Happy New Year!

Where do I even start? It was a good weekend but it passed much too quickly!!!

Saturday, a friend came over and helped Karl finish the plumbing to our shower/bathtub!!! We are so thankful. Karl said what took the two of them 3 hours would have taken him days alone. Karl also got the shower curtain rod mounted and installed the shower head and shower controller. He did many other things too! Very encouraging progress!

I worked on cleaning out a few potential storage areas and finally finished putting on tag holders on the good ole canvas bins on our hallway shelf!!! That was great! Plus I painted, worked in the kids' room, etc.

Another friend also came over to take sacks of clothes that I haven't had time to go through and is washing and sorting them for us. She wanted & insisted on doing this and I refused but she would not take "NO!" for an answer. Truly, this is such an incredible relief and I am really grateful for such kindness.

Our Adult Sunday School Class threw Karl and me a shower yesterday and it was overwhelmingly encouraging! We enjoyed it so much - they had a hilarious "Newly Parents" game, yummy food, smiling faces, lots of hugs & encouraging words from such loving friends who are so excited about the adoption. We left there so very blessed: on a 1-10 scale, we are a 100!!! Our friends showered us with such special gifts: crib bedding, a host of really neat bi-lingual/other children's books, CD's & DVD's, blankets, a changing pad cover, a crib mattress cover, flash cards, a few outfits, some toys, stuffed animals, 3 really cute giant cuddly teddy bears, a couple of books to help us gain wisdom as parents, and gift cards/money to buy things we need for the children! Everyone was so enthusiastic and so generous - it was breath-taking! We are so thankful for such loving friends to come alongside of us & to invest in the children & in our family in this way.

On a sad note, Karl's Dad is very sick and in the hospital and the Doctors are not totally certain why he is so sick or what to do for treatment. We are concerned about him and would appreciate prayer for him and for the family at this time!

T Minus 15

We are doing okay over here - just frantically trying to get as much done as possible!

My errands went pretty well yesterday and my shopping trip was semi-successful. Wally World was out of almost everything so that was really frustrating. One redeeming thing is that I found plastic bins for storage under the bunk bed - they are really nice with clasping lids and they are translucent LIME GREEN!!! I found some other items I was looking for but came home without completing half of my list. Oh well, it will be back to WW for me.

Karl got some caulking done in the bathroom and also hung two towel rings and a TP holder so that is really great! (This is actually the second set he's installed b/c I found ones we liked so much better so he took those down and we'll return them. This new set matches so much better.) We also got all our accounts reconciled & updated and were quite thankful for that. Busy, busy!

My friend emailed me the greatest idea to help me get more done:

Maybe if you tied a feather duster to Beaker’s foot, he could fly around cleaning your house. As his strength increases, you can upgrade him to the dish towel and then the vacuum cleaner!

I laughed so hard about that! She is very clever, isn't she? "Okay Beaker, here is the duster! Get going! You can have a treat when you're done! Make sure you do a thorough job!"

T Minus 16!

Here is Andres' Crib!

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Here are the super cute backpacks we bought for the kids! Aren't they adorable!?! We still need to "stock" them with all the recommended items.

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Thankfully, yesterday was a pretty productive day. We both have an intimidating amount of stuff to do but are trying to chip away at a little at a time. We are trying to regroup each night and that has been helping. Today, before Karl gets home, I have mega shopping to do, mail documents, return some items, laundry, reconcile accounts, paint trim, phone calls, clean out the bench in our entry so we can make room for hats/gloves/etc. and meet a friend for lunch too. So, that is my agenda for the day! Wow - 16 days left - we can hardly believe it!

I wish Beaker would start pitching in around here! I could sure use his help! Maybe he could run some errands for me?! All he does is play all day! Ha ha ha!

"Who, Me?"

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Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas to you!!!

We hope that you are having a very special day

celebrating our Lord Jesus' birthday!!!

We are having a relaxing, pleasant day together. When we woke up, we read passages from Luke and Matthew. We also had a blast opening our gifts to each other - packages as well as vouchers/coupons we made for each other for gifts to come. Karl's gifts were very sweet & thoughtful. He liked mine too. :) We read Christmas love letters that we wrote to each other too. It has been a very special day. Our thoughts are on the children as well. We hope our little darlings are having a special day too and wonder if they know about us yet!

It has been a while since we have been able to update! Here are some of the highlights from our incredibly busy week:

• We went to Chicago and got our apostilled documents necessary for Visas as well as to bring with us to Colombia for court process
• We successfully got both of our Visas at the Colombian Consulate
• Our precious friends, Jason & Mandy, took such great care of us and got us downtown on time! Karl & I were SO relaxed! They knew where everything was first of all and then would drop us off at the curb and pick us up when we were finished. It was AMAZING!!! We are so thankful and will never forget the incredible kindness they showed us. It was the most stress-free it could have ever been. Thank you, Mandy & Jason!!!
• We were able to spend some time with my Sister, Brother-in-Law, niece & nephews
• We enjoyed a wonderful, overdue trip to IKEA!!! It was SO FUN!!! We came home with lots of miscellaneous goodies :)
• Since we made our airline reservations, we have already received little Andres' paper ticket in the mail. We are amazed we have tickets to and from Colombia - Wow!!!
• Only 18 days until we leave . . . we are feeling the pressure as well as excitement and anticipation. We have a TON to do around here including get warm weather clothing to bring down for the children as well as get our own clothing + a multitude of other items in order and packed. There are so many different kinds of tasks to do that it is overwhelming. Tonight after our supper together we are going to have another planning session and write things down on our big calendar dry erase board. Hopefully that will help us get things in order!
• Karl set up Andres' crib last night! We thought it was going to be really complicated but thankfully he got it set up in a jiffy! So that seems like a milestone to us! All we need now is a crib mattress and bedding!

We'll write more soon! For now, we are going to sit down together for our Christmas Dinner. Merry Christmas, dear friends!

We Have Tickets!

It's been a grueling day so far . . . & that's a complete understatement!

But . . .

We got our notarization completed AND bought the airline tickets for Karl, me, and the kids!!! So, we now have e-tickets!!! We really will be flying to Colombia on Sunday, January 13th and tentatively returning on the 16th of February. It was big bucks, people, but at least if we have to change our flights, it won't cost anything additional. Karl is on his way home and we have to pack and clean this house really quick (looks like something exploded - help!) and eat before we head to Chicagoland tonight! If you think of us, please pray for our activities tomorrow -apostilles at the Secretary of State, trying to find a photo copier somewhere downtown to copy those documents, and then making our way over to apply for our TS Visas at the Colombian Consulate - it will probably be just as grueling as today!!! Also, we sure appreciate all of your wonderful comments and guestbook sign-ins. Thank you all for your kindness and friendship!

The Picture You've Been Waiting For!

Good Morning! I hope this picture of three of the most precious little faces ever really brightens your day! I am SO excited to be able to introduce you to our children and to show you what they look like finally!

Last night was craziness central over here as Karl and I worked to get all of our Visa paperwork in order. We got it all together and today we have to get some notarizing done to be ready for everything tomorrow (apostilling documents and then going to the Colombian Consulate to apply for our Visas.)

