P-I-N-K!!!

We are PINK! In the adoption world, this means we have our embassy appointment scheduled! Monday is the big day! We have the appointment Monday, return Tuesday afternoon to pick up the visa and then can fly out on Wednesday.

I called the embassy today to make sure our DNA results had made it out of the mailroom. I talked to a nice woman (which was a huge blessing after the unhelpful people we'd encountered before). She said "Oh yes, I have several here on my desk. Let me see... yep, here's the Armtrong's. Would you like a Monday appointment?" Would I like a Monday appointment? Are you kidding me? I cried.

It is official. We will be home sometime next week! We have to make flight arrangements still, but we are KC bound! Thank You, Jesus!

Days when we love Antigua

Yesterday was a day when I caught myself really loving Antigua. It was gorgeous here and we spent a lot of the day outside. We started the morning hanging out in the square with the housemates. Then in the afternoon I decided that if I really am leaving soon, I should see some of the ruins. Antigua has a lot of ruins of old churches destroyed by the earthquakes. They are a popular tourist spot, but I hadn't visited any yet. Samuel and I checked out two yesterday. He was more interested in playing in the dirt and rocks.

Our DNA has arrived at the embassy, so now we are just officially waiting for an e-mail with our embassy appointment date. Hoping to hear from them before the weekend. I realize I've been a little over the top with my blog posts this week. Just lots of nervous energy anticipating finally coming home!

Embassy Issue Resolved

Thanks for the continued prayers- Jimmy was able to talk to someone at Dept. of Homeland Security today and our paperwork issue was resolved. It was an error on their part! I am so thankful that I don't have to make another trip in to the city. While we are disappointed with the unfriendly and unhelpful people at the U.S. embassy here, we are SO thankful for the wonderful people in Senator Bond's office. They e-mailed, faxed and called the embassy on our behalf yesterday. Bond has my vote just for being helpful! That's all the news from here!

One year ago today....

...we met little Edgar, now Samuel Edgar Armstrong!

Today we got an email from the embassy. I knew it was too early to start packing my bags! They say we need proof that our fingerprints our current. Usually this happens when families have had to be re-printed. Our prints haven't expired and don't until March. The embassy has received documentation on this twice before. We are hoping they made a mistake, but we can't get anyone to give us information. We've emailed, called and I even went to the embassy today (I was already in Guat. City when we got the news!). Please pray that this gets resolved quickly so we can still get a visa appointment next week.

Our DNA is now on its way to Guatemala! It should arrive tomorrow.

Today Lee Anne and I visited two ministries in the city. We had seen them both briefly in July, but we met with leaders of both to ask questions about their needs and how our church could potentially get connected. It was a good, eye-opening day. We got lots of hugs from little kids in La Limonada- the shanty town in the city. We also went back to Potter's House, the ministry that works with the people who scavenge at the city dump. I'll post pictures at a later date :).

DNA Update

Quick update:

Our DNA has arrived at the lab in the States. Did I already say the lab is in Columbia, MO? So crazy to think that it is so close to KC and we aren't! The lab is telling us it will be shipped out tomorrow night back to Guatemala! Yea!

I know this is bizarre, but I have a new toothbrush and bottle brush just sitting here. I've had them a couple of weeks, but for some reason, I keep thinking "I better wait to open them until I know for sure I'm going home." The current ones are still in OK shape and I still have this lingering fear something is going to go wrong and we'll be here longer and then I'll wish I would have gotten the full life out of these items. I get that this is illogical behavior for many reasons. Still can't bring myself to use them... maybe when the airplane tickets are booked?

Happy Monday!

Random snapshots...

We think the rainy season is about done here. Today it was warm enough to break out the pool in the afternoon. Samuel and Erick loved it!

Jimmy heading to the airport....

We couldn't resist a matching PJs photo shoot. The boys weren't very cooperative, but we tried!

Erick and Samuel on a play date with one of their favorite lady friends, Miss Madi!

A year ago today...

