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!

Every need...

Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Life during Construction!

Today is Monday...two of our children are in school and one in bed with a cough and fever.  We are hoping to hear from our atty this week as to when we will travel to Tegucigalpa.  To recap, we received information on September 28th that our papers were ready to be sent to the court and we would likely have our court date Friday, Oct 12th or the Monday, October, 15th.  We were grateful to have a date and made reservations, as we would fly into San Pedro Sula, pack the children and travel, by bus, to Tegucigalpa for the court date.  After making plane reservations and planning our departure, we heard rumblings of another strike, through news reports and our fellow Honduran adoption friends, but our attorney did not believe that this strike would effect us, because it was contained within specific IHNFA centers/orphanages and not impacting adoptions.  We arrived at 1:30 AM, Monday, October 8th and by 8:00 AM Monday, the strike had evolved into a GRAND event, including a blockade of the IHNFA building which lasted more than two weeks.  Unfortunately, our documents had not made it out of the building to court before the work shutdown, so we were stuck in limbo.  As of last Wednesday, we are "officially" out of IHNFA.  The courts are aware that we have been in country for 3 weeks, so we are hoping to receive word that we are signing this week.  Our atty is devising ways to expedite our processes that occur after we sign our final adoption decrees.

Example of Poor Construction

So, the past three weeks have been full of drama, activity, fun and concern.  Due to a significant increase in crime in the area, we have stayed close to home.  This has given us a new perspective on "real life" in my mother-in-law's home.  To be honest, my mother-in-law is a hoarder...a hoarder of useful and not so useful trash.  She saves cereal boxes, milk, yogurt and every kind of plastic or metal containers, bread bags, twine, etc.  Because the house is across from a field, it is ever dusty, dirty and full of creepy crawlies and spider webs.  Yesterday, an iguana fell from the roof into the bathroom.  We have killed tarantulas on the walls.  Every night, 25 or more geckos roam the ceilings and walls.  We have monsterous ants and little ones, too.  And, mosquitoes find ways to torture me inside, as well!  

Hermano Omar

Hermano Carlo

My mother-in-law has been taken advantage of on numerous occasions in attempts to fix up her home.  The house is in serious disrepair and in various stages of construction.  Reyes contacted a contractor to get a quote on finishing the work, started years ago but never completed.  This has created a haven for pests, rodents and slimy things.  The quote was very reasonable ($3000, including materials).  We are now in day 6 of the project.  I will be posting pictures later today.   It is messier and more unhealthy than I could have imagined.  Moving large pieces of furniture have uncovered years of dust and mold.  Concrete block construction is very dirty and smelly work.  And we are living and sleeping here during this construction...but Reyes has been keeping a close eye on finances, safety risks and construction progress and planning.  

(Across from the field)-Iron Fence and Window Covers Painted!

I will be so happy to see this finished...it truly has been a dream for 8 years, but one that we thought would be unattainable, especially with the enormous expenses associated with our adoption.  Only by God's grace and mercy could we complete this project; leaving my mother-in-law with a clean and safe environment and making new friends to monitor the home in the future.  We know that trips to Honduras, with 5 people, will be difficult when we return home.  This past weekend, I began to get overwhelmed with the events of the past three weeks, but as of today, I am staying positive as we start a new week in Honduras!

Roof completed!

Bedroom Floors completed!

Dirty Work!

Kitchen Sink to be plumbed today!

Kitchen floor to be completed today!

Plumbing for Kitchen Sink

Los Dias Pasan...

The days go by...and we wait!  Our attorney spent the day at IHNFA Friday, but the employees were never paid.  The seals remain locked in the building and unable to be accessed by the employees, so our documents are still being held hostage.  This has been VERY frustrating...but would be more so if we were in the U.S.   We have kept busy, preparing for our trip to Tegucigalpa and to leave my mother in law here alone.  Reyes has been fixing "Carro Amarillo" --the 1977 yellow Toyota Corolla--and we take it to go visit friends, pick up medicine for my mother-in-law and go grocery shopping.  We have been invited to attend church with friends this evening and we will take "Carro Amarillo".  Fortunately, it is only about 3.5 miles from home.


