In November 2001, CHI tugged at our heartstrings once again. They featured a sibling group of 4 from Colombia. I fell in love with them. I planted a seed in my husband’s mind about them. I didn’t speak much about it after that. I let God work on his heart. In March 2002, he asked for the information on Colombia. We began collecting our paperwork and by August, we were preparing for our trip. We arrived in Bogota on a Tuesday at about 9:00 p.m. and left Wednesday morning at 7:00 am to pick them up. The trip to their city was about 3 hours by car.

The trip there was nerve wracking enough, then our van had a problem with the brakes. We were hurried off to another taxi once the problem was identified. We had a true Indy 500 driver for that taxi. We were enjoying the scenery at a very fast pace. We found out later, our attorney was quite anxious through the whole ordeal for fear we may not make our appointment. To us, he seemed quite cool and collected for the whole thing.

Arriving safely at our destination, we anxiously made our way into the building of the ICBF. As with all moments like this, we couldn’t bear the anticipation of meeting the children we were about to spend the rest of our lives with. Emma and Ellie were pacing back and forth with the gifts we brought for the children. When they finally came to the door, we all just looked at each other. What on earth do you say to these children in the limited Spanish you know? Any practiced lines or questions were totally gone from our minds. Then the hugs started! We wanted to know everything and to tell them everything. They soon began nervously eating the candy treats we brought and looking at us with that "Now what?" look.

We had almost finished with the officials there when Adriana began crying. Yesika began to comfort her. After awhile, her comfort was unsuccessful and she began crying as well. We left the building and found our original van outside. They cried for 1-½ hours and finally fell asleep. They awoke about 10 minutes before we reached L’Auberge, our Bed and Breakfast in Bogota. They were calm at that point, but after the bumpy roads and all the nerves, we paid the price for the candy we shared as it came back up and ended up all over the floor of the van. So the bonding began! The eight of us stayed in one room together. It contained three twin beds, one with a trundle, and a queen size bed. The ladies there were exceptional. They pretty much waited on us hand and foot. They took care of our rooms, did our laundry and cooked us some very good meals. They even did babysitting for other families that picked up small children.

Lucia and David arranged our appointments for us and translated for us. As promised, they kept things rolling. They made it all seem so easy. They were a Blessing to us while we were there. Oscar was our attorney. He handled everything very quickly and even saved us a third trip to Chiquinquira where we met the children. Between the three of them, everything went very smoothly.

The weather was perfect in the 70’s for the time we spent there. The mountains were beautiful. As a result of the nice weather, we naturally spent most of our waking hours outside at various parks within walking distance. They had fresh flower markets there that were beautiful. The pastry shops were very good as well. We celebrated Daniel’s birthday and my husband Rob’s birthday and bought some delicious cakes from nearby shops. All the people we came into contact with were all very friendly. The trip home was so exciting. The children had never been on an airplane before and they were bubbling all over with excitement. If only, I could have video taped their expressions when we took off. It’s those things that remind us of all the excitement we too used to enjoy and now take for granted.

Once we were home for a few days, we registered the two oldest, Andres and Yesika for school. They were nervous and excited. We toured the school and discovered that a water fountain is for drinking from and not for washing hands. They met their teachers and soon to be classmates. Yesika’s teacher is bilingual in English and Spanish and her class is directly across the hall from Andres’ in case he would need assistance. They both currently love school and are the favorites in their class according to their teachers.

We have all settled in now and all is going very well. Our community is so supportive of us. We are constantly bombarded with all kinds of help if needed. Emma and Ellie act as if they were here all along. They are certainly a normal family. They pick on each other, laugh together, and argue as if they were born in the family. People do look at our family sometimes as if we are crazy. The answer to that is "We are crazy in love!" God has Blessed us in so many ways. We have met so many wonderful people throughout each of our experiences. We count at least six Blessings each day.