Waiting for Approval

Monday update...no Embassy approval yet... Would freak out, but Thursday was Thanksgiving and Friday was likely a dud day, so hopefully tomorrow brings good news. We have our doctor's appt scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30. I was going to cancel it, but I decided to be bold and call Immigration Visa Services during their Monday & Weds 2-3:30 telephone hours and ask for our case number. She said, "We haven't received your approval, but I have your case number for BABY Bonilla". I said, "I'll take that!". So, I thought, I might as well be REALLY bold and ask all my questions....1) Can we get a vaccination exemption and get our vaccines in Texas? (I.e., use our insurance and save $1000)...answer: if yes, proof of vaccination has to be within 30 days of returning to the US and she will call the doctor and discuss our options with him.  2) Once we have an approval, when can we get a Visa appt?  She said "Use this special  email and it will be next day, as long as it is not a Friday...no Friday appts." Also, we Skyped with my best friend, Kelly, and her family! Love you, Kel...stay strong!   So, overall, a good day!

Great Week!

This week was much better than last week...We are finally in our huge apartment (two large bedrooms, big family room, great kitchen, awesome bathroom and a balcony)! We have prepared most meals at home and the kids have been very helpful in the kitchen. The kids like my cooking (except the hash browns...I think they just didn't understand what they were...very little exposure to potatoes). So, Sunday, Carrie and Chris came to the Humuya to visit. We decided to take them to the restaurant by the bowling alley, but everything was closed, due to election day. We just kept walking (such a beautiful day) and we ended up at the Mall Cascadas where we ate at TGIFriday's...this was the first sit down American restaurant the kids had eaten at besides Pizza Hut. It was very nice to visit with Christian friends who understand our Honduran adoption struggles, as they are also going through the same process. We were able to pick up some groceries at Walmart and have our taxi driver, Don Julio, take us back home and we moved into our apartment! Monday, we went to the Embassy. It was very chilly and the kids were freezing. After about an hour in line, our attorney helped us gain entry and we were ready to turn in our packet. We knew we were covered in prayer, as we went to the Immigration counter and met with an English speaking woman. Everything was in order, except we did not have a copy of our I171H. Marta arranged to have a copy emailed to her. Our pictures were the right sizes and she didn't need the little ones (though we found out we need two little ones for the doctor's office). I had left the questions blank about the children's orphan status, so I was asked to explain the whole story of the children's upbringing. We were told we would hear something soon. Marta was elated with how well things went with Melissa...I was in shock and asked her three times, "That was Melissa?". Melissa is the adoption investigator, not just an immigration officer. I had no idea and Marta said she had decided not to tell me, so I wouldn't be nervous...Good call, Marta! Within two hours, Marta received a call from Melissa that she needed to interview the biological parents and the children's grandmother on Wednesday at 1:00. This would not be easy to arrange, so Reyes decided to go home immediately to work on the details. He was out the door in 20 minutes! That left me alone with the children for the first time...we had fun! We played Monopoly, cooked together, went for walks and played on the terrace. We turned the bed sideways, against the wall, and slept side by side. This might work great for short people and little ones, but I am 5'8" so this was not very comfortable :) but the kids were scared, so it worked! Tuesday was our doctor's appt and TB test. I learned that the kids will need a lot of vaccines and I was not happy, nor were they. Cristofer became very upset during the TB test and that was heart breaking for me. Poor little guy! I also learned their height and weight...Jennifer is 55 inches and 59 pounds, Jefferson is 54 inches and 55 pounds and Cristofer is 50 inches and 48 pounds. As far as I know, Wednesday went well for our family members at the Embassy. We are still waiting to hear something. I canceled our dr appt and vaccines, since we still don't have a case number. My mother in law decided to stay with us for Thanksgiving. We made reservations for the Clarion. After watching the Macy's Parade, we headed to the Clarion. The food was good and the service was excellent . The Apple pie was amazing...the stuffing was very strange and the turkey was delicious. Today, we went to the Chiminike Children's Museum...it is $3.00 to enter...it is very nice and clean with great exhibits. We had a BLAST and the kids want to go back. We probably will at that price! No plans for tomorrow yet...hoping for an even better week next week!

Surviving...

Difficulties blogging from my IPad, so here is a brief update...we finally have all passports and birth certificates, after our atty made three trips from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro Sula. Special privilege is only given to children under 2 at the passport office...waits are awful! But the brand new, really nice City Mall is half a block away! We have an Infopass appt for 9:00 Monday at the Embassy to turn in packet with I600! Tuesday AM is our labwork and TB test, Friday morning is dr visit and reading of the tb test. Our new favorite activity is walking to the bowling alley and playing for 1-2 hours for $15-25 ...bonus that it doesn't involve a $10-20 taxi ride...and there are three decent restaurants in the plaza. We move from our refrigerator-less room to our apartment today...tough week, but we survived...getting closer...Jer. 29:11

Honduran Adoption Ups and Downs!

