So Much to Tell You

(This is Chris)
The last few months have been a busy with so many activities and first experiences for all of us. I’ll try to summarize some what we have been up to.

We have been able to see the girls personalities come out a little more. Vanesa is excellent at organizing. Manu loves to clean things and help mommy clean. Angee is the goofiest little lady. Often she emphasizes things by making silly faces or using a different voice. She is the most animated.

Vanesa started school on March 18th. She is in the 1st grade and has a load of excellent teachers. Four weeks after starting school, she began reading to me -small books, but what an accomplishment in such a short time. She really likes school, especially P.E. She is getting to be pretty proficient in her addition and subtraction of numbers 0 – 20. She has had a couple really frustrating days, but she always pulls through. She really likes school. Vani started summer school on June 1st. She keeps asking when the last day of school is. She had a couple days off before summer school and it was nice to have her home.

Vanesa was the first one to begin really speaking English. Within her first week of school she would come home and tell me full sentences that only consisted of the words, “Mommy, this one and that one, but then this one.” She pretty much uses only English now. She has never stopped being curious and has excellent retention when you explain or define something.

We moved Vanesa into her own room today. I wonder if she will make it through the night.

(Also, Vanesa celebrated her 7th birthday in March.)

Manu immediately took over the big sister role when Vanesa started school. She really upped the bossiness, but that has died off since she and Ang are best friends. I think Manu has changed the most. She is not the same little girl she was in January. She has more confidence; she reaches out more for attention and gives affection more easily. She is still a giggle box and loves to be tickled under her chin. She has been doing home schooling with me since we’ve been home. She knows her colors and how to count. She is working on numbers and letters. She was the last one to really start speaking English, but she is doing well with it. She is the most tender-hearted little thing. She is the best at sharing. She is our girlie girl – certainly 100% girl!

Manu and I get to spend a lot of time one-on-one while Angee naps. Sometimes we just rock in the rocking chair or she helps me with laundry. She always wants to help.

Quite a while ago, Manu said she wanted to be called Isabelle (her middle name). We haven’t quite converted to that, so in the mean time she is often called “Manu Belle.”

Angee has really been growing lately in knowledge and height. She loves to play outside. She adores our dog Bailey and always gives her kisses. Angee really loves animals. She kisses the ones in her books and her stuffed animals too.

It is amazing how the 2 year old mind works. Sometimes she just says or does stuff that is so funny I’ll laugh about it for days. For example, the first couple of times we stopped at QuikTrip it was just to use the bathroom. One time I stopped to grab a drink and when we pulled in she said, “Mommy, I don’t need to chi chi. I don’t need to chi chi.” It cracked me up that she associated QuikTrip with using the bathroom.

Ang was the second one to start speaking English. I knew she had turned the corner when, on Mother’s Day, she said in English “Mommy, this shirt on me is big.” What a big girl.

Mother’s Day was a monumental day, not because it was my first Mother’s Day, but because we had the girls blessed that day. I had thought about that every time we were at church for the last 4 years now. It was an emotional day because so many desires were being fulfilled that day, but Ang managed to lighten my sentimental mood… After church, I was asking Angee if she would please stop growing because I wanted her and her sisters to just stay this way forever. She was just giving me a blank stare and I was wondering what she was thinking when she broke my concentration by breaking wind, then she giggled and ran down the hall.

I used to always want 5 children, but I feel content. I can see us living the rest of our lives with our 3 wonderful blessings. It is nice to have peace and contentment.

Leaving on a jet plane……!

We are leaving for home on Friday morning!! Tomorrow we pick up the visas from the US Embassy and we are clear for takeoff. I will put the flight info at the bottom of this post.
We invite all family and friends to come to the airport to greet us! We would love to see you and have you meet the new additions to the family! Vanesa is getting really excited to meet everyone and see her new home! Manuela and Angee aren’t quite old enough to really understand so they will figure it out as it happens!
Today we went to the US Embassy to turn in all the Visa application paperwork. On the way there, poor little Manu got car sick all over her shirt. We also felt bad because we were in David’s (Lucia’s son) car. He has a nice SUV, now a little bit more used! This afternoon we went to the mall to but the girls a few more outfits. We didn’t have enough long sleeve stuff for this climate. After we got back from the mall we let the girls play on the playground here at the hotel. It was good for them to run around and stretch their legs a bit.
I will get some more pictures on the flickr site tomorrow!! I know it’s been a while.

Here is the flight info:
Flight Itinerary
Flight #1 Bogota to Atlanta
Delta Flight # 310
Depart: 10:30 am EST
Arrive: 3:36pm EST

Flight #2 Atlanta to Kansas City
Delta Flight #1587
Depart: 6:46pm EST
Arrive: KCI 8:00pm CST

We Made it to Bogota!

We flew into Bogota last night. It was a lot of fun to fly with the girls. Paul and Vanesa sat together and I sat with Angee and Manu. Paul said Vani did really well. Angee would have little spurts of being really excited. She would cover her mouth and squeal and smile really big – it was sooooo cute! Manu did really well too. She loved playing with the buttons on the entertainment thing. She kept hitting the button for the stewardess. After a couple times, they told me there was a button on the remote – I kept a close eye for it after that.

We are staying at a place called “Hotel Paris.” It seems to be pretty nice. It is much more kid-friendly than the B&B – not better, just more kid-friendly. The girls each have their own bed and they helped me make them up this morning. This is good practice for when we get home.

We like that the food is served family style here; now we are able to fill the girls’ plates with food we want them to eat. In the past, the plates of food were served to each individual so it was hard to get the girls to eat meat if there was something else they liked better. Today Angee actually ate meat! We told her she had to eat the chicken before she could have fries and the chicken was gone pretty quickly. Manu has been the brave one when it comes to meal times. She is good about at least trying something. Usually she finds that she likes it and sometimes, okay rarely, this encourages the others to try it too.

There are several American families staying here. They all seem to have had a bit of hard time with something or another in the process. One family has been here over 5 weeks and their adoption isn’t even final yet. And their new daughter has been so sick that she has had to be on oxygen. I’m so thankful that we used Children’s Hope and that they have not dropped the ball on anything. I’m also thankful that we had to opportunity to be immersed in Spanish and the Colombian culture. In Pereira there were only a couple people that we could talk to because we knew just enough Spanish and they knew just enough English. Most of the time it was Spanglish, but we were able to communicate well with a German family on their limited English (they have 2 wonderful, adorable children).

Today we got photos for the girls’ visas. They turned out way better than the ones on their passports and we didn’t have to bribe Angee with a sucker :-) The girls were not allowed to wear earrings for the pictures. They were very nervous about me taking them out, but they did fine with it. We were hoping to find a way to take them out since they are so young and this situation provided the perfect opportunity. They have not asked for them back and I doubt they will after how squeamish they were to have them out.

We also had our doctor’s visit with the embassy doctor today. It went very smoothly and fast. He said the girls appear normal. He and his wife have also adopted too. We walked out and while we were waiting for our ride, someone came down and said we needed to go back in to the office. When we got up there they told us we forgot to pay. Three weeks ago I knew we were supposed to pay, but I forgot today (we have paid for a lot of services up front).

We also went to a huge store that has stuff made solely in Colombia. We were able to pick up some great souvenirs for the girls and people at home. I think the girls got tired of us asking them to stop touching stuff, but they did a good job of minding when they were asked.

Tonight Vanesa and I had a very good time talking (the other girls were already asleep and Paul was talking to one of the other families here). We talked about our next trip on the airplane and coming to the U.S. She is excited to meet all of her new family and friends. We went through the list of names and their relation to her. She told me that a baby from the orphanage, Stephanie, is here in the U.S. She is excited about the snow too.

