feeling we will be back…for a shorter visit…smile.

Okay, well don’t expect a post for a few days. It will take a day or two to settle in and find time to get back on the computer. We jump right back into a full schedule once we get home, but this time with two more little ones. My dad took off work on Thursday so we plan to spend some time just us and my folks on Thursday while Emi and Nate are at school. Plus I expect Jessica and Joaquin will end up a little emotional after a few days when it all sinks in that this new world is theirs forever. A new chapter in our journey begins tomorrow. The chapter that has just been scripted has been quite a story, full of joy, tears, grief, learning, new experiences and bonding. It is with joy and sadness that this chapter ends, but the chapter to follow is sure to be just as exciting.

And finally, one last water balloon fight

And one last jump from the top bunk to the bed. I know this is terrible, but we couldn't keep them from jumping. I can't believe we didn't end up at the hospital while we were here. You had to be really careful if you were sitting on the bed, because they would jump right at you.

Day 32 in Bogota

First off…My friend Peggy that I mentioned received Sentencia today!!! Thanks for your prayers, she and Sofia will come home Friday!

Today we completed our applications for Jessica and Joaquin’s VISAs. We left the hotel at 9 am and didn’t get back until 12:30. We were told to plan for 2 to 4 hours at the VISA office and it was a good thing we had been warned. There was a line just to get in the front enterance, which Lucia took us straight to the front of the line. I love these people. Once inside there were two families ahead of us in the adoption line. The place was packed with people and it was open on all sides. There was a roof but it was open, which was nice because you didn’t feel enclosed with all those people. For folks with older kids, take them something to do. I took them each a backpack with some snacks and things to do. I did take their DS games, but I wasn’t able to take them in. I had to check them at the counter and pick them up when we left. The kids weren’t too happy about that, but they lived. We go back to pick them up at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon. Then we are all set to come home on Wed morning. Missy emailed me today and said the flights all still look good, so hopefully we get through immigration quickly in Atlanta so we make our next flight. We have less than 2 hours in Atlanta.

About every hour this morning Joaquin said “Are we going to the US now?” It was so cute. Jessica kept telling him “NO, we go on the plane on Wednesday!”

Then this afternoon just after lunch there was a party for the families in celebration of Mother’s Day. They had a person come who does puppets and such with kids. So Jessica and Joaquin were asked to help decorate and had a fun time. The lady who came with the puppets did a great job. She brought a special book that talks about a little bird who had no mother and was adopted by a bear who had adopted other animals too, like a frog, a mouse and one other animal. It was so great to watch the faces of the kids as the story went on. After the story she let the kids come up and put on their own show, which they all really enjoyed. Several of the families from the other Zuetana came over so it was nice to see them all. Peggy came and we said our goodbyes, but plan to keep in touch. Another family that has been here for 5 weeks also came, she found out today she will not be going home until the end of the month…I have much to be thankful for. (She is not with our agency, CHI)






Well, Emi and Nate went back to school today and were so glad to see all of their friends and teachers. Thank you Margie for the comment about Nate this morning, it made me cry. Smile. My mind has been spinning all day about all that has to be done when we get home. I have to figure out English tutoring for the summer, have Jessica tested to see which grade she should be in and really work on academics with them before the fall. It will be so good to get home and get into a routine and start acclimating Jessica and Joaquin to the States. They are going to do great, even today Lucia spoke of how intelligent they were. They were a bit wound up at times at the VISA office but were very intrigued at how and why things work as far as getting to the US. Lucia is awesome, she is very sweet and cares a great deal about the children here.

So many people have asked about Eric and commented on how they enjoyed Emi and Nate while they were here.

Jessica and Joaquin love one of the front desk workers who works during the day, James. They call him “something” and I had no idea what they were saying. I have told them several times to call him Senor James, but they always just laugh at me and James doesn’t seem to mind so I let it go. So today I asked James what it is that they call him. He laughed and said it means Big Head. I apologized but he just laughed. I really need to know more Spanish. So now I will really have to get on them to show some respect. James has been a great sport with him. I tell him everyday when he leaves that it’s time for him to go take a nap. My kids wear him out, they don’t leave him alone all day.

With all that went on here today, it went pretty quick; I guess that’s good. Tomorrow I will just do some laundry so I don’t have to travel with dirty clothes, and finish packing. I have to pay our lawyer and Zuetana and hand out a few thank you gifts. We are almost home! Look out!!

Okay, that’s all I have in me tonight. I have fought a nasty headache all day, it’s more sinus related, but it’s fried my brain. See you all soon!

Sorry this is kind of all over the place, it’s all I’ve got. Love you all!

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you for all of your prayers, I was able to go to bed with no tears and great peace. It was wonderful to be able to see the family at our house on the webcam with Emi and Nate. Jessica and Joaquin were happy to see them and to see Tia Jeanie too. And thank you again for all the wonderful comments.

All evening yesterday Joaquin gave the sweetest kisses and hugs. Normally he loves on you but he is so rough. But last evening he was so gentle and loving and just kept looking at me. I think he started realizing that we are not leaving him, and if finding out what “love” is. I think he is feeling things he hasn’t felt before, and although not old enough to realize it, he is starting to fall in love with his family.

Jessica spent some time yesterday afternoon showing me and Lucrecia the book La Maria gave to us. There are several photos and Jessica has seen me look at it several times, but never showed any interest in telling me who folks were, and I didn’t ask. But yesterday I think after everything sinking in that we are leaving soon, she was excited to tell me all of her friends names and a little about each picture. I pulled out the items we have for La Maria and told her it was all from her and Joaquin to their amigos at La Maria. We are sending almost all of the toys we brought, Bingo, Bi-Lingual Memory, Beach Balls, UNO, etc. Along with the candy Tia Jeanie and Tia Jo bought for them to give their friends.

Today we all slept in a bit, which was a great gift to me. I didn’t get out of bed till 7:45 which felt great. It was a beautiful day, sunny and blue skies. When we went to breakfast Zuetana had a card made for each the moms. Jessica and Joaquin are the only ones old enough here understand what Mother’s Day is, so they explained why today was special and had them give me a kiss and a hug. After breakfast I went ahead and packed everything I could and got things organized while the kids played. It feels good seeing things packed and ready to go. I also go the kids backpacks loaded and ready for the visit to the embassy tomorrow. Lucia called this evening and said she would pick us up at 8:30 or 9:00 tomorrow.

This is Joaquin the morning as I was telling him to get dressed so we could go eat. He loves to salute me and say "Si senora mama!"

Joaquin thought it would be fun to race me to the door today. When he beat me he hurried and put the chain on, peaked his head out and said "HA HA!". Luckily he let me right in after I took his pic

These are just the flowers in our room, Jessica wanted a pic with them


After lunch we took a long walk. Not exactly what the kids wanted to do, but they survived. Near the end I took them to McDonalds for a sundae, which they thought was really cool. There is a play land there so I let them play a bit. Just about the time we were going to leave, a McDonald’s employee came in with face paint and painted the kids faces. We stayed out for a good 2 hours, so it helped to break up the day. I decided to go through Jessica’s hair and look for eggs. The stuff we used kills the eggs and we we used 4 of them, so surely none were alive, but it feels better to have all eggs out of her hair. She sat still playing her DS for about an hour while I searched her head. She is clean of all lice and eggs at this point, shew!



