Friday, June 27, 2008

Hola Amigos

We did not get as much accomplished as we had hoped this week, but still a very good week indeed! We have recevied ALL of our paperwork from the various sources, and presently, they are in the State of WI hands for the Apostilling. The State of MI even came through for Eric's Birth Certificate (by the way, just like the fingerprints, that did not change either since January - thank God!). We were hoping to have the documents back today, but that did not happen. Per the FEDEX website, they are schedueld to be delivered on Monday. Thank God for websites to track things. Then off to LSSMN (on Monday evening) for delivery on Tuesday, and forward to Colombia. We are getting close!

We heard from our liason in Colombia and the travel dates should be determined next week. Monday, June 30 is a holiday in Colombia, so probably not much information will be given on Monday, but we pray for early week. Then we arrange the trip to Chicago for the traveling Visa, then ride the big jet and our lives change forever!

We have had many conversations with Jose lately. He, like us, is very excited for us, especially to see us again (from what he says). Eric hopes he does not poke him in the belly! Actually, we've seen each other every night this week - through a webcam. This is a new piece of technology for us, but very cool. We hope to be able to arrange a video meeting of the boys soon. Our problem may be that technology has not "arrived" in the orphanage just yet. We really have not heard the "official" reason yet. Maybe, hopefully, soon.

We mailed a special care package to our contact Cecilia today. This was planned as part of the integration of the boys into our lives. Mailing something to Colombia is sort of like applying for an adoption. It is entirely too expensive, and way too much paperwork!
If you can not sleep tonight, here is a link to the list of rules and regulations for Colombia (enjoy) http://pe.usps.gov/text/Imm/ce_010.htm#ep1402856. Now I know why Jose sent a package to us via a friend who traveled through Canada. Frankly, I could not understand why he did that until today. ARGH! The package contained small gifts for each of the kids, a photo album, and a stuffed animal. Nothing expensive as we had to declare the value, and if over $20.00, we would have had to apply for an "import/export" license - can you imagine that! LOCO!