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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