So last night I was getting onto myself for having rough day and began to remind myself of all I have to be thankful for. I have 4 wonderful children each with so much to offer. God has trusted us and given us 4 jewels to care for and to raise. It is with great responsibility that we have accepted parenthood. We have tried with Emi and Nate and will do so with Jess and Joaquin to find their strengths and to help them to identify their strenghts and to use their talents as God would have them to be used. To teach them to be good at heart and to yearn to help and show love to others. It is our job to help them realize their weaknesses and build on them and work with others to make themselves better people. It is our responsibility to teach them the importance of education and the ways of society. To help them in their walk with God and to be able to let their light shine in their everyday lives to those around them. To be proud of who God made them, to understand love and to enjoy being loved are all a part of what we must help them to learn. I am so thankful that God has given me great children willing and able to learn and grow and love with great depth. He has made our job easy as parents by giving us such shining jewels to work with. But even so I must pray daily that He helps me to help my children, to understand their hurts and to rejoice with them in their joy and accomplishments. Becoming a parent is so much more than just loving a child, it’s watching their moves and helping them to build on their personalities. It’s the job of a psychologist, a nurse, a counselor, a pastor, a friend, a teacher, a discipliner, and so much more. But most of all God gives you this special gift as a mother to love unconditionally. It happens naturally when you give birth, but I tell you, when God has ordained your children to be yours through adoption He gives you the same abundance of love and in unconditional form.

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life. But those who make their journey home across time & miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands." ~Kristi Larson I love this and know first hand how true it is. I’ve said it before, but I will say it again. I can’t imagine my life without Jessica and Joaquin just as I can’t imagine my life without my biological children Emilee and Nate.

Jessica and Joaquin are just as amazing as Emi and Nate, just as lively as all the Hollis’ boys, just as sweet and fun as Maddie and Annslee, and just as beautiful and sensitive as Bailey and Brandon. I know you have fallen in love with them as you have watched our journey unfold here in Colombia, but I tell you to bring Kleenex to the airport. When you meet them in person and get your hands on them you are going to melt. Just ask Tia Jeanie. I really think that part of my problem yesterday, other than being home sick, is to think about two great kid who have lived 5 and 7 years without a mother’s love and without someone to tell them how great they are and to help them to see within themselves just how much they have to offer to everyone around them. I absolutely can’t wait for you to meet them. At this point in the day, I think I am more excited about you all meeting them than I am excited to get back home. They are just that great!

Oh and Dad, warm up the motorcycle. They are already arguing over who gets to ride first. Actually, when I showed them the video of your house, I got the motorcycle too. As soon as they saw it they began to argue over who the motorcycle belonged to. Jessica said it was hers, but Joaquin was pretty sure it was his. I told them it was Abuelo Papa’s but that you would share.

Okay so I thought I would take the camera to lunch today and give you a photo sequence of what meal time is like with Joaquin. From the way I was sitting not all the pics are great, but it’s enough to give you an idea of what I deal with at meal time. He’s a hoot, I’m warning ya!

Ok, here we go...So first you have to swim to the table!

"Is this how you use this thing Mama?" Once he makes it to the table he has to find some way to be silly.

He loves knives. Normally as soon as we sit down I take his. Today I forgot, but don't worry, I got it from him before his head started to bleed.

Yes, he's upside down on the chair. At least 5 times each meal he drops something so he has to pick it up. This is one of his favorite meal time positions, then he asks for help to get up because he knows he is not allowed out of his seat.

"So if I don't use my hands and I take a bite, this will fall on the floor and I can go upside down again to pick it up."

In the middle of each meal he asks to give hugs and kisses. When he's done he laughs. He knows...who can resist a kiss from that face. Just another successful tactic to procrastinate and get out of taking a bite.

One of his favorites. "Maybe if I hide my face under the table cloth she won't make me eat.

At every meal the boy asks to go to the bathroom. We make him go just before we sit down, but it never fails, he asks to go again. I would say no, but the people around me would probably think I was awful not letting my kid go to the potty. So here is his "i really gotta go" face. So what do you think...does he have to go number one or number two?

There are bad guys at every meal too, so you have to keep your dukes up and be ready

A little creativity...who knew a fork could double as a straw

And of course it wouldn't be a complete meal experience if you don't have a spill. I guess that's what happens when you try to use a fork as a straw.

Finally Lucrecia came over to help me try to get him to eat, and this is what she got from him.

Lucrecia and I both gave up when he started pretending like he didn't have arms and ate his rice.

We always end our lunch with fruit, his favorite part. Joaquin loves papaya (not sure if i spelled that right), but it is the most horrible tasting fruit ever. We call it the sink cleaner fruit, I won't tell you what it really smells like.

And when he is all finished, he rubs his tummy and usually says Muy Gordo (very fat) then asks for permission to leave the table.


Now doesn't that make you wish you were here??? Smile

Emi, Nate and Tia Jeanie are home

One more post with just a few pics of the homecoming.

Just the 3 of us

Jeanie, Emi and Nate were picked up promptly at 6 this morning and made their flight here in Colombia and in Atlanta, so they are home. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and few puffy clouds. So they should have had a great view of the city when they took off. I cried when they left and had a pretty tough day. It took me some time to pull it together this morning to go to breakfast. I miss Emi and Nate already, not to mention Eric and the rest of the family.

Joaquin woke up and the first thing he said is “Donde mi todo familia” (where is everyone). I reminded him that Tia Jeanie took Emi and Nate on the airplane and that we would be going on Wednesday. He quickly ran to Jessica’s bed to see if she was still there, then he was fine and gave me a big hug. A little later he saw I was logging on the computer and put on the webcam, he came running over and asked to talk to Nate. Of course it made me cry.

I let them watch a TV this morning while I went through all of our paperwork to be sure it was all organized and together for Monday. There are a few things you can’t fill in until you get their passports, so I went through each line to be sure I had everything filled in. The kids were really good this morning while I was going through everything. Shew!

Here they are dancing on the bed this morning.


Then we took some time to look at the videos of home again. They really enjoyed seeing the animals and the house. We hadn’t showed them Mimi and Papa’s house yet, so I showed them today. They kept saying “Muy Grande!”, implying they had a big house.

Joaquin couldn't get his fingers working to show the I love you sign, but Jess has it down.


After lunch we took of to the grocery store to pick up a few items, munchies, for the plane ride. We don’t have much time in Atlanta, if we make our connection flight, so we may not get lunch. The munchies may be a need not a want. Jess and Joaquin were great and very well behaved the whole trip, which really wasn’t that long, but it reminds me of how far they have come.

When Emi and Nate were here every time we would go out and come back Emilee was in charge of ringing the buzzer for the front desk to let us in. Jessica was so excited when we got back from the store that she could be the one to ring the buzzer. She deliberated for an entire block if she should say the “Hollis Familia” or Jessica, Joaquin and Mama.” Joaquin was more into saying hello to everyone we passed, so he could have cared less that he wasn’t the one pushing the buzzer.

I was off and on in tears today, I’m not really sure why. I should really be enjoying my time with just Jess and Joaquin, which I am, but for some reason I am terribly lonely and just ready to come home. I feel horrible for being in tears, but there’s nothing I can do. I hope a good night sleep kicks me in the butt and I am better tomorrow.

I had a chance to talk to Eric for a good 45 minutes today and the kids were excellent. He was getting himself ready to go pick up Emi and Nate from the airport so it was nice to be a little part of home. He even asked me which shoes he should wear. I know he knew, but was trying to make me feel like I was back home and get me to stop crying. Whenever we talk to Eric in the evenings the kids hog the webcam until it’s time to get them to bed, so I haven’t really had a chance to talk to him since he’s been home. He showed me the flowers outside and around the house. It was nice to see what is in reach and after talking to him the tears finally stopped, at least until now. For some reason I am dreading going to bed. I don’t know what my problem is.

