Homecoming

It is GREAT to be home! We appreciate how caring our sitters, Erin, Caitlyn, and Hettie were to our children while we were away.

There was a beautiful sign in the front yard welcoming us home made by our dear friend, Kristy Brindley. Once we settled inside Maria and Joseph gave Teresa several presents and homemade crafts. (Nicholas is away at camp).
Afterwards Teresa gave Maria the biggest bear hug and then spun her around
three times. Maria proudly gave a tour of their bedroom and the rest of the house.
They then spent some time in the backyard and played with the scooters and rollar blades on the driveway.

Joseph has been very thoughtful of his new sister. He goes outside and plays with her when he notices she is feeling a little out of sorts especially when all the neighborhood kids come over. He has been so helpful to Teresa that Maria commented,'Gee, whiz, I've been around here 7 years and all I get is the chopped liver treatment.'

The girls love to wear matching outfits and have been getting along incredibly well these first few days. Joe has been getting more hugs from Teresa. She quickly noticed that her Dad was the one to take her to the pool 2 days in a row and buy her a new bike-her very first one.

In fact we have been enjoying several other firsts:
     First night in her new house with us
     First viewing of the Little Mermaid
     First taste of peanut butter
     First trip to McDonalds
     First trip to the lake house

We look forward to experiencing a life time of firsts with our sweet new daughter and can't wait until she meets her other big brother, Nicholas, in 2 weeks!

Last Nite in Bogota

Teresa's VISA application went very smoothly at the US Embassy. We also did some last minute souvenir shopping and then packed up a bit. Teresa and Brian (the cute little boy being adopted by the French couple) had fun creating finger puppets after dinner.

We've been away for 24 days and can't wait to see everyone and enjoy all the comforts of home. We are praying for no delays at the US Embassay and with our flights tomorrow!!!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

See you all very soon!!

Amusement Park Fun

It was smooth sailing obtaining Teresa's passport yesterday. All we have left to do is get her VISA. We wished we could have taken care of this ealier but the US Embassy was closed Friday due to the 4th of July & also on Monday for the Colombian holiday of the 'Feast of the Sacred Heart.' For now the plan is to apply for Teresa's VISA on Tuesday, pick it up on Wednesday, catch Wednesday's midnight flight to Houston, & then take the 9:30am connecting flight to O'Hare. We expect to land about noon.

Today we went to Bogota's amusement park with 3 other adoptive families. There was a total of 13 kids and they all had a blast despite a few raindrops! Teresa quickly makes friends with everyone and just ran around and played all afternoon. It was a nice break from our 'hotel living' routine. In the photos Teresa is wearing a white sweater. The cute little boy in blue is Brian who is being adopted by a lovely French couple. They are staying at our hotel. He is an early riser and a frequent visitor in our room since he's VERY interested in knowing what Teresa is up to throughout the day...wish I could take him home too!

Wishing all a very Happy 4th of July!!

Breath of Fresh Air

Today we were really 'bumming' about the delay we're experiencing in our paper work but this afternoon we met an incredible couple from Missouri who are also adopting from Colombia that offered us great wisdom. After a short conversation we discovered they're adopting a sibling set of 5 girls and last year they were here adopting another sibling set of 5 girls, 3 years prior they adopted a sibling set of 4 also from Colombia, and prior to that they adopted 1 son from the states, and previous to that they began their family with two biological children.This is a living, breathing, 21st century 'Ma and Pa Kettle.' The woman even wore her hair in a bun and her husband was slim as a rail...& though I didn't see a cob pipe peeking out of his pocket it could have very well been in there! They were so down to earth and a breath of fresh air to chat with!!. Having 17 children was something they were  very nonchalant about. We were moved when they expressed how 4 weeks wasn't long at all to wait for the gift of receiving a Colombian child into one's family. What an well timed 'shot in the arm' for us. We both felt a renewal in our spirits to endure this longer wait and yet kind of wimpy about adopting only one nina.

Bogota

Yesterday we went to a  lovely church called "El Senor Caido", The Church of the Fallen Lord. It was built by slaves on the mountain of Monserrate.We had to ride a cable car to reach the top which put us up to10,000 feet above sea level. The view of the city below was incredible even though we had a bit of rain.We then headed to the historical area called 'Old Bogota' where the first church and homes were built. The streets are cobbled and very narrow like what you would find in the ancient towns of Europe.

We did a few adoption related tasks today...not as many as we would have hoped to accomplish due to a 2 1/2 hour wait in one office... Ugh!! So we continue to spend our down time playing games, practicing math facts and English vocabulary cards, doing crafts, and watching movies. We will do some shopping tomorrow. The weather in Bogota is cooler than we anticipated so we need to buy a few sweaters and closed toe shoes for me...my feet have been freezing in my sandels!! We also found a nice health club one block from our hotel which Joe and I take turns going to.

Missing everyone at home!!

Court Date & Flight to Bogota

Saturday: We saw the Judge and signed all the papers yesterday. Alejandra Teresa is officially our daughter!!We are so happy to be catching a 5:15pm flight to Bogota today to continue the process but an
unexpected feeling of ' bittersweetness' has overcome me about leaving Florencia... we are pulling
Alejandra Teresa away from all the people she knows & her city of origin and yet offering her oppportunties she would never of had here.

In the photos above: the judge is the women on the far right and the woman on the far left is our attorney, Arascelly. Gina Alejandra, our translator, posed with Teresa after the court date. Both our attorney and translator have been our guardian angels throughout our time here.

Sunday:  Our flight went very smoothly. Teresa was so excited about this new experience! She loved it when we rose above the clouds and the view turned 'heavenly.' She also was quite impressed with the collapable tray table. As we drank our coffee together on our flight (yes, she drinks coffee...kids do here:) I realized she is showing some Krpan family traits as well...the obvious being her love of coffee and her hearty belly laugh about the quirky and silly things happening around us.

This morning after Mass we did a little exploring and noticed several good coffee shops and restaurants nearby. We feel more comfortable with things being more westerized here. The side walks and streets are much wider and cleaner. People are out riding bikes, rollar blading, and walking their dogs...no starving stray dogs lying about the streets here. Women's fashions and hairstyles are also more westerized. It's interesting of what a difference an hour flight can make in the quality of life and local customs one observes.

We feel our attorneys worked very hard for us in Florencia to speed things along and we are hoping for that to be the case for our time in Bogota. Since Monday is an official holiday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, we are unable to do any adoption related tasks so we hired a tour guide for a full day of sight seeing and shopping. We will post a ton of photos tomorrow.