A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!

:-)

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Today----almost NOTHING exciting!!


Well…unless you count:


~Ana throwing up twice at breakfast (thus, she's not in very many pics today, mostly spent day resting)


~Ruth & Ana swimming w/ Mommy for an hour or so.


~Natty being extremely fussy all day.


~Ana playing w/ another 6 year old whose family is here on a pick up trip for his little sister.


~Ruth actually eating a “normal sized” supper for a 16 mo old for the first time in her life!!!! YEAH!!! This is BIG news in the Dillon household!


~Mommy spending a while in the salon today, just for nail repair, but still a few minutes kid-less! (Which means, you know what Dave was doing!!!!)


Not much, huh? ;-)



I find myself wanting to make time stand still so I can imprint every moment of this trip forever in my memory (yes, even some of the rougher ones) God has been so good to us, even through our trials & tribulations, sustaining us every step of the way! (& we still have a ways to go!)



God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us;
Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
Ps. 67:1, 6 & 7

Ana has felt much better as the day has progressed, PTL!!!

Another Whirlwind Day

A day at the zoo & Children's Museum

These pics are a bit out of order, but this gives you an idea of our day.

Ana & her new friend Kiki, playing bubbles together.
Mommy, almost asleep w/ Natty.
In the "Ball Room." This room is hard to describe, but fun for all!!! (for old & young alike!!)
Sasi, helping Ruth.
Ana w/ her new friend Kiki, & Kiki's little sister, Sami
Ana wanted to ride in the bumper cars w/ Josè, the other girls' dad. We have gotten to know this family very well, & she was just as comfortable w/ him as w/ us!!! This is at the zoo.

Our friend Saskia (the wife/mother of this family) said when she took the picture, this is what Kim & Dave's life looks like now. :)
No explaination needed!!!
Ruth in a sand pit at the Children's Museum.


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This morning, about an hour after we got up, our driver called (whose family we have become friends w/), & asked if we had gotten their e-mail re. going to the zoo & Children’s Museum today.


We had not (our e-mail seems “finicky” down here), but they wanted us to go w/ them. They have three little girls, two of whom are close to Ana’s age, so we knew this was something we had wanted to do. The girls' names are: kiki, Sasi, & Sami. Their parents are Josè & Saskia.


Their girls are learning English in school, & Ana knows “un poquito de Espanol,” & they were able to communicate enough that they had a lot of fun together, particularly one of their daughters. Her name was “Kiki”-or Erica.


We also ate lunch at Guatemala’s version of KFC, “Pollo Campero.” YUMMY!! (This is one of Dave’s favorite things about coming to Guatemala)

One more thing....if you think of it, Josè & Saskia have been in process trying to adopt their oldest daughter for 4 years now. Tommorow, they are FINALY supposed to hear that they, too, are out of PGN. (I guess Guatemalans who are adopting have to deal w/ PGN as well). They would LOVE to get that good news tomorrow!!!!

PLEASE PRAY ABOUT THIS!!!

Sleepy....yawn.......

Last night…….a VERY LONG NIGHT!!!!!


Natty woke up at 2:30am, & was still not asleep at 4:10!!


I walked the halls of the Marriott, & finally at 4:10, Dave took over. Wouldn’t you know…..he was asleep in 10 min!!!!


Yes, he is DADDY’S BOY!!!! (much to Daddy’s delight!)


Hopefully, he will sleep tonight.

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OUTSTANDING NEWS RE. OUR CASE TODAY!!!!


Our lawyer Ruby showed up while we were eating breakfast. She had some paperwork for us to take care of & sat & had breakfast w/ us.


We talked for an hour or so, & in the process, she told us that we are past the 2 reviewer’s in PGN & are awaiting final sign-off. However, that stack is huge, so it may still be 5-6 weeks before we exit PGN. She is usually very good on time estimates.


This is VERY good news, though, bec. it is generally the first & second reviewers who will kick cases out for very subjective reasons. Then you have to get the problems they found fixed, return your paperwork to PGN, & start over at PGN!


So even though it may still be a while, the news continues to look good!

Please pray for some sleep.Dave & I are both exhausted!

The girls are both getting enough, though, PTL!!!

About all Ana's stomach could handle for most of the day...Canada Dry!!

These are some clothes I brought down for him. Just a bit too big! :-)

An outfit Dave's mom gave us for Ana. Now worn by Nat! :-)

I know this is from yesterday, but I can't get Blogger to un-load it. Sorry!


First bath we gave. The girls both helped. Ana more than Ruth!




Sorry for some of the double pics....Blogger is acting up tonight.

Hmmmm....what to call this post.....not sure, so.....

Hello again from Guatemala City!!!

First, what I know everyone has been waiting for, THE PICTURES!!

Volcàn de Agua, early this morning!

Well, as Dave would like to say……we have gone from man-to-man defense to zone!!!! This is a really good analogy for us KU Basketball fans!! (GO JAYHAWKS!!!!)


