WEATHER IN CUCUTA
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunny day fun
They say the nice weather is here to stay and the kids are taking full advantage of that fact. Since the pool isn't ready yet, today I set up the slip and slide for the kids to enjoy while Luis was napping. They had a blast! They kept begging me to slide too. Those funny kids! Some memories are better left in the past... there is no way would I reconnect with my slip 'n slide days of youthhood. I just love seeing the kids having so much fun. Ahhhh, each of the nuances they experience touch my soul in such awesome ways.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter
Okay, I admit it! I'm guilty of blog neglect in the worst way and I do apologize. I've watched others who so faithfully wrote of their happenings, followed that little glimpse into their lives as they shared events of their lives through blog stories and pictures, only to witness them later lose interest or find their lives too busy to generate blog entries. Well, I've definitely fallen into that category even though I fought it off. Partly due to not having up-to-date and reliable internet services and partly due to being busy. I hope that I am able to free up some time to devote to giving a brief rundown of the transformations our family has endured, but there's so much to say in that regard. All I'll say right now is that God is so good and has been so faithful!
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Puppy Of His Own
For an early birthday present, Fabian got a cute little chocolate lab puppy and has named him "Max". We reached this point where Fabian needed a little incentive to be more consistently responsible and after much thought we determined a puppy might just provide an outlet for him to be more responsible. It worked like a charm. He is the proudest little dog owner and really keeps good watch over his puppy. We're so pleased to see Fabian step closer to that level of responsibility he's so capable of producing on a consistent basis!
Monday, December 29, 2008
See what happens when you have SISTERS!
This is the inevitable outcome when your big sisters grow tired of playing hairdresser with one another! Here's just another one of those day-to-day shots of excitement (and imagination) my lovely children bring into our family. Their daddy wasn't too thrilled with the girly hairstyle Karen and Marissa gave to Luis, but after a little laugh Rick seemed to take it all in stride...followed by a little talk to the girls requesting they never do that again to their little brother. I'm gathering quite a collage of funny pics of Luis for later in life's viewing pleasure at his graduation party and/or wedding reception.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Luis and his cute little sayings
Luis' vocabulary is expanding amazingly and he talks frequently carrying on little conversations for which I usually have no idea of how to respond since I cannot understand completely what he says. Sometimes he leaves no doubt for what he is communicating. This was a little blurb of our conversation the other day:
MAMA: Luis, What does Santa Claus say?
LUIS: (Responding in a deep voice) HO, HO, HO
MAMA: That's right, my boy!
(Then Luis pointed to me and said, "MAMA says NO, NO, NO" all the while shaking his finger and bobbing his head -- then followed by a big giggle and high-fives from his Daddy.)
So while Santa says HO, HO, HO... let it be known that Luis is paying attention and knows his Mama well with her seemingly constant NO, NO, NO! Very observant little guy!!! For sure!
MAMA: Luis, What does Santa Claus say?
LUIS: (Responding in a deep voice) HO, HO, HO
MAMA: That's right, my boy!
(Then Luis pointed to me and said, "MAMA says NO, NO, NO" all the while shaking his finger and bobbing his head -- then followed by a big giggle and high-fives from his Daddy.)
So while Santa says HO, HO, HO... let it be known that Luis is paying attention and knows his Mama well with her seemingly constant NO, NO, NO! Very observant little guy!!! For sure!
Happy Birthday Jesus!
As we celebrate this glorious day giving tribute to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our family celebrated with much joy over the many blessings we have received throughout a year filled with so many amazing outpourings. The children had a wonderful Christmas filled with presents and homemade cookies/treats (which Luis has termed as "yum yums" and he yells persistently for them on a frequent basis). SPOILED you might say... well yes indeed he is, but why not go ahead and spoil him, right? He's just too cute and really is a good little guy in spite of his constant spoiling doled out from his Daddy mostly.
Well the kids sure enjoyed their Christmas and spent the day engaged in playing with their toys, or sometimes sneaking off in the corner to play with one of their siblings' toys.
I hope to post some pictures when I get a chance.
Hoping your family enjoyed your Christmas Day and had as much to be thankful for during this holiday season! Wishing all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year! May your hearts be filled with the love for Christ.
Well the kids sure enjoyed their Christmas and spent the day engaged in playing with their toys, or sometimes sneaking off in the corner to play with one of their siblings' toys.
