Entrega!!!!

Wednesday was another low key day of school work,  Jeff working, catching up on downloading pictures etc.  We ventured out to a Mexican restaurant which was very delicious for lunch and a walk to the park.  A was up a lot the night before so it was siesta time for everyone in the afternoon.  Isaac and Camilla watched some National Geographic wild in Spanish and we all went to bed when A did around 8.  We have to be up at 6 am tomorrow for our important meeting.

This morning we were up at 6 am to get dressed in our "fancy" clothes as Isaac calls it.  He is not big on getting dressed up so we told him there would be a few times he would need to and he has been checking them off his list!! We had to wake A up as she normally sleeps until 8 but wanted to give her some cereal before heading out the door.  Cecilia sent a driver to pick us up at 7:30 as our meeting was at 9 am, and then we went to her house to pick her up.  A was very content and fell asleep on Jeff’s lap in the car.  We do not use a car seat here for A rather hold her on our lap.   Many cabs are tiny (we have heard they have the tiniest cabs in the world, many look like smart cars) and there is not room in the cars.

The meeting was at an office near the center of the city so we allowed plenty of time to deal with the traffic.   The office we went to is like Health and Human Services here.  They have many programs for infants, children, pregnant mothers etc and several different buildings throughout the city.  We arrived about 30 minutes early and were called directly up to the 3rd floor to a very small 1 room office that had 3 people working, 3 desks, Cecilia, our attorney, our family and the defender all gathered around.  I have heard that this is the office that handles all of the private casa cases. 

The defender of the minors works much like a social worker on behalf of the children. We heard that he was a new person so we were not sure what to expect in the interview.  He was a very nice compassionate man and asked us a few questions about how we are doing, how the baby is doing, how Isaac is adjusting and if he is enjoying being a big brother.  A flashed her smile and was blowing bubbles the entire time and Isaac answered a few questions in Spanish! I think it was quite obvious that we are enjoying our girl and that we LOVE being parents.  Our attorney met us there and double checked the paperwork and then the defender said “Congratulations!  We are approving you to move on to the courts!” and that was it!!  He told us to expect 4-6 weeks in the courts, our attorney said to expect 6-8 weeks so we pray for something in the middle.  Please pray for a quick court process.  We are very happy here and enjoying our time but if it gets to be longer than expected it can be tough as Jeff is working ½ time and Isaac is missing school (we have many of his lessons that we are keeping up with however).   Our case will be submitted on Monday and we hope to hear some time next week which court number we are in and whether it is a fast or slow court.  There are 22 or more courts in Bogota so we are praying for a judge who is quick.

Entrega is the final piece of paperwork we needed to enter the courts.  From here on out we wait.  Our attorney handles much of the court situation on our behalf.  We wait to get the call that our case is in front of the judge and we are ready for Sentencia..the final signing off of our case.  Once we have that we can post some pictures of our girl and we have a lot of appointments to get her visa, a medical check at the embassy etc.  Again please pray for a short waiting period! 

So today we will celebrate having this milestone behind us!  We are thankful for the process so far and thankful that all went well today.  Again I got a bit choked up when the defender looked at us and said "many blessings to you and your new family of 4!"  I seem to get choked up often lately when I look at our girl peacefully sleeping or when I see Isaac feeding or playing with her.  I just have to pause and thank God for this blessing.  He knew these plans for our family and we thank him for this amazing gift and experience.

We are looking forward to the coming weeks exploring our daughters birth city and country more.  Isaac is already looking forward to Saturday as Diego will be picking Jeff and him up to go and play soccer in the am with his team.  He is very excited about this!!   Thank you for your prayers and for your comments.  We really love hearing from you all!!

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him   Psalm 62:5

Here are a few more pics:

Mmmm...Mexican food!! 

He thinks he is Picasso!!  Ha!  This picture really captures his attitude while we have been here thus far.  He has been such a trooper!! 

Typical Deli food at the grocery store.  Many arepas and empanadas!!

