~Waiting for Olivia~

Today's Hearing Was Postponed, But........

2012-02-14T18:38:00.001-08:00

We are here in Guatemala and even though hours after our arrival yesterday, we found out that the hearing we came down for was postponed by PGN, we have had a VERY productive day!

Not only did we go to the Court in Escuintla and speak with the judge, but we were interviewed for this evening's news program on Telecentro 13!

Brief history; we have been waiting since June 2010 to determine whether a lady found by PGN is the bio. grandmother of Olivia. She showed up at the hearing in 2010, and after the wrong test was run, has not come back to Court to provide more blood samples (we found out today that was because PGN never informed them of the hearing dates). Here we are 20 months later and PGN postpones the hearing which we thought was because they couldn't find this lady to bring her in. We showed up to Court and guess who was there? The woman and her grandson came to give samples. PGN of course couldn't come because they said they were understaffed and had other hearings today. Uh huh.....

So...after we met with the judge and were interviewed by the reporters, we drove over to PGN and with cameras rolling convinced them that they needed to show up for the next hearing two weeks from today. Funny, at first one guy our attorney spoke with said they couldn't say one way or the other whether they would be able to come. Once our attorney demanded to talk to the guy in charge and we all were standing in front of him in his office with the news crew there, he suddenly cleared his calendar and agreed to be there!

We are so thankful to our attorney who's husband, (who just happens to be the general manager of the TV station) came up with the whole interview idea! They said this could be very big for all the waiting families.

We didn't see Olivia today, maybe we'll get a chance tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning, we have a meeting at the U.S. Embassy. We'll see what we can do there.

Prayers are appreciated!

Hearing Date Set

2011-12-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

We just received news that the next (and hopefully last) hearing date has been set for our case.

It is scheduled for February 14th, 2012, two months from now. The new judge has decided to try for DNA from the alleged family members one more time.....

Please pray for our attorney, the judge and all the folks associated with our case and that this hearing will result in us being able to move forward, out of the Court system and on to the next step.

Olivia needs to come home.

Prayer and Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

We've been waiting since August for our case to be registered in the new Court with the new judge. We received word this week that perhaps by this Friday, the judge will set the date for the "next and final" hearing.

As with all things in this process, we're not holding our breath, but our attorney has asked for prayer. We ask specifically that the hearing would be scheduled soon and that God would touch the heart of this new judge so that he/she would see by the history of the case, that in the best interest of Olivia, it needs to move forward. Now. That we could be done with the Court process and move on to the next step, which would be the CNA. And most importantly, that Olivia be allowed to stay right where she is.

We know that we have a lot of prayer warriors out there who have been diligently praying for Olivia and our family all along this journey. We want you to know just how grateful we are. It is such a blessing knowing so many people care and are petitioning the Lord on our behalf.

Thank you.

May God bless you and your families this Thanksgiving.

Happy 6th Birthday To Our Little Girl

2011-11-15T07:52:00.001-08:00

Photo taken in June 2010

Today is Olivia's 6th birthday, and even though we're not able to be with her.....again, we were able to send some gifts down to her this year. Hopefully, she will know how much we love and miss her and that we are still here fighting for her.

As far as our case is concerned, as of last week, we were waiting for it to be registered in the new Court, (I might add, some 2+ months after the former judge washed her hands of it). That was supposed to have happened last Friday. We haven't heard yet if it has. Please pray that once the new judge has our case, that he/she will allow us to move forward. To get out of the Court system and on the road to completing this adoption. It was exactly two years ago, that this whole business with the "grandmother" began. Looking back, it is unbelievable that so much time has been allowed to pass without a resolution to that. Two precious years of a little girl's life gone.....for what?

I have no doubt that Olivia will have a fun birthday with the wonderful folks that are taking care of her. We feel extremely blessed that she's with such loving, godly people. We're hoping and praying that this is the last birthday that we will have to be separated.

Feliz Cumpleanos, Olivia! ♥♥♥

The Latest.

2011-10-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we received news that the judge on our case decided she couldn't do any more with our case, so she sent it to another Court nearer to where 'our family in question' lives. This is approximately 30 miles southwest of Guatemala City (where everything in our case has taken place up to this point).

It has been two years now that they have been trying to determine whether or not this "grandmother" and her family are related to Olivia. More specifically during this last year, these folks have not shown one bit of interest in her. Not. One. Bit. Instead of granting us our Certificate of Adoptibility so that our case could simply move forward and alleviate any more delays and hardship on Olivia, the Court feels the need to cater to this family and give them every opportunity to take her away from us. We just don't get it.

The most difficult part of this is that there is a good possibility that Olivia would be moved to an orphanage in this new town. Olivia is still in the home where she's been for the last 16 months and right now, we're doing whatever we can to assure she stays there. Moving her and once again taking her away from everyone and everything she knows would be devastating.

We are asking for your prayers. Please pray that Olivia will be able to stay where she is until such a time that she would be allowed back with her foster family or until she would come home to us. Any more disruption in her life would surely do long-lasting harm.

Also please keep our attorney in prayer as she will have much more to contend with during this new Court situation and the uncertainty of the ever-changing rules and requirements of the process as it stands now.

Don't misunderstand, God is in control and we are still very hopeful that Olivia will come home to us and we know that even though things in Guatemala seem to have taken a turn towards resolving the remaining cases, we understand we've still got a long row to hoe. We just don't want any more unnecessary, inconsiderate things to happen to Olivia while we're waiting for resolution. We have to do everything we can to protect her.

Thanks again for your prayers, concern and support! It is appreciated so much!

Renewed Hope.

2011-08-26T08:23:00.001-07:00

I know it seems the only time I update this blog is when we have a failed Court hearing or there's an anniversary. Well, this update commemorates an anniversary, 4 1/2 years since the start of this process as well as some very encouraging news about the remaining cases left to be resolved in Guatemala.

A week ago, the Guatemalan government sent out a decree stating that they would be resolving the cases. Here's the article that was released to the news agencies:

Guatemala to renew adoptions halted midway by ban
August 21, 2011

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Guatemala has issued a decree that could speed up dozens of adoptions by U.S. couples that have been stuck in limbo since the Central American country suspended adoptions in 2007 amid allegations of fraud and even baby theft.

The decree says that parents whose adoptions were halted midway by the ban can complete the process if they prove a "prolonged" relationship with the child and that they were not responsible for any fraud, among other requirements. The possibility of a domestic adoption must also be ruled out.

But it might not go far enough to solve all pending cases, says Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who will visit Guatemala this week to, among other things, push to expand the program to more U.S. adoptive parents.

One goal of the trip "is to establish that there are approximately 400 families still in transition, and to work out a process so that each of those cases can be resolved, and that includes the 44 that are subject to this immediate accord," Sen. Landrieu told The Associated Press on Sunday.

She said that the decree may include more than 44 cases, although those are certain to be resolved, and perhaps even in the next few weeks. The decree, which was issued Friday, states that it will remain in effect for one year.

The senator added that 900 unresolved cases in 2007 have already been reduced to about 395.
The U.S. State Department is also sending its Special Advisor for Children's Issues to Guatemala this week, where she will consult with the government on the decree.

"We are pleased to see progress toward the resolution of these pending cases," said State Department spokesperson Beth Gosselin......

Now, to be clear, our case is not one of the 44 mentioned that may be resolved very soon. But this decision opens the door for the rest of us. The encouraging thing is that we now have an end in sight. The decree states that the attorneys, etc. have a year from last Friday, August 19th, to get cases like ours, to a specific point (I need to be vague here and not discuss those specifics). That said, we now have renewed hope of bringing Olivia home.

Our last two Court hearings, on June 21st and on August 8th, were both postponed because the "grandmother" and her family, once again did not show up for DNA testing. We're now waiting to see what the judge will do. Once we get a direction from her, we'll know more about what will need to take place next.

We're also still waiting for a report from Senator Landrieu on her visit to Guatemala this week. Hopefully, she and her delegation will have made more progress in their advocacy for the children and waiting families. We sincerely thank all of them for being our voice.

It's so nice to have a spark of hope. We remain cautiously optimistic, but we do see a little light and the end of the proverbial tunnel and pray as we move forward, it gets brighter and brighter! We thank God for showing us that light!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support for us during these past 4 1/2 years, it means so much and believe me, it's wonderful to finally have a little good news to report!

We ask for continued prayers for Olivia, for our case, for all the other families that are waiting, and for all the officials in Guatemala and the U.S. that are working on these cases.

I will update again when I have more news.

We Finally Have Some Info

2011-07-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well it's been 3 1/2 weeks since the last hearing on our case and we finally had a conference call with our attorney last night.

She told us that at the June 21st hearing, the "grandmother" and her family members who were required to show up to provide blood samples for the DNA testing, were once again a no-show. This has been the pattern since last October, that's 8 extra months we've been waiting to get this DNA ball rolling again. Apparently the sense of urgency is exclusive to our end of things.....

The new judge on our case set the next hearing for August 8th. She ordered that the PGN locate and bring the "grandmother" and her family members to the hearing. We're praying that they show this time.

Our attorney saw Olivia at the hearing. She said she's gotten bigger and that Olivia spoke to her about her foster family and us. She said she looked very pretty, but sad.

We have heard so many different things from other families going through this nightmare, about how they're hearing these cases are being processed, that we just have no idea at this point which way our case will go once we get a DNA result. We flip back and forth about what the best case scenario would be for the results. If it's a match.....the family has shown they're not interested so, will they relinquish their rights? If it's not a match, then we could get a Certificate of Adoptability, but will that mean that the authorities will try to find yet another Guatemalan family to take Olivia before they settle on us? There are so many different possibilities at this point, we just don't know what specifically to pray for. The rules and procedures seem to change with the wind.

