Small Update

Hola!

Today we heard a small update- NO, No travel date yet!

We heard from our LSS coordinator today, that Cecilia did receive our package that we sent down to her in Colombia for the boys. I guess the Postal service didn't confiscate it. Although I am sure they would have had some fun with the crayons, coloring books, and cars that were in the box!

Cecilia took the small presents to the orphanage and the boys really enjoyed them. They were also given the photos of us. They are being prepared by both the orphanage and the school for their adoption. Cecilia is working with the orphanage to schedule some time for us to talk to them over the internet, where they can actually see us and we can see them.

We feel this is a huge step, and know that our travel dates will be coming soon. Cecilia is still waiting to hear from the orphanage about the travel dates. She is hopeful that we will travel by the end of the month, but in the same sentence said that they cannot guarantee this.

Our dossier has been fully translated and transferred from the government-ICBF to the orphanage-Ayudame where the boys are .

Cecilia has stated that the communication has been unique in that we are working with both ICBF and Ayudame and that communication is not always as efficient as she would hope. But she is certainly working as hard as she can to press the matter in an appropriate way.

So today we are a bit more optimistic.

We have been trying to keep busy over these past few weeks. Joyce's sister Jeanne, and nephew Jordan visited with us over the last weekend in June. Joyce and Jeanne did lots of shopping, while Eric and Jordan did lots of "guy"things.

Over the 4th of July, we travelled to Upper Michigan and spent the holiday with Eric's family. We had a great time, and as always, the food, fireworks and family were all enjoyable.

This past weekend, our nephew Jeremy and Kristen, spent the weekend with us. We did some "Joyce camping" (spending the day at the campground, and then going home to a nice comfy bed and warm shower at night). We also gave them a tour of Milwaukee and all it has to offer. They got to experience some unique neighborhoods, both good and bad!

Yesterday, we celebrated Eric's birthday, with dinner, and then several of the neighbors came over for cake and ice cream. Joyce decorated a birthday cake, with you guessed it, a fisherman in a" float tube" on the cake and fish surrounding him! (refer to the picture above if you forgot what a float tube looks like).

So as the days pass, we continue to enjoy our summer. We know that when we arrive in Colombia, the weather will not be summer like. In fact the average right now is high of 65 degrees and lows in the upper 40's. It is rainy every day and very humid.

Please continue to pray that our travel dates will be given to us in the very near future.

Thanks for the emails and comments. We look forward to reading them.