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!!!

Oct 18-25 In Guatemala!! Leave us Messages Here...

Use the COMMENTS below to leave us messages while we're in Guatemala! This is more reliable than email, as we can check this from any computer.
Need to contact us? Call from the US, +011.502.5092.9300

Schedule:
Oct 18 - fly to Guatemala (6:00am plane... yes, up at 3:30am)
Hotel Ciudad Vieja (http://www.hotelciudadvieja.com)
Oct 19 - Embassy Day -- GOTCHA DAY! Leave for Antigua
Hotel Casa Azul (http://www.casazul.guate.com/english.htm)
Oct 21 - to Panajachel, Lago Atitlan
Hotel Dos Mundos (http://www.hoteldosmundos.com)
Oct 25 - Back to Chicago!! Arr 10:30pm (tired)

TODAY... PINK !!!

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life! Proverbs 12:13

Oh... Lord... thank you! Today it came! The coveted Pink Slip... it is wonderful, at the top is says, "Jose Daniel Hadley" and in the middle is says, "Your visa appointment is October 19th 8:00."

We are so grateful to God and to all who have been praying for this moment. We're exhausted and excited. More later. Sofia heard Sandra on the phone and was giddy with joy. After kindergarten, she ran immediately and found Caleb on the playground. According to Caleb she ran up shouting, "we got our pink, we got our pink!" He had to stop her and slow her down before he could understand her. Then, he reported, "I ran right away back to tell Ms Tresselt (his teacher) and all my friends... they all gave me high fives and knuckles." They were unstoppable the rest of the day.

All day has been spent arranging flights and hotels... Sandra forgot to eat all day and got a migraine! It's midnight... we're going to bed. Happy.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Days of stress... and waiting

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

The promise of his rest is sustaining us. He gives us peace as we wait...

O Lord...

O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. ...answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. Psalm 143:1,7,8

This is our heart today. We're not sleeping well and the ambiguity of waiting is maddening. We so long for a good word of Pink Slip... news of our embassy date. I don't think we can take it much longer. Everything is on hold.

Joseph's 8-month Doctor's visit

Oh how we long to see him!

De: Francisco Montiel
Fecha: 05/10/2007 02:18:29 p.m.
Asunto: Jose Daniel Sanchez Ramos

Hello!

I do trust you are doing fine, this morning I had the opportunity to see little Jose Daniel who as you know is aged 8 months and has been, besides a bout of diarrhoea form which he is still recovering, the caregiver tells me, doing fine since his last visit, his development, mainly based on what I am told appears to be progressing well, he is alert and active notices and interacts with whom and what surrounds him, smiles socially and is certainly very vocal, he is now able to keep the sitting position unsupported and will try and pull himself to the standing position, appears to understand some simple words of everyday things looks at things when they are named, he will also "help' by holding his bottle when being fed. I am told that he takes well his diet and is also receiving his ordered vitamin supplement. Upon evaluation today he appears in good health with no obvious physical or neurological abnormalities, his weight today is 20 lbs 7 oz, length of 67.7 cms and head circumference of 42.9 cms. Please find some pictures attached.

Best Regards
Francisco

Good news from the front!

Wonderful news from faithful foster-brother Erick. Basically, he says, that they took Joseph in for his DNA last Tuesday (9/25!) He had a little fever, but is getting better; that he can sit all by himself and says "Papa" and "Erick" and that he loves to blow kisses and to have kisses blown at him. Erick also tells us how much he wants to us to continue sending him news about Joseph once we get him home. It is obvious he loves Joseph. We do too!

From: erick lopez
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 5:29 PM
To: Keith Hadley
Subject: RE: Hola Erick

hola

les tenemos buenas noticias. el martes ultimo jose daniel fue a su ultimo ADN. AL parecer ya todo esta saliendo para que se pueda ir. El a estado un poco enfermo de la fiebre, pero ya esta tomando medicamento para mejorar y esperamos que este mejor en estos dias. EL ya se sienta solito y a veces dice papa y no lo dice bien pero dice Erick. Ya tira besitos y le gusta que le tiremos besitos. EL esta muy bien y al parecer, ya todo esta salñiendo bien para que se vaya a su casa. Lo queremos mucho mucho y les pedimos por favor que cuando se vaya no perdamos contacto porque nos gustaria seguir sabiendo mas de èl- un fuerte abrazo.
Erick Y Trini