Tomorrow we will go to the embassy to apply for the girls’ visas. We are hoping to fly home on Friday.

Other stuff:

Jose’s son, Juan, has been very sick. He went into the hospital on Saturday and as of yesterday he was still there with a high temperature and still throwing up. He could really use some prayers. He just turned 1 on January 9th.

This trip to Bogota has made a much better impression on us than the first night we were here (3 weeks ago we stayed one night on our way to Pereira). Today was a beautiful day. The weather was a lot like it is in KC in the autumn. The girls will have experienced all 4 seasons in a matter of about 8 weeks – Summer in Pereira, Autumn in Bogota, Winter in KC and shortly after that it will be Spring in KC.

Angee seems to really like dogs until she comes across one. Every time she sees one, she points and says, “bow wow!” The girls also point them out for her and she gets excited. There are 2 golden retrievers here that are so calm, but she is afraid to get too close. We have to pick her up when we go past them.

This hotel has play equipment outside and a playroom. The girls actually got to run around and scream. I was excited for them.

Bogota Bound!

Just thought I would give a small update. We are flying to Bogota this afternoon! Our flight leaves at 6:35pm. We got the girls passports this morning. It was incredibly fast! We got there at 8am and had their passports in hand by 10am! So the next post will be at our new hotel.

The Fiesta and more swimming

Yesterday Rosario threw a party for us since we are all officially Sinclairs. It was a really nice party. I wish there would have been one sooner so that all of the kids could have gotten to know each other from the start of the trip instead of the end. In the B&B there is one family from Germany adopting a boy and girl, a German mom adopting a boy, a family from Denmark adopting a girl, a family from Spain adopting a boy and girl. It’s a full house J

Yesterday Paul also got the corrected birth certificates for the girls. He was gone from 7 -5pm. The girls and I went to the mall for a little, then to Exito to get a belt for Vani (she is so skinny that most of her pants don’t stay up). In the afternoon we made brownies for the party.

Today we went to the country club again with Rosario and the family from Spain. It was nice for the girls to get one more good swim in before we leave. We had a good day together.

After the country club we got passport photos. Manu and Vani did good, but Angie was so tired so didn’t want to hold her head up for the photo. Paul told her she could have a sucker (boom boom) if she let them take her picture. You just have to say the majic word and all of a sudden she is more than willing to get her picture taken!!
……okay Chris is in bed asleep so I will finish the post for her.
Vanesa and Manuela were a little squirmy tonight, maybe because to the suckers. It took them a little longer to fall asleep than normal. After the passport pictures were done, we let them have their suckers. The suckers Chris bought were blue. So for the rest of the night the girls got a kick out of their blue tongues, lips, cheeks, hands, hair,…….you get the picture.
Bedtime has been such a pleasure lately. Angee pretty much asks to be put in her bed once she is done with her bath. Once Angee is in bed, we read a story to Vani and Manu and lights out. The last three nights Vanesa has asked me to hold her for a while after the light has gone out. I’ve been taking advantage of the opportunity!! She had crawled in my lap and I rock her to sleep. I know these days are numbered, so I am taking advantage of it while I can. She has opened up a lot more lately. She give us hugs more often and she likes saying in English “ I love you…good night”. We love hearing it. Slowly but surely she is starting to open up, and it is wonderful to watch happen!
We really don’t have much planned for tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be our last full day in Pereira. The lawyer told me yesterday that we should be flying to Bogota Monday night sometime. That was music to my ears!! That means it is very possible for us to be home maybe by next Friday!! Once we get the girl’s passports on Monday afternoon we will fly to Bogota. Once in Bogota it takes about three days to do all the required documents for the visa’s for the girls. So hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday I will be making flight arrangements to come home!! We will post the flight info as soon as we get it. Again let me say everyone is invited, family and friends, to meet us at the airport. We can’t wait for you to meet them!
Chris and I are going to start packing tomorrow night. Yikes!! I’m already looking around for stuff we can leave behind. We will probably do most of the packing tomorrow night, after the girls go to bed. It will definitely get done faster without little hands trying to help!
I will put more pictures on tomorrow. Good night!!

Other Stuff

The orphanage: Vanesa was the lady of the hour yesterday at the orphanage. She soaked up all of the attention and took the opportunity to show off her new Papi. She had him carry her around, she held his hand and talked about him to all of the girls. Paul said that while they were eating cake, Vani would say something and all the girls would look at him and giggle - I'm sure it was all good :)

Manu is a giggle-box! She giggles at everything!

Vani's seems quiet, but only if you don't speak Spanish. If you get her in the car with Jose, she will talk to him non-stop. Sometimes we have to ask her to leave him alone. Today she was really talking it up with the chef showing them how to make pizza.

Sentencia and Archie's Pizza

Today was our sentencia - the official adoption of the girls on the Colombian side (we will have to re-adopt them in the states).

Paul called our translator this morning to see if he could find out if we were having our sentencia and what time it would take place. He said that it is today, but he would have to call back with a time. When he called we were all in the pool and he said "Are you ready now?" I told him no, but give us 15 minutes. We ran upstairs and I began giving out orders to get your dresses on, get your sandals on, brush your hair,... I can't believe it, but all 5 of us were dressed and the girls had their shoes and hair brushed in 15 minutes. I fixed their hair in the crazy cab ride to the judicial building.

The process was very simple. You walk into a room with a counter, they ask to help you. You double check the girls' names, sign your name and your done. We were able to get all of the girls middle names added. At first we were not sure they would allow us to it here. It's nice to have it done.

As of today the girls names are (my maiden name is required to be part of their name down here):
Vanesa Jane Huseby Sinclair
Manuela Isabelle Huseby Sinclair
Angee Abigail Huseby Sinclair

Tomorrow morning Paul and the attorney are going to pick up the girls new birth certificates. It will be Monday before we can get passports for the girls. I don't think we will be home next week :( Hopefully we will be able to get to Bogota the following Monday.

After the sentencia, we took the girls to Archie's Pizza (the place where the kids make their own pizza). The girls loved it and we loved it because we got sit at a table all by ourselves. The girls didn't eat much of their pizza, but they really enjoyed their milkshakes.

Tomorrow Rosario is having a party for our family since we will be leaving soon. We are going to make brownies for it. We need to get to the store today to buy the stuff.

Paul, Manu and Angee are all taking a nap right now and Vanesa is working on a new puzzle. The 30 minute quiet time has been a blessing.

We're posting a few pics today of the pizza place.

The Orphanage

Today was a very emotional day for all of us. We learned yesterday that we would be able to visit orphanage where the girls lived. They were all very excited about it. We talked about it a lot last night and today. We talked to them about wearing dressing and how important it is to let mommy fix their hair for this event. (The day we met the girls, the directors of the orphanage told us that it was important for the girls to visit with their new parents. What an honor to be invited.)

I (Chris) was very nervous about it. I wondered what the people there would think of us and if they would think we are good parents. The girls and Paul didn’t seem nervous at all. The whole day was leading up to this and the girls were VERY excited that they would be able to see their friends and tell them goodbye for the last time.

We picked up a cake to share with all the girls there. Rosario came with us and Jose drove and walked around a little with us.

At first I was really excited to meet all of the people who mothered and cared for our children for the last year. But shortly after we got there, Manuela really broke down crying. The head nun said that it was good because she was breaking ties. I thought that she was scared and nervous. (Before we went in, Manu asked Rosario to hold her hand.) This made me want to cry because it brought many emotions to the surface of my heart. It made me sorry that she was scared and happy too because maybe she was wanting to stay with us. Manu found comfort in one of the ladies there which made me thankful for all they have done for our children.

In the next couple of minutes Angee began crying too. She was scared and confused.

When we arrived at the orphanage, we only saw a couple of girls. The rest of the girls were in school.

