Speaking of Coffee...

Steering the 75' Dirigo in San Juan -- Joseph at the helm... as he often is in our home.

Favorite photo of Joseph from 2010 -- Taken from Sandra's phone at the Wheaton Public Library.

Gotcha Day - Almost...

Today is October 13th -- 2009. Almost Gotcha Day (October 19th) and we're going out to celebrate two wonderful years with Joseph... Jose... Joey... Boze... Laslo... Pinkerton... Chapin... Little Man... Jo Jo... Cutie Pie... Snaggletooth... and a host of other nicknames. Joseph has transformed out lives. He is such a great son and brother! He's got the most amazing stare down straight face when he doesn't feel like talking, and the most amazing laugh, sense of humor and twinkle in his eye when he does. He's so physical - preferring to wrestle, hug, hold, jump, run, to any other movement. He adores Sofia and Caleb who adore him back. He's losing many of his cute "Josephism" like "Weeweese" (now Fofie) and "Atise" (now Pizza) -- but he's retained one of my favorites... "Hotchotch" = Chocolate, as in, "Daddy? Hotchotch?" Every night when I come home I get a full-sprint hug complete with "Daddy... Train? Train?" I love you Joseph... so very much. You are my buddy, my wonderful son!

Dad

Here is the restaurant where we are going: http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-tinajon-chicago

Door County

Finally - a shot of the whole family.

First time on a horse...

Caballo! Giddye up!

Check out the boots.

Door County - July 2009

Joseph in Door County -- wonderful vacation with Mom, Dad, Doug, Joanna, Ani, Asa and us!

"Boze" sits on Sofia's lap... they are very close!

Joey wasn't too sure about this ride with Mom...

Joseph hanging around with Big Brother Caleb.

Hiking on Dad's Back

Joseph loves to ride around in the backpack... this shot makes him look smaller than he really is... believe me, he is heavy!

Growing up quickly

Joseph is growing up so fast... he is an amazing boy. These are photos from our March 2009 trip to California... Joshua Tree National Park.

First Gotcha Day -- Oct 19th, 2008

We had a fabulous time celebrating Joseph's first year with our family! We went to El Tinajon, a cool Guatemalan restaurant in Roscoe Village in Chicago. Joseph sensed that he was the star and kept "asking" us (says "mas" by tapping his fingers together...) to take more pictures. He started showing off for the camera... smiles, kisses, waves, etc. We love him so much! What a great year!

Bad habits

Joseph turns one!

Home Again, for the first time!

1:00 am -- After a long flight delay in Ft. Lauderdale, we finally made it back to Chicago. The kids, up since 5:00am, were fast asleep in their seats. Joseph slept restlessly the whole way. They all woke up, we grabbed our things and headed out to meet Pah and Grams for the first time. There they were, at the bottom of the escalator waiting... with Janice and Emilie as well! What joy! A big surprise, our friends Mike and son Alex Lavery arranged for us to be picked up in a giant white stretch limousine! What a step up from the 3-wheeled tuc-tucs in Atitlan!

Touching U.S. Soil... Citizen Joseph

At the embassy in Guatemala, Joseph's IR3 visa was officially approved.

"What this means," explained the official, "is he has the right to enter the U.S. and when his feet touch U.S. soil, he automatically becomes a U.S. Citizen."

When we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, we had an 8-hour layover. We took a cab to Beach Place, right on the strip, unloaded our stuff. Then, Sandra took off his socks. Caleb and Sofia spontaneously broke into "Oh say can you say!" (The Dr. Suess version) and we lowered his little toes to the sand. Yet another symbolic moment in his journey!

Two Grandkids on the Same Day!

Welcome to little Nicholas Michael Jones - the son of Felton & Nancy (Sandra's sister). He joins his sister Izzy (almost 3-yrs). He came in the standard way on October 24th. What is interesting is that he and Joseph both arrived to their new homes on the same day... October 25th. So, congratulations, Mike and Esther, you've got two more Grandsons -- and with matching eyes!

