Silas Goes to Preschool

Today was Silas' first day of Preschool at El Puente! Our extraverted little boy has been counting down the days until school, and woke up very happy this morning!!

He has been announcing to everyone about his new sisters, a very proud big brother! He was happy to learn he has 2 Maestras in his classroom! Below is Maestra De Leon...

...and Maestra Haak!

He is under great teaching and I can tell he is so excited to learn mas espanol to try and keep up with Big Sis, Isabel!

We had one little glitch with our paperwork for updating our fingerprints. We took care of that today and sent our updated homestudy/different forms out to immigration. Our caseworker did not think it would hold anything up, and still believes it to be a possibility to travel yet this year...
we remain hopeful, as each day our desire grows to meet our new hijas!!

In Color

Introducing Caroline and Marta in Color!!! As you can imagine, we are very excited to venture to Colombia, and our prayer is that God opens the door for us to travel by November 1st! It could be a long shot, as the immigration approval can take up to 3 months, but, we can hope. That would allow us to be with Caroline on her 4th birthday, and probably bring them home in time for Christmas! Sounds to good to be true, but, that is our hope!

Please keep our soon to be hijas in your prayers! We sent them a gift, letter, and photos and they soon will be learning about us. We pray that God is preparing their hearts to join our family! We know that He had these girls planned for our family from the very beginning...the excitement is building in each of us (yes, even Silas is talking about and praying for them every day)! Now we just need to be filled with patience that only the Holy Spirit can give. We are trusting God's timing and best as we prepare for this great adventure!!!

A verse that the kids memorized this summer and a good one to pray over the girls...
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!" Joshua 1:9

Labor Day Weekend

Translations of the girls came in last Thursday! My brain has been scattered since! We quickly put together the I-800 (immigration forms). Our Casworker was finalizing all that paperwork and off it went in the mail! Yes, this means that we are now moving closer towards meeting our girls! But, we do not know how long this process of approval could take. Our prayer is no more than 6-8 weeks so that we can travel by the beginning of Nov. But, there is no guarentee, and it could possibly be January.

The next task from Los Pisingos was to put a small gift together for both Caroline and Marta with some photos. Below my niece took this picture of us out at the lake this weekend so we can send it to the girls. Isabel and I put together a cute album, and she drew a great family picture of all 6 of us for the girls...along with a few little soft treasures, and a translated letter (thanks to Maestra Zondervan)...off that will go in the mail, tomorrow!

On Saturday and Sunday we escaped the craziness of life with our house and the adoption paper chase and hung out with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.

The kids had so much fun tubing and hanging out with their cousins. It was a great few days to end the summer!!!

Isabel's First Day of 1st Grade

Today Isabel started first grade! (And may I add that she has lost 5 more teeth over the summer)! She was very excited to see her friends, have her very own desk, and meet her new teacher. Below is a picture of Bel with Maestra Vasquez.

El Puente Escuela is a gift to our family for many reasons, but, as we prepare to meet Caroline and Marta, I find it a greater blessing that our kids will be able to communicate with their new hermanas! Isabel can't wait to use what she learns at school to have conversation with her new little sisters. Very sweet! It will be exactly what the school is called..a "bridge" between our very own children! Only a loving God could have orchestrated something so wonderful!