Catch-up on Christmas Pictures

Hi everyone,

We hope you are enjoying the Holidays as much as we are! Izzie, Jaimie, and I are really having a great time being together. Jaimie will be here for more than a week this visit, which gives us a chance to relax and have lots of family time.

Here are some great pictures to catch you up on the last few days.

Look at all the presents Santa left!

Even Mommies can fit in my Dora tent!I couldn't wait to try these art supplies from Oma!

Daddy and I had so much fun trying out the art supplies yesterday. The smock was a great idea, Oma!Mommy, wash my hands! Our happy family:
Thanks for "stopping by" our blog! We are hoping to be able to post some great news soon. Please keep the prayers coming!

Love,

Kathy

Merry Christmas Eve from Guatemala!

Tonight, we spent our first Christmas Eve together with Izzie. We made a big presentation out of preparing the cookies and milk for Santa, and Izzie seemed to understand the concept surprisingly well. (She knows Santa both from videos and from two parties they had here at the orphanage.) We can't wait to see her face tomorrow morning when she wakes up to her presents under the tree! Enjoy the photos!


Izzie was allowed to unwrap a couple of presents today. She needed a warm-up, after all!

Izzie is wearing the fun light-up Santa hat that Nana sent us:

Izzie snuggling with Daddy:

Izzie arranged Santa's cookies very carefully:

Our favorite picture of the day:

Santa left quite a few things for our "Iz." It's not your imagination if you're sensing a Dora theme!

We hope that you all have a blessed Christmas!

Love,

Kathy and Jaimie

All I want for Christmas.....2008

Christmas Cutie Pie

Merry Christmas, Everybody! Love, Izzie

Decorating for Christmas

Hi everyone!

Since Christmas is next week, I finally got around to decorating our apartment at the orphanage. Today, Izzie got to hang her first ornament and to taste candy cane for the first time. It was a really fun afternoon, but it would have been better had it taken place in Texas and/or with Jaimie here! Oh well, next year, right? (Please, God!)

Izzie caught on immediately to the concept of hanging the ornaments:

A view of our fireplace area:

A view of our first floor. Maybe Santa will bring furniture!

Izzie would have to turn in her toddler card if she didn't do this:

Here is Izzie checking out the stockings I bought at the artisan market today:

No news on anything else. I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful holiday season so far!

Love,

Kathy

Interview Complete

Hi Everyone,

Well, the interview at the MP did take place as scheduled this morning, and the midwife is probably almost home by now. The investigator was very mum about how the interview went and whether this means we can have our release letter now. It has been about a month since the MP released the first three Semillas cases, and the other 48 are STILL waiting. I hope somebody over there catches some kind of Christmas spririt or something!

Thanks for the prayers! At least this scary and unexpected hurdle should now be out of the way.
I'll let you know if we get any other news!

Kathy

She is in the Car...

Well, the midwife is in the car and on her way to Guatemala City. Thank you, God!! Now, we just need to pray that her interview with the MP goes well tomorrow morning. If all goes well, Bernardo and Lissette should be able to really jump start the progress of our case and get us home soon. ("Soon" meaning possibly in February.)

Thanks for the continued prayers! Please think about us tomorrow at 8 a.m. when her interview begins.

Love,
Kathy, Jaimie, and Izzie

More Good News

I don't have a lot of time to post, but the midwife has now officially agreed to be picked up Sunday to come to the city for her interview. I will feel even better once she is in the car, but this is definitely great news!

Sounds promising...

Hi everyone,

We have some promising news - not exactly the 100% definite good news we have been waiting for, but we're getting there...

Today, we sent someone out to the midwife's house to try to get her to come to the ministerio publico's office in Guatemala City. She was not at home, but her adult son was. He said that he can't speak for his mother, but that he thinks she'll be willing to come to give her testimony. He wanted assurances that he could make the six-hour journey with her, since they have a cousin who was abducted and murdered by someone who lured him into a car. His fears are totally understandable -after all, who among us would ever get into a car with a stranger who showed up at our door?