I hope to post some pictures when I get a chance.
Hoping your family enjoyed your Christmas Day and had as much to be thankful for during this holiday season! Wishing all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year! May your hearts be filled with the love for Christ.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sometimes I don't really feel like blogging about my very own children, and this is just one of those entries. I want to use this opportunity to send out my congratulations to my cousin and his family who recently added to his family through the adoption of twin boys -- what little cuties they are! I'm so looking forward to our families getting together since we're now only a few hours away.
Most of my friends know how actively involved and excited I get when I learn of another family's desire to adopt... I mean, there's just a kindredship we share with all the poking and prying into our lifestyles as we meander through the home study visits, not to mention the many fingerprinting sessions and oodles of paperwork that never seems to end. I was so comforted to walk through my own adoption journey knowing that God's glory would be served through my act of obedience. I was even more pleased to see another family member walking in faith and obediently answering the call to adopt. Congratulations Cliff and Kelly and family! You radiate God's goodness through your ministry service and commitment to spread God's wishes for ALL families! Keep up the good work!
And as an added note: Congratulations to their son, Stuart, who as a high school senior carrying a 3.9 GPA, just Monday won the recognition as the BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER in 3A FOOTBALL for Arkansas at a Hooten's State Farm award ceremony. (Division 3A has 48 teams so what a wonderful accomplishment!) Way to go, Stuart! Nice work! What an honor!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Luis and his fascination with the Farmer's Almanac
His favorite thing is to find page 2 and laugh, laugh, laugh... then do it again, over and over! What a silly boy!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Chocolatey goodness!!!
Oh how I love, love, love this little guy, Luis, and all the fun and messes that naturally come his way! What a blessing! Luis is just one of the faces that brighten the many moments of my every day! We have so much to be thankful for and we use every opportunity to show a loving Father our gratitude for His faithfulness!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Got Tagged by Wendi
Okay, so I got tagged by Wendi, so here's my response to being tagged -- a photo of Karen proudly displaying her big fish! I was so happy the picture I needed to post wasn't some ridiculous-looking photo that I might regret years down the road. (And Wendi, just gotta mention that I have some of those "no make-up" photos too, so I can certainly relate!)
Apparently the grandparents took the kids fishing at the pond at the property's edge almost every afternoon, and it seems my kids love fishing and they seem to have pretty good luck at it. Karen's picture says it all! From what I understand, she was so happy!
So now I get to tag 5 other people and have them post their TAGGED photo. Here are the rules:
Find the 6th folder in your pictures directory and post the 6th photo in it. So here are the instructions:
* Go to your sixth picture folder then pick your sixth picture.
* Pray that you remember the details.
* Post it on your blog.
* Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged.
So watch out my blog friends, it's my time to tag now! It's all in good fun!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
My, My, My How They've Changed in One Year's Time
Not only have each of the kids matured mindwise, but they've all grown up and put on some much-needed weight. Marissa, our bio daughter, has really gone through a huge transformation this year of growing into a shapely young lady's figure shedding the baby fat and entering into the puberty-laden years (with heavy emphasis on the emotional side emerging ever-so-fast and -furious!!!) No complaints, really, because I'd be lost without her help!! She tends to Luis so very much with an eagerness to change those dirty diapers and bathe him, so I'll go easy on her.
Here's just a few of their more recent pictures. It's hard to get 4 kids together and expect all to cooperate with taking their best shot, thus the need to post 3 different pictures.
We had a wonderful night of celebrating our one year together last night. We had cheeseburgers and tater tots (what the kids wanted), with cake and ice cream for dessert, and topped off the night by watching our "Gotcha Day" videos. The kids couldn't believe how much they'd matured, and were actually a little embarrased by their behavior as captured in the videos from the first few days. Karen especially got embarrased because she really has changed so very much! I teased with her and said I planned to show this video on her wedding day. She didn't much care for that and laughed so hard pleading with me not to embarrass her in that way. It really was a fun evening -- oh, how it soothes my soul to see how much progress they've made. Saying "I'm so blessed!" just doesn't even begin to express the wonders these children all bring... BUT I'll say it anyways, "I'm So Blessed!"