Today at the Marriott…..


~Our attorney called at 8:30am to tell us she was downstairs. We dressed & loaded up kids as quickly as possible. As we were running out the door, she called to say that she had to leave because her ride was here. She said she would return at 10 am, but never showed up.


This is VERY typical for Guatemala, and isn’t too stressful as long as you remember this is how thing are done here. Very little planning ahead & very little communication re. plans. Also, we know our attorney is EXCELLENT, so we don’t worry too much about what she does/doesn’t do. We ate breakfast while waiting for her. Much to Ana’s DELIGHT, her dear friends Hugo y Tomas still work here in the restaurant, & they both remembered her from last year & began giving her the royal treatment immediately!



~After waiting for our lawyer in the hotel lobby for a couple of hours & visiting w/ other guests for a while, Ruth was BEYOND ready for a nap, so upstairs we went!


~After lunch, Mommy took Ana to the pool. Natty slept in my arms (ah, heaven!!!) by the pool for a couple of hours!


~Then spent a few hours trying to track down the phone number for our lawyer’s office. This involved trips to computer rooms clear on opposite sides of the hotel, w/ different kids in tow at different times.


~Next, Ruth & Mommy found a friend Ruth’s age to play w/, & spent about an hour playing in the lobby while the mommies visited.


~Daddy babysat so Mommy could run check e-mail again.


~Mommy babysat so Daddy could go get food for supper.


~Before Ana ate one bite of supper, she began to cry & say her stomach hurt. Yes, you guessed it. We ended the night w/ Ana in the bathroom, food coming out both ends!!!


~Now, Dave is off somewhere in the hotel watching football, all kids are sleeping, & I am preparing documents in Word to transfer to the blog when Dave returns. We do not have Internet in our room, so I will take this on a stick to another computer in the hotel & post there.


Don’t know what our day sounds like to you, but here in Guatemala, things move at a much slower pace, & people just “go w/ the flow.”

We like this about Guatemala, so this was a good day for us to get back into the swing of things here.


SO, now you know what a day in the life of the Dillons at the Guatemala City Marriott looks like. HOPEFULLY, though, today is the only day of “Guatemalan Icky Tummy!”

Please pray for us, that we will be a light for Jesus to the people we come in contact w/ here in Guatemala, especially to those that we are starting to know from being here so much, both related to our adoption & our friends here in the Marriott.

We love you all & thank you so much for praying!

(oh, & it wouldn't hurt to pray for Nathaniel's case & that we would stay healthy!)

YES!!!! We have our baby!!!!!!

Our foster mother, holding Nathaniel & w/ her grandaughter holding Ana's hand.

Cute husband of mine & his son!
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Today was more than I could ever have imagined!

Our foster mother arrived at 9:30 this morning for breakfast in the hotel, & to drop off Nathaniel for the week.

This has all gone so fast, at first I was kindof worried that he would not feel like mine when he was placed in my arms, & quite honestly,

w/ trying to catch up w/ our FM (who also took care of Ruthie),

keep an eye on Ruth's wanderings,

rocking Ruthie to sleep,

eating breakfast,

feeding Ruth

Etc...Etc...Etc.... it WAS hard to concentrate on the new baby. BUT......

a few hours later, Ruth & Ana needed naps, so Daddy stayed in the room w/ them & Nathaniel & I went to the lobby & the Baby Lounge for some good one-on-one.

I gazed in his eyes.......

he smiled at me.......

and I KNEW! I just KNEW! He is MINE! (well, of course, I do have to share, but, you know.....)

I wish I had better pictures to post of him, but like his sister Ruthie, he doesn't cooperate well w/ "camera happy" people.

Enjoy!!!

New Friends!!

Our new friends: Jim & Andrea's 4 boys & their 9 mo old daughter that they are fostering in Antigua, Guatemala.

Ana & Ruth in the front on the right. This is before before getting Nathaniel.

Wow!

What a treat the Lord blessed us w/ today!!

Spent the day in Antigua, Guatemala.

Met a family for lunch that we have gotten to know through our homeschooling curriculum, who are also adopting from Guatemala.

Thank you, Jim, Andrea, Chase, Trey, Tye, and Aven for giving us such a wonderful afternoon!

Chase, particularly, thank-you for entertaining Ana! She thinks this will be the best day of the trip!!

I hope to post pics tomorrow, but if you can't wait to see them, visit Andrea's blog! :) (Link in my "Other Blogs")

(I am too tired to be too wordy-but I have to say again what a fun time was had by all yesterday. Thank-you so much for making our trip to Guatemala so much more meaningful!!!)

Safe Arrival!

Just want everyone to know we made it!


Thanks for praying.


We are exhausted, & today is a is a big day, but tomorrow is even BIGGER, when we meet Nathaniel for the first time!!

Kim