Bringing Izzie Home

New Photos, by Popular Demand!

2009-09-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I have been getting requests to post more photos of Izzie, so here are some links to albums from this summer.

As you will see, we have been SO busy, which is why I have let the blog go... Please click the links below to see how much fun we have been having!

Izzie's first trip to the beach, July 4 weekend

Izzie visits Ohio for the first time

Izzie's First Trip to the Zoo

My Cousin Joey's Wedding

Trip to our Friends' Lake House

We are so grateful to be home and enjoying a normal life with our beautiful girl!

Love,

Kathy

Please Help Make a Difference for the World's Orphans

2009-07-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Please help with Joint Council's campaign to pass the Families for Orphans Act. There are millions of children worldwide who lack loving, permanent homes. As you know, our government, as well as other governments, do not always act constructively to place them with families. This law, if enacted, could make a real difference. Please check out the details below.

Thank you for your help!

Kathy

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CALL TO ACTION: Families For Orphans Act

Dear Friends and Families,

Anshula has recently come into an orphanage. She is four years old and alone. Where should she spend her childhood? In an orphanage? In temporary foster care? Or in a permanent and loving family?

The answer should be obvious: a safe, permanent and loving family. Unfortunately, the U.S. government and many aide organizations do not seem to agree. In fact, the U.S. sometimes spends millions of dollars, ensuring just the opposite. And while beloved organizations such as UNICEF keep millions of children alive, many believe it is better for children to live in temporary foster care than in a permanent family. The children of our world need your help to make a change. They need your help to live in a permanent family.

As a founding member of the Families For Orphans Coalition, Joint Council is proud to announce that the first step in making this much-needed change is upon us. In a bi-partisan effort, landmark legislation was introduced into Congress, which will ensure that U.S. government programs, policies and funding are directed towards a singular goal: a permanent family for every child.

The Families For Orphans Act (Senate Bill 1458 and House Bill 3070), sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and James Inhofe (R-OK) along with Representatives Diana Watson (D-CA) and John Boozman (R-AR) demonstrates our collective commitment to the millions of children living outside of permanent parental care and proactively addresses a global gap in the most basic of human rights - the right to a permanent family.

While the introduction of the legislation is an important first step, there is much more to be done. Now we must ensure that the Families For Orphans Act becomes the law of the United States. To do this, your voice is needed. Speak for those to cannot speak for themselves by supporting the Families For Orphans Act and joining our Call To Action.

What can you do?

Sign the Families For Orphans petition, make three simple phone calls, and get the word out! Here are the details...

1. Sign our Petition!
Sign the Joint Council Families for Orphans Petition
The Petition will be delivered to the U.S. Congress
2. Call Congress!
On July 28th, 29th, and 30th, call your three Members of Congress (two in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives).
You can find your Representative at http://www.house.gov/
You can find you Senators' at http://www.senate.gov/
Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff
For maximum effect, we are asking you to make these calls within this 72-hour window!
3. Get the word out!
Send this email to friends and family. Post to your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blog or website
What should you say or write to your Members of Congress?
This is an issue that is critical to children in need, so speak from your heart. Tell them why ensuring more children living in families is so important to you!
Ask your Senators and Representatives to become a Co-Sponsor of the Families for Orphans Act.
Please feel free to use the following text as a guideline when speaking with your Members of Congress.
"As a constituent of we are requesting that you support the Families For Orphans Act by becoming a Co-Sponsor of the legislation. For information on becoming a Co-Sponsor, please contact Senator Mary Landrieu, Senator James Inhofe, Representative Diane Watson or Representative John Boozman. Thank you for representing your constituents by becoming a Co-Sponsor of the Families For Orphans Act (Senate Bill 1458 and House Bill 3070)."
More Information

For detailed information on the Families For Orphans Act visit:
The Joint Council website (www.jcics.org)
For minute-by-minute updates, see Joint Council's page on Facebook
The websites of any Families For Orphans Coalition Member (see below)
T he Families For Orphans Legislation
On behalf of Joint Council, the Families for Orphans Coalition and the children of our world, we thank you for helping through your support of the Families For Orphans Act.

Rebecca Harris
Government Relations and Communications Manager

Guatemala 900 / Izzie Visits the Big Apple!

2009-06-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-06-02T08:13:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

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

Izzie McBusy II

2009-04-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

We have been really busy since arriving in Texas. I can't believe we have already been home for almost four weeks! Here are some photos of what has been happening.

Here are Izzie, me, and Jaimie, with our U.S.Congressman, Sam Johnson. Rep. Johnson and his staff were some of the people who worked hard to get us home from Guatemala.

Rep. Johnson's staffer, Jenny Healey, checked in with us on a regular basis and kept in touch with the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala on our behalf:

Sadly, Jaimie's Uncle Gerry passed away a couple of days after we got home. The family gathering did give Izzie a chance to meet her cousins Sam and Sara, though. They absolutely loved each other.

Izzie had her first stateside pediatrician's appointment, and unfortunately, she needs four vaccines to catch up. She had two of them, a blood test, and a TB test all on the same day, hence the band-aids on every limb!

Here, Izzie tries out the adorable rocking chair that Oma painted for her:

We'll call this one "The (Naked) Thinker"

Izzie gets ready for the church Easter Egg hunt. She wound up missing hunting for eggs because she was busy posing for a picture with some live bunnies. Hopefully, we'll have that picture to share soon.

Easter morning: Izzie peeks inside the basket the Easter Bunny left for her.

Oma sent some cute hair ribbons to contribute to the goodies:

Izzie searches for eggs in our game room upstairs. (It was a bit too chilly to go outside.) She caught on to the egg-hunting idea right away and proved to be a champion candy eater as well!

This weekend will be very exciting, as a huge posse of Izzie's family will be coming from Ohio to meet her. We will be having a welcome home celebration at our house on Saturday and Izzie will be baptized on Sunday. I am sure we will have many more pictures to share then!

Izzie McBusy

2009-03-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

We are still catching our breath, but Jaimie and I are SO enjoying being in our own home with our beautiful daughter. So, enjoy some new pics of Izzie McBusy (nickname coined by Brian, our neighbor in Guatemala)!

Enjoy the rest of the week!
Kathy

................................................................................