Several of my Colombian adoption/blogging friends have met or are meeting their children this week and I am praying for each of these families. Thanksgiving just naturally brings about an expression of thankfulness, and paired with the wonders of seeing God's amazing matchmaking abilities, I wish upon each of these families to be filled with many blessed moments as they welcome these children into their hearts, their homes, and their lives. Congratulations to all the newly-formed families!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
ONE YEAR TOGETHER AS FAMILY!
Yes, today marks that special milestone of one whole year together as a family. Where has the year gone? It seems like only yesterday when we were in Cucuta awaiting our first meeting with our children. I remember, vividly, how we awoke that morning after tossing and turning most of the night, trying to occupy the morning and early afternoon's moments but feeling the overwhelming anticipation building to that moment we'd meet our kids since the meeting wasn't set until 2pm. The moments seemed to tick slowly by, and with every breath I took, I grew more light-headed and almost sick with the wait. The clocks in our minds ticked backwards for the hours leading up to the initial meeting of the kiddos. We ventured off to breakfast that morning with the full intentions of passing the time after breakfast with a leisure swim followed by fresh showers and a relaxing primp session...at least that's how we had it planned! My gut feeling said to take showers before the breakfast, but Rick was very hungry and insisted on breakfast first. This would have worked perfectly if we hadn't gotten greeted by our new translator friend, Alexandra, who had been sent to the hotel to gather us for a meeting ASAP. Seems the kids arrived at the ICBF office much earlier than anyone had expected. So much for our leisure primp session, although I did manage to squeeze in a quick shower for myself (Gen) and our daughter, Marissa. What a crazy few moments leading up to our meeting. I've never before had anxiety attacks but I'm sure those moments of heavy breathing and almost fainting spells accounted for a huge "anxiety attack". I remember how Rick would have to remind me to breathe, at times. My stomach ached much from the erratic breathing patterns I'd grown accustomed to as the day moved on. What an experience!
Then we took the taxi ride across town to meet the kids. What a wild time! That had to be the most incredible display of pure love, and to take part in that blessing was just undescribable. We met the two foster mothers and what a great surprise because their wonderful love they clearly had for our children was so obvious. We are so grateful for their guidance and love for our children! Although our happy day was their sad day, we felt so endeared to meet the wonderful women who had taken great care of our kiddos.
We were told that when Fabian awoke that morning. he rather loudly announced for everyone else to wake up because that was the day he'd meet his daddy (in spanish, but you get the idea). SO TOUCHING! I'm almost certain that's why the children arrived much earlier than originally expected. The foster mothers just couldn't hold the children back. Fabian was so intent on meeting his new family, mostly his Dad.
Tonight we will celebrate with cake and ice cream, as we honor one year together as a family! Just a week before Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for. What wonderful blessings come from the children we have been entrusted to raise, and for that we thank our loving Father above! We look forward to many, many more happy years ahead. And just one more thought... we are so very thankful we are able to celebrate this milestone in a warm climate! We don't care for the cold weather too much anymore.
(Pictures above were taken while in Cucuta, Colombia, last year.)
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Too Big for His Britches
Yes, my boy Fabian sometimes acts "too big for his britches"... after all, he's just a normal little boy, but when picking out a costume this Halloween, well the literal translation took over and he really was too big for his britches. That's why the HULK costume fit him best (really, I'm not trying to throw in ALL those puns!)
See, he had always dreamed of being a POWER RANGER for Halloween. What I gather is that Colombian boys tend to view those Power Rangers as the coolest Super Heroes out there. And Fabian's fondness to Power Rangers ranks right up there pretty high, thus the desire to BE a Power Ranger for Halloween. Well, that dream ended for him after finding those cool Power Ranger costumes were a little too tight for him. As he'd try on suit after suit, convincing himself that this suit would fit better than the rest, well... none were even a close fit. These suits were so tight that at any moment he could easily belt out the chorus of "Thriller" and sound just like Michael Jackson. Three stores and five Power Ranger suits later it became clear to Fabian that there were no Power Ranger suits in his size. Luckily I found a HULK suit that would fit. He wasn't going with the HULK idea at all so I just brought the suit home with the idea that if we came across another costume he liked better, we'd take this one back. Thanks to the loving persuasion of my wonderful husband, he turned Fabian onto actually liking the HULK. The Hulk just fits Fabian's personality much more than the Power Rangers ever did because Fabian has always had this impulsive way of getting in your face and growling a big 'ole GGGRRRRRRR backed by a mean face! This is a behavior we have worked hard to curb and he's made great progress throughout the year, although sometimes the behavior still surfaces. It is my understanding that there was a teenage boy in the foster home Karen and Fabian were in and this was the teenager's way of showing dominance. There were no adult males in the foster home so this is easy to picture happening.
