It's official - Andrea and Felipe are ours!!

As of today, "La Familia Smith" is a forever family of four!!

Jeff left early this morning to sign the “Sentencia” (the final decree) in Chiquinquirá saying the kids are ours. When he got back to Bogotá in the afternoon, the kids and I met him at the passport office – well, near it – to have their photos taken and then get their new Colombian passports with their new last names. From there, we went to the doctor to have them checked out and get their documents for the Embassy. Tomorrow morning (Weds) at 9:00 AM, we four go to the Embassy to apply for their visas to come to the US. I believe we pick up their visas on Thursday and it could be that we could fly toward home on Friday!!!! (I say “toward” because we will spend the night in Atlanta and actually get home on Satuday, if everything works out.)

We had another tough night last night. It started out sort of ok – a tickling session and lots of laughing, but of course, when it was time to try to stop things and get them into bed, it turned into a battle. Everyone in tears – everyone saying “I’m sorry” – everyone feeling bad. There was, however, a moment of hope. Andrea went into the bathroom and didn’t come out for a bit, and when we finally got her to come out, she revealed a little bit more about their previous situation. I think she’s really been fearful that we might not really want them, but we told her we wanted to be the “final” parents for them. We asked if she wanted to be in our family and she said yes, and then she helped Felipe with the same question and he also said yes. Until that moment, I think we were both struggling with whether they really wanted this to happen or not.

Again today, during our running around, she was very distant and it was obvious that she was struggling with the reality of all the changes coming her way. We were concerned, but tried to give her a little space as we went through the appointments. She kept saying her name was “Andrea (her birth surname)" – but again, we didn’t push it. Then a short while after we got back here, it was like someone flipped a switch and suddenly she was saying her name was “Andrea Smith”! :-) I think it just took her a little while to process that it really had happened and we didn’t leave them. This evening I asked her “todo bien?” (everything ok?) and she said yes, but also said she was “poco triste” (a little sad) and I told her I understood that (she is leaving a lot behind, after all). She was playing some games on the computer and wanted me to sit right beside her and play too – a definite first. Now, of course, a few minutes ago when I said her time was up and I needed to use the computer she acted mad and unhappy, but I’m hoping it’s just the drama gene in her and it won’t ruin the evening – we’ll see. (I think there’s an Oscar in her future, that’s for sure!!) ;-)

So, it’s official – we are “La Familia Smith” forever now. Pretty amazing to think about! (And my DAUGHTER just came and asked me nicely for some ice cream, so I guess the evening isn’t shot yet, thankfully.) It looks like we have a busy couple of days ahead of us and then we can finally bring our whole family HOME!!! I’m not naïve enough to think that all the hard stuff is behind us, but I hope we can at least get off to a good start.

Thanks so much for praying for us these three weeks. We have needed every one. Please don’t stop yet, and especially pray for the kids the next few days as we finish things up here. For now, I’d better close since we have to get up early and it takes a while to get everyone moving toward bed.

Much love to you all and thanks for your support. Looks like I’ll be seeing you soon. (I’ll let you know for sure when we have our travel rearranged.)

Just checking in from Bogotá

Hello dear friends,

First, I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments, encouragement, prayer and support. I'm sure you can tell from my posts that this has not been an easy experience - we knew it would be hard, but not this hard and maybe not this soon.

Second, although I had great intentions of posting more often and sharing lots of fun photos, I simply haven't had the strength or time. So I'll try to catch up a little.

Today the kids are having their first English lesson - 2 hours if they can take it - so we'll see if that helps anything. At the very least, hopefully it will give them a head-start on what they will need to know when we get home.

