Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Count your blessings!
We are sending out New Years cards this year. I didn't even try to pretend that I would get them out in time for Christmas and instead I am embracing my inability to send Christmas cards before Christmas day. I also happened to fall in love with the cards...they say "Count your blessing this year and always". Thought that was especially appropriate for us this year. The picture turned out pretty good...with 5 kids, I'm just happy they are all looking at the camera. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Masons!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Normalcy
Well....we have been home with our sweet Jhonatan for 3 months now and the word I would choose to best describe our new family is normal. It probably seems like an odd choice when bringing an 11-year-old boy who spoke very little English from Colombia into our family but it's true. It feels normal. Jhonatan has made a fantastic transition into our family. Sometimes I forget that he has only been here a few months. His English is improving at an unbelievable rate and he is perfectly comfortable having conversations with anyone he meets in English. Our girls have also been wonderful through this transition period, with only a few "annoying brother moments" ;). Jhonatan made new friends right away and even went to soccer tryouts after he had only been here for 3 days! Here are a couple of pictures of him from his first game...
Everyone has now been in school for 2 weeks. Ginny and Cassie are loving being 7th graders in their second year of middle school! Eva started first grade and is excited to do more reading and writing. Tess and Jhonatan are both in fifth grade. Tess, as always, loves school and is excited to be in her last year of Elementary school. Jhonatan has had a wonderful start to his first year in US schools. All of his teachers are shocked by how quickly he is progressing with his English. He is writing in English and even volunteered to be the first in his class to read his writing project! I love walking my 3 elementary schoolers to school and especially love watching Tess and Jhonatan wait for each other outside their classroom doors at the end of the day (they are in portables and their door are directly across from one another).
To some, I'm sure our rather large and noisy, multicultural, transracial, adoptive family seems a tad bit unusual but for us life feels normal and thank goodness for that!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Finally...An Update from Medellin! (Part 1)
Today I received news that we will more than likely be leaving Medellin next Friday. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about moving on from Medellin to Bogota and home. I am so happy our process is moving quickly here in Colombia and I am ready to be home with our whole family but as always with adoption, there are amazing gains and big losses. On Friday, Jhonatan will leave behind his city, his language, his culture and life as he has known it for the past 11 years and I am sad for him. He is a Colombiano through and through. He loves his country, he is proud of his city and its food, music and unique beauty. He cheers passionately for his local soccer team and knows all the words to the Latin music playing on the radio. He is also a loyal friend and I know he will miss his "amigito" very much. Jhonatan is gaining a forever family but losing the people he has called mama, papa, hermanito y hermita for the past four years. We have been gathering a few mementos for him to take home part of Colombia with him and I hope we can keep his culture and language alive for Jhonatan as he transitions into our family.
So, that brings me to updating the blog. Our family has truly loved Medellin and all we have experienced here and I want to make sure I get it written down for others traveling here and for Jhonatan. This comes with a warning that this could be a very long post but I'll try to just hit the highlights!
OUR GUIDE
Okay, I knew we would have a guide/interpreter provided by our adoption agency. I thought she would just take us to meetings with ICBF, make sure our paperwork was in order, etc. I had no idea we would be completely taken care of by the lovely and wonderful Vicky! She has been phenomenal. Vicky takes care of anything and everything, with a smile on her face. She is professional but so fun and I'm going to miss her when I leave Medellin. She has a heart for adoptions and really loves her job and it shows!
THE TRAUTMAN FAMILY
I started trading emails with Tiffany after we discovered each other's blogs. Both of our families live in Maryland and were adopting children from Medellin. It was earlier in the process but it looked we were in about the same step. As time went on, we weren't sure if we would end up in Medellin at the same time. Their process would move a little faster and then we would but it ended up that we were given the date to receive Jhonatan exactly a week after they were to receive their 3 children. After we arrived in Medellin and were here for a few days, we ended up switching apartments. Unbelievably, we moved into the same apartment complex as the Trautman Family and how wonderful it has been to have them here! Greg (when he was still here) and I have really enjoyed sharing stories with Tiffany and Brent and our kids loved playing with their kids as the pool and on the soccer field. They leave for Bogota tomorrow morning to finish their journey home to Maryland. You can read about it here and she has been much better about updating her blog than I have.
ENTREGA
On Friday, May 13th Vicky picked us up at 7:50 to drive to the ICBF office for our Entrega meeting. Our meeting was at 8:30am and started right on time. Greg and I sat at a round table with Vicky (our guide), Maria Jose (our attorney), Jhonatan's psychologist, and 2 other ICBF workers, one being the director of adoptions for Medellin. They talked a little about the process and Jhonatan's history. They asked us some questions about our family, our motivations to adopt and our relationship with Jhonatan. I should mention that we were already nervous, the room was unbearably hot and Greg was sick! After we had signed some papers taking custody of Jhonatan while we are in Medellin, they announced that we were just waiting for him to arrive. The girls had been quietly sitting and coloring in a corner of the room (thank goodness!) and they noticed some activity outside the door. The older girls jumped up to try to get a look, Cassie turned to say she saw him and then in he walked! There were hugs all around and then Jhonatan had to sit down for a minute because his stomach hurt. Poor boy...I think it was all nerves. A few minutes went by and out we walked with our boy! We went straight back to the apartment and got Jhonatan unpacked and settled in. Then, Ana picked us up and took us to the country club for lunch and for the kids to swim in the pool. What a perfect afternoon! Everyone got along great and the only issues we had were the girls arguing over who would sit next to Jhonatan!
That's it for tonight.....more tomorrow! :)
So, that brings me to updating the blog. Our family has truly loved Medellin and all we have experienced here and I want to make sure I get it written down for others traveling here and for Jhonatan. This comes with a warning that this could be a very long post but I'll try to just hit the highlights!
OUR GUIDE
Okay, I knew we would have a guide/interpreter provided by our adoption agency. I thought she would just take us to meetings with ICBF, make sure our paperwork was in order, etc. I had no idea we would be completely taken care of by the lovely and wonderful Vicky! She has been phenomenal. Vicky takes care of anything and everything, with a smile on her face. She is professional but so fun and I'm going to miss her when I leave Medellin. She has a heart for adoptions and really loves her job and it shows!
THE TRAUTMAN FAMILY
I started trading emails with Tiffany after we discovered each other's blogs. Both of our families live in Maryland and were adopting children from Medellin. It was earlier in the process but it looked we were in about the same step. As time went on, we weren't sure if we would end up in Medellin at the same time. Their process would move a little faster and then we would but it ended up that we were given the date to receive Jhonatan exactly a week after they were to receive their 3 children. After we arrived in Medellin and were here for a few days, we ended up switching apartments. Unbelievably, we moved into the same apartment complex as the Trautman Family and how wonderful it has been to have them here! Greg (when he was still here) and I have really enjoyed sharing stories with Tiffany and Brent and our kids loved playing with their kids as the pool and on the soccer field. They leave for Bogota tomorrow morning to finish their journey home to Maryland. You can read about it here and she has been much better about updating her blog than I have.
