A gift from God

Wow! I don't even know where to start! God has given us the git of smiles, laughter and love all in this 15 pound, dark eyed baby girl! I cannot even begin to tell you how much she is loved. Her sisters cannot stand to be away from her (we'll see how long that lasts) and her Daddy has even shown a softer side (she has him wrapped around her finger already)! We are so honored that God would choose her for us! Thank you Lord Jesus for bringing this little girl home!!!

On our way!!!

We got the Visa yesterday and are headed home tomorrow!! Thank God! We have stories to tell Aubryella when she gets older!

This is kinda funny, we made the front page of the National News paper here. They have a picture of my mom, Aubryella and me! We didn't even know they took it. Needless to say, My Mom and I look horrible because we were so stressed out with not knowing if we were getting a visa or not! Aubryella looks as sweet as ever! The paper was all over the place! People kept coming up to us saying "we saw you on the front page of the paper".

Well, I will let you know when we make it home safe!!

Embassy Appointment today

I'm posting (Sean), as Tiffany's internet in Guatemala is sporadic.
She had a much less-than-fun experience today at the US Embassy in Guatemala City. She was given incomplete information by our agency's Guatemalan lawyer and showed up with less than the paperwork she needed. Fortunately, God provided (He says he provides just what we need!), and another adoptive family's Guatemalan lawyer was there and bent over backwards to help Tiffany get the paperwork in time for her appointment (the embassy said if she didn't have the paperwork by the time her # was called she'd be kicked to the bottom of the pile).
The great news is Tiffany got done what needed to be done and she's all set to pick up the final paperwork at the embassy tomorrow afternoon and fly home on Friday! Not a day too soon!

Thank you to those of you who've been praying for this to all work out. We can't wait to see Aubryella and I bet she can't wait to see this strange cold, white stuff at her new home... snow!

Emabassy appointment

Well, we are almost done! We have our Embassy appointment tomorrow morning at 7:15am. We have to leave the house at 6:00am. Please pray that everything goes smooth and quick tomorrow.

Sorry I have not been posting pictures everyday, the internet is in and out here so I can't always upload.

She loves to play in the crib, but she won't sleep in it!

Here is what we do at night....

Play Peek-A-Boo!!!!

This one is for Mikayla and Alyssa

Remember this?

She loves her bear blanket Mikayla and Alyssa got her. She hugs and kisses it all the time!

Here is the dog that lives here. Her name is Cloey. Aubryella has a love hate relationship with her! She likes her to be close, just not too close! Here she is looking at the dog.

We have our Pink Slip

Our Embassy appointment is on Dec 11th at 7:15 am. That is the good news...the bad news is we can't come home until Thur (we won't get the Visa until 3:30 Wed) and our tickets are for Friday so we might as well stay until then and save the money it would cost to change the tickets.

The family we are staying with are GREAT!!! We were able to go out with them today and go to some neat shops! We also went to McDonalds! Aubryella loved the music in the kids play area!

She loves to lay her head down on us!

We are here and so is Aubryella!

She is an amazing little girl! She is so good and so happy! She is very tiny and we can not stop kissing her!!!! The Foster Mom, our lawyer and the birth Mom all brought her to us. It was a very emotional exchange.

She loves to cuddle with us and play with the toys we brought! We have not heard about our Embassy appointment yet. I will call them this afternoon. I will continue to post each day and keep you all updated.

No Pink for this week

We have no pink slip! I contacted the lab (in the US) today and found out that they haven't sent the DNA results to the Embassy in Guatemala yet! That is why we do no have a pink slip yet. They said they would overnight it tonight. That is great and all but the Embassy is not open on Fridays! So they will not get it until Mon! That is ok because I leave Mon morning and I will be bringing our baby home soon. I know that God has it all planned out, so we can handle all the little hiccups in the process!!!!

WEAR PINK

Thinking 'Pink' might not be enough! Maybe we should all wear Pink! I Just talked to the adoption agency and they said we were submitted for our 'Pink' Slip last Thur!!!! That is right, our lawyer in Guatemala was working on Thur! This means we should get our 'Pink' Slip today or tomorrow! I will let you know as soon as we get it!

PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK!!!!!!

Think 'PINK'

If we get our 'Pink' slip this week, that means we will be able to bring her home sooner then we thought!

Our AMAZING God!

I wish I had the words to describe how I have been feeling the past few days. I am so humbled by the grace of God, that he would choose this sweet little girl to be with us...... That he would 'fine tune' the entire process so that we would have her at the perfect time. I know in my mind that His plan for us is so much better then what we can even imagine, but I now feel it in my heart. As I look at Mikayla and Alyssa sleep this morning, and think that Aubryella will soon be sleeping in the next room (we hope she sleeps), I feel so thankful for the greatest gift of love, our three little girls!

A LOT of good news!!!!

The Agency got the new Birth Certificate with 'Cherry' on it Friday!!!! I bought me tickets and am going to Guatemala Dec 3rd and coming home with Aubryella, hopefully on or before Dec 14th!!!!!! My Mom is coming with me to help take care of her so I can work remotely while there! We are so excited to be with her!