I guess the only thing we can do is ask God to open whatever doors necessary so she can come home to us. To really work in the hearts of all the adoption entities in Guatemala who don't seem to see or care what all this waiting and lackadaisical attitude are doing to the children and their families. There are still so many families waiting, just like us, and all our babies need to come home, now.

Happy Birthday Emily! June 9th Then & Now

2011-06-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

Olivia & Emily ~ 2010

Happy 11th birthday to our Emily! June 9th this year has been much better than June 9th of 2010.

This picture was taken last year in Guatemala just a few days before our Court hearing on the 9th where Olivia was taken to the orphanage. We were heartbroken, it was a very bad day. Here we are one year later and no closer to a resolution in our case than we were then. The DNA situation has been at a standstill since October last year. Our next Court hearing is on June 21st. We have a new judge, a lady this time. We've heard that she wants to get these remaining cases resolved, so we're hoping she can do something to get ours moving again.

I'll post again once we have word of how the hearing went. Prayers would be appreciated!

It's Been 4 Years.

2011-02-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

If you look to the left at the "We've Been Waiting" ticker, you'll notice that today it simply reads '4 years'. February 26th, 2007 we embarked on this adoption journey, never imagining that this much time would pass without having our baby home.

The progress that we had hoped our case would make since we last saw Olivia almost 9 months ago, has not materialized and we've had no indication that things will be moving any time soon. But we are not the only ones going through this. There are approx. 382 active adoption cases still left to be resolved in Guatemala and those families have formed a group called the Guatemala 900 and we are fighting to get our children home.

This month the Guatemala 900 has asked each of the waiting families to write a Valentine letter to their child. They are hoping to bring a new awareness to our struggle to bring our children home. Today our letter to Olivia is featured. Once you've read our letter, please feel free to make a comment at the bottom of the letter, then click on the links to the right to read the many other Valentine's from the other families to their children.
(copy & paste) http://guatemala900.org/wp/?p=2398

We are weary, but we are not broken.
With God all things are possible.

3 More Months Have Passed and So Has Someone Very Special

2010-12-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

It's been over three months since my last post and I'm afraid the news we received a few days ago is not at all what we had hoped. Again.

The 2nd DNA test run to determine whether this lady is Olivia's grandmother was halted because apparently someone decided that a proper result could not come from the samples taken of just the "grandparent" and child, that an intermediate generation has to be tested as well to determine kinship. This does not come as a surprise to me, because I had done a little research on DNA testing myself, back after the results of the first test came back. With a few simple emails to a U.S. genetics lab, I found out quite easily that the kind of test the lab in Spain was running, with just the two samples, would more than likely come back inconclusive. I was told that for the most accurate results, a family member from the generation between the two would be needed. Ideally the suspected birth mother, but as you know, she has washed her hands of this whole situation and can't be found. Before the second test was done in September, I emailed my findings to our attorney, hoping she or someone would mention it to the "powers-that-be" to insure this latest test would be done properly this time. Apparently, no one got the memo.

So now, after waiting 3 more months for a result and not getting one, the judge has ordered yet another test and for new samples to be taken sometime in January from Olivia, the "grandmother" and an alleged uncle. Add 3 months to that, we're looking at March or April to get an answer. The hardest part is that we have no voice, no recourse, no input. There is little to nothing we can do to aid or alter the situation. It's a difficult thing to feel helpless, especially when it comes to your child.

One month ago today, Bryan's dad went home to Heaven. For those of you who don't know, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Oct. 1st and passed on Nov. 17th. We are so thankful and so blessed that we know beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he is with Jesus this very minute and that we will indeed see him again one day. However, it saddens us to know that he will never meet his youngest granddaughter Olivia, this side of Heaven. She would have loved her Poppy. We just keep reminding ourselves that God's plan and timing are perfect.

So it's the week before Christmas. The Christmas we had so hoped would be Olivia's first one home with us. The first Christmas without Poppy. It doesn't sound like we have much to celebrate this year, does it? We still do. We'll celebrate the fact that Poppy is 100% healed and spending Christmas with his Savior. We'll celebrate that Olivia is in a wonderful, loving place and will share the joys of Christmas this year with all her new friends. We'll celebrate our family and just how precious each and every one of them is. And we'll celebrate the hope and the true meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Olivia.

Merry Christmas, Poppy.

Merry Christmas everyone. We pray that 2011 brings good news, we'll keep ya posted.
God bless.

Today's Hearing.....

2010-09-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

. . . . . was suspended. Yup, because the lab in Spain made the mistake on the DNA test submitted in June, the judge called for new samples and a new hearing date. We don't as yet have any idea when they plan to take the samples or if it will take another 3 months to process. We also still don't know if our attorney will get permission for anyone to visit Olivia. A lot more uncertainty.

So we continue to wait.

Thank you for all your prayers, please keep 'em comin'.

DNA Results Are In........However............

2010-09-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

After 3 months of waiting for the results of the DNA taken between Olivia and the woman claiming to possibly be her biological grandmother, we learned last night that our attorney had just received word from the Court clerk, (a week and a day before the hearing), that the results were in. The test came back negative, which is great, however, apparently the folks at the lab in Spain that were doing the testing, ran the test as though they were testing for a mother/child relation and not for grandmother/grandchild! Unbelievable. Apparently the test is conducted differently for different relations.

As you might imagine, we are in utter disbelief that a mistake like this could have been made, especially at this pivotal point in our case. All throughout this process, when there is a foot to be gained by the next progressive step, we gain only an inch at the most. "Frustration" cannot accurately describe how we feel.

So our supposed "final" hearing is next Thursday, one week from today. With what we know now, the judge will more than likely assign yet again, a new "final" hearing date. We've been told that 'the understanding is' that they probably won't have to run a new DNA and that they will try to determine if the results can be analyzed to look for markers that would rule out this "grandmother" lady. If not, and they have to do a whole new test, you guessed it, more months of waiting for results. We've been told that a new hearing date would most likely be dependent on the Court calendar and that can vary quite a bit.

Meanwhile, our little girl has been away from everything and everyone she knows and loves for 3 months without any contact or explanation. Our attorney was trying to get permission for her foster family to visit, but apparently that hasn't happened and we're not clear on why. The only glimmer of hope we've had in all this time is a photograph posted by the orphanage on their Facebook page, showing Olivia during an outing to Pizza Hut with the other children a few weeks back. She's playing and is smiling. I won't post the picture because I don't want in any way to jeopardize the "no contact" rule.

There has been some buzz recently among other adoptive families still waiting to bring their children home, that the remaining 300-400 cases might be completed by the PGN, (the original processing agency in Guatemala before the government shut down adoptions at the end of 2007). That would actually be good, considering the new process, the CNA doesn't really have a concrete process in place. However (again), we've been told that our case, should we be allowed to proceed, would fall into the abandonment category, therefore we would definitely have to complete it through the CNA. More hoops to jump through. Our attorney, Beyla is trying to get a jump-start on the necessary next step in that process, so at the next hearing, we'll be ahead of the game.....a little bit.....maybe.

So that's where we stand at the moment. Hopefully there will be something more to report after the hearing on the 9th.

Please continue to join us in prayer for a quick solution to this mess and for our sanity and patience, (the latter two have really been under fire of late). Please pray that God would touch and soften the heart of this judge and that he might have mercy on this situation. And please pray for Olivia, that she would be at peace and that God would protect her heart and mind through all this and that someone would be able to visit her soon and explain to her that we're all still here and love her very much and are trying very hard to get her home. Thank you.

I'll update again as soon as I hear something.

Update on Olivia

2010-06-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

First of all, Bryan & I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and prayers for Olivia and our family. They have truly meant a lot. The past few days have been surreal as you might imagine.

We arrived home late Thursday night. Bryan and I both had a rough time as the plane left the ground in Guatemala. There are just so many unanswered questions and such a feeling of helplessness.

We were given the name and address of the orphanage on Wednesday and before we left Thursday, we searched online to see if we could find it. We did find a place by the same name, but it didn't seem to be in the right town where we were told it was. This place was run by an American Christian couple who have been taking in Guatemala's needy children, including special needs children since 1997. After reading their webpage, we so hoped that's where she was taken.

This morning, when I checked our emails, another adoptive mom, told me that she knew of this place and the people who run it. She said this was a very good place and that we could email them directly. So that's what I did! I emailed the lady and asked if Olivia had been brought there on Wednesday afternoon and if so, how was she? A few hours later, I got a response saying that indeed Olivia was there and that she was doing well. We were so relieved to know she is being well taken care of! We're still unbelievably upset that she was taken away from her loving foster family and what effects that will have on her, but at least we know she's in a safe and good place for now.

We're hoping we can communicate with her through the director. We asked her to tell Olivia that we love her very much and she agreed to let her know. We're just going to lay low for awhile until we find out how much contact we are allowed to have.

It's a little bit of comforting news in what has been a very upsetting last few days. A dear friend of mine told me about this song she had heard that spoke directly to her heart and thought it would minister to us as well. I listened, and it did.

This was the last picture taken of our family, just before we left for court on Wednesday.

Hearing Results

2010-06-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

Our hearts are very heavy tonight. We did not get the news we were praying for at our hearing today.

The lady who says she's Olivia's biological grandmother and her husband were there. I had made a photo album of our entire history with Olivia and Beyla, our attorney showed it to them before the hearing. They seemed quite moved when they saw all that we have done with her.

When it was time for the hearing, the grandmother as well as Olivia, Brenda, (her foster Mom) and the attorneys went in. Meanwhile, our translator, Mirna was talking to the grandfather who was in the waiting room with us. She advocated for us big time, and at one point he asked if he and his wife decided not to adopt, would they be able to keep in contact with Olivia through us and wanted to know where we lived and what it was like.