Anyway…

Our home is going to be so different when I get home with my little latinos. I absolutely can’t wait for our families to meet them in person, they are in for such a treat. I can only imagine how much they are going to thrive with all the love they have waiting on them in the states.

As soon as Lucrecia came to work today she came into see if I was doing okay. I love this woman. Then around 5 she came in to see if Jeanie, Emi and Nate had made it home okay. She saw I was talking to Eric on the webcam and I had her say hello. She was glad to hear they made their flights. She knew they were on stand by.

Joaquin and Jessica were so good today, we had a lot of fun together. I think they like all the attention and for Jessica she didn’t feel she had to compete with Emilee. I did let her do a few things today that normally Emi would do, like pour our water in our glasses at meal time. She thought she was big stuff.

Joaquin took a nap today, on accident. He fell asleep while watching TV this evening while I was on the webcam with Eric. Hopefully he goes to sleep tonight. But when he woke up he was calm and sleepy and sat on my lap for a long time. He never sits still long enough to sit on your lap for long, so I ate it up.


Okay, one last note. Jeanie, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Just for being here for that week was so nice and to be able to send Emi and Nate home with you was a relief. It’s great to have such a wonderful family willing be there when you need them and to be able to send off my kids with my sister without any worries at all is something not everyone can have. Jeanie thinks of my kids like they are her own. I appreciate you more than you know.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms reading. For those of you who this is your first Mother’s Day, Congratulations, Motherhood is a beautiful thing as you all have learned. To those of you who are mothers at heart and waiting for your referral, enjoy your day too because your lives will be turned upside down once you have your little one(s) with you. One of the best things here is watching the first time parents with their little one(s), they are beaming and loving every moment…your day is coming.

Jess wanted to take my pic saying I Love You. So here it is, Happy Mother's Day, I Love and Miss You All!


Oh and one last prayer request. My friend Peggy who has adopted Sofia is here in Colombia with me. She met Sofia the same day we met Jess and Joaquin, so she has been here for 4 weeks. She has still not recieved sentencia. Her court has a new judge and he still has not signed off on her paperwork. She is missing her two boys at home terribly, she has been away from them for 4 weeks. She is going to miss not only mother's day with them but also her son's 16th birthday. You can imagine how hard it has been for her. Please pray she gets word first thing Monday and can get home ASAP!!

Today marks week 4

I can’t believe we have been here for a month. In some ways it seems like a short 4 weeks, but in some ways it feels like forever. It’s very exciting to finally know we are going home next week and will start a new journey in Ohio.

Emilee woke up this morning and couldn’t wait to start packing. She was almost completely packed before breakfast. She and Nate can hardly wait to get on the plane tomorrow.

We spent part of the morning packing up Jeanie, Nate and Emi. We got the call that both birth certificates were in and David would be over to pick us up to take us to the passport office. When David came we all piled in his car and off we went with David and Andres. Andres drove and parked the car, while David worked his magic and interpreted for us. First of all wherever I got the info from that the passport office was closed on Fridays, it was wrong. The place was packed out. We went in and David went straight to the front of the line at the first desk and filled out the papers we needed to proceed. Then he sent us to a short line off to the side to pay. After that he marched us right to the front of the line in front of about 80 people and whispered, “I’m about to tick off about 70 or 80 people, but don’t worry.” He is so funny, but boy do they have connections. So instead of waiting for hours, we were in and out in a half hour. He went to the front of the line and then told the people behind us that “I” needed to go next, then he marched right to an open window and motioned for me to come with him. I was cracking up inside, he is a hoot. I’m sure the people who had been waiting forever were not too happy, but no one was going to questions David, he knew just what he was doing.

Jessica and Joaquin were very proud of their Colombian Passports!

On the way back to the house, David confirmed with Lucia a time to take us to the Embassy Doctor. He said Andres would pick us up at 2:30 and our appt would be at 3. Note to those of you getting ready to travel. Andres is always on time and David is always about 15 minutes late, but both are awesome!! So I got our paperwork together so we would be ready to go when Andres arrived. Emi and Nate stayed at Zuetana while we went to the doctor. We had to go in a taxi with Andres, and they wouldn’t take all of us. We were told it could take hours at the doctor but we were in and out in an hour. When we got there Andres checked us in and they called our name in less than 5 minutes. The doctor was a very nice gentleman, but the physical check took about 2 min per kid. It took him a lot longer to type all the info in the system and print our out paperwork. Jessica and Joaquin are not shy at all and the doc was getting a kick out of them. He told us we had our hands full. Jessica was interrogating him, our favorite question she asked him was “who is your boss?” He started laughing and said “Uncle Sam, but I probably shouldn’t say that.” It is so funny to watch Jessica and Joaquin, they are so inquisitive about everything. Every place we go is a new experience to them. The grocery store has been their biggest awe yet. I don’t think they had ever seen a scanner and cash register in person. So I digress…anyway, the doc was getting all the paperwork together and then asked me for a passport size photo. I totally missed that in our travel guide and left them in the safe at the house. CRAP! He was so very nice and said to just bring them back and he would finish everything for us. So we left, told Andres, who was also very kind. I apologized for him having to run us home and then back to the doc, but he was so sweet about it. Once we took the photos back, the doc finished the paperwork in less than 5 min and put it all in a sealed envelope that we have to give to the visa office, still sealed. I then paid him. The funny part about this was that when I paid him, he pulled out his wallet and put it right in. I wanted to laugh, but obviously I didn’t.

We made two trips to the doc and were still back home by 4:45, so not so shabby. I was really glad to have both the passport and the doctor visit complete in one day and while Jeanie was with me. It’s not that I couldn’t do it by myself, but it was very nice to have her with me. Just less stress over all.

So now on Monday I will go the VISA office to apply for the visas. They say you will be at the visa office 2 to 4 hours. So I will be packing a backpack for each of the kids to keep them busy. But, you can no longer get them the same day, you have to pick them up the following day. I will pick up the visas on Tuesday. So we will be returning to the states on Wed evening. If we make all our flights we will be in at 6:45 on Wed evening.

Jeanie and I wanted to make one more trip to Maku, so off we all went before dinner. This may have been the fastest day I’ve had here yet. We also stopped at Juan Valdez to see if they had gift cards. We wanted to get Lucrecia one. It was funny when Jeanie asked the workers at Juan Valdez about gift cards, they looked at her like she had 2 heads. As common as gift cards are in the US, it was odd they had never heard of such a thing.

After dinner Lucrecia came in our room to give Emi and Nate a hug and a kiss on the forehead, she started crying and was quite surprised at herself. She hugged Jeanie and had us all crying. She brought Jeanie and the kids some apples and bananas for the flight and long day ahead of them for their carry on luggage.

We finalized all the packing and Jeanie insisted she leave me with only two suitcases. Everything we have left here will fit pretty easily in 2 suitcases, but that leaves Jeanie with 6. She is worried about me with too much luggage and trying to hang onto 2 little latinos, who are not at all shy or afraid of strangers in the airports. We ended up being able to put one suitcase in another for her, and Emi and Nate will be a big help with luggage, but I still feel awful sending her with so much.

Joaquin and Jessica are really excited to be coming home and it’s nice to be able to finally tell them what day they will be flying. We can actually start counting down. They have been good but at times a little trying. I know they understand but yet there is so much unknown for them that you have to expect they will act up a little. But over all they are doing great!