ENTREGA
On Friday, May 13th Vicky picked us up at 7:50 to drive to the ICBF office for our Entrega meeting. Our meeting was at 8:30am and started right on time. Greg and I sat at a round table with Vicky (our guide), Maria Jose (our attorney), Jhonatan's psychologist, and 2 other ICBF workers, one being the director of adoptions for Medellin. They talked a little about the process and Jhonatan's history. They asked us some questions about our family, our motivations to adopt and our relationship with Jhonatan. I should mention that we were already nervous, the room was unbearably hot and Greg was sick! After we had signed some papers taking custody of Jhonatan while we are in Medellin, they announced that we were just waiting for him to arrive. The girls had been quietly sitting and coloring in a corner of the room (thank goodness!) and they noticed some activity outside the door. The older girls jumped up to try to get a look, Cassie turned to say she saw him and then in he walked! There were hugs all around and then Jhonatan had to sit down for a minute because his stomach hurt. Poor boy...I think it was all nerves. A few minutes went by and out we walked with our boy! We went straight back to the apartment and got Jhonatan unpacked and settled in. Then, Ana picked us up and took us to the country club for lunch and for the kids to swim in the pool. What a perfect afternoon! Everyone got along great and the only issues we had were the girls arguing over who would sit next to Jhonatan!
That's it for tonight.....more tomorrow! :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
An Update in Pictures....Stories to Follow
Sorry so long with no update. We have been keeping busy and I have simply been too tired to post at night. So, this post is mostly pictures and I will share the stories later....
Well, I can't get the pictures uploaded (ugh!). I'll try again tomorrow. For those of you who are friends on Facebook, I uploaded them there.
Everyone else...we have our sweet boy and he is doing great! :) We are loving Medellin and are enjoying our new family of 7!
Hopefully, I can get some pictures up tomorrow night and share some stories as well!
Chao!
Well, I can't get the pictures uploaded (ugh!). I'll try again tomorrow. For those of you who are friends on Facebook, I uploaded them there.
Everyone else...we have our sweet boy and he is doing great! :) We are loving Medellin and are enjoying our new family of 7!
Hopefully, I can get some pictures up tomorrow night and share some stories as well!
Chao!
Monday, May 9, 2011
We made it!
We are here in Medellin! What a strange feeling to be in the same city with Jhonatan. The girls were worried we might run into him (so cute) but Medellin is a huge city and his barrio is on the opposite side of Medellin from where we are staying.
The trip down was a breeze. The girls were amazing and we had a very smooth trip. One of our favorite parts was the view of the mountains outside of the city as we flew into the airport. Like one of the girls said, it didn't look real because it was so green and beautiful!
Our apartment is in a great location. We can walk to anything! Sunday afternoon we walked to Sante Fe mall and there happened to be a festival going on. There were tons of people, Latin music playing and people handing out free mini cupcakes (which, of course, the girls loved!). We definitely get a lot of looks here. You don't see many Americans and the girls really stand out with their blonde hair. We ate dinner at a restaurant that serves "arepas con todos". The food was tasty and the view of the city was gorgeous! On the way out of the mall, we grabbed ice cream from Mimo's and walked over to the grocery store which is almost directly across from our apartment. It was fun to walk around the store and look at the different fruits and the girls (and Greg) got a big kick out of seeing the milk. It comes in bags here! We grabbed some fruit and a few things for breakfast and I bought a Colombian cellphone that you can pay to add minutes as you need them.
The climate here is wonderful. We have had the windows open the whole time and are really enjoying the city views and noises.
Today started with a walk over to Oviedo Mall and coffee and pastries at Juan Valdez (yum!). We shopped around a little and then came back to the apartment so the girls could swim. For lunch, Greg walked the girls a few blocks over and they ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (nothing like traveling all the way to Colombia to eat in a restaurant that is in DC). I stayed back to write some emails and make phone calls. We made contact with our guide/interpreter today, Vicky and she was lovely. She already scheduled a meeting for us with her and our lawyer on Wednesday at 6:00pm. She also let me know that we are expected at the ICBF office at 8:30am on Friday to receive Jhonatan! We also got in touch with Ana, our brother-in-law's sister who lives here in Medellin. We are sooo fortunate to have her here! I asked her for a suggestion for a quick outing this afternoon and she had the perfect thing. We took a cab to El Castillo. It is a real castle right here in Medellin. It is very close by but uphill all the way there so we took a cab (all 6 of us shoved into a teeny tiny taxi). The castle grounds were beautiful and the view from there is breathtaking! We took a guided tour through the castle but it was in Spanish so I caught a few things here and there but Greg and the girls had no idea what was said. I think it was a great experience for them to get a little glimpse of what it is like for Jhonatan when everyone is speaking English. They still enjoyed the tour, Eva most of all. Every time we walked into a room, she said, "Wow!". I'm pretty sure she would be a princess and live in a castle if she could! We did meet another American at the castle, a girl in her early twenties that is living here for a month to work on her Spanish. As it turns out, her parents have adopted 3 children from Colombia.
We walked back instead of taking a cab. We are really enjoying being able to get out and walk around. We feel completely safe and the people of Medellin are so helpful!
We talked to Jhonatan tonight and ended up telling him that we are already in Medellin. He was so excited even though we can't seem him until Friday. I think for all us (including Jhonatan) our being in Medellin makes it all feel so real!
Tomorrow, our guide is meeting us at 10am and taking us to Parque Explora (a science museum with many really cool outdoor exhibits) and in the afternoon Ana is taking us to get the girls' hair braided.
I'll try to upload pictures tomorrow.
Chao!
The trip down was a breeze. The girls were amazing and we had a very smooth trip. One of our favorite parts was the view of the mountains outside of the city as we flew into the airport. Like one of the girls said, it didn't look real because it was so green and beautiful!
Our apartment is in a great location. We can walk to anything! Sunday afternoon we walked to Sante Fe mall and there happened to be a festival going on. There were tons of people, Latin music playing and people handing out free mini cupcakes (which, of course, the girls loved!). We definitely get a lot of looks here. You don't see many Americans and the girls really stand out with their blonde hair. We ate dinner at a restaurant that serves "arepas con todos". The food was tasty and the view of the city was gorgeous! On the way out of the mall, we grabbed ice cream from Mimo's and walked over to the grocery store which is almost directly across from our apartment. It was fun to walk around the store and look at the different fruits and the girls (and Greg) got a big kick out of seeing the milk. It comes in bags here! We grabbed some fruit and a few things for breakfast and I bought a Colombian cellphone that you can pay to add minutes as you need them.
