Leaving Bogota

Today went as planned at the embassy. We picked up Jose' visa and the sealed packet of papers that will be opened at customs in Orlando. In less then 24 hours Jose will be a US citizen. Hip hip hooray. Low key day otherwise. Jose has been busy sharing his jokes with the staff, it's a riot.

The Gonzalez family got their Sentencia yesterday and Karen was thrilled of course. A new family from Germany arrived yesterday also. They are adopting a brother and sister, 4 and 5 years old, so the house has come alive. They are as cute as can be.

Well we are packed and ready for the jet blue flight at 0900 tomorrow morning to BWI with a lay over in Orlando. It will be a long day, no complaints from us, we are definitely up for it. See you all in the States.

Thanks to everyone for following our journey. I can't thanks you enough for all the emails and prayers. This is a happy day for all three of us. Our dream has come true in Colombia.

Homeward bound

All went well at the embassy. We can pick up Jose' visa at 3:30 pm tomorrow. Thank goodness Maria our adoption agent had all the paperwork in order, and things went smoothly. Jose tried to convince them to issue the visa in one day so we could travel home in the morning but they told him it was impossible. That's my boy, it doesn't hurt to ask. So tomorrow we will pick up the visa and head home on Saturday. Can't wait to see everyone.

Goodnight for now. Thanks.

Moving along now

Finally Jose' birth certificate arrived in Bogota. After many phone calls from our lawyer Pilar the changes were made and the certificate made the 4:30 pm flight from Cucuta to Bogota on tuesday evening. So yesterday Pilar accompanied us to the center were ID cards are created, in Colombia these ID cards are similar to Social Security cards in the States. Jose needed a new card with his new name. From there we went to get his passport. At first they said it would take 3 days to get a new passport, when I heard that I nearly passed out. I explained that we needed a temporary passport, an emergency one but he did not buy that. So Pilar made a phone call and all was well.

We went back to the Zuetana to wait for Maria to take us to our doctor appointment.

Will continue later. Imagine that two blogs in one day. Thanks.

One day at a time

As we continue to wait we are trying to stay busy. I never thought I would miss routine, but boy do I. Yesterday after English class we all went to Geno's pizza. It's a great place for kids. It has these huge slides and tunnels for the kids to play on, you can easily kill a few hours there. After that we came back to our home away from home to play Tio Rico Mc. Fato, a Spanish version and knock off of monopoly. I will let you guess who won.

The highlight of my day was dinner. The cook served broccoli with a delicious fish, not sure what kind, and i was never so happy to see a green vegetable. Beside lettuce it has been over 4 weeks since I have seen any green veggies. Jose was not interested, he ate a very small piece and I was o.k with that, there was more for me. The simple things in life.

This morning we are waiting for a phone call from Maria telling us Jose' birth certificate has arrived. It is a possibility this morning. We are hopeful that this will happen so we can get his passport, new ID card and then have his doctor appointment in the afternoon. This experience has definitely given the word patience a whole new meaning.

This time together is priceless and he is a happy boy.

Waiting for our turn

Hi everyone it has been a few days since we have written. The Zuetana has been quiet the last few days. To update you, Friday Ryan, along with Beth and Sebas went back home. On Saturday the Adams family went home to Atlanta. We are so happy for everyone but, Jose wanted to know when are we going back to the Estados Unidos. He is looking forward to seeing his grandparents , cousins and Whimsey. He has been telling the girls he has lots of cousins and a dog named Whimsey.

So on Thursday we found out my name was entered wrong on Jose birth certificate and needed to be corrected before it could leave LaPlaya. On Friday after speaking with Maria Conseulo our agency rep, she said the changes were made and someone was driving the birth certificate down to Cucuta. Now LaPlaya is a very very small town and the roads to Cucuta are not in good shape. Our translator, Margarita said there could be boulders blocking the roads or roads could even be washed out due to the heavy rains they have had. So we really have no idea when the birth certificate will reach Cucuta. When it does it then will be sent via airmail to Bogota. Maria is hoping this will happen Monday afternoon. After receiving the birth
certificate we can continue with the last necessary paperwork. Of course we were hoping this.
would happen more quickly, but every time I get discourage, I just take one look at my boy
and I know it is so worth it. He has been a real gentleman through all of this. We are so
blessed and God is truly good.

The Gonzalez family is so nice and supportive. Jose has become friends with Leidy and Alejanndra. Today after church we plan on visiting a flea market behind the church, Carmen
Jose English teacher, said it something to see. Leidy's birthday is today so her mom Karen
suggested we join them for lunch then at 5 pm she has plans for a little party.

Sorry no pictures, I have to figure out how to take pictures with Ryan's IPad. Thanks for reading.

La Candaleria and Monserrate

We spent the day on Wednesday August 3rd visiting the La Candaleria and Monserrate in Bogota.  These are the last two areas of Bogota that we wanted to see.  La Candaleria is a historic district with really neat old buildings and alleyways.  It is where schools and universities are located and students of all ages were everywhere.  It is situated on the side of the mountain and the inclines are pretty intense.   We got some lunch at a very authentic Colombian cafeteria-style restaurant where we all ate way too much.  After we had enough of the walking on the side of a mountain and saw all we could see, we took a cab to the cable car entrance to go to Monserrate.  It is a monestary and church situated some 4000 ft above all of Bogota with incredible views of the city.  The cable car ride was great and the kids loved it.  Monserrate church was incredibly peaceful and scenic.  You could hear the chants of the monks while you prayed at the chapel.  Life size statues of the Stations of the Cross lined up the side of the mountain leading the monk living quarters.  We felt like we could stay there and pray all day!  So peaceful.  But we needed to get back to the Zuetana and prepare for bed.

Jose Aramis Rodgers

Ryan traveled to Cucuta yesterday for Sentencia.  Back to the 100 degree heat in Cucuta and then back again to 60-70 degree temperatures in Bogota.  We are proud to announce that Jose is now officially our son!  All without a C-Section or an epideral.  Now we just need to get the paperwork and processes completed to bring him back to the USA.   His birth certificate needs to be amended with his new name (in the town of LaPlaya, Colombia), he needs a new Colombia passport in his new name, he needs to get a physical by the US Embassy, and then, finally, we can get his Visa.  We are hoping that this all will take just one more week.