We are working on getting our airline reservations made TODAY. We have to have this done in time for our Visa appointment tomorrow (have to have printed itineraries) so it is pretty intense over here!!! Karl left earlier this morning saying "Don't panic!" as he went out the door! Thankfully some of the details are falling into place already this morning with how to pay for the tickets, etc. We have received one itinerary and are waiting on a couple more before we make the decision.

The Countdown Begins!!!

As you might have noticed from the new countdown, we now have an official date!!! We received word this morning that Colombia set our date to meet the children for Tuesday, January 15th! Needless to say, it has been a BUSY day!!!

• I have been working on reservations to fly down to Bogota on January 13th
• Set up an appointment with the Colombian Consulate to get our TS Visas (this took a bunch of phone calls, clarification, etc because the one lady who issues Visas is on vacation on Friday as well as the following 11 days!!!) Now we are going there on Thursday instead to get our Visas.
• Corresponded with our Agency with questions
• Printed out our Visa Request Letters
• Read through some of our travel preparation information

Now that it is officially official, I was hoping to be able to post the kids' precious photo for you to see. I wrote our Agency to confirm if this was okay and hopefully will hear back tomorrow and be able to show you the lovely new Armstrong Additions!!!

We've Been Elf-ed

A dear friend sent me this link saying this shows how
happy we must be...

Click here for a good laugh!!!

ENJOY!!!

We are available if you want to book us for your next party! ;)

Silent UPS Man Strikes Again

I saw a man running briskly up our front lawn and then in a flash he turned around and ran back to his brown truck, not even ringing the doorbell! I opened the door and there was our package set on the bench right outside our door. What was it? This envelope contains our original referral documents from Colombia, original photos of the children, reports, etc!

Acceptance Letter Sent

Last night, we read through the email from our CHI Colombia Program Director and thankfully, we pretty much have our paperwork ready to apply for our visas. We wrote our Acceptance Letter last night and sent it!!! It will be forwarded to a Representative of the Colombian Children's Welfare Unit (ICBF). Pretty exciting!!! We requested to meet the children on January 14th, 2008. So, we will be waiting to hear back for confirmation about that date!

A Day To Remember

Yesterday, I started getting a scratchy voice. Other than that, I felt fine . . . until last night! I felt hot, my eyes were on fire, the glands in my neck were really swollen and ached really bad, my sinuses throbbed, and a low-grade fever . . . by the time dinner was over, I was out of commission because I felt so terrible. I was so upset because this is NOT a good time to be sick!

I called as soon as the doctor's office opened this morning and went in at 10:30. So, after a very thorough examination, the doctor said I had an upper respiratory infection and gave me a prescription for a Z-pack antibiotic (only have to take for 5 days but stays in your system for ten days). Right now, I feel pretty awful but I am so thankful that 1) they had an appointment available 2) we didn't get the massive ice storm that was predicted so I could get to the Dr. office 3) it is not a virus 4) it is not contagious & 5) I should be feeling better fairly soon!

While at Walmart getting my prescription filled, buying some soup as well as a trying to pick out a new calendar/planner, my phone rang. "Children's Hope International" popped up on the screen. I answered but didn't think she would have much to say because we had just been informed that unfortunately the fax had not gone through and that it had been mailed to Oregon not knowing that it had not gone through because of some glitch. So, Karl and I basically ruled out hearing anything for another week while waiting for it to arrive. BUT, our Agency contact was calling to let us know that the original copies of our official paperwork for the referral of the children arrived in Oregon and were all translated and she was emailing to us! We were so surprised!

Most of the information in the report was not new. There was a picture of each of the children from at least a year ago which we are happy to have to put in their Life Books. We each read through it and talked on the phone about it and then I called back to CHI to let them know that Karl & I officially wanted to accept the referral of the children to our family!!! Now we are waiting on an email from the CHI Director of the Colombia program that will contain directions for "next steps" - a.k.a. the whirlwind of coordination that needs to happen to get us to Colombia - which will hopefully be sent tonight!

This is really happening!!! We really are going to go soon and meet our children, live in two towns in Colombia, South America, for about a month and come home together as a new family. What an amazing process! I don't think it will really seem real until I lay my eyes on our beloved little children in person. We are praising God for entrusting us with these little ones. We are very excited to become parents together. I am SO glad we are adopting! If I had the opportunity to rearrange the events of our life, I wouldn't choose any other path.

By the way, we ordered a Spanish/English pictorial dictionary for kids & little tiny backpacks for each of the kids (as suggested by our Adoption Agency). We were notified they are being shipped out today! (Don't worry, these backpacks are totally toddler size, just enough room for some of their little items.) We should get them soon and then I can start stocking them with the recommended list of goodies. They are so adorable - I think the kids will love having their very own mini backpacks! They were really inexpensive too! Karl and I chose blue, pink and pink with polka dots!

Karl is on his way home from work. We'll eat and hopefully work on getting the Kids' Room set up! OH! The email from our CHI Director just came!!! It's LONG!!! We'll work on sorting all that information out tonight too!!!

Wintery Mix

Yesterday was a good day. We did some electrical work yesterday and were happy with our progress!

• Karl replaced an existing outlet in the bathroom with a GFCI
• He changed out two old switches with two new ones
• He created two new outlets - one GFCI and one regular outlet
• Now the bathroom wiring is finished!
• We can now plug in our CO detector in the hallway right outside of the bedrooms as we are required to be in compliance for our post-placement visits!

We had a lot of fun at our Adoption Ministry Social too! One of our friends cracked me up by saying something to the effect of "I am pretty surprised that for all of these families adopting internationally, they sure are pretty wimpy about trying international foods!" So, I got spunky & tried the Sushi she brought! It wasn't bad - just a funny combination of many different flavors. So, hopefully that will give me a few bonus points in the international food courage department!!! We had tons of hearty laughs, it was such a blast!!! I came home totally amazed after it dawned on me that our little boy will be even smaller than our friends' little boy who is 2 1/2 and such a cute little peanut! Our 3 1/2 year old little girl probably won't be all that much bigger than him either. I told Karl that it is hard to imagine what our kids will look like in person and he told me that he thinks all our kids will be really small, even our 5 year old. Wow! It is so hard to picture what it will be like!!!

Today the weather is really crummy, lots of sleet and ice. Thankfully we were able to get to church today despite the ice. Karl broke his new scraper already trying to remove the thick coating of ice on our windshield! :( We had lunch together and are taking it easy and have some things we are going to work on together.

We got an email from our Agency Representative today and she just let us know that she never heard anymore about the fax from Colombia so she is going to pursue that tomorrow and get back to us. Today I got all the copies for our visas in order & am happy about that because for now I am up-to-date on all my paperwork. Soon we'll have a bunch more paperwork to do so at least I am ready!

Thursday Night Surprise

Last night a friend and his very sweet little boy came over to help Karl install trim in the bathroom. They got quite a bit done and we are very thankful. It looks good! While the guys were doing their thing, I decided to work on making the million copies of our Dossier documents that we need to take with us to Colombia. I now have a jumbo stack and am pretty much finished - minus a couple documents I didn't have a copy of so I needed to email a question whether or not I even need copies of those items . . .

