One Week Home

We had a great trip home. All of the flights were on time and I have a new love for the Houston airport. It went very fast and we made our connections that we needed to make. The only sad part was that I left my camera on the plane from Bogota to Houston and of course all of my pictures from the whole month were on there.
We have been adjusting to life in the US. The girls started school this week and their first two days were great! They are loving school so far- understanding a little more everyday, but we are going to try to find a translator for a couple of hours a week at least to help out.
I will try to update once a week of so, time has just gotten away from me for some reason!

Coming Home!

I have the girls visas and we are planning to leave the Refugio at 5thirty tomorrow morning and catch the flight at eight oclock. It has been wonderful having Jan here. She has played games with the girls and assisted with pushing on the swings in the park.
We are scheduled to arrive in the Grand Rapids airport at 8thirty, but if anyone is thinking about coming to the airport, it would be good to check with my mom or sister to see if we made our connection in Houston. My mom´s number is 616 245 6686 and Joy´s is 616 540 0642.
Once again, thank you so much for your prayers and postings. It has been such an encouragement and a blessing to know that so many people were praying and thinking of us here in Colombia.
May God´s blessings return to each one of you!
love to all,
Jeralyn, Angie, and Judy

Final weekend in Bogota

In a way, it is hard to believe that a month has gone by and yet it seems like forever since I have been in my house. There are many things I miss about being at home of course, but I was thinking there will be things I miss about Bogota as well. I can buy a great cup of coffee and a donut for about 75 cents, the weather is predictable and has been beautiful and sunny, the parks are well maintained here and beautiful. We love walking through them to go to the store and then stopping on the way back for the girls to play and me to sit under my favorite tree.

But we are all so excited to be going to estados unidos! The girls are deciding what clothes to wear on the plane and are imagining a great food selection for which they will be very disappointed.

The embassy went well yesterday after a bit of a scare. We were playing, who has the birth certificates, for a litttle while. That is not a fun game. We were all very stressed because the embassy appointment was at 8oclock and I thought the agency had them and they thought I had them. Anyway, they went into problem solving mode like they do so well and we picked up the lawyer, went to his office, got the originals, and were only 30 minutes late at the embassy. We had to wait about 2 hours for approval, but they said all the paperwork looked good and I could pick up the visas on Monday at 3thirty. Then we are off on Tuesday morning! Another great answer to pray comes by way of Jan Ellens. I use to teach with Jan, now she is retired, but she is coming down today to fly back with us on Tuesday. That will be a great help! Both girls like to hold a hand in large areas and two girls and two suitcases and customs and immigration would be a bit to manage alone. She is an incredible blessing! I know some of you were praying a specific prayer for a travel companion on the way home, so thank you!

The pictures posted today are of the girls in quiet mode and in dance mode. Their companion is Alexandra who I wrote about earlier, but didn´t get her picture posted at that time.

Hope this finds all of you well. Have a great weekend!!

The Paper Flurry

I feel like I have been through a tornado of paperwork in the last 24 hours. So many answers to prayers! First of all, we got the judgment. They even kept the court open an extra 30 minutes to finish the paperwork. I do not know what Oscar my lawyer says to people, but he has a way and when he finishes talking to the person in charge, he turns to me, winks, and gives the thumbs up. His charms worked in the passport office, and at the Soacha office where we had to get name changes. He would see a line, say wait here, talk, come back, say follow me, and we´d suddenly be where we needed to be. It all went as well as it possibly could have. We also had the required doctor appointment this afternoon, so it was a very full day!
All I need to go home now are the visas for the girls. They normally do not do adoption visas at the embassy on Friday, but Lucia said to call and try, so I did. The lady in charge said, no problem come in at eight oclock. Therefore, if all the paperwork for the visa is accurate it is possible that I will be done by tomorrow at this time!
I think it was a very emotional day for the girls today, it all seemed a bit overwhelming I think and they both complained of headaches and were a little cranky. Hopefully tomorrow we can celebrate completion and I will not have to say possibly anymore when they ask if we are leaving on Tuesday.

Back to Ubate

It is one oclock Bogota time and 2 oclock in Michigan time and I will be going to Ubate now, but my papers are not signed. Everyone else´s are signed and ready except mine. Lucia still wants me to go and we are going to see what can be done, so please pray that the judge will hear and understand and sign the papers. I don´t understand and she doesn´t understand except that they all have the same lawyer and that may have played a part. The people from Belgium also cried in front of the judge, so I may give that a try as well. Send up those prayers!! Thanks on behalf of Jeralyn, Angie, and Judy.
The girls goal is to get to the U.S. by Halloween, yes, it is surprisingly big here. Mine is by Tuesday.

Paperwork Update

The update is basically there is no update. There are four families, me being one, that have paperwork in Ubate. They are waiting for all four to finish before we go back to Ubate to sign the final papers. At first we were going to find out at ten oclock, then at noon, now it will be two oclock. The papers are on the judge´s desk, and they just need is approval. Therefore, keep praying for paperwork. God is so good and all I have to do is look back over the last eighteen months of answered prayers to know that this too will turn out for the best. Lunch is being served, so I had better go.