Christmas in March! Yesterday, Izzie finally opened the rest of her Christmas presents from Nana and Papa:
She got a stroller for her Bitty Baby...

...and matching "mother/daughter" pj's and slippers!!

Footage from the park!

Update from HOME and Picture Catch-Up

2009-03-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

We are finally settling in here at HOME in Texas! Izzie has been having a lot of fun. She already knows her way around the house, mostly due to the fact that she has been obsessively following Mischa into every corner of it. Mischa likes the attention, but the poor girl is wondering what is up with this really energetic admirer she suddenly has!

Yesterday, we took Izzie out for some much-needed shopping for clothes and supplies, and today we even went to church. We have gone to our neighborhood park, where Izzie quickly learned the ins and outs of all the playground equipment.

It is so unbelievable to finally see Izzie in our own house on American soil. There were times when we really couldn't envision this happy ending. I have to say that my predominant emotion right now is simply RELIEF!

So, without further ado, here are some photos of our fast and furious journey home over the past few days. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and support along the way. We could not have made it without you, and without a few special favors from God sprinkled in along the way!

Much love,
Kathy, Jaimie, and Izzie

................................................................

It's 5 a.m. Wednesday, as Izzie and Jaimie wait for the taxi bound for our Embassy appointment:

Izzie in the taxi...

No photos are allowed inside the Embassy, so here's a family shot after we get back to Antigua:

Izzie doesn't know she's saying good-bye to one of her beloved nannies, Deniz:

Izzie and Jaimie are happy to pack up and move!

Later, we have lunch at the home of our dear friends and prayer warriors, Paul and Ruth:

On Thursday, before leaving Antigua for the last time, Izzie says "good-bye" and "get a move on" to her boyfriend, Lorenzo:

It was so hard to say good-bye to our beloved nanny and friend, Aura:

Thursday night, Izzie and I relax during a dinner with Jaimie, Bernardo, and Lissette at the Westin in Guatemala City:

A proud Bernardo and Lissette with their LIBERATED client:

Izzie relaxes in the bath after dinner:

Friday: another early morning. The sun comes up as Izzie and Jaimie survey the plane we are about to board:

Izzie has an impromptu game of tic-tac-toe with Maria Alejandra, another adoptee who is going home to Texas:

We are on the plane and in the air! Praise be to God!

We clear immigrations and customs, and emerge from the airport with the newest U.S. citizen. (Thanks for the pic, Ann!)

Our welcoming committee!

It's lunchtime, so we stop for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (a Morrison family favorite):

We arrive home to see that Lesli, Paige, and Bailey have decorated the house!

Izzie has been having fun opening and shutting all the doors in the place. Don't ask me why. :)

Hello, Mischa! Mommy's home!

Izzie immediately gets to work filling Mischa's water bowl:

We knew they would become fast friends!

Izzie unwinds before bed and admires the balloons someone sent us. Whoever sent the balloons: thank you, and feel free to identify yourself!

This morning (Sunday), Izzie and I are ready for church:

After church, Izzie learns to make Mischa do tricks for treats:

A nice bath and a streak through the house with some strategically-placed balloons. Ah, to be home!

Home at Last

2009-03-21T04:37:00.000-07:00

More details and pictures to follow....but Kathy, Izzie and I all made it back to Texas yesterday!

(Happy) Panic!

2009-03-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time to give details, but our embassy appointment has been super-expedited, and we will be coming home as a family this coming Friday! Praise God!

Cuteness!

2009-03-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Izzie is feeling a lot better today. We have been hanging around the house while she recuperates. Here are some cute photos from today.

Hope you enjoy!
Kathy

Guatemala, home to the cutest babies and apparently, the biggest juice boxes in the world:

Craziness!

2009-03-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

It has been a crazy week since Tuesday, when Izzie was liberated from the orphanage. First, we spent a couple of days resting at home and "lunching" in Antigua. Then, unfortunately, Izzie got really sick again yesterday with adenovirus manifested as massive amounts of diarrhea. Fortunately, she is starting to feel a lot better today. The doctor did scare me yesterday, though, when he said that her symptoms could last for two weeks. All I keep thinking about is the airplane ride home!

Our DNA results (which we already found out are positive) will arrive to the Embassy on Monday. We are shooting for a visa appointment on Monday, March 23 and a trip home on Tuesday the 24th.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from this week.

Here is Izzie with me and her Oma (Audra) at Semillas after we learned the news of our freedom. (Thanks for the picture, Gary!)

The next day, we had lunch at Epicure in Antigua to celebrate. Here Izzie samples her ice cream:

And then, she tells us how cold it is:

Here, Izzie poses with our lifesaver Oma before she goes home:

Since arriving back at the apartment, Izzie finds shoes and socks to be wholly unnecessary:

She is back to doing her favorite things, like coloring, in a comfy setting:

Izzie plays with Cula, the DeCarlo Cooper's dog. Izzie is obsessed with dogs, and so far in life, Cula is her favorite:

And why wouldn't she be?

Please say a prayer for Izzie to recover soon so that we can enjoy our last few days in Guatemala without worry!

As always, thanks for your support!

Love,

Kathy

CUSTODY!!

2009-03-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I don't have a lot of time to post, as I am on the brink of collapse from exhaustion, but yesterday Izzie was released from the hospital on antihistamines and a tiny regimen of steroids. She is completely better (no more swelling or rash), although she is now shedding the top layer of skin all over her body, which is basically gross. The only thing that worries me is that we can't figure out what the allergic reaction was TO, so we don't know what to avoid in the future.

It was too dark to travel back to the orphanage last night, so we returned first thing this morning. About half an hour later, a document showed up from the court releasing Izzie to our custody! We are totally free to leave for home as soon as Izzie gets her U.S. visa, which will be in about two weeks. We are waiting for the DNA test results, and then the Embassy can schedule our appointment. We are a bit disillusioned because we paid to expedite the results, but they probably still won't get to the Embassy until this coming Monday. Boooo!

In the meantime, Izzie and I will relax in FREEDOM in our apartment. Today, for the first time, I feel like she is really, legitimately mine!

Thanks for the prayers and encouragement. We are almost home!