The climate here is wonderful. We have had the windows open the whole time and are really enjoying the city views and noises.
Today started with a walk over to Oviedo Mall and coffee and pastries at Juan Valdez (yum!). We shopped around a little and then came back to the apartment so the girls could swim. For lunch, Greg walked the girls a few blocks over and they ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (nothing like traveling all the way to Colombia to eat in a restaurant that is in DC). I stayed back to write some emails and make phone calls. We made contact with our guide/interpreter today, Vicky and she was lovely. She already scheduled a meeting for us with her and our lawyer on Wednesday at 6:00pm. She also let me know that we are expected at the ICBF office at 8:30am on Friday to receive Jhonatan! We also got in touch with Ana, our brother-in-law's sister who lives here in Medellin. We are sooo fortunate to have her here! I asked her for a suggestion for a quick outing this afternoon and she had the perfect thing. We took a cab to El Castillo. It is a real castle right here in Medellin. It is very close by but uphill all the way there so we took a cab (all 6 of us shoved into a teeny tiny taxi). The castle grounds were beautiful and the view from there is breathtaking! We took a guided tour through the castle but it was in Spanish so I caught a few things here and there but Greg and the girls had no idea what was said. I think it was a great experience for them to get a little glimpse of what it is like for Jhonatan when everyone is speaking English. They still enjoyed the tour, Eva most of all. Every time we walked into a room, she said, "Wow!". I'm pretty sure she would be a princess and live in a castle if she could! We did meet another American at the castle, a girl in her early twenties that is living here for a month to work on her Spanish. As it turns out, her parents have adopted 3 children from Colombia.
We walked back instead of taking a cab. We are really enjoying being able to get out and walk around. We feel completely safe and the people of Medellin are so helpful!
We talked to Jhonatan tonight and ended up telling him that we are already in Medellin. He was so excited even though we can't seem him until Friday. I think for all us (including Jhonatan) our being in Medellin makes it all feel so real!
Tomorrow, our guide is meeting us at 10am and taking us to Parque Explora (a science museum with many really cool outdoor exhibits) and in the afternoon Ana is taking us to get the girls' hair braided.
I'll try to upload pictures tomorrow.
Chao!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Busy Week!
TICKETS
So...after we heard about our date to receive Jhonatan, we got on the phone and computer to get our airline tickets. A few hours later, we had worked out the logistics of how we were getting everyone back from Colombia on the dates we needed and purchased all of our tickets for the trip.
VISAS
We needed our Visas by today (Friday) and they take 3 business days to process so the next morning we planned on heading to the Colombian Consulate in DC to drop off our Visa applications and supporting documents. The problem came with the pictures we needed. The Colombian Visa application requires 3cmx3cm passport-style photos. We decided to have them taken at the local Walgreens while we were in North Carolina. That way they would be ready when we needed them (thinking ahead!). Well, the size was wrong and they couldn't figure out how to make them the right size. I decided I would just scan them in at home and adjust the size myself. I should have predicted that I would wait until the night before we went to the consulate to actually do that (which I did) and we were out of color ink in the printer. It being 2am at that point, we decided we would just stop at CVS on the way to DC and get the pictures. Long story short...2 CVS's later, a lot of waiting and explaining we finally had the photos we needed a little after 11am. The only problem was we were in Gaithersburg and the Colombian consulate in DC closes at 12 noon. We drove straight there, pulled up 10 minutes before noon and happened to find a parking place right out front, walked in and up to the 10th floor, handed over our applications, were interviewed and walked out at 12:02 (phew!).
KIDSAVE'S MAIN DISH EVENT
That same day, Kidsave had a great fundraising event in DC. So, back down the road we went. It was a very cool event and it was amazing to be able to share our good news with many of the people who got to know Jhonatan over the summer. We also got to hang out with fellow host families who are also going through the adoption process right now.
Here we are with our friends, Craig and Beth at the event. Hopefully, our next picture together will be of a reunion with our little colombianos!
PACKING AND TO-DO LIST
I spent Wednesday and Thursday working through our to-do list, while still keeping up with the normal activities of the house! Sometimes I felt like the list was getting longer rather than shorter but I think we have crossed off almost everything on the list!
VISAS (AGAIN)
This morning was back to DC to pick up the Visas. My navigation system in the car was telling me to take Connecticut Ave. but I wanted to take the GW Parkway. I headed that way and the navigation was telling me to get off on River Road but I wasn't paying attention (I was thinking of the aforementioned list, especially the apartment that we still didn't have). I'm so glad I ended up taking that route, it led me down Wisconsin Ave. past all of the embassies....it was a beautiful drive! Picked up the visas and was back on my way to Frederick.
APARTMENT HUNTING
We decided to rent an apartment due to the size of our family and wanting to be able to cook, walk around and have our own space. I had been searching and searching on-line with no luck. The apartments we needed in the part of Medellin where we wanted to be were rented or the companies that had some available were slightly (or more) sketchy. I happened to mention that we were still looking for an apartment to Terry Baugh (Kidave president) and she put me in touch with the lovely Monica in New York who volunteers with Kidsave and happens to be from Medellin and a realtor. She not only found a great apartment for us right where we want to be but her mom is meeting us to give us the key.
We have our tickets, our visas, an apartment and our on our way to being packed. All we need now is our boy!
Stay tuned....next post is from Medellin, Colombia!!
So...after we heard about our date to receive Jhonatan, we got on the phone and computer to get our airline tickets. A few hours later, we had worked out the logistics of how we were getting everyone back from Colombia on the dates we needed and purchased all of our tickets for the trip.
VISAS
We needed our Visas by today (Friday) and they take 3 business days to process so the next morning we planned on heading to the Colombian Consulate in DC to drop off our Visa applications and supporting documents. The problem came with the pictures we needed. The Colombian Visa application requires 3cmx3cm passport-style photos. We decided to have them taken at the local Walgreens while we were in North Carolina. That way they would be ready when we needed them (thinking ahead!). Well, the size was wrong and they couldn't figure out how to make them the right size. I decided I would just scan them in at home and adjust the size myself. I should have predicted that I would wait until the night before we went to the consulate to actually do that (which I did) and we were out of color ink in the printer. It being 2am at that point, we decided we would just stop at CVS on the way to DC and get the pictures. Long story short...2 CVS's later, a lot of waiting and explaining we finally had the photos we needed a little after 11am. The only problem was we were in Gaithersburg and the Colombian consulate in DC closes at 12 noon. We drove straight there, pulled up 10 minutes before noon and happened to find a parking place right out front, walked in and up to the 10th floor, handed over our applications, were interviewed and walked out at 12:02 (phew!).