On Monday, Andrea asked about getting her hair cut. When we said yes, of course she was a happy girl. Just she and I went to the salon (for kids) and she had her hair cut and styled, plus her first manicure. I also had my first manicure - had to come all the way to Colombia for it, apparently!! I think she felt very special and I even got a little kiss on the cheek and a "thank you very much" in English on our way back. :-)

On Tuesday, we went to the Gold Museum and walked around the older part of Bogotá with David (the son of Lucia, who is our contact here in Colombia). The kids enjoyed it for the most part, I think, although it was tiring. I think we will also ask David to take us to another museum he told us about that is some kind of scientific interactive museum (starts with an "M" but I always forget the name). We might do this tomorrow morning and then do another English lesson tomorrow afternoon.

There was much thunder and lightning this morning and it POURED rain and hail most of the day, so we've been inside all day. The kids have done reasonably well - we have let them play games on the computer for part of the time (not constantly) so that has helped, and Andrea likes to play with the other little ones that are here. Felipe likes playing with the Legos they have here, so that helps him to pass some of the time, even with his abounding energy.

So, for now we have a little break and they do too, in a sense. Hopefully, the English lessons will help us begin to communicate a bit more. In the meantime, I might just go grab a nap!! ;-)

Thanks again to you all for your love and support.

One week down...years to go!!

Today it has been one full week since we brought Andrea and Felipe into our family. It has been kind of a hard week - mostly because of language and communication issues, but sometimes also because of attitudes. I'm sure the kids are going through a lot - I know this is a huge change for them and they are missing friends and their foster family. I wish with all of my heart that we could communicate about the things in their hearts and minds. The other families here who speak Spanish & English have been wonderful in trying to help us know what the kids are saying; but sometimes it is also a little bit of a drawback because, understandably, the kids are much more comfortable with them. Sometimes we seem to be the enemy, because we are the ones saying "no" and trying to begin to teach them our rules, etc. But I guess that's pretty normal for any kids - almost anyone is more fun than your parents! ;-)

Here are a few photos:

From last Monday when we first met Andrea and Felipe

"La Familia Smith"

Ok, that's all for the moment - lunch is just about ready. I'll try to post a bit more later on. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support for us.

And now we are FOUR!

Greetings!


I know many of you have been anxiously waiting to hear from us since our big day yesterday. It was a very long day for all four of us.


We left El Refugio at 7 AM with David (Lucia´s son and our interpreter) and Oscar (our attorney) and drove for about 3 hours to Chiquinquirá. We first stopped at the courts where Oscar had us sign some papers. Then we went to the ICBF office and waited...and waited...


There was a bit of confusion with the kids having visited the US last summer combined with our asking that they be told before we arrived about the death of Jeff´s mom. The ICBF people thought we had already met the kids and apparently even the kids were confused. So, we had to wait until that got straightened out to everyone´s satisfaction. Then one of the people left for a while and we had to wait for her to come back. It was probably about 2 hours before we finally met the kids.


Andrea and Juan Felipe were shy but willing to be hugged and greeted by us. We had practiced a few sayings for them, but of course they went right out of my brain when we saw the kids - especially with five or six other people in the room all talking at once!! Oh well. I´m sure we were all four feeling nervous and trying to figure out what to do. We managed though.


After a few more signatures giving us temporary custody of the kids, we headed back to Bogotá. We stopped for a late lunch along the way.


(writing continued on Wednesday morning...)


So lunch was good and then we continued to Bogotá. I think the kids were feeling a bit "shell-shocked" and frankly, so was I. We had dinner and the hotel and just spent time with all the other families until it was time to get ready for bed. It´s a bit challenging to my pride that everyone else can speak easily to my children but I cannot. But we continue on. The first night was hard as they didn´t really want to go to bed, but again, we managed.


Yesterday (Tuesday) we had a fairly good day. They woke up happy and we got ready in turn (uno baño para quatro personas!). We had breakfast at the hotel and played for a while in the yard here. In the late morning we went to the Unicentro (a very big mall near here) to get some clothes (everything we brought them is too big!) and some snacks to have here for them. We had a few missteps - due to language, of course - so next time I think we need to make sure we have someone with us who can help translate (which, again, is very frustrating).

