Day 10

We started the day by going to a photo place to get the kids' passport and visa photos. They will need them after Sentencia when we get new birth certificates and then new passports with our last name on them. The Colombian government is super strict on how you must look in the photos. They had to wear a black shirt and have their hair totally pulled back out of their faces so the ears are fully visible in the photo. For Luisa it wasn't too hard with a few bobby pins, but poor Cindy, her hair is layered and very fine so we ended up with half a pack of bobby pins in her hair! Then they even put little squares of foam behind her ears so they  would stick out more! Too funny! She looked very uncomfortable in the photo!

After that, we spent the morning at the Zoo. It is a very old place but it had a decent amount of animals. Unfortunately several of them looked in pretty rough condition- especially the ostriches' wings. But it was neat to see some animals that are specific to the Amazon region in Colombia. The Condor- the world's largest flying bird, toucans, some kind of Colombian bear that looks like it is wearing glasses, and several rodent animals were fun since we'd never seen them before.

The kids were fairly well behaved while we walked around. A few little issues, but nothing major.

Cait was still feeling pretty miserable since her ibuprofen was wearing off so we headed home for lunch and a short rest. The pool is closed for cleaning on Mondays so we had to find other things to wear them out. We spent a while at the futbol field. Instead of trying to play a game, Brent had them line up and do drills trying to kick the ball into the goal. That kept them occupied for a long while! I was bored watching, but they loved it.

Then we strolled over to the playground where the kids played in the sandpit with cars and made a train of people on the slide. Unfortunately Jonathan pushed Cindy off the swing so he could get on and then wouldn't get back off so he ended up in the apartment with Brent for the rest of playtime.

We made quesadillas for dinner, but none of the chicos liked them. Gonna have to work on that since that is a weekly meal in our house! Thankfully I had lots of chicken pieces left over so they ate them with rice- and ketchup, of course!

After dinner and baths, the kids had a blast wrestling on the floor with Brent. I don't know if they'd ever done that, but they were hysterical and WILD! How he has so much energy, I have no idea. He's such an awesome papi!

We really thought the night was going to end nicely, but Luisa decided she needed to test the authority structure  when she was told to get in bed. Thankfully it was only a 20 minute ordeal this time. As of this moment, everyone is in bed and at least quiet. Pray it lasts!

Oh, while we were at the pool today, Gloria heard from Nora that she had submitted all our documents to the court. We are assigned court number 7. That meant nothing to us, but apparently it is a good thing. The judge is adoption friendly and tends to do things quickly (although everyone is quick to say that is never something for us to count on). In our case it could take longer because of the sheer amount of paperwork the judge has to read through. And they read ALL OF IT!  The stack of paperwork is over a foot high! We should just plan on being here for another 3 months!! LOL!
Everyone was super thankful that we didn't get court #9. That judge is not adoption friendly and often asks for additional paperwork to slow things down. So we are grateful that we didn't get that one!

So, we are finally in the official legal adoption process here in Colombia! Feels kind of anticlimactic after all the past months of paperwork we filed back home! We didn't hardly do anything here, except sign our name to 4 papers!

A few of you were wondering what comes next...
We wait (of course!) for the judge to read all the documents. This could take 1-3 weeks.
After he is finished, our attorney will call us to immediately come to the courthouse to sign the final "Sentencia" (sentencing). This is the final document that will make the chicos our kids!
Then there is a flurry of activity to get new birth certificates for the kids that have our last name on them!
Then we can apply for new passports.
Then we will buy airline tickets, pack up, and fly to Bogota, the Capital.

Then there is more activity, but I'm a little cloudy on the details right now. I have it all written down, but I'd need to find my notebook!

Please continue praying for everyone's health down here. Even though I have been on an antibiotic for 3 days, I still am not feeling better. I still cannot hear out of my right ear at all and each morning I wake up with my eyes swollen shut. I have no idea what is going on. Some weird virus or something...so I am asking for continued prayer.
Also, Cait is coming down with the same thing. I am praying it doesn't land in her ear (that's miserable). So far she is running a fever and has a sore throat and cough.
I am praying that Brent doesn't get it. I don't know what we'd do if he gets sick!

Miss you all and can't wait to get home!