... we were purchasing tickets to fly to Guatemala. We flew to Guatemala on October 27 of last year and met Samuel for the first time on October 28. We were nervous that we were acting impulsively and I'm pretty sure our friends and family thought we were a bit nuts! It's been a year full of surprises, changes and a lot of waiting, but I can't imagine life without Samuelito!

I catch myself thinking about what I'll do when I'm home. I make mental lists of things I miss, things I want to do, etc. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself- to make myself wait to plan anything until we have our return flight and visa appointment! I told Jimmy that besides family and friends, I am most excited about coming home to a dishwasher, a garbage disposal, a good haircut, a car and good Mexican food (no, Guatemalan and Mexican food are not the same!).

It's been great to have Jimmy here for a few days. After getting what we needed to accomplished with the adoption on Wednesday and Thursday, we spent the past two days just hanging out with Samuel. We hit the market today and bought some squash and gourds (since they don't have pumpkins) to celebrate Halloween. We also bought Samuel two more pair of HONKY shoes (yes, that's the brand name). They are cute and only $7!

We also did some packing. Jimmy is taking home a lot of our stuff.

Samuel has also started walking a bit. He is taking 5-6 steps now. It was fun for Jimmy to be here for these first steps. We are still a bit worried as he's the ring bearer in my brother's wedding in December and I hear the church has a long aisle! We're going to be doing lots of walking practice or else he'll be crawling down the aisle.

Tonight we had an amazing dinner party! We had invited Maria, our nanny, and her family to dinner. She said they would come, but that she wanted to cook. We couldn't talk her out of it! Her husband borrowed his boss' truck again and the family rode in- the back of the truck was packed with people and dinner! We weren't sure how many of her family members to expect. I opened the door and it was a bit like a clown car- people kept coming! We had Maria, her husband, her 2 daughters, her son, his wife and five grandkids, plus the six adults who live here and our 5 kids. Maria made an incredible meal- turkey, vegetables, rice, tortillas, chips, and cheesecake! This family is so sweet, kind and friendly. I am very hopeful that we will be able to stay in touch with them and visit when we return.

Jimmy leaves in the morning and I'm sad to see him go. When he left last time, I thought the next time he was here, I'd be going home with him. Hopefully I'll be seeing him in KC very soon.

Hope you've all had a good weekend!

What a ride!

This adoption process continues to be a roller coaster. Today was a high and we enjoyed every minute! Here is our day in pictures....

We started the day with the final medical visit with an embassy doctor.


Later we headed to the US embassy to submit paperwork. We took this picture and then the guards gave us a hard time. Guess taking pictures 50 yards away from the embassy is still a security threat!?


At the embassy, we got "ORANGE", which in the adoption world means we were authorized to get the final DNA test done!

After lunch and some waiting around, we headed to the lab for the DNA test. The doctor's office and lab are closed from 12-3 for "lunch"- not a bad schedule, eh?

Tomorrow we have to get another power of attorney done. This will allow me to do the final visa appointment without Jimmy being here. Since he came down for this unexpected visit, he will not be coming down to escort us home. It will work out well, though, as he is taking back a bunch of my stuff this trip and he'll be able to take off a couple of days when we get home.

Now we just wait for our DNA to make it to the US, be processed and return to the US embassy here in Guatemala. As soon as it is back here, we should receive a visa appointment. Two days after the visa appointment, we can fly HOME!! I still can't really believe that all we are doing now is waiting on DNA. I don't think it will feel real until we are headed to the airport!

Thanks again for the prayers and support! It's been one heck of a week!

Success!

Jimmy made it to Guatemala today and we went straight to the immigration office. The guard at the door said my lawyer had to be there. I told him it was my FIFTH trip to get this done and she was no longer helping me. I think the crazy look of desperation on my face scared him and he immediately let us in. We got Samuel's passport 20 minutes later. Can't believe after so many trips and so much waiting it was that easy!

We are planning to go to the embassy tomorrow to submit our final paperwork there and hopefully do DNA.