Okay, well it’s late and we will be getting up early. Andres will be here at 6 to pick up part of the gang here. Thanks again for everyone’s love and prayers.

Oh and dad, you are going to love watching Jess and Joaquin eating hot wings (they probably will not want them hot…but). We have had chicken legs here a few times and that’s what we had tonight. I wish I had my camera on. They eat everything down to the bone. Tonight Jessica even started to eat the bone, I had to make her stop and hand it to me.

I didn’t have my camera on today at all, so these are the only pics we got, which we took this evening.

Are we there yet?

Not much going on today. It rained off and on all morning. Both Jessica and Joaquin tried to see what would happen if they don’t listen to Mami today on a few occasions, they just needed a reminder I guess, but it was nothing big.

Here is Joaquin in time out on his bed, this is his pouty face.


Last night when we put the kids to bed Jessica asked to sleep with Joaquin. We told her no, that she still needed to sleep in her own bed. I set her in her bed and covered her up. She began to cry, not a fit, just crying. I don’t even know if there were tears. Anyway she fussed for a good 30 to 45 minutes and then all of the sudden stopped and very calmly said, “Ya (ja), Listo.” Then rolled over and went right to sleep. An English translation would basically be, “I’m sick of hearing myself and will now go to sleep,” or “Ok, enough of that, I’m ready to go to sleep now.” Jeanie and I just looked at each other and started laughing. Just proof that she was crying just to cry, nothing wrong really, she just wanted/needed to cry.

I don’t have many pics today either. The kids had a pillow fight and a new family arrived today and met their son, so there was a small party to welcome them. Other than that, we watched movies and just hung out. This morning I lost one of my contacts, it popped right out of my eye, so I will be in glasses the rest of my time here. And, well, I think that’s it really. Sorry. I think my brain was tired today, not much processing and not a lot of creativity.



We had Carmen explain to Jessica and Joaquin that we are still waiting on a few papers in order to take them to the US. Also, that Jeanie, Nate and Emi would be flying home on Saturday and we would go home a few days later. The both understood and didn’t have any questions really. Joaquin put on a frown for a few minutes but quickly popped out of it and is fine.

Then around 8:30 tonight Lucia called. She said she had one of the birth certificates in hand and the other is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Friday). She said if she gets it by 10 as she expects, that she will call us and David will take us to the passport office to process the passports. But it has to all happen by noon or the passport office can’t help us until Monday. If all the cards fall right we will be home no later than Wednesday. There is a slight possibility of us coming home on Tuesday, but Lucia said to plan for Wed. We will just have to see how things go.

Emilee and Nate are so excited they are coming home. They should arrive at 6:45 pm Saturday in Cincinnati if they get on all the flights without any trouble. Then back to school on Monday. Emilee has dance on Tuesday, Nate has baseball practice Tuesday and Thursday and a baseball game on Wednesday. Coming home to “full speed ahead!”

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!

So good night from Bogota, just a few posts left from South America.

Sorry mom, Jeanie took a pic of me with the kids, but it was not so good. But here they are with Lucrecia.

News...Hope to be home NEXT Thursday

Well, I don’t know what to say, we are just sitting and waiting. The morning was long and frustrating. Every time the phone rang our ears perked up in hopes it was for us. I have the rest of the story at the end.

I think everyone is starting to get a bit board with the same old stuff here at the house, the same park, ice cream and my creativity has run out. I feel really sorry for the families who are not with CHI that stay 6 to 8 weeks with school age kids. We went to the park again today with the beach balls. We decided to go to the sand pit first to change it up a bit. Then the kids and Tia Jeanie played with the beach balls for a while which was fun. On the way back we stopped at Juan Valdez so Tia Jeanie and Nate could get a coffee. It’s been great to see the real personality of Jessica coming out, she is a stinker.






So here is our funny Joaquin story of the day. Joaquin loves to stick his hind end out at us and so today we were at the park and Jeanie and I were sitting on the ground next to each other watching the kids. Joaquin comes over, turns his back to us, sticks his hind end to us and just stands there for a few seconds. Then he turns his head towards us, puts up his finger and says, “Espere!” (in English, Wait!) Once he tooted he took off running and giggling.

Then Nate was pulling Joaquin like a dead body by his feet. All the sudden Joaquin’s shoes popped off and Nate didn’t realize it, so he kept walking and apparently Nate had a hold of Joaquin’s pants too because he pulled them right off of the little guy. Joaquin thought it was so funny he wanted Nate to do it again. I told you he wasn’t shy. Imagine my little latino in the park in his tighty whities. Luckily I had the camera on and got a photo. At least we have lots of laughs with all this waiting.


Yesterday Jessica was talking about my favorite words. She said Mami’s favorite is “Knock it off!” and “No”, hmmm, not sure what that says about me. It started because we were teasing her that her favorite words were ahora (now) and Ya, sounds like ja (not sure of the spelling, but it means whatever she wants it to mean, like now, no more, already etc) Joaquin loves to say “todo la familia” (all of the family). It’s funny to hear their accent when they say words in English , I love it.

Also, Jessica tells everyone that tries to speak to us in Spanish that we speak English. Jessica and Joaquin are not shy at all with strangers, so it’s kind of funny when she announces to the world that we don’t speak Spanish. Pretty soon the shoe will be on the other foot and it won’t be so funny to her.

Instead of saying shoot or something similar, Jessica and Joaquin say “ah shhh” (or at least that’s what it sounds like). And when Joaquin toots he says, “ oof” and waves his hand in front of his nose and laughs. So today Uncle Brian sent word to Nate to teach Joaquin how to do an arm pit fart. So THANK YOU Tio Brian, Joaquin is learning the skill and thinks its hilarious. Also, Brian they call you Tio Braujan (spelled as it sounds) and Jeanie won’t let us fix the pronunciation because she thinks it’s funny.

Well there’s nothing else to do but laugh and make the best of what we have.

About 5:45 we couldn’t stand it anymore and I decided to all Lucia. The news was not good. She still doesn’t have the birth certificates and is hoping to get them tomorrow afternoon. So the best case scenario at this point according to Lucia is to fly home next Thursday. Yep that’s right, one more week, which will put us here for 5 weeks. Yes, I cried, then pulled it together. I think we are going to send Jeanie back with Emilee and Nate this weekend, Saturday. Then Jess, Joaquin and I will be home as soon as we can.

So here is the breakdown of what has to happen for us to come home. First we wait on the birth certificates. Once we have them in hand we go to the passport office to apply for the passport. But the passport office is closed on Friday. We will apply for the passports one day and go and pick them up the next morning. Once we have the passport in hand we will go for the VISAs which we will apply for in the morning and pick up later the same afternoon. The following day we will go to the Embassy doctor. Then we are free to come home. The only flight out of here for us is 9:30 in the morning each day. So if we get the birth certificates on Thursday or Friday our days will look like the following.
Saturday - Send Jeanie, Emi and Nate off with kisses and hugs
Sunday - Spend Mother’s Day with Jess and Joaquin by ourselves
Monday - Apply for Passport
Tuesday - Pick up passport and apply for the VISAs. Go back in the afternoon and pick
up the VISAs.
Wednesday - Go to the Embassy Doctor
Thursday - Fly home

Jeanie is believing for a miracle tomorrow morning, but it’s all in God’s hands. I don’t know what His plan is, but He has it under control. I will just keep believing and will know we will be home soon. It was just tough having our hopes up for coming home this weekend and now knowing we will be here another week, well, that was a tough pill to swallow.

Don’t worry, we’re keeping our chins up. We’ll be home soon!