We toured the building which was very, very clean – nothing seemed to be out of place at all. The building is quite large – about 4 stories. It had bedrooms for all the girls, divided by age, three beds to a room. All of the beds were neatly made and again, nothing was out of place (our room at the B&B is a totally different story).

Vanesa took us to her old room and showed us which bed which had been hers, then Manuela, then Angee. All of the bedrooms were a decent size with 3 beds – no bunkbeds. Then they took us to a room with 3 cribs and they asked Angee which one used to be hers when she was a baby – she went right to it.

They took us to the place where they have P.E. (don’t know what they call it in Spanish, but this is where they danced and exercised and played outside). The lady in charge of these activities put on some music and Vanesa and Manu danced and jumped around with the 2 girls that were there. Angee broke down crying and the head nun beat me to her. I sat next to her and patted her a little, then the nun gave her to me. This was important to me. I wanted to be the one to comfort her and let her know that everything was okay. The nun handed her to me so that I could do my job. This is one of the first times I felt like their mother. I didn’t want anyone else to try to comfort my child. I imagine it may have been hard for the nun to hand her over since she was the one who had cared for, fed, bathed and comforted our children in the past. Angee did settle down, especially after they offered her a snack. (We too have found that waving food in front of her is a very effective tool – she loves to eat.)

After some exercise, they took us upstairs to the room where the girls study. On this level there is also a chapel. They said that every day the girls go there to pray for their parents to come. Today, however, the head nun took them in there to lead them in a prayer of thanksgiving for their new family. I think this is very good for the girls to see that God does answer prayers. I’m forever thankful that she took the opportunity to show the girls how God is working in their life.

When the tour was over, the nun walked us to the school that Angee and Manuela attended. It was very cute. When we got to Angee’s old classroom, her 2 best friends were there. They were so happy to see her. They gave her big hugs and kisses. They have been friends since the day Angee arrived. They chattered for a little bit and we learned that one of them was in the same orphanage and her parents are coming next month to take her home to Holland. Then it was time to meet Manu’s teacher. We did not get see her classroom, but we got to meet her instructor who was very happy to see Manu again. I think school must have been over for this age because we did not get to meet any of Manu’s friends and there were not very many children there. We also met the director of the school. He appeared very clean-cut and professional, and personable and happy – good for little children.

We then walked to Vanesa’s school. I think it was probably for grades 1 – 6. We met her teacher, who was happy see her. She was eager to tell us that Vanesa is a very good student and that she is kind and thoughtful. Shortly after arriving in her classroom, a little girl came up to Vanesa with open arms and said, “Vani!” She gave Vanesa a long hug and couple of kisses. She was so happy to see her. We met a few other girls that are friends with Vanesa as well – they all live in the orphanage. (Not all children in these schools live in the orphanage, but it appears that their best friends are the ones that they lived with.) Two of the girls, sisters, have parents in Italy – they were not sure when they would be coming to get them. We stayed at Vanesa’s school for about 30 minutes. We met the director of this school as well. On the way out, the nun gathered all of her children and we all walked back to the orphanage together. It was sweet to hold hands with other little girls.

We passed by Angee and Manu’s old school again and invited their friends to come for cake. In all, we had about 20 little tiny cake eaters (and 20 little tiny pieces of cake).

It has been a great blessing and pleasure to visit these places. There is no way to thank someone enough for all they have invested in our children and seeing to it that they are loved and nurtured. What a blessing to see how our daughters’ friends and roommates and caregivers.

All of this also makes me sad for the girls. They have to leave ALL of their “family” and friends. We could tell that the girls had very good friends. They are coming to a completely different society and family structure and they have to start all over. They have to make new friends, probably with people who do not have the same type of things in common. I could tell that the girls and their friends were emotionally bonded – not just playmates. One of Vani’s friends said this was hard because Vani was leaving before her. I wish we could bring them all home – I wouldn’t turn any of them away.

All of the girls that we met need parents. They are all adorable. I think that sometimes people fear adoption because they think the children are more prone to be unattractive or that a majority of them are bad kids or that they have problems that are too difficult to overcome. The problems are with the birth families, not the children. I did not know which children lived with the girls until someone told me. Something that I thought was interesting was that one of Vani’s friends is THE best student in the school. Who would have thought? I wouldn’t have even thought it possible (of course judging by looks, not the fact that she does not have parents, I would have chosen her).

It seems like I have heard of a lot of people who are looking into adoption. To you I would say that all of these girls seemed to have a happy disposition. Some had chubby cheeks, some had freckles, some were white, some were brown, they have pretty hair, they love the affection they get from the few people who work at the orphanage. They want families, they need a mommy and a daddy. They are not too old – you are not too old.

We have chosen not to post pictures of our day because we feel it is important for the girls to have a clean slate. The pictures taken today will be personal memories for them.

Hopefully tomorrow will be our sentencia. We will let you all know tomorrow.
Good Night!

The Center of the City

(This is Chris)

Today was another good day. We went swimming in the morning to cool off after our walk to the store.

We instituted a "quiet time" after lunch today to see if Angee would take a nap. It took her 2o minutes, but she did go to sleep. We are going to try to stick to this as much as possible. (Children here do not take naps, but she REALLY needs to have one!)

In the afternoon, Jose took us to the center of the city to the main square (or plaza). Each city has a main plaza. The one here is called Bolivar Plaza. It was nice to walk around and look in stores and see the government buildings. We also walked into a huge Catholic church. It was really tall on the inside. While walking down the streets, there was a wonderful smell of fried something. I wanted some of it, but it takes a long time for all of us to buy and eat a snack.

We think our sentencia is Thurs or Fri. After that takes place, we should be able to have a better idea of when we come home.

We posted some pictures of the last few days. Hope you enjoy them! Buenos Noches!

There’s no place like home!

Good Evening everyone! This is Paul writing. We had another good day here in Pereira. This morning we went to an orchid farm. How incredible! They were beautiful. I’ve never seen that many orchids before. The orchid farm was at a home. The lady was the one who specialized in the orchids and the man of the house specialized in Bonsai trees. It was very nice of them to let us tour their home for a little while. It seems like Jose knows everyone around here, which is great for us. After that we went up to a restaurant in the mountains that overlooked Pereira. It was a great view of the city. The only problem was it was raining pretty good when we got up there so the pics probably won’t turn out as good as I would have liked.
Well, as you can tell by the subject, we are ready to go home. While it is nice to be in the tropics and enjoy a landscape that is almost a paradise, there is still no place like home! We miss our family and friends, and we are really looking forward to everyone meeting the girls. We are ready for a more stable environment too. It is difficult to have to rely on others around here for so much. I think one of the most frustrating things is the inconsistent meal times, especially at night. Some nights we might eat at 6pm others it’s 7:15. It makes getting a routine down very hard! Please don’t get me wrong, the people here are absolutely wonderful and I appreciate all they do. They work hard to keep us happy, it is just a different way of living down here, and we are ready for some good old Americana! I’m also really looking forward to speaking some English with someone. I actually watched a little bit of CNN yesterday just so I could hear some English.
Now let me talk a little bit about the country of Colombia a bit. When most Americans think of Colombia, the first words out of their mouths are …..cocaine….kidnappings…. if you come here you are taking your lives in your hands. Let me tell you this is absolutely false!!! I have never been to a place more beautiful and also the people here are absolutely wonderful. The people here are very hospitable, especially to strangers. Are there bad places in Colombia? Yeah, there are, but how many of us would stroll down the streets of downtown Kansas City, Kansas at night. There is no difference. If I had the opportunity again in the future, I would love to come back. There is a lot to see and do.
The lawyer stopped by tonight and I think he told me that our sentencia is on Thursday. He speaks absolutely no English so I had to figure out what he was saying in my broken Spanish. If that is true, we should be back in Bogota by next week, which means it is possible we could be home by the end of next week. I will hopefully know more here in a couple of days. I am going to have out translator call the lawyer tomorrow and have him repeat what he tried to tell me tonight so we know exactly what is going on. He also gave us a whole bunch more documents on the girls. At our integration meeting last week we asked for any documents that were in their files. We got them today!! That’s good, now we just need to get them translated so we know what’s in it.
Well, enough of my ramblings for one night. God bless you all back in the states, and again thanks for your prayers and kind comments! I’ll post more pics tomorrow.