Our new fruit we are trying this week...kind of a mix between a sweet grape and a cherry tomato that is sticky on the outside

Isaac wanted me to share some pics of our room!!  More to come! We have to take some on a day that it is organized! :-)

A's crib!

Outside the office where we had our meeting today!

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Monserrate, La Candalaria, and Museo de Oro

Monday we decided to have a low key day at the hotel to get caught up on homework and Jeff doing some work.  Juanita wanted to make us a traditional Colombian lunch once again.  Isaac is doing really well with reading and wanting to do some school work.  I worried a bit about this as I was not sure if he would be able to focus and like me to be teaching him but he loves it and does really well.  Jeff has also been helping with his math homework too.  After lunch it was another trip to Mimo's for ice cream!! :-)

We are once again the only family here and we have been very spoiled.  We don't have to grocery shop, cook, clean, make beds, or do laundry.  It is really nice but I also kind of miss it sometimes.  Juanita and Valeria laugh at me when I want to clear dishes or wash a dish or a bottle or whatever.  I told Jeff one night we are going to make dinner for them.  I think they will love it and it is the least we can do for them! When we go to the grocery store to buy snacks, fruit, diapers or whatever Jeff laughs at me as I love to just wonder up and down the aisles.

I will post a picture of the lunch we had today.  It was so delicious and I am taking notes so that I can make some of these things at home.  

Last week we met a man who lives in Bogota at our hotel named Diego who works as a soccer coach to kids.  Soccer is huge here in Colombia.  He brings Colombian kids every summer to MN to the sports complex in Blaine for the soccer tournament.  He speaks very good English and is very friendly.  Katya asked him if he would like to be a driver for us when we want to go places away from our hotel.  He said he would love to!  We have also been given names of a few others that live in Colombia that have helped some of our friends that we are going to be contacting also.  So Tuesday we had Diego come and pick us up and decided to visit Monserrate, La Candalaria district and the gold museum.

Monserrate is a mountain top that rises to 10,341 above sea level.  The air is very "thin" at the top.  There is a beautiful church at the top that was built around 1900. Diego said that on Sundays there is a mass held every hour and people travel from all over to pray.  It is absolutely amazing.  The road leading to it winds up the mountain where you park and then you must take a tram or a cable car to the top.  Literally it goes straight up the side of the mountain and is very steep.  When we arrived only the gondola cable car was open so we said a quick prayer as none of us really like heights! :-)  The view was simply amazing.  You can see almost the entire city of Bogota at the top.  The city has 8 million+ people so it literally takes your breath away how big the city is.  There are beautiful gardens at the top also and it is a very peaceful place.  It overwhelmed me at first to view my daughters beautiful birth city.  I just closed my eyes and thanked God for this place, for her and for this experience that our entire family is having.

Once back we decided to go to La Candalaria district.  This is the oldest part of Bogota and was settled by the Spanish.  The streets were packed with people and we walked to see the presidential palace, the mayors house, Simon Bolivar Square, and many government buildings.  The architecture and beautiful cathedrals were simply stunning.  Diego told us that 80-90% of Colombians are Catholic so there are many beautiful cathedrals everywhere.  There were armed guards everywhere and Isaac was so impressed that they told Diego we could get a picture with them.    This district is also home to many museums.  Being we were in the area we decided we would visit the museum de oro ( Gold museum).  It has more than 36,000 pieces of gold.  www.banrepcultural.org/gold-museum is the website.  Isaac thought it was amazing.  We will probably venture to this area again to go to the botero museum at some point.

It was a very full day and A and Isaac were troopers.  It was so nice having Diego with us explaining where things are, history, and culture.  He was so nice and we really appreciated him helping us!!  Tomorrow we will have a more low key day and Thursday is our meeting with defender of the minors.  Pray that all goes well.

Once again...more photos:

Rice, beans, avacado, plantains and sausage...very delicious!!

