Ingrid's Birthday!

Today was Ingrid's 9th birthday, and it was such a great day.  It is so special that we could be together for our daughter's birthday.  It was a day packed with lots of fun.  We continued the tradition of picking a box of sugar cereal for your birthday so Dainis took Ingrid to the grocery store.  She picked Lucky Charms.  The funniest part is she actually didn't love the cereal but ate all of the marshmallos!

Ingrid loves Barbie so we surprised her with a Barbie purse and coloring book.  All of her presents are waiting for her at home.  Her birthday celebration at home is a princess theme so my parents showed her everything via Skype.  She is so excited to go and keeps saying she wants the regalo (present) of Sentencia for her birthday.

When we asked what she wanted to do for lunch, she said she wanted to go to McDonalds and have fries, a coke, and chocolate ice cream.  The kids don't usually get soft drinks so this was a special lunch.  They enjoyed lunch and playing with some new friends.

We had a small celebration of cake tonight and polishing nails.  There will be a big birthday party at the hotel tomorrow night!

Time to Dress Up

We had a meeting at Ayudame, the orphanage, and the kids love to dress up.  The girls had the chance to wear new dresses and Juan had a new suit.  It reminds us how excited they get for the little things.

A Colombian Guitar

Dainis purchased a guitar that was made from wood in Colombia.  He use to have one and is very excited to have another one to learn to play with the kids.  The kids love music and are very excited to take piano lessons when we get home.  It was very affordable since it was made here in Colombia and another opportunity for us to be together as a family.

Multi Parque

We went to a new park with several families this weekend, and it was a lot of fun.  There were all sorts of playground equipment like slides, huge swings, zip lines, and much more.  We love getting out and we have met so many nice families while we have been here.  The kids were so tired they could barely stay awake for dinner.  It is so nice for all of us to get out of the hotel and enjoy fresh air.  It is only 65 degrees here most days and 115 degrees at home, so we are really enjoying the cool weather!

Today is a national Colombian holiday called Sacred Heat of Jesus and Saint Peter/ Saint Paul.  All of the courts are closed today, but we are praying for the good news of Sentencia this week.  Sentencia is the legal document from the judge acknowledging that the kids are legally ours and we have officially adopted them.  We are now into our 13th week here in Colombia and one of the only families that have been here this long from our agency.  It is a long time to be gone, and the kids are so excited to come to their new home!

An Amazing Birthday

I had a fabulous first birthday as a Mom.  The staff decorated our table with balloons and signs.  The kids made beautiful cards and Juanita (the head cook) made me pancakes, bananas, and strawberries.  We all shared it along with my traditional bowl of Trix cereal.

After a great breakfast, we headed to a mall to see a movie.  The movie "Cars 2" just came out, and the kids love Lightening McQueen.  We all had a great time, but again, everything is in Spanish!  After the movie, we headed to a restaurant called Jenno's Pizza.  It has some of the best pizza we have had in Bogota.  They have a huge slide to go on and big Play Land for the kids to play in.  They really enjoyed playing after lunch. 

Juanita made a special dinner of fajitas, and I was surprised with a huge chocolate cake.  There are a lot of families here, so it was a lot of fun.  Our agency rep came and gave me an orchid, which was very special.  The best part was saved for last.  The hotel hired a Marachi Band for me in celebration of my birthday!