Lake Atitlan

Amazing! How come we've never heard of this place? We're enjoying 4 incredible days in this incredible place. High mountain lake surounded by 3 ancient volcanoes. Caleb and Sofia discovered that the white rocks on the beach float! They're lava, of course. Colors, children, cobblestones, textiles, perritos, tuc-tucs (3-wheeled taxi's that go "tuc-tuc"), some tourists, but not as many as expected, restaurants open to the street, tiny shops, green green vegetation everywhere! Our hotel, Dos Mundos, featured a nice italian restaurant, pool and interior garden with tall bamboo and palms. There were many bird calls that we didn't recognize. Cold sunny mornings, warmer as the day progressed, a simple breakfast of coffee, "panqueques" or "chapin" which is eggs ranchero, beans, fried plantain and farmer's cheese. So yummy! Joseph loved to go to the markets with us in his baby-bjorn - facing out to party, facing in to sleep. Our two adventures were the mountain rainforest complete with monkeys (real ones... like this was their home), overgrown coffee groves, high cable-bridges going over waterfalls -- and a crazy boat tour of the lake, high waves, crashing wind, visits to remote villages, etc. Caleb and Sofia were in heaven! (except for an ill-fated jump off the boat into hot-springs, which freaked them both out.) More later!

Antigua Guatemala

About an hour from the city lies Antigua Guatemala -- old, cobblestoned, colonial former capital of Guatemala. Totally unexpected. There is a main city square where every one hangs out. In the center of the square is a large fountain carved with figures of women clutching their breasts, which also provided the outlet for the water. The kids noticed right away... ummm, well... some explaining... something about motherhood and provision... Anyways, our hotel was beautiful, more gardens and fountains. The funniest moment is when we first arrived and the kids ran around the courtyard. Mosaic tile and plants everywhere... Caleb lept onto a small platform to investigate a carving, stepped boldly onto the intricate tile floor and found himself suddenly neck deep in cold water... the tile was the bubble-wrap solar cover to the unheated hot-tub! Welcome! In the humidity, it took 4 days four his shoes to dry.

Embassy Day

Embassy Day: Hoy! Today in a packed embassy, with the slap of a red approval stamp on our adoption files, Joseph officially became the fifth member of our family. Waves of anxiety, built up over 11 months just melted away. "everything looks in order, I'm going to approve the I-600" At a second window, a pleasant American woman asked us to raise our right hands... four hands shot up. She asked us a few questions about our last visit, then said, congratulations, you've completed the process. When Joseph's feet touch American soil, he will become a U.S. citizen. They would not let us bring any electronics into the embassy, so here are the first shot of all of us OFFICIALLY together. We can't even begin to describe our joy in this moment... can you see it in our faces?

The Arrival!!

We're exhausted... but happy to be in country. It is dark... nothing to do but wait.
Our translater's boyfriend, Jose, arrived first. Flawless english, sharp, gentle. He's planning on going to Fuller Seminary when he finished law school. Then Sonia arrived, young, smiling. She was 5-minutes late because she'd seen a car accident. We are exausted. It is now 5:15pm and the kids have been up since 3:30am. We ordered cokes for them at dinner to wake them up! We chatted nervously, waiting. Then, I saw Erick walk by the little window... "they're here!" They're here, they're here.. Caleb and Sofia sounding the alarm. Joseph is asleep in Trini's arms, under a blanket. He wakes up right away as Caleb and Sofia approach him. I quickly ask Jose to video tape. Sandra takes him first, he's looking around. Caleb is overwhelmed, "look at him, there he is, there he is!" Sofia, laughing, "it's Joseph! Hi Joseph, Hi, Hi, Hi." Caleb isn't able to contain himself, he starts laughing then grasps his face, tears! He is surprised! Tears? Tears of joy. He covers his face and continues to laugh. I snap a photo. Sofia's smile is like the sun. She is overwhelmed! Our brother is here!!!