Hanging out in Bogota

We are now in Bogota.  We arrived late Monday night, unpacked, skyped with our girls back home, and went to bed.  Yesterday, Tuesday, we had an appointment for Laura to get a TB test.  When we go back tomorrow to have that read we will also go to her appointment with the embassy doctor.  In the meantime, we are still waiting to receive her new birth certificate, without which we cannot proceed with any other paperwork.  We found out yesterday that the entire country's registry system is down, so until that is back up they cannot generate her new birth certificate.  We have been told we will just be waiting until that happens.  We are, of course, hopeful we will hear something today, but there is no way to know.  Your prayers in regard to that issue would be a huge blessing!!  Once we have her birth certificate we can apply for her passport and exit visa.  Can't leave the country without those!
Bogota is a beautiful city.  The weather is cool all of the time, and it feels so good to just walk around...something we do a lot.  We found a Christian Book Store yesterday and hung out in there for a little bit.  We were pleased to see books by John MacArthur and John Piper, among others, prominently displayed on the shelves.  The food here is wonderful and Juanita, the cook, is happy to see people enjoying her delicious creations.
There is one other family here, a single mom with two biological children adopting a 2 year old boy.  She has been here for 5 weeks and is still in wait mode. It can start to make you feel a little crazy to wait every minute for a phone call that never seems to come. Especially when you can't leave the hotel because you don't want to miss the call.  This gal, her name is Nicole, didn't know you can buy inexpensive cell phones here with prepaid minutes.  So Geof and I made a run to the store and picked up a phone.  We're calling it the community phone because any of us who needs to leave the hotel takes it with them so as not to miss the long awaited phone call.  That has freed Nicole up to go run errands and take her kids to the park.  It also frees us up to do the same.
So that is the scoop.  I would like to encourage all you dear friends out there who read our blog to notice there is a place where you can post comments to our blog entries.  We definitely struggle with feeling disconnected to you all, and would love to hear from you!  PLEASE take the time to connect with us, as we are trying to do the same for each of you.  We are also able to receive our email from here, so that is another way you can connect with us.  Thank you for your prayers and your anticipated encouragement via comments and email!