It is great having Jimmy here. I feel like I can breathe so much easier. Samuel went to Jimmy with absolutely no hesistation and then fell asleep on his shoulder in the car. They are having a great time!

This made my day...

Carmen, I can't say thanks enough! I talked to Jimmy and he reminded me that tonight our friend, Carmen, was at the house painting in Samuel's room. He sent me a picture and I thought I'd share it! I did the stripes months ago, but the walls had been completely bare. We still have work to do in the room, but this is a great start! Carmen (www.carmenscreations.net) is one super talented artist- she does wall murals, canvas painting and all sorts of neat stuff. I've got her contact info if you're interested! Thanks again, Carmen!

Good News and Bad News

I guess I'll start with the bad news....

We still were unable to get Samuel's passport. It's a long story, but due to our names appearing once without our middle names and then appearing with our middle names on other paperwork, there are some issues. My lawyer thought a new power of attorney would fix it, but the way she did it was not right and a bit shady. The head guy at immigration didn't like it. We had a couple of options- the first two involved re-doing a lot of paperwork which would take a significant amount of time. The second option involves Jimmy flying down so that we are both here with our passports in person.

Which leads me to the good news....

Jimmy is flying down in the morning! I am so relieved that he will be here. Poor guy is super stressed as he has a lot going on at work. I am excited to see him! He'll be here through the weekend. Hopefully we can get things taken care of this week while he's here and our homecoming won't be delayed too much more.

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the prayers and encouragement. I'm really doing ok, I promise! I had more peace today than I've had in a week about all of this which I'm sure is due to the prayers of so many friends and family.

Last night I visited with Lee Anne and was expressing how nervous I was for today. It's been a little hard to say "I trust God with this situation" because I know that means I have to be OK with His timeline. It's easy to say "Thank God" when everything works out well, but even when we get rejected for the passport the FOURTH time in a row, it gets harder to say "Yay,God!" However, as Lee Anne and I chatted last night, I know the Lord was preparing me for today- just reminding me that His ways are often different than mine. I am thankful that He's the One in control and still thankful for this adventure He's taken us on to bring Samuel home. I have been holding on to the verse in Isaiah that says (in Emily paraphrase) that even when the mountains are shaken and hills removed, His promise of love and peace will not be removed. So I don't have a passport and the notion of gettting HOME still seems a bit unattainable, I am holding tight to His promise of peace and love.

Last night I thought about something a friend had written. Ally Massey is a friend from church who also recently adopted (Ally- hope you're ok with me quoting you!) Ally and her family have faced some challenges with their new daughter and, although our situations are different, I'm encouraged by and in awe of Ally's attitude through the challenges they are facing.

"We are fully aware every moment that our strength comes from Christ…we are fully aware of our frailties. What a great awareness…it keeps us humble…it keeps us on our knees…it keeps our face set before God. Why would I desire to be anywhere else?????"

I am weary (and I'm still begging God to get us HOME!!), but Ally's words remind me not to wish away the tough parts of this journey because I am learning lots and growing closer to Christ.

So I don't think we'll make it home for Halloween, but I'm still holding out to make it home for the NKOTB concert/girls night with you, Amie! :) If we make it home, I'm not sure I'll know how to act without a child attached to me. I haven't had any nights out on the town since Jimmy was here last (unless you count a grocery store or gym run)!

That's all from here- next post will have Daddy/Samuel pictures! Can't wait to have Jimmy here!

7 Months

As of yesterday, I've been here 7 months which just seems crazy to me. Hoping to be home before that 8 month mark :)!



After so many trips to the city this week, I was looking forward to a quiet weekend. We had planned to have lunch with some other adoptive moms here at out place on Saturday. I got a call from my lawyer saying that my documents were ready and that she wanted me to meet her in the city in an hour. I was a bit nervous to meet with her alone (I asked my taxi driver to come in with me!), but I took off for the city again (trip #5 for the week) and I do have the paperwork now. This means I don't have to worry about whether or not she'll show up on Tuesday! Now I just have to pray the paperwork is all in order and we have a smooth passport and embassy experience!



