Day 1:Guatemala Trip 4 (Our Reunion)

Guys, can I just tell you how great it is to be with the boys again?  Oh how I have missed them!!!!  It's like when we're together, we fall back into place -- like 'family' has just been on pause this whole time. 

I'm not even sure where to begin, except that I suppose I should tell you it's 8:30 and the boys have already crashed for the evening.  They were utterly exhausted from the great fun we shared.  

Good news?  They were longing for a bath!  They LOVE to play in the water.

The bad news?  They trashed around in the water so much that I got a bath and didn't want one!!!  

Still, I think the excitement of new toys, us, and the bath had them ready for sleep this evening.  It didn't take much -- one yawn and they were out.

I LOVE this picture to the right.  Both Mateo and Daniel are dealing with this process of seeing us in and out of their lives, knowing we're supposed to be family and not getting to ever be with us for real -- well, they just deal with it very differently.  But I love this picture because Daniel is super-loving, but the moments don't last super-long as he's an independent fella.  Anyway, it was fun to catch these bursts of love. 

Mateo is super-affectionate and he would easily appear the leader, obedient and loving, but in the first moments of us hugging after three months absence, it's apparent that in his joy, he's heartbroken that he just doesn't understand, that this whole thing is super super hard on him.  Each time we visit, it takes nearly an hour before he'll start talking because he's just overcome with too much emotion to say much.

I should also say that Mateo is sometimes (not always) really patient with his brother.  Daniel will take something or get in the way of Mateo being able to see something and somehow, in (to me) a very un-childlike way, just savors watching Daniel get the joy out of things.

These photos crack me up as father and son enjoy looking at pictures on the computer.  Look closely and you can see me in the background, snapping the shot.  Meanwhile, Daniel is looking for soap in the bathroom.  He LOVES soap!   Isn't that hilariously goofy!!??  He really does.  It was the first thing he went for when he arrived in the hotel room.  I had a bit of a hope he'd forgotten his passion for soap since the last time we visited.  He gets all the boxes  in the hotel room (plus shampoos and lotions) and carries them around.  He wants them in the bath and he wants me to hold his wet soap while he walks down the hall.  Then he wants the wet soap on his toys.  I know it's ironic that I say this about soap, but ICK!

We got the boys some shoes that light up when you walk and Mateo SQUEEZED his foot into them -- despite them being too small and even wore them to dinner!!  He loves them, and they hurt his feet after thirty minutes of crunchtime in them!  Poor guy.  Meanwhile, Daniel is super-serious about his stickers, but you couldn't tell that from this photo, could you?

Here we are at dinner.  And Daniel is LOVING his sippie cup.  Mateo and Daniel call them bottles, but I promise, NO SPILLS tonight!  It's a freakin' miracle!!  YAY for sippies!!

Okay -- now for the real news: we're supposed to meet with the Guatemala lawyers tomorrow to talk about what they foresee happening with this mess between PGN and the municipality for Mateo.  We're supposed to see the PGN approval, and Daniel's birth certificate and passport tomorrow -- so we have one ready to go and the other stuck!  We're hoping for good news tomorrow.  We should meet up with them around 2:00 (4:00 VA time).  We'll let you know how it goes. 

Meanwhile, the Florida bar complaint should have reached its destination today!  Maybe we'll have some good news on that front when we get back to the States.

Love you all.

ALSO -- good news to those who've been praying for my friend, Art.  He's finally been stitched up and their going to take him off the respirator.  He's been opened and closed numerous times now, but this time he has stitches, so I think it's cause for celebration.  If you've been praying, please continue to do so as he'll be in ICU at Johns Hopkins for ten more days, I think.  Also, please remember his wife, Neita, who has been a saint to me this last year -- as she deals with this grief and fear miles and miles from her church family and friends.  May God wrap his arms around both of them this night.

God bless.

Kelli and Ray