It's hot here!

Hi.  This is Lenna blogging. Wow, didn't expect to be so busy this time around.  We came totally prepared for boredom while we wait, and that's not happening!  It's actually challenging to find time to blog.  But we are truly thankful for that, as it is so much better to have things to do.  This time around, we rented an apartment instead of staying in a hotel, and it really makes a huge difference.  We have lots of room to move around in, and I have a kitchen...and if you know me at all, you KNOW kitchens make me happy!!! Believe it or not, it is actually cheaper for us to rent this spacious apartment than it is to stuff ourselves all into a single hotel room! AND I can cook! Did I mention that already?  They really have some amazing fruit here.  And Colombian food is so delicious.  There is a small outdoor restaurant right next to our apartment that serves huge portions of food.  It ends up costing us about $2.50 per person to eat a full meal there.  Breakfast is fruit, oatmeal, or yogurt.  Sometimes we go out for dinner, but tonite we are going to eat fresh baked bread from a "panaderia" here, with some Colombian cheese and fruit.  Then we plan to take the girls to get some "gelado"--ice cream cones.

With the heat being as oppressive as it is, the pool is one of our best friends.  We all enjoy that activity, and it gives us lots of opportunities to interact in more physical ways.  Communication isn't only by speaking!

 

We are all enjoying each other very much.  It is so satisfying to finally get to be with Laura after all the waiting!

Here we are with our two Colombianas--Yamile and Laura Daniela!

 

 

Just before we went inside to meet Laura.  This is the same building where we received Yamile almost 3 years ago!

 

Sisters...at last!!

Gotcha Day!!!

Okay, we are so eager to fill you all in on what has been happening since we left on the 7th to head to Colombia. It has been so crazy and busy that we truly have not had a single moment to sit down and make even one blog entry.  First, the most important news of all: we have our girl! It started out with us going to ICBF to meet with the staff there. They were to give us any pertinent information they had and answer any questions we might have. We were told we could either bring Yamile with us, or she could stay with our translator's sister.  We had been told we would receive Laura later that day, and we knew we would definitely want Yamile with us at that point.  The Lord graciously saw to it that we chose to bring Yamile with us for the staff meeting, planning to have her sit out in another room with a book while we talked with them. We got to the meeting room and sat down, expecting them to send Yamile out anytime.  I (Lenna) happened to look out the window, and who did I see but Laura!  So we asked if Laura was expecting to meet us right then, and they told us yes.  We were completely not ready, having been told that when it was time to receive her, they would bring her to us at our apartment. We had planned to take a video of our meeting, and to bake a cake and have it ready for her when she came.  It threw us and we did not know what to think.  We told the psychologist we had been told we were not receiving Laura yet, and she said that was fine, that they could bring her to us later that day.  But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that would not give Laura the kind of message we wanted to send.  In the meantime, as we were trying to figure out what to do, one of the staff called Yamile and just sent her out to see Laura, without any warning, or without even asking us if that was okay with us.  It took us completely by surprise.  So we just jumped up and followed her out as soon as we realized what had happened.  So there we all were, looking at each other.  I just walked over and gave Laura a big hug and a kiss, and she gave me a wonderful hug right back, with a huge smile on her face.  Geof hugged her next, and then he and I went back into the room to have our meeting, leaving Yamile and her new sister together to chat and get reaquainted.

After the meeting, we all left together and came back to our apartment to hang out and get to know each other a little.  Swimming definitely came into the picture (have we mentioned it is very hot in Neiva?), and dinner at our favorite restaurant.  So far, we are enjoying our time here, and we are definitely enjoying our new daughter.  Laura and Yamile get along very well and are clearly very happy to be reunited. Back home, Annalisa and Rebecca are eagerly awaiting our return so they can get to know their new sister as well.

Because it has been so difficult to actually get a chance to sit down and write a post, we are going to send this out without pictures.  I will work on pictures as soon as I can.  Thank you all for your love and prayers!

Travel Date!!

The waiting is over!  This past week, on Tuesday, March19th, we received notice that our Article 5 was issued and we were given a date to meet with ICBF in Colombia.  Our ICBF meeting date in Neiva is April 10th - we don't know for certain yet whether we will "get" Laura on the afternoon of the 10th or if we'll have to wait until the 11th.  We will be heading to Colombia the Sunday before, April 7th.