KIDSAVE'S MAIN DISH EVENT
That same day, Kidsave had a great fundraising event in DC. So, back down the road we went. It was a very cool event and it was amazing to be able to share our good news with many of the people who got to know Jhonatan over the summer. We also got to hang out with fellow host families who are also going through the adoption process right now.
Here we are with our friends, Craig and Beth at the event. Hopefully, our next picture together will be of a reunion with our little colombianos!
PACKING AND TO-DO LIST
I spent Wednesday and Thursday working through our to-do list, while still keeping up with the normal activities of the house! Sometimes I felt like the list was getting longer rather than shorter but I think we have crossed off almost everything on the list!
VISAS (AGAIN)
This morning was back to DC to pick up the Visas. My navigation system in the car was telling me to take Connecticut Ave. but I wanted to take the GW Parkway. I headed that way and the navigation was telling me to get off on River Road but I wasn't paying attention (I was thinking of the aforementioned list, especially the apartment that we still didn't have). I'm so glad I ended up taking that route, it led me down Wisconsin Ave. past all of the embassies....it was a beautiful drive! Picked up the visas and was back on my way to Frederick.
APARTMENT HUNTING
We decided to rent an apartment due to the size of our family and wanting to be able to cook, walk around and have our own space. I had been searching and searching on-line with no luck. The apartments we needed in the part of Medellin where we wanted to be were rented or the companies that had some available were slightly (or more) sketchy. I happened to mention that we were still looking for an apartment to Terry Baugh (Kidave president) and she put me in touch with the lovely Monica in New York who volunteers with Kidsave and happens to be from Medellin and a realtor. She not only found a great apartment for us right where we want to be but her mom is meeting us to give us the key.
We have our tickets, our visas, an apartment and our on our way to being packed. All we need now is our boy!
Stay tuned....next post is from Medellin, Colombia!!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Travel Approval
We received our travel approval today! We will receive custody of our sweet boy on May 13th in Medellin, Colombia (that's right, next Friday). Update later...right now we are buying tickets so we can go to the consulate for our visas tomorrow. Typically, visas are not required for traveling to Colombia but because we will be completing an adoption there, we need special travel visas. Soooo exciting!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Good Friday
Our I-800 Approval was finally forwarded on to the embassy in Bogota last night around 11:30pm (the National Visa Center is open 7:30am-12:00am Monday through Friday). I got the news at 11:55pm from the sweetest customer service rep I have ever talked with. She was genuinely excited to be able to tell me that are approval had been sent to Bogota, adding "it is Good Friday after all"!
So, our approval will be waiting at the embassy in Bogota when they open Monday morning, where they will issue our Article 5 letter so that we can get a travel date. Hopefully, the next time I post here will be to share when we are leaving for Colombia!
So, our approval will be waiting at the embassy in Bogota when they open Monday morning, where they will issue our Article 5 letter so that we can get a travel date. Hopefully, the next time I post here will be to share when we are leaving for Colombia!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
I-800 Approval!!!!
Late Wednesday night, I emailed USCIS to see if our immigration officer had received our I-800 application (Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as Immediate Relative). All applications must be mailed to a lockbox in Texas and then are forwarded on to the National Benefits Center in Missouri so it can take 10-14 days (or sometimes longer) for an application to reach an officer's desk! Thursday morning (our 10 day mark), our officer emailed a response that she had not received our application but she could see that it was in the building and should therefore reach her desk within days. On Friday afternoon, I decided to call because I just couldn't wait through the weekend for news. The very friendly woman who answered the phone at USCIS looked up our case and announced that our I-800 was approved on Thursday afternoon!!! This is the absolute fastest that this step of the process can take. I was so surprised that I inadvertently said, "Shut up...your kidding me!" (think Elaine on Seinfeld). Luckily, she got a kick out of my response and just laughed and said, "No seriously, I'm not kidding". What an amazing way to start the weekend!
Now, our approval should be on its way to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire by 2nd day air (yes, that's right...Texas-Missouri-New Hampshire). They will then log our approval in and cable (which sounds a lot like an email) our approval to the US Embassy in Bogota. At the Embassy, someone will issue an Article 5 letter that lets ICBF know that we are ready for travel. Our adoption agency rep will then pick up said letter and arrange a date for us to receive Jhonatan.
Although it sounds like there are many steps left, it is possible that we could have our travel date in about a week and travel about 2 weeks after that!
I'm soooo ready to have all of our kids together again. Here is a little video from Jhonatan's last night with us in January. It's not that exciting but it makes me smile!
Now, our approval should be on its way to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire by 2nd day air (yes, that's right...Texas-Missouri-New Hampshire). They will then log our approval in and cable (which sounds a lot like an email) our approval to the US Embassy in Bogota. At the Embassy, someone will issue an Article 5 letter that lets ICBF know that we are ready for travel. Our adoption agency rep will then pick up said letter and arrange a date for us to receive Jhonatan.
Although it sounds like there are many steps left, it is possible that we could have our travel date in about a week and travel about 2 weeks after that!
I'm soooo ready to have all of our kids together again. Here is a little video from Jhonatan's last night with us in January. It's not that exciting but it makes me smile!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Patacones and Paperwork
So, Sunday I decided I would cook a Colombian meal to try to bring us some long-awaited good news on our adoption! I put on some Juanes and cooked frijoles Paisas, rice, chicken kabobs and patacones with aji and guacamole. It was muy rico and good news followed...
We found out on Monday that our agency had finally received the last bit of documents we needed from ICBF. I thought we would get the referral by Monday of next week but our case worker emailed on Wednesday to say that she was issuing the referral that day!!! I happened to already have the paperwork we need to file with USCIS for Jhonatan's visa, the I-800 and I-864W filled out and printed (shocking, I know).
So...a quick trip to the bank for some notarizing and a cashier's check and all of our referral paperwork was complete and Fedexed to our agency. They received our paperwork today and our I-800 was either mailed out today or will be tomorrow.
What happens next?
The short answer is that it will take 2-3 weeks to receive provisional approval from USCIS, which will then be cabled to the embassy in Bogota. They will issue what is called an Article 5 letter which lets ICBF know that we are ready to travel. Our agency rep in Colombia will talk to ICBF and arrange a date for us to be given Jhonatan in Medellin. Our case worker said it is very possible that we will travel in 5 weeks!!!!
I finally feel like we really are going to get our sweet boy!