Anyway, the son is going to call Lissette later today to say whether his mom is willing to come in. If so, we will have a driver pick them both up on Sunday and they will have an appointment first thing Monday morning at the MP.

Please pray that our midwife has the courage and compassion to make this journey for us. I will post as soon as we have any more news.

Thanks for the continued prayers and support!

Kathy

Getting Press in U.S.

Good morning, everyone! We have nothing to report on the midwife, but Semillas de amor IS getting some press in the U.S. The following article from yesterday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram features a fellow Semillas family who is waiting to bring their daughter home.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1079877.html

Thanks for checking in!

Kathy

Still nothing much to report

We did not locate the midwife last week. Please pray we have better luck next week. On a positive note, one of the 3 cases "released" by the MP was also released by PGN. Also, our Consular General in Guatemala met with the various agencies last week (MP, PGN, CNA) and was promised they wouldn't hold up adoption cases unnecessarily. That's all very positive, but we need to see more cases released and these kids need to actually start coming home.

No news, sorry

We have not located the midwife yet. We think we have a strong lead and are awaiting word from our attorney to see if it panned out. Sorry there is not anything more to report.

Prayers Needed

Well, as usual, our adoption situation has gotten much worse before it has gotten any better. The Ministerio Publico is now making a ludicrous claim that the woman who delivered Izzie and filed her birth certificate is not a real person. We're not even sure what they mean by "not a real person," but we know she existed for many reasons. One reason is that only certified midwives and other medical personnel are allowed to file birth certificates, so how did the birth certificate get filed? Another reason is that Izzie's birth mom lived with this woman for 15 days after giving birth to Izzie, so she obviously knows she exists.

So, the MP is saying that if we do not produce the midwife for an interview, that will be proof that she is a made-up person, and they will cancel the adoption. The problem is, we don't have an address for her, and she is proving difficult to find (not unusual for people in Guatemala, by the way).

We have one semi-reliable-seeming lead that Lissette is going to follow this week. Then, we will hire private investigators to try to find her if we have to.

Jaimie and I cannot believe this is happening. Why does anyone even care who delivered the baby when we have proven with three DNA tests that Izzie and her bio mom are mother and daughter? Obviously, she is not a kidnapped child, so nobody would have even had a reason to fake any part of the birth certificate.

Obviously, the government down here is trying to make problems for us where none exist. Once again, our light at the end of the tunnel has been snuffed out. I cannot even describe how difficult it is to live this way - to love and care for an orphaned child whom the government is trying to tear away from you. A government, by the way, who has no way nor intention of caring for her themselves. We were promised this child and we have meticulously followed every law during this adoption. It is beyond astonishing.

Please pray that we find the midwife ASAP so we can get this latest ridiculous accusation out of the way!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday with our beautiful Izzie. This is our second Thanksgiving with Izzie, as we visited her Thanksgiving weekend in 2007. The first picture below is a picture from that trip!

Our wonderful neighbor Ellora prepared a "Thanksgiving feast that couldn't be beat" for all of our kids....Izzie had roast turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, sweet potatoes, green beans, and of course some pumpkin pie! Izzie did a great job cleaning her plate as you can see below. Just like Daddy, she's not a big fan of sweet potatoes....but did really enjoy the pumpkin pie!

Izzie - Thanksgiving 2007

Izzie this thanksgiving

Enjoying some pumpkin pie!

The gang's all here

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Here are some pictures of Izzie showing off some new clothes and her brand new Dora-style backpack, made by Oma:

Many blessings to everyone this Thanksgiving!

Love,

Kathy, Jaimie, and Izzie

List of Congress Members Who Attended

Hi all,

For your information, here is a complete list of the members of Congress who sent staffers to hear our story on Tuesday. My friend Annie had the great idea of writing to thank those who sent representation to the meeting. Annie also suggested including a plea for follow-up to get us home. Genius! So here is the list, in case any of these people "belong" to you.