After about 40 minutes, we saw a man come in with a white lab coat carrying a small cooler. We were told that there was a possibility that the judge would order a DNA test of Olivia and the grandmother and that's what this man was there for. 10 to 15 minutes later, everyone emerged from the hearing room and we were ushered out into the street to talk.

Beyla told us that they were going to get DNA samples and upon the results of the test, the judge would either let the grandparents adopt her if it's positive, or if it's negative, declare her abandoned and we would still be in the picture. The results will take anywhere from 15 days to 3 months.

Now for the worst part. The judge ordered Olivia go directly to an orphanage and not be able to go back home with her foster family that she's lived with for past 2 1/2 years of her life.

We were able to have lunch with her and then just after 3:30, people from the orphanage came and pulled her out of her foster father's arms crying and reaching for him and put her into the back of a car and drove off. We were right there at the car and it was one of the most heart wrenching moments of our lives. She was so scared and confused. We're still numb. Please pray for her. She couldn't take any belongings and can't have any contact with anyone she knows. Absolutely inhumane.

Beyla made an appeal to the judge to allow her to go back with her foster family, but we don't know what he'll decide. It would be the absolute best thing right now.

The judge set the deciding hearing for Sept. 9th. We're not required to be there. Hopefully we'll get the DNA results before then. If the results come back negative, then we're back in the race. And even if they come back as a match, the grandparents may decide to relinquish their rights. Allowing us to move forward. The grandmother herself, told the judge that she didn't know for sure if she was the biological grandmother, so there are doubts even in her mind. We'll just have to keep waiting.

We know God has a plan and a reason for all of this. We can handle the waiting, we just pray for Olivia that God would comfort her and give her peace in the next 3 months.

There still is hope, but we are also realistic in that we may have seen her for the last time today.

We head for home in the morning with an enormous "?" and a profound sadness for our little girl.

Our other little girl has had a very, very bad 10th birthday today. She misses her sister.

We welcome each and every prayer.

URGENT NEED FOR PRAYER

2010-06-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

Our Court hearing is tomorrow morning. Our adoption could potentially end dead in it's tracks.

We need a miracle and we're asking to pray specifically for God to intervene and allow Olivia to come home to us.

We'll update when we can.

Monday, Monday!

2010-06-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today was another slow-paced day here in lovely Guatemala City. The weather was beautiful and very warm. We did more walking and shopping and eating and game-playing and ride-riding. The girls are getting along SO well!

Tomorrow is our appointment with the Consul General at the U.S. Embassy. Not sure what we can expect from her, but at least she'll meet us, hear our story and hopefully remember us when the time comes for our case to come before her.

Later in the afternoon, we have a pre-hearing meeting with our attorney. Hopefully we'll feel a little more prepared after we talk with her.

This is what we've woken up to the past two mornings. What is it with kids and forts?!

This is a roller coaster they just built in one of the malls.

Isn't the ponytail in the wrong place?

Everybody loves a Frosty!

Pacaya today......a little steamy.

A pile of volcanic sand and lots more already bagged.

Some Pictures From Our Trip So Far

2010-06-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today, we slept in, lazed around, had a nice lunch, shopped some, got stuck in the mall during a heavy rain shower, and just had a very low-key day. Here are some pictures from yesterday and today.

Pacaya, behaving herself.

Volcanic sand on the window sill.

Enjoying some breakfast.

Sun setting on Guatemala for today.

We've Arrived!

2010-06-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

We touched down in Guatemala about an hour after we were scheduled to due to some luggage delay in Atlanta and arrived at the hotel about 1:30. For some reason in Atlanta, we were bumped up to first class seats! So sitting on the runway for an extra hour, didn't really seem so bad! (The hot towels and fancy filet mignon lunch complete with dense chocolate cheesecake for dessert didn't hurt either!)

Flying over and into Guatemala, we tried to see what the volcano/storm damage was. Of what we could see out the window, the rivers were muddy and there were areas on some of the mountainsides where the ground washed away, but we couldn't really see any extensive damage where we were looking. Pacaya (the offending volcano) seen from the hotel today, is quiet.

The clean-up effort in the city is still going on, but I must say, they've done a wonderful job. There are piles of black volcanic sand (not ash) on the sides of the streets that they're putting into bags and hauling off. And we've been told that that big sinkhole that we've all seen pictures of? Is small compared to the one they had last year in the same area! Really??!!

Olivia's foster family brought her to us shortly after 5:00 and said that the trip in from their home which normally takes about 45 minutes, took them 2 hours due to washed out bridges and bad road conditions.

Olivia is awesome! She charged towards me full speed when they entered the hotel lobby. We were talking to Mirna and all of a sudden there she was. I'll tell ya, that does a mommy's heart good!

We don't have anything scheduled for tomorrow, so we'll just take it easy. We have an appointment at the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday morning and of course Wednesday morning is our much anticipated hearing.

So stay tuned!

An Angry Volcano + a Tropical Storm + a Surreal Sinkhole = ... a Date with the Judge!

2010-06-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a stressful one to say the least.

As time has been growing closer to June 9th, our Court date, the realities of what may or may not be decided by the judge that day have been weighing on my mind. Couple that with the last minute projects I've created for myself that must be done before we leave. (I've always worked best under a modest amount of pressure........)

Last Wednesday, 10 days before our departure, I find out that my dear brother is in the hospital ICU in very serious condition. Now all my focus is on him and praying for his recovery.

Two days later on Friday, I'm watching the morning news and see that our "favorite" Guatemalan volcano, Pacaya, the one that we see from our hotel, has erupted. What?!! People have been evacuated, the airport is shut down and there's 2 inches of ash everywhere. Knowing that Olivia lives relatively close to Pacaya, I immediately emailed her foster family to make sure they were all safe.

Then Saturday the first tropical storm of the season pounds Guatemala with as much rain in several hours as they would normally get in a year. Oh my word!

How is my child?!
Where is my child?!
What's going on???!

After spending the weekend visiting my brother and seeing that he is much better and on the mend, we return home Sunday night to find an email from Olivia's foster family, saying that they are all okay and safe. Praise the Lord on both counts!

Monday, we see pictures of the sinkhole in Guatemala City. Have you seen the sinkhole? Absolutely surreal.

LOOK!!!

Now we're thinking...... with all this turmoil all at once in this small Central American country, are we still going to be able to go as scheduled? Should we go? Will our hearing be postponed? If so, for how long this time? Will this set our case back even more?

We've been trying to get answers to all these questions for days now and thanks to our wonderful friend and translator, Mirna, we now know that our hearing is indeed still on for Wednesday! With 2 1/2 days to spare before we leave!

We'll be off bright and early Saturday morning and will send updates as often as we can. Please pray for safe travels, safety while we're there, that the judge allows us to finally go ahead with Olivia's adoption and for all the people of Guatemala who are struggling right now. Thanks!

The Face of My Child.

2010-04-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today, I received a phone call from our adoption agency director, Lymaris. We had begun this process 2 months (to the day) before, and had another month before all our paperwork would be complete.

She told me that they had just received a little 17 month-old girl who was malnourished, but seemed otherwise healthy. She knew that we had "requested" a girl between the ages of 12 and 24 months on our application and thought we might be interested in her.

Well, needless to say, I was excited! My heart was pounding and my mind was racing. We hadn't expected to get a child referral until after all our paperwork was completed. This phone call caught me off guard for sure!

Lymaris went on to tell me that she had photos of this child and would be happy to email them to me right away. I of course, told her to go right ahead! She asked me to take a look and contact her later to let her know what we think.

After I hung up the phone, heart still pounding and mind still racing, I called Bryan at work and told him of the very interesting call I'd just had. I told him that I would be receiving photos via email at any second and asked him if I should wait to look at them until he got home..... several hours from then, or would he mind if I looked without him. He said to go ahead, but that he didn't want me to forward them to him at work, he wanted to see them at home.

So now, alone in front of my computer, (Emily was off playing), I click to receive any new emails. There. It. Is. The subject line read, "fotos de nena nueva", (new baby photos). I hesitated to click to open the email. I knew that the moment I opened it and saw the pictures, I would be looking at the face of my child. This wasn't going to be me browsing through photos of some little girl in Guatemala, shopping for a daughter, no. I knew THIS little girl was going to be OUR daughter. Pretty big stuff.

Well, after a few minutes, I took a deep breath and clicked. There were 7 attached photos. This is the first image I saw of my little girl.

So tiny, so sad. Those red shoes. I opened the rest of the pictures, and yes, there were tears! Tears of happiness to see her face, but also tears of sadness to see her face. I didn't know her story, but I could see, by looking at that precious face, she had been through so much already in her young life.

The photos were date stamped. They had been taken just the evening before.

When Bryan got home that night, he sat in front of the computer, clicked open the email and saw our daughter for the first time. More tears, but more importantly, an immediate mutual knowledge that yes, she was meant to be ours. There was no hesitation what-so-ever. Whatever we needed to do to bring her home, that's what we'd do.

Fast forward 3 years and 3 years worth of "Whatever we need to do to bring her home". We remain fully committed to this child. Our child. She is SO worth it.

Just look at that face.

New Pictures of Our Gal!

2010-04-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

Just before Olivia left with her foster family during our last trip, we gave them a camera to take pictures of Olivia for us. We just got these emailed to us. Her personality certainly shines through! 8 1/2 weeks till we see her gain!

Olivia and her foster brother, Aland.

