A few pictures from our day yesterday..................

We started out the day finishing up our packing and cleaning our condo in Antigua. I must admit, it was quite bittersweet, as I have fallen in love with Antigua, and have such awesome memories of our time spent here! However, I am excited to get home and begin a "normal" life! As we were packing, one of the dogs came by to say good-bye!

Dylan and one of our favorite "guys at the gate!" There were 2 sets that worked 24 hour shifts, every other day. This guy and his partner were the best. They would hear us coming (I wonder
why?):) and they would have the gate open, and ready to help with the stroller. Both sets were super nice, always giving the boys high 5's or picking them up! We sure slept easy knowing we were being kept safe by these guys!!

Here we are driving out of Antigua! I will surely miss this awesome place!
We went to Hannah's Hope, and met with the lawyer to go over all our paperwork, and see Dr. Castro. That was very interesting! We found out that Anaya was hospitalized, and had numerous sicknesses that we were never made aware of, including, hand, foot, and mouth disease~when we picked her up!! Which would explain her sores on her thumbs, and in her mouth!! I figured that she just sucked it too hard since she was nervous, so I feel a little better! But the Dr. said he told them to tell me, so the boys wouldn't get it as well, we never got the memo!! Oh well, all's well that ends well, I am just thankful she is doing well now! He said when we picked her up she was 14lbs. but when he weighed her yesterday she weighed 16lbs., and had grown quite a bit lengthwise too! On a funny note, he showed us a picture of his kids, and then he proceeded to show us all a picture of his wife "giving the breast," (as he put it,) to his son from 20 some years ago! The boys were not phased by it at all, however Ryan and I were like "wow, okay"!!

This is why Anaya is such an outside girl! She used to be sitting in one of these over stuffed strollers!! Isn't it so cute, the kids love it! It is so amazing to see all of these beautiful children, and know that they have a family out there waiting for them! I pray they all make it home soon!

Then we left the orphanage, and went to our hotel. Ryan and the boys went to McDonalds, as our room was not ready, and Abel took Anaya and I to her visa Dr. appointment! 2 Dr. appointments in one day! Both said she looks great, and other than being on the small side, can see her growing and catching up just fine!

Then later that afternoon, we went back to Hannah's Hope, and bought the older kids Happy meals! There were 12 kids ranging in age from 2 to 10, and they were so very cute! I was brought to tears as we watched them sing their songs, and pray before dinner, thanking God for their food, and their families! Some of them have families who they are going home to, some do not!! I just couldn't thank God enough that we were able to get Anaya as a "baby" so she will always know what it is like to grow up in a family~not an orphanage. But, praise God for All Gods Children, and Hannah's Hope, that these children can grow up in a loving environment, and the special mothers that take such great care of them. This place is amazing, and if you are interested in helping them out, I will put their website on here somewhere. Right now with no new adoptions going on, they can use all the help they can get! Now the boys want us to adopt an older girl too!! God has given us the heart, but not the wallet for that~just yet!!

Here is just a small clip of the children singing their song!

Anaya and I just hung out in our hotel after we said good-bye to the guys! Tomorrow we plan on doing some shopping, if I can find the mall!! This town is not quite as nicely laid out as Antigua, but I am sure I will figure it out! Love to you all!

It is almost finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the visa appointment went well this morning, and it was such a relief to have it over with!! I got a little nervous when the people ahead of me were asking their attorney, if they answered the questions right. But, when I went into the little closet like room, she asked where my husband was, to which I said "at the hotel with our other children." Then she proceeded to ask me about the other kids, and was laughing about Anaya needing to be spunky to put up with all the boys! And it was done! No real questions, nothing! Then, we had to wait some more, and then go to a window, and the lady there was asking me about my husband and where he was, and about the boys, and then talked about wanting a girl(she has a 23yr old son, and wants a granddaughter!)then she proceeded to tell me she loved my hair, and how she may have to fly to MI to get a haircut etc...then at the very end she said "Oh, I am supposed to have you raise your right hand and make you swear you are telling the truth!" So I did, and that was it!! So funny, not one serious question or anything, other than basic information! Yeah, I can handle that!! Now we just have to wait out the weekend, pick up our visa on Monday at 3:30, and we are home free!!(not at all free$$wise, but free from adoption being the main focus, and free to be a family once again!!!)
I will post pictures and more later, I just wanted to let everyone know all is well, except my family had to leave, which is always sad, but I will be there soon!! Love to all....................

Wow, What day is it anyway????????????????