Just Another Day in Paradise

(Lots of pics at the end…smile)

The lice adventure last night was just that, an adventure. Jeanie started looking at the instructions on the box, which were in Spanish, and got on the computer to translate them so after dinner we could get started with treatment. Then at dinner we asked Lucrecia if we needed fresh pillows etc. After a few minute of us talking about how to treat poor Jessica, she said she would be in at 8:30 to come help us. Lice is so common here, it’s crazy. As it ended up Lucrecia actually worked on Jessica’s hair for us and explained everything. Jeanie and I worked really hard at trying to understand as much as we could. Jessica was as good as gold through the whole thing. Jeanie and I both noted that Jessica had obviously been through lice treatments more than once, she knew the routine.

Lucrecia told Jessica of the importance of her sleeping in one bed only and being careful to not pass the lice to us. Jessica totally understood. Jessica has not slept one night in her own bed. It was a fight at the beginning for various reasons. So she slept with Emilee at the beginning, then on the sofa, then with Joaquin. (Eric are you ready for this?) Last night she slept in her bed without a fuss and tonight too. Lucrecia had told her she needs to sleep in her bed because of the lice, then a few minutes before we went to bed Jeanie reminded her and Jessica seemed fine with it. So after we gave kisses and hugs she crawled right into her bed with no problem!!! I’m telling you we have a different child. Even just today a few things came up that normally would have been a fight, tears or a fit, and none of the above happened. She shot a few dirty looks and then got over “it.” I am so very proud of her! She is such a different kid than 2 weeks ago, or even a week ago. We will have to continue to check Jessica’s head, I did a comb through again this morning, just to check and will do so several times a day for the next little bit. We found another bug today so I treated her again tonight and will do so again the next two nights I think. She has been so good about it all. Tonight she was telling me what to do, as if she has done this a thousand times before. Poor thing.

On a brighter note, we woke up to beautiful sunshine! Finally! So after breakfast when Jessica and Jaoquin went to English with Carmen, Jeanie, Nate and Emi took off for Maku. Jeanie was sure to enjoy her shopping experience much more with out J and J anyway, it’s tough to keep their fingers off of everything. Nate probably should have stayed with me too, but he only broke on thing, they made Aunt Jeanie pay for it. But it gave Emi and Nate some time with Tia Jeanie. Tia Jeanie had a few words for Emi about sisterhood. Jeanie has been observing the sister relationship between Jessica and Emilee and analyzing just what’s going on. Both Jessica and Emilee like to be in charge and are used to being the oldest and the one with the responsibility. Even though Emi and Jessica get along great at times, they have great difficulty at other times. For Emilee it’s been really hard to fully understand the depth of Jessica and we have put a lot on her in our expectations of her being able to go above and beyond to help Jessica. As you can imagine it’s been tough for her, in a different country for weeks, becoming a young lady, and all the emotional pieces that just come along with adoption in general. Sometimes I am totally glad Emi and Nate were here for all of this, but at other times I think it would have been easier on them if we hadn’t brought them. However, it would have been more difficult for me. I guess that’s selfish. It’s been good for them to experience it all, but at the same time they have experienced a lot of “parenting” on our part for Jessica and Joaquin, which has not been easy for Emi and Nate. But again I have to say, I couldn’t be more proud of them, this has been a draining experience but yet so wonderful for them. They are true troopers and once we get home it will make it all a bit easier for Emi and Nate to handle. They will have their friends, their activities and everything familiar which will help off set some of the attention we have to give Jessica and Joaquin in their education, learning English and social behavior.

I was so anxious all day for a call from Lucia. I wanted to get out but was afraid she would call. We want the next few days to go quickly so we can travel by Friday. I don’t want to all try and get on a plane via standby on the weekend. But we’ll see. Lucia didn’t call today and it was silly for us to sit here all day, on a beautiful day, waiting for her to call. So we would go out for a bit and then come check in to see if we had any news, but nothing…all day.

After lunch we went to the park for a bit, then went to Crepes and Waffles. We were in and out all afternoon, so the afternoon went by quickly. It was so nice to enjoy some sunshine. Jeanie has been awesome to have here. She is helping me a lot with things with the kids. Just reiterating to the kids the importance of having each other as siblings, giving us stuff to laugh at and being a great help to me in general. I feel bad she is not with her girls but am loving having her here with us. Jessica and Joaquin have bonded to her already so well that I can’t wait to see them at home with the rest of the family. Joaquin and Nate had us rolling all day, they are so funny it makes our stomachs hurt.

I can’t resist telling this story about Joaquin from last night. It was a bit stressful dealing with lice, so he was a good stress relief. He came out of the shower with the towel around him and stood right in front of Tia Jeanie and said (in Spanish) “Now presenting, pause, ME!” and he drops his towel and starts cracking up. We doubled over in laugher, the boy doesn’t have a shy bone in his body. The staff here call him loco or Hurricane Joaquin, you can’t help but laugh at him, he’s a mess!

So our fingers are crossed to get the birth certificates tomorrow!

Tia Jeanie and Nate scrap'n over water balloons

A typical Joaquin hand gesture...thumbs up

Here is Nate with Joaquin on his shoulders, but Joaquin kept leaning over to give Nate kisses



Here is Joaquin checking out a bug on a tree. He has a "thing" with bugs, lights, napkins, and bananas...just to name a few


Another tree pic, they love to climb trees

Emi was sitting in the shade at the park and this dog came over to join her. Dogs, unleashed, are in the park, lots of them. They are always well groomed and well behaved.

Joaquin decorating Tia Jeanie with flowers

A little time in the sandbox

Cinco De Mayo

Well things were pretty calm on the streets in our section of Bogota today. I expected lots of people, music and parties, but everything is closed and the streets are empty. It’s rainy so maybe everyone is just inside, but I expected the city to look much different. I imagine downtown is different.

So this morning we decided to take the girls to get their hair fixed at the same place I had taken the boys last week. As soon as we walked in it seemed they were fighting for who got to do Emilee’s hair, they just love the redheads. The girls looked at some pics to decide just how they wanted their hair done. They also asked if the girls wanted their hair cut and Emi said no but Jessica said she wanted her bangs cut. We double checked to be sure we all were understanding right and sure enough she wanted them cut. I was kind of glad. As they started to do Jessica’s hair they told me she had lice. We noticed she had been scratching but she doesn’t rinse her hair well so we thought it was the shampoo. I had checked her head a few times looking for the white eggs, but never saw anything. Apparently it’s not too bad, but she has started with lice. They were still willing to do her hair, which I was surprised. As soon as we left we went to the drug store to buy some treatments. I bought enough for all of us. Lice is so common here so every drug store has treatment kits that are very potent and you only need to apply it once. We came back and told the staff at Zuetana so they could be aware and change our sheets and pillows etc. We are waiting until tonight to treat our heads, we hated to take the girls hair down so soon after just having it done. Aunt Jeanie treated the girls to the hair adventure. It was only about 12 for each of them, not bad at all.




The sparkles are glitter not lice...smile



We came back and Tia Jeanie played puzzles with Joaquin and Nate while Jessica and Emilee played on the computer before we ate lunch. Lunch was pretty good and so was dinner last night. Jeanie made a comment that so far so good as far as the food goes here at Zuetana. Nate’s told her “You just have beginner’s luck!”