We're Home Again

2010-03-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

We arrived home late Monday night, but we said "bye-bye" to Olivia Sunday evening. Her foster parents came to pick her up about 6:00 and as it turns out their first grandchild was being born when they were with us! Their oldest son and his wife had a baby boy, they were so excited! We felt bad because they were with us instead of being there for the birth.

So Sunday we ventured out to an area of the city we hadn't gone before. We were told of a place only 2 blocks away that we were eager to visit. Yes, we walked to Hiper Paiz, the Central American Walmart! I had heard of the stores before, but had no idea there was one was so close to our hotel! Those of you who know us, know that Walmart is a Charles family staple, we generally try to visit one where ever we go. So this was a treat!

After that the girls spied the big Burger King across the street with the equally big playplace..... so that's where we had lunch.

We then headed back to the hotel and upon entering the mall under the hotel, we noticed a crowd watching this guy dressed up like a silver cowboy. He'd stand motionless like a statue then would interact with the crowd. The girls thought he was really neat. He called them up to shake hands and then posed for a picture with them, they were tickled!

When we got back to the room, I told Olivia that Mama Brenda would be coming later that afternoon and she seemed okay with that. We gave her some Easter candy and a really big stuffed lamb.

We were sad to see her go, but it'll only be 11 weeks until we're back there again. We didn't talk to our attorney at all this time, but Mirna reiterated what they had both told us back in Nov. that the judge will most likely rule in our favor at the hearing in June and things should move relatively "quickly" from then.

Here are the pictures taken on Sunday.

Olivia wearing her school jacket

A Day At The Zoo

2010-03-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we took a cab to La Aurora Zoo with our translator Mirna and her daughter. It's really a lovely zoo. They have many animals we hadn't seen in other zoos before.

The girls had lots of fun, looking at the animals, playing in the fountains and exploring. It was a beautiful sunny day in the low 80's.....perfecto!

After the zoo we crossed the street to visit the Handicrafts Market. Lots of neat little shops chocked full of indigenous goodies for folks like us. We, of course did what we could to support the local economy!

All in all, it was a very nice day, ending with dinner at Pollo Campero with Mirna and her daughter.

Olivia will be going back with her foster family late tomorrow afternoon, so we'll be packing a lot more into the time we have left.

Enjoy just a portion of the pictures we took today, (Bryan was very prolific with the camera!)

More tomorrow!

Guatemala Today

2010-03-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today there was more mall walking, more shopping, more food that isn't good for us, but most importantly, more time with our girls!

After much pleading by the youngin's, we headed to the pool in the afternoon. I decided to let Bryan do all the water activities while I stayed behind the camera.

Tomorrow we plan to go to the zoo with Mirna, our translator and her daughter.

For now, here are some pictures from today.

Today's Happenings

2010-03-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Guatemala City, our home away from home!

On our first full day here we did the usual visiting of the malls and fast-food places. We did manage to run across a supermarket across the street from the hotel that we had missed in previous visits. Very handy, we'll hit that again, I'm sure.

Emily and Olivia are having a ball together. Right now they're playing a matching game, eating peanut butter crackers and listening to classical piano music on TV. A few minutes ago, Emily was showing Olivia some of her gymnastics moves and helping her do some. They really do get along beautifully! LOTS of giggling!!!

It gets dark around 6:00 p.m. here, so we're pretty much in for the night by 5:00.

I'm enjoying being able to communicate with you all out there while we're here. Ya gotta love technology!

Well here are some pictures from last night and today..... enjoy! More tomorrow!

Adios!

We're Here!

2010-03-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

We arrived at 11:40 a.m. Guatemala time (1:40 p.m. Eastern time). Olivia wasn't going to be dropped off until 5:30, so we decided to get some lunch and then come back to the room and take a much needed nap, (went to bed last night at midnight, had to get up at 4:00 a.m. Out of a possible 4 hours of sleep, I managed to get 1!)

Olivia's foster family brought her to the hotel on time. They brought a video of Olivia performing in a program at her school yesterday. Brenda, her foster mom, made her a little chick costume and she sang a song about being a chicken. She did so well and she was so cute! Unfortunately, I don't think we can get a copy of the tape, we'll see.

Not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow, just play it by ear I guess. Hopefully we can post some pictures in the next post.

Till then.....

Buenos noches!

We're Off to Guatemala Again!

2010-03-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we'll be winging our way to see our little girl! This trip is purely to visit, no obligations this time, that'll be nice! Looking forward to the 80+ degree weather, too!

We're taking our laptop this time, so I'm hoping to be able to update the blog while we're there.....stay tuned!

God bless y'all!

3 Years Ago Today......

2010-02-26T06:35:00.000-08:00

After adopting Emily in 2001, we knew we would adopt again..... eventually, but it wasn't until the end of 2006 that we felt God telling us it was time. On February 26th, 2007, after much prayer and research into countries, agencies, and all that comes with adoption, we embarked on this journey to our Guatemalan daughter.

Emily's adoption from China took almost exactly 18 months from start to finish and we thought that was long! We'd learned that with an adoption from Guatemala, the average time frame was about 9 to 12 months, give or take. With that, we were very optimistic that our newest addition would surely be home with us by Christmastime that year or by early 2008 at the latest. As we all know now, God had another plan.

As we mark this third year, even knowing all the paperwork that will have to be done.....again, all the extra fees that will have to be paid.....again, and the many trips to Guatemala that we will be taking this year, we can't help but be thankful for this experience. God has provided this opportunity for our family to grow, but also for our faith to grow. He's teaching us patience, and showing us His grace.

Our hope and prayer is, of course, that Olivia will be home with us by the close of this year. There are still many other children waiting to come home to their families as well. We pray that 2010 will be the year that all of these Guatemalan children will be united with their forever families.

Olivia's First Day of School!

2010-01-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Olivia started pre-school on January 15th. She's attending a Christian school called "Jardin Infantil Las Ovejitas". She goes Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. till 11:50 a.m. Along with the basic pre-school curriculum, she'll also be learning some English there. Then, once a week for two hours, she has an English class outside of school, at the "Academie de Ingles Liason". The Guatemalan school year goes from January thru October. Hopefully by the time school is out for them, (or maybe sooner) she'll be home with us! We shall see.

No news on our case, we really don't expect any until the hearing in June. We have however booked our next trip for March 17-22 and are looking forward to seeing our little "school girl"! She has told her foster family that she can't wait till we come visit again, so she can tell us all the things she's learning in school!

We've actually been emailing with the foster family while trying to get the school situation arranged, so it's nice to finally have some direct contact with them. The translation is a little rough at times, but I think we each get our points across eventually.

They sent us the following pictures of Olivia's first day. Both Brenda (foster mom) and her husband took Olivia to school. They are such sweet, loving people! Olivia is blessed to have them in her life! Enjoy!

Too cute! Must have been a chilly morning...probably about 65 degrees!

Brenda probably saying goodbye to Olivia.

We're Back! Here's What Happened........

2009-11-21T08:13:00.000-08:00

We left for Guatemala last Saturday at 6:00 a.m., not really knowing what to expect on this very important trip. A birthday party for a 4 year-old and a Court hearing. We were somewhat prepared for one, but felt uncomfortably unprepared for the other.

Our dear translator Mirna, picked up the birthday cake for us and was there waiting at the hotel when we arrived. Olivia and her foster family would be arriving later than planned, so we had time for some lunch and then prepared for the birthday party. They all got to the hotel about 5:00.

There were 14 of us in all including another little girl waiting to come home to the U.S. who is being fostered by Carmen, the sister of Brenda (Olivia's foster mom). Olivia really enjoyed all the fuss. Of all her gifts, she loved the toy Cinderella cell phone the best, she kept taking everybody's "picture" with it! Too cute!

Sunday was Olivia's actual birthday so we went out shopping and of course to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. The girls had a great time riding the rides and playing games. Olivia was especially enamored with the big animated Chuck E. who sings on stage. I think she really expected him to talk to her when she'd say "Hi, Chuck E. Cheese!" We had a full day of shopping, riding rides and ice cream, it was just such a blessing for us to be able to actually spend Olivia's birthday with her. We missed the last two because we were advised not to visit then.

Well Monday morning came and we were all spiffed up and ready to go to Court when Beyla our attorney picked us up about 8:15. On the 15 minute trip Beyla instructed us as to what to say IF the judge wanted to see us. Before long, we pulled into a very small parking lot. Once we parked, we walked around the corner and down a very narrow street with little store fronts and people selling their wares. We weren't sure where we were headed, because none of the buildings we were seeing looked "Courthouse-like". Sure enough we step into one of these storefront buildings where there was a tiny waiting room. We waited for a few minutes and someone came and asked for our passports. A few minutes later, about 9:00, Beyla, our other attorney, Oscar, Brenda and Olivia went in the back to see the judge. Bryan, Emily, Mirna, Carmen, Brenda's husband and son and I waited. Around 10:00, they all came out and the look on Beyla's face was not a good one. She said that a representative from the PGN had made a surprise appearance announcing that they had had contact with Olivia's birth Grandmother and that she wanted custody of Olivia! (Mind you, she's never seen this child in her life and has only been aware of her existence for the last few months!) Needless to say, our hearts sank. Beyla said we should wait till we leave the Courthouse to discuss the entire hearing.

So we walk back to the parking lot where Beyla told me not to be sad, that this was actually a GOOD thing! Apparently, when Beyla went to the Police a few days before with an order for them to bring in the birth mother, they said they didn't know where she was, but that they had spoken to the birth mother's mother and she told them she hadn't seen her daughter in 6 years and then she contacted PGN and told them she hadn't seen her daughter in 2 months! Basically, the consensus by everyone, is that this woman is not trustworthy, her husband is known to be violent and not of good reputation. They would in no way be good candidates for raising this child.