Thanks, as always for your support and efforts to bring Izzie (and by default, ME) home!

Love,
Kathy

SEMILLAS DE AMOR MEETING - NOV. 18, 2008
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REPRESENTED:

CALIFORNIA
Rep. Mike Thompson
Sen. Barbara Boxer
Rep. Dan Lungren

GEORGIA
Rep. Jack Kingston
Sen. Isakson

LOUSIANA
Sen. Mary Landrieu (co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute)

MARYLAND
Rep. Steny Hoyer

NEW JERSEY
Sen. Menendez
Sen. Lautenberg

NEW YORK
Rep. Louise Slaughter
Rep. Gillibrand
Rep. Nadler
Sen. Schumer

OHIO
Rep. Zack Space

PENNSYLVANIA
Sen. Arlen Specter

TEXAS - Anybody, no matter where you live, please feel free to write to thank these people, as they represent Jaimie and me!
Rep. Sam Johnson (Texas District 3) (His staffer was named Jennifer Healey.)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Her staffer was named Sarah Hunt.)

WISCONSIN
Sen. Feingold

Photos of Jaimie's Trip to Washington

Click here to see our parent group in action in Washington:

http://gjcphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/6596982_NmaKy#P-1-15

Please pray that our efforts pay off!

Washington DC update

I don't have a lot of time to post, but wanted to give everyone a brief update on my day yesterday.

We met at 10:00 am in the offices of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. This non-profit adoption advocacy group was instrumental in helping arrange the meetings yesterday and are strong voices in Washington advocating on our behalf. After they set the stage for what to expect and gave us their advise on what to discuss during our meetings, we headed out and walked down to a Senate office building for our meeting with congressional staffers. We had 19 of us there advocating on behalf of our children, and almost that many congressional staffers there to hear our story. There were representatives from California, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia,Louisiana, Wisconsin and New Jersey, along with two from Texas - one from Sen. Hutchinson's office and one from Rep. Johnson's (the representative from my district). Thank you to everyone that wrote their congresspeople!

During the first part of the meeting, our spokesman, Gary Cooper, provided an overview of the situation - the history of the children's home, what led to the "raids," and all the problems since. He confirmed that all of the cases at the chidren's home have been thoroughly investigation and no problems have been found, yet none of the kids can come home.

Each parent then had an opportunity to briefly discuss thier own story, who they were, where they were in the process, how old their child is, etc. This was very emotional for all of us parents, and you could tell the congressional staffers we moved by the stories.

The meeting was then opened up for Q&A. The congressional staffers asked a lot of questions and seemed very willing to assist us with our situation. We will continue to work through the Congressional Coalition to coordinate their efforts and to follow through with our specific requests. Essentially we are going to ask them to focus their attention on getting the State Department, through the US Ambassador to Guatemala and the Consular General's office in Guatemala to elevate the priority/profile of our situation and for them to contact all the appropriate people/agencies in Guatemala to try and influence them to move things along.

Our second meeting, with the State Department, had a different tone, as they were more reserved in their responses to our requests. They consistently stated that Guatemala is a sovereign nation and they have limited influence when it comes to matters like this. That being said, they were well aware of our situation, and seemed surprised that no cases have been released since the initial raids in May. They promised to be the information conduit for us and advise us when any news develops. They also indicated that the new Consular General, Kay Anske, is moving to Guatemala this week, and should be on the job next. Since she has served in Guatemala before, they thought she would be able to quickly get involved and be able to assess the situation and they would make sure she was fully briefed on the situation.

We left this meeting a bit deflated until our debrief back at the offices of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. The director of the CCAI indicated that all State Dept. meetings go this way, and that we all know there is a lot they can do to help our situation, it just happens behind the scenes and they can't tell us about it. Their impression was that we had the right people at the meeting, they were aware of our situation, and that they committed to being the information conduit was very positive - meaning this would stay high on their radar - and thus high on the consular general's radar in Guatemala. With additional pushing from our congresspeople, the CCAI was confident the State Department would elevate the profile of our situation and have the necessary discussions at the proper levels within Guatemala.