Kathy

Izzie under the weather

2009-03-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

We are still hopeful for some good news this week (Kathy getting custody of Izzie), but I wanted to let everyone know that Izzie has been admitted to a hospital in Guatemala City for observation today. She is having an allergic reaction to a virus she picked up. We initially thought she had cellulitus, a bacterial skin infection, but after several days on antibiotics it wasn't clearing up. The doctor today confirmed it was not a bacterial infection, so he gave her a shot of steroids and wants to observe her overnight.

Kathy and my mom are with Izzie at the hospital. With a little luck she'll be released tomorrow straight from the hospital to Kathy's apartment, and skip a return to the children's home altogether!

More and more progress!

2009-03-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been a bit crazy around here. To update you on our status: Izzie got her Guatemalan passport last Thursday, and we are going to the city for her doctor's appointment/final DNA test this coming Friday. The results should take about a week, and at that time, we will ask the U.S. Embassy for a visa appointment. Because of our previous difficulties with the adoption, the Embassy knows us and our case very personally, so I think they will grant us our appointment almost immediately.

The best news of all is that we passed the dreaded "step #11" yesterday! The judge in the Semillas case has judicially separated Izzie's adoption from the court proceedings against the orphanage. This is hugely wonderful news, as it means that we should not get caught up in any more Semillas drama (as in the same drama that has been holding us back for about a year now).

Unfortunately, the judge did not yet grant us custody, nor has she lifted the hold on Izzie's passport. We have been told to expect this to happen on Monday. It is very frustrating and illogical that Izzie, who has been separated from Semillas and who has a legal parent living in Guatemala, is not allowed to leave the orphanage. Still, we are respecting the judge's timing, as now would be a foolish time to make an enemy.

It looks like we are on schedule to go home in less than three weeks!

Please keep up the prayers to get us all the way through the home stretch. Jaimie and I will not be able to breathe until we have Izzie on American soil!

Love,
Kathy

LEGALLY OUR DAUGHTER!!

2009-02-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

We got the most fantastic news today! Izzie is now our legal daughter! Izzie became a Morrison today when Blas obtained her new birth certificate listing Jaimie and me as her parents.

So, steps #1-5 from my list from the other day are completed!

Here is what we have to do now before going home:

6. Izzie gets a Guatemalan passport.
7. Izzie visits a U.S. Embassy-approved doctor, who will certify that she is in good health.
8. A cheek-swab DNA test is done on Izzie to make sure she is the same baby we started with. The sample gets sent to a lab in the U.S. for processing.
9. DNA results are sent to the U.S. Embassy.
10. U.S. Embassy grants us a visa appointment.
11. The judge in the Semillas case lifts the hold on Izzie's passport and we can go home!

Presenting our LEGAL daughter and her Mrs. Potato Head earrings:

Please keep up the prayers! We are on a roll, but step #11 is going to be tricky.

Love,

Kathy

Congratulations, Tita and Otto!

2009-02-19T05:09:00.000-08:00

We are celebrating because yesterday, our dear friends Tita and Otto finally got to take their little girl, Carmen, home from Semillas! We think that they might be the first Guatemalan family to complete a domestic adoption in 2009. Here are Tita, Carmen, and big brother Andres in the car, bound for home!

Here is some footage of Izzie and her playmates enjoying the spacious new Semillas location:

Meanwhile, Lissette and Bernardo are working hard to get our new birth certificate out of RENAP-Guatemala for tomorrow. Soon, we will be the ones in the car bound for home!

Next Steps

2009-02-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody!

I have been getting a lot of questions from people about what steps we have to do before going home and how long everything should take, so here is a brief summary:

1. Blas (our adoption atty) gets Izzie's mom to sign the adoption resolution. (done yesterday)
2. Blas registers the adoption in Izzie's hometown of Momostenango. (done yesterday)
3. The adoption papers are submitted to the RENAP (public records) office in Guatemala. (done today)
4. RENAP issues a new birth certificate listing Jaimie and me as Izzie's parents.
5. Blas takes the new birth certificate to Momostenango to convert this birth certificate into a Momostenango birth certificate. This document makes us Izzie's legal parents.
6. Izzie gets a Guatemalan passport.
7. Izzie visits a U.S. Embassy-approved doctor, who will certify that she is in good health.
8. (At the same doctor's appointment) A cheek-swab DNA test is done on Izzie to make sure she is the same baby we started with. The sample gets sent to a lab in the U.S. for processing.
9. DNA results are sent to the U.S. Embassy.
10. U.S. Embassy grants us a visa appointment. One day after our visa appointment, we are travel-ready on the U.S. side.
11. The judge in the Semillas case lifts the hold on Izzie's passport and we can go home!

As you can imagine, steps #1-10 will probably be easy. Step #11 is the great unknown. Izzie's roommate Jorge (who had Bernardo as a lawyer, too) passed the judge pretty easily in December, but not one other Semillas family has been able to get her approval since then. That's where our superstar Bernardo comes in. The environment keeps changing, so we are praying that Bernardo will still be able to be effective in freeing us from the Semillas case.

Our goal is to have steps #3-5 completed by the middle or end of next week.

Please say a prayer that all goes smoothly and quickly!

Kathy

O-U-T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

GREAT NEWS!! We are OUT of PGN!!! In other words, our adoption of Izzie has been approved! Jaimie is here in Guatemala and we three are celebrating BIG TIME!

It has been such a rough road to get out of PGN. When we entered PGN, we expected to be released after a typical eight-week stay. For us, the stay lasted SIXTEEN MONTHS!! It still feels great to get out, though!

PGN was the last agency who should give us any trouble. The rest of our process should consist of routine, check-off-type steps. This means that we could be home in as few as five or six weeks!

Thank you, God, for Bernardo and Lissette! Their incredibly hard work has gotten us here.

Thanks to all of you for all the prayers and for the steadfast support. We are now in the HOME STRETCH!!

Love,
Kathy, Jaimie and "Iz"

We're Still Waiting...

2009-02-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

We're still waiting for news from the PGN about our approval. We are hoping to get out today or tomorrow, but we just don't know for sure. We will keep you posted.

Documents Found!

2009-01-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,

We finally got some great news today. Lissette has located everything we need to fix our previo. She received the letter from the mayor's office last week, and she has definitely located "troublesome document #2." She will be picking up document #2 tomorrow morning and Blas will be resubmitting our file to the PGN by tomorrow afternoon at the latest! The reviewer and PGN chief promised they would expedite our file once they got these letters, so Lissette thinks we should be out of PGN within a few days, rather than the more typical two weeks.