So, the Judge ruled that the next and FINAL hearing would be on June 9th (Emily's birthday, oddly enough). During the next 6 months, there will be a full investigation of this Grandmother person. (By the way, PGN told her she had to appear at Monday's hearing and she did not.) At the hearing in June, the Judge will rule whether or not she should have custody of Olivia or if we should. Normally, when a family member comes forward to claim a child, the Judge almost always favors them. Not in our case, apparently. Even though the Judge did not ask to physically see us, he knew we were there because he asked to see our passports and that made a big impression. As it turns out, this Judge is actually favoring us, but by law has to exhaust all possibilities, before he gives us the go-ahead to proceed with the adoption.

So even though the initial hearing results sounded bad, we have a new hope and an actual deadline that we're shooting for. If indeed the Judge rules in our favor in June, our case will then go to the CNA. Beyla tells us it will take 3 to 5 months from that point to complete the process. It may even go a little quicker than that, due to the time we've put into this process and the fact that Beyla has "very good friends" there. We'll see.

So in a nutshell, it'll be next fall at best when we finally can bring Olivia home. We plan to make another visit trip in the spring, then go again in June for the hearing and hopefully one last time to bring her home. Even though we're having to wait longer than we anticipated, we know this is all God's plan and we're in it for as long as it takes. That little girl is SO worth it!

After the hearing, we took everyone out to lunch at Pollo Campero, went back to the hotel and talked to Brenda and her husband about getting Olivia in school which starts in January. We're still figuring out exactly what we want to do there. I definitely want her to go to school, but we want to make sure she has an English tutor as well.

After everyone left, we went back to our room and changed, (yes, I had to do the "twin" outfits again!) We went shopping and the girls played on all the rides and things they have for kids at the malls.

Tuesday, we went to the Miraflores Museum which is right near our hotel. It has exhibits of artifacts of the Mayan civilization that once inhabited Guatemala and a huge grass-covered mound behind the building that covers an old Mayan temple. The girls ran up and down it and had a blast. We went underground into where the temple was too. A little creepy at first, but very interesting.

Later, after lunch at Chili's the girls and Bryan went swimming in the hotel pool. I bowed out this time to be the full-time photographer.

The hotel had been decorating for Christmas and there were some bakers who were putting together a real gingerbread house in the lobby. Each time we'd go by, they'd be doing something new. At one point they were piping icing between the gingerbread "bricks" and asked Emily & Olivia if they'd like to lick some icing from the big pot they were using. Needless to say, this was a big hit!

Later that evening, I had to start to clean things up and get packed for the next day. Even though we really can't explain what's going on to Olivia, she'd been through it twice before, and knew this meant we were going home. She definitely had a change in behavior and it made me sad to know we're going to have to go through this a few more times before she will actually get to go on that plane with us.

Wednesday morning, I gave Olivia another small photo album of pictures from our time together, as well as a book I found at the Hallmark store that you can record your voice reading the story. It was called "Bright and Beautiful a Child's Blessing". She really seemed to like it and I thought it was a neat way for her to hear my voice even if she couldn't understand everything I was saying. Mirna came around 8:30 a.m. to translate and Brenda's husband and their oldest daughter Grace came to pick up Olivia. We chatted for a while, gave them a bag of Christmas presents for Olivia and then they had to go. We said our good-byes, but told Olivia that we'd be back to see her again soon.

We flew out of Guatemala City around 2:30 p.m. their time and arrived home and finally collapsed in bed about 1:00 a.m. Thursday.

What started out as an extremely stressful trip, ended with a closer relationship with our little girl and new hope that she will come home. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Enjoy some of the over 500 pictures we took!

Olivia cutting her cake.

She loved that toy phone!

The locket I made for Olivia.

Pacaya volcano seen from our hotel roof.

Up close and personal with Chuck E. Cheese!

Riding the ferris wheel.

Olivia was a little nervous at first.

The Court house is the gray building that people are standing in front of.

The waiting room. The lady in the black top in front is Brenda, Beyla is the blonde
and Mirna is standing talking to me.

Lunch at Pollo Campero. Left side: Olivia, Emily, me, Carmen & Beyla.
On the right side: Aland, Kenneth, Brenda & Mirna.

Wearing Daddy's shirt!

They had a train that rode through the mall. Olivia HAD to go on it!
It was just a bit cramped for us adult folk!

That's about a $665.00 toy car to you and me!

Yum!

The Miraflores Museum.

A view of the hotel from the museum grounds.

Emily was showing something to Olivia, I had to get this shot.....adorable!

Bryan took the glass top off this table to clean it.
The girls decided it would be a great photo op!

The "talking" storybook.

Just before she had to go home.

Back From Our Trip!

2009-09-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

We had a WONDERFUL visit with Olivia last week! She is such a special little girl and we just love her to pieces!

We arrived in Guatemala at 11:30 Saturday morning, got to the hotel around 12:30 and found that our room wouldn't be ready until 3:00. We were expecting Olivia and her foster family to arrive around 2:00. We went to get some lunch and then waited in the lobby till about 2:30 when Olivia arrived. Once again, when she saw me she ran full-boar towards me and gave me the biggest hug! She held on for the longest time, then it was Bryan's turn. We finally got into our room, talked to the foster folks for a bit and then they left. Olivia gave Brenda, her foster Mom a hug and said adios!

To our surprise, Olivia has been working on her English! Her first words to us were "thank you", later she proceeded to point to each of us and tell us who we were in English. "Mommy, Daddy, Emily and then she'd point to herself and proclaim loudly and matter-of-factly, OLIVIA!" Brenda said since our last visit, Olivia has wanted to know what the English word is for everything! We worked with her on that during our visit through flashcards, memory matching games and lots of repetition. She is VERY bright and catches on very quickly.

We had wanted to make this trip a productive one by hopefully speaking to someone about the status of our case. Our attorney, Beyla was trying to arrange for us to meet with the Officer of the Court in charge of our case on Tuesday, but unfortunately, he was tied up pretty much the whole day. However, we did get the opportunity to sit down and talk with Beyla for about 2 hours and she was able to fill us in on where things stand at this point.

The last we knew, we were waiting for the police to bring in M. (Olivia's birth mom) under the Court order that our judge issued at the hearing in June. Apparently, as we suspected, M. has made herself scarce once again. The judge has given the police a timeframe that ends this Friday to give him their report on their findings. I'm not sure what he will do if they come up empty. Beyla is hoping he might declare Olivia as abandoned at that point, but the likelyhood of that is pretty slim. Meanwhile, Beyla and our translator Mirna, have come up with a plan to try to "lure" M. to come out of hiding. They explained it to us and it COULD work, but we're not betting the farm on it. We'll wait and see what happens.

As we have mentioned before, our judge is not friendly nor compassionate for these children and parents. He is not in favor of adoptions, period. That said, he has allowed three things to happen in our case that are pretty much unprecidented for him and other cases similar to ours. First, last February, he allowed Olivia to stay with her foster family, where he has removed other children and sent them to orphanages. (We're so thankful for the miracle of chicken pox!) Secondly, he allowed Beyla to come in and be our mandatory (primary) attorney, apparently at the recommendation of the judge's own son. And thirdly, he has allowed Bryan & I to be part of the case, which essentially means, we can be present at the hearings and be heard by him. He has not allowed other families that privilge.

We will be going down again in November for Olivia's 4th birthday on the 15th and for the next hearing on the 17th. What we understand at this point is that if M. hasn't come forward and submitted to the DNA by that time, the judge can do one of two things. He can declare her "abandoned" (adoptable) and our case would then go to the CNA to actually begin the adoption process, (this is the second best scenario for us, obviously we'd love to have a positive DNA, it would make things much easier all the way around). The other thing he could do, and has been known to do, is to draw out the search and set another hearing date months more down the road. This is definitly NOT the decision we want him to make.

We're praying for more "out-of-character" decisions by our judge. Not just for our case, but for the other cases that are languishing in his court. Unfortunately, we're not the only family from our agency that is being affected by this man. Please pray for them as well.

We took lots of pictures of our time together for you to enjoy. As you'll see, Olivia is so happy and so full of life. She and Emily play together so well and she is just a joy to be with! She is an absolute doll!

Off To See Our Girl Again!

2009-09-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

In a few short hours we'll be on our way to Guatemala to see Olivia! Hopefully we won't have to wait as long this time for her foster family to bring her to the hotel.....we shall see.

We're not sure what to expect on this trip. We made it clear that we want to talk to someone and get to the bottom of why nothing it has happened in the 3 months since the last hearing. There's a slight possibility that our attorney, Beyla might get us in to talk to the judge on our case. We've been reminded that he's not a very friendly fellow......again, we'll see what happens.

We're returning Wednesday night, so hopefully Thursday or Friday I'll have an update and a report on our trip.

We appreciate everyone's continued prayers!

Adios!

Preparing for Visit Trip #2!

2009-08-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, there's nothing new to report on our case since my last post 2 months ago. However, we've decided to go down to Guatemala for a visit. We plan on going in November for Olivia's birthday (and the Court hearing, the next day), but thought we needed to see her before that. We'll be going 3 weeks from today.

The re-do of our dossier will be complete this week and will be sent on it's way for certification and authentication. Hopefully, we'll have it all back to us in time to take it to Guatemala with us and deliver it to our attorney in person.

We're hoping that when we're down there, we can do something, ANYTHING to light a fire under these people to get them to move on our case.

We received these pictures of Olivia recently, enjoy!