Chris’s 2 Cents
The orchid house was beautiful. It was on a hill that overlooked the countryside. They had classical music playing in the background and we had a tour by the master herself. The entrance to this place is kind of like a little place to buy flowers and plants. We have driven past it a few times and I always wondered what kind of stuff they had. It was a nice surprise when Jose pulled in there. I saw more beautiful plants than I thought I would. They had a bonsai orange tree, about 3 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter, and it was bearing oranges about the size of tangerines. I was pretty impressed that that tiny tree could actually produce fruit.

I too want to let everyone know how much we really miss you. We talked to my family last night on Skype (video over the internet) and it made me really want to be home. We miss being able to call people or have people over. We really look forward to finding a new normal that involves everyone we hold so dear. I can’t wait for all of you to meet our daughters. They are anxious to meet you too.

Much love to all of you :)

Village People and Simon & Garfunkel

(This is Chris) We have done quite a bit in the last few days. Wednesday, we gave the girls brand new baby dolls. Vanesa immediately named hers Sofia. Yesterday, Manuela’s baby was given the name Jennifer. Angee hasn’t decided on a name yet. Vanesa really loves her little baby. She very carefully wrapps it up, gives it a bottle and rocks it. Every night she makes sure that baby Sofia gets a kiss from Mom & Dad.
Yesterday (Friday), we went to a botanical garden and a butterfly house. It was really nice to be able to see so many native plants. The plants here look like ones that keep as house plants, but they are 200 times larger. For instance, the ferns are as tall as trees and they actually have a little bit of a trunk. One of the varieties of orchids is very tall – about 10 feet, but the blooms are the same size.
The butterfly house was a big hit with the girls. There were so many butterflies to look at and get close to. Some of them were really big too (not all of them are native to Colombia). Vanesa kept trying to get one on her finger, but she was kind of scared when they started to crawl up on her finger. Manu was really upset when one landed her hat.
For lunch, Jose took us to a restaurant in a small village (hence the title of this post). The plates of food were huge. After lunch, we got to walk around and do some shopping. It was interesting to poke our heads into so many small stores. We picked up some souvenirs while we were there (I’ve been very disappointed that things cost just as much here as they do in the states.) We also went to the top of the mountain to see the city from above. What a gorgeous view – I wish everyone had the opportunity to see it. This was also the first time I had to pay to use the restroom. While in there with Manu and Angee, a guy outside was playing a panpipe with recorded instrumental accompaniment. He played “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. The girls laughed so hard when I started to sing and dance to it.
Today we just hung around town. We went to the store this morning to buy a few things. We found out that swim diapers are definitely not the same as ones made for night time!!! We also picked up a couple more pieces of clothing for the girls and notebooks and coloring books. Boy do these girls love to color – I can’t believe how much paper and coloring pages we have gone through. We managed to sneak some more treats for Paul & I into the cart too. (The chocolate is not nearly as good here as in the states.)
This afternoon we went out again, this time to the mall so the girls could play in the play area. There are no parks here that have swings or slides or anything. They did really well. They came right out when we told them it was time to leave. We also picked up some ponytail holders (I haven’t been able to find them at any of the grocery stores, the drug store or the store that is similar to Wal-Mart).
I think we have figured out an even faster system for getting the girls to bed. The last 2 nights I have started showers with all 3 of them in the bathroom at the same time. When I’m almost finished with one, I ask the next one to start getting ready. While they climb in the tub, I run the first one out to Paul for lotion and p.j.’s. It’s worked pretty well, so I think we’ll stick with it. I really, really enjoy bath time with the girls. I get time with each of them individually and they love being in there. They are really good at helping me with their hair and washing everything else as I dispense soap to them (soap pumps are wonderful!) Vanesa asks me to wash her hair and brush it and she likes for me to do the lotion too. I’m so thankful for this because I would hate to miss it with one of my children. Angee and Mauela love to play with the rubber duck that we brought for them. They carefully wash it while I’m taking care of their hair and stuff.
Tomorrow we are touring the city with Jose. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this place.
More stuff I don’t want to forget:
The first night with the girls, Vanesa was sleeping with half her body off the bed. I put her back in bed, but, she still sleeps right on the edge and I’m always afraid she’ll fall out.
Insecto – the word Paul made up for insects the other night. We learned a couple of days ago that that is actually how you say it in Spanish ~ good job Paul!!! (If in doubt, add an “O.” This is Paul’s motto.)
Angee has asked to go to bed the last 2 nights – wooohoooo, no fits at bedtime! She wakes up once or twice in the night and calls out for mommy. I loved it at first, but now I rub her tummy and say “Mommy’s here” and she goes right back to sleep. This morning she woke up and said “Mommy tanga” (Mommy take me). I stayed in bed and said “just a minute” and she slept for another hour – can’t beat that!
We read to the girls at night after they get in bed. First, a story in Spanish and then some in English. We read from the Book of Mormon a few nights in a row. We didn’t get very far, maybe 100 verses all together. The next night, when we picked it up, Vanesa said “And it came to pass…” Cracks me up, I didn’t realize it was in there so often.

Rain Rain Rain

Good evening everyone! As I sit here again on the Balcony, it is currently raining and is a very peaceful night.
We had another great day today. We went swimming most of the day at Rosario’s sister in laws place. It was really gorgeous! We had a great time. Chris and I roasted to a bright red glow, but that’s ok. It’s better than frostbite!!
I think Chris and I decided to cut back just a bit on the posts. As soon as the girls go to bed we’ve been posting until our bedtime. So instead we will keep some nights shorter and so we can relax a bit without the computer!
I will post pics tomorrow night, so keep an eye out. Jose is taking us to a couple more parks. A botanical garden and some kind of butterfly park or something.
Thank you again for all of your comments, we really enjoy reading them! Kind of keeps us in touch a bit with you all. We do read all of them. God bless you, and again thank you for your prayers!
Good Night!

Coffee Park

We had a great time today at the coffee park (Paul is writing)! It was an absolutely beautiful site! I would definitely recommend you to go if you are down here. They had coffee crops, bananas, pineapple, oranges, etc. When you first get to the park you are on top of a mountain basically, and you overlook the whole park. Very beautiful scenic view! At the top you get on a ski lift car that takes you down to the actual park. They had a live show which was great. They did native dancing and kind of a history of coffee in Colombia. After that we rode rides and looked around at all the different crops. It was really hot again today so we were pretty well worn out by the time were left the park. The coffee park is about an hour to an hour and a half away from El Cortijo. I can’t say enogh good things about our new friend, Jose. He has been and excellent guide for us while we have been here. He is so patient especially with the girls. Vanesa talked today from the moment she got out of bed until we got back to the hotel. Most of the talking was directed at Jose. Jose…Jose Jose Jose Jose…… I think he got tired of hearing his name. He acted like he didn’t mind though.
As for mealtime today, the girls did great. They ate everything in site. No arguments or fights! That was good!
Vanesa is really starting to get interested in English too. I worked with her for quite a while tonight. She would ask… how do you say this….and she would point at something……chair, table, elbow, cup, water, etc. We are glad to see she is wanting to learn so eagerly!
Tonight Chris and I had a major sweet tooth!! So Chris went downstairs to ask the ladies who work here if they had any goodies (Of course the girls were sound to sleep by this point). They didn’t so they called somebody and had some brownies delivered to us! How cool is that. We told them not to, but they insisted. So our chocolate craving is cured for the night.
Good Night!