Here's a little Juanes so you can catch your own Colombian vibe....
We found out on Monday that our agency had finally received the last bit of documents we needed from ICBF. I thought we would get the referral by Monday of next week but our case worker emailed on Wednesday to say that she was issuing the referral that day!!! I happened to already have the paperwork we need to file with USCIS for Jhonatan's visa, the I-800 and I-864W filled out and printed (shocking, I know).
So...a quick trip to the bank for some notarizing and a cashier's check and all of our referral paperwork was complete and Fedexed to our agency. They received our paperwork today and our I-800 was either mailed out today or will be tomorrow.
What happens next?
The short answer is that it will take 2-3 weeks to receive provisional approval from USCIS, which will then be cabled to the embassy in Bogota. They will issue what is called an Article 5 letter which lets ICBF know that we are ready to travel. Our agency rep in Colombia will talk to ICBF and arrange a date for us to be given Jhonatan in Medellin. Our case worker said it is very possible that we will travel in 5 weeks!!!!
I finally feel like we really are going to get our sweet boy!
Here's a little Juanes so you can catch your own Colombian vibe....
Monday, March 21, 2011
A bigger bed for stormy nights!
We had quite a thunderstorm here very early this morning. Within a few minutes, all four of our daughters (appearing in order of age from youngest to oldest) crawled in to bed with us. As one of them pointed out, it was very squishy! These are the moments I love and how disappointing it will be one day when I awake to lightning and one of them no longer wants to crawl in bed with us during a thunderstorm. I found myself wondering if Jhonatan will be awoken by lightening and wander in with his sisters. If so, we may be saying what our 5 year old announced from our squishy bed...."We need a bigger bed for stormy nights"!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Referral!!!!
We just got word that we were issued our referral last Wednesday. This is a huge step and means that we are approved to adopt Jhonatan. It also means additional paperwork and waiting....more on that later! For now, I am just so happy to be moving forward!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
My trip to Medellin
I was so fortunate to be able to travel back to Medellin to visit Jhonatan Feb. 14th-18th. During my visit in October, I stayed with the parents of my brother-in-law, Jose Gabriel and Maria Teresa and had my own personal guide, his sister Ana. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay with them on this most recent trip but instead booked a room at the Hotel Intercontinental in the El Poblado section of Medellin. While the accommodations could never measure up to La Casa De Vega, Jhonatan and I enjoyed our stay here...
When I was checking in, I noticed a huge bowl of granadillas (picture below) sitting on the counter. I'm not afraid to say that I helped myself to three to eat in the room. They might be the most unusual fruit I have ever eaten. I was introduced to them when I visited back in October. In order to eat them, you bang them on the table and pull open the top. You then eat the insides with a spoon....que rico! While I think granadillas are delicious, Jhonatan does not care for them.
Jhonatan's psychologist brought him to the hotel at 4:00pm and after signing a piece of paper saying I wouldn't leave Medellin with him (as tempting as that sounded), he was mine for the week! We headed up to the room and Jhonatan opened all of his valentines from family and friends...he loved all of them! After he had opened all of the valentines and organized all of his things, we explored the hotel and headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We both decided on the piedra caliente which is cooking meat at the table on a hot stone. It was so fun!
While we were not able to stay with my brother-in-laws family, they were so kind to come pick us up and take us out. On Tuesday, Maria Theresa and Ana picked us up at 12:00pm and took us to lunch at their country club. It was such a beautiful spot. We looked out over the golf course with the view of Medellin in the background. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. We had a lovely lunch and Jhonatan adores Ana and Maria Theresa. We are so fortunate to have friends in Medellin! After lunch, we came back to the hotel and played a little futbol...
The hotel has a basketball court which is also a mini soccer field. Apparently, that is very common in Colombia. Jhonatan and I played a little one-on-one and he barely beat me ;). As you can see, I didn't hold it against him!
For dinner that night, we ordered room service. Or I should say, Jhonatan ordered room service. We looked all over but couldn't find a room service menu so Jhonatan picked up the phone, dialed room service and asked what the menu was, ordered for both us and was completely tickled with himself when he hung up the phone. Of course, he loved room service but what kid doesn't.
Wednesday was gorgeous...low 80's and sunny all day! So, we spent the whole day at the hotel. We played ping pong, numerous games of Uno at a table by the pool and lots of swimming. While we were at the pool, we spent time with a lovely couple, Nicole and Jason, from the United States who are in Medellin adopting 3 brothers (Juan Manuel 6, Santiago 4 and Christian 2). Jason was nice enough to spend time playing ball with Jhonatan in the pool while Nicole and I chatted. It was really great to meet them and the next day we also met their boys...so cute! You can read about their adventure here.
That night we ventured across the street to a wonderful traditional Colombian restaurant, Hato Viejo. My brother-in-law had mentioned it and we decided to risk life and limb to try it out (you do that anytime you try to cross the street in Medellin). The restaurant was lovely and Jhonatan and I sat on the little balcony you can see in the left of the picture. Jhonatan liked the food so much that we ate there again the next night. I think his favorite was the basket of chicharron and patacones (fried pork and fried green plaintains) they bring to the table while you order. My favorite was my own personal mini pitcher of Sangria!
On Thursday morning, Ana and Maria Theresa picked us up at 10:00am and took us to El Astor for helado (ice cream). El Astor has some of the most beautiful and amazing candies, cakes and pastries and delicious ice cream sundaes. Mine had chocalate ice cream, a berry marmalade sauce, fresh chocolate shavings, fresh whipped cream and a meringue cookie on top!
We then went to Olviedo Mall so I could get a finca (looks like a little house with porch and flowers) to hang on the wall. I got one in October and officially now have a collection of 2! Jhonatan and I also got bracelets for the whole family to wear until we go to Medellin and bring him home. Our lovely guides (Thanks Ana and Maria Theresa!) dropped us off at the hotel and we played more Uno, Jhonatan learned a little golf and we swam in the pool one last time! Here is Jhonatan with Andres getting some golf tips...
Friday, we had my favorite breakfast at the little cafe in the hotel lobby. We ate there almost every morning and I had pandebono (cheesy bread), Jhonatan had buñuelos (kind of a giant donut hole) and both of us had delicious cafe con leche (coffee with milk). The guy who worked there was super friendly and always chatted with us, even if he spotted us across the lobby. As I said back in October, the people of Medellin are amazingly warm and friendly. Jhonatan took this picture of us as we were waiting for his social worker to pick him up.