Isaac spotted this cool tree and had to climb!!

Romeo the older golden

The gondola cable car we rode to the top of the mountain..eek!!!

The tram that was closed...straight up the mountain

Almost to the top

Bogota

Beautiful church at the top

La Candalaria district

Simon Bolivar square

Cool gold museum pieces

Psalm 118:28
You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.

Fin de semana el numero dos (Weekend #2)

It was our second weekend in this beautiful country and we are just amazed at how the time goes by.  We are doing very well and really enjoying our time and the weather!  On Saturday the morning was very low key.  We ventured out for a long walk after eating lunch at Frisby Chicken (imagine a restaurant much like Culvers or McDonalds with an indoor playland and chicken any way you like it).  We came across a bookstore that also sells comics and Isaac was in heaven.  We bought a few books in Spanish to bring home for our girl.  Isaac bought the first 2 Harry Potter books and a Calvin and Hobbs book in Spanish also!  So fun that he can read these.  Books are not cheap here but these were a great find!  He also bought his first comic books.  There were literally hundreds to choose from.

We found a huge park in the middle of the city named Parque El Virrey and played on a few different areas for a couple hours.  We stopped for frozen yogurt on the way back.  If we keep up the ice cream every couple days tradition Isaac will never want to go home!!!  On our way home we found another large park that is close to our hotel.  Bogota is a big city but there is not a shortage of parks which is nice!  There was a soccer game going on that we were going to watch but we felt raindrops so we thought it would be best to keep walking.  We also stopped at one of the many fruit and vegetable markets that are all around town.  There are so many amazing fruits here.  The bananas and pineapple that we have are twice as sweet as we have ever tasted.  We have made it a goal to eat a different kind of fruit that we can't normally have at home every couple of days!  We made it back just in time for it to start raining.  I bet we walked almost 4 miles!  

Sunday we ventured out for ciclovia again and back to the market in Usaquen.  As with many of our friends who have been here, this is our favorite day of the week.  Sundays are laid back and the traffic is not bad and there are many people/families out and about enjoying the day.  We ate at an amazing Italian restaurant that Cecilia recommended to us Amarti.  We wandered through the market again (this time finding the large part we missed last week!)  and bought a few things to bring home with us.  Isaac has a collection of license plates in his room from a lot of the states he has been to and he found one that says Bogota!  Score!! At the market we bought some mangosteens and were able to try some very unique fruits.  The mangosteen is believed to have medicinal purposes and is very good for you so we will be eating as many as we can while we are here!  We also found some boutique type shops that we will definitely have to go back to. 

Miss A is coming out of her shell more and more each day.  It is so fun to watch her learn and explore new things.  Her latest thing is blowing raspberries and bubbles almost constantly.  She is also being much more vocal and making lots of sounds.  She laughs at herself!!  She rolls over from stomach to back and today Jeff found her sleeping on her stomach!! She is loving playing with her toys and discovering using her hands more and more too.  So fun to watch her grow and that little mind work!

We finished the night with a few games of Sorry.  Katya also stopped by with her dogs who will be hanging out off and on at the hotel.  Romeo is 12 and is a huge golden that is deaf and almost blind, Nana is a small golden that is 6 and full of energy.  Isaac loved seeing and playing with them and misses Buddy dog at home.  We see so many dogs here and most are free and off their leashes.  Very well behaved.  Isaac will have a ball with them! 

As always here are a few pictures for you of the last couple days!! 

Isaac in front of the large comic/book store

The park that had equipment much like machines for working out!

Kind of like an elliptical?

Frozen yogurt!

Fruit and veggie market

Fresh fruit at the market in Usaquen..purple are mangosteens

Isaac was calling this art!! :-)

Italian lunch at Amarti in Usaquen

Nana dog..so sweet and full of energy!!