Just wanted to say MUCHAS GRACIAS to Jenna for the care package! I have been surprised by how many random visitors have been in Guatemala. It seems to be a much more popular travel destination than I had thought. My college friend, Jenna's, neighbors were here and brought Samuel and me some fun goodies. Thank you!



Here is Samuel on one of our trips this week. We usually don't have the luxury of a car seat, which means I end up wrestling with him the whole time while trying not to get car sick. I am very excited about having a car seat at home!

Here's Samuel and Milo in action during some post-breakfast playtime. This is our "mini-me" toy stroller. It is a popular toy with the boys, even though it's pink!

Have a heart for Guatemala?

Let me tell you about one amazing Guatemalan family.....

It seems like everyone in the adoption community here in Antigua knows Mayra. She has to be under 5' tall, but her strength and passion are amazing! We met Mayra because her family runs a tour company (www.guatemalatreck.com). They are used often by adopting families for transportation from the city to Guatemala because they are extremely reliable and kind (not to mention that Mayra speaks great English!). Mayra has also been helping many adoptive families (including us) with trouble in the adoption process.

In her "spare" time, Mayra and her family run a feeding program out of their home. They live in Ciudad Vieja, just a few miles from Antigua. Every Saturday they feed around 100 children from their community. In January, they are planning to open a school for these poor children. Mayra was the one who took me to Jalapa and Guat. City this week, so we had 4 car trips of "bonding time" :) this week and I was blessed to hear about how the Lord has lead her family to start a school. Tonight, I got an email from her that shares where they are at in the process and what the needs are for this project. I thought I'd post it here:

As most of you know, we have been working on a feeding program project in Ciudad Vieja (5 km from Antigua) and our vision has been to open up an school for these kids, since most of them are not currently attending school.

We strongly believe that education is a key factor for development in any country and that is why we don`t just want to feed their bellies, but also their minds and their hearts since we do not only need for them to be good professionals, but also professionals who fear and love God to start breaking up the corruption in our country.

We have spotted the perfect piece of land** for this school to start in January, but need to come up with an offer next Wednesday October the 22nd. We are trusting God will touch the hearts He needs to touch so that we can come up with a really good offer in order to be able to buy this land.

We have some friends who have opened up a non profit organization in Lousiana and any donation will be tax deductible. Any donation, from $1.00 up will be highly appreciated.

The account no. Is 716622548. The Bank is Whitney National Bank in Louisiana (beneficiary Wendy A. Smith. The address is 1120 North White Street, New Orleans Louisiana, 70119. The official name on the account reads: THE VIEJA SCHOOL PROJECT.

Also, we have a friend (Mary Margaret) who is working on a web page for the project. Even though is not finished, I would like to add the links to this mail, so that you can get an idea of what we are doing and that you can keep up with any updates done to it.
http://ontheirbehalf.blogspot.com/

Thank you and blessings to all.

**I have to clarify that when she says "land", it is a property that would need some work, but is not far from being school ready.

I highly encourage you take a look at the pictures of the kids (Click on "Meet Our Children" in the right column). They are just precious! If you put the mouse over their pictures, it tells you their name, age and what grade they will be in. Notice that you have kids of all different ages in each grade. I noticed one 13 year old who will be in 1st grade. The lack of education here for the children in poverty creates a vicious cycle making it a daunting task for individuals to escape poverty.

The Guatemalan government just passed a law saying that all children must be allowed a free education. Technically, it has been this way for awhile, but even "free" public schools charge for books, supplies and uniforms. Mayra explained that the education in public schools is not very good and that many times students in 5th or 6th grade are still struggling to read well. With the new law, the Guatemalans are hopeful that more students will have access to school, but there is doubt about the funding for this and if it will reach the remote areas of Guatemala.