Jaimie is going to be here from Thursday through early Tuesday morning. Could it really be that we will have something REAL to celebrate when we are together this weekend? I sure hope so! As you all know, we don't count our chickens before they hatch around here, but I can't help but to feel hopeful again. Once we are out of PGN, it will probably be seven weeks or so before we get to come home, barring any other bizarre events.

Bernardo has said that he truly believes that these two documents are the last obstacle that anyone can throw in our way. He thinks that our case should progress at a "normal" pace after we finally exit PGN. I am trying to trust his optimism. We shall see!

Thanks for the prayers and for hanging in there with us!

Love,
Kathy

Still No Movement...

2009-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posting, but there has literally been nothing to report. As it turns out, there are two documents the PGN is requiring, and one if them is extremely obscure and is proving difficult to produce. So, we have not submitted anything to fix our previo yet. I feel like we will never get to come home.

On the bright side, Izzie is getting cuter and funnier by the day. She is talking a lot and actually makes sense most of the time. She is learning her colors, and recognizes and says "blue" and "yellow" when I show them to her. Yesterday we were coloring, and I asked her what color the sun should be, and she said "yellow." Not bad for 19 months old! Of course, we think she must be a genius!

I have been having a lot of trouble uploading photos to this blog, but if you click here, you can see some cute pics from January.

Thanks for checking in! As usual, we hope to have some good news to share soon!

Love,
Kathy

Bernardo to the Rescue - Again!

2009-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,

We got some positive news today. Bernardo, Lissette, and our adoption attorney, Blas, met with the PGN reviewer and his boss (the head of PGN) today. These are the last two people whose signatures we need to finally get our PGN approval. In the meeting, it was decided that in order to get both signatures, we need to provide a letter from the mayor of Izzie's birth mother's town to explain why there are no public records available from before the civil war. The reviewer and head of PGN promised that they once they receive this letter, they will both immediately approve the case and process our exit from PGN as quickly as possible. We expect that the mayor will very willingly issue the letter, but it will probably take a few days to deliver it to PGN, since the town is really far away.

I am still trying to get over the disappointment of not getting out of PGN this week, since that is what we had originally expected; however, Lissette thinks that within another week and a half we should be out for REAL this time. It is also wonderfully reassuring to know that the head of PGN already knows our case and is ready with "pen in hand" to sign off. It was a brilliant strategy on Bernardo's part to make an appointment with both her and the reviewer, since it puts everyone on the same page and prevents any other requirements from popping up at the last minute.

Thanks as always for the unwavering support and prayers! I can see an teeny, tiny little light beginning to shine at the end of the tunnel.

Speaking of prayers, could I ask all our "prayer warriors" to also pray for my two aunts? My Aunt Susan took a fall the other day and broke both her wrist and her foot on the right side. More seriously, my Aunt Rosemary (also my godmother) was diagnosed with oral cancer yesterday. The doctors are optimistic that it is treatable, but she will have to undergo what will surely be a painful surgery and radiation to her tongue. It is one of those flukey things, since she doesn't smoke and obviously doesn't chew tobacco, either. I love both these women so much, so I would appreciate if you could ask God to watch over both of them.

I hope to be able report some SERIOUS progress in the near future. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

Love,
Kathy

Kick in the Teeth #9 or #10 or I lost count...

2009-01-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

We were expecting great news this week, but it seems that the powers-that-be here in Guatemala have thrown another major roadblock in our way. On December 23, we received word that the Ministerio publico cleared our case to continue. This was great news, because it meant that we could get "unfrozen" within PGN. Since we were already at the final reviewer in PGN, we thought it would be easy and quick to finally get our approval. We had already survived an extensive investigation by the PGN's investigations unit, we had been cleared by a special "legal consultant" inside the PGN, and of course, we now had our magic "golden ticket" in the form of our MP clearance letter. Our case has been investigated backwards, forwards, inside and out, and has been found to be absolutely problem-free.

Apparently, all that is not enough for the final reviwer inside the PGN. Today, he revived an old previo (kick-out) that we had gotten over a year ago -one that we had been told had been forgiven during the PGN investigation. This previo claims that the birth mother is faking her last names, and requires us to submit a copy of her parents' marriage license. What the PGN already knows is that we simply cannot produce this document because it was burned during the civil war here in the 80's. (Back then, the Guatemalan army went around burning down the court houses in the Mayan parts of the country to destroy people's land deeds so they could steal their property for themselves.) Anyway, so even though the head of the investigations unit inside the PGN itself forgave this previo, and even though the MP (equivalent of the FBI) did not question the birth mother's identity, some self-important guy is now making an issue of it.

I have no idea how much time this will add to our process. It could be days, weeks, or months, depending on what the reviewer is willing to accept in lieu of the marriage license. Bernardo already has a collection of substitute documents that may or may not fly with him. Please pray that this reviewer will start thinking reasonably and compassionately and just let us go home already!

I can't even express how depressed I am. These ridiculous people have kept Izzie and me from living with Jaimie for over a year based on completely false and unfounded accusations. This is all the result of a personal vendetta on the part of petty people. I am 100% sure that if we weren't associated with Semillas de amor, that we would have been home a year ago. And now I have to wonder how much longer we have to go on living this way.

Anyway, thanks for checking in. I know you all have been praying very hard for us. I just hope we are all rewarded someday for keeping the faith.

Love,
Kathy

One Year Ago Today...

2009-01-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, we picked up Izzie from the orphanage and we began living together. And what a rollercoaster of a year it has been! Thanks to God and to our awesome lawyer, I have only had to spend two days separated from our precious baby. I thank God every day that I get to live with my beautiful Izzie and I pray that she, Jaimie, and I will all live together soon!

Here are Izzie and Jaimie a few days ago:

And Izzie and me a year ago:

I am hopeful that this first full week of 2009 will bring about progress and the beginning of the end of our stay in Guatemala!

Thanks for checking in!

Kathy

Catch-up on Christmas Pictures

2008-12-29T16:43:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas Cutie Pie

2008-12-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, Everybody! Love, Izzie

Decorating for Christmas

2008-12-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-12-14T08:04:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-12T10:35:00.001-08:00

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...

2008-12-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-12-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-07T13:31:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-20T07:16:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-12T09:29:00.001-08:00

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...

