Trip Home

Sorry, once again, I have screwed of the order of photos as I was downloading them!!!

Got to figure this out!!!

Ruth, during our 5 hour layover in Houston. She literally spent at least a couple of hours pointing out the windows, babbling about the planes!

CUTE!!
Ana, watching a movie on the computer while we waited.
Both girls slept the whole flight from Houston to Denver, MUCH NEEDED REST!!

Volcan de Fuego, in the early morning sun at the GC airport.
Taxiing down the run-way in GC. Neighborhoods backed right up to the run-way. Guatemala has so much in the "opposites" category. We, Americans "rich" enough to take all our family there & visit our second adopted child. On the plane.......moving past people who may never leave the neighborhood the planes rush past hundreds of times a day......

The God of the universe knows each one of those people......He cares for them.......& wants them, too, to spend eternity w/ Him.

I feel so blessed that He has placed us where He has, in a position to be able to catch a glimpse of the "bigness" of our God.

Ana & Ruth in Houston.

Ana, adjusting to volume on her movie. When did I stop having to handle things like this for her? She is grown up enough to do that by herself?????

Somtimes I wish I could make time stand still, & thank goodness for cameras that let us capture "moments in time!!!"



Well, all day yesterday, I felt like we were missing someone. Gee, I wonder why????


Just felt like my arms were more empty than they should be……


But, we did manage to get some good pics anyway, despite the general sadness.


Ana & Ruth are both still sick, but it kind of comes & goes in a weird way. I suppose if it doesn’t clear up soon, I’ll take them to the dr. We now think it isn’t food poisoning, but some type of bacteria they must have picked up from having their hands in their mouths.


Lorraine Darwin (who a lot of you may know) is flying in for Thanksgiving!! Can’t wait! Seems like FOREVER since we have seen her!!!!


PTL for good friends in Christ!!!

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These verses bring great comfort to us as we wait. The comforting thing is…..we are NOT REALLY waiting on the Guatemalan gov’t, WE ARE WAITING ON GOD'S PERFECT TIMING!!!!


Psalm 130:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.

Psalm 130:6
My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Psalm 39:7
“And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.

Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.



Psalm 33:20
Our soul waits for the LORD;

He is our help and our shield.

Once again, thank you everyone for praying us through the past week!!!

Thanks to Andrea & Jim, who made our trip so much more special.

And, thanks to Jose & Saskia, for including us in your trip to the zoo & museum. Ana needed some "girl" time, & your daughters helped her feel so at home in the country of Guatemala.

Love to all,

Kim

!No hay palabras para este día¡

There are no words for today!

So, first pictures:

Volcán de Fuego, Volcano of fire, spewing this morning!

The only family pic we got this week.

Ana con Tomas-another friend of hers from last year.

Mama Ana picking up Natty!

Having already done this once….(given our precious child back to the foster mother) you would think it would get easier……but….no…..today was JUST HARD!!!


Especially hard on Ana…..who doesn’t really understand EVERYTHING about this legal process we are in….


“Ella lloré mucho,” as they say in Espanol.


VERY hard on her. I think she did not understand that there is no reason to think he won’t be ours in a few short months. Until we had told her MANY times that Guatemala is one small step from letting us take him home, she sobbed uncontrollably.


This did NOT help Daddy & Mommy…..makes me wish we could foster here as well. He was just starting to get used to us…..:-(


Anyway, here I ramble on trying to describe something indescribable in it’s pain…….


Please pray for us tonight & in the many long days of waiting we have ahead of us!!!



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Other than that….today was, another busy day w/ three!!!


~Ruth now has the same sickies Ana had, but no throwing up, PTL!!!


~Had to walk to the store & buy more diapers/wipes as a result


~Spent time in the baby lounge when I got back w/ the two babies. Daddy had Ana in the pool.


~Saw our lawyer in the lobby on my way back to the room. She needed us to sign another paper. Never heard from her that she was here, but there she was…..JUST LIKE EVERYTHING IN GUATEMALA!!!


~She then told us she would like to take us to see another hotel to see it (so we can possibly stay there on our pick up trip)


~After that, she drove us past the hospital where Nat was born.


~When we got back to the hotel, our foster mom was already here.


No time for me to emotionally prepare…..


No time for me to pack him up w/ tender loving care. Makes me sad to even think about now. Choking up! Please pray!!!


Finally, we ended our night w/ good byes, tears, a trip to McDonalds, fireworks for the lighting of the Gallo Christmas tree (for those of you familiar w/ Guatemala at Christmastime-you know what I mean), a swimm for Ana & bed for the kiddos.


We leave the hotel at 5:30 tomorrow morning.


You may ask, “Was the trip worth the pain of the goodbye?” YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!


The Lord has been so faithful, & I KNOW He will continue to sustain us!


Wait on the Lord:
be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

Fabulous Friday!!!

Once again, my pics are a bit out of order as I am STILL figuring Blogger out! Sorry!

One of Ana's "hotel friends" from Ruth's pickup trip, Hugo.
Ana con (with) Hugo.
Ana in the ball room at the Children's Museum.
My adventurous one, climbed right up to be encircled in the bubble!

Ana in front of the sign for the museum.
No description needed!

Our "picnic" supper. Pollo Campero in our room!
Trying to keep up w/ the big kids!
The kids are being cars in the"town," driving on the street!
More ball action! Notice the two biggest boys! Andrea's husband & mine! A few more of her boys & Ana are in this pic. as well
(another double I can't get rid of-but isn't she cute???)

Another meet-up!!!


Met our new friends for an afternoon of fun at the Children’s Museum.


Thank you, once again, Jim, Andrea, Chase, Trey, Zane, Tye & Aven for spending the afternoon w/ us, even after your stressful experience at the store! Hope you got everything you needed later! Your family has been such an encouragement to me, even in the short time we have known you! Praying Aven home for Christmas!!!! COME ON, SR. BARRIOS!!!


Happy birthday, & Feliz Cumpleanos, Trey! Thank you for spending your special day w/ us!

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Tomorrow I give my little boy back. SO thankful for precious Mama Anna, who lavishes love on him, & that she lavished love on Ruth as well. Makes it a bit easier to give him back, since I know her this time. Still not easy, but EASIER! Please remember to pray for us tomorrow.


It seems like he is supposed to be in our family. It’s just “right.” We want to bring him home!!!


Ana & I were just thinking….we have 4 cases in PGN that we care very much about right now. Of course, our Nathaniel. And sweet little Aven (who I feel so privileged to have held w/ my own two hands!). Tina, Greg & Toby’s Lilliana, who I will do my best to get my hands on ASAP!!! And our Guatemalan friends, Jose & Saskia who are trying to get their daughter Kiki out as well.


Please pray for Nathaniel, Aven, Lilliana, & Kiki, that the Lord would bring these children permanently to their families IN HIS PERFECT TIME!!!

Love to all!

Kim

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.