Some highlights of the trip that I don't have pictures of....too many games of Uno and Skipbo to count, Jhonatan singing and dancing the theme song from a popular Colombian show El Man es German (trust me, although probably inappropriate for children, very funny!), hearing him sing Usher in the shower, and most of all how excited he was to talk to his Padrino (Greg) and las niñas (the girls) every night. It was a wonderful visit and I can't wait to get back to Medellin. And like I told Jhonatan....next time I'm not leaving without him!
When I was checking in, I noticed a huge bowl of granadillas (picture below) sitting on the counter. I'm not afraid to say that I helped myself to three to eat in the room. They might be the most unusual fruit I have ever eaten. I was introduced to them when I visited back in October. In order to eat them, you bang them on the table and pull open the top. You then eat the insides with a spoon....que rico! While I think granadillas are delicious, Jhonatan does not care for them.
Jhonatan's psychologist brought him to the hotel at 4:00pm and after signing a piece of paper saying I wouldn't leave Medellin with him (as tempting as that sounded), he was mine for the week! We headed up to the room and Jhonatan opened all of his valentines from family and friends...he loved all of them! After he had opened all of the valentines and organized all of his things, we explored the hotel and headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We both decided on the piedra caliente which is cooking meat at the table on a hot stone. It was so fun!
While we were not able to stay with my brother-in-laws family, they were so kind to come pick us up and take us out. On Tuesday, Maria Theresa and Ana picked us up at 12:00pm and took us to lunch at their country club. It was such a beautiful spot. We looked out over the golf course with the view of Medellin in the background. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. We had a lovely lunch and Jhonatan adores Ana and Maria Theresa. We are so fortunate to have friends in Medellin! After lunch, we came back to the hotel and played a little futbol...
The hotel has a basketball court which is also a mini soccer field. Apparently, that is very common in Colombia. Jhonatan and I played a little one-on-one and he barely beat me ;). As you can see, I didn't hold it against him!
For dinner that night, we ordered room service. Or I should say, Jhonatan ordered room service. We looked all over but couldn't find a room service menu so Jhonatan picked up the phone, dialed room service and asked what the menu was, ordered for both us and was completely tickled with himself when he hung up the phone. Of course, he loved room service but what kid doesn't.
Wednesday was gorgeous...low 80's and sunny all day! So, we spent the whole day at the hotel. We played ping pong, numerous games of Uno at a table by the pool and lots of swimming. While we were at the pool, we spent time with a lovely couple, Nicole and Jason, from the United States who are in Medellin adopting 3 brothers (Juan Manuel 6, Santiago 4 and Christian 2). Jason was nice enough to spend time playing ball with Jhonatan in the pool while Nicole and I chatted. It was really great to meet them and the next day we also met their boys...so cute! You can read about their adventure here.
That night we ventured across the street to a wonderful traditional Colombian restaurant, Hato Viejo. My brother-in-law had mentioned it and we decided to risk life and limb to try it out (you do that anytime you try to cross the street in Medellin). The restaurant was lovely and Jhonatan and I sat on the little balcony you can see in the left of the picture. Jhonatan liked the food so much that we ate there again the next night. I think his favorite was the basket of chicharron and patacones (fried pork and fried green plaintains) they bring to the table while you order. My favorite was my own personal mini pitcher of Sangria!
On Thursday morning, Ana and Maria Theresa picked us up at 10:00am and took us to El Astor for helado (ice cream). El Astor has some of the most beautiful and amazing candies, cakes and pastries and delicious ice cream sundaes. Mine had chocalate ice cream, a berry marmalade sauce, fresh chocolate shavings, fresh whipped cream and a meringue cookie on top!
We then went to Olviedo Mall so I could get a finca (looks like a little house with porch and flowers) to hang on the wall. I got one in October and officially now have a collection of 2! Jhonatan and I also got bracelets for the whole family to wear until we go to Medellin and bring him home. Our lovely guides (Thanks Ana and Maria Theresa!) dropped us off at the hotel and we played more Uno, Jhonatan learned a little golf and we swam in the pool one last time! Here is Jhonatan with Andres getting some golf tips...
Friday, we had my favorite breakfast at the little cafe in the hotel lobby. We ate there almost every morning and I had pandebono (cheesy bread), Jhonatan had buñuelos (kind of a giant donut hole) and both of us had delicious cafe con leche (coffee with milk). The guy who worked there was super friendly and always chatted with us, even if he spotted us across the lobby. As I said back in October, the people of Medellin are amazingly warm and friendly. Jhonatan took this picture of us as we were waiting for his social worker to pick him up.
Some highlights of the trip that I don't have pictures of....too many games of Uno and Skipbo to count, Jhonatan singing and dancing the theme song from a popular Colombian show El Man es German (trust me, although probably inappropriate for children, very funny!), hearing him sing Usher in the shower, and most of all how excited he was to talk to his Padrino (Greg) and las niñas (the girls) every night. It was a wonderful visit and I can't wait to get back to Medellin. And like I told Jhonatan....next time I'm not leaving without him!
ICBF Approval!
We had been told by our agency at the beginning of February that ICBF was well on their way to approving us but it was just verbal information and not official. I was wondering what our official approval date was and emailed our agency several times the last few days to try to find out. Imagine my surprise when they forwarded the official approval letter that states we were approved by ICBF on January 18th!!! (just 4 days after our dossier was submitted on a Friday!) So, that means we have been approved for almost 6 weeks and our referral should hopefully be coming any day now. And....we could travel as soon as 5 weeks (or longer) after receiving the referral. While we are still waiting, I do feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Our Adoption Story
I have hesitated about writing specifically about our adoption because our little man is computer savvy and I know he has visited this blog. However, I decided to share our blog at www.kellyskornerblog.com and now that Jhonatan knows we are adopting him, here it is....
I guess it all started three years ago when I first discovered Kidsave, an amazing organization that advocates tirelessly for older children without families throughout the world. I happened to stumble upon their website and read about Summer Miracles. Kidsave works together with ICBF in Colombia to bring older children over for a summer vacation of 5 weeks, during which time the children stay with host families who welcome them into their homes and advocate for their adoption. I had just spent 7 weeks in a cast with a broken ankle so I thought 5 weeks with an extra child...no problem! I mentioned it to Greg and he didn't even blink an eye when he said, "Absolutely, let's do this". A few days later, I was talking with my sister-in-law and she had just sent an email to the same organization about being a host family. How weird is that? So, the summer of 2008, we were lucky enough to host the most amazing girl, Paula.
We had the most wonderful experience hosting Paula and it was definitely eye-opening to meet these amazing older kids who were growing up without permanent families. While Paula was with us, her forever family found her! She came home in September of 2009. It has been a joy to be able to watch her blossom with her family.
