Home Again

Well, we made it home. I've mentioned several times that we're learning much about resting and trusting God. Our trip home was quite an adventure. To begin, our flight from Guatemala to Houston was about 4 1/2 hours late. Apparently, when the flight left Houston for Guatemala, they got about 100 miles out and lost cabin pressure, so had to return to Houston. We were supposed to have a 5 hour layover in Houston, so we knew there was a real possibility we'd miss our connection to Reno. This would mean spending the night in Houston and taking the first flight out the next day (8/7), getting into Reno at 11:30am. Not horrible, except the 7th is Nathan's birthday and we really wanted to be home.

The Guatemala airport is currently under construction. Advertised to become the best airport in Central America. From the looks of the plans, it's going to be a very nice airport. However, right now, it's a mess! We sat in the waiting area listening to a symphony of power tools while the lovely smell of diesel wafted in the air! About 2 hours into our wait, it began to rain. So the sound of rain pounding on a tin roof was added to the noise. It's an open air airport, so with the rain came very cool air. Added to this, I had come down with a cold and was feeling miserable.

Anyways, 4 1/2 hours after our scheduled departure time, we finally left Guatemala. Our flight pulled into Houston at 8:05. The flight for Reno was on time (of course!) and was scheduled to leave at 9:05. So, we sprinted off the plane and headed for immigration. We cleared that, grabbed our luggage off the conveyors (it was some of the first luggage off) and headed for customs. We cleared customs in a matter of minutes and dashed over to recheck our luggage. Then it was off to security. We were feeling pretty optimistic until we got to security, where about 200 people were in line ahead of us. But, it moved very quickly and we cleared security with about 20 minutes remaining until our departure. As Rob reassembled our carry-ons, I headed to the flight screens to see which terminal and gate we needed. God is good...our flight was in the same terminal, so we didn't have far to go. We made it to our gate just as they called our row to board.

We made it home for Nathan's birthday and all is good. The trip was a huge blessing. Much answered prayer. Samantha's foster family is wonderful. Her foster mom, Jenny, truly loves her. Jenny is married and has two beautiful children. Her family lives in an apartment over the house Jenny's mom owns. Jenny's mom helps care for Samantha and is VERY attached to her. Jenny and her husband attend a Christian church and the love of God is evident in their family. We enjoyed dinner with them, getting to know them and seeing that Samantha is in good hands. Samantha is their 3rd foster child. They presented us with a little photo album full of candid pictures. What a blessing.

We can hardly wait to go back and bring our precious girl home. Until then, we rest in the assurance that God is not only sovereign, but He can be trusted.

We are looking forward to hearing from the US Embassy in the next few weeks. Then, it's on to the Guatemala court. There are some upcoming things -- elections and holidays -- that could significantly slow down our adoption. Fortunately, our hope is not in the government, but in our God who can do more than we can ask or imagine! Our agency is telling us that Christmas pick-up is pretty optimistic and it may be Spring before we bring Samantha home. As I ponder that, a little voice in the back of my head says, "Trust me." Who knows what will happen as we wait for God to work. Romans 15:13 says "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." God is our hope and our confidence.

We'll keep you posted...

Sunday

Well, we´ve had a wonderful time. Attended a great service today at Iglesia del Camino. It was a bilingual service. Good worship and preaching. Lots of adopting families there. Many stories. Some tears today, but now feel at peace, knowing that God is working for us. Isaiah 64:4 - Since the beginning of time, no eye has seen, no ear has heard of a God like you, who works for those who wait for Him. Claiming that verse as we head home.


Yesterday we toured Guatemala with a new friend, Allison. What a blessing she was. We saw the Hotel Santa Domingo, an absolutely amazing museum and hotel. We had lunch at Cafe Condessa and then visited the market. Samantha fell asleep on the way to the market, but perked up the minute we entered. Looks like we have a shopper-in-training! On our way home from the market we took a tuk-tuk. Kinda like a moped with a cart to ride in. What an adventure that was! One of the highlights of our trip, for sure.



Samantha has warmed up to us and now smiles when she wakes up and sees us. It will be hard to say good-bye today, but have much peace about leaving her, knowing we´ll be back soon. As you can see from the picture she loves her Daddy (Papí)!