Integration Meeting Complete!

Good evening everyone. We had our integration meeting today. It went really well. Our translator, Mauricio, picked us up about 8:45am to head to the ICBF office. When we got to the building, Vanesa instantly recognized where we were and started saying I’ve been here before, this is where we met Mami and Papi. I could tell by her face that she was a little nervous, but we kept telling her that we were just going to sign papers and then leave. When we entered the building, they took us to the same room that we met the girls in. The room is full of toys so Manu and Angee went over and started playing. Vanesa came over and sat on my lap (This is Paul writing by the way). To help ease her a little I started to hum a song that they taught us. It is a fun song called Conga Conga………but man did I pick the wrong song to start humming. She immediately picked up on what I was humming and started singing it. In this song you call out someone’s name and they have to get up and start dancing. Well you can guess who’s name she called. So Papi, being the good sport, got up and boogied on down (Disclaimer: Papi ONLY dances for his little girls so don’t ask because it ain’t happening). Let’s just say everyone at the ICBF office had a pretty good chuckle (me included). During this song you have to swing your hips pat your head and turn around. I think you got the picture (lucky for me no cameras or videos were on).
So after I did my little jig the social worker came in and the meeting started. She asked us how the week went and if we had any questions. After a few minutes of conversation, she asked if we wanted to continue the process. We said yes, yes, yes definitely yes! She said okay and our Lawyer signed a few documents and we were out the door. The whole meeting only took about 30 minutes at most. Now the process is in the lawyer’s hands. Since we are through with the integration, now we go through the legal process to adopt them. The lawyer said it will take about 2 weeks, but he said he will try to get it done faster. Yipee, another step down.
After the meeting, we went to a few malls. There are 3 of them within walking distance of each other. We needed to buy the girls some shoes. When we finally found a childrens shoe store, we let Vanesa pick out whatever shoes she wanted. Her eyes just lit up and she said REALLY!! We were glad she was so happy. After we bought the shoe we told them they could put them on if they wanted to. Vanesa opted not to because she didn’t want to get them dirty.
The rest of the day went pretty good. More swimming, coloring and playing with toys. There were a few more tantrums, but I think we are in the testing phase with the girls. At dinner tonight the girls refused to eat. It always starts with one and works it way around the table. Manu started it tonight. We hear the words “no quiero mas” which means I don’t want anymore. They didn’t even bother to try it. So we told them if they didn’t at least try it that they would not get any bread or dessert. They still refused so dinner was quick tonight. They should be hungry for breakfast! Hopefully this little game won’t last very long. They just started doing it last night. The ladies at the hotel make AWSOME food so I feel bad when we leave a table full of uneaten plates. I’m sure they understand though. Manu can be very, very stubborn. For instance, tonight after dinner she came into the room and started jumping on the bed. I said no more Manu, but she laughed and immediately started doing it again. So I went over and picked her up and looked her in the eyes and said sternly no more. When I set her down, as soon as I turned my back she tried it again. So this time she had to sit on Papi’s lap for a while. I picked her up and said no more. Of course the tears started flowing, but I sat and held her until she stopped crying. Once she has settled down, I ask are you finished? Once I finally get a nod of the head, I set her down and kiss her on the head and tell her I love her. 30 seconds later we are back to playing. This tactic has worked well so far.
Tomorrow should be a very fun day! Jose is taking us to the Coffee park. It is an active coffee plantation with an amusement park. It should be loads of fun!
Good night!

The Store

We really didn’t do anything exciting today. We did walk to the store to look around. We had lunch at a place called Jeno’s Pizza (we had the Pepperoni Americano). The girls really liked it.
I don’t know what we did or fed them, but they were all kind of cranky and tired today. Angee threw a bunch of fits. We ended up asking for an early dinner so that we could get them to bed early and have a couple hours of quiet time. We are taking advantage of the quiet time by sneaking a Coke while they sleep (and yes, it’s the kind you drink).
Tomorrow is our “integration.” We will go to the ICBF office in the morning to be interviewed about how things are going, then we will sign some paperwork and should be finished. This might be a little nerve racking for the girls – we don’t want them to think that we are taking them back.
Well, I need to go because Paul is drinking all the coke while I type.
Good Night!

Hugs and Kisses 2 (Papi’s perspective)

Another wonderful day in the books! I thought I would first start by telling you some funny stuff from today. We turned the TV on for the first time on our trip. When we talked to the people about the girl’s normal activity for the week, they told us they usually watch a little bit of TV on Sundays. So in an effort to try to keep things in somewhat normal for them we turned it on. This will probably change when we get home since we don’t watch TV usually on Sundays. I was flipping the channels trying to find something and came across a children’s cartoon it looked okay so I left it there. Wow what a cartoon! I was laughing so hard Vanesa was trying to figure out what I was doing. The cartoon was sooooooo politically incorrect that Jessi Jackson and Al Sharpton should be marching the streets of Colombia. It was one of those things that children wouldn’t pick up on, but grownups would. I can’t really explain it, so if I happen to run across the cartoon again I’ll have to take a picture. I’m pretty sure this cartoon would be banned in America.
I would have to say that today has been one of the best days yet. The girls did so good today! Chris already told you about the country club so I’ll skip to the evening. One of the routines we are doing with the girls is singing. So about 15 minutes before dinner is ready we all sing songs. They love to sing and we love to sing with them. First we usually sing English songs…. Head shoulders knees and toes, My God is so big, and if your happy and you know it. Then we ask the girls to teach us some Spanish songs. It is so fun to watch them, they really get into it! There is one song that they sing were you move your hips back and forth and pat your cabesa (head). It is hilarious!! I finally got some video of it tonight! I wish I could post it for you all to see. I think Chris and I definitely agree that Colombians are born to dance! Papi is definitely going to have to own a shotgun to keep “the flies” away.
Chris and I are getting good at tag teaming. While she showers the girls one at a time, I keep the other 2 busy either working on letters or doing a puzzle. When one comes out of the shower another goes in. Papi then gets the freshly cleaned girl lotioned up and in their Pajamas.
The girls were definitely more affectionate today. I got my first kiss from Angee today! Manuela gave me a hug at the pool, and Vanesa asked me to carry her down to dinner. What a great day! Vanesa is one of those girls (so far) who doesn’t like to show that she cares, but you know inside she is begging for affection. She has never pushed me away when I have hugged or kissed her, but she doesn’t usually show any sign of a response either. I just think she needs time to really believe that we do love her before she will open up. I look forward to that day! It will be like a beautiful rose opening for the first time!Well I would like to post pictures tonight so I guess I’ll stop yacking so I have time to get them posted. Thank you again for all of your prayers! They have definitely been answered!!

