Sugar & spice and everything nice....

We wanted to share some exciting news and prayer requests…

For some time we have been looking into the possibility of adoption.  We've always felt that we weren't quite finished as a family and there has always been hope that one day we would have some girls join us.  Since moving to Guatemala,  we had heard many things as to whether or not we were eligible to adopt as foreigners so we decided to wait until we had our permanent residency completed to look in to the possibilities.  About a year ago our residency was finalized and through some different connections we began to investigate directly with the government to see if we met the qualifications to submit an application.  In January of this year we attended a half-day workshop, the first step in the process, and learned, as permanent residents, we are eligible to adopt.  After that, we spent two and a half months getting paperwork together from many different sources.  We then met with the government attorney who reviewed all of our paperwork.   He said everything was in order and they accepted the application!

A few weeks later the psychological evaluation was scheduled.  We (Chris and Holly) spent a morning telling our history, our family histories and drawing lots of pictures.   The picture thing was interesting because neither of us are artists and we were specifically told not to draw stick people.  We came home and googled the significance of what we had to draw (person, couple, family, house, and tree) and felt we might have failed that part right off the bat for various reasons and lack of artistic skills.  The next day the boys went in and talked to the psychologist and drew their own pictures.  That was a lively meeting to say the least!  If after spending an hour with those 3 together, they felt it was a good idea to give us a few girls, it would be a miracle.  But they did and called us a few weeks later to come out for a home visit.  After asking more of the same questions and looking at our house, the social worker congratulated us and told us we were going to be parents again! 

Yesterday, we spent all morning at an informational/preparation meeting and left with our official certificate of adoption eligibility.   Now, we wait for the call.  We know we will get 1-3 girls.  When you've got 3 kids, what's a few more?!?! We know that they will be anywhere from 18 months to 5 years old.  We are super excited and super nervous and praying that God will not give us more than we can handle.  Right about now we are asking ourselves if we are crazy!

After we receive a referral, we have 10 days to accept or not.  If we do, there will be a series of visits with the girl(s), just us and later the boys - they probably don't want to scare them right away.  :)  If all that goes well, they will come home with us. They will be ours but it will take the courts about 6 months to stamp and sign off on all of the documents.  After 2 years, we can get them passports for the US and apply for their naturalization.  In the meantime, we should be able to get them travel visas for when we go back to visit.

Please pray with us.  We know that these little girls will have their own stories, will have been through some type of trauma, and leaving all they know to come to our family will not be easy.  We fully expect there to be a difficult adjustment period and are praying that it be short and we all will have the patience needed.  We have alot to do to get ready for them - get their room ready, clothes, toys, etc.  There is not one girl thing in a house full of boys.  :)  We also need to be prepared emotionally for what to expect.  We are all excited to say the least!!