So, I sign into the email to send that paperwork question and Karl yells out that we had an email from our Agency! We were so surprised! This is what it said:

I talked with the CHI Colombia Program Director tonight. Lucia (representative in Colombia) HAS the assignment, YOUR OFFICIAL ASSIGNMENT, in her hands and said that she would fax to us tomorrow! YEAH! The medical info is dated the same as what we have already given you, so technically there is no new info, just the fact that this is the real official true assignment. We just have to translate the official letter, so just wanted to give you the heads up! Will talk as soon as I hear more!

We are so happy! This was so unexpected - we thought we would be waiting another week to hear anything! This is what we have been waiting for for three solid weeks! These papers are really, really important. We haven't been able to proceed with much of anything without them. Now, we will be able to make steps towards our official date to meet the children, plane reservations, applying for our adoption visas, etc, etc!!! So, the picture above is Karl and me after reading this email with such wonderful news!

The "Gift"

Sorry to leave you hanging so long! Okay, so we left off with me prancing to the front of the room like a princess ready to open her new jewels. I was so thrilled to unveil my treasure . . . "what could it be?" I wondered. With such a spiffy bag, it certainly must be something crafty or cutesy for the home. It was definitely crafty. I start gently pulling the pieces of tissue paper out one by one and was surprised to see that they were taking up most of the space in the large bag. After the papers were removed there was just one item in the bottom of the bag rolled up in tissue paper. "Socks?" I wondered. I pushed on it and it was soft and it looked like a long roll . . . " or maybe a heated wrap?" So, it was time to see what this was and I pulled the last tissue paper to unroll the "gift". . . shocking me so much that I let out a scream, jumped backwards and knocked the bag forward when to my horror . . . a realistic looking arm rolled out! "An arm?!?" you ask. Yes an arm. You know, the type you see when you're driving down the road and some sick puppy has one dangling out of their trunk. Yeah, that's the kind! The huge hand looked real. As everyone was doubled over with laughter, I wondered what demented person in our SS class would bring a gift like this!?! Someone with real issues! Everyone else was unwrapping little potholders, candle sets, tins of candy . . . and I get the creepy Halloween arm?!? Well, I did find out that the arm had showed up at the past two parties and I was just the lucky one to get it this year. Believe it or not, a couple "stole" the arm "gift" from us and we were delighted beyond words to be able to open a new gift! I opened it and it was a Starbucks gift set - Wow! It was nice! But someone stole that out of our hands leaving us with the option to then "steal" or open another new gift. Karl whispered to me, "Get the chickens!" and so we happily "stole" a set of old, concrete chickens: a momma hen & 3 chicks from another couple who looked quite relieved to hand them over to us! So, I am now the proud owner of a set of concrete chickens that need painted, refurbished and have some repair done to their beaks but overjoyed nonetheless!!! The End!

Errands, Errands & More Errands

I have a comprehensive & very long list of errands to do. From making photo copies of adoption documents to going to the library, bank, etc. As we planned last night, Karl told me to just hit them all today and get them out of my hair. I won't really be done, there will be more, much more, but at least I'll be done with those items. I need to head out of here soon so I can get them all finished!

We had a great weekend. It went quickly but it was nice to have that time together.

Our Sunday School party on Saturday night was SO FUN that it was hard to fall asleep!!! I was supposed to wind down to go to sleep and I couldn't stop giggling! I tried to be quiet because Karl had already fallen asleep so I was convulsing with silent, hearty laughter! Why? We had the White Elephant of all White Elephant "gift" exchanges. It was a blast! By the way, the "gift" we gave was priceless - Karl & I laughed so hard "choosing" & "preparing" it before the party that we both about keeled over from such intense laughter. We have been laughing ever since! It's the kind of gift that keeps on giving :) When it was my turn, I picked a gorgeous white embossed gift bag with fancy coordinating tissue paper and a lovely glittering "Merry Christmas" sign hanging off of it - it looked like something really special - and I delightfully pranced up to the front of the room with my fancy gift bag where there was a table where we took turns opening it in front of all 75+ people . . . Let's just say there was a reason the packaging was so gorgeous! . . . More details to come :)

What's It All About?

I cannot decorate much for Christmas since we will be flying to Colombia shortly after and will not return until February. I do not want to come home to Christmas decorations that need to be put away!!! I do not have time to decorate and definitely do not have time to put decorations away as we are scurrying around to leave for Colombia. So, I was not planning on putting anything out. However, talking to my Mom today, I decided I do have time to get out & put away a few little things that will help me/us feel like it is even the Christmas season! So, I took a bit of time to bring up one box and I can get out some special items to add a little Christmas spirit to the Armstrong household.

Let's face it, Christmas festivities do not easily fit into our extremely cramped schedule over here. It would be really nice to take a rain check for next year! While everyone else's life goes on like normal, our life is not! This year, Christmas festivities definitely seem like a luxury that we do not have the time to indulge in.

Yes, this is the time of year we celebrate Christ's incarnation. However, let's be honest about what Christmas has turned into in this nation. Do our celebrations promote or rob Christ of the attention He deserves? This season has become an all-out propaganda campaign from all the Stuff-Marts wanting people to buy things to somehow prove we "care" about others in our life and to pick up a few things for ourselves along the way. They are just pushing a bunch of junk on us. Hardly anything is homemade, custom for the recipient, heartfelt. No time to put much thought into it. We have become a nation of zombies chanting mantras to ourselves as we wander through stores, "must get gift for so & so...don't know what...just buy something." Certainly, no time or money left for people who are poor, needy, lonely, hurting - unless we throw a few coins in a kettle as we rush in & out of stores. Get-togethers where people hardly feel like smiling, let alone taking time to acknowledge the significance of why in the world we are even celebrating this holiday. Is it all for egg nog, reindeer, jingle bells, Mr. Red Suit, gift exchanges, parties? Where's the joy, where's the depth, where's the soul-searching, where is the worship?

We DO have time for reflection, for opening up the Scriptures to recall what amazing provision the Lord of All has made for us! To lift up our voices to the Lord of Glory, to praise Him, to thank Him! To focus on the Messiah who was promised and longed for and who faithfully came! God kept His promise! His lavish generosity to us creatures needs to be remembered! This is the reason worth celebrating! Let us not be foolish to miss this, to not have grateful hearts, to let meaningless traditions crowd Him out, to not exalt Him to His proper place in this season and especially in our individual hearts each day of the year.

11 months & 2 weeks

Well, the ticker says it's been 11 months and 2 weeks - hard to believe it has been "that long" because for us the time has passed very quickly!

I did not hear a peep today from our Agency in regards to an update from Colombia. It's been just over two weeks since we got "the call" with the kids' information and pictures and were under the impression we would have the official paperwork shortly after that. Oh well, we have waited two weeks, what's another few days, right?

Today, I have been working on an "inventory" of what kid stuff we have been collecting in anticipation of our three darling niños so I would know/remember what I have available. It was definitely helpful! I do not have a lot but have some necessary items. It helps me to see "holes" too in what we still need. For example, we have a crib but not a crib mattress or crib sheets. We have a changing pad but not a changing pad cover, etc...

Speaking of pictures, this is the bedding Karl & I picked out for the girls! Isn't it cute? Cheery too! I love the colors! This will go on their twin/full bunk bed so it won't look fancy like this picture below but you get the picture. We registered for a crib/toddler bedspread set that coordinates with these colors but with masculine accents and a jungle theme for our little guy. Can hardly wait to show you THEIR pictures!!! The children are totally adorable and completely precious, if Mami must say so herself! What blessings are ahead - praise be to Our Lord!