It’s sprinkled off and on all morning so we grabbed some umbrellas and took off to make a few stops and get out of the house for a bit. Any little bit out helps to break up the long afternoons here. So we stopped at the Juan Valdez shop just around the corner, but it was closed, I didn’t even think about the possibility of Juan Valdez being closed. Then we walked down to Maku and it too was closed. Shucks! We definitely didn’t want to go back to the casa yet so we decided to walk to a different Juan Valdez to see if it was open. Luckily it was, so we got a few drinks and looked around the shop to kill some time. We then took the long way home just to stay out and get some fresh air. Almost everything was closed so there wasn’t much else to do. Plus they cleaned the carpets in the main house at Zuetana so we had to keep the kids in out all afternoon. It’s tough to keep the kids in our casa for any length of time, so when we got back we put a movie in. to help pacify them.



We saw a lady who had built herself a shelter on her cart out of cardboard, and a little boy begging for money as well as a family outside of a store with her kids begging, as well as the garbage pickers. It breaks your heart, especially to know that Jessica and Joaquin came from that very situation. Every time I see kids on the streets I envision Jessica and Joaquin at a young age doing the same thing, it kills me.

Poor Jeanie has had to deal with the rainy weather here. It’s been more rainy the last few days than it has been our whole trip. She’s been a good sport, she’s just glad to be here with the kids and I, but I want her to be able to experience some of the life and culture here.

Jessica has been great for the last 3 days, no being ugly, no fussing, no whining. So she earned her DS and has had fun figuring it out.

I am sending this post early because tonight is going to be hectic treating everyone’s heads before they get a shower and trying to visit everyone on the webcams.

Love to all of you! Pray we get the birth certificates back tmw so we can get things going and get home!!! Today marks day 25.


These were balloons on sticks that Joaquin put together to make weights. So here he is lifting his balloon weights.

Day 1 with Tia Jeanie

Aunt Jeanie is here the kids are in love with her! She was here by 10 last night. I wasn’t expecting her until about 10:30 or so we were really excited to see her earlier than we thought. Jessica and Joaquin were already asleep and Emi and I were waiting in the lobby. Jeanie and I had talked about how Emi and Nate would be ready for a piece of home by now. I thought Nate would tackle her with a hug he would be so excited, but actually when she walked through the gate it was me who snuck the first hug from home. Emi and Nate got a little wound up and showed Tia Jeanie around the place.

We hit the sack and caught so me zzzzzs. So this morning Jessica woke up first and it took about 1 minute for her to snuggle up to Tia Jeanie with hugs and kisses, she has been by Jeanie’s side ever since. Joaquin woke up not long after and he too warmed right up to Tia Jeanie. They were so cute this morning. I wasn’t sure if they would be shy at first or just plain excited. You would have thought they had known Tia Jeanie forever. But, to the family, beware, Jeanie already has them brainwashed, they call her their favorite.

Anyone at home feeling a little jealous?


I heard it start raining about 4 am and was hoping it would stop by the time we got up. It did slow up and even stop a bit after breakfast so we called Peggy and Sofia to see if they wanted to go to the market. We got the strollers together and off we went. Just about the time we got to the market it started raining again. We got an ice cream, I know, big surprise, and stood under some shelter until it slowed up again.

So we took back off and again it started to rain. We didn’t bring enough umbrellas so Jeanie and I got soaked, really soaked. Peggy, Emi and Sofia tried to stay some dry by standing under a small tent. Jeanie and I stuck it out, it was the only chance Jeanie would have go to the market. The kids were such great sports, because we were very wet and cold. We decided to get a taxi to go back, because I don’t think we would have made it otherwise, the rain just wouldn’t quit. Peggy, Sofia, Emi and Nate went in one, back to Peggy’s Zuetana. Jeanie, Jessica, Joaquin and myself found another taxi and went to our place. We changed clothes, dried our hair, and then went over to get Emi and Nate from Peggy. Peggy then treated us to pizza from Dominos. Thank you Peggy, you are so sweet!!

By the time we got back, around 3, I would say Aunt Jeanie had been given at least about 20 hugs and kisses, so look out family, I told you they were affectionate. They obviously feel the love and are thriving on it. Wait till they get with the rest of you…oh boy! Joaquin showed his funny self to Jeanie today, and Jessica was just as sweet as could be. Jeanie said she felt like she was well prepared in knowing what to expect in who they were, so I feel good that you all will also be well prepared when you meet them. They are doing great and have been just as good as can be.

Aunt Jeanie brought some more videos, so Emi and Nate spent some quiet time with a movie in English up in the loft while Jeanie and I caught up on email and Jessica and Joaquin watches Spirit and Kids Spanish music videos, from Tia Jeanie. Also a lady Jeanie works with sent the kids each a gift. All of them were so excited. Joaquin had to carry his truck with him today and Jessica put on her necklace to match her outfit.



The weather here is high fifties to the upper sixties. Jessica and Joaquin always think they need a jacket but the rest of us are okay in short sleeves. Native Colombians walk around on cloudy days in heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves. They think babies need to be completely bundled up and will tell you your baby is cold if they aren’t totally covered. We just wear short sleeves and take a jacket on cloudy days.

Tonight we were putting the kids to sleep and Jeanie was just ending a webcam call with Matt and Maddie. Joaquin was turning on and off the lights. So when Jeanie got off of the computer, Jessica was trying to tell us something that neither of us understood. When we don’t understand, Jessica breaks into Charades. So we told her we didn’t understand and she went right into Charades. It took us a minute but then Jeanie and I looked at each other and said at the same time, “Oh Tia Jeanie needs the light on to talk on the webcam!” And Jessica got a big smile and said “Si, Si”, like she knew what we were saying in English. Another good laugh.

Oh and Jessica is fascinated with Jeanie’s long hair. And we got to see the dogs on the webcam tonight. I can’t wait to get my hands on them, they were happy to be home. Eric said the dogs kept going to the kids rooms looking for them.

We are all exhausted tonight, I think it’s the gloomy weather the last few days, so off to sleep we go. I think Jeanie is exhausted more from laughing at the kids than from the traveling. It was a good day, and very nice to have Tia Jeanie with us. Tia Jeanie makes us laugh as much as the kids, so it was nice to have a fresh perspective and a reminder to us to enjoy the little things.

Our Last Saturday in Bogota?

Last night I was running a slight fever again and Sweet Lucrecia was sure to take care of me. She saw at dinner that I must not have been feeling well and questioned what was wrong. I was coughing some and so it wasn´t so hard to figure out. Then just about time to go to be we hear a knock on the door. It was sweet Lucrecia with a hot cup of something for me. At dinner she ordered me to zip up my sweater to keep my chest warm. Then she told me what the concoction was she made, I have no idea what it was, and told me to drink it hot just before I laid down to sleep. Then she corded me to wear socks to bed and cover everything but my face and let myself sweat. She went on for a minute or two, it was so sweet. So just before I laid down I drank down what she gave me, put some socks on and started to lay down. Then Jessica comes over to be sure I have followed all orders from Lucrecia. She checked to see if I had socks on and retold me what Lucrecia had said. It was so very cute. Sure enough this morning I was feeling better. My cough is less but productive, Thanks Lucrecia!

When the kids woke up this morning they were all so excited. Joaquin went straight to the picture book and said Tia Jeanie and pointed to her picture. He asked me if she was on the plane. Then Jessica counted the days we have with Tia Jeanie here. When she gets to Thursday she crosses her fingers and then whispers Friday or won´t say Friday at all. We told them we hope to fly home Friday, but she has it in her mind that we may have a change for Thursday.

We just played around this morning. Jessica became a Doctor and checked us all out.