Here's What Happened at Wednesday's Hearing

2009-06-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

First of all, it wasn't until last night (Friday about 11:30 p.m.) that we got the story on Wed.'s hearing. Lymaris had sent us an email she had gotten from Beyla on Wed. evening explaining what took place, but unfortunately for us, the email was in Spanish and Lymaris had to run and didn't have time to translate just then, but said she would do it over the phone the next day. (Mind you, this was the biggest event in our case to date, and we were chomping at the bit to find out...) fast forward to Friday night, that's when we finally connected with her and got the lowdown.

The news is mostly good, praise the Lord. The Judge officially made Beyla our Mandatory attorney after our previous attorney Gallo asked to be taken off the case. The Judge however would not exclude Mr. Gallo completely.

We were also officially accepted as part of the process as the "Prospective Adoptive Parents" (PAP). I wasn't aware that this was part of what was going to be discussed, but it was, we were accepted by the Court, and that's a very good thing!

The Court has ordered their own "search" for M., the birth mother, and now it is just a matter of time until the police in her local area bring her in for the DNA test.

The Judge adjourned the hearing until November 16th! That is unless M. has been brought in before that date and cooperates. We're definitely praying that takes place much, much sooner than Nov. 16th! Olivia turns 4 on Nov. 15th, for crying out loud!!!

Lymaris also told us however, that we will have to redo most or all of our dossier all... over... again! There goes my summer! Apparently, the lovely Mr. Gallo says he doesn't have our original dossier and another person who has worked on our case in the past says she doesn't have our original dossier and the two of them aren't on speaking terms, so instead of waiting for them to stop blaming each other and find it, we have to go through getting all the documents together again. Most of everything is going to expire within the next several months anyway, so I guess it's a good idea to get it all updated. Oy!

What this all boils down to is that, we need M. to come in and take the DNA, plain and simple. Beyla and Lymaris believe that once she knows she's "wanted" by the police, she'll have no choice but to come in. We're hoping that the process of her local Court issuing an order for the police to contact her is already under way and that it'll be a short time before they bring her in. That's what our prayer is now.

Meanwhile, I'm off on the paper chase once again..... whatever it takes to bring Olivia home.

I'll post again, when we learn something new.

Regarding Wednesday's Court Hearing

2009-06-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we had planned on being in Guatemala this week, but as it turns out, we won't be going after all. We have been waiting for weeks to find out whether or not we would be allowed to attend Olivia's abandonment hearing this Wednesday. Just this past Friday, we received an email from our attorney Beyla. This is what she said: "For me its preferable that you do not travel right now. We are representing you and do not know if this hearing will be definitive. I still do not have the judge's written consent, (to allow us into the hearing) but I can still attend without it, as I am already a part to the process."

As for the hearing itself she says: " As a matter of fact, the Judge cannot take the abandonment route now, since he has been notified the birth mom is alive and has family and where to find them. He can suspend the hearing for another date, but I doubt he will consider abandonment now. The advantage is that if the Judge forces her to come, she will have no choice but to submit herself for DNA testing and I do believe she is the birth mom."

I asked if the birth mom, M. could still be located and what the strategy was for getting her to comply and she wrote: "M. can be reached, the only problem is that since the judicial system in Guatemala is so bureaucratic, the process requires the judge seek assistance of the Court in Guanaga*apa, since this is the nearest location to the family's residence, and then that Court notifies the police, so it is definitely slow and bureaucratic. However, I believe it is possible that the court date may be suspended for another date. The advantage is that with the news of M.'s location, they will consider she is alive and can be located . . . I think come the judicial citation she will fear getting in trouble and will decide to step forward and come."

She ends by saying: "To all the above we add the hand of our powerful God who is watching and attempting to restore her (Olivia's) rights as an orphan and the Lord will straighten matters and give us the victory."

So even though we won't be able to see Olivia right now (and spend Emily's 9th birthday in Guatemala) like we'd hoped, it sounds like things are turning in a positive direction for our case. The last thing we really wanted was for our case to become an abandonment case and have it drag on for a year or more longer. But now with the Judge concentrating on getting M. to come forward, that is very good. We pray now that this can happen soon. Once she submits to the DNA test and it is positive, the ball can officially get rolling and we'll be on track for getting Olivia home hopefully much sooner.

We ask for prayer for Wednesday's hearing, that the Judge would make positive decisions for our case and that the process of getting M. to collaborate with authorities would happen quickly and smoothly. Also we pray for peace, strength and safety for M., I can only imagine how difficult this situation is for her.

We will post again once we find out what happens on Wed. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures of Olivia that we received last week. She's playing with the bilingual laptop toy we gave her when we visited.

Strike 2.

2009-04-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

M. did not show for the meeting today. We are more convinced than ever that she is who we think she is. She's afraid and because she doesn't know Beyla, she doesn't trust her.

Beyla said they will give it a few days and then go to the family and friends in person to try to approach her from that angle.

We'll update as soon as we know something.

Another New Development......

2009-04-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

We just received this email from our agency director, Lymaris~

"I just spoke to Beyla. Indeed they called M. from a different phone # and she answered. Beyla explained that if she does not collaborate, she would ask the judge to summon her and her family, and that now we know where her family and some other friends and relatives live... She expressed she was scared and she thought Beyla wanted her to go to jail. She once again stated she has never had a daughter and that now she had to live with this shame because her family was told about this and it is not true. Beyla told her why she needed her with as much detail as she could without wanting to scare her, and that in order to clear her name she needs to come and help Beyla out with the info because all we had was her documents etc... She agreed to come to the park in Vi**an***a tomorrow to meet at 1pm. Praying this time she makes it but Beyla says she seemed persuaded. This is all so dramatic and incredible! I will keep you posted and will be praying..."

That's the latest. Please pray that M. shows up and that Beyla can get her to cooperate. We'll let you know........

The Latest.

2009-04-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

After two years of failed attempts to find Olivia's birth family, last Tuesday the investigators found Olivia's maternal grandfather after only 2 days of searching. Although the grandfather was shocked at what the investigators shared with him about his daughter and her relinquishing a child two years ago, he told them he would try to get in touch with his daughter and in turn get her in touch with the investigators.

Later that day, our attorney Beyla spoke on the phone with Olivia's birthmother! Yes, she has been found! (I don't want to disclose her name, so I'll refer to her as M.) However....... she denied that she was Olivia's bmom! Beyla convinced her that she should come into her office the next day and clear this whole thing up. She agreed. The meeting was all set up for Wed. morning. It was arranged that M. would take the bus from her town to a park where Beyla would pick her up and drive her to the office. M. never showed up. Beyla and her investigators tried calling both M. and her father the rest of that day, but they had turned off their phones.

They tried again on Thursday with the same result. We're praying that M. didn't flee again. She's been elusive for the past two years and our concern is that she's taken off and is in hiding again.

Everyone involved with our case is quite confident she is the right person, combined with the fact that if she had nothing to hide, there would have been no reason for her to skip out on the meeting. The concensus is that she is very scared. Her family apparently was not aware she had a daughter that she put up for adoption and we don't know what kind of relationship she has with her father. At the time of Olivia's relinquishement, she had four children, two older than Olivia and a 4 month-old baby girl. The baby was in the hospital at the time suffering from malnutrition. M. now claims she only has two children, so my guess is that she relinquished the baby girl at some point as well, or the baby may even have died. If that's the case, that she gave up two children, she has a big burden to bear. My heart truly goes out to her.

The investigators said they met someone who knows the family well and through this person they will continue to try to access the family and gain their trust.

Our prayer now is that M. thinks very seriously about her situation and decides to come forward and cooperate. She needs to realize this is the best thing for her child.

Olivia's abandonment/adoptability hearing is in six weeks. It would be such a blessing if M. would cooperate and then show up to the hearing. If she would do what's required of her, our adoption would be finished under the old process and we could have Olivia home by year's end. Then we wouldn't have to go through the CNA and wait for who knows how long.

Tomorrow, Tuesday is an important day for our case as well. The document we signed for Beyla while we were in Guatemala, will go before the judge and he will decide if she can become our mandatory attorney. Hopefully he'll take into consideration what she's been able to accomplish in the last week. Please pray he decides in her favor.

Again, we'll update when we hear something.
Thanks again for everyone's prayers and encouragement!

A New Development ~ Asking For Prayer!

2009-04-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

We received an email from Lymaris, our agency director this afternoon telling us she had received word from our attorney, Beyla that her investigators have been in contact with Olivia's birth mother's father (Olivia's maternal grandfather). Apparently the reason she disappeared was that no one in her family knew anything about her having children let alone relinquishing any of them for adoption and was in fear they would find out (at the time she relinquished Olivia, she had four children). Needless to say, the father was quite upset about this. The investigators explained the situation to him and he agreed to try to reach out to his daughter. Beyla is waiting to hear back from the father hopefully later today.

Please pray with us that the birth mother comes forward and now that "the cat is out of the bag", will be willing to complete this process she started two years ago and do the right thing for her child.

I will update again when we hear something more.

And Now, the Rest of the Story.....

2009-04-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Monday was such a wonderful day and when it was time for bed, Olivia got right into bed with Emily and slept soundly straight through the night!

Tuesday morning we had to get dressed up for our meeting with Mr. Jaime Tecu, an attorney who is a real important guy at the CNA. Our appointment was at 9:00 and we expected our attorney, Beyla to pick us up from the hotel at 8:00. Well, as we've now learned, Guatemalan "time" is a little different than U.S. time! 8:00 in U.S. terms means you'll be picked up at 8:00 or very close to it. In Guatemala, 8:00 apparently means 8:45! Beyla and her husband picked us up in their Toyota Yaris and got us to the CNA so we were in Mr. Tecu's office at 9:00 a.m. sharp!

