8 months old!!!

We had an amazing day on Monday!  It marks 3 weeks of being here!!  We were up early and had the girls call a cab for us to set off to the botanical gardens.  Isaac was excited as he has never rode in a taxi cab!! The driver was very nice and was impressed that Isaac could speak some Spanish!! It was about a 25 minute ride and cost about 6$ to get to the garden.  Much cheaper than any taxi in the US.  Traffic was its usual crazy self as the lanes, traffic rules, etc are merely just suggestions.  Taxis weave in and out of other cars.  It was a bit nerve wrecking but was totally worth the ride once we arrived!!

The gardens are beautiful and we walked around for a few hours.  We also walked through the amazing greenhouse that featured different plants from all the different regions in Colombia.  Many cactus plants, tropical flowers and a very cool tree that Isaac thought looked like a snake.  I took many pictures of all the different flowers and could have spent a lot more time there.   It was nice to not feel as if you were in the city.  It was just a few dollars for all of us to get in and we would love to go back again depending on how much time we are here.  There was a large group of school age children (maybe kindergartners) that were also there on a field trip and they were so adorable! 

When we looked on a map it showed us that the largest park in Bogota, Simon Bolivar was not far from the gardens.  We decided to walk to the park from here and see a part of it.  This park is enormous and much like Central park.   We discovered a HUGE play area and several walking paths.  It was beautiful.  There was also a small lake with a sand type beach.  It was not too busy with people as it was Monday so we would love to come back here on the weekend.  Isaac had a ball running from one play structure to the next. 

After about an hour and a half we decided to start heading back north.  We hailed a cab from the street and we were off.  We had the cab drop us off at Jacques for a late lunch.  They have amazing crepes and sandwiches.  Delicious!  While we were there they were filming some sort of Television show in the back of the restaurant.  They told us it was El Capo being filmed, we were not sure what this was so decided we had to look it up once we got back to the hotel.  Check out this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_capo 

We made it home just in time for a huge thunderstorm.  It rained very hard in a very short time.  We felt really bad as the rain flooded the room that Juanita and Valeria stay in here.  There was ankle deep water on the floor as there was a leak in the bathroom.  Katya said that she has not had any issues with flooding in more than 10 years.  They spent hours mopping it up and we felt a bit helpless they would not let us help them. 

On Tuesday baby A turned 8 months old!!!!  We met our precious girl 3 weeks ago.  She is doing really well and seems to be adjusting to being with us very well.  She is smiley and happy most of the time and continues to discover her voice.   At times it seems so surreal that she is actually here with us!

It was a bit low key once again as we were planning on going to the private casa to pick up some paperwork we need to have to be able to take baby A out of the city this next weekend.  We were all ready to go around 10 and we got a call that the director could not meet with us as a kiddo at the casa was sick and she needed to take them to the doctor.  The meeting is rescheduled for 3pm Wednesday.  So we decided to go for a long walk and hit up Juan Valdez coffee shop on the way back.  Isaac loves the mango smoothies there!  Juanita made spaghetti for lunch so we ate at the hotel and took naps in the afternoon.   We ventured out to a little market in the afternoon to stock up on some snacks to bring a long with us for the weekend. 

Once again here are a few pictures! 

The tree that Isaac thought looked like a snake!!

one of the play structures at Simon Bolivar

Beautiful park!

Always be joyful. (1 Thessalonians 5:16 NLT)

Fin de Semana numero tres (Weekend #3)

Friday was a low key day again spending time at the hotel and getting work and homework done.  We really enjoy having low key days and just hanging out.  The time goes by and we are loving being a family of 4.  We treasure this time as we know that we won't have another time where we can all be together like this free from distraction and busy schedules for awhile.  We have heard from friends who have done this in the past that they were excited to go home but they really had a hard time with adjusting back to getting on a regular schedule of having to be places at a certain time and constantly looking at the clock etc.  Friday afternoon involved going for a walk and doing some shopping in the afternoon. 

Saturday was a great day for the boys.  They were picked up early in the am by a driver and taken to a soccer camp that is run by Diego.  Isaac was so excited to go and got to play for a couple hours with kids his own age.  Many of them are learning English so were trying to use their English with him and he was trying to use his Spanish with them.  SO cute!!  Soccer is HUGE here in Colombia and Diego said that there are not too many boys who don’t play.  It is slowly becoming a sport for girls also.  When you watch any sports channel here soccer is usually what is on.   A and I stayed back at the hotel and I got caught up on downloading pictures while she napped.   Cecilia also stopped by with a woman named Pilar  who will be helping  us as Cecilia is leaving for China on Thursday for 3 weeks.  Pilar works with many Swedish families and has been doing this for almost 20 years.  One of Cecilia's daughters is having her first baby and she lives in Hong Kong.  We know we will be in good hands while Cecilia is away.   Baby A loves to sleep and takes 2 naps each day and sleeps 12 hours at night but is usually awake twice.  We are working really hard on sitting up and tummy time.  It is so fun to watch her grow!! When the boys got home we had ajaco soup again for lunch.  I think it has been our favorite meal while we have been here.  Juanita and Valeria are off this weekend so Katya was the cook!!  We miss having them around as they like to tease and we have so much fun with them, but these ladies work so hard and deserve some time off.  After lunch we walked to a park not far from the hotel and there was a soccer game being played on the basketball court.  On our way back we stopped off at a cupcake store.  It is fun ordering things in Spanish as you never know exactly what you are going to get!   It was a fun day and rained around 3.  We are NOT missing the crazy weather at home that is for sure.

Sunday was another day at the markets and ciclovia.  We really enjoy long walks on Sundays as the streets are free from cars.  There was a race going on with many people from Venezuela .  Diego told us that many people come to Bogota to train as the air is thinner and that means less oxygen which he believes makes people stronger athletes.  We bought some artwork to bring home and hang in our house.  There are so many things I want to bring home but have to check on how much room we will have.    There was a lady in the park selling puppies.  They were adorable!  We went to lunch at El corral gourmet again!! SO delicious!  On our way back we stopped off at McDonalds to use the restroom and discovered an indoor play area that entertained Isaac for a half hour.  We then made our way to Hacienda Santa Barbara which is an open air mall not far from the markets we go to.  Today over nap time we are going to make some plans of other places we want to go and things we want to see.  We are talking about a few getaways to get out of the city.    We are enjoying our time here.  We have seen several west highland terriers and that really makes Isaac miss Buddy dog.  Monday marks 3 weeks here.  Looking forward to more adventure on the horizon!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple days:

Futbol!!! 

This is his favorite!! 

Static arm hang??

One of many streets in the market!

McDonalds playland!

Posing with another character in the park!

There are all sorts of different cars here.  Isaac spotted this one and wanted a picture by it!

Our fruit of the week...Granadilla...you crack it open and it is slimy with seeds in the middle.  Isaac loved it and Juanita said it is really good for digestion! :-)

Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. (Isaiah 26:4 NLT)

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)