Then we played restaurant. Jessica was the server and Emi was the cook. She came around and took all of our orders then turned them into Emi. The boys ordered pizza, so Jessica played like we were at Archie's Pizza and went thru the motions with the boys. It was nice to see them all play together and have a good time.

I told them we could have movie time in the upstairs room on the big TV. So we watched Lilo and Stitch, and everyone was still and quiet for the whole movie. Nice break for Mami!
Emi and Joaquin intent on the movie


Then Emi hung some signs around the room to welcome Tia Jeanie and then we went to lunch.

At lunch Joaquin decided to test the waters a bit. I knew he would when Eric left and today was the day. It wasn’t major, but he knows mom is serious and he has to listen to me. We had food that he has had before, but he refused to eat and cried because the Senora gave him soup. Then he put a few pieces of meat in his mouth and spit it on the floor. So I asked him to pick it up and he refused. I told him he would have 5 min on his bed if he didn’t pick it up. He still refused, after several times of trying to get him to oblige. He still refused to eat and so I told him he would not be able to play the whole time at the park if he didn’t eat. He gave me this infamous shoulder shrug of his to say he didn’t care. So needless to say he did his time on his bed, then we loaded up to the park and he had to sit for the first 15 minutes, which turned into 20 because he wouldn’t stop crying and had to stop crying before he could play. Once she stopped I gave him a kiss and asked him if he understood. He said, “yes, I have to listen to mami.” Then we had a great time at the park, all the kids played well together, better than I have seen yet.

Each time Jess would see an airplane this afternoon she stopped in her tracks and asked about Tia Jeanie. After the park we went back to Mimo’s for ice cream and some play time in the balls and on the slides. Of course Joaquin was starved and wolfed his down. They had a great time playing. It was just about time to go and Joaquin and Jessica went down a tube that goes to the bottom floor that leads to outside. I was standing at the loft where the larger play are is and was watching them. Jessica went all the way down and straight to the steps to come back up stairs. Joaquin put on his latino strut and started out the door. I called his name and he didn’t turn around. He was going slow, just being silly, he didn’t understand the danger. After Jessica and I called his name a few times, I flew down the steps and snatched him up. I called for all the kids to get their shoes on, it was time to go anyway. Jessica said “Ah Joaquin, you need to listen to Mami!” Joaquin didn’t fuss much, he knew.

On the way out of Mimo’s we ran into another Chi family. I hadn’t seen their baby yet so I was great to see them for a few min. Too bad I have a cough, I didn’t want to get too close to her.

We headed home and realized we had been out for over 3 hours. A nice afternoon out of the house.






Also, Lucia called and said she was heading up a trip to the park we had already been to. I told her we would have to pass, because we had already been there. Plus I think Jeanie will like going to the market anyway.

Jeanie made all of her flights on stand by and is flying first class to Bogota! What a treat!

This evening should be pretty uneventful, just dinner, baths, put the little ones to bed and Emi, Nate and I will wait up to see Tia Jeanie. She is to land around 8:45 so I expect to see her some time between 10 or 11. Lucia just called to double check the time for Andres to pick her up.

Tomorrow if the weather is good we are off to the market.
From Bogota…we are really counting down now!

3 Weeks and Counting Down

Happy Friday, hopefully just one week left for us!

All is well here, just a normal day. Jessica and Joaquin had English this morning and were so excited to go. They go upstairs which is a loft kind of place, so I stood down in the open lobby area for a minute so I could hear them. They asked a lot of questions and it sounded like Jessica was a bossy tail with Joaquin. My feeling was right, because when it was over, Carmen said that next week she would rather have them separately because Jessica just wants to tell Joaquin what to do the whole time. She said they were doing well but have trouble sitting still and listening. This was good and bad news. Good in that I know it’s not just us, but bad that they need to learn this skill. Carmen said, I don’t want to be “rude” and tell them to stay seated. See what I mean about no discipline here. She thinks it’s rude to tell them to sit down. Ohhhh, they are in for a rude awakening when they get to the US. I have a time trying to keep Joaquin seated at meal time, but Jessica caught on pretty quickly.




A family from the other house came over today for their English lesson too. The girl and her mom fly out tmw, they are from Columbus. So when the lesson was over we got together for a few min to say good bye and Carmen interpreted some questions the little girl had for her mom about the flight and leaving etc. Jessica sat very intently, listening to every word that was being said. I think it was good for her and might have answered some of her own questions.

Everyone is excited about Aunt Jeanie coming tmw night. I told Jessica and Joaquin that she would arrive after they went to sleep and she would be here in the morning when they woke up. So they wanted to know just where she would sleep and pulled out our picture book to show me her picture. And Uncle Brian’s pic, but the say Brian really weird, it’s funny. They really enjoy looking at the book having me repeat everyone’s names. They wanted me to cut out a pic of them to add to the book. Something I haven’t thought about. I told them all our pics are on the computer and I don’t have one on paper of them. Then they remembered we had passport and visa pics of them in the safe and wanted to use those. I told them we needed those pics for them to be able to go to the US, so they dropped that idea real quick.

After lunch we took off for Crepes and Waffles to meet a few families from the other house. The little girl who is leaving with her mom wanted Todo Taco for lunch and then Crepes and Waffles one more time, so Peggy called to see if I wanted to go with them. Thanks Peggy! It was nice to see some friendly faces and of course to get some incredible ice cream. I forgot my camera…shucks. In my ice cream I got a little paper umbrella and gave it to Joaquin, because Jessica’s ice cream had one too. On the way back it started to rain and Joaquin asked Nate to pick him up so they could use his little umbrella. They were being silly, I wish I had my camera.

I was so proud of Jessica and Joaquin. The are starting to understand how to behave in a restaurant. They knew the routine today and we so well behaved you would have thought they had been with us forever. When we left the house they both grabbed my hand, knowing the routine. At the restaurant as I was paying, they told the waitress they were going to the US in an airplane in just one week. She looked at me and said, she knew it had to be adoption with our red hair, we didn’t look anything alike. So we giggled. Then on the way back Joaquin was willing to hold Nate’s hand. I had planned to go to the park, in spite of the mud, but it was raining a little so we came back “home.” One the way back, as we were crossing the street, almost completely across, a car started to turn toward us. So fearless Joaquin puts his hand up to the car and shouts (in Spanish) “Stop Senor!” Nate was dragging him the rest of the way across the road. Oh boy, they keep me laughing. I turned to look at the guy in the car and even he was laughing.

Jessica tested the waters just a little today, just to see if I would enforce rules like daddy did, but nothing major at all. I am amazed at how far they have come. I know I have said it before, but it’s so true. If you could see first hand at how they were 3 weeks ago and see them now, they are really different kids. I can’t even fathom what they have been through and how they have coped for all this time and then to be put in a family and to learn the ins and outs of how a family works and to figure out what is okay and what is not…I really can’t fathom it all. Jessica called me Senora a few times yesterday on accident and caught herself, then called Carmen Mami today on accident. She catches herself so I know she is learning, but I feel sorry for her really, it’s hard to figure out. So what is a Mami anyway? She has no idea, but I think she is starting to catch on. Joaquin is doing better now with calling only me Mami, I haven’t heard him call anyone Mami for a long time now.