Hugs and Kisses

(Chris is writing)
Today has been a really good day. I think we are starting to understand and tolerate each other better. We went to the country club with Rosario today. It was very nice. There were several pools and a couple of them were heated – that’s where we hung out. Angee does really well when the water is warm. Yesterday, she didn’t even flinch when we got into the water at the hot springs.
Today was spent mostly in the water. Vanesa has taught herself how to swim. She can swim under water and kind of do the breast stroke. She loves getting her hair wet and jumping into the pool. She was experimenting with new ways to jump into the pool. She really doesn’t seem to fear anything.
Manuela did really well too. The pool was just deep enough for her to walk on, so she didn’t have to rely on us. She followed Vani’s lead and loved jumping in and crawling from pool to pool and getting her hair wet.
Angee stuck with mommy most of the day. She was learning to swim too. She would lie on her tummy and kick and paddle her arms. She would put her mouth in the water and didn’t seem to mind getting her hair wet. She likes to splash a little.
All of the girls were very worn out after swimming. They were a little cranky with each other, but after a very short nap in the car they were ready for more silliness.
When I was changing, after swimming, the girls were with Paul and I could hear Angee crying. It was really cool that I could hear it was my daughter crying.
I have been working with Angee on saying Please and Thank You. Today I was coloring with her – she was handing me crayons and she held out on one of them and said, “dice por favor” (“say please”). I didn’t understand what she was saying because no one has ever said that to me in Spanish before. What a nut – it really made me laugh.
In the pool I got bumped or splashed or something and asked for a kiss. Manuela was the brave soul who kissed mommy J J This morning we watched a little t.v. and Vanesa let me hold her and rock her. She does seem to like affection, but never asks for it. She is more than happy to let me fix her hair and sit next to her and rub her back and stuff. She is becoming much more at ease with hugs and affection. None of them were ever opposed to it, they just seemed to tolerate it. After prayers, we always give them hugs and kisses and tell them we love them. Tonight Vani really embraced me and held on for a little bit – what a wonderful feeling to receive love! Tonight after Angee’s bath, I asked for a kiss and I got one right on the lips J (I hope you all know that we certainly don’t expect them to show affection or to show a desire for it right away. It is really exciting when they are open to it. I wouldn’t be very trusting of total strangers either. We are hoping that everything we do is adding up so that they can see that we love them, not just hear it.)
Getting the girls to bed tonight was so easy. I was planning on rocking Angee while Paul read. She was asking for something out of her crib, I thought, but when we got over there she started to put her legs in. She laid down so fast I didn’t even get the blanket moved first. I rocked Manuela and Vanesa helped Paul read. They went right to sleep!
Other stuff:
Thurs. – we were getting into the cold pool at the hotel. I wasn’t going very fast because it was cold. Vanesa said “Mommy despasio” (“Mommy is slooooooow”) She does everything fast!
Jose – Jose is a man who works for Rosario. He is a driver for all the families who stay here. He is so nice. He feels like a friend and it almost seems like we are taking advantage of his kindness even though we are paying him. He goes to all the places tourists want to see. Even though he has been to these places hundreds of times, he still points to things and tells us about them as if it is still interesting to him.
Not everything has been a bed of roses, but I think we have the best of the best. We are in the most beautiful place surrounded by very nice and caring people. Our daughters are so incredibly well behaved. We are just learning how to be a family and there will be a few rough spots. I wouldn’t have it any other way (I didn’t even know it could be this good!)

Hot Springs in the Mountains!

Hola from the beautiful city of Pereira! I’m sitting on our balcony enjoying the sounds from a Mariachi type band playing down the street ! It’s currently about 75 degrees with cloudy skies……sorry I just had to rub it in a little:-)
Well we have had a wonderful week so far! The girls are doing great and we are learning more and more about their personalities. They are really starting to come out of their shell, which also means they are starting to test the boundaries a little bit more. That’s why we were so exhausted yesterday! I guess you could say we had a dose of parenting reality. The good thing about it is that the parenting reality is just normal stuff that you would expect from a 2,4,and 6 year old. So in actuality it is still just a matter of figuring out the best way to care for them. We are still molding together as a family.
We also found out that too much sugar in one day is not good! While we were at the zoo yesterday we stopped and had an ice cream (as you can see from the pics). Then when we got back to El Cortijo and had dinner, the ladies at the hotel mad made us more ice cream for after dinner! YIKES!!! We couldn’t say no because they made it special for us, and also it would have been a fight to pull it away from the girls. So I’m sure you can imagine what happens next…… 3 girls bouncing off the walls! It is hard enough for me to follow along in Spanish at normal speed, then you throw in a sugar overload!!! Whoa Baby…..
Today we had a blast! We went to this water park up in the mountains. It was unbelievably beautiful. We got to swim in natural hot springs under a magnificent waterfall. That’s one for the memory bank. On the way home we drove through the city of Santa Rosa De Cabal (the birth place of Angee). We asked Jose if he would drive us past the hospital so we could get some pictures. We thought Angee would want them when she gets older. All of the girls were asleep in the back seat from a long day of swimming..
The owner of El Cortijo (Rosario) has a driver named Jose. We has been taking us to all of these wonderful places. He is incredibly nice. He doesn’t speak much English, but we still manage to converse pretty well. Chris and I’s Spanish has come a long way in a week! The best way to learn it is to immerse yourself in it!
Tomorrow Rosario is taking us to a country club to do more swimming. So we have another full day planned! Monday, Jose is taking us shopping, and Tuesday is our integration meeting with the ICBF.
Well Chris is already crashed in bed and I’m getting jealous…. So good night and God Bless!

PS…and yes mom I got your e-mail. I have had to put the computer up until after the girls go to bed now because they are wanting to play with Papi’s Computador….no no no…….. so if you email me I will respond at night.

Zoo day

Good evening everyone! We are exhausted tonight so it will be a short post.... sorry. We went to the zoo today and had a great time. We also had a meeting with a social worker this morning from ICBF. The meeting went good too. The social worker was very nice and was there to answer any questions or help with any problems. We didn't have much to say really. So it was a quick visit. I posted some more pics of our zoo outing today. i hope you enjoy! Good Night!

Cute Stuff

I want to make sure I get some things in here before I forget. Our daughters are so cute! They refer to Manuela as “Manu.” But they say it a couple of times in a row, so it sounds kind of like “Nanoo, nanoo.” It’s so funny! The girls refer to Vanesa as “Vanny” and Angee as “Ang.”
They all have such sweet little voices. Vanesa speaks very softly. Manuela is not quite as soft and she squeals when she is excited. Angee is VERY shy and soft spoken. It’s so cute when she talks because she nods her head at you too.

Today they had their first little girl fight. Vanesa was handing out dolls and Angee ended up with 3 and Manuela none. Then, when Vanesa pulled out one that Angee wanted, but gave it to Manu, Angee tried to grab it and give Manu the others. There was some screaming, then intervention, and crying. I was just cracking up because it was such a girly incident.

They began begging to go to the pool first thing in the morning. I just pretended like I didn’t ever learn that word yesterday. They just keep asking and asking. I wasn’t going to take them, but we ended up walking to the store today and it was really hot. The trip there was great, but it was all up hill on the way home and I had a sleeping 30 lb. baby and a 15 lb. backpack. Paul had Manuela in the stroller and Vanesa holding his hand. One of the ladies here took us there and ended up carrying lots of our stuff back. We are definitely taking a cab next time! Anyway, I was so worn out and hot, that the pool was sounding really good. They hadn’t mentioned it for a while, so it was nice to get to ask them if they wanted to go instead of them begging us.

They are all very good at entertaining themselves. We brought a pack of construction paper and they each sit down and color on it for long periods of time. Paul painted with Manu & Angee today. Vanesa has very neat handwriting and can understand the difference between upper and lower case letters. She knows when to use capital letters. She can count to 10 in English. She is learning to write her new name (Vanesa Sinclair, but she spells it with 2 “s’s.” Her birth cert. only has one). She loves the computer. She is good at translating our “sign language” into Spanish.

Manuela loves to color. She likes to brush her hair. Today she fixed my hair after we got back from the store. It was crazy looking, but it felt nice to have it up so I could cool off. She is much stronger than she looks – it kinda hurt, but I certainly didn’t mind. She also had a great time with the stroller. She kept putting toys in it and pushing it around the room. At one point, she put Angee in there. The drove past me and Angee said, “Ciao!” and waved as they went past.

