"Gotcha Day" August 15, 2008

Let me start by saying that Diego and Jeferson are absolutely adorable little boys. They are very warm and trusting, and their smiles just brighten our days.

The day on Friday was so magical. We had been notified that we would meet with the Director of the AYUDAME orphanage at 11:30 AM on Friday morning. Our LSS Colombian facilitator, Cecilia called us around 9:30 and suggested that we bring a cake and some Coca Colas to celebrate the presentation of the children at the orphanage. Since it was only 9:30 and both of us were ready to go, and now had an hour and a half to wait, we walked to the local bakery and chose the most delicious chocolate torte to bring with us.

Once at AYUDAME, we were directed into the room where we were first going to sign all the paperwork, and be given the information of how the finalizing of the adoption process will work. This meeting took about an hour. The staff was very friendly. After all the paperwork was signed, they went upstairs to get the boys. At this point, We waited in the room, with many butterflies in our stomachs. Then we could hear the boys talking and then they appeared in the room. We have included a picture of the expression on our faces the first moment we saw the boys. Both of the boys came running up to us saying "Mami and Papi". It was the most beautiful moment that anyone could experience. Diego ran up to Mami, and Jeferson ran up to Papi, and we both received the biggest hugs one could possibly get from a child. Then the boys switched and gave the other one a hug. They looked so happy to finally meet us, and of course, I don't need to mention how happy we were to finally meet them.

After the initial hugs and tears, the boys noticed that chocolate cake, and it was on to cake time. Jeferson (youngest ) took a chair right in front of the cake, and was ready to put his fingers into it.

After we arrived back at the hotel, we had lunch, yes even after the chocolate cake! They are both very good eaters. Then we decided that with all the excitement, the boys really needed to get rid of some energy, so we took them for a walk to a local park. They are very energetic typical boys, and I think they wore us out.





























Also, just to mention, the scratches that you see on Diego's face are from an incident at AYUDAME, where he accidently fell and hit a table. He ended up with 2 stitches by his eye. He is a very active little boy, and anticipate many more accidents along the way.

When we returned to our hotel, the staff at Zuetana, threw a party for us, to Welcome Diego and Jeferson, and Congratulate us on being a forever family. There were balloons and steamers, and a Colombian band, and pastrys, and many people to help us celebrate. It was so nice of the Zuetana staff, to honor us.

Here the boys are waving the Colombian flag, and the US flag.






So, after a very busy day, we ended with 2 very exhausted boys, and 2 very exhausted parents!!

We truly believe we are the luckiest parents to be able to welcome these 2 precious boys into our family.




Eric, Joyce, Diego and Jeferson

Friday is presentation day!!

Hola, We just realized that we didn't even let everyone know when we will meet the boys.
We met with Cecilia yesterday, and she informed us that the AYUDAME orphanage has decided to allow us to take the boys full time on Friday. They felt it would be best for the boys, as they are so excited to meet us, to allow them to live with us, rather than just visit for the integration. They also thought it would be better, rather than for us to just meet and then leave, and repeat this for a few days.

So, tomorrow is the day. Our presentation is at 11:30 AM on Friday. We are excited and scared all at the same time. Our Spanish is going to be our biggest barrier, so it is nice to have so many people around us who speak Spanish.

Zuetana is a very family friendly place to stay, and they have many programs and things for the children to do. There are about 4 other families here right now, as 2 families left today. One of the families is from Denmark, and the other 2 are from Germany. The youngest child is 2 years old, the oldest is 7 yrs old.

It is very late, and we need all the energy that we have for tomorrow. Adios, we will update tomorrow.

Hola from Bogota, Colombia

Good morning - we landed in Bogota at aroun 8:15 last night. Our bus trip to Ohare, and our flight from Ohare to Miami, were flawless. We boarded our plane in Miami as scheduled, but then due to air traffic, we sat on the tarmac for 1 1/2 hours before departing. So this delayed our arrival in Colombia. Once in Bogota, we did not have a ramp to deplane, but instead, had to use stairs from the plane, and then be shuttled over to the terminal. Once at the terminal, we waited in a very long line to go through immigration. We then retrieved our luggage, and went through customs. They allowed us in with no problems!

Our driver was waiting for us holding a sign " Familia Christy" among about 500 other people. If you have ever watched Good morning America, and you see all those people lined up outside the studio, that is what it looked like when we were trying to find our driver to take us to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel around 10 pm. Exhausted!

Just 1 more day! August 10, 2008

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are busy packing and doing last minute errands and cleaning. I don't think I have ever made so many lists in my life.

Friday night we did find some time to go to our last Brewer's game of the season. They won!
It was a perfect evening for a baseball game.

We will try to post one more time before we fly on Tuesday, and it will be a full day of travel for us. We are going to take the airport connection from Milwaukee to Chicago O'Hare airport, so we will be leaving early in the morning to catch our flight out of Chicago, and we will be landing mid evening in Colombia. Bogota, is in the same time zone as Wisconsin, so it will be great not to have to worry about time changes. Although, I am sure we will be very tired when we arrive.

However, we will probably not sleep very well even after an exhausting day, as we will be very excited to meet the boys first thing on Wednesday morning. We can not express the excitement knowing that this day is finally arriving.

We want to thank everyone for their support and prayers, and ask that you continue them as we journey to Colombia.

I am totally exhausted, and tomorrow will be another busy day with final preparations.
Adios for now.

-Joyce