Thank you for the many prayers and please continue to pray for a safe trip for us and that we can bring her home with no problems!

Waiting

This seems to be a routine thing for us lately... waiting......

We hope to have the new Birth Certificate this week or next week at the latest. Please pray for the lawyer to be able to obtain it quickly without any problems!

Next Step

The next step is the lawyer in Guatemala has to get a new Birth Certificate with 'Cherry' on it from Sanatoria La Vid in Guatemala where Aubryella was born. Please pray that this is easy for her to do and does not take long.

WE ARE OUT!!!!!

THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOR DELIVERING US OUT OF PGN!!!!!!

We just got a call from the adoption agency and we are out of PGN!!! This means Aubryella is ours!!!!! Please continue to pray that they do not have a problem getting her new birth certificate with 'Cherry' on it. This could slow us down. If all goes well she should be home in 5 weeks!!!!!

God has carried us through this entire process, from the day we got the call in the beginning saying they might not have a baby for us in time, (then Aubryella was born) to not knowing if we would be able to finish the adoption before Jan 1st . We are so thankful!

New pictures

The owner of our Adoption Agency just got back from Guatemala. She was able to meet all the foster Moms and babies. She took these pictures for us.

The cutest baby in Guatemala

Today's call to Guatemala

Today's call to Guatemala was a little more comforting then the last. Basically we should be out of PGN in 2 weeks. This will mean that she is ours! It will still be December before we get to bring her home, but at least we know she will be coming home. So please pray that we do not get kicked out and that things continue to move forward.

Calvary International
P.O. Box 10305
Jacksonville, FL 32247
PLEASE NOTE: in the memo of you check add M421 that way we will receive your donation.

A letter from Albert when I asked how we can help

Dear Tiffany and friends.
I would like to share with you what we have been doing with the feeding center that we have been running for the last 3 years.
First off allow me tell you a little about myself and my family. My name is Albert Mendoza and my wife of 16 years is Karen. We have 4 children Daniel is 16, Seth 14, Caleb 12 and our daughter Rachel is 9. We lived in Loveland till Aug 2004 when we moved our family to Guatemala.
We came down to train the National Police (I worked for the Loveland Police Dept for over 10 years). Shortly after we arrived we were approached by a fellow missionary about taking over a feeding center that was feeding 25-30 kids who have been abandoned by their families or one of their parents have died. The children all have great attitudes even though they are some of the poorest kids I have ever seen.
We as a family support the feeding center 100%. We also pay for more than 6 of the children’s education.
The first 2 years we were able to give a small gift to all the children and last year I was able to get a few Guatemalan neighbors to help and buy gifts. So the children all received shoes, pair of jeans or slacks, shirt or blouse and a toy gift. For most of kids that was the only gifts they received.
We missionaries are funded 100% by churches, family and friends. Please pray about how you can help make this Christmas a special one for the kids.
I can share some pictures of last years Christmas Party if you like.
Blessings for you interest in young lives here in Guatemala.

The Mendoza Family
We are under a ministry out of Jacksonville, Fl named Calvary International so if you feel called to help with Christmas you may send your tax deductible donation to:
Calvary International
P.O. Box 10305
Jacksonville, FL 32247

PLEASE NOTE: in the memo of you check add M421 that way we will receive your donation.

How can we help?

While I sit waiting, I think back to our trip to meet Aubryella. We are so blessed with amazing friends like the Mendoza's to take us under their wings and let us stay with them. Albert, Karen and their 4 kids are all missionaries in Guatemala. They are originally from Loveland but have spent the last several years living in Guatemala sharing God's love. One of the ways they have been able to do this is by running a feeding center. When we were there, we were able to visit the feeding center and were really taken back by what we saw. As we drove in a not so great area of Guatemala City, we pulled up to a small fenced in building. As soon as Albert got out of his car, several kids came running and wrapped their arms around him! We were able to spend some time with the kids there. Sean kicked the ball with some of the boys. Mikayla, Alyssa, Aubryella and I played jump rope with some of the girls. Although we could not understand them and they could not understand (Spanish vs. English) us, we quickly developed a bond with these kids. As Albert told us some of the stories of these young children, my heart hurt for them. I wanted to take them all home with me( I think Sean gets scared when I say that)! As we drove away from the feeding center, Alyssa said to us, "That could have been Aubryella's life if we weren't able to adopt her".
It has been heavy on my heart that I need to do more to help those kids. We are taking something very special from Guatemala, and I want to be able to leave something there. We asked Albert how we could help with the feeding center, and he said that at Christmas time they always try to buy a gift for all of the kids. The only gift these kids will get. This is getting harder for the Mendoza's to do on their own. With 4 kids of their own and all the bills of the feeding center, it really adds up. We want to help this year so we are asking our friends and family to pray about how they can help. Whether it be praying for all of them or donating money to help get all the kids a Christmas gift. I have posted some pictures below of some of the kids from the feeding center.

Not by our strength but by His,

we are doing surprisingly well! God has covered us with a blanket of peace about all of this. I can talk and think about it without crying. We miss her but we know she will be here soon. Thanks for the prayers!

Here is the not so good news....