Angee loves to wash her hands. Sometimes I think she wants to “chi chi” just so she can wash her hands afterwards. She HATES cold water. The orphanage warned us about this. She did not like the cold water in the pool, but at least she enjoys keeping the rest of us company down there. She likes to look at the pictures we sent to them when we applied for 3 siblings. Yesterday she was looking at the pictures of Bailey (our dog) and talking – we didn’t know what she was saying. Then I realized she was saying “bow wow.” This little girl can put the food down!!! She loves food. For lunch we had some chicken and fries. She refused the chicken, then Rosario brought out a cake for one of the worker’s birthday. Angee’s eyes were glued to the cake. She couldn’t hear a thing anyone was saying to her - Paul waved his hand in front of her face and she didn’t even blink.

This morning we thought we would try to distract them by teaching them a song. We chose “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” We don’t know how to say “stand up” and they were not really in the mood for it. We did it anyway. They decided they liked it. Manu has been singing a lot today.

Before we had our first meal, we told the girls that we were going to talk to God before we eat. This was certainly not a new concept for them. When we got to the table and folded our hands, they began to recite a prayer in unison. It was cute. Then Paul said a prayer. Now, when we eat, they recite their prayer (which is quite long), then say “Now Papi.”

We had some really cute pictures and videos from today, but we accidentally deleted them. I’m sorry about that. We need to take more pictures, but neither of us wants to miss anything while holding the camera.

Chris's 2 Cents

I'll try to be brief. Today was full of anxiety and aniticipation in the morning. After some paperwork, our interpreter took us for a walk. It really helped relax us.

Everyone is so punctual here (we were told not to expect that). Our meeting with the girls was to start at 11Am - it did. I was expecting more paperwork, but they said we only needed to sign a paper then the girls would be in. A couple minutes they came in with big smiles. They were accompanied by the social worker, the caretaker of the orphanage and another assistant. The girls came to us immediately. I was surprised at how happy and unshy they were. Manuela gave me a kiss right on the lips. They were very open to hugs and us rubbing their backs.

The orphanage caretaker had so much stuff for us and the girls. They are still playing with all of the toys they came with. We really haven't given them anything other than a few books and the stuff in their backpacks. They also provided brand new pajamas (tags still on), a photo album - which Vanesa was eager to share with me when we met, certificates from their school, notebooks from school, dolls, lip gloss, ...

Vanesa is very smart. She really catches on quickly. She is also fearless. When we went to the pool, she went down a couple steps, then jumped into the water. She sank and I grabbed her and she came up laughing. It didn't phase her at all. She is a good helper too. I can ask her if things are too hot for them or what is the word for this thing I'm holding.

Tonight at dinner, the ladies in the house were asking the girls their names. Manuela piped up and said "Angee y Vanesa y Manuela y Mami y Papi." Manuela likes to be silly. She does like to have her picture taken, just like Vanesa. She was trying to take some pictures of us and had the camera upside down, but she figured it out (we didn't post any of those b/c there were of her cheek or her hand :)

Angee is very quiet. She has already attached to Paul pretty well. Angee and Paul were playing with markers on the porch and she pinched her finger in the cap. She started to cry a little; it sounded like a sad cry. Paul put her on his lap and rocked her and talked gently to her and she stopped crying soon. She gives Paul an ornery grin when she wants him to chase her.

We are looking forward to the 2nd day as a family. I think we will try to go shopping (the girls are a little smaller than I thought) and hopefully get some icecream.

Pictures....get your pictures!!!!!

Click the flickr button for pictures of today. We had a blast! The girls are so sweet. We could not have asked for this day to go any better! This is Paul writing by the way. We have bonded very well so far. It is so cool to hear three little girls yelling Papi! The girls kept hiding in the room and would yell. Papi come find me (of course I translated that for you)! I would go find them and tickle them and they loved it. We also went for a swim today because Vanesa was begging us to go. I can definitely say I’ve learned more Spanish in one day than in my entire life.
The meal times went well. Vanesa is a fast eater so she gets bored waiting for everyone else to finish. Wow do these girls eat! I might have to get a second job just to feed them. There was definitely no forcing when it came to food. If it’s put out, they eat. Even Angee! We had spaghetti for dinner and Angie had a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other and they were alternating places in her mouth.
All I can say is, God is good! There is no doubt in my mind these girls are supposed to be in our family. For the most part we are able to overcome the language barrier. Vanesa gets a little frustrated sometimes because we don’t understand something she says, but she is handling it well. I am soooo thankful the internet works in our room. I keep a translator website open on the laptop and just type stuff in when I need to. Babelfish has been the best site for translating that I have found so far.
After bath time we got the girls in their pajamas and read them a book. While Chris was reading Angee fell asleep in my arms. After we were done with the book I put Angee in here bed and we said prayers with Vanesa and Manuela. We kissed them and tucked them in and told them we loved them and turned the light out. Vanesa and Manuela were out cold in about 15 minutes. Since we have 2 double beds Vanesa and Manuela are sharing a bed. They brought a pack and play type bed up for us to use for Angee.
I’m sure we will have our bumpy moments in the near future, but we are sooooo glad today went good. I give all the glory to God. We feel so blessed. We can’t wait for everyone to meet them. They are a lot of fun. Well it’s my turn for a shower so I will sign off. If Chris is feeling up to it she might add her 2 cents. Enjoy the pictures!!

Family of 5!

I don't have much time, but wanted to let everyone know that today has been fantastic so far! The girls are wonderful!! We will try to post more after to girls go to bed.

Chris's first day in Pereira

This morning I was very excited to leave Bogota - I have nothing against the city, but I wanted to see where our daughters live.

When we started to learn about Pereira, I wondered what it smelled like there. I hoped it smelled like fresh plants and flowers. I envisioned lots of beautiful flowers and deep green plants and trees. I was not disappointed when we arrived! (I even enjoyed the crazy taxi ride - we were some place warm and all the windows were down and the wind was blowing into the car.)

When we pulled into the drive of our B&B, we saw a huge beautiful purple azaela growing over the outer gate. The house is white with lots of windows. When we came to the gate, it smelled like fresh flowers! It was the smell I was hoping for and it made it feel like we were walking into a place as familiar as our home.

The B&B is much nicer than anything I could have imagined. It feels like we are in a resort. Our room is upstairs and at the front of the house. It is much larger than the one last night. We have 2 double beds with white linens, a huge closet (bigger than needed for the 5 of us), a marble bathroom with a nice tub/shower, and we have our own balcony that overlooks the front yard and the pool. I think this is the closest I have ever come to paradise. There are lots of tables outside to each at and a couple covered porches with chairs and tables. One of the neatest things is that the plant that is growing outside our bedroom window is planted downstairs, in the livingroom, in a planter that is inside, but the leaves and flowers are growing on the outside of the house - amazing, just amazing to me.

After we had a few minutes to look over our room, we went downstairs to talk to the attorney (Hector) and the interpreter (Morisio). There was a woman there that I assumed was Rosario, the owner of the B&B. She greeted us and said, "Make yourself at home." A few minutes later I asked if this is her home, she said "It is your home." She said it with such sincerity. I feel at home.

This has been the perfect day. I kept thinking, "Can it get any better?" And you know what? It kept getting better. Here are some more highlights.
- Shortly after arriving, Rosario asked if we had had lunch and if we like meat and potatoes. Before we knew it, the table was set for two and there was hot soup and fresh salad. The soup was wonderful, as was the salad (it had tuna on it). When I was almost finished, they brought us both a plate of more food. This time steak and fries and rice. It was all very, very good. The juice is awesome!
- We found out that Rosaria regularly volunteers at the orphanage. It is very close to her home. She had only good things to say about it and how well the children are taken care of. We were able to ask her questions that we were planning to ask tomorrow at the adoption office.
- Rosario took us to 3 malls. One of them has a place called "Archie's Pizza." She said it is a good place to take your children because they have a place where they let the children make their own pizza. How cool is that?! We love to cook and wanted to get them started right away. I told her that Paul & I really like to cook and she said something to the effect of, "Well, maybe you and the girls can cook in my kitchen." What a treat - I'm looking forward to it!
-Rosario taught us what to expect a taxi to cost. She told us to practice our Spanish with her. She answered every question we had. One funny thing, she was telling us something about Nieva Blanco and 7 little people. I thought she was saying that there is one person who takes care of the same 7 girls at the orphanage. NO - she was telling us that the orphanage looks just like Snow White's house - haha! Cracks me up.