A couple days later this week we received more news - Laura has received the care package we sent her and knows we will be adopting her.  In the words of one of our ICBGF contacts, Laura is super feliz (happy).  We have a video chat scheduled with her for this afternoon and, for the first time, will be able to talk about adoption.  We are looking forward to it with hopeful anticipation.  It's hard to believe that in just over two weeks we will get to see our new daughter and shower her with love!

We're at it again!

I guess we can't get enough of Colombian adoptions - we're at it again!

 

  

For those of you who don't know, we are quite a ways along in the process of adopting another girl from Colombia.  Her name is Laura Daniela, she turned 13 in November of 2012, and she and Yamile were foster sisters for three years in Colombia.  We found out last July that Laura was available for adoption and, as soon as we could, began the adoption process, submitting our letter of intent on the first possible day we could - August 2, 2012.

I-800 Received!

I know it's been quite a while since we posted anything, so here's the latest. We received our I-800 approval in the mail the week of March 4th (the actual I-800 approval date was March 1st).  Since then, there's been a lot of waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting - for a travel date.  Lenna worked feverishly to put other paperwork together so we could get our visas from the Colombian consulate, but we can't send for those until we get the travel date.

As we've waited we have put together a "care package" for Laura and sent it off to her.  Among other things, the package included a Fallon Greenwave t-shirt, two photo albums of our family and friends, a camera for her to take pictures of her friends, a DVD of our family and home, some candy and art supplies for her foster family, and some letters we wrote for her.  We sent that off and Martha, our "on-the-ground" person in Bogota, received it within a couple days.  She translated the letters for us and then sent it off to the Huila region (where Laura lives).

(Let's call this next paragraph the "delay paragraph", shall we?) In God's providence, it turns out there was a strike in the Huila region, which shut down all the roadways within the region.  Therefore, the care package was delayed, which delayed the delivery of some visa photos of Laura that were needed in Bogota.  These delays have resulted in our travel to Colombia being delayed until everything is delivered.  While we hoped to travel in March, it's probably going to be mid-April before we get to go.  We know this is the Lord's timing and He's helping us grow in the area of patience.  We also know this means we will still be here for Rebecca's 17th birthday on April 4th, and we are very excited about that!

Also, beginning in February, we were able to re-connect with Laura via video chat.  We hadn't had any communication with her since November, so that was a welcome opportunity.  We still are not allowed to mention the adoption to her, so the video chats result in a lot of small talk, but we get to see her smiling face and she even tries to speak a little English to us.  Back in September, in an earlier video chat, she had asked if we would be coming to Colombia any time soon.  I told her we planned to, probably in six months or so, and she was very excited about that.  When we chatted with her again about a week ago, she asked when we'd be coming to Colombia.  I told her that we don't know for sure.  We think she knows we will be adopting her, but we can't talk about it.  Talk about dancing around the elephant in the room!  One of these days, soon, she will be receiving the care package and then we can talk about adoption.

So, that's the update for now.  We appreciate your prayers - for patience for us, that we would trust in the Lord's timing rather than our own, for Laura's preparation for adoption and the transition that it involves, for us as we prepare to travel, and for our transition to having a new, Spanish-speaking teenager in our home.

Just had to include a recent family photograph.  This was taken on  Annalisa's 19th birthday.  If the Lord wills, our next family photo will include Laura Daniela!!!

Formal Referral Received!

After a wait that was much longer than expected (8 weeks), we have at last received our formal referral for Laura yesterday (February 8, 2013).  We had received our I800A approval on December 11th and expected to have the referral in three to four weeks after that.  While we did at times become impatient, the one thing Colombian adoption has taught us is to trust the Lord's timing, not ours.  He is good, always!

Knowing the translated referral was on its way, Lenna kicked everything into high gear and was ready to submit our I800 (as opposed to the I800A mentioned earlier) application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  Up until now, USCIS has approved us to adopt from Colombia generally.  When the I800 approval is received, it means we're provisionally approved to adopt Laura specifically.

The approval typically comes in about two weeks, so we think we're about six weeks out from traveling, barring any unexpected delays.  (Like they're ever expected!)

So that's the scoop for now.  There's quite a sense of excitement in our home as we anticipate the arrival of our newest daughter and eagerly look forward to welcoming her into our lives and hearts.