4:30 On Tuesday

No new news today. Apparently, our CHI contact was not able to successfully get in touch with the Director who is now in Colombia. So, we'll hope for something tomorrow.

I worked on partially filling out visa documents today which I need to take somewhere to be copied tomorrow because we need one form per child of each of these forms. I've been working on some other paperwork as well.

Other than that, I am just trying to chip away at my list of adoption-related tasks along with other household tasks!

6 Weeks & Counting!

We had a nice weekend and really enjoyed the visit from my Sister and her family! We were so glad they came and the time went by much too quickly!

Saturday night, we went to see Bella - which was an incredible film. All I can say is: GO SEE IT! You won't be sorry! Karl and I have been reflecting on it ever since the movie ended. It keeps coming to our minds. Actually, we both said we would like to go see it again because it was that good. By the way, it was inspired by a true story. We highly recommend this film! (Although it is a clean film, I wouldn't necessarily bring your little ones to it because it deals with very mature themes.)

I was feeling sick yesterday and am recovering today so I am taking it easy.

Nothing from Colombia yet. Our CHI contact says that she will try to get more information tomorrow as the CHI Colombia Program Director is flying to Colombia today. We are more than ready to proceed so hopefully they can give us a detailed update tomorrow!!!

Karl and I worked on a 6-Week Countdown checklist of all the stuff that still needs to get finished before we leave for Colombia - LOTS to do around the house, not to mention in every other facet! It is overwhelming but the Lord keeps preparing the way for us, smoothing out the rough paths and making the crooked way straight so we thank Him and are looking to Him to continue meeting our needs! None of this is difficult for Him! Soon enough, we will have these darling little ones in our arms and somehow all this preparation will get done.

Thanksgiving Again!

Today I am getting ready for my sister, brother-in-law, my neice & two nephews to arrive and stay with us through tomorrow! We are excited to have them come to stay with us! Karl is working today but should get home around the time the gang shows up. We are going to have so much fun!!!

I was so excited to find out that Bella is showing in our area! We are planning on going to see this film - we have heard such raving reviews! We might try to catch it Saturday night after the fam heads home.

Happy Thanksgiving

Feliz día de acción de gracias - Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a wonderful day today!

We are praising God for His abundant provision, for His kindness, mercy, love, & especially for His free gift of salvation through Our Lord & Savior Jesus!!!

Dreary Tuesday

The Vacuum Guy agreed that it was the switch that went out and said it would be covered under warranty! Yeah! Also, he said he would replace the belt for $2. What a bargain! I dropped it off yesterday so hopefully we can pick it up tomorrow. Our carpet needs attention - the shop vac doesn't do much for picking up fine stuff.

VERY dreary weather over here! Ugh. Even Beaker looks kind of gloomy today! We need some sunshine!

Well, no word from Colombia still. I am turning into an Eager Beaver to get some of these details hashed out! I talked with our Agency representative and asked a bunch of questions but will have to wait on answers for many of them until we get the paperwork from Colombia. I would really like to get in touch with another CHI family who has traveled to Cali as soon as possible. She did say that we will most likely fly into Bogota and then stay overnight and fly to Cali the following day. Also, we will most likely stay in a B & B. That's about as many details as I have at this point.

Other than that, I am trying to think of what supplies we need for the kids. If you have ideas of what items we will need for ages 5, 3 1/2 and 18 months old - please leave a comment - it will be much appreciated!

I am feeling a little stir crazy. I told Karl I would like to go out tonight. Maybe another planning session would do us some good. I think just getting out of the house together will be energizing! Spanish class is cancelled for tomorrow night so we can get finish up homework and stuff around the house tomorrow evening.

Quiet Monday

I've been working on miscellaneous paperwork over here. I need to get out of here and run our vacuum to the repair shop! It worked great one minute and then we tried to run it again and it was like it was unplugged (but wasn't!) so we think the switch went out. I hope it doesn't cost much to fix! Anyway, it takes about a day to get it back in working order they said. So, that is a priority on my list for today.

I have not heard anything from our Agency as of yet today so I just sent an email checking in to see if there is any information.

I cannot believe it is already November 19th. Wow, January will be here before we know it! We have so much to do. Our thoughts are very much on the children and our upcoming travels. We will be so thankful to have more details a.s.a.p.

By the way, check out at the forecast for Cali, Colombia at the bottom of the screen. Woo - looks hot down there today!!! We sure could use some of that heat up here :)

Well, that is about it for now. I'll probably check in later! Thanks again for all the really sweet notes you have been sending our way. We really appreciate each of you! Hasta Luego, mi amigos.

Winding Down On Sunday Night

Thank you so much for all of the enthusiastic, thoughtful, loving messages you have been sending our way. We really, really, really appreciate your notes! Your excitement, support & your prayers for us are such an encouragement!!!

We are hoping for more information this week. We are eager for a definite travel date so we can get the ball rolling on those airline reservations and the plenteous paperwork that needs our attention!

We have had lots of questions about the date we'll leave: right now the Colombia program director said to tentatively plan on January 6th - 7th and we are hoping to fly in about a day + before so we can rest and be as fresh as possible for the kids.

As far as sizes go for clothes, etc. - I really am not sure if I will be able to get that information or not. I am going to try to request their weights, heights, etc. but don't even know if that information is available. As far as car seats go, I am not sure how to go about this either. *If any of you experienced Colombian Mamis out there know how to go about this, please let me know! Actually, we could use any tip you have to offer us!!!*

We have had a good day. Worship service & SS were great. It was fun to share with our friends at church about our referral for the children. We had a nice lunch out with our friends and then we came home and relaxed. We also had a planning session for the week's activities including getting ready for this week's Thanksgiving festivities!

In addition to all this, I took on our massive pile of returns! I organized the items by store with their designated receipts: they are now ready for take-back!

Karl has been putting up cabinet doors, putting tools away, and doing a bunch of miscellaneous things to get the house ready for my sister and her family who will be coming to stay with us this weekend. This just happens to be very timely as we need this stuff done anyway since the kids will be here s-o-o-n!!! This just gives us extra incentive! Also, her three kiddos will help us see areas we need to "tweak" as far as child-proofing the house goes!

Lots of reasons to be thankful!

Can You Believe It?!?

You will not believe what the rest of our week has been like since we last wrote! It has been the whirlwind of all whirlwinds!!!

On the way to our fingerprint appointment Wednesday, we got a call from our representative at Children's Hope. I answered and told her that we were getting ready to do our fingerprints and asked if she had news...she said "yes"...I asked "how big?"...she said "REALLY big!" So I told her we would call her back & we had to WAIT to hear the "big news" until after the appointment (which took a long time because we got printed twice each!)

When we got back out to the parking lot and called her back she told us that we are approved by Colombia AND that they had a referral for us. (Totally unexpected!) Approved and referred pretty much immediately afterwards - unbelievable! That was nothing compared to what she told us next...

We were in total shock when she told us that Colombia was referring us the very same sibling group that we had found out about at the end of August and had put in a petition to pursue adopting but were told that they would be referred to some other family!!! "What?!?!"