2008-11-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-08T09:36:00.001-08:00

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?

2008-11-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

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..."

2008-10-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-10-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-10-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-20T10:42:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

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

Waiting for Sign-Off!

2008-10-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, everybody!

We found out yesterday that we are finally on the sign-off desk, which means that we should be out of PGN sometime next week.

Sorry I haven't posted pictures in a while -- I keep accidentally leaving the memory card from my camera at the orphanage when I come back to the apartment each day. I have some cute pics of Izzie and Jaimie from when he was here a couple of weeks ago that I want to share.

Here are a couple of recent pictures, courtesy of our friend Gary:

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Get to Keep the Apartment

2008-10-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Good news on the apartment...Jaimie contacted our landlord and worked it out so we can stay here as long as we need to. Thank God for Jaimie! I was so shocked and upset that I couldn't negotiate for myself yesterday. This morning, when I saw the landlord he apologized profusely. So, all is good on that front.

Still waiting for news about whether we got to the final desk yesterday. I will update when I hear!

Kathy

Some Hope for Progress?

2008-10-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

I am hoping to hear some news of progress in our case today. I talked to Lissette yesterday, and she seems to think that our file should be leaving the "legal consultants" office by today and heading straight for the sign-off desk. (This is based on a meeting I didn't know about that Bernardo had with the head "legal consultant" on Friday.) Lissette thinks that she and Bernardo can then get us out of PGN within 5 days once we get to the sign-off desk.

Meanwhile, I'm a bit miffed because my landlord said that he needs me out of my apartment by January 1. I am not at all confident that we will be home by then. Our original agreement was that I could stay in my apartment until our process was over, but he decided to accept a deposit from someone for January. He said he feels obligated to this new guy because he gave a $300 deposit. What about the $9K I've spent on rent here this year? I can't believe I now have to look for a new apartment on top of everything else. It is sad, because my apartment is so nice and secure and it is perfect for Izzie - nice dogs, big yard, etc. Plus, I was looking forward to bringing Izzie back here because she will hopefully remember the place and already feel at home.

Anyway, I hope to have good news by tomorrow. Maybe we will get home by the end of the year - who knows?

Thanks for checking in! Please keep up the prayers! We need them!

Kathy

A Step Backward

2008-10-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well, we have taken another step backward within the PGN. Our file was supposed to have gone to the second reviewer's desk earlier this week, but Lissette found out that as of yesterday, we were being held in some office called the "legal consultants." After they check out our file (supposedly today, which probably means sometime next month), we will then get to go the second reviewer. I am really, really frustrated, and I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get to come home!

In the meantime, here's a cute pic of Izzie and two of her three boyfriends, Jorge and ZoZo. (Leo is usually in contention, too.) It seems that the boys can't get enough of Izzie's cuddly love!

Out of Investigations - For Real, This Time!

2008-10-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

We have some PGN progress to report:

Yesterday, our file finally left the investigations office. We were told it would happen three weeks ago, but it actually did yesterday. Instead of going to the final sign-off desk, we got sent to a second reviewer, which is ridiculous because we already passed the second reviewer before the investigation. Also, there should be nothing left to review, considering how extensive the investigation was.

Anyway, it's still progress, and it should mean that we have now cleared the toughest critics within the PGN. Lissette and Bernardo are very friendly with the department where our file is now, so they should be able to move us to the final sign-off desk soon. They are hoping to get us out of PGN sometime next week.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

Kathy

Pictures from Trip to the MP

2008-10-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Here are some pictures from our trip to the interview with the MP in Guatemala City on Monday. Our photographer friend Gary and his wife Ellora had to bring their son Leo for his interview, so Gary snapped photos of all of us to record the event.

Here we are en route to the interview. Unfortunately, car seats are something they don't really do in Guatemala:

Izzie is being helped out of the van by our driver. I had dressed Izzie in a special, super-cute outfit, but she got carsick on the way and puked her guts out, which made it necessary for me to break out her back-up clothes:

Here, Izzie eats her cheese puffs while resting on some trunks of evidence:

While waiting in the lobby, a parade passed by, so we all stepped outside to watch it. It was amazing, actually, because it was a band made up of students from a school for the deaf. The music sounded great!

Here, Izzie and her birth mother get their picture taken by an MP official while I try to get Izzie to look at the camera. I was sad for her birth mom because Izzie wanted nothing to do with her, and it was probably the last time they would ever see each other.

Here we are going back to the car after the interview. You can see a lot of our "cast of characters" in this picture: in the forefront are nannies with other kids from the orphanage, the white-blonde lady is Nancy, the orphanage director, the young woman in the black top and gray pants in the middle is Lissette, and on the far right is Izzie's birth mom. Ellora is in the back in the yellow sweater and jeans.

I will keep y'all posted about any news we get about our case!

Thanks for checking in,

Kathy

Izzie's Crazy Mayor

2008-09-30T08:02:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

I got really excited when I read the headline in the newspaper this morning: "Mayors Agree to Turn Over Records to RENAP." Apparently, the majority of the disobedient mayors and the president of Guatemala reached a series of agreements yesterday leading to the implementation of RENAP in their towns.

Unfortunately, when I got past the headline and read the article, it mentioned that a few of the mayors are still stubbornly refusing to cooperate. The article then singled out one particularly crazy mayor who skipped yesterday's meeting with the president in order to take to the streets and encourage his townspeople to actually burn down the local RENAP office once it is established. Of course, this fruit loop turned out to be the mayor of Momostenango, Izzie's place of birth.

I'm not really sure what this means in terms of our chances of getting a new birth certificate. It doesn't seem like something that's likely to happen in a timely manner. At least for the next several days, it probably won't even be safe for Blas, our adoption lawyer, to go to Momostenango, since the townspeople in a lot of these places are staging angry and violent protests. I hope that they don't have a lot of stamina so that Blas can get in there sometime soon and get things done.

I guess this is all a moot point until we get out of PGN anyway, but Bernardo and Lissette think that we could be out by Friday.

Please pray that our case can keep moving! I do not want to decorate our room at the orphanage for Christmas!

Thanks for checking in,
Kathy

MP Interview a Success

2008-09-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I don't have a lot of time to write, but Izzie's birth mom's interview seemed to go well with the Ministerio publico ("MP" - federal prosecutors) today. She was one of four mothers interviewed.