A few tidbits about Jessica, Joaquin, Emi and Nate…
Joaquin does not like to be woke up at all, he like to wake up on his own. Jess gets right up and gets to business. Jessica, if you can get her to try something (food) she generally likes it. Joaquin could live on fruit I think, especially bananas and apples, but loves all kinds of melon too. He will eat a banana an hour if we would let him. Jessica loves television, and Joaquin seems to love music. Jessica likes her clothes comfy and doesn’t care if they match. Joaquin loves to use his imagination and Jessica likes games. Jessica is going to be a major Daddy’s girl and is going to give Emi a run for her money. Joaquin is going to look up to Nate and want to be just like him, they will be great buds at some point. Both are smart and like to learn and both have a true beauty about them when they let it shine. Oh and they love to aggravate each other. I most certainly can’t imagine our lives with out them after only 3 weeks. It’s amazing to me how that happens. Emi is doing well but has moments where she doesn’t understand why Jessica doesn’t have to follow all the rules like she and Nate. We’ve tried to explain we can’t fix everything at once, it takes time, but I don’t think she gets it totally. You know she had this fantasy idea of being a big sister, she had no idea, no matter how much we thought we prepped her, how difficult it would be at first. But it’s not even been a month. Nate takes everything as a grain of salt and just minds himself. He is a very good boy and does as he is asked without moaning. Emi does too, she just gets aggravated if things don’t always go well. They will both be glad to get home and on their own turf, but have been real troopers here. I couldn’t be any prouder of both of them, and I mean that 100%!

Why am I thankful today? Because our flight to Atlanta is only 4 hours and 45 minutes, then just 1 hour and 45 min to Cinti. The Germans left and their flight is 11 hours to Spain then another 2 to Germany…Oh I am glad I live in the US. Joaquin had to give his little friend a kiss and then asked if he could give his motorcycle to Diaro for the plane ride. Then when the taxi came Jaoquin wanted to help them with their bags and had to stand on the sidewalk to see them off. I laid my hand on Jaoquin’s chest when I was talking to him while they were loading up and his heart was pumping out of his chest. His friend gave him one big hug just before he got in the taxi and we had to stand there until the taxi was completely out of sight. I can only imagine what was going through Joaquin’s little mind.

Thanks Margie for the idea about making some welcoming things for Aunt Jeanie. Emi got board this afternoon and took you up on your idea. A little paper and some crayons can go a long way. You have some great comments for us and I love the yearbook idea. you’re the best!!

Well that’s about it for today. Thanks for the emails letting me know mom is okay.

We plan to hit the park tmw for a while, hopefully the weather is okay, if not we may get ice cream at McDonalds so the kids can play in play land or something. It’s nice to even get out for an hour or so, just to break up the day a bit. Or maybe if it rains we will make water balloons and get real wet, just for fun.



Sorry, this is it for photots. We only took 5 pics today...oops

Another Day in Bogota

So today starts a new wait, the wait for the birth certificates to be changed and sent back to Bogota so we can complete the rest of the process and get home. Nate and I had a bit of homesickness last night. I think just knowing Eric was home in our own bed got us thinking. I really haven’t longed to be home to much really, I think we have been to focused here to think about it. But knowing Eric was home got our brains churning. No tears last night, we were just kind of jealous he was home. However, I can’t say there weren’t any tears today, from me. Maybe it was homesickness, maybe it’s just that you have to let the stress out some times, but all is back to normal now. Feeling much better now that we are settling in for the night. Sorry mom for crying on you the day before surgery and to Eric on his first day home. Just a small melt down, but really, I am all better now.

Joaquin got his DS lite today and thinks it's very cool. The DS was the gift we promised if they were well behaved for Emi yesterday. The afternoon was hectic, but we promised Joaquin just after breakfast today that he could have it. Once again Jessica knew exactly what was going on, mostly because Joaquin reminded her she was muy mal (very bad) yesterday for Emi. She didn’t even make a fuss about it. We also told her that if she could be well behaved today and nice to her siblings that tmw morning she could have her regalo (gift). Then we played bingo and worked on colors, animals and shapes. It’s a leap frog game that’s really cool. We hadn't pulled that game out yet, so it was new for them, they really liked it.




Nate has been begging for a haircut, and I felt very confident in being able to go out with them. The place is just a block or two away. Once I told Joaquin we were going to get Nate's hair cut, he wanted his done too. The place down the road is awesome, they have a whole separate place for kids, it's unreal. Someone should steal this idea for the states, it was awesome. The boys thought they looked really hot, and had green hairspray in their hair. Joaquin's is kind of spiked. I didn't take enough money for Emi and Jess but they could have gotten their hair braided and fixed, I may take the girls tomorrow. Take a look at these photos, I know so many hair stylists, one of you should really think about this, it was only 8 bucks for each of the boys!




I love this pic!



It rained all afternoon with a few rumbles of thunder so we were stuck inside. Just playing around and getting our daily Shrek fix, ok not a fix for all of us but for Jess and Joaquin. It did stop for just a bit, long enough to get on the webcam out on the patio. But at dinner it started pouring it was a real hard peaceful rain, I loved it.

This is how Jessica and Joaquin like to play memory. The coffee table has a glass top, so Joaquin looks from underneath to show us where the matches are

Nate's last day with his friend Jan (Yan)

Our last day with Diro, we did lots of puzzles

Emi and Jessica being creative on a rainy afternoon. The spelled their names with pipe cleaners

I promise, Joaquin did this to himself


Sweet Lucricia saw I was not having a very good day emotionally and made us a very special yummy treat a little before dinner. She then got onto the kiddos and told them all they better be good and give me lots of hugs and kisses. She even gave me several hugs and would just come check on me from time to time. I love her.

Okay, now for a few odds and ends.

Mom, Jessica does have beautiful hair. She is trying to let her bangs grow out and wants it long, so it’s kind of a mess because she always wants in in a ponytail but her bangs don’t go back, but it is so pretty when she leaves it down. Also, Mom, we will be praying for your surgery tmw and a quick recovery. And thank you to you, Aunt Jo and Uncle Bud for going after Eric at the airport in the middle of the night.

The Germans leave tomorrow afternoon so we are anxious to see what family will be coming. I hope it’s not another French family, they have been kind of rude to our kids and are not friendly at all. They only talk to each other and make it known they don’t really like us or the Germans. Oh well.

And last but certainly not least a note from Eric:
I wanted to take a minute an say some very important “Thank you” ‘s today. I will not remember everyone on this post, so please forgive me.
Thank you…
· For Missy Bitner for the tickets to fly and keeping everyone informed as I was boarding the airplanes.

· For Pam (Mom) Aunt Jo and Uncle Bud for waiting for me as a welcoming committee at the Airport at 1:00 in the morning, and taking me home.

· For Uncle Matt, Uncle Brian and all the others who have been mowing and weed eating.

· For Grandpa Ross, Donn (Dad), Pam (Mom), Uncle Matt and all the Balzer’s who re-worked the sidewalks, the mulch, the bushes, the flowers, and the statues of children and the birdbath.

· For Uncle Matt and Pam (Mom) for keeping an eye on the house each day, bringing in the mail, feeding the fish and cat, and watering the plants.

· For Pam (Mom) and Grandpa Ross for the great job on the cleaning the house and rearranging the Florida Room. It looks great!

· For Uncle Bud and Aunt Jo for watching our dogs at there house (and letting our dogs swim in their pool.)

· For Colleen Lutts who allowed me to rearrange part of her day today, so I could get a haircut right after Uncle Matt and I went out for American Fast Food at Lunch today. Thank you Colleen, You are the BEST HAIRSTYLIST… and even though it is one day late… “Happy National HairStylist Day!”

· For all friends and family who have prayed, talked, emailed, commented on the blog, called, and encouraged in so many ways. You are all the best…

And I thank God for each and everyone of you,
With much Love,
Eric