It is completely amazing that they chose us! Our Dossier is in transit to Cali, Colombia. The Government said that this is our official referral and gave our Agency permission to tell us about the children, to send us their reports, AND their picture!!! I assure you that they are ADORABLE!!! Now we are waiting on the official paperwork from Colombia so we can officially say YES!!!

Our Kids are in Cali, Colombia!!!

To make a very long story short: on Wednesday we were totally overwhelmed because we were told that the Colombians wanted us to try to be there immediately and to complete the adoption before the end of the year. We scrambled to get things in order! Later that night, we read through our travel guide and discovered that we could not get our Visas without the original letter from Colombia or without plane reservations! So, we quickly realized that there was no way to do this before the end of the year.

In corresponding with the director of the Colombia program, we were told that we should tentatively plan on traveling to Colombia on January 6th or 7th (but we cannot make reservations until we get that letter and receive confirmation back of our acceptance letter.)

The Agency is hoping it will arrive sometime next week. In the meantime, our clearance from the FBI should be arriving in the next week or two. Now we need to hustle to get all our paperwork ready + make reservations + get the house ready + get ourselves in order = list, lists & more lists!!!

Sorry! You are probably in such suspense about the kids' details!!! I am excited to tell you that our children are: Girl - 5 1/2, Girl - 3 1/2 and Boy - 18 months!!! We are so thrilled & in awe of God's pairing us with these precious children! What an honor to become their Mami & Papi! When we have signed all the papers and it is officially official, then we can post pictures and names. Please keep us in your prayers - Thanks!!!

Fingerprints Today

We leave pretty soon to get our fingerprints redone! We will be sending them off today to the FBI so that we will have that requirement completed for travel to Colombia & these prints will also be used in the Colombian courts for our adoption case. The good thing about getting fingerprinted so many times is that you really get a lot of practice concentrating on trying to let your arm go limp so that the technician can do their job more easily. :)

I could not find our Colombia Guide yesterday - I looked & looked! I needed that guide to remind me about the FBI instructions & address because I have to send a coversheet along with the prints, a certified check, etc. I finally found it, thank goodness!

Still Here

Golly, Friday night was a long time ago! We have been busy...(I know, I know, "what's new?" you are probably thinking!)

As you have already read, Karl took Friday off to work on all the projects...and that's what we did the rest of the weekend (minus Sunday), including Monday which he had off for Veteran's Day. We hoped to get farther on stuff but had an ongoing plumbing nightmare. We got both of the sinks and their accompanying plumbing and drain lines installed. They are still not finished though despite that fact that we followed the instructions to a "T" - Leaks. (I am coming to loathe compression fittings!)

BUT, we did make great strides on reclaiming the Kids' room and the Craft room/office for Karl. We went through zillions of papers and sorted, organized, shredded. We moved one desk out and another one in. Really, we both think we made some important steps back towards a completely functioning home so that is very good! We did our best.

Our friend finished the grout and so soon we need to wipe it all down and seal the grout and also hook up the plumbing to the shower.

The rest of the week will be very crammed with lots to do!

A Good Friday

The bathroom tile was worked on again today and is now finished. Our friend will be back on Monday to do the grout! It looks great! What a blessing!

We worked on the Kids' Room today (to get all the miscellaneous furniture & stuff out of there from working on such a multitude of projects all at the same time) and it is looking really good! Now that it is all cleared out, we can work on getting it set up & ready for the kids!

We have also been working on getting a sink hooked up in the bathroom. We have had some other related items to work on in there so that all is still in progress.

We have gathered a huge mound of returns...with more stuff still to be added. It will be great to get it out of here (once we hunt down all the receipts)!

Today, Karl called about having our fingerprints redone. We will be going to get fingerprinted on Wed at 10 a.m. thanks to the graciousness of a friend who is willing to take our prints for us (since our local police station will not do them.) That's the soonest we are able to have them done locally. It's worth waiting for us to not have to drive an hour each way to have them done a tiny bit sooner. We'll just send them off to the FBI that day and hope they return them quickly!

Getting another Medical Letter from the doctor is trickier. The wife/receptionist would not let Karl speak with the doctor and he didn't dare bring it up with her because she is not at all in favor of the doctor being inconvenienced to have to get a letter notarized for anyone for any reason. The doctor himself is fairly low-key about it once we are able to ask him; I did warn him we might need a second letter too so hopefully that will help. (You would hope that helping three kids get adopted would make someone highly motivated to assist with a little letter like this but you'd be surprised that that is not necessarily the case.) So, Karl is going to call again next week hoping that someone else will answer!?! If not, he'll just make an appointment and have himself checked out and request the letter redo then. UGH. Not fun!

On a lighter side, this picture makes me very thankful we don't have to drive around to all our appointments in such an airy vehicle in this chilly weather! Brrrrrrr....!

A Long Report

Spanish went smoothly last night. We had a major vocabulary quiz and both of us did pretty well. We were sent home with quite a bit of homework this week!

It took a really long time to look through our health insurance options last night. Important but time-consuming! We will keep the same health insurance provider but had the new option this year to pick a dental & vision plan.

The dental plans were very pricey so we opted against that as our regular insurance takes care of cleanings & exams & even sealants for kids' teeth.

We did however decide to go with vision insurance as we calculated we would definitely get our $'s worth from that plan and all five of us can have high-quality eye exams each year and excellent benefits for K & I for glasses and for the children if they need them too. Yeah! That's really great that we have this option this year!

Our Agency Representative called a little while ago and reported that Colombia (ICBF) has been given our original & translated documents. Now we will await hearing official approval.

In the meantime, we have been instructed to go ahead and have our FBI fingerprints redone as well as our medical letters. The reason is that those documents must be "fresh," under 6 months old at the time of travel. So, we have some more paperwork to do. The FBI fingerprints have to be done and sent to the FBI to be processed. Those fingerprints with their FBI letter and the medical letter must be notarized and apostilled (AGAIN.)

There is still a very slim chance that we could travel this year but it is looking like we probably will not travel until January. The next week will tell.

I asked what will happen next. Like I mentioned we are awaiting to hear of our official approval by ICBF, then to receive an assignment/referral/match for our children and then a travel assignment.

Our Agency Rep told me that she thought referrals will continue to be assigned despite having to possibly wait until January to travel because of all of the holidays. Hey, January works good for us!!! And some extra time to plan wouldn't be too shabby either!!! January is still quickly approaching and traveling after the holidays seems to alleviate a lot of complications and concerns so it is kind of a relief! We have plenty to do over here, that's for sure! Mami & Papi will put the (projected) additional time to good use! :)

So that is the "we really don't have that much actual new information" update!

Other than that, our shower tile is being worked on right now! It is looking fabulous! I think our friend will finish all the tile today and then will just come back one more time to grout. Wow! What a mammoth praise! I can almost hear the water running out of the shower head now, can't you? Very exciting! This house is going to be back in shape, better than ever & ready to meet the needs of 2 parents & 3 kiddos very soon! Yippee!

One last thing: I did post the promised information about our Matching Grant Challenge Status! See the top of the blue sidebar on the lower right for the update!

Wednesday Update

We now have a lovely entry floor, spiffy bathroom cabinets in place (sinks ready to hook up) and a working toilet upstairs!!! Yeah!!! We are very encouraged & so thankful!!! We appreciate our cheerful volunteering friends so much.