The meeting itself was really just to show him that 'we're here, we're serious, this is our family and when you get our case remember what you see here today'. We asked some questions about what to expect later on, but his response was to just wait and see how our hearing in June turns out and we'll go from there. He took a few notes, we took a few notes, that was about it. A cool thing happened about 15 minutes into the meeting though, we experienced our first earthquake!!! Apparently a 4.4. Bryan and I didn't know what had just happened and we looked at the other folks in the room and their faces showed the tiniest bit of alarm, it had been an earthquake! They weren't terribly phased though, they get about 100 a year down there. We thought it was pretty neat though! When that happened, the girls were next door in a playroom and then Mr. Tecu went to get them. When Olivia walked into the room, she came right over to me, jumped up on my lap and gave me a kiss! I was so glad he saw that! Maybe with the unsolicited affection Olivia showed towards me and the earthquake, he'll remember us!

After the meeting, Beyla, her husband, Mirna, Bryan, Emily, Olivia and I drove back to the hotel in the Toyota Yaris. That's 5 adults and 2 children in a tiny car....I haven't mentioned how they drive down there....anyway we got there safely and were told that Beyla and Mirna would be back at 1:00 to take us out to lunch and have a meeting with Beyla and go over a document she needed us to sign.

1:00 became 3:30, again "Guatemalan time" and we went to Pizza Hut for lunch. The girls enjoyed their pizza and played on the "playland" they had there for the kids while we ate and went over the document. Afterward, Beyla treated us to Guatemalan ice cream, not bad!

Beyla took us back to our hotel and we said goodbye to her there. She is a wonderful Christian lady and I truly believe she will do everything in her power for us. We authorized she and her huband, (he is in the media, newpaper and TV and has his own investigation service) to do an exhaustive search for Olivia's birthmother. They have had great success in the past finding these women who have been missing for years at a time. They feel that the previous searches that have been conducted on our case, were not done sufficiently. Beyla told us that the absolute best case scenario for us is that the birthmother be found. If she's found within the next few months, we could potentially have Olivia home by the end of this year and the case would be completed under the old system that we started with. If she's not found, the case will have to go to the CNA and will take much longer. Please pray with us, that this woman is found...soon.

Brenda, Olivia's foster mom, told us that our 2nd hearing (to determine Olivia's "adoptability") is on June 7th, (that's a Sunday, so I'm not sure if they hold court on Sunday, or she meant the 2nd or something) and she will be there alone with Olivia and would like us to be there with her. We planned to be anyway, but it will be determined by the document that we signed at Pizza Hut, if we will be allowed into the courtroom for the hearing. The document has to be approved by the judge to allow Beyla to be our Mandatory attorney and not the previous attorney, Mr. Gallo who took Olivia to her first hearing. If he approves Beyla, then we'll be able to attend.

Anyway, back to our trip! When we returned to the hotel, we decided we should go swimming in "la piscina". The water was not as warm as we would have liked and poor little Olivia's teeth chattered a bit, but we had fun splashing around.

The girls played beautifully together. They colored, played with Barbies, drew pictures, played dress-up, blew bubbles, watched movies and had a great time. Emily proved to be a very good "big sister"! Olivia is very kind and likes to share. She has great manners and is quite independent. She's just a joy!

Wednesday was our only full day to do whatever we wanted, so we slept in a little, had a wonderful breakfast from the Royale Floor lounge right next door to us that had incredible Continental breakfasts and free drinks and snacks all throughout the day. The girls got baths, well actually showers, there was no bathtub. We set out to visit all three malls within shouting distance from the hotel. We did lots of walking, took in some of the local flavor, ate lunch at Burger King and finally about 4:00 or so, after the big carousel ride, Olivia could go no more and fell asleep on Bryan's shoulder. We took her back to the room and she slept for another good hour. We had planned to go back out for dinner at Pollo Campero, but Bry went and brought dinner back to the room. Have I mentioned Pollo Campero??? (pronounced POY-oh Com-Pedr-oh). This is our new favorite place to eat...anywhere! Awesome fried chicken! Colonel Sanders has nothing on this place! I guess they have several stores here in the U.S., but of course no where around here! Maybe we'll open a franchise.

After we ate, I begrudgingly decided I should get our things packed so I wouldn't have to deal with it in the morning. The foster family was supposed to arrive to pick up Olivia between 8:00 and 9:00. As I was packing, the girls were drawing and coloring, at one point, Olivia came up and handed me a piece of paper she had just "written" on. She looked at me and proceeded to tell me that she had written "Te amo mucho, Mama Susan"! (I love you very much, Mama Susan). She then proceeded to make one for Papa Bryan too. Our hearts absolutely melted!

We put the girls to bed that night about 8:45, but because of Olivia's afternoon siesta, she wasn't ready to go to sleep. Bryan and I were in the bathroom/sink area with all of our camera equipment and our Kodak Easyshare printer trying to print out pictures of our time together to put in a little album for Olivia to take home with her. For the next half hour to 45 minutes we heard giggling and talking coming from the girls bed. I wanted them to go to sleep so they wouldn't know what we were up to, but at the same time, just hearing them enjoyng each other like sisters should, was priceless. Emily told us later that Olivia kept telling her that she loved her and fell asleep with her arm draped over Emily!

Thursday morning we got up around 6:00, Olivia slept a little later, I already had most of ours and Olivia's things packed and ready to go, all we had to do was have breakfast, get cleaned up and dressed and wait till 8-ish for the family to show. Our translator Mirna had told the family to come at 8:00 knowing that would mean at least 9:00 considering they had about a 45-minute drive from their home and of course, allowing for "Guatemala time"! Our doorbell rings at 7:05, it's the family! Olivia had just woken up and Bryan had just brought in our breakfast from next door so they graciously volunteered to wait in the lobby till we were done. We also wanted to wait for Mirna to get there to translate as she was due to arrive at 8:00.

So about 8:15, Bry went down to the lobby to bring them back up. We had a lovely time, they're such a beautiful and warm family. When it was about time to say good-bye, we asked to have a few minutes alone with Olivia. I had given her a bear from "Build-A-Bear" and put a recording of Bryan's, Emily's and my voices telling her we loved her whenever she pressed the flower on the bear's foot. We also gave her the photo album. We prayed with her and then took her out in the hall where the family was waiting. We said adios in the lobby. She didn't cry this time either, but we told her we would be back soon. The three of us held back the tears till they were out of sight.

We got home Thursday night at 11:15 p.m. our time.We can't wait to go back. We miss this special little girl who instantly wrapped herself around each one of our hearts.

We're Back & On Cloud 9!

2009-04-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Our trip was amazing! We arrived in Guatemala City around noon their time on Monday and got to our hotel with about an hour or so to spare before Olivia's arrival at 2:00. Our interpreter, Mirna called from the lobby around 1:30 and said she had spoken to Olivia's foster family and they were on their way, but would be arriving a little later than 2:00. That gave us time to get to know Mirna and her daughter Jasmine as they showed us around and helped us order our lunch from McDonald's! Mirna got another call saying it would be another half hour or so before they got there so we stopped at the bank to exchange some American dollars into Guatemalan Quetzales. We approached the front door of the hotel about 3:00 where I could see Olivia and the entire family (8 to 10 people!) waiting in the lobby. I was very tentative on exactly how to approach her. I felt the best thing to do was to take the cues from her and not overwhelm her. Well she saw me and made a beeline straight for me with arms outstretched yelling "Mama Susan, Mama Susan!" and gave me the biggest hug! She went to Bryan next, "Papa Bryan!" and then to Emily, "Hermana (sister) Emily!" Wow! WE ended up being the ones who were overwhelmed! She latched on to us like she'd known us all her life.

We all went up to our room, I think there were about 15 of us, if I remember correctly. We talked for awhile and after about 20 minutes, it was time for the family to leave. Brenda, Olivia's foster Mom wanted us to distract her with a toy so she'd be occupied when they left. Emily and Olivia were playing with bubbles, they all left, she said goodbye to them and acted like THEY had just dropped by for a visit! Not one tear or one mention of her foster family the whole time we were together!

We are just amazed at how quickly she bonded with us, we couldn't have asked for a better first meeting! I must say, I have never met a more loving, affectionate, sweet child. Even though we didn't understand each other a lot of the time, she always flashed her beautiful smile and was ready to give each of us a big hug and a kiss. She is really a special little girl. We are blessed to be in her life.

I'll write more about the rest of the week later and post more pictures.

We're very thankful for everyone's prayers. We know God prepared Olivia for our meeting and because of many things we experienced this week, we know He will help us see this adoption through to the end. . . . how ever long it takes.

Olivia, Here We Come!!!

2009-04-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we leave for Guatemala to finally meet Olivia! Our plane arrives in Guatemala City at 11:30 a.m. their time, (1:30 p.m. EDT) and we're told she'll be brought to our hotel around 2:00 p.m. We're getting very excited and a little anxious about this first meeting!

We have a meeting with our attorney at the CNA Tuesday morning with an official there to hopefully determine what they will be requiring of us once our case is turned over to them in June. Both Emily and Olivia will be going along so they can see us all together as a happy family.

There's a good possibility that we will be traveling down there again in June for our 2nd hearing before the judge. We hope to learn more about that on this trip.

Emily's looking forward to her 2nd plane ride, (she doesn't remember her first when she came home from China 8 years ago. As I recall, she was the only one of us who slept during that 20-hour trip, I wish the plane had had bassinets for grown-ups!)

We will return this Thursday night with lots of stories and pictures to share. Stay tuned!

4 Weeks From Today and We'll Be On Our Way!

2009-03-09T06:23:00.000-07:00

That time will be here before we know it! I've been getting clothes, shoes and toys together to take down for Olivia and we've been working on our Spanish. We can't wait to meet this precioso nina (precious little girl)!