Hi everyone!  Wanted to share an update...to prepare everyone for what to expect in Honduras....Our atty came to San Pedro Sula last evening, from Tegucigalpa, to secure our new birth certificates for our children (one born in San Pedro Sula and the twins were born in El Progreso---so we had to visit two registrar's offices).  She was sure we would be able to get them today.  This was exciting for me, because I have heard stories that didn't match with that!  In SPS, we were in and out in 5 minutes and the registrar said that everything in our packet (final adoption registered with the govt, two newspaper articles listing us as the children's new parents, copies of our identification, certified copy of the IHFNA placement, certified copy of the adoption decree and certified copy of the children's original birth certificate) looked good and that it should be ready around noon.  We then went to El Progreso and were told that the registrar would need to review it and locate the original registration and that she wasn't there yet (8:45 AM).  She FINALLY arrived at 11:25...five minutes before the lunch break (11:30-1:00).  After pleading, we were allowed to stay in the building...they removed everyone else and locked the doors.  At 12:25, they started talking to us....and gave us a copy of Jennifer's birth certificate...it was very emotional for us!!!  HOWEVER, when I looked it over, my passport number was wrong.  They fixed it and when they went to print...CRASH...the system went down!!!  We asked how long it might take to come back up and she said 1-2 hours - one month!!!  No JOKE!  Well, we called SPS and they said the system was down there, too.  We decided, at 1:30, that we had a friend in the worker at Progreso, so we'd better head to SPS to see if we could be there to get Cristofer's birth certificate when the computers came back online, because we were almost done in Progreso and we had her number to be in touch as we headed back!  It's FRIDAY...and of course, NO BIRTH CERTIFICATES...The computers never came back up...so, we took our atty back to the bus station to return to Teguc.  We hadn't eaten or used the restroom all day...we were exhausted, drained and stressed and it was raining CATS and DOGS all day.  So, we will leave for Teguc tomorrow.  The WORST part is that our atty will have to return on Monday, because she will have to be there to finalize the birth certificates.  Another day delayed...Trying to stay positive, but it was TOUGH!  Thanks for reading and praying!  We love you!!!

WE ARE PARENTS!!!

GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!  DIOS ES FIEL!!!  We are officially PARENTS!!!  After being in Honduras for 26 days, we were finally able to sign the adoption decree.  On Thursday, we spoke with our attorney, Marta, and she said the adoption decree was ready and that she would send it, via bus, to San Pedro Sula to be signed and fingerprinted and returned to her, via bus, to Tegucigalpa.  On Friday, she called and said it was on the way and that we and the birth parents would have to sign.  This would be a slightly complicated situation as we are not always able to make contact with the biological father.  Nothing about this process has been easy!  

We took the boys with us to pick up the adoption decree while Jennifer was at practice for praise dance at church.  We stopped at Baleadas Express and had dinner...YUM!  When we arrived at the bus terminal (a rather scary place), the document was not there.  It was at the City Center bus terminal, in a part of San Pedro Sula that we were unwilling to travel to at night.  So, Reyes woke up early on Saturday and took a bus and a taxi to the other bus terminal and returned with the envelope!  It was exciting to read all 14 pages!!!  We then waited ALL DAY and into the late evening to sign the documents with the biological parents.   On Sunday morning, Reyes again woke up  very early to take the documents to make a copy before putting them on the first bus back to Tegucigalpa.  On Monday, our attorney presented the documents to the registrar's office.  We are waiting to hear from her today to determine if she will be coming to San Pedro Sula tomorrow to begin the process of obtaining the children's new birth certificates and passports.  After that is completed, we will go to Tegucigalpa and file our I600 at the U.S. Embassy.  We will have to take the children for medical exams and vaccines, then wait for our interview with the embassy to obtain Visas.  Though it will likely take a miracle, we are still hoping to be home for Thanksgiving.  I am at peace with the idea that we will not make it home until later in November; however, it is still a strong hope! =)  

The children are very excited to make the trip to Tegucigalpa and home to the United States.  They have their suitcases packed and ready to go!!!  I have found some cute YouTube videos of rhymes to teach English.  They are about 10 minutes long, so I am using these videos as an incentive for computer play time...watch the video...play on the computer for 15 minutes =)  I cannot wait to see how immersion goes when we get home...being at my mother in law's house has not allowed for much English immersion. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we are in the final stretch to returning home...there are still so many uncertainties and unknowns!  Enjoying the adventure and accepting the sacrifices!