Overall, the CCAI thought the day went exceptionally well, better than they could have even hoped. The reprentsentatives from the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) and the National Council on Adoption (NCA) felt the same way.

All in all, we all feel very good about our day yesterday, but still have plenty of follow-up to do with the staffers we met in Washington.

Thanks for all the support, and we'll keep you posted as things continue to develop!

Jaimie

Hoping for Good News from Washington

Nothing new here....just waiting to hear from Jaimie about how the meetings go today. We'll post an update tomorrow.

C'mon, Daddy! Get me HOME!!

Mega Prayers Needed for Tuesday

Hi everyone,

Please pray for us this coming Tuesday. A large group of parents from our orphanage, including Jaimie, will be going to Washington, D.C. to meet with some of our lawmakers to beg them for help to get us home from Guatemala.

At 10 a.m., the parents will be meeting with a group called the Congressional Coalition for Adoption Institute, and at 11 a.m., there will be a meeting inside the Senate with staff from the House and Senate. At 1 p.m., they will have a meeting with the U.S. Department of State.

The stakes for these meetings are very, very high. Currently, the PGN and MP have frozen every case from our orphanage. In many cases, including ours, the "freezing" is illegal. Nobody is holding these agencies accountable to the law within Guatemala, so our only hope is to put intense pressure on them from outside Guatemala. Accroding to Bernardo, if we cannot get the support we need from the U.S., we could be stuck here for one to two more years!

There are about 40 kids who are waiting to go home. It is so alarming to be at the orphanage and see these kids grow older and older, knowing that they could and should be in a proper home with their families.

Thanks for your support and please don't forget to storm heaven with your prayers on Tuesday!

Love,
Kathy

The Running of the Waiters!

Look what I came across as I walked into town this morning: the 7th annual Runnning of the Waiters! That's one thing about Antigua - you never know what you're going to get when you leave the house in the morning!

Just a cute photo...

No news or anything to report today, but isn't Izzie especially adorable today? She is finally coming back around to smiling for the camera...

Still Waiting...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Life is so different these days that I actually LIKE Mondays - it means that there are five consective days ahead that could bring progress.

I had a conversation with Lissette this morning that was depressing. She reported that the MP is now saying that they need to travel to San Antonio Huista, Izzie's birth mom's town, to get some supporting documentation before they can release our letter to the PGN. This is disappointing, because the MP claimed two weeks ago that they had already done this. It's a pain because the town is about seven hours away from here. This makes me very concerned that they will never get around to it, which is a concern of Lissette's as well. She says that they're hoping that our letter will be ready for release sometime this week, but she's not counting on it. I'm so depressed. There is no light at the end of the tunnel when you're waiting for a government worker to make a 14-hour car trip.

Ironically, when I complained to Lissette that I was depressed about being stuck here for Christmas, she said that Bernardo is still hoping to get us home by then. I don't think they've looked at the calendar lately, but oh well! I know we won't be home by then, but at least maybe by sometime in January????

Please ask God to soften these investigators' hearts and to open their eyes to the fact that our case has already been scrutinized backwards, forwards, upside-down, and sideways!

Thanks for checking in,
Kathy

A few pics...

Happy Saturday, folks!

Here are some cute pictures of our "Iz."

This is what happens when I put one little braid in Izzie's hair:

Why it's SO fun to buy for little girls:

Look how well-fed I am!

Update on our case: Lissette says that our MP letter has yet to be released to the PGN. ARGHHHH!!!

On a positive note, I had dinner with the president of our adoption agency a couple of nights ago. He is in Antigua brushing up on his Spanish. Politically speaking, he is very well connected, so I think he might be able to ask the right people to apply the needed pressure that could get us out of here.