To sponsor a child at Mayra's school, it is $110 a month. This includes the following:
1) High level education
Even though in Guatemala school goes only in the morning or in the afternoon, these students will go full time. The afternoon will be used for extra classes like Bilble, arts, help with homework, etc. We do know parents won't be very involved and that is why we want to have them as long as possible during the day. School will go from Jan through October. November and December will be only the afternoon activities, starting with lunch. This will keep track of the students and keep them busy. The last two weeks of December will be vacation time.
2) Lunch
3) Transportation
4) School materials
5) Christmas celebration and present

If you have questions or are interested in sponsoring a child or contributing to the campaign for purchasing the property for the school, here is Mayra's email address: guatemalatreck@yahoo.com or info@guatemalatreck.com. I am really moved by this family and their efforts to reach out to the community around them. They aren't some huge international organization with a lot of overhead- just a family passionate about making a difference where they are.

Couldn't close without this picture of Samuel from today. He was sitting on the counter while I dried my hair and slid himself into the sink. He was having a good time just lounging there! Have a good weekend!

And the "fun" continues...

God has a sense of humor. There is no doubt about that. This week I keep asking myself "Are you kidding me?" I have been on the road every day this week. Monday was Jalapa for the birth certificate and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I've been in Guat. City to try to get the passport done. Normally this is a quick task - 30 minutes. Of course, it has not been that easy for us!

Tuesday we arrived at 11 to meet my lawyer. She arrived at 1:40 and wasn't paperwork ready. At 2:00 we finally went into the passport office and found out we have an issue with the paperwork. At 3:00, we headed back to Antigua and my lawyer assured me that she'd have things fixed for Wednesday. Wednesday was about a repeat of Tuesday. Lawyer said she'd file a new POA (power of attorney) paper to rectify things and we could get the passport today. So today we arrive at the passport office, wait an hour to get a phone call from the lawyer. Shocker- the paper she needed to register, hadn't been registered yet.

Now the tricky part is that you have to get the passport done in order to submit documents to the US embassy and do the final DNA test. The US embassy only allows you to submit paperwork from 1-1:30 Monday-Thursdays (very generous of them, I think!). Since my lawyer was running so late, we would not have been able to get in to the embassy. Tomorrow the embassy doesn't accept paperwork and Monday is a holiday (the US embassy observes US and Guatemalan holidays- again, must be rough!). All this to say, we are scheduled to go back to the city on Tuesday to attempt to get his passport, go to the embassy and do the final DNA test all in one day. So I've had 7 trips to the city in the past two weeks and Tuesday will make trip #8! If all goes well, we still have a shot at being home the first week of November. Please pray that my lawyer shows up on time (10 AM) on Tuesday and that all goes well!

Oh- I almost forgot the best part. I woke up yesterday really sick- some serious Montezuma's revenge. My housemate Angie had it the day before. Lee Anne agreed to ride to town with me because I was so afraid I would get sick during the day. I gradually felt better, but apparently passed the bug to Lee Anne, as she did an amazing job of getting sick in the parking garage! Our 4th housemate, Amy, spent the night sleeping next to the toilet.

Like I said... the "fun" continues....

He's an Armstrong!

It's official- we have Samuel's birth certificate! The staff at the RENAP office in Jalapa were refreshingly friendly and it didn't take long to get things done. Almost two months to the day of getting out of PGN, we have a birth certificate! Thank You, Lord!

Today I got up at 4:30 and headed out about an hour later for Jalapa. Samuel stayed home with the sitter. Jalapa is quite a drive. We passed several "derrumbes" (mudslide/rockslides) along the road. I was so thankful it wasn't raining today as the road would have been pretty treacherous in some parts. It was hilly, curvy and lush. We saw lots of farms and cattle. Samuel's birthmom is actually from a small town outside of Jalapa. We saw the road sign for her town pointing down a little dirt road (see below :)). Due to rain and mudslides, we were told it would take another hour to get there, so we didn't go.

