Our first package to Guatemala

We’re moving along fairly quickly with the adoption. Our contact at the agency seems impressed by how quickly we’ve been gathering the paperwork. I think our thought is that if we can move quickly enough it will mean the boys can come soon. We realize that in reality there is so much that has to go through the legal system and that Guatemala has a different pace than America, but we are hopeful that if we work hard enough, we can see the boys that much sooner.

Our most recent excitement has come with finishing our first package to send to the boys. We made a photobook at KodakGallery.com and it arrived yesterday, bound and printed, with pictures of us, the house, Mocha, and the rest of the family. It’s just perfect. We’re also sending a book we found at Lifeway with Hermie and His Friends entirely in Spanish. We picked up some Matchbox cars, crayons, and suckers as well. We hope they like it.

Meanwhile, I’m waiting to find out if there are other children in the foster home with the boys. I also wonder if we will go to the home when we go to Guatemala – or if the foster parents bring the boys to us.

Ray would have me add that we also found out that the country is very dangerous, which we discovered in our research and had confirmed when we contacted the agency. Right now, the agency tells us that parts are under control and we should be in one of the safe zones when we go. Rumors that the police are corrupt are apparently true and it’s best to avoid them at all costs. Somehow, we were both mistaken in our original impressions that the country was a sleepy little place. Instead, it seems unstable, violent, and extremely poverty–ridden. I’ll be glad to have boys safe at home with us.