Not long after she came home, our daughters started asking to host again. We contacted Kidsave in February of 2010 and told them we wanted to participate in Summer Miracles again but only if we could host a girl because we have four girls and logistically it would to be much easier. Because we were planning to only advocate not adopt (we had no intentions of adopting), we were matched last. Our social worker, who I adore, called us to let us know that there were no more girls approved to travel that summer and asked me if we would consider hosting a boy. I said probably not, but I would talk to the rest of the family. When the girls heard that a boy was the only option for us to host that summer, they all thought we should do it. Our social worker made a visit to our home and brought this picture...
Those of you who have met Jhonatan will be as baffled by this picture as I am. Who is this boy? Seriously, this is Jhonatan but looks nothing like him and does not even give a hint about his fun-loving, engaging and all-round enjoyable personality! However, his description did and also included that he loves soccer, is very smart and enjoys art. With picture and description in hand, we anxiously awaited our summer visitor. Just to give you an idea about that baffling picture, here is the boy who greeted us at the airport with an enthusiastic, "Vamos a casa" or "Let's go to the house"!
My posts from this past summer give a glimpse of how much we loved having Jhonatan in our home for the 5 week visit. He was a joy! When the end of the summer came and Jhonatan did not have a family who was totally committed to adopting him, we began to worry that we would have to send him back to Colombia without a forever family. It was then that we realized... we were his forever family! We all adore him and he completes our family perfectly. He is all we could ever imagined for a son and more and we couldn't have picked a more perfect brother for our girls. Thank goodness we didn't say no to hosting a boy!
We began the adoption process 2 weeks after Jhonatan left. Right now, our dossier is with ICBF in Colombia and we are waiting to hear if we are approved. If we do receive approval, our paperwork will be sent to Medellin so that we can be issued our official referral. After that, more paperwork and waiting until we can finally travel as a family to Medellin, Colombia and bring home our boy!
Right now, Kidsave is already planning for Summer Miracles 2011. If you have ever thought about adopting an older child or you just would like to open your home to one of these amazing kids, please visit the Kidsave website or leave me a comment and I will make sure you get the contact information you need, "because every child needs a family"!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Dance Party!
Jhonatan's last night here all of the kids worked together and created a dance routine. Ginny and Cassie directed while Jhonatan, Tess and Eva performed. The dancing was awesome but I especially love the pre-dance pictures!
We miss that sweet boy! He fits into our family so perfectly!
We are keeping our fingers crossed for a fast and problem-free process now that our dossier is with ICBF in Colombia. Our dance parties just aren't the same without Jhonatan!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
It's out of our hands
Our dossier is officially out of our hands! I emailed our social worker, who has been on family leave just to touch base and get a rough estimate as to when our dossier (the collection of documents required by Colombia for adoption) would be filed with ICBF in Bogota. You can imagine our surprise when she replied that it was filed yesterday!! I wasn't expecting this step until at least the end of next week, at the earliest. She said we should hear in the next 2-4 weeks whether we were approved or if Colombia has any questions about our documents. Obviously, we are hoping for a quick approval with no questions! Then, our dossier will be sent on to Medellin where they will meet to decide if we are a good match for Jhonatan. If so, they will issue us the official referral to adopt Jhonatan. Even though it will probably be 3 months before we can go get him, I am so happy that our dossier is officially out of our hands!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Sometimes the World Doesn't Deserve Poetry
I copied this post from a blog I like to follow. The woman who writes it is a very talented poet and I love to read her blog entries. She hosted and adopted a boy through Kidsave and just hosted a girl for a holiday visit. I was going to introduce it with an explanation but it definitely speaks for itself...
An emotional week. F leaves today to return to Colombia. She did not want to leave. She cried.
At least she can still cry. She and Michael have experienced more difficulties in their young lives than many will experience in their entire lives. For Michael, this means he refuses to cry ... and so never does (actually, he cried with me once -- it was when I told him that no matter what happens, he's my "forever" son. But he's clearly blocked out the incident of crying from his memory). At least F can still cry.
Yesterday, we were driving around on various errands. I ran into a local Walmart to get some brown rice for the dogs. While there, we passed a clothing rack of 50%-off holiday dresses. Mom told F to pick one and that we'd get it for her. Mom and I were mindful of how F had so loved the pink dress we'd gotten for her earlier, and at least the thing with holiday dresses is how their fancy designs address a repressed girly-girl nature. Here she is in the dressing room.
Despite being worn over her purple leggings, Gorgeous, right?
Well, a few hours later as we were packing, she said not to include that dress and stockings I'd brought for it (as well as many of the other items we'd bought for her stay). She said that she'd never have a chance to wear it back at her orphanage. She said dresses like that are set aside for special occasions but ... there aren't usually that many "special occasions."
So off she departs, crying, because she wants a family so badly. And here I am stuck with an unworn dress hanging from a spare bedroom closet.
There's many things I can't say about F publicly. But I will express the hope that ... May your life not end with a memory of a favorite dress being that of something tried in a Walmart dressing room during a stray grocery run, and then never worn again. There is something wrong in the world when even such a ridiculous hope may be too ... ambitious
An emotional week. F leaves today to return to Colombia. She did not want to leave. She cried.
At least she can still cry. She and Michael have experienced more difficulties in their young lives than many will experience in their entire lives. For Michael, this means he refuses to cry ... and so never does (actually, he cried with me once -- it was when I told him that no matter what happens, he's my "forever" son. But he's clearly blocked out the incident of crying from his memory). At least F can still cry.
Yesterday, we were driving around on various errands. I ran into a local Walmart to get some brown rice for the dogs. While there, we passed a clothing rack of 50%-off holiday dresses. Mom told F to pick one and that we'd get it for her. Mom and I were mindful of how F had so loved the pink dress we'd gotten for her earlier, and at least the thing with holiday dresses is how their fancy designs address a repressed girly-girl nature. Here she is in the dressing room.
Despite being worn over her purple leggings, Gorgeous, right?
Well, a few hours later as we were packing, she said not to include that dress and stockings I'd brought for it (as well as many of the other items we'd bought for her stay). She said that she'd never have a chance to wear it back at her orphanage. She said dresses like that are set aside for special occasions but ... there aren't usually that many "special occasions."
So off she departs, crying, because she wants a family so badly. And here I am stuck with an unworn dress hanging from a spare bedroom closet.
There's many things I can't say about F publicly. But I will express the hope that ... May your life not end with a memory of a favorite dress being that of something tried in a Walmart dressing room during a stray grocery run, and then never worn again. There is something wrong in the world when even such a ridiculous hope may be too ... ambitious
The Red Thread
"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break." - Ancient Chinese Proverb
This proverb has been used widely by families adopting from China and I just love the visual image it creates to help explain the bonds within an adoptive family. Jhonatan came to us on this visit knowing that we are in the process of adopting him. It was wonderful to be able to talk openly and answer his questions. One night while tucking him in, the subject came up and I remembered the Red Thread Proverb. I explained to him that when he was born God must have connected one of those red threads from him to me and our family. Jhonatan agreed and added that the threads were tied to our hearts (so sweet!). Now he is back in Colombia and our little red thread is stretched and tangled but it will never break and soon enough he will be back here with our family where he was meant to be.