Apparently people from Jalapa are known for being "latino" (not Mayan- didn't see any of the traditional Mayan dress). Apparently they are also known for being tough. Mayra said you don't want to make someone from Jalapa mad. Many of the men had on cowboy hats and pistols in the RENAP office. Guess they don't have much of a law against carrying weapons. When we headed out of town, we passed a mom with her little boy walking on the road.... the mom was carrying a machete that had to be 3 feet long. I'm thinking I wouldn't mess with her!

We are excited for the progress, but ask for prayers that we can get his passport and 2nd DNA test done this week. Then we will be so close to the end! I also ask for prayers for many of our friends whose cases are stuck in PGN right now. We know of 2 or 3 families (including the Whitworth's and the Embrey's second girl, Caterin) whose cases are signed and approved to get out of PGN, but due to "computers being down", the cases haven't left PGN yet. This is the 3rd week of the "computer issues". We are starting to wonder what is going on! We've emailed the embassy without a lot of results. If you are so inclined to write the US embassy here in Guatemala, here are some email addresses:

Adoptguatemala@state.gov and Guatemala.adoptions@dhs.gov . You get an auto-reply, but we're hoping if we keep bombarding them, the embassy will do something to put some pressure on PGN to do their job. Right now the embassy just says "we can't interfere". Thanks for your support and happy Monday!

Weekend Pics

We enjoyed a rain free weekend- woo hoo! Thought I'd share a few fun pictures. The first few are from Culinaria, a deli/high end grocery store/restaurant that has a new play house for kids in the back. We like this place because of the play space and because they carry things from home like chocolate chips, pickles and Kraft mac 'n cheese (despite the fact that they are ridiculously overpriced)!

This last picture is of Erick and Marilyn, our new housemate. Erick was feeding her lunch- pretty stinking cute! She wouldn't let her mom feed her, she would only self-feed or let Erick do it :).

One step at a time...

Friday I made another trip to RENAP and met my lawyer. Our file was approved and signed off in the RENAP office! This is an exciting step and I am thankful to have some progress. I can't fully enjoy it as we still have to go to Jalapa (Samuel's birth town) on Monday where the birth certificate will be issued. So we are just praying that things go smoothly so this can be done on Monday.

This week our friends from home, the Harris', have been here visiting their precious little one, Paulo. It was so nice to have some familiar faces in town. Here Paulo is blowing at candles when we were out to dinner. He loves it! There are some great Paulo pics on their blog.

We have new housemates that moved in yesterday. It's a family of 4 with a seven-year-old son and the precious 2-year-old girl that they are adopting. It is fun to have some new people in the house. They are about in the same place in the adoption process as we are.

Here is Samuel looking guilty- got caught playing with the drain cover again. I promise he does have other clothes- it just seems like he has this shirt on in a lot of the pics that I post! Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Happy Wednesday...

Oh, RENAP, please let us OUT!

Yes, we are still in RENAP- 5 weeks and going strong. It puts me in an anti-email, anti-blog, anti-skype mood because I am so tired of saying that we are still waiting and don't know when we'll be home. Plus life down here gets pretty routine, so I struggle to have anything interesting to share! Sorry for being a Debbie Downer :).

Yesterday I met my lawyer at the RENAP office. The place is a total zoo! It was very eye-opening for me, as I realized that there isn't much more my lawyer can be doing. They are unorganized, uncooperative and unhelpful. I stood in a room with probably 200 Guatemalans (it's the office where you get birth certificates and national IDs), sticking out more than ever, and was so frustrated! Because our paperwork was misplaced, it wasn't signed off last Friday like it should have been. They promised to release it early this week, but now won't. At this point, I'm just hoping that it will come out this Friday. Once it is out, we STILL won't really have our birth certificate. Our lawyer has to take the paperwork to Jalapa, where Samuel was born, and there they issue the certificate. I'm praying that they will issue it the same day.

