Guatemala....Here we Come!

No, we are not out of PGN yet. However, we are flying down to Guatemala to be with our girls on April 18th and to celebrate Hannah's third birthday with her!

Despite receiving word that we were potentially out of PGN last week, we ultimately learned that the PGN director has not yet signed off on our case. Given that the Easter holiday is coming up soon, we were told that we probably would not be out of PGN until after the holiday (as things seem to come to a halt during religious holidays).

Even though there is a chance that we will be making a return trip in a couple of weeks to actually bring our girls home for good, we couldn't wait any longer to visit with them. We also didn't want to miss celebrating Hannah's birthday with her.

Sarah has had several long conversations with our adoption agency regarding what to expect when we arrive in Guatemala. It truly seems like it is going to be a whole different world.

We have 22 days to go, and we will be with our girls! We will certainly keep you all posted as we get closer to that day!

No News...

We have finished child proofing the house, washing the girls' clothes, putting the double stroller together, bought the SUV; and now.........

....driving my wife crazy. Still we haven't received any news regarding exiting PGN. As a result, I (John) have turned towards the internet to read other parent's blogs about their Guatemalan adoptions. I have been reading about the various reasons that cases have been "kicked out" including incomplete name affidavit, supposedly new requirement for 3 witness affidavits, etc. I think I will start limiting how much stuff I am reading on various people's blogs.

Thanks to all of our family and friends that continue to keep us and our girls in your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully the week of March 19th will be the week we exit PGN!

New Pictures!

Today was a very good day. Sarah called me at work this morning to tell me to check my email for new pictures of our baby girls! Hannah and Haley have changed so much since the last set of pictures we received in late December. Hannah truly is a little lady now.

We were also very happy to see the smile on Hannah's face below! Once I saw this picture, it made me feel so good. The first several sets of pictures we got (because it was so close to when she originally came to the foster home), Hannah looked so solemn and sad. She has come a long way in the last several months.

With this kind of smile, how can Daddy say "No" to her?

And our littlest princess (Haley), she is as cute as ever.... You will just have to look at the pictures below to see for yourself. Yes, we know, we are going to have our hands full with little Miss Haley!

"In a couple of months, I will have to use these?"

"Books taste so good!

I'm so glad my Mommy

& Daddy sent me this one!"

First Entry (March 13, 2007)

Welcome to the first entry of our blog. We are in the final stages of our adoption of our two little girls...Hannah (3 years old) and Haley (8 months old). We started our adoption journey in September 2006 and it has been a roller coaster ride ever since.

We are currently in the PGN phase and recently received word that we had been temporarily kicked out. However, the document in question was corrected by our attorney and resubmitted into PGN the same day.

We are hoping that we will progress quickly through PGN this second time around! Thanks to all of our friends and family for keeping us and our two little girls in your thoughts and prayers.

God bless,
John & Sarah