I called Guatemala today along with a friend of mine (Laura, who speaks Spanish like no other) so she could translate. We called PGN (PGN is the last process of reviews to have the case approved and finalize the adoption) which we have been in since July. The lawyer that is working our case keeps telling us we are pending one more signature and should be out soon. Well to my surprise this morning after calling PGN, that is not true. We knew we had been "kicked out of PGN" once because the lawyer needed to obtain more info from the birth Mom, well we were told that we got put back in, sometime in Aug. The truth is, we did not get put back in until Sept 11th! This puts us back a lot further then we thought we were. this puts us a lot closer to that date of ending adoptions. :(

The cool thing is that God has a plan here and He will bring Aubryella home at the perfect time! Please pray that we can be patient while God works this all out. Please pray that Guatemala allows parents in processes to complete their adoptions. Please also pray that I can get through this time without all these tears (they are making my contacts very dirty and I can't keep putting new ones in :) )

I think this is the week...........

I have no reason to think this I just want to believe it is! So stay tuned for the good news to come......................................

From the hurting heart of a Mother......

It is getting harder to wait! We talked to the agency yesterday and they said that they spoke with the lawyer in Guatemala and she said we should be out in about 3 weeks. That is exactly what she told us 2 1/2 weeks ago. The time just keeps getting pushed out. Please pray Aubryella home!!!!!!

Petition for the Guatemala 5000

Dear Friends,
I have just read and signed the online petition: "Guatemalan Adoptions & DOS Acountability" hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/foafoa1/ I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.

Best wishes,

Tiffany

Not so good news, please pray that we get out soon

GUATEMALA 5000

Dear Friends,

Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to suspend all intercountry adoption with American families on January 1 2008. The Joint Council on International Children’s Services strongly opposes such a suspension and asks for your support in their efforts to ensure that all children retain the right to permanency through Intercountry Adoption.

President Berger’s plans also call for the suspension of adoptions currently in-process. Such a suspension would be extremely detrimental to the children referred to adoptive parents. If President Berger’s plan is actually implemented, up to 5,000 will unnecessarily remain in foster care or orphanages indefinitely.

This situation represents a pending crisis for the adoptive families who have lovingly chosen to provide permanency, safety and love to a child in need and most importantly a crisis for 5,000 children of Guatemala.

Maybe this will be our week?

Last week did not happen for us, obviously! I still have hope that we will get her before her 5th Birthday! :) At the rate we are going, it could be close!!

Close Call Yesterday.....

Sean, the girls and I were shopping after school. When we got back into the car, I noticed I had a missed call from the adoption agency.... I could hardly check my messages I was shaking and so excited. They were just calling to let us know we are still pending that last signature, nothing new.

Let today be the day!

Psalm 25:4-5:
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22:

God is in control of our adoption....

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;I will uphold you with my righteous right hand...... Isaiah 41:10

Maybe this week?

Well, last week wasn't our week to get out! Maybe this week? She is still wearing all of her 0-3 month clothes that we left there for her. Hopefully she will be able to wear all of her 3-6 month clothes when she gets home! We have a lot of them.

Thank you Annie for the cute clothes!!!!

Aubryella with her Foster Mom

New pictures

We are almost there!!!!!

I just talked to our agency!!! They said that they talked to our lawyer and she said that we are waiting on one more signature and we should have that and be out of PGN this week or next! This is great news! When we are out of PGN we have approx 3-5 weeks until we go to get her but we know it will happen then!!!! I will continue to post the updates here!

Same story different day

We haven't heard anything yet. We continue to pray for her safety and that they call soon! I am running out of things to do...... I have hung up all her clothes, made her crib up, looked through all her shoes at least 100 times. Played with her toys to make sure i know how to work them, planned everyday of life with her at least for the first year of her life (this is being done when I am supposed to be sleeping) what else can I do? I look at pictures of her daily! Please, let it be this week!!!!!!

Nothing New

Well, there is no new news as of yet. For those of you who have experienced having a baby, this part of the waiting is like being 1 1/2 weeks past your due date and waking up everyday praying that today will be the day! As you go through the day, every little cramp/pain you have makes you think.... this might be it! For me it is every time the phone rings, I think, this might be the call!

Pray, Pray, Pray

We will have to get out of PGN this week in order to get Aubryella by the beginning of Oct! Even that feels so far away.

Medical Report

We got our 2nd Medical report today! SO we know she has been to the DR at least twice! As of 8/20 she is 11.9 lbs, 23 inches long. The Dr said, "she babbles, orients to sound and comes to sit".

New picture

We just got this picture of Aubryella today. I am not sure if she wears the duck outfit often or if they took this picture with the other group of pictures and forgot to give it to us. :)

Nothing new, we are waiting for a medical report. They were supposed to send these monthly but we only got one so far. Hopefully they are taking her to the Dr and just forget to send them.

Still Waiting

8-27-07

I have decided to post our journey for those who would like to know what is going on. We are still waiting...... I wish I could say patiently. We were notified 2 weeks ago that we were kicked out of PGN due to a document needed on the birth Mom. This was expected to put us out another 4-6 weeks. We are back in PGN now but waiting again.