We're Coming Home At Last!

Well, I have neglected to post a few important updates.  We received Nola's new birth certificate just the following day after submitting to RENAP.  That was record time!  And now......we are in Guatemala!  We arrived Wednesday August 7 and hit the ground running.  Our lawyer wasn't able to get the passport because there was a problem in one of the documents.  Mark's middle name and last name were inverted so they wouldn't issue the passport to the lawyer.  We had to do it in person but only after we went to the hogar and picked up Nola and had a very short Good Bye time with all of the staff and kids.  After getting the passport, off we ran to the Dr's office to have her final medical exam.  Nola was a bit worried about getting shots but she did fantastic!  The Dr did us a favor by scheduling her TB  test reading for first thing this morning (a little early).  Yesterday, we went at 9:00 to submit our I-600 supporting docs to the Embassy and begged for a visa appointment for this morning.  The gentleman who received the docs was afraid he wouldn't be able to review the documents in time for an appointment today but indeed he did.  We went to the Dr's office at 7:45 this morning for the nurse to check the TB test and then off to the Embassy.  We now are waiting for our 11:00 appointment to pick up the visa!!!  Still not believing it's real!  We will be going home tomorrow morning with our little Nola at last!  Praise the Lord!  Thanks to all who have prayed for us over the years and especially these last few days.  Honestly, it was nothing short of a miracle that we were able to get everything completed and in the correct order in these 3 days. 

She Is Legally Our Daughter!!

I am officially a mother of six!  Our case has been approved in Family Court and we received a copy of the judges ruling that shows Nola with our last name!  Now we wait for the certified copies of the ruling one of which will be needed to submit for a new birth certificate which will show our names as her parents.  Hopefully the paper work will be submitted this week and once we have the birth certificate we will be making travel plans!!

Still pinching myself!!

Nola is pointing at a plane, telling me she is going to ride on a plane to the United States. 

It won't be long now sweets!

One Step Closer.......

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall

But watching you stand alone

All of my doubt

Suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darlin' don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

 

Time stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything take away

What's standing in front of me

Every breath

Every hour has come to this

 

One step closer!!

 

Yesterday our file was submitted to Family Court!!

 

The lyrics to "A Thousand Years" keep running through my head so I decided to open this post with some of them.  We are definitely

 "One Step Closer"!!!!

I can't believe that three weeks have gone by so quickly!  Today we take Nola back to the hogar where we will celebrate her 6th birthday with a cake, pinata and treat bags for her friends.  Then we have to say good-bye to her for now.  We fly out in the morning at 6am.  Hopefully we'll be hearing soon that our file has been approved by CNA and we can move on to Family Court.  Praying for a quick process from here on out!

Our Empathy Time

I still can't believe it but we have been here in Guatemala since Saturday, April 27.  We visited with Nola for a couple of hours on Saturday and then again on Sunday and on Monday, she came to stay with us.  The director of her hogar and his wife did a wonderful job of preparing her for our visit and she has been completely at ease with us.  We spent our first few days at our favorite hotel, La Casa Grande.  It was so good to see Gloria again as well as the rest of the staff there.  We are currently at the Grand Tikal Futura.  It's a bit fancy for my taste but the girls love the pool here.  I'm wishing I had worked harder on my Spanish but we're getting along pretty well.  I usually can get the main idea of what she's telling me and she is helping me out when I need it.  Mark is going to be here with us until the 11th and Maria and I will stay until the 19th.  We're meeting with our lawyer on Monday and will be going over what to expect for the rest of the process.  I'm wishing the rest of the process included Nola coming home with us when we leave on the 19th but unfortunately, that's not going to happen.  For now, we're enjoying every minute and praying our case speeds through the process and our little girl will be home with us this summer.



 

Our first meeting together on Saturday

Walking to the park

 

Loving her Papa when she said she was tired and he picked her up

 

Two sisters enjoying each other's company

  

Family Album

Nola's hogar director e-mailed early in the week and asked for pictures of the family.  I looked through recent pics and sent several.  On Thursday, we received an e-mail titled "Family Album".  I opened it to find the sweetest surprise.  The message said that Nola is so excited about her new family!  There were also pictures of her sitting on the floor making a family album.  The director said she has shown the album to everyone.

 

We have been so blessed to have our little girl placed in a home where she is loved.  The director and his wife are doing their best to see that Nola's transition from their family to ours will be as smooth as possible.  Thank you Lord!!

We're Getting Closer!!

Last week we received our Empathy notification!  After several messages back and forth, we have our Empathy time scheduled.  We leave Saturday, April 27.  We plan to go to the hogar on Saturday afternoon for a visit with Nola and again on Sunday before we meet at the CNA on Monday morning where Nola will then be able to come with us to stay for a supervised two weeks.  Mark will have to go home after that but Maria and I will stay for another week.  After the two week period, the Social worker who interviews us will write a report and present it to the head of CNA for a formal approval.  That process should take about a week and a half and then the case will proceed to a family court. The family court time frame is the most uncertain.  Some families have had approval after about a week and some have had to wait closer to eight weeks.  For now my focus is on Nola and the time we will get to spend with her and finally get to know her.  We have missed out on so much and we'll never get that time back but we know we are one of the fortunate families.  Our daughter's coming home.  So many families have heard the news that their child will never come home to them.  I can't imagine the pain.  We're going to cherish every minute we have with our little girl during our visit and when we get home, we'll be waiting not so patiently for the day when we get to go back and bring her home with us and finally be all together as a family.
Thank you all for your prayers and please continue praying for the families who are still waiting to hear news on their cases.  This has been a long 5 and 1/2 years but some families have waited even longer.  I pray that all of the families waiting will be united with the child they love.