PGN Update: Our file still hasn't moved from investigations. Apparently, today is the "day of the lawyer" in Guatemala, and the lawer in charge of signing our file and taking it upstairs to the sign-off desk is taking today off to celebrate herself and the legal profession. I am not joking. The situation is quite frustrating, although it does bring back sweet memories of my working days, when I would knock off for the national "day of the sales rep."

We also heard today that the elusive files for the case against the orphanage will finally get back to the judge in Chimaltenango on Wednesday, so everything should begin to wrap up on that front. It was necessary for the files to get back in order for the judge to lift the hold on the passports and to lift the protective order that is holding all the kids at the orphanage. So, hopefully this means that we will be free to have custody of Izzie as soon as we get a birth certificate and free to leave the country and come home as soon as Izzie has a visa.

Speaking of getting a birth certificate....At this moment, the president of Guatemala and the 74 disobedient mayors are having a meeting about RENAP. Citizens in the small towns in the K'iche part of the country are taking this RENAP thing as a real threat, and in some places there has been hostage-taking, road blocks, and other civil unrest. I am praying that by the time we get out of PGN (hopefully within the next few days), there will at least be a pause in the drama that will allow us to secure our birth certificate.

Wish us luck and please keep up the prayers!

Kathy

A HUGE Delay?

2008-09-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I am so sick to report that another HUGE delay is most likely going to get in our way. As you know, we are very close to getting out of PGN (it will probably happen sometime next week) and the next step is to get Izzie's new birth certificate with our last name on it. After getting out of investigations, Jaimie and I finally started imagining an imminent homecoming, perhaps within the next 6 weeks or so. Finally, we were going to be able to live as a family and stop enduring the incredible emotional and financial hardships which have plagued us for the past nine months. Well, guess again.

For the past year or so, Guatemala has been trying to centralize all its vital records (birth and death certificates, voter registration, marriage licenses, etc.) into a central database called RENAP. One by one, cities have been rolling onto the system, which basically has taken over issuance of these kinds of documents. The deadline for ALL cities to go on RENAP is this coming Tuesday, September 30.

The major problem: 70 towns, including Izzie's place of birth, are refusing to go on RENAP. Their mayors do not want to give up the autonomy, and most especially, the source of income that goes along with issuing their own documents. The president of Guatemala is very angry about this, and is dispatching the military to set up blockades to these towns to basically prevent them from operating until they agree to go on RENAP. The mayors have approached Congress about an extension to the September 30 deadline, but according to today's papers, Congress has refused. Nobody knows how long the stand-off will last or what the result will be. If towns concede and DO agree to go on RENAP, it will likely take considerable time for them to turn over their records to the central government.

So, we are stuck again indefinitely. The really, really, really crummy thing is that without a birth certificate, we are not yet Izzie's legal parents and therefore cannot remove her from the orphanage. So I will continue to have to live on an air mattress in the depressing, dank, damp orphanage for who knows how long? Several weeks? Several months? The hope of making it home by this Christmas, which was very realistic two days ago, now seems like a long shot.

Izzie's birth mother interview with the ministerio publico (MP) has been scheduled for Monday, but now we don't know if she'll be able to make it, since the roads between her town and Guatemala City might be barricaded due to this RENAP garbage.

I am hoping that on his birthday today, Keegan can convince God to work some kind of miracle for us.

Happy Birthday, Keegan!

2008-09-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday to our beautiful little angel in heaven! We think about you every day and we feel so blessed to have been your parents!

Bye-Bye, Investigations!!

2008-09-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

We got some great news today. The head of investigations met with Bernardo today and she said that she is satisfied and that the investigation will now be closed. She promised to sign her approval by Monday, at which time our file will be sent up to the director of PGN to await her final approval. Praise God!!

If all goes super-well, we might be out of PGN by the end of next week and one giant step closer to being Izzie's legal parents. We don't know yet whether we'll need a birth mother interview with the MP before we're allowed to exit PGN, or whether we can wait and do the interview later. Bernardo is hoping that we can get out of PGN and get our birth certificate before the MP interview, since it will be a lot more difficult for the MP to do something crazy (like "rescue" Izzie) if the adoption has already been completed.

Thank you, as always, for the support and prayers! Please keep them up, as we have quite a few more tricky obstacles to overcome!

Love,
Kathy, Jaimie, and Izzie

Progress (kinda, sorta)

2008-09-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Did you ever describe someone as the type of person who "never does things halfway?"

Well, sometimes I think things are only done halfway around here.

Today, Bernardo, two of his associates, and Blas (our original, orphanage-appointed lawyer) went to PGN for their appointment with the head of investigations for the great unveiling of the DNA results. Unfortunately, the head of investigations didn't bother to show up for the meeting. She let someone sit in for her, so at least the envelope was opened. Everybody present saw that the results were 99.99% positive, and all present signed a legal document stating that they were present for the breaking of the seal and that they saw the positive results.

This is good, because now the PGN has been legally informed (albeit a second time) that Izzie and her mom are indeed biologically mother and daughter. What is crummy is that Bernardo had planned to insist that the head of investigations sign off her approval of our case right then and there. We complied with what she required at our last meeting (new DNA test), but she wasn't even there to hold up her end of the bargain (releasing us from investigation and letting us move on to the final approval desk).

Bernardo *thinks* she will sign our case out of investigations on Friday. He is going to meet with her around 9 or 10 am Friday to try to make sure no more funny business or messing around happens. We are PRAYING that this happens so we can FINALLY get moving again toward an exit from PGN. Please pray with us that this happens. My patience is so very, very thin lately. Everyone around us seems to be hurtling toward home, but we are stuck in molasses.

I'll let you know as soon as I have any news!

Thanks as always for the support and prayers!

Kathy

More Waiting...

2008-09-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

Well, the meeting that was supposed to happen on Wednesday to open the DNA results did not take place. It's a long story, but the meeting got postponed to yesterday (Friday) and yesterday it got rescheduled again for this coming Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Bernardo went to the Ministerio publico (MP) on Thursday and found out that those two sets of parents have indeed done damage to our timeline for getting out of here. The MP explained that they got concerned when they saw that parents were trying to get their babies out of the country by avoiding the court process, so they felt that they had to initiate their own investigation into each of the cases. The MP has also deemed it necessary to do its own birth mother interviews. Counting her social worker interview and all her interviews with PGN, this will be the fifth time that Izzie's birth mother will have to make a 16-hour round trip to be interviewed. I am really worried about the timing of this, since she is about six months pregnant.