This means that after the shower tile is done, all the major indoor projects will be done! We'll just have finishing details left. I'll post pictures as soon as I am able - I've been having technical difficulties.

I called our Agency today to ask if there was any tidbit of news. Just got an email - no news for today. She's going to check with the Director tomorrow and get back to us.

On the agenda for tonight: Dinner, studying, Spanish class & then reviewing health insurance & Flexible spending account options after class.

Bad Storm in Colombia

"Colombia’s Capital Hit by Hailstorm"

An unusually strong hail storm whipped through Colombia’s capital, on Saturday, causing severe flooding and burying dozens of vehicles under the ice. Authorities say it is the strongest ever hailstorm seen in Bogotá, but despite several major roads becoming blanketed in ice, no one was killed by the storm.

The streets and neighbourhoods around Bogotá were hardest hit by the storm, with the melting ice and snow flooding many nearby homes and buildings. Over 30 cars became stuck when a meter and a half (59 inches) of water and ice accumulated at the bottom of an intersection. Rescue workers faced great difficulty in rescuing people from their cars, with one fire-fighter saying “this is a special case because as we try and remove all the ice, it’s getting harder, making it more difficult to do so.”

Colombians have only just recovered from heavy rain which lashed across the country at the beginning of the rainy season in October. More than 90 people were killed by the rain, which caused widespread flooding and left more than 800,000 people homeless.

There is also a brief video at this link that shows the awful impact of the storm. Please join us in praying for Colombia!

Looking Back On The Weekend

It was a great weekend! We reclaimed our living room - got rid of all the drop cloths, brought furniture back into it from other rooms and rearranged everything. We are both really happy with how it turned out! Now we have an "empty" area where the kids can play. We are hoping to find a nice toy box for the corner. It is not totally finished by any means but we made great strides. There's still plenty of tools in the room, pictures not hung yet, other stuff to be put away but we are delighted with how it is coming together. Very exciting!

We ran out Saturday night at 8:15 (after working on projects all day) to pick out a light and actually found one (not an easy feat) as well as some other things we needed! Then we ate at Culvers (we had not eaten since lunch!!!) When we got home, Karl hung the light in the entry way! Wow! We both really like it!

The progress is very encouraging - especially as we don't know what the coming weeks will bring. I have a new long list of things to do and our weeknights are jam-packed with house projects and Spanish. Finally seeing the fruit of all our hard work is wonderful and as we get other rooms in order this week, it will be very satisfying! We praise the Lord for preparing us in every way for parenthood! We are so glad we can share this journey with each of you!

Friday Progress, Saturday Plans

We got the ceiling painted last night!!! It looks terrific!!! The white paint we picked goes great with the walls - better than the previous white. The only problem: sore necks, sore arms, stiff bodies!

Today we'll be hitting other projects hard. We are going to mow, seed the bare areas in the front yard and arrange the living room! We want to get our LR in working order by Monday. We need to finish the front door too.

We'll check in later!

Last Night

As we were getting ready to sit down for dinner, we got a call from our Adoption Agency contact at 6:30 last night to fill us in that the package arrived and that it was already sent down to Colombia, as well as faxed to expedite the translation! I asked her to keep us updated with any news. I don't think we'll hear anything until next week.

Karl got all the ceiling paint prep done. He & I were really tired and decided to rest and postpone painting to tonight. We talked briefly about where to move furniture when we are done painting. After that, we read our packet again with all of the great Adoptive Parenting articles for a couple hours - a great investment of time!

Arrived & On The Way

I am not sure what time our package showed up in Oregon for sure because the USPS site hasn't even updated that info yet. I called the office in sheer suspense to find out!

I was very pleased to find out that the package arrived in Oregon earlier today and has already been shipped & is currently on its way to Colombia!!! Wow, that's a fast turnover!

If there are any other details, we won't hear anything until tomorrow.

I enjoyed a nice lunch with my friend today! After that, I headed over to Wally World and had one of those splendid trips where I remembered many things that never made it on a list but should have! I picked up some really cute little hats from the clearance aisle too that may work for the kids & a nightlight too!

Karl is on his way home. ¡Nosotros vamos comer pronto - Adios!

On The Way

¡Papi es muy guapo, muy inteligente y muy
simpático!

Yesterday's running around went well. I was so thankful that there were two of us to help with the thinking, double-checking, etc! (Except with all the hustle and bustle, we forgot to take any pictures - besides this one I got in the car!!!)

We got the documents apostilled and then mailed right away at a nearby post office. We are eager to hear when the package is delivered! We have been tracking the package:

Your item was processed and left our PORTLAND, OR 97238 facility on November 1, 2007, 6:14 am.

We had Spanish not too long after we got home yesterday and that went fairly well. It was chaotic and stressful again. Our Profesora had a really neat Spanish book that I am going to look up and see if we can buy a copy. It had a lot of practical Spanish and pictures too!

We came home totally exhausted at 8:15 pm and decided to read our packet that came from our Agency called "Adopting Older Children from Colombia" that came with our Travel Guide. The articles in it are really good and we really benefited from the 2 hours worth we read last night.

Tonight we are scheduled to work on painting the LR ceiling. We are really excited because our Thursday Work Night Buddies have said they would like to come back next week to help us finish up the remaining projects - Wow! So, there will be another Work Night next Tuesday to finish up the entry flooring, getting our bathroom in working order, etc. What an incredible blessing!!! We will be much better prepared for the kids due to their labor of love.

Speaking of children, we're going to have 3 kids soon!?! We can hardly believe it!!! We are back to the guessing game of when it will happen but we need to get ready for sooner than later! We are really looking forward to the time when we can see their little faces in their photos and then in person!

Spanish Key:
Papi = Daddy
Muy = very
Guapo = handsome
Inteligente = intelligent
Simpático = nice, charming

Package Arrived

It's here!!!

Our UPS envelope just arrived. Good thing I was watching for it because the UPS guy quietly tucked it in between the screen door and front door and ran back to his truck. He didn't ring the doorbell or knock! I got pretty much everything else we need ready yesterday & it is waiting at the door. I am all ready to go! I just called Karl to let him know the package arrived. It is a bit "early" so he was kind of surprised. We'll be zooming out of here soon...

Never A Dull Moment!!!

It's funny, just when we think we have this whole adoption process figured out to a "T," we are reminded that it is not totally predictable & that there is often an exception to the rule! Surprise!!!

Today I picked up everything we needed for the Addendum from the psychological evaluation. It all was perfect and we are able to send even more detailed info than the Colombians requested! We are waiting for an overnight UPS package from our Agency which will contain our Home Study Addendum.

Good thing I called...I asked if we could just overnight mail the docs to Springfield along with a prepaid envelope to have them overnighted to Oregon to save ourselves a drive & valuable time (thought we were going above the call of duty here)? I was informed with a hearty "NO," that this is "RUSH" status & she needs the info right away. I asked lots of clarifying questions so I would understand. The gist was: Not a day later - we needed to go and get the apostilles done and overnight them - no time to lose. I was really surprised.

So tomorrow, we must drive to Springfield to get these items apostilled at the Secretary of State and mail the documents right away to Oregon so that they can be sent to Colombia immediately. Our Agency contact said the Program Director wants this info immediately & that it wasn't explicitly stated but she got the impression that Colombia may very well have our children already picked out!!! W-O-W!!! This is NOT the expected order that we thought this would happen!

