New blog

I am pretty much just posting on Cruz's progress on his blog, walking by faith. May still put a few pictures on here from time to time, but that is about it. Using Facebook to share pictures as well.
Easter was a lot of fun this year! My oldest nephew, Alan, his wife, Rachel, and their son, Kaleb were in town for a few days. All the kids loved hunting eggs. Cruz, Kaleb, and Marina really seemed to get the hang of it quick! Cruz clapped for himself every time he picked up an egg. Next, he would hurl the egg across the yard like it was a baseball! Marina hoarded all the candy. I cannot tell you how many times I found her sitting in the corner eating out of one of the other kids' baskets!

Fall 2007

We had a great fall!

We went to the mountains with my sister, Kelli, her husband Don, and their son, Devin. The kids mined for gems, played mini golf, and rode horses.

We also went to Arkansas to show Cruz off to some of Top's family. Cruz loved meeting his cousinsLeigh, Abbey, and Cole. Cruz enjoyed his first American soccer event as we watched Cole dominate the game! We also caught one of TJ's football games.

Cruz was initiated into the UAB fan club!

Bringing home Marina (November 2007)

We were able to travel quite a bit on our pick up trip for Marina. We hired a guide to take us to Lake Atitlan. “Atitlan" is a Mayan word that translates as "the place where the rainbow gets its colors". It was formed by a collapsed volcano cone. Lake Atitlan or Lago de Atitlán is 320 meters deep, making it the deepest lake in Central America. Approximately fifteen towns or villages lie on the perimeter, mainly inhabited by traditional Mayan people. The three volcanoes seen in the backdrop are Tolimán, Atitlán and San Pedro. We stopped at lots of small cities on the way to and from the lake. In each area or town the Mayan people have their own “colors”. In some groups the men wear the colors as well. We had to return a different route than we came due to “banditos”. The alternate route took us about 3 hours longer because of a chicken bus crash!

Marina and I visited the zoo in Guatemala City. It was very nice. This was our first time without Papa and it didn’t take Marina long to notice he was not there!

Griffin and Savannah Meet Cruz

Griffin and Savannah have been so excited about meeting their new brother who they have been praying for over the last year. They waited up as long as they could, but finally fell asleep just before we got home. Cruz loves playing with them and they are great "babysitters". Griffin puts on Pokemon plays for him and Cruz loves it when Savannah plays Pee Pie with him. Griffin says that he understands what Cruz is saying--that it is a brother thing. Cruz calls Savannah "Nana" and she always refers to him as "Baby Kwooze".

Bringing Cruz Home July 18, 2007

After almost a year of waiting to bring Cruz home, we received the call that Cruz was out of PGN on May 28th. Our U. S. Embassy appointment was on July 16th. Cruz received a Guatemalan Passport with a U. S. IR-3 Visa. He became a U.S. citizen on July 18th when we entered U. S. airspace! Ms. Brenda, Cruz’s wonderful foster mom, said her last “good bye” to him on July 13th when she met us at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. She was too emotional to stay long or say much, but it was obvious that she loved him very much.

4th Trip to Guatemala

When Cruz arrived at the hotel he was dressed so cute! He even had a gold bracelet on! We could not believe how big he had gotten. He is six months old now.

Marina came to Papa immediately and acted like she remembered us. We brought her a stuffed tiger this time and she really liked it. She is walking a little better this trip, but still likes to hold your hand.

3rd Visit Trip

Cruz just turned 3 months old and he looked even better! He was so happy and lovable. Still very spoiled--wanted to eat every 2 hours and sleep cuddled up with mom! This trip was from Thursday, November 2nd to Sunday the 5th. This time we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and were able to walk around the corner to a supermarket. What an experience! We met our sweet Marina on this trip and she spent a few days with us as well. Cruz and Marina did very well together.

2nd trip to Guatemala

We wanted to make another trip as soon as possible since we didn't get to spend much time with Cruz on the first trip. We were also concerned about his health and wanted to see for ourselves how he was healing. We flew out from Atlanta on September 24, 2006. We were so excited about being able to keep Cruz in the hotel with us! Cruz's foster mom brought him to the Marriott Hotel with his bottle and formula. Luckily, I had packed several of Griffin's outfits to take pictures of him in, so he just looked well dressed all the time! We were so shocked to see how big he had grown. Now he had cheeks and chubby thighs!

Monday, March 3, 2008

What am I doing?

I'm not real sure what I am doing creating a blog. Like I have the time! Really, I need to be sleeping! I am also techno illiterate when it comes to this sort of thing. This being said, I really think we have a story to tell.

Our adoption journey began in January of 2006. We had talked about adopting before, but I never thought Top was serious. Top prompted me to look into adopting from another country. Guatemala seemed perfect because of my history with the country. I was to leave for a medical mission trip Guatemala one day before I found out I was pregnant with Griffin. I prayed for wisdom and peace about bringing another child into my already crazy life. I awoke one morning with the most amazing peace about adopting. And so the journey began...

International adoption is a very difficult journey to say the least. The paperwork is unbelievable, but we finally got it all done in June of 2006. Our first "referral" came in July. I received a call about twins. We were so excited! We learned a few days later that one of the twins died and we were heartbroken. The next several days we had so many emotions and many things led us to believe that the twins were given to another couple. It was because of this that we decided to go ahead with the adoption of another baby--Bryan Josue, who you all know as Cruz. God really had his hand in this decision. In the weeks to come it was so obvious that he was chosen for us. Cruz became gravely ill at the age of 3 weeks and arrived at the hospital in Guatemala nearly dead. He was not breathing. He was given lots of drugs and interventions and in the end, he developed a blood clot in his left leg. We met him in the hospital 2 days before they amputated his leg above the knee. It was love at first sight! And leaving him there was the hardest thing I have ever done.
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