This weekend is a three-day weekend in Guatemala (Independence Day is Monday), so there will be no progress or news on anything until Tuesday. It seems that all we ever do around here is wait (and wait and wait).

Meanwhile, though, here are some cute photos and videos of Izzie:

Izzie in her casita:

Here, Izzie is blowing bubbles at the b-day party of her friends Leo and Julia:

And here is Izzie's version of bowling!

Have a great weekend! Prayers to our friends in the Houston area who are enduring Ike right now. Please stay safe!

Kathy

Some Great News and Another Possible Delay

2008-09-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

We got great news this morning regarding the DNA test. Lissette has just received telephone confirmation from the lab that the results are positive. What happens next: Tomorrow Lissette will receive a sealed envelope from the lab with the official, written results. Bernardo will take the sealed envelope to the PGN, where he will open the envelope in the presence of the PGN lawyer who witnessed the test. Then, hopefully, we will get a signature from the head of the investigations unit that will officially release us from investigation. Our file will then be sent to the head of PGN for our final approval signature.

New complications have arisen, however. (Don't they always?) Ordinarily, once you get your approval signature from the head of PGN, your case is officially approved and you are free to seek a new birth certificate for the baby with her new last name. The issuance of this new birth certificate signifies that the adoptive parents are now the legal parents of the child.

Here's the problem: The ministerio publico (DA's office) has just ordered PGN to place a suspension on all our orphanage's cases. This means that after we get our approval signature, instead of getting out of PGN, we get sent to the "minors' section" of PGN, where our file will be held indefinitely. This means no birth certificate, no custody for me of Izzie, and no homecoming for Izzie and me in the near future. We will continue the tedious life we've been living inside the orphanage.

Nancy, the director of our orphanage, is meeting with the MP today to find out why they have ordered PGN to suspend the cases and to offer them whatever information they need to lift the suspension. It is likely that the MP will want to interview each birth mother and review their files. Each case will probably be released and allowed to proceed one by one as they complete these reviews.

So, why has the MP decided to suddenly get involved after laying low for four months? Those of us who spend a lot of time in the orphanage are 100% sure that it's because of two adoptive families who came to town a couple of weeks ago in an attempt to make an "end run" around Nancy and the judge in charge of the orphanage's case. These families were tired of waiting for the court case to get underway (aren't we all?), so they hired a lawyer, who tried to circumvent the court system by appealing for help from the MP. This "woke the sleeping giant" of the MP. In fact, the prosecutor from the MP told Nancy yesterday that he felt "pressure" to suspend all her cases within PGN because of some adoptive parents who came to visit him a couple of weeks ago.

The whole situation is very difficult to understand, let alone explain in writing, but suffice it to say that two families have jeopardized, delayed...basically sacrificed the adoption processes of 50 other children in an attempt to get their two children home a tiny bit faster.

There is, fortunately, one ray of hope for our particular case. Since our case has been through an extensive, all-exhausting investigation already, Bernardo thinks that the MP and PGN may give us a pass. That is to say, they might release our case despite the suspension since there is basically nothing left to investigate. Bernardo will be working hard on making this happen in the coming days. There are no guarantees, of course.

Please pray that reason and compassion for the children somehow win out as this mess gets sorted out!

Thanks for your support and prayers. We will keep you posted!

Kathy

Puppy Love

2008-09-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Today, the Coopers brought their newly rescued dog, Cula, to visit. Izzie is fascinated with dogs, but it has been a really long time since she has lived with Sandy and Chico, so she was a little shy. As you can see from the pictures, Izzie was VERY interested, but kept a safe distance. She DID, however, show her excitement by screaming "puppa" ("puppy") 60 or 70 times.

In this last picture, Izzie had pulled the chair cushion down herself to get a comfy view of the dog.

And in another kind of puppy love...Here is a cute video of Izzie playing with her "boyfriend" ZoZo. While Jaimie was in town last weekend, we sat down with the Coopers and decided that if each family puts aside $10 a month, we should have plenty saved for their wedding when they're 30 or so.

On Wednesday of this week, the PGN and we are supposed to get the results of the latest DNA test. After that, our case should get moving again - hopefully FAST. This week, we are also hoping that some progress happens in the court case involving the orphanage, as Izzie and I will be stuck in Guatemala until that stuff gets sorted out as well.

Have a great week! Thanks for checking in on us and for the continued prayers and support!

Kathy

DNA Test Done

2008-08-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, everybody made it to Guatemala City yesterday for the DNA test. Unfortunately, PGN required a blood test instead of a cheek swab. Izzie took it like a pro, though, without even crying. We should get the results within 7 business days (a week from Monday?), and then, provided that the results are positive, Bernardo thinks he can get us out of PGN within a week after that. Add about one more week for the birth certificate, plus one more to get custody from the judge, and we could be out of the orphanage in as few as 3.5 weeks.

It was scary and even sad to have to deal with the PGN yesterday. Before the DNA test, while we were waiting in the lobby of the clinic, the PGN lawyer who came to witness the test decided to pull the birth mother aside for yet ANOTHER birth mother interview. Yes, interview #3. It is so very clear that PGN is doing its very best to intimidate and lay traps for these birth mothers at every turn so that they can say that they are "rescuing" children. The way they act is appalling, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the best interests of the children. That Izzie's birth mother continues to show up and suffer these abuses really is a true testament to her love for Izzie. I pray that they are finally done torturing her for making the loving decision to give Izzie a better life.

I'll let you know as soon as we have any more progress!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Kathy

Izzie Dancing and New Haircut

2008-08-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Thought y'all would enjoy a video of Izzie dancing. Every night at the orphanage, Izzie and her friends have a dance party, of which Izzie is the queen. In the video, you can also see her friends Julia and Lorenzo ("ZoZo").

And here is Izzie with her brand new haircut, posing with Bely, who has been doing Izzie's and my hair for the past several months. Bely is moving to Las Vegas next week, so we won't be able to go to her shop anymore. Hopefully, we'll be home before either of us needs our hair done again!