Here are the most recent pictures of her..... post chicken pox. It looks like she had a relatively mild case, yay!

We've found out through other families who are now starting to go through the process we'll be going through, that the CNA is looking at time spent with the child and the relationship the family has built with the child over their visit trips through photos and video. So we're making sure we have all of our camera equipment up to speed because we'll have a lot of documenting to do in the 3 short days we're with her this time! We will probably need to go down for another visit trip this summer and possibly another later on. Hopefully we'll get a better idea of exactly what we'll need to do once we get this first trip under our belts.

2 Years Ago Today...

2009-02-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

Two years ago today we officially embarked on this adoption journey. At that time we were excited at the prospect that we could potentially have our new daughter home with us by years end. That wasn't to be. Now however, we're excited once again because in 39 days we will be meeting Olivia for the first time! Bryan, Emily and I will be flying down to Guatemala on April 6th and Olivia will come to stay with us at the hotel while we're there.

Meanwhile, we're scurrying to learn some Spanish! Hopefully we'll learn enough to be able to communicate with her and not scare her off!

We're learning a little bit more about what will be required of us after the June Court hearing (where hopefully it will be decided that Olivia is "adoptable"). There will be a lot more paperwork to do on our part, potentially more visit trips and one in particular where we will be observed (with Olivia) for an undetermined period of time by a social worker and a psychologist to see if we are the right family for her. And oh yes...... more waiting.

So, as we have been since the first day we saw her picture, we are committed to this child and will jump through all the hoops they ask us to. Guatemala...here we come!

This Was a GOOD Day!

2009-02-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well, our prayers have been answered, praise the Lord! Today's court appearance went very well.

First and foremost, Olivia will be able to stay with her foster family!!! We're actually thankful that she has the chicken pox, it helped with the judge's decision to keep her with the family! Isn't God's timing amazing?

Secondly, he ordered that there be one more attempt at finding someone in her birth family before he would grant us a Certificate of Abandonment (CoA). We assumed they were going to do this. This means, they have until June to locate them. The next court date is in June, (not sure the date yet). If no one is found by that time, the judge will then declare Olivia as "adoptable" and grant the CoA. From that point the case will be turned over to the CNA and they will process it from there.

The other awesome thing is, that we've been given the greenlight to go to Guatemala and visit her!!! FINALLY!!! We're hoping to go either in March or April, we haven't pinned it down yet. We're so thrilled! We finally get to meet our little girl after almost 2 years of waiting!

This is really the beginning of our process and we have a long way to go before she comes home, but we are ready to do what we need to, to make that happen. Today was a huge hurdle and with God in control, we cleared it.

Thank you for all your prayers, keep 'em comin', we're not done yet!

Yes, today was a GOOD day.

Olivia Goes to Court on Friday

2009-02-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

To update our post from yesterday. Olivia will be presented to the Court tomorrow, chicken pox and all. We've been told that our former attorney Mr. Gallo (who has not been on our case for about a year), will be taking her and presenting our case, not our current attorney, Beyla who has been preparing for almost a year for this appearance.

Anyway, apparently the following will be decided at this hearing:

That the case will immediately proceed to an abandonment ~OR~ they will once again continue the search for the birth mother.

Also, that Olivia will be able to stay with her current foster family through the duration of the process ~OR~ that she will be removed from that home and put into an orphanage. (This could really happen, and would be devastating to her.)

We are praying that obviously we get the go-ahead for the abandonment and that she's able to stay where she is. We also pray the judge is compassionate and will make the right decision.

Olivia needs all the prayers we can get right now!

We will post again once we know the outcome.

Prayers Please

2009-02-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today we found out that Olivia is sick with the chickenpox. I feel so bad, because we should be there for her, poor little thing. We do know she's being well cared for though, which is a comfort to us as well as to her, I'm sure.

So, after finding this out and feeling sad that we can't be with her to nurse her back to health, we got another email from Lymaris, our agency director stating:

" ...I wanted to let you know that after my last email, I got an email from your previous attorney saying that he had gotten a citation to present her (Olivia) within 48 hours. It seems the CNA is going over all the registered cases and so I immediately called Beyla (current attorney) to ask what we need to do...She is trying to talk to the CNA head person today and hopes to have some guidance later on today as to what they want and what we should do. This is where I will really need your prayers, that this is not an attempt to move her to an orphanage and that it is merely their verification of the existence of the child, etc... However - I do not want to get ahead of myself although I am worried, and of course the timing could not be worse with her sickness and all. I will be getting back to you as soon as I have some concrete info..."

It sounds like this may be a very big deal or no big deal. If you would, please pray very hard for the latter to be the case. If they have to take Olivia out to meet with officials while she's so sick, I'm very concerned. If they don't take her out to meet with officials because she is sick, could be even worse. Our hope is that this is just part of a verification process and that they don't use this as an attempt to take her away from the foster family.

Anyway, not the best news. Hopefully we'll get more info soon. Thanks everyone for your on-going prayers and support!

Our Attorney DID Meet With the CNA Yesterday

2009-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

We got a phone call from our agency director, Lymaris this afternoon to let us know that our attorney, Beyla did indeed have her meeting with the CNA yesterday. (For those of you not familiar with the "CNA", it's the name for the Guatemalan Central Authority on Adoptions. The part of their government that took over adoptions down there a year ago when the government took control of the process.) Our case had been registered with them last year (as were all cases still in process), but since our case is such a tough one, Beyla thought it best to start by introducing them to our case and get their "blessing" right up front, before proceeding to the Court, who could potentially tell her to turn around and get the CNA approval anyway.

The report was that the meeting went well and this first step was successfully completed. The next step will be presenting before a judge.

When this happens, we have some specific things we need prayer for.

First, that this takes place quickly. We hope to hear of a court date soon.
Second, that we get a judge with compassion and a heart for these children.
Third, that Olivia will be able to stay with her foster family until the completion of the adoption. Apparently there's a real possibility that she could be removed from that home and put into a hogar (orphanage). That would not be acceptable!
And fourth, in an abandonment situation, before the court will grant a Certificate of Abandonment (COA) which allows the adoption to proceed, there must be a search for a relative who might be willing to take the child in. Lymaris said this mandatory search, could take as long as 6 months. However, Beyla is prepared to show the judge the year-and-a-half long search that different people have done on our behalf to no avail with the hopes that the judge will "credit" our case with that previous search time, so their search won't drag out for months.

We're thankful to pass this hurdle as the CNA could have shut the adoption down completely at Tuesday's meeting, but they didn't. We believe Olivia will come home to us and we pray that what has to happen to get her here from this point on, will go quickly and smoothly. That said, these things rarely go quickly or smoothly with Guatemalan adoptions these days, we know we still have a journey ahead of us, but she is SO worth it!

Our Attorney to Meet With CNA Tuesday Morning!

2009-01-12T19:21:00.000-08:00

Our agency director, Lymaris emailed today with these recent pictures and to tell us: "Beyla will be at the CNA tomorrow morning. What she is expecting to get out of the meeting is a favorable ruling/green light of sorts from CNA which will weigh heavier on her case before the court. I pray for doors to open wide for Olivia tomorrow!"

This is the first step in the right direction and apparently a very big and important step. Please pray that she indeed does get in to see the people she's scheduled to see and that the meeting is very successful!

We'll post again when we hear what transpired.

Congratulations to the Huff family who just brought their son Otoniel home from Guatemala yesterday! (Otoniel was Olivia's foster brother for the last year.)

Still No News...But We've Got Birthday Pictures!

2008-12-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

We just received these pictures that Olivia's foster family took of her birthday party last month. She's opening the gifts we sent down to her.

She's showing her "diploma" from Vacation Bible School! Too cute!

28 Days Till the End of the Year and They're on Vacation!

2008-12-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

We heard from our agency director yesterday and she informed us that the Guatemalan Courts are on vacation this week and will be back in session on Monday, Dec. 8th. She says, "... I expect that we will finally be able to get some preliminary news after they reopen."

That's all we know for now. As usual, it's wait, wait and wait some more!

Where Our Case Stands at the Moment

2008-11-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

Our case is different than most in that, during the 21 months since we started this process, the last 16 months have been at a complete standstill. No progress or movement at all..... until now.

We've been told by our agency director that our attorney in Guatemala will be presenting our case to the Court very soon, before the year's end. From what we understand, the judge will either approve our case or reject it. Beyond his/her decision, we're not sure yet what would happen next. Obviously we're praying that it's approved to continue so Olivia can come home to us. With that, there's also the possibility that Olivia could be removed from her foster family (who she's been with for a year now) and put into an orphanage until the case is completed. We have written a letter to the judge to impress upon him/her that we do not want that to happen as it is not in her best interest and would confuse and upset her terribly. Our attorney has spent the majority of the year compiling all kinds of documentation and evidence to support our case and she says (with the Lord's help) she feels positive about the outcome, but it's definitely an uphill battle as the adoption system down there is very unstable and unpredictable.

We would ask that you keep Olivia, our attorney Beyla and our case in prayer. Specifically for the judge to decide in our favor and that this whole thing could be settled quickly and then also that Olivia not be removed from her foster family.

We haven't received a specific Court date yet, but we're sure it's going to be happening soon. We'll keep you posted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIVVY!!!

2008-11-14T21:54:00.001-08:00

Today is little Olivia's 3rd birthday. When we missed her 2nd birthday last year, we never thought we'd be without her to celebrate this year. But here we are, on November 15th, and there she is, so far away in Guatemala. We did send a birthday package down to her and our agency let us know that her foster family has received it and they will be giving it to her to open along with a cake and a birthday party. We are blessed that she's being well taken care of. These are new photos we just received of her. In the first three she's outside flying a kite.