I don't know all the implications of this but it could possibly mean that we may still travel in November - which we thought was totally out of the question!!!

We could really use prayer as we are now scrambling to get things ready, Karl has to make arrangements at work so he can take off to go to Springfield, we are in shock, and we have to kick everything up into high gear again!!!

Super Quick Update

I only have a milli-second but wanted to give a quick update!

Friday night, the two of us did get all the walls painted and they look great!!! Hardly any touching up will be necessary! We did not get to the ceiling yet.

Saturday morning, we got the tree down and got all cleaned up!!! Very exciting! It went very smoothly! I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Saturday afternoon - early Sunday morning, Karl and I got the new door in too! It gave us lots of problems so it isn't completely finished yet but we can close it and lock it for now until we can finish it!

It was a BUSY weekend and it looks like this week is jam-packed as well.

Rolling the Night Away

Okay, at lunch Karl & I made a plan: we are going to PAINT our hearts out tonight (hopefully not literally - I can almost see the headline now: "Couple found dead with paint rollers in hand!")

Karl will work until 6, then we'll eat pizza right after that & then we are going to "roll" the night away - first on the walls and then we are hoping to get the ceiling done too! We are planning to have all that done by 12 or 1 a.m. Ambitious or Desperate?!? You make the call...

Alrighty, well now that you know what our evening plans are, I am off to write a thank you note and to update our budget!

~ Hasta Luego

"Work Night" Report

We are very, very, very thankful for all of the guys' help last night!!!

Thank you Bob, Scott, Marv, Gary, Lon & Mike!

We now have baseboards up in the entry and underlayment laid for the floor. Plumbing is now run to the bathroom and the dishwasher. Paneling is up to cover the plumbing and half of the baseboard is up in the bathroom.

New Baseboards!

New Plumbing, Paneling, and more Baseboards

New Underlayment for Entry

The tricky thing now is what project do we try to finish up next? We have started in so many areas and each needs finished...there is displaced furniture & stuff everywhere which is making it a real treat to live here.

We have a big gap under the front door now because we took out the old threshold so it wouldn't interfere with the underlayment for the flooring. So, now we really need to get that new door in a.s.a.p (cold air)! Hopefully we can get to the door on Saturday along with Mr. tree in the front yard (a couple of the guys are going to try to come back to tackle the tree on Saturday.) Fortunately, Karl and I know how to install the door - it just takes time, patience & lots of shimming! After the door, we need to get the entry floor done so the underlayment doesn't get messed up.

We also decided we NEED to finish painting just for sanity's sake with all the plastic drop cloths everywhere - it is not attractive & makes walking through the house rather inconvenient.

Other than that, the bathroom will have to wait until this other stuff is done!

I am laughing because I thought the picture of "us" in our ticker would be much more accurate with huge bags under "our" eyes!!! We were up really, really LATE again last night working to correct a few leaks in valves and fittings. We were somewhat successful on some and finally had to just leave the other ones. Ugh!

Even with drips, at least the plumbing is done! We are so thankful for God's provision and for the loving help of these Christian Brothers! We would appreciate if you continue to hold us up in your prayers - that God will continue to give us His Strength!!!

Mucho Cansado

Spanish class tonight went much better than last week - thank goodness! We covered quite a few topics this week. Karl is getting pretty quick at conjugating verbs! I followed along with the lecture and tried to take notes faster (= sloppier!) so I could keep up with our Profesora. My reading comprehension is improving too. We were let out a bit early tonight because all of us students were mucho cansado (very tired)!

I am very happy because I finished writing out our schedules - now & how they will change in the future - (2 pages typed!) and just sent it off to our Social Worker! It took me two days to write it all out and Karl made a few changes and it looked good. So that is done - at least for now! Phew!

Now we are getting ready for tomorrow night's projects - our last "Work Night." Karl is bringing up supplies from the basement.


The projects planned for tomorrow night include:

• Bathroom: Mirrors/Trim/Molding


• Plumbing to Bathroom Sinks and Toilet


• Entry Baseboard and Flooring

Karl wanted to show you the progress on our tile project too - thanks to another friend helping us along - so here I am below with our cement board in the shower area, newly taped and mudded!

It is an enormous praise to see an "end in sight" as these projects get scratched off the list. We are incredibly thankful! As the time draws very close for us to get our referral for the kids, this is a mammoth relief!

Paint, Paint & More Paint!

Karl and Mike met at the house after work last night to start the tree job but it started to rain & never let up! Plus it got really chilly so the tree cutting is postponed.

So after dinner Karl and I started re-painting. We did all the cutting-in with paint brushes and now we are ready to roll the walls after we paint the ceiling tonight. I thought you might want to see the difference between the paint colors - you can see the correct paint below - it's the darker one that I painted in the corners. Pretty big difference! We are already happier with the color since just repainting areas the roller cannot cover!

Here's Karl painting - he did the areas up by the ceiling & higher areas. I worked on the lower areas, around outlets, windows, etc. It went pretty well and we enjoyed some nice conversation while we painted until 11+ p.m.!!! He's really sweet - he cleans the brushes and always takes on the harder duties & does such a great job!

Today I ran to Menards for ceiling paint and other supplies after Bible study. Our lesson today in Bible Study was excellent! I was really, really glad that I was there today to hear it. Praise God for His faithfulness and involvement in our lives. He's always there, always ready to meet the deepest needs of our hearts & to teach us how to depend upon Him & be satisfied in Him alone! It was also special to be reminded today that He goes ahead of us, carving out the way that we are supposed to go - He makes our crooked paths straight.

I need to write out our daily schedules to pass on to our Social Worker so she can incorporate them into the requested Home Study Update.

Alive & Well

It has been a few days! A lot has been going on but I haven't had the energy to write about it. I am just checking in now to let you know we are still alive & well - for the most part!

Tonight a couple friends are coming over and we will take the tree down in the front yard - it is not alive & well. Hopefully it will go smoothly!

The updates for our Home Study are still in the works. There are a lot of schedules to coordinate, the psychologist is away on vacation and we are totally swamped over here. I think it will all come together in the next week or two.

Our house still looks like this (below) because we unfortunately have to repaint the LR, entry and hallway because the paint was the wrong color (the color we picked is right but the formula in their computer was wrong) so our 2.5 gallons of paint we put up was much too light and is more like a cream color than a tan. Very discouraging!!! :( We had the paint remade and now it is the correct color and we just need to finish the job right. We have had a couple of days to come to terms with it and decided to just take a couple of nights to work on it together. Our goal is to try to complete this redo as well as painting the ceiling before our last Thursday work night later this week (10/25) so we can put our house back in order a.s.a.p.


The positive news is that last Thursday on the Work Night, our SS friends helped us so much by installing a floor in our bathroom and the closet system is up and ready for use in the Kids' closet. What a blessing (& relief!) to two expectant parents!

New Floor in Bath

New Closet System for Kids' Room

So that is the short-version update. We would appreciate your prayers at this hectic time over here! More updates to come soon - including an exciting update about the Matching Grant Challenge!

Thank You...