Thanks again for partnering with us in prayer. We have lots more pictures and about 45 minutes of video if you want to see it! Don´t be afraid to ask, we´re more than happy to show her off!

Our love,
Amy

Day 2

Well, Samantha is a trooper! We slept pretty well last night. Kinda like being first time parents again, you hear every noise she makes! Hoping tonight will be a little more restful. We can tell that she`s quite attached to her foster family and is missing them. Keep reminding myself that this is a good thing, as it shows she can attach (thanks Deb!!).

Today we´ve allowed Samantha to set the schedule. She took a good nap and I can hear her upstairs now chatting with her Papi. Headed out to Central Park today. Need to find a teething ring of some kind. Right now the teething ring is my pinkie finger in a bottle nipple! Whatever works, right?

Thank you again for your prayers. Was reminded again today of why we´re doing what we´re doing. Was listening to a Chris Tomlin song while knitting on the balcony overlooking the fountain (yes, it´s rough). Anyways, the song is ¨How Awesome is the Lord Most High¨The last verse is:

Where You send us, God we will go

You´re the answer, we want the world to know

We will trust You when You call our name

Where You lead us, we´ll follow all the way

Raise your hands all you nations

Shout to God all creation, how awsome is the Lord Most High!

What a journey this is turning out to be as we learn to trust God more with each step.

Enjoy the pictures.

We are here!

After an eventful trip with a delay in Houston, we arrived in Guatemala City around midnight. Our shuttle was waiting for us and our very kind driver took us immediately to the hotel.

Samantha arrived around 10:15 this morning. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication with the foster family. Jenny, Samantha´s foster mom had been given the message that she was to come to the Radisson for photos, not for dropping Samantha off with us. So, she was surprised to see us and somewhat unprepared. Samantha came with a cute outfit, a few blankets and one bottle! Jenny felt terrible.

We assured her that we had plenty of clothing and extra bottles, so it wasn´t a big deal. After Jenny left, we took Samantha to our room and Rob had the priviledge of giving her her only bottle. I took on the task of going out to find formula and bottles. I was successful with the formula, but not with the diapers. The only Farmacia within walking distance was out. So, back to the hotel desk for help. After communicating our dilemma, the girl at the desk assured me she could help and would send diapers to our room. About 15 minutes later there was a knock on the door. When I answered it, there was a very kind woman with 2 band-aids! Apparently my communication didn´t go as planned! With gestures and some pointing to Samantha´s bottom, we finally got across what we needed. She returned a few minutes later with swim diapers. Now, those of you who haven´t used swim diapers might not understand that they don´t hold water...just poop! So, more gesturing and trying to communicate and we finally got two diapers! I now know the word for diapers...pañales!

We found a small market in Antigua and we are now more equipped to get through the evening. The only thing we need are a few toys. Samantha appears to be teething and Jenny mentioned that she loves chewing on teething rings. We have a map with two possible stores, so we´ll head out soon to try and find something.

Well, Samantha´s fussing, so I´m going to go. We´ll post pictures soon.

6 Months

Well, Samantha is now 6 months old. We got a new medical today. Doctor's report is good. She now weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces and is 64.5 centimeters (25.39 inches). Doctor notes that Samantha has a little clear snot occuring (I'm sure she'll love me for posting that!), explores everything, and takes objects to mouth. We can hardly believe that we'll be seeing her in just one week! For those of you who don't know (or have forgotten), we head to Guatemala August 1st. Samantha will be delivered to us on August 2nd at 10AM. We head out to La Antigua to stay until Sunday. Sunday afternoon we return to Guatemala City and fly home on Monday.

We have been truly amazed at the people God has put in our path who will be assisting us on our journey. By no coincidence, our Pastor is friends with several people in Guatemala who have generously agreed to be available to us while we're there. We are looking forward to meeting each of them.

We believe we'll be taking a laptop with us. If this is the case, we'll most likely be able to update our blog while in country. So, stop by and see what we're up to.

Specific prayer requests for our journey are posted in the margin. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer.

Blessings,
Amy

PS -- You can view the other new pictures in the slide show at the bottom of the page!