Once again, there is no school tomorrow, so we will stay at home and work on math and English, primarily.  We tried to go to the movies on Thursday, but everything was rated R...scary movies for Halloween.  My mosquitoes bites have gotten better...now, I have new ones =(  The Aloe Vera does help the most of all the treatments I have tried!


Hoping tomorrow yields new information!  Keep us in prayer...heading to the grocery store =)

Little Children

Matthew 19:14 Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

We have been in Honduras for almost a week.  It has been wonderful to be with our family and friends, but this week has not been without it's sorrows and challenges.  There have been two murders, within a half mile from our home, of friends well-known in our community.  On Wednesday, at 11:45 AM, the long-time tortilla vendor was robbed and shot 13 times on the road 4 houses away.  On Friday, at 5:30 pm, a neighbor was travelling to his job as a security guard and passed two men beating another man, he slowed down, and was shot dead by the criminals, likely because he was in uniform and trained to identify them.  Because of this crime wave, we have stayed very close to home.  Though we have gone to the grocery store twice and Reyes took the boys to get their hair cut yesterday, we do not have reliable transportation or funds to travel too far (yes, the beach sounds very nice right now).  Our 1977 yellow Toyota Corolla is running...after a new battery.  But, it is far from safe!  Three times, the passenger door flew open driving down the road and one time the driver's door flew open....LOCO!!!

The children have a three day weekend...no school Monday because it is a holiday.  I just asked the kids what the holiday is on Monday and they don't know.   Jennifer says, "Huelga" or strike.  Possibly! She explains that this year they are in school through December, instead of November, due to all the missed school days, due to strikes.  AND, IHNFA remains on strike and according to our attorney, this strike is serious and may last a while.  Our documents are complete and ready for signing, but the people striking have blocked entrance to the building, including the Director of IHNFA.  We are not sure what options we might have, but Reyes is planning to call our attorney on Tuesday and his god-mother, the mayor of a Honduran city, this weekend.  More importantly, we are praying for a just and rapid end to the strike.  

The children have been enjoying the IPAD, IPOD and Cell Phones...we lost an Ipod and then found it!  Ants got into all of the food that I brought for our trip to Tegucigalpa =(  And we now have two sick munchkins who are not responding to our OTC medications.  I may learn all about the health care system here in Honduras.

But, the best moments have been watching PRAISE videos on YouTube, singing alabanzas acapella in the courtyard, praying together and reading and studying scripture.  PRICELESS memories which will have an eternal impact!!!

Day by Day

We woke up to a sick, lil' munchkin today...Cristofer has an earache, sore throat and a cough.  He will be home with us today and is feeling a little better after some Children's Tylenol.  He is currently reading Another Monster at the End of this Book on the IPAD!  I love that APP!   Another favorite is Mathopolis where the child pretends to be a firefighter and has to answer math problems to save the building and put out the fire...We are really enjoying that one, too!

So, we sent the twins off for what may be their last week of school in Honduras.  They will be home by noon...school is only half-day in Honduras.  Here is the BEAUTIFUL sampler that Jennifer made and will be turning into her teacher today.  I want to encourage her to continue with these skills and will look for thread and fabric in Honduras to take home with us.  Jennifer loves to draw beautiful pictures and I think she could do beautiful embroidery.  These would make great gifts for our family and her teachers!

Today is our friend, Michelle's, birthday...hoping to get together with her this evening for a little party.  Jennifer learned how to play, "Happy Birthday," on a piano app on the IPAD.  She was so excited!  Definitely must look into piano lessons when we get home!  The boys want to learn to play the drums and they are enjoying my drum set IPAD applications.  I am hoping my friend, Felix, will help me teach the boys to play the drums!!!  He is AWESOME!

I am so proud of Jefferson!  He is learning English very quickly and he is also drawing...using You Tube to learn to draw all of the Angry Birds!

The future is so very bright for our children!!!