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)

Thankful Hearts

Thursday-
Cecilia arrived after breakfast and we were headed to the private casa for a tour.  We have been very excited to see where A has been living.  We have many friends with children from here and we know that our girl has been receiving the best care possible.  We brought bags of donations for the kids including medications, band aids, tooth brushes and paste, stickers, markers, pajamas, paper, soccer balls, blankets, bottles, hair ties, socks, color books and books.  We also brought 2 cakes so that we could have a little fiesta while we were there with the children. 

When we arrived the social worker greeted us and took us upstairs for a tour.  We were greeted at the top of the stairs by the 24-36 month group of kids.  They were hugging my leg and wanting me to take their picture.  It was very sweet but also very emotional as you could feel the love they had to give and the love they wanted to feel.  They would giggle when we would show them the picture we took. 

We were very impressed with how clean everything was and organized.  We were able to see the baby room, toddler rooms, and were very impressed with the large windows and natural light in the rooms.  There are 3 floors and the top floor is a large open area that they use for a play room.  The little kids were there from ages 18 months-24 months playing and crawling around.  There is also a laundry area upstairs where there are a few machines and many many little clothes hanging out to dry and piles of clothes neatly folded everywhere.   

We then went to the little room off the outdoor play area where the kids have little activity tables where they play games and put puzzles.  We also toured the kitchen and eating areas.  We were able to see the room where A was and also the crib that she slept in.  Her name was still on it and I got a bit choked up.  We were also able to see some of the other children that she shared a room with. 

Once our tour was over we went to the eating area where all the kids were sitting and they served them the cake that we brought along with juice.  It was so cute to see them just loving it and having huge smiles on their face!!  Who wouldn't love chocolate cake at 10 am! :-)  We took a few pieces upstairs to the children that were smaller and were able to help them eat it.  They loved every second of it.  We left another cake there as for the children who were at school.  There are about 50 kids in this private casa ranging in age from 1 month-8 years old. 

We were able to get a picture with A’s primary caregiver.  I hugged her and thanked her for the care she has given our precious girl.  She got a bit teary and so did I.  We are forever grateful for the care that these women give to these kiddos.  They are very well cared for given the situation.  You can tell their love for each child in their interactions and the kids seem very happy.  It is an amazing place and we are forever grateful to all of the people working here.   We have found out that our meeting has not been moved up so will remain next Thursday.  While it is a bit dispappointing we are trusting God that all will go well and this is time that we are meant to be here. 

Once back at our hotel we ventured out to el corral gourmet for lunch.  They have amazing burgers that are gourmet served with eggs on top or chipotle veggies or whatever combination you can imagine.  It was amazing food once again.  We brought our hotel staff malts to go.  Juanita was giving kisses to all of us when we got back! :-)

On our walk back I took some pictures of the flowers that we passed.  We will definitely miss the flowers here.  They are everywhere and so beautiful.  It is one of the many things I will miss about this place.  I believe this country is one of the largest exporters of flowers in the world.  

We ventured to a park and then back for nap as it rains almost every day around 3pm.  We were kind of bummed about this at first but it allows us time to get back for nap and do some school work and Jeff to do some work. 

Friday-

Today is Sara’s family last day here.  We are really going to miss having them around.  We are going to be the only family at the hotel for awhile.  We have been really spoiled by the staff and will continue to be I am sure! 

We went out for our daily morning walk and stopped at a store that Cecilia recommended and bought a puzzle.  We then stopped off at Juan Valdez which is a very popular coffee shop here, kind of like starbucks of the US.  Amazing coffee!!  Mornings are beautiful and we love to go for walks. 

We had lunch at the hotel and said goodbye to Sara and her family. I am so happy for them and I pray that Sara does well adjusting to her new home.  She is so outgoing and so sweet.  We grew to love her in just the few days we have been around her.  

We spent some time in the afternoon talking about all that we are thankful for on this journey thus far.  Here is just a few things we had on our list:

*A great place were we are staying and NO issues adjusting to the altitude other than a little breathlessness the first few days

*Baby A-she is absolutely beautiful, healthy and content most of the time

*Being together as a family

*Jeff being able to check in with work yet spend a lot of time with us doing things each day

*A-mazing food!! We were not sure what to expect but everything we try we LOVE!!