I´m sorry for not posting any photos yet. I can´t use my laptop anywhere else in the building except the same small area where the wireless router is located, so it´s a minor inconvenience. Hopefully, I can find a time to bring my laptop here and put a few photos up - but it will probably be a few days still. :-)

One other thing I want to share is how wonderful Jeff is with the kids! He is so kind and patient with them and they respond to him very well. It´s a joy to watch!

Ok, they are probably all ready for breakfast so I´d better go back up to our room and see what´s up. Thanks again for all your prayers for us. Please keep it up because I´m sure we have many more challenges ahead of us.

Hasta luego!! :-)

We're here in Colombia!

¡Hola from Bogotá! :-)

We arrived at the airport on schedule last night and we were met by an enthusiastic Andrés who brought us to El Rufugio via taxi. It was probably about 10:30 PM when we were finally getting settled into our room and trying to figure out where we were! ;-) Everyone has been so kind to us already and given us lots of information about things to do, etc.

Lucia called at about 9 AM this morning to let us know that the lawyer and translator will meet us with a taxi at 7 AM tomorrow morning to make the drive to Chiquinquirá to meet Andrea and Juan. Our appointment is at 11 AM, so apparently it's a bit of a drive! So today we are getting unpacked and settling into our room and thinking about what tomorrow will be like. It's an interesting realization that today is our last day as just the two of us, but we know it's a good thing and we are excited to see what the days ahead will hold. Nervous...but excited!

There are two other adoptive families here in the hotel. One from France with their new 5-month-old daughter, and the other from Puerto Rico who will meet thier 3-year-old twin girls on Tuesday. It seems this currently quiet hotel will be not-so-quiet in a few days with two 3-year-olds, and an 8- and 11-year old!!

I started the day feeling a little bit lost, especially with the language issue, and feeling really bad that I didn't work harder at learning Spanish before our trip. The staff here doesn't seem to speak English, so it's a bit of a challenge, although we can catch a word or three now and then and try to make ourselves understood. I accidentally ordered warm milk for cereal this morning because I misunderstood what she was asking. And don't ask me why the poor lady didn't understand when I asked for "dulce" (candy) for my coffee instead of "azúcar" (sugar)!! ;-) Jeff is doing pretty well at attempting to speak to them in Spanish; I feel like my brain just freezes up each time I want to try. :-( Thankfully, the two other couples also speak English or it would be even harder. But, as I said to Jeff after our experience this morning, we had a taste of what life will probably feel like for our children when everyone starts speaking to them in rapid-fire English. It's not very fun to have that "deer-in-the-headlights" feeling because you really have no clue what the person just said to you, and you know they feel bad because they can't make you understand. But we'll just keep working on it.

The weather is nice so far. A bit overcast on and off but pleasant enough outside with a little breeze that keeps it cool. No rain yet, but our new French friends tell us it rains every day so maybe later on?

Ok, we're off to get some money exchanged and then a bit later to go do a little shopping, I think. And tomorrow? Well, only God knows what's in store for us tomorrow so we're relying on Him to walk us through it.

We made it to Atlanta and are now waiting for our flight to Bogota. All is going well so far. :-)

We're on our way!

Thanks to our wonderful friends, we have enjoyed a yummy dinner and are now sitting quietly in a beautiful hotel room, relaxing a bit before getting up at "o'dark hundred" (about 3 AM) to get ready to catch the shuttle to the Portland airport to be there 2 hours early for our 6:05 AM flight. It was a busy day getting ready, but now we've done all we can do and we are headed to Colombia to meet our children!!

I'll do my best to keep this blog updated during our trip - we would love to share the experience with those who are interested. We'll just see how the days go. :-)

Thanks again to all our dear friends who have walked with us thus far on this journey. We continue to be so grateful for all of you. Thank you for your continued love and support for us - we appreciate it so much.

Next stop - Bogotá, Colombia (by way of Atlanta)!! :-D