The kids are growing so much... Fabian especially. He's putting on more weight than his sister is. And Marissa is developing such a figure at such a fast rate, it's almost hard to imagine. Over the past year her body went through so much transformation. She went from this pudgy little girl to a slim, young lady almost overnight. She's matured mindwise and I really depend on her to help me so much. I'd be lost without her. As thanks for all her hard work, in addition to allowance she gets extra gifts or treats usually consisting of High School Musical items or trinkets. Over the weekend I took Marissa and Karen to the movies to see HSM 3, which they loved! They said it was their favorite out of the High School Musical series. It was an enjoyable afternoon... a huge contribution to a fun day! The boys stayed home and watched an action movie at home as they enjoyed their "guy time" together. I'm so thankful for those little moments we get to bond with our children!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Halloween came and went
Halloween at our house donned appearances from the Hulk (Fabian), then there was a pirate (Marissa), Snow White (Karen), and the most gentle little Lion (Luis). We had a nice Halloween with the kids loading up on a lot of candy. We didn't go door to door but just went downtown which seemed to be the happening-est function in town with the exception of a local church carnival that was offering a chance at a surprise giveaway of a brand new vehicle to some lucky family. What a way to bless someone. We didn't join in their festivities but we passed by on the way home and they seemed to have quite a turnout. The kids had fun as we stumbled upon a youth performance of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane". That was entertaining and it even starred our neighbor, one of Marissa's friends, in it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Fast Forward one year from our REFERRAL date
Has it really been a year ago since we "got the call"? Unbelievable how an entire year has passed since we "got the call" letting us know of our 3 wonderful children in Colombia awaiting our arrival as their forever family! I knew I was feeling nostalgic today for some reason, and I'm positive this is the reason why. Just a year ago today was when we learned of the sibling group that Colombia had matched especially for us, however they were a little off with their information. The agency goofed on reporting back their information. They told us there were 3 children, which turned out correct; 2 boys, 1 girl, again correct; ages 9, 7, and 9 months old, and again were correct; BUT they said the baby was the girl - INCORRECT. We learned the next day that the youngest, the baby, was a boy and that the girl was the 7-year old.
What was so odd about that situation is how God prepared our hearts to know the agency had given us wrong information. See, upon receiving THE CALL, I called Rick with the information. I then called my mother, then my mother-in-law with the news. Upon relaying the information to my mother-in-law I told her the only thing I knew were the ages and genders of the children. Upon telling her that the baby was a little girl, she remarked, "Oh, too bad that baby isn't a little boy." I thought, "What a bold statement -- what a brash statement!", and at the time I was a bit offended, after all I was feeling so thankful for God's blessings in bringing our children forth, and couldn't understand why my mother-in-law would interject the desire to be choosy over whether the baby was a girl or a boy. Perhaps she said it because she had only known how to raise boys and had no girls to raise. Or perhaps it was God's way of showing me what was to come...
Well, that night as I slept (amongst the tossing and turning most of the night), I dreamt a crazy dream. I awoke remembering the dream which took us to Colombia and as we prepared ourselves for the meeting of our children, we were meeting with the Colombian officials who continued to stall the meeting. We were so eager to meet our children and could hear their voices around the corner in the next room but the Colombian and adoption agency officials would not allow us to meet them just yet. They kept saying they needed to tell us more of the children's situation, etc., but they found it hard to explain to us. Finally one of the Colombian officials told us that they didn't know how to tell us this but they had it wrong all along... that the baby girl wasn't a baby girl but instead was a baby boy. So in the dream I was shocked and doing my best to handle the fact that we now had a baby boy waiting in the next room, and that all the pink dresses and patent leathers we had brought would not work, we'd now need boy stuff... then I awoke. I shared the silly dream with Rick and he blamed it completely on what his mom's statement of wishing it was a baby boy. Reality indicates the dream was God's way of preparing us for what was to come, because later that day we received a phone call from our agency letting us know they confused the children and their ages, and confirmed that the baby was a boy, not a baby girl as earlier indicated. (But who knew because I do encounter some far-fetched dreams from time to time.)