There are so many other blessings from the day and our trip so far. We really appreciate everyone's prayers and we hope you will continue to pray for us.

We are looking forward to our next post.

Day one in Pereira

As, promised here is another update. This is Paul writing, and if Chris is up to it later she might post a note too. I’ll start from this morning. We got up around 6am this morning because that is when the guy at the front desk said breakfast was going to be served. I for one was a little disappointed that breakfast was so early. We actually got up on time though and made it to breakfast. There was nothing fancy with the breakfast, just scrambled eggs, banana, and coffee. I was glad it was normal type food, because I was not really in the experimentation type of mood. After breakfast we walked down the street to an ATM machine to get money. It is going to take a while to get used to the money down here. A lot of zeros! Example: 400,000 pesos = about $200.00USD. After the ATM trip, we went back to the hotel and went back to bed for a while. No one had given us any instructions yet on what the plans were for the day, so we thought it best to just stay in the room AND we really wanted to get a little more sleep. Around 10am Lucia (the lady kind of in charge of the adoption process here in Colombia for Childrens Hope) called us and told us to be ready to leave in a half an hour to go to the airport. When we got to the airport Andres helped us get tickets and got us up to the security check point. Andres was a very nice guy. He doesn’t speak any English, but he is definitely able to get his point across. As we were sitting there waiting for our flight to Pereira, there was a guy sitting close to us who asked if we were Americans. My first thought was, "Great! We really do stick out like sore thumbs." Then I realized my United States of America passport was sitting right there in my lap. I also think he heard us trying to translate what our boarding ticket said. He ended up being a great help. He was headed to Pereira too. He told us he would translate the messages for us, and he helped us get on the plane. This is the type of hospitality we have received from everyone so far. It has been incredible!
When we got to Pereira our lawyer and translator were waiting for us. The lawyer brought his car, but because of our luggage there was not room for all of us in his car. So he took all the luggage except the one suitcase that we brought that did not fit. The taxi that we were riding in was small too and the only way to get the suitcase in the car was to stick it the front seat. I cannot tell you how glad I was that that suitcase was blocking my view. That taxi driver was driving like a mad man. After we made it to our Bed and Breakfast (El Cortijo) and I kissed the pavement a few times and thanked the Lord that I still had all of my extremities attached. The owner of the El Cortijo opened the gate and welcomed us in. What an absolutely beautiful place! I will let Chris describe it for you when she posts. The owner’s name is Rosario. She offered to take us to the mall after we got settled in. If she was offering to take us out, we were definitely going to take her up on it! At 4:30 we hopped in a taxi (without the large suitcase unfortunately) and headed to the mall. She actually ended up going to three malls (they were with walking distance of each other. Pereira Plaza, Victorian plaza, and Exito. The information she provided to us was incredible! She told us what the good stores where, ice cream shops, play paces for the girls etc. During our walk, we stopped in the mall’s food court and got a drink. We were able to just sit and ask Rosario all kinds of questions. That’s when we found she had recently been to the orphanage and had probably seen our girls at one point! She said the orphanage that they are in is one of the best around. It is owned by a man from Spain and that he only provided the best for the girls there (there are only 25 girls there at one time). We were excited that she knew so much about the orphanage! She said the girls also go to one of the best schools in the city. Rosario told us she has dedicated her life to helping children. That is one reason why she opened the bed and breakfast for families adopting. We feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to receive so much information from her!

Right now we are trying to get things ready to go for tomorrow! The big day when we meet them! Please continue to pray that we will bond quickly with them, and that we will be able to overcome any language barriers. I’m going to sign off now. I’ll try to put some pictures on flickr before I go to bed. But if not, I will do it tomorrow.
Buenas Noches! (Good Night)

Welcome to Pereira

We are now at our bed and breakfast in Pereira. This place is absolutely beautiful. We will post some pictures for everyone to see later tonight. We have a room on the second floor with a balcony that looks right at the mountains. It not only meets, but completely blows away my ideas of what kind of place we would be staying at. Everyone here is very friendly and very accomodating. I will go in to more detail tonight. The owner of the bed and breakfast is going to take us to the mall at 4:30 today. Just wanted to give everyone a quick update before we start unpacking. Feel free to post comments so that we know you are there! Thank you for your many prayers! We will post again soon!

We made it to Colombia!!!

After a night of absolutely no sleep (we were cleaning house and doing some final touches), we are actually here! Our families met us at the airport bright and early this morning to see us off. That was really a comfort to us. They were all nice enough to watch our luggage while we dosed lightly. Our flights went very smoothly today. We were able to sleep for about an hour on our first flight which gave us just enough energy to wait for the next plane. Atlanta is a HUGE airport! We had to ride a train to get to our terminal. We had about four hours to kill so we cruised around on the tram to get familiar with the airport. The plane ride to Bogota was great. We were both exhausted and slept for about 2 hours of the flight. When we arrived in Bogota we got off the plane and were herded to the immigration area. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It took us about 20 minutes to get through the check points. We gave them our passports, they stamped them, then we went to another room that had our luggage in it. After we got through the luggage check (they didn’t even open it – we were surprised), we went outside and found Andres who was holding up a sign with our name on it. He flagged down a cab and took us to La Zuetana. From the time we landed to the time we got into our room was only about an hour! It all happened so fast.
We don’t have any idea at this point what the plan is for tomorrow. Once Andres got us in the Bed and Breakfast he split. Our little room is nice. Actually at this point, I could probably sleep up against a wall if I had to. It’s been a hectic couple of days. Well, I think I’ll stop with that. I feel like I’m rambling. We are safe, happy, and very ready to go to bed. Thank you all for your continued prayers. They have definitely been answered! When we post next, hopefully it will be from Pereira! Good night too all.

Flickr Photo Site

I finally got the flickr photo page up and going tonight. There are new pictures of the girls on there that we received last week! Julie (the Colombian director for Childrens Hope) surprised us last week when she mailed them to us. They are such good pictures! We love them and can't wait for January 21st at 11am when we meet them for the first time.

We will be flying out of KC on Monday January 19th to Bogota. On the 20th, we will catch a flight to Pereira and have at least part of a day to get situated.

We are feverishly trying to get the house in some kind of an order before we leave. Amazing how this adoption process works. You sit around for 3 years waiting, and then BANG you get pictures and your referral and it's non-stop craziness. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm definitely not complaining...... Craziness is good. I am enjoying every minute of preparing for the trip. The hard part is trying to wrap up all of the stuff at work so that I can take six weeks off. Christina's last day of employment will be January 16th. The people at her work are incredible! They have been so supportive of our adoption and have done so much to help us. I can't thank them enough. They even threw us a shower last night, and we got all kinds of good stuff for the girls: books, clothes, toys, games, etc. I hope the Lord blesses Munlake and the people who work there with much success throughout this year and the years to come.

I would also like to thank everyone who has helped us through this adoption process. We are ever so grateful, and look forward to paying it forward in the future. Because of the support of friends and family, we have been able to meet our goals financially so that we do not have to take out any loans for the adoption. That is a true blessing!

Please stay tuned and we will continue to update as things happen!