Saturday, February 28, 2009

Happy Gotcha Day Anna......

A year ago today we had Anna Maria in our arms forever!


This is what was written a year ago on our blog.............This was a continuation of the blog once in Guatemala.


So, On 2-28 at 1:01 am Margaret posted that we were done packing, well, Margaret also forgot to tell you that she still had to put together the stroller that she took apart so she can wash everything, so it was clean for Guatemala. So instead Margaret pulled an all nighter, she didn´t get any sleep. Margaret was doing last minute things when the car service showed up at 3:10am to take us to the airport. LOL.


At 3:10am Thurs. 2-28 morning, the car service showed up to take us to the airport, and we managed to fit everything in the car. On the way to the airport, Peter got car sick, not sure why-but we would guess the driver ¨good driving¨. We made it to the airport and did I tell you I just love American Airlines......they gave us bulkhead seating for this flight and for our connecting flight to Guatemala. Usually you have to wait until you get to the gate to ask for bulkhead seating. The flight leaving JFK, was delayed by an hour - Margaret didn´t even know it, because as soon as we hoped on the plane and they started the engines, Margaret and Peter was out like a light. Then an hour later Margaret woke up to the pilot announcing that we were next to take off and he apologized for the delay.


In Miami, we had a 4 hour layover, which turned out to be a 3 hour lay over, since we got a late start. While in Miami, all Peter kept on saying was...See Anna, See Anna - so each time we had to remind him that we had to get on another plane to go see Anna. So it was nice to just relax, but wow - Margaret needed a couple more hours of sleep.


The flight to Guatemala wasn´t too bad, we were delayed about 45 minutes due to turbulence. Peter managed to sleep on both airplanes, nothing woke him up.


Jacqueline and her daughter were at the airport waiting for us, and Edwin and Anna and the foster family was waiting for us at the hotel. It was a nice surprise, walking into the hotel and seeing them waiting in the lobby for us.


Once at the hotel, after checking in. Everyone remembered Peter, and they all knew we´ve been there before. Margaret told them, that Howard was my cousin....LOL. We had a late lunch with Edwin, Jacqueline, Katherine their daughter, and Carolina the foster mother with her son Bryan and daughter Abigale. The pics are below of everyone. We gave gifts to the foster family and our Lawyer´s family for all that they have done for us. They will always be a part of our family forever. What a Great Gotcha Day!


Afterwards, we got settled into our room. Before the kiddos went to sleep, everyone took a walk down to the lobby to call Grandma, to let her know how everything was. Margaret had trouble getting the calling card to work, so she asked Howard how it worked, since she bought it at the Hotel´s gift shop. After a little while, we finally figured out how it worked-thanks Howard. Grandma was so happy to hear from us. Of course, Grandma´s house will be the first house Anna visits, when we get home. After the phone call we went back to the room, to get the kiddos ready for bed. Margaret also called up the front desk to get a DVD player for Peter, Howard said that we would not have to pay for it - Thanks Howard, it´s greatly appreciated. Once the kiddos were ready for bed, Margaret had every intention of going down to the business center to update her blog, but she layed on the bed and waited for Peter to fall asleep, only to find out that she fell asleep before anyone. Margaret woke up about 9:50pm, and it was too late to go to the business center, so she just went to bed.


Here is a pic of our Gotcha Day Celebration.....



Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Hague and Guatemala - One Year Later

It feels like just yesterday I was on this blog writing for everyone's support with the Adoptions in Guatemala, but it wasn't yesterday - it was a year ago that I wrote about the Hague. Below is a link to see how the Hague is doing one year later. It is just so sad, that all of this is happening. There are still families who are waiting for their angel(s) to come home, and don't even know if that will come true.

We are so Thankful, that we had such a great Lawyer (Mucho Gracias Edwin & Family) to help us get our Anna home. If we would have gone with the same agency that we adopted our son Peter with - we would probably be one of those families still waiting to bring her home, or worse - we could still be on that waiting list for a baby girl.

Please pray, or do whatever it is that you do - for those families that are still waiting to bring their angel(s) home. Please also pray that the Guatemala Government does what it promised a year ago, along with UNICEF.

http://jcics.org/Guatemala.pdf

thanks!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Happy Candlemas Day

Remember that delicious Three Kings Day Bread that Peter made on Jan 6th. Well, the person (or people) who received the figurine on Kings Day in the bread, are suppose to host the party on Candlemas Day. Feb. 2nd is Candlemas Day. It turned out - that no one got the baby Jesus in the bread on that day - the bread was quite large and we had leftovers. So on the weekend of February 2nd we celebrated by having nachos and other food - that Anna and Peter likes to eat. Your suppose to have tamalas on this day, but mommy needs to work on her recipe for that. LOL. Next year, we will do better planning on making sure someone cuts the slice that has the baby Jesus in it. And hopefully by next year, mommy will be an expert with tamalas. Mommy even tried finding a place that makes them, but she had no luck.
Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker
Lilypie Date is set Ticker

Pictures from our Visit Trip to see Anna Maria 01/02 - 01/08/08