When they called with the confirmed information on the children, we were also told of their names, which stayed the same upon adopting them. We chose to keep their first and middle birth names intact in order to preserve their Colombian-born identities, being respectful to their birthmother for naming them, and remaining consistent with their identities as they've always known them. This just worked right for our family and upon hearing each child's name was something we never wished to change. Actually, God answered prayers as I lay in bed that night before that crazy dream. I prayed that the little girl would have the name Dayana. Why, you ask? Well, since my middle name is Diane, I prayed my adopted daughter would come to us with the spanish version which is Dayana, and prayers were answered! Thank you Jesus! The next day brought news that my daughter's name is Karen Dayana! Cool, huh! Isn't God just so awesome?!!!!
Such blessings have come in knowing these three children:
******* Fabian Jesus, Karen Dayana, and Luis Alejandro *******
They have been little treasures to our family and to their sister, Marissa Helena, We have so much to be thankful for! What a joy to be bonded together as a forever family! WOW, hard to believe it's approaching one year together as we will celebrate that milestone next month. Where does the time go? It definitely feels like it's going Fast Forward.
What was so odd about that situation is how God prepared our hearts to know the agency had given us wrong information. See, upon receiving THE CALL, I called Rick with the information. I then called my mother, then my mother-in-law with the news. Upon relaying the information to my mother-in-law I told her the only thing I knew were the ages and genders of the children. Upon telling her that the baby was a little girl, she remarked, "Oh, too bad that baby isn't a little boy." I thought, "What a bold statement -- what a brash statement!", and at the time I was a bit offended, after all I was feeling so thankful for God's blessings in bringing our children forth, and couldn't understand why my mother-in-law would interject the desire to be choosy over whether the baby was a girl or a boy. Perhaps she said it because she had only known how to raise boys and had no girls to raise. Or perhaps it was God's way of showing me what was to come...
Well, that night as I slept (amongst the tossing and turning most of the night), I dreamt a crazy dream. I awoke remembering the dream which took us to Colombia and as we prepared ourselves for the meeting of our children, we were meeting with the Colombian officials who continued to stall the meeting. We were so eager to meet our children and could hear their voices around the corner in the next room but the Colombian and adoption agency officials would not allow us to meet them just yet. They kept saying they needed to tell us more of the children's situation, etc., but they found it hard to explain to us. Finally one of the Colombian officials told us that they didn't know how to tell us this but they had it wrong all along... that the baby girl wasn't a baby girl but instead was a baby boy. So in the dream I was shocked and doing my best to handle the fact that we now had a baby boy waiting in the next room, and that all the pink dresses and patent leathers we had brought would not work, we'd now need boy stuff... then I awoke. I shared the silly dream with Rick and he blamed it completely on what his mom's statement of wishing it was a baby boy. Reality indicates the dream was God's way of preparing us for what was to come, because later that day we received a phone call from our agency letting us know they confused the children and their ages, and confirmed that the baby was a boy, not a baby girl as earlier indicated. (But who knew because I do encounter some far-fetched dreams from time to time.)
When they called with the confirmed information on the children, we were also told of their names, which stayed the same upon adopting them. We chose to keep their first and middle birth names intact in order to preserve their Colombian-born identities, being respectful to their birthmother for naming them, and remaining consistent with their identities as they've always known them. This just worked right for our family and upon hearing each child's name was something we never wished to change. Actually, God answered prayers as I lay in bed that night before that crazy dream. I prayed that the little girl would have the name Dayana. Why, you ask? Well, since my middle name is Diane, I prayed my adopted daughter would come to us with the spanish version which is Dayana, and prayers were answered! Thank you Jesus! The next day brought news that my daughter's name is Karen Dayana! Cool, huh! Isn't God just so awesome?!!!!
Such blessings have come in knowing these three children:
******* Fabian Jesus, Karen Dayana, and Luis Alejandro *******
They have been little treasures to our family and to their sister, Marissa Helena, We have so much to be thankful for! What a joy to be bonded together as a forever family! WOW, hard to believe it's approaching one year together as we will celebrate that milestone next month. Where does the time go? It definitely feels like it's going Fast Forward.
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