Much Anticipation

We are getting really excited about our upcoming trip to visit Mateo and Daniel. Everything from making lists of questions we want to ask the foster mother, to making sure we know how to say certain things in Spanish, to creating our packing list, to buying clothes and gear for the boys, to picking our their birthday presents -- all of it has just been exciting and overwhelming. We're going in three weeks, and Ray and I have been consumed with his business, school starting and numerous other things. I don't know how we'll get ready in time, but we're ecstatic about it.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures & hopefuly we'll have some of the boys very soon.

We bought each boy a brown bear pillow to go on their bed with the camping/forest theme in the room. It is sooooo soft. Below are the twin sheets with bear paw prints that we have been stalking Target for (they always had them in Queen size for some really odd reason). Thanks to Brittiny who found them for us at the Christiansburg Target! Yay!


As one of the boy's birthday presents, we bought a wooden train track complete with a handful of train cars. We think they'll just love it.

Checking in: an update

Dearest friends and family,

We have been getting really excited, planning out our first trip to Guatemala. We've been imagining our first encounter with the boys: what we'll say, how we'll react, etc. We've been practicing our Spanish (Ray took his Spanish notebook with him to West Virginia this week to get in some more practice). We've been picking out toys and things we want to take (playdough and blocks and things). We've even bought our plane tickets and made our hotel reservations.

We're surprised to find out that we have to reserve TWO rooms at the hotel because 2 adults and 2 children is technically a fire hazzard in Guatemala. Can you believe it? We're still not sure how that'll work once we're there, but we have our two rooms saved and waiting for us.

In recent Guatemalan news (Deanna, there's been a change since you finished the process) they've added a SECOND DNA test to the process. Basically they want to match the boy's DNA from the end of the process with their DNA from the beginning -- just to make sure there hasn't been a switch in the process. They'll do this after we get our Guatemalan approval (PGN).

We'll be heading out to Guatemala in ONE MONTH. It's wild to think about and exciting. Lots to do until then!

Our FIRST visit to GUATEMALA!

We're going to visit our boys for the first time ever on September 13 - 16, 2007. This weekend we're going to start getting our plane tickets and making our list of things to bring! We'll have almost four days with the boys; they'll stay with us at the hotel and we'll be able to eat at the restaurants in the hotel (Italian, American and International restaurants are all inside the Marriott) and we'll be able to take the boys to the pool! It will be so much fun! We're finally going to meet them. You're going to all suffer through more video and stories after this trip. Go ahead and brace yourselves! YAYYY!!

DNA Test Results Returned!

Our agency contact just emailed today and said they've recieved the DNA results. As a recap, Guatemala requires that the boys and their mother have DNA tests completed to prove that the mother has the right to give up her children. This is an important step in the process, and another one on the "things completed side" and off of the "still left to do" side of the list. Yay. We're supposed to be receiving the originals to the results in the mail and they should arrive today, since the agency got their copies yesterday. It it, they will have a picture of the boys with their birthmother (a heart-wrenching and confusing experience for all included, I'm certain). I am anxious for this piece of the boy's mysterious puzzle history. I'm sure it will be an important puzzle piece for them as well later in life.