This proverb has been used widely by families adopting from China and I just love the visual image it creates to help explain the bonds within an adoptive family. Jhonatan came to us on this visit knowing that we are in the process of adopting him. It was wonderful to be able to talk openly and answer his questions. One night while tucking him in, the subject came up and I remembered the Red Thread Proverb. I explained to him that when he was born God must have connected one of those red threads from him to me and our family. Jhonatan agreed and added that the threads were tied to our hearts (so sweet!). Now he is back in Colombia and our little red thread is stretched and tangled but it will never break and soon enough he will be back here with our family where he was meant to be.
Let it Snow
Thank goodness it snowed while Jhonatan was here. Ever since the summer, he had been talking about how much he wanted to see snow. While in our minds it was not much snow, Jhonatan couldn't wait to get out there and all of the kids had a ball playing in the little bit of snow we got. Jhonatan and Tess in the snow.
Seriously, it doesn't get much cuter than this...
Jhonatan picked up snowboarding right away and LOVED it!
Sebas, who is also a Kidsave Summer Miracles 2010 kid, came over for the day. Jhonatan, Tess and Sebas played all day together. I love how kids don't need to speak the same language to be great friends.
Los Tres Amigos!
I can't believe they could make a snowman out of the tiny bit of snow that was left. He turned out pretty cute but Cowgirl ate his blueberry eye and thus he became, Mr. One-eye.
Seriously, it doesn't get much cuter than this...
Jhonatan picked up snowboarding right away and LOVED it!
Sebas, who is also a Kidsave Summer Miracles 2010 kid, came over for the day. Jhonatan, Tess and Sebas played all day together. I love how kids don't need to speak the same language to be great friends.
Los Tres Amigos!
I can't believe they could make a snowman out of the tiny bit of snow that was left. He turned out pretty cute but Cowgirl ate his blueberry eye and thus he became, Mr. One-eye.
El Mejor Regalo del Mundo
Having Jhonatan here with us for Christmas was the best present ever! As a mom, it was awesome to watch our girls spend time with Jhonatan again. While they can drive me crazy sometimes, they are incredibly loving, accepting and giving. We all loved sharing our Christmas traditions with Jhonatan. Here are all of the kids with "the perfect tree".
Making Christmas cookies...
Taking a break from decorating the tree. The adorable blue star ornament in the background was a gift from Jhonatan. He made it for us while he was in Bogota preparing for the visit.
We had my family over to celebrate Christmas Eve. My parents gave all of the grandkids ukeleles, so the kids immediately had a ukelele dance party!
Love, love, love this picture. My two handsome boys! :)
I had to include this picture of my grandmother holding my niece. I hope I got those genes...
All of the grandkids on Greg's side of the family draw names before Christmas and get a gift for that one person. Jhonatan picked our 14-year-old niece. I wasn't sure how that would go but he picked out the perfect gift for her. Look at how excited he is for her to open it.
Playing Hedbandz with cousins...this game was a huge hit this Christmas!
I was worried that Christmas would be overwhelming for Jhonatan. Greg and I both have large close families, and when we get together it is quite a scene. Jhonatan fit right in and actually enjoyed all of the extended family activities. It was such a gift to spend this special time with him!
Making Christmas cookies...
Taking a break from decorating the tree. The adorable blue star ornament in the background was a gift from Jhonatan. He made it for us while he was in Bogota preparing for the visit.
We had my family over to celebrate Christmas Eve. My parents gave all of the grandkids ukeleles, so the kids immediately had a ukelele dance party!
Love, love, love this picture. My two handsome boys! :)
I had to include this picture of my grandmother holding my niece. I hope I got those genes...
All of the grandkids on Greg's side of the family draw names before Christmas and get a gift for that one person. Jhonatan picked our 14-year-old niece. I wasn't sure how that would go but he picked out the perfect gift for her. Look at how excited he is for her to open it.
Playing Hedbandz with cousins...this game was a huge hit this Christmas!
I was worried that Christmas would be overwhelming for Jhonatan. Greg and I both have large close families, and when we get together it is quite a scene. Jhonatan fit right in and actually enjoyed all of the extended family activities. It was such a gift to spend this special time with him!
Sugarloaf, Science Center, and Strikes...
We were able to fit in some fun outings while the girls were off from school for Winter break. Here is Jhonatan on Sugarloaf Mountain...
Jhonatan and Cassie had a great time hiking with Greg and some neighbors.
I took all of the kids to the Maryland Science Center. We had been wanting to go to see the traveling exhibit...Shipwreck. Add in Uncle Tom and cousins and you get a super fun afternoon. Here is a picture of Jhonatan and Eva in the hurricane simulator.
Jhonatan on the bed of nails. He was pretty psyched about that picture.
Greg and I took the kids and some of their friends bowling.
It was Jhonatan's first time bowling but check out that form :)
While the outings were fun, we spent most of our time with Jhonatan hanging out as a family, soaking up every moment with him!
Jhonatan and Cassie had a great time hiking with Greg and some neighbors.
I took all of the kids to the Maryland Science Center. We had been wanting to go to see the traveling exhibit...Shipwreck. Add in Uncle Tom and cousins and you get a super fun afternoon. Here is a picture of Jhonatan and Eva in the hurricane simulator.
Jhonatan on the bed of nails. He was pretty psyched about that picture.
Greg and I took the kids and some of their friends bowling.
It was Jhonatan's first time bowling but check out that form :)
While the outings were fun, we spent most of our time with Jhonatan hanging out as a family, soaking up every moment with him!
Airport Arrival
Jhonatan finally arrived for the holiday visit on December 10th! All four of our girls were participating in the Kris Kringle procession in downtown Frederick that evening so Greg went by himself to meet Jhonatan at arrival. Here is the picture he sent to my phone....
There were several other families meeting their children at the airport. Some are also in the process of adopting, some had only met the children briefly and for one child, this was her visit trip to the United States.
We are so grateful that Jhonatan could come through Kidsave to visit us again. It definitely helped with the waiting.
There were several other families meeting their children at the airport. Some are also in the process of adopting, some had only met the children briefly and for one child, this was her visit trip to the United States.
We are so grateful that Jhonatan could come through Kidsave to visit us again. It definitely helped with the waiting.
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