Also very positive: a large group of parents from our orphanage (including Jaimie) will be meeting with members of the U.S. House and Senate on November 18 to beg for their help. Wish us luck!

I hope to have some news of REAL progress next week.

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Good news?

Hi everyone,

I always hesitate to report good news, since it always seems to be followed by a step backwards, BUT here goes...

Yesterday, Nancy was at the MP and saw that our letter (the one that will allow us to get "unfrozen" inside PGN) is signed and ready to go. It is one of only four such letters that have been signed. (There are 40+ families waiting for this darned letter!) Bernardo's goal now is to find out the details of the delivery of the letter: who will deliver it to PGN, who will receive it within PGN, and most importantly, WHEN it will happen.

I have learned to never count my chickens before they're hatched, but this seems positive.

Please pray that we can pick up some momentum here!

Thanks, as always, for the support!

Kathy

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

There was a great Halloween party at the orphanage today. Izzie got to wear her first costume - an adorable lady bug that Ellora brought back from the States with her this week. Thanks, Ellora! It was funny to watch Izzie and her little buddies react to their parents and each other wearing funny outfits and makeup. I am quite sure that Ellora and Gary's kids didn't recognize them at all for the first few minutes.

Enjoy the pics!

Ellora even brought me a little kitty cat getup:

Izzie with Deisy, Nancy's daughter. I think Izzie will look a lot like Deisy when she gets older...

Lorenzo was a skunk:

Leo the lion!!

Another adorable lady bug: Julia! (Izzie wouldn't go for the makeup.)

Gary and Ellora:

Jorge was a dragon. He doesn't look too scary here, though...
My fave little lady bug! (Yes, they gave chips to the babies at the party!)
Evidently, lady bugs like to dance!!

Have a great weekend,

Kathy

"Probably early next week..."

Hi everybody,

I don't have a lot of time to post, but according to the "latest," we should get our MP letter sometime early next week, allowing us to finish up our approval within PGN.

Let's hope!

Kathy

My New Transportation

Hello everybody,

I thought you might get a kick out of seeing how I am getting around these days. Izzie's orphanage is on the outskirts of Antigua - about 10 minutes by car from my apartment - so for the past several months, I had been hiring a taxi to pick me up and drop me off every day. This became very expensive, adding up to literally hundreds of dollars a month. Finally, Aura, Izzie's nanny, convinced me to start taking the chicken buses and tuk tuks back and forth, which add up to less than half the cost of the taxis.

Here are some photos to illustrate:

CHICKEN BUS: A staple of public transportation in Guatemala, these used to be American school buses. Just take some crazy paint, throw a rosary around the rear-view mirror and VOILA - chicken bus! They call them chicken buses because you just might see someone with a chicken on board. Every morning, I leave the orphanage, walk about four blocks and catch one of these. It takes me as far as the market in Antigua, and then I have a 25 minute walk home. It works out well because I get all my daily shopping done on the way from the market to my apartment, plus it's great exercise! And the cost? Two quetzales, which add up to about 30 cents.

TUK TUK: This is basically a rickshaw built on top of a three-wheeled motorcycle. And when you're inside bouncing over the cobblestones, it feels like Mr. Toad's with no seatbelt. Yeehaw! When I'm ready to go back to the orphanage, I walk back to the market and take one of these all the way to the front door. Cost: between 10 and 15 quetzales - under two bucks!

Well, I've gotta run. My taxi will be here soon. Sunday's a big laundry day, and I still do use a taxi when I have big loads to haul back and forth.

Have a great week! I am praying, BEGGING God to let some major progress happen this week.

Thanks for checking in,

Kathy

Nothing Yet...

Hi everyone,

Well, another week has gone by with no progress at all. The MP did not deliver any of the seven reports that they promised to Nancy for this week. Bernardo went to the MP yesterday to ask about them, and he was told by the investigator the same excuse he's been repeating for two weeks: "The reports are done, but we're just waiting for my boss to sign them."

