So....for those who haven't seen our original photos of Maria of when she was a baby and of when she was about 18 months old, here she is:
And here she is on December 22, 2009:
Look how big she's gotten! And how much happier and stronger she looks! That's our little girl, can you believe it? What a gift!
Our time line hasn't changed much with us getting to this next step. We'll probably be able to leave the beginning of February. Now I dive head first into another mound of paperwork, and try to prepare ourselves to meet our daughter and live in another country for one to two months! So exciting!
Another amazing gift that God has given us is a connection to a group of families, many here in West Michigan, who've adopted from Colombia. The Vander Maas's (the ones in Colombia right now adopting their daughters) are the ones that connected us to this group. We met six of the couples back in the beginning of November I think it was, and almost all of them are in the process of adopting their second from Colombia. Two of them just received referrals, within the week before we did! We'll all be in Colombia at mostly the same time! One is adopting from LP like we are, and one is adopting from a different, but near by, adoption house. Amazing!
That's all for now. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and we wish you a beautiful New Year!
6 comments:
YAY!!!! I am so happy for you!!! She is beautiful!
She is such a doll! I can't wait for her and Violet to meet. The Gort family is sending you lots of love as you prepare for your new little one!
YAY! I saw those pics when we visited Jen the other day. She's so beautiful! She's a perfect fit for your family. Love you all! What an exciting couple months ahead for you! Lots of love, Faith
What a beautiful litte girl you have!!! I'm so happy you received the official referral - now hopefully everything goes quickly so you can be in Colombia SOON!
love,
The Thompsons
God is so good and kind to give you your hearts desire! Very soon she will be in your arms! Thought you would like to know that the man in the photo is one of Maria's psychologist! We met him at our ICBF interview. He is absolutely amazing! She is being very well cared for, and prepared for your family!! We are praying that your I800 comes back in record time! We'll still try and find her and give her a kiss when we tour LP in January! Happy New Year Familia Kaameraad!! Love from Bogota, The Vander Maas Family of 6
Wanted to drop in and wish you a CONGRATULATIONS and I hope your process goes very fast. We are another family involved in the GR Colombian Connections, we just live in Traverse City so can't be too active. We have two kids adopted from Colombia (both as infants). Jacob is now 8 and Sara is 5. Both were adopted from La Casita de Nicolas in Medellin. I can't say enough about Colombia...we absolutely adore the country and its people. I'm saddened that the new government regulations make you wait so long to travel though...we traveled 11 days after Sara's referral!
But, I do know the pain of having to wait. In August we traveled to get our third child, Tessa, from Taiwan. From referral to travel was six months...six excruciatingly painful months. So, hang in there. It may not seem like it now, but very soon you will have your sweet, beautiful baby girl in your arms.
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