And Yes, There are Down Sides

Yes, there were moments were Jayden wasn't too excited about the fact that her new little sisters wouldn't sit still on her lap and cuddle.

She'd make "the face" that only a photo can prove exists.

The Upside of Being a Big Sister

There are definitely many happy times when you are the big sister and your little sisters are willing to sit still and cuddle.

More Photos

Katerine (Lavender Dress) Kimberly (Pink Dress)

Photos

Our beauties!

Still Can't Post Photos

Happy Sunday!

So I'm feeling very frustrated that I can't post photos from our trip earlier this month. Messages to blogspot and their help messages are not resolving it. Others are having similar problems too it seems.

Devin is off to Russia for 16 days! She flew out yesterday and will be in St. Petersburg for almost the entire time. They've got a side trip to Moscow and a couple of other places. She's traveling with a group from Pacific University. She was excited but nervous about traveling that far. Any flight over 10 hours is too long....any flight over 6 hours is too long.

Taylor has joked that I have this "wall of denial" about the realities of adding two three year olds to the house. She tells me this because the car I drive won't acommodate three booster seats in the back seat. I finally took out three car seats last weekend and tried to force them in the car. She's right, they didn't fit. No matter what I did, they didn't fit. I know it's easy to replace a car but I don't want a van. Plus I really like my car. I like it's size (not so big that I hit things when I try to park). I like how it drives. It's easy to get serviced. I like the car payment. All those things make it a good car. However, it won't acommodate three booster seats. Yesterday we broke down and got a new car. (It's a 2004 so it's not new, but it is new to us.) It's not a van but it does handle three booster seats in the back seat. (I took them with us and made sure they fit.) It's easy to service and drives well.

Not much is new on the adoption front. Our agency director, Sue Hedberg, is off to Guatemala today to visit all her babies, check on her cases and meet with her attorneys. Since we just visited she won't be visiting my girls. She's also trying to meet with the Director of PGN. We've only been in PGN a week. However, there are many families that have been waiting a very long time. They're frustrated, angry and hurt they have to watch their children grow up somewhere else. I hope the PGN Director gets these cases moving soon.

Life is good so let's live it well!

Trouble Posting Photos

Sorry. There's some problem with posting photos with Blogspot.

We're Baaaack!

Hi Everyone,

Our trip to Guatemala went very well, minus the huge flight delays in Guatemala and Houston. Oh well, not something I can control.

The visit with the girls was incredible. Katerine and Kimberly did really well with us and Jayden is adapting to being a big sister. The girls spent two nights and two days with us at the Marriott. They eat and sleep like troopers and we didn't have any adjustment issues.

The girls look much more alike than they have in previous photos. Kimberly had a bite mark on her face (from Katerine earlier in the week). Absent the bite mark, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do that for a while.

We've had a busy "process" week. We have come out of Family Court, received DNA pre-approval and went into PGN this week. Good news! Now we must patiently wait. PGN is the big unknown these days.

Enjoy the pictures!

We've Arrived

We've arrived at the Guatemala City Marriott. As expected, the service is great. We get the girls later this morning. For anyone traveling, the airport is a bit of a mess. To get to the hotel vans, you need to leave the airport and walk through a throng of people and through this half-circle covered walkway. The hotel vans are all at the far end of the half - circle. It was a bit daunting late last night. It gets pretty crowded and the light isn't great late at night.

Ruth

Visiting Guatemala

We've decided to visit Katerine and Kimberly in Guatemala this coming weekend. We arrive late Thursday night and will fly out Sunday. We'll have a couple of nights with the girls. I'm really looking forward to meeting Kimberly and seeing the girls together.

Jayden is very excited about meeting "the sisters" for the first time. We went shopping Friday night to pick up some things and she told almost everyone we encountered that she was going to Guatemala to see her sisters.

The girls have their third birthday in July and we won't be able to visit at that time. We're putting together some birthday gifts for the foster mother to give them on their birthday. We're also pulling together some clothing, shoes and other items they need until they come home with us.

Things are still moving very slow in PGN it seems. I am hopeful we'll have them home late Fall, but we'll have to see. We are still waiting to come out of Family Court, get DNA pre-approval and then get into PGN. PGN is like a black hole right now. I don't have any idea how long that step will take. I have faith in my agency and attorney, so I know they'll come home as soon as they are able and when they should. Other than that, I simply can't control it.

On other news, Taylor is finishing up her last week of high school. She's not very excited about graduation or the activities that surround it. Right now she's busy editing a video for one of her teachers as a special project. She'll be attending Portland State University in the Fall. She's looking for work that will accomodate her school schedule.

Jayden graduates from kindergarten the week after next. I know, you're all thinking - "Graduating one from high school and one from kindergarten????" Who would have thought....Jayden is excited too. She's been telling us all about what they'll do that night. Her reading is also taking off this last month. That's been nice to see.

I'm on a cleaning bend this morning so I'm going to get back to it. I hope everyone is well.

Ruth