I did find out one tiny bit of good news today. Barbara Armstrong, the consul general at the U.S. Embassy, e-mailed another parent from our orphanage to tell her that they are "pushing things behind the scenes with the various agencies" and that they "hope to see some progress soon." I don't trust that the "agencies" (probably PGN and MP) necessarily honor their word after they promise things to diplomats, but I am happy to hear that the Embassy is at least trying to help us.

Please keep up the prayers and the pushing of our politicians. As the holidays approach with no end in sight, we are getting VERY depressed around here!

Thanks for your support!
Kathy

MP to Release Seven Reports?

Hi everyone,

I don't have much time to post, but Nancy, our orphanage director, says that the MP has promised to deliver at least seven of their reports this week, with more to come next week. These reports will supposedly unfreeze their respective cases, wherever they are in the Guatemalan legal pipeline. If our report is among them, it should allow us to move to the sign-off desk in PGN (where we belong). I have no idea if our letter is among them, or even if the MP is being honest about delivering them. I'll let you know! Please keep praying!

Love,
Kathy

Letter to Senators and Members of Congress

Hi friends and family,

We need your help to get our orphanage's cases un-frozen within the political system here in Guatemala. Today, I mass-emailed a sample letter to many of you which you can personalize and send to your senators and members of congress. If I missed you in my e-mail and you would like to help, please send me an e-mail at kathykron@yahoo.com and I will send you the letter.

Inevitably, many of us are going to receive a form letter back from our politicians, saying that they "cannot get involved in affairs of the Guatemalan government." Please do not accept this answer. We are NOT asking our reps to get involved in the Guatemalan government; rather, we are asking them to inform the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala and the U.S. Congressional Coalition on Adoption of the situation. (They will realize this if they read the end of the letter, but you know how some of these offices can be!)

Also, if any of you are politically connected, no matter where you live, but especially in Texas, please contact Jaimie at jgmorris@travelers.com. We would like to have as many "live" interactions with our representatives as possible.

Thanks in advance for your help (again)!!
Kathy

Crummy News and Photo/Video Fest

Hi Friends and Family,

Well, we got some crummy news yesterday. We are back on the investigations desk. Nope, I am NOT kidding. The ministerio publico (MP) somehow got word that we were making progress within the PGN and ordered our file to be frozen right where it's been for the past several months - in investigations. It's not because of a problem with our case, it's because we are associated with our orphanage, which the MP is investigating. They are blocking any of the cases from our orphanage from making any progress at all within any agency in the country.

Lissette actually scared the crud out of me when she called to tell me the news because she started the conversation like this: "Kathy, there's no easy way to say this, but..." My heart stopped. I thought she was going to tell me that Izzie's birth mom changed her mind or something! Jeez.

Oh well. I feel like it does no good to report our progress, since any steps forward always seem to get revoked later. Lissette IS hopeful that we might start moving again on Thursday because of some pressure the British Embassy is putting on the PGN. Let's hope it benefits the American families as well as the British ones!

ANYWAY...here are some videos and photos, as promised! I finally brought my memory card back to the apartment.

During Jaimie's visit a couple of weeks ago, Izzie figured out how ticklish her daddy is:

Fun with Daddy's Blackberry!

Gary endures a kid attack:


Sonia (above Izzie in the picture) made Izzie a grass skirt out of palm leaves!

Izzie and the "big" kids:

Sonia models her creation:

Izzie insists on feeding herself these days:

Luckily, she doesn't mind cleaning up afterward!

Fortunately, Aura's son-in-law made us a new high chair, which works much better than the saucer at feeding time. It's great for coloring, too! Doesn't our little girl look so grown up?


The videos are of Izzie washing her own feet and of Izzie dancing with Leo:

Thanks for checking in and please continue to PRAY. We obviously have a long way to go!!

Have a great weekend,

Kathy