*Fresh fruit juice (literally fruit and water blended) so delicious and made to order breakfast every morning

*Parks and beautiful weather!!

I am going to try my best to take pictures without baby A in to post for now!  Here are a few from the last couple days!! 

The steps leading up to our girls room at the private casa

El Corral Gourmet

Playing a little catch at the park!

Sara and Isaac.  She is headed home today.  We will miss you sweet girl!!

This is a common site on our morning walks.  Cecilia says it is very "fashionable" to have a dog in the last couple years.  We see people walking from a dog walking service walking as many as 10 at a time.  I think Isaac needs a job like this!! :-)   He says he would not want to clean up after them! Ha!

Juan Valdez coffee shop!!

One of the new apartment buildings on the same street as our hotel!! 

John 14:1  "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

Mid week update

Tuesday-

We ventured out after breakfast to the Unicentro mall.  It is a typical mall much like that in the states.   I laughed as there is an Esprit store, which brought me back to my middle school days.   We had heard there was an arcade there so we went looking for some adventure.  We found the arcade and Isaac had a blast.  There was a family there who spoke English so the mother had all sorts of recommendations of things to see and places to go and visit while we are here.  Once again so amazing how friendly the people are here.  
We told Juanita that we would not be there for lunch but she said she was making her ajaco soup so we decided we better not miss that.  It is a traditional soup with chicken, corn, potatoes, avacado etc.  It was amazing!!  A tried some avacado today and it was a huge hit!!
Isaac and Jeff spent most of the afternoon working on homework and Jeff checking in with work.  I was able to read a bit while A took a nap in the afternoon.  We spent time after dinner playing yahtzee.  We love family game night at home so are looking forward to playing many games while here also. :-) 

Wednesday-

Today we had a very low key morning and took an after breakfast siesta while A slept and Isaac watched a movie.  It was very relaxing.  We feel a bit spoiled not waking up to an alarm, no commute, and no snow here!!  We checked in with our house sitter who has been telling us about all the snow that is happening at home.  Around 11 we headed out for a walk and then to Wok for lunch.  It was amazing pad thai!  Every place we visit we say we have to go back!! While we were at lunch it began to rain so we stopped off at Mimos for ice cream on the way back to our hotel.  They have an indoor play land that kept Isaac busy for an hour or so.  There is literally an ice cream shop on every corner I think.  We shared some ice cream and toasted to our friends who have been such a help to us along the way!

Once back at the hotel Isaac and Sara just disappear playing all afternoon and jabbering to each other in Spanish!  We brought a nerf hoop along and it is so fun to watch her play basketball.  A took an afternoon nap so Juanita said she would keep an eye on her while Jeff and I ran out to get 2 cakes to bring to our tour of the private casa tomorrow.    We plan to have a little party with the children there.  We are looking forward to meeting the kiddos there and seeing where our baby girl has grown up thus far.  I know it will be very emotional for me. 

We spent some time this afternoon visiting with Sara’s parents.  They are going home to France in 2 days so we will miss them and Isaac will really miss Sara.  They have been here about 6 weeks.  While we are sad to see them go we are happy that they are able to go home!! We were laughing as we were using google translate to be able to talk to each other.   One thing Jeff and I say to each other often is we wish there was not a language barrier.   There are so many things you want to say but it is so hard when you don’t know how. 

Every afternoon I wander in to the kitchen to get some coffee and Juanita is always telling me about what she is making.   Today she had music playing and took me by the hand for some dance lessons right in the middle of the kitchen!!  She is so fun!  Just love her!!

We are doing well and adjusting to our new home away from home.  Thank you for all your comments and prayers.  Here are some pictures from the last couple days!! :-)

Yummy Ajaco soup!!! So delicious!!

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Romans 12:12