Guatemala 900 / Izzie Visits the Big Apple!

Hi Friends,

I hope you are enjoying your summers!

Last weekend, Jaimie, Izzie, and I spent an awesome weekend in New York visiting our great friends Ellora and Gary and their three kids, who were all adopted from the same orphanage as Izzie. Izzie had an absolute blast playing with her old friends. After leaving their apartment on the first night of our visit, Izzie shouted "Fun!" as the door closed behind us. It was so indescribable to enjoy the company of our friends in a relaxing setting right where we should be - the good old U.S.A.! What a sweet reward after enduring months of intense stress and truly scary times together in Guatemala!

Of course, our free and easy feeling was tempered by disbelief and anger that about 900 American families are STILL - yes, STILL fighting to get their children home. These families' adoption processes were supposedly "grandfathered" when Guatemala closed down in 2007; however, their children continue to be stuck in the incredible mess that Guatemalan adoption has become.

I have a true admiration for Gary and Ellora because although all three of their kids have made it home, they are continuing to spearhead the fight to get ALL the remaining children to their rightful homes. They have created an initiative called "The Guatemala 900," which is a multi-pointed plan of action to influence lawmakers in the U.S. as well as those that hold power in Guatemala to do the right thing by these precious kids. Somewhere along the way, many powerful people lost sight of the fact that these children are human beings who deserve to go to the permanent, loving families that are anxiously waiting for them. These kids are getting older and older in temporary foster care or in institutions, which is obviously not a healthy way to grow up.

I know that so many of you campaigned and wrote letters during Izzie's arduous journey home, and that we all heaved an enormous sigh of relief when she finally made it here. I am humbly asking that you help once again by participating in any way you can in The Guatemala 900. Depending on where you live, there are opportunities for participating in candlelight vigils, a march, and of course, letter writing. Please visit the website www.guatemala900.org and explore the various ways you can help. There will be a big push between June 15-19 to influence our U.S. Congress, so please check the site as soon as you can.

Thank you so much for continuing to follow our blog. Jaimie, Izzie, and I got our happy ending, but I deeply feel the anguish of my friends who are being denied theirs. I think of the kids I lived with in the orphange who are simply not allowed to go home, and it makes me crazy with anger and frustration. Please help them!

Thank you! To say that you have been angels to these children is no understatement!

Love,

Kathy

P.S. - (To see more pictures of our adventures in the Big Apple, you can access my Facebook album here.)

Are you still in process in Guatemala?

Hi Friends,

If your Guatemalan adoption is still in process, Jount Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) needs your help as they compile information about all the remaining cases. They will use the information and statistics to advocate for the children with officials in both the U.S. and Guatemala. There is a survey for you to complete at http://www.jcics.org/ or you can access the survey directly here.

Good luck! You are in our thoughts and prayers!

Kathy and Jaimie

Happy Second Birthday!

Hi Everyone,

Izzie will turn two tomorrow (June 1), so we had her party yesterday.  It was so amazing to be in our own home relaxing and celebrating, without any worries about the adoption.  To make the day even better, we had just received in the mail Izzie's re-adoption papers from our district court, which legally recognized her Guatemalan adoption, officially changed her name to Isabel Wynne, and reinforced her U.S. citizenship.  We feel so grateful to be an ordinary family celebrating a birthday the way any ordinary family should be allowed to do.  At the same time, we are mindful of several of Izzie's friends from the orphanage, whose parents are still fighting to bring them home.  Most of them are also turning two within the next few weeks.  The situation is just so unnecessarily complicated and so sad.  Please keep those sweet kids in your prayers.

Anyway, enjoy some pictures and a video from yesterday!

Of course, we had to have a Dora theme!

This cottage was Izzie's present from me and Jaimie.  She literally spent five hours playing with it yesterday.

Izzie overcame her fear of batting the pinata and went for it!

It took Sam one turn to knock the thing's head off and spill the candy!

Izzie's cousins Sara and Sam helped open presents and read the cards.

Here are Izzie and Oma today, playing with her new kitchen from Oma and Opa.

We hope you are all enjoying your summers so far.  Thanks for checking in!

Izzie's Welcome Home Weekend, 4/17-4/19/09

As promised, here are some pictures of the events during Izzie's Welcome Home Extravaganza, which took place a couple of weekends ago. Almost everyone from our immediate families came in from out of state to help us celebrate, and we had lots of local friends and extended family here also. I was a little worried that it would all overwhelm our little girl, but she just soaked up the fun and had a great time.

FRIDAY: The Kron side of the family arrived fairly early in the day. Jaimie and I wanted to serve homemade tamales at our big party on Saturday, so we put the family to work on a tamale assembly line. (The tamales turned out GREAT!) Everyone was then rewarded with a cookout which included bratwurst and metwurst (or "tube meats," as my brother apparently calls them) "imported" from Cincinnati by my mom and dad. Sorry, Texas, but the tube meats from Cincinnati really are superior. It's a German thing...

SATURDAY: The big party, complete with bounce house, pinata, and Guatemalan food and beer. Izzie had a blast and we were thrilled that she got to spend time with her new friends and cousins, both local and from Ohio.

So, why is Jonathan jumping so high in the above picture, you ask? Because this 20-something learned to ride a bike that day (see video below). Congrats, Jonathan!

SUNDAY: Izzie got baptized at our church by our friend, the Rev. Jay Cole. Afterward, Jaimie's cousin Steve and his awesome wife Tracey hosted a lovely reception at their home. They are also responsible for the adorable yellow dress you see Izzie wearing at the party.

So, needless to say, we were exhausted by Monday, but we had such a great weekend! It was pure joy to be at home surrounded by many of those who helped us to finally make it. Thank you, God!

Bluebonnet Photo Shoot

Hi everybody,

A couple of weeks ago, we took Izzie to a bluebonnet patch for her first annual Texas bluebonnet shoot (a requirement for all little Texans). We got some great pictures, despite it being a cloudy and extremely windy day. By the way, I swear that we were not instructing Izzie on any of these poses. I think she is just a naturally fabulous model! (The first and second pictures are my favorites, by the way!)

Hope you are all having a great week!
Kathy

Mommy's Best Birthday Ever!

Hi everybody,

I know I haven't posted the pictures from last weekend's welcome home extravaganza yet (I am overwhelmed by the number of photos to sort through), but I'm sure these cute videos will hold you over. Thursday was my birthday, so today we went to my favorite restaurant, Cafe Madrid. Izzie was ridiculously cute all day...even on the ride downtown, which you'll see below. Prepare to laugh and say, "awwwww!"

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Kathy

Watch Izzie's Baptism Live Today

If you are so inclined, you can watch Izzie's baptism live on the internet today via streaming video at 11 a.m. central time! The service will be archived there as well if you would like to watch later. The link is: http://www.webcastingnetworks.com/fumc/service.htm