He's back!!! YAY!! Wow, what an exciting couple of days we have had! The boys got their swimming parent back, and they were so excited to get him in the pool!
He went when the sun was shining yesterday, however when it was raining in the afternoon, he let them swim, but didn't go in himself! Jayden and Spencer were the only crazy ones who wanted to go in the rain!!
It was so fun to be together as one BIG HAPPY family!!
Anaya loves giving kisses, here she was ready to give daddy a big wet one!!
So cute!! She sure does love her daddy!!
Well, it has been pretty hectic here the last 13 or so hours! We thought we had all day tomorrow to clean, and finish packing, but we got a call from the orphanage saying we needed to be there tomorrow morning for her medical exam for the visa appointment, so we packed up today, and are heading out tomorrow morning at 8:30! We are going to stay in the city one night, because to get us all there and back will cost us almost as much, if not more than getting a hotel!! We found a deal on-line, and are hoping to stay at that particular hotel, but the agency usually has us stay at a different one, so we are hoping they won't mind, as we can get 2 of these rooms for what we are supposed to pay for one at the other place!
I will try to update our blog from the hotel, however, I am not sure about the internet connection, so if you don't see a post, that is why!
Just a heads up, we are planning an open house bonfire at my parents house in Zeeland on July 18, from 5 to 9 pm. We will have hot dogs, and smores, and anyone who is interested in finally meeting Anaya is invited to join us! We look so forward to seeing all of you again, and if you can make it, we would love to have you!! Many of you have asked when our flight is coming into G.R. on Tuesday. We are scheduled to arrive at 6:13 p.m. to be exact!! We are so excited!!
Thanks for all of your prayers and support! Can't wait to be home again!!

Here's the latest..................

YAY!! Thanks for praying! We just received word that our appointment has been moved up to Friday, which was the best case scenario, as they do not do visa appointments on Thursdays!! So, we are moving out of our condo tomorrow morning, and going to a hotel in the city, as we have to meet with our agency on Thurs. and have our appointment early Friday morning. Ryan and the boys fly out Friday afternoon, and Anaya and I will stay the weekend, pick up her visa on Monday afternoon, and fly back into Grand Rapids Tuesday evening!!! I have a flight booked, and we are going HOME!!! We are absolutely thrilled, and are VERY busy packing, planning, and getting ready! I will try to update more tonight!

Oh by the way~The pink slip is not actually PINK!(which I knew, but just found it interesting!)
And it has the sweetest thing on it, her name(sort of)and our last name, in print, It is official!!

PINK!!! HOW SWEET IT IS.................................

PINK is, and has always been my favorite color, however it is especially sweet today, as we finally recieved our PINK slip!! Our visa appointment is scheduled for next Wed., however, we put in a request for an earlier date, so we will see what happens!! Either way, we are overjoyed to be at this point, and are going to celebrate this awesome news together as a family!!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers, we truly appreciate all of you!!

Until later................................

DNA is at the USE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!

Well, we are officially waiting for PINK!! I watched as Fed Ex brought it down to Guatemala, and finally was received at the USE at 4pm! I know, too much adoption lingo, it just means it is coming down to the end and I couldn't be happier! Ryan is coming tomorrow, and we can't wait! I pray the USE will not keep us waiting, as I know my sister will be a twitching mess checking her computer every 5 seconds!!!(Am I right Steph?!~love you! & you too Jen, but I know you are relaxing by a pool somewhere, so I am stressing Steph out instead!!) ;)Wow, this is her like being in the delivery room!! Exciting stuff!

In other news, not much going on here! We are trying to rid ourselves of all the food, so we don't have to pack it back up! We are doing a pretty good job too! The boys had stale cheerios, and stale chips for snack,(everything gets stale fast here!) I told them they could just dump them, but they said"then we have nothing!" And they are right! We can't wait till Daddy gets here, then we can go out and grab a few treats!! A few packages of pasta, and some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and we are all out!! Yeah!!!

It was rainy, but the boys still swam! Crazy kids! Here are a few pictures of our day! Hoping to post great news tomorrow! Thanks for praying!!

Day 41...........................................

Dylan, my photographer, decided to get a picture of himself! He is getting so big! He is so excited to go to camp!(I can't believe he is old enough to go off to camp!) He likes to look on the Internet at Google Earth, and track the route he will be taking from Guatemala to Atlanta to Chicago to Hart to Lake Ann!

Easton thinks his ice cream(left over from his birthday)is finger lickin good! Silly boy, won't eat it with his cake, yet couldn't get enough of it tonight!
Anaya, loves to have "wild rides!" She gets a little nervous at first, then cracks up laughing!
Spencer loves video games! He gets so into them, sometimes he gets so frustrated, I have to make him quit! After all, they are supposed to be fun, not stressful!
I love to see the intensity on their faces! Jayden looks pretty intense in this picture! I keep reminding them all of this video game stuff will not continue once we get home!!

Here is a little clip of Easton being funny!

"Clock says my tummy is full!" He always asks "why I go bed?" and unless he was naughty, the answer is always, "the clock says it is time for bed!" So when he was full, he went running over to the clock, and told me why he was full! So funny!

Well, not much going on today either! We had another decent day, the boys were able to get out and swim, and then it started raining again this afternoon!

Our DNA is still in Miami, as I assumed it would be. Tomorrow, I will have fun tracking it to Guatemala! We are praying for PINK by Tuesday! Of course Ryan is coming on Tuesday, and it would be so much fun to celebrate together!! Thanks for checking in!