Thank you SO much to the guys who came over last night

to help us with projects:

Lon, Terry, Mike, Ted, Gary, Eric & Rick!

(Four of them came 2 weeks in a row to help us - WOW!)

The offering of their time, energy & skills is precious to us

and really we cannot even express the extent of our debt of gratitude.

If it were not for these friends intervening to help us,

I don't know how we would be ready in time for the kids.

We are praying
that the Lord will richly bless you!!!

Thank You!!!

Getting Ready for Worknight #2

Our new Spanish class last night was not what I expected! We went through a bunch of "review" except we didn't know much of it because it was stuff we had not really learned. :( Roberto next to Karl was asleep, totally out. I kept giving Karl bug-eyes because I was not feeling very confident of my Spanish abilities & was wondering if we should drop the class. Karl was relieved when our Professora let us out early. I hope next week is better!

We came home and finished preparations for tonight that we had already been working on before class: moving all the furniture into the middle of our LR to get ready for painting. I took the door off & emptied the Kids' closet for the new shelving. He laid out all the parts for the closet job to go smoothly. Karl had to clean out the bathroom for the flooring project and get those supplies ready. We had to take all the pictures/shelves/etc. off the walls and Karl patched the holes - tons of them. It was a lot of work. But all the prep work is well worth it. We are totally excited about tonight and hopefully getting three more things accomplished. If it were not for these work nights, I do not know what we would do. We are more than thankful and very blessed!!!

This is the "before" photo of the Kids' closet:

This is the bathroom before the new floor is installed.

This is the old blinds coming down this week and the new ones up!

In between some other stuff I need to do, our coordinator from our Agency should be calling in the next hour regarding what exactly we need from the psychologist.

We have another appointment at the Health Department today for immunizations so Karl will be coming home for lunch and then we will head over there together.

Mega Update On Our Adoption Process!

Wow! We got a call from our Adoption Agency today! I saw the number of the missed call on my cel phone and my heart rate sped up at least 4 notches as I dialed in to listen to the voicemail...

The message said that Colombia has been reviewing our Dossier & contacted our Agency. It turns out that Colombia wants MORE information added to our Home Study that includes:

• Details about our current daily schedule(s) and the changes there will be to them when the children arrive
• Details about our preparation to adopt through contact with other adoptive families
• Personality characteristics (unclear about this as of yet)
• They also suggested that we start to learn Spanish to be able to communicate effectively with the children - CHECK!!! :)

So I will hear more details from our Agency tomorrow. We are supposed to get working on these updates right away. The updated Home Study will need to be notarized, apostilled at the Secretary of State, sent down to Colombia to be translated and then presented to ICBF again.

I asked what this means regarding our timing:

• Since Colombia has contacted our Agency, we now know that we are in the review process but don't know specifics other than that at this point.
• Contingent upon these updates our Agency will submit, they will proceed with review and then grant approval.
• After approval, our Dossier will be sent from National Office to a Regional Office somewhere in Colombia (sort of like being sent from Washington DC to a state.)
• Then after review of information by the Regional Office, the referral/assignment/matching of children to adoptive parents takes place.
• Then we will be notified of the Referral/Assignment/Matching
• Then we would travel soon thereafter...

So that is the big news over here. We will see how this all pans out. We would sure appreciate your prayers!

Karl will be coming home early to work on getting things ready for the projects tomorrow night and then we have our 1st class for our Spanish 2 tonight!

Dirty Laundry

It has been an eventful day so far!

Bible study was GREAT!

I had lunch with a friend and it was DELIGHTFUL - we had such wonderful fellowship!!!

I purchased paint for the LR/Entry/Hall today! I am not the best at making decisions - I take a long time and second guess everything! Even though I could not get ahold of Karl, I made a decision and hopefully won't have a major case of buyer's remorse!!! (I hope we like the paint and the color!!!) I went ahead and chose a 2.5 gallon container that looks pretty user-friendly. I bought some plastic sheeting too.

I have been decimating loads of laundry over here too! I have done a ton of loads - big & small -and only have one load left (beiges - don't laugh, Teresa!!!) Anyway, I am happy about getting that crossed off my list :) In the beige pile is a little jacket that I bought at a rummage sale that will hopefully fit one of the three kids. It is a very nice windbreaker zip-up jacket with pockets & everything but some little person spilled blue cool aid or blue popsicle on the front, it had not been washed since, and the stains looked well-established! So, I took a chance that maybe they would wash out to become less noticeable... Well, I am excited to report that indeed it looks like the stains are long-gone & that is after just pre-treating it!!! So I should have a spiffy little jacket that is as good as new for one of the kids! Isn't that great?!

Tonight the plan is to eat at Culvers together and then jaunt over to Home Depot for closet supplies for the Kids' room (with our 3-D drawing & parts list in hand)!

Karl is on his way home now...he said he will have to change before we go out and warned me that he is "really dirty" from an inspection today...I said "okay" and asked if his pants were beige...he said "yes" and I said "perfect!" :)

Monday Reflections 2

It has been a pretty good day over here so far! I received a call from the Health Dept Travel Immunization Clinic regarding the Yellow Fever vaccine - if we wanted it or not - they needed to know today! So I called CHI to clarify yes/no and they said ''wait" to find out what area we will be traveling to - so that was really helpful!!! Also, we needed to decide about the MMR vaccine because we go back this Thursday afternoon for our other dose of Twin Rix HepA/HepB vaccine. I read the CDC recommendations on their website based on traveling to Colombia & it looks like yes we will do the MMR again based on their recommendations.

I have also been trying to hash out a few things on the phone with our mortgage provider. I composed a letter that we will send out to them after Karl proofs it.

We are having pretty dreary weather -ugh! It makes me feel a little less energetic! I am trying to wipe out my to-do list though so I am trying to not let it affect me!

Karl just called & is on his way home from work now! I am looking forward to spending the evening together! Tonight we will be busy with a list of preparations to get things ready for Thursday night.

Tomorrow morning I have my Bible study and am looking forward to that! Afterwards I will be having lunch with a friend and then errands galore!!!

Monday Reflections

It has now been 4 weeks since the Colombian Govt (ICBF) received our Dossier. It is like a big guessing game over here now as to when our children's assignment will come. I feel like I am on a game show trying to complete all my tasks before the buzzer goes off!

Karl & I are praising God over & over for our SS friends coming over to help with the remaining projects; it is such a mammoth relief! Even with all the stress and busyness, we definitely feel the Lord's presence and keep being amazed by His intervention in our life, His clear provisions for us and His confirmation over & over that we are keeping in step with the plan He has laid out for us. It is incredible to know that we are God's dearly loved adopted children and He is enabling us to extend that kind of love to 3 little children as well. What a privilege! What mighty plans from such a Merciful and Gracious Everlasting Father! Praise Him with us!

Translation of Spanish Projects

By special request, here are the translations of our Spanish Project Sentences :) One of us was much more creative than the other!

Translation of Julie's Spanish Project:

• I write a letter.
  

• She pays the bill in cash.

• He swims in a lake.
  
  
• They chat with some friends.

• We study the textbook.

Translation of Karl's Spanish Project:

• I love to sing in the white car.
  
  
  
  
• We practice Spanish in the house.

• She teaches the children to understand the Bible.

• I need to work to receive money.

• She drinks a Coca-Cola at the table.