Then we will be able to do the passport, final medical visit and second DNA test. At that point, things should move quickly, but it just seems like we'll never get there. At this point, we will not be home at the end of this month. I'm still holding out for the first week of November, but we'll see. If we don't get good news this week, I'm going to start scoping out places that serve Thanksgiving dinner!

Now that I've gotten over not being home by the end of the month, I'm trying to just treasure this time with Samuel. We've had some funny moments- he likes to "draw" now and laughs when I give him a pen and paper. Last night I almost knocked myself out in our room. It was dark and I randomly leave the armoir doors open (have to keep them aired out because of the mold!). I went in to go to bed and bent over to take off my shoes and whacked my nose on the door. I look like I've been in a fight- some nice bruises!

Today Lee Anne gifted me one of her hours with the babysitter. One sweet hour of unexpected freedom!! I am amazed at what I can accomplish without Samuel attached to me. I hit the gym and grocery store. All was going well until I headed home and got caught in a downpour. I arrived home dripping wet with mascara under my eyes. Not sure what I'll do when I can just hop in the car and run errands like this again!

That's all from here- thanks again for the encouraging words and prayers. We'll be home eventually!

The picture sums it up...

I wish I had some great news to share, but unfortunately I don't! The past few days have been full of frustrations- difficulty getting ahold of our lawyer, our birth certificate paperwork being lost (and then found!) by the RENAP office, Samuel getting sick (again) with a pretty high fever and me "losing" about $600 at the ATM (It's a long story- my debit card wouldn't work, so I tried a couple of machines. I never got any money out, but came home and online it shows that I did. We're disputing the charges, but it just makes me ill!).

The good news is that our paperwork was not permanently lost and we should have news early next week. I hate to say that for fear it won't happen, but that's what they're telling us.

I thought Samuel looked cute in this outfit, even though he's sick. You can tell he wasn't so thrilled with the picture taking. I tried spiking his hair for fun :).

Happy Birthday, Grandma Mary! We love and miss you much!

Another Farewell

No update on our case, but thought I'd post a few pics from yesterday.

We said good-bye to the Wheeler family last night. They are headed back to Tennessee today and we are so excited for them to settle in to family life at home! We miss you guys! Here is the Wheeler fam with Maria (our amazing nanny) and Virginia (house manager).

Below are the kiddos: Madi (our friend Melissa's girl), Milo, Erick, Eliana and Samuelito!

Erick is in to the ladies. He was kissing Eliana and Madi all night. Samuel, on the other hand, was more interested in his block!

Things here are ok. Still lots of waiting.... Chris was asking me about some words in Spanish. We got to talking about how the verb for "to wait" and "to hope" is the same- esperar. It's no coincidence that "Esperamos al Senor" (We wait on the Lord) and also "Esperamos en el Senor" (We hope in the Lord). That same day I had read Psalm 129 and had written it down in Spanish:

"Espero al Señor, lo espero con toda el alma; en su palabra he puesto mi esperanza. Espero al Señor con toda el alma, más que los centinelas la mañana." That esperar verb was all over the place- to hope, to wait! (Translation: I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning) Some of your are thinking "What a Spanish grammar dork!" Yes, thank you, I am! Summary: we continue waiting and hoping...

Anyways, thanks for the prayers and support. We so appreciate it. For a heartwarming picture, check out the post on the Embrey's blog. They are home today with Cindi and the picture of her in the room that has been waiting for her just gave me goosebumps!

Carol Evans and Lisa Guier- you guys are amazing- thanks for the surprise care packages! Lisa sent us, among other things, a great book called Same Kind of Different as Me. I finished it in two days! Thought I'd recommend it :).

Oh, I keep meaning to ask for some mom advice.... Any suggestions on what to do with mi hijo who started out eating everything and lots of it and now doesn't eat much and is picky? Is this normal!? :) He likes solid foods, but I can't seem to find enough protein sources that he can eat with his fingers. Ideas? Can't wait to be closer to experienced moms- we're all amateurs down here, so we have no where to go for advice! Thanks!