Please say prayers tonight that everything goes well with our DNA test tomorrow. I am freaking out a little bit because I just found out that Izzie's birth mom is bringing her sister with her to the appointment so she can meet Izzie. I hope it's harmless, and that this aunt isn't thinking about taking Izzie to raise her. Even though Izzie is 15 months old, the adoption still isn't final, so her birth mom can still change her mind. Lissette is going to talk to the birth mom and the aunt tomorrow to try to find out if they're hatching any ideas. She doubts it, but I will not be able to breathe until this adoption is finalized already!

DNA Test is Thursday

2008-08-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

The DNA test for Izzie and her birth mom has been scheduled for Thursday morning. There will be a big contingent of people there, including Izzie, me, Lissette (Bernardo's assistant), a nanny to represent the orphanage, a lawyer to represent PGN, our original adoption attorney, Izzie's birth mom, and Izzie's birth mom's boyfriend. Whew! I hope the lab can fit all of us. Please pray for a positive result for us! I am worried, not about Izzie's birth mom being who she claims she is, but because apparently, eating or drinking too soon before the test can affect the results. Apparently, milk is the worst offender in skewing DNA results, so Izzie is going to have a breakfast of chicken and broccoli and fruit for breakfast on Thursday. Let's hope she eats it!

Please pray for a safe journey for all of us to Guatemala City. Izzie's birth mom is coming from 8 hours away and she's five or six months pregnant, so I hope it all goes well for her.

Thanks for checking in!

Kathy

Progress Ahead!

2008-08-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has taken me so long to tell you the results of the meeting that Bernardo and I had with the head of the PGN investigations unit last Thursday, but here goes...

Basically, the meeting started off really scary and then got better. The head of investigations(who, by the way, has a reputation for being rabidly anti-adoption) started the meeting by saying, "I have come to conclude that the woman who claims to be the biological mother in this case really is not." Even though we had to pick our jaws off the floor upon hearing that, Bernardo and I knew that she was just posturing by starting the meeting that way. After all, Izzie and her birth mom had a 99.99% match result when they did a DNA test last year, plus no woman who is not related to Izzie would have spent 48 hours with us fighting to get her back after the botched PGN birth mother interview. Also, there is the fact that Izzie looks exactly like her.

But anyway, out of respect and in order to "play the game" her way, we listened carefully as the PGN lawyer told us her reasoning. Her conclusion was based on their findings that 1.) the midwife who delivered Izzie was unregistered and 2.) Izzie's birth mom delivered her first two children in one clinic, but switched to a different clinic to deliver Izzie. Wow. Compelling evidence, no?

Anyway, the good news is that Bernardo simply asked if we could re-do the DNA test to prove that Izzie's mom is who she says she is. The PGN lawyer said "sure," and the meeting ended on a cheerful note as she made arrangements for one of her staff to attend the test as a witness.

So, apparently, the ONLY thing we have to do to pass the investigation and ultimately finish the adoption is to have another DNA test. Hopefully, we will get Izzie and her mom together in a lab sometime this week to do it. I am not at all worried about the result, but Jaimie and I do ask for your continued prayers for a speedy and positive end to our LONG stay in PGN.

Gotta run! Thanks for checking in and for your constant support and prayers!

Love,

Kathy

Welcome to Our New Blog

2008-08-16T11:58:00.001-07:00

Hi friends and family,

Welcome to our new blog! Check here to find out about the progress we're making with Izzie's adoption and to get your fix of cute Izzie pics. Since I am still living at the orphanage, where internet access is very limited, I will unfortunately not be able to update as often as I used to when Izzie and I lived together in our apartment.

The latest news:

The PGN investigator has finally submitted his opinion of our case. As you will recall, on June 4, when Izzie's birth mother interview went "bad" (due to no fault of hers or ours), the PGN threw our case into "investigations," which meant that a throrough investigation of every aspect of our case would be conducted. Anyway, this past Thursday, after 10 weeks of waiting, the investigator finally issued a favorable ruling, saying that our adoption may continue. This is very good news, since he could have canceled the adoption altogether. The investigator is, however, requesting additional documents to support our case. In other words, he has issued more "previos" (to those of you who have picked up the vocab of Guatemalan adoption). This stinks, because it means more delays as we gather whatever additional paperwork he seems to think we need. This coming Thursday, our lawyer Bernardo and I will meet with the head of the investigations unit. Our goals will be to find out what we need to do to satisfy the previos and to hopefully enlist her support in bringing this adoption to approval very quickly.

Once we satisfy the previos, Bernardo thinks we can get out of PGN within two weeks and get Izzie's new birth certificate (with our last name) within one week after that. At that point, Jaimie and I will be Izzie's legal parents and Izzie and I might be able to move out of the orphanage and back to my apartment. There, we will wait for her U.S. visa and for the court case against the orphanage to get straightened out. My optimistic estimate is that we will move out of the orphanage in about five weeks or so.

Background about the court case against the orphanage:

As a result of the PGN raids in May, Izzie's orphanage still faces a legal battle in court and possibly with the Ministerio publico (DA's office). Although these charges are completely unrelated to Izzie or our case, they could stand in the way of our going home once our adoption is actually finished. This is because the PGN has put an arraigo (a hold) on the passports of every child from the orphanage, which means that they would get stopped at the airport if they tried to leave the country. The judge in the orphanage's case has the power to lift the arraigo, but she is on vacation until August 25, so nothing is going to happen until then.

So, we are stuck here for the forseeable future. Life has gotten very difficult, tiring, and expensive. Of course, Izzie is worth every bit of the stress. She is an absolute joy and ray of sunshine. She is developing into quite a charismatic, affectionate, and bright little girl. In case you haven't gotten this link by other means, here is a website with some great recent pictures of Izzie. Before Izzie was forced back into the orphanage, I had bought her an adorable dress for her first birthday, intending to have her picture taken in it in the local photo studio. Since this became impossible, one of the other "stranded" adoptive parents, Gary Cooper, agreed to do a photo shoot of Izzie. Gary is a professional photographer and did a WAY better job than the local photographer would have. (No offense to the other guy, but it's true!)

http://www.gjcphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/5545448_rFUQw#342284588_E8uEA

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support. Jaimie and I are learning a hefty lesson about patience, and we really do need continued prayers.

Love,
Kathy