Encouragement At Its Finest

Today we had an appointment with our SW to go over travel. This was very uplifting and encouraging. Not to mention it was just great to see our SW! She's an awesome person and a wonderful Christian. Our agency is incredible. She told us today that our attorney is one of the best . . . which we knew just from our experience. There wasn't much for us to go over today because we had already been there, done that. There are more forms to fill out though so we went over those. What a wonderful feeling though . . . nearing the end!


I was also blessed with a wonderful visitor at work this morning before we left for our appointment. We are carrying a package for an awesome couple who now have a beautiful son in Guatemala. I remember being at the same place in the process like it was yesterday so I pray that it goes as smooth for them as it did for us. It was a great pleasure meeting her today as she dropped off the famous Ziploc full-o-love at my work. Together we learned today that we are with the same agency, have the same attorney (Laura, see note above about how awesome our attorney is!), and our children live in the same city in Guatemala. How great! God put so many wonderful people in our lives as a result of our adoption who have been such great support. I hope I can offer the same support and strength for this wonderful couple and their son. I think it was meant to be! Thanks Nina, for hookin' us up!


Today was a really good day, I must say. Not to mention I keep forgetting Monday is Memorial Day and we have off work! Holy geez, that's awesome! It will be a nice day of appreciation, reflection, and relaxation.

Let the Games Begin

I just realized that I've never posted anything about our sweet little Sara! We adopted this little girl two years ago and she is our spoiled little furry daughter. She's six years old now and we just love her so much! We're a little worried about how she will be when Elena is here because she is use to 100% of our attention (more like 150%). She's so sweet and well behaved that we're not concerned at all with her being any kind of threat to Elena, we're just concerned she may be sad that she's not going to be the only "child" any longer. I guess people deal with that all the time when they have their second child, right?! We agreed we would do our best not to neglect her. We see other people do that and it is so sad. She's too cute to neglect anyway. :) Feel free to give us any words of advice in this situation!

So what' behind the title of this post? It's that time of year . . . the bunnies are born. Beagles and bunnies don't mix!! Sara doesn't need to be on a leash any other time of year, but if she sees a bunny, LOOK OUT! The chase is on! It's quite a scene actually . . . I scream "there she goes!" while Sean sprints across the yard as if he's actually going to catch her! She's never gotten one, thankfully, but it's been close! Sara rings a bell when she has to go outside and when she sees a bunny out the window, that bell sure gets a workout. Let the games begin!!

Waiting for Pink

Today we received an e-mail from the US Embassy requesting additional information from our attorney (this is called an I-72). It said that our file did not include Elena's original birth certificate. The good news is we were submitted to the Embassy! Our attorney has been amazing and I know he will get it taken care of quickly. We'll have our pink slip soon, that we know!

I have to say that this has been by far the most emotional time I have had in the entire process. I can hardly explain it. I know that we are so close to having her here in our arms forever. I'm having a hard time focusing on anything else and that is really not like me at all.

Thank you Kendra, Nina, and Marne for being my awesome emotional support!

We worked on Elena's room this week and I am thrilled! I love it so much! I find myself peaking in there over and over. Friends and family continue to be generous to us! We've received and continue to receive so many wonderful gifts, hand-me-downs, and gift cards that allows us to have everything we need for her homecoming. We are just so blessed and are so thankful.

New pics today and hopefully the last . . .

. . . sent from Guatemala that is! Hopefully the next pictures you see will be taken by us! Elena is growing so fast. She looks so happy in the new set of pictures, which makes us very happy! We know she has the best foster mother, which has made this journey so much easier than I could have imagined (well, easy may be a strong word). We hope to see PINK soon! We got word today that her birth certificate will be ready on Monday. That doesn't tell us when we'll have pink, but it is progress!

IT'S A GREAT DAY!!!

We're out! We can hardly believe it! I got the call today at 2:00 and, of course, I was in a meeting. My SW left me messages on my cell, my office voicemail and e-mail to call her. That's why I love her so much; she is just as excited as we are (well, almost)! We have only been in the PGN for 8 week and 2 days so we feel so blessed that we went through so quickly and with no previos. I just continue to pray for all of the other people waiting in PGN. Our SW expects that we will be traveling in about four weeks. I continued to praise our agency today, but our SW says it is our attorney who makes it all happen smoothly. Praise God! Hold on Elena, Mommy and Daddy are on their way!! Thank you everyone for all your support and love!

Very special message!

We got an e-mail this evening straight from Guatemala! It was from Elena's foster mother and it was short, but very very sweet and special. She tells us that Elena is growing and that she is very beautiful (which we knew!). She says that she has two teeth now and is saying papa! Elena also still likes to watch Discovery Kids. We were asked not to communicate with her, and we haven't, but we were very happy that she reached out to us. What a wonderful surprise!