More Antigua

We did a bunch of shopping in the marketplaces....it was fun, but so hard to walk away without giving the people anything. One little girl was very upset that we bought something from her sister but not from her.








Abby, this picture is for you. Women really do carry things on their heads in Guatemala :)


















Not sure what this building is. It was cool though!












The cobblestone streets made for exciting traveling. Notice no stop signs or street lights!!











Here is a group playing their national instrament (forget the name of it) while we were eating lunch! It was beautiful to listen to. You can also buy their CD for $15.

Run away Kelly before they suck you into another purchase...

Antigua

We went to Antigua today and it was beautiful....better than we had ever imagined!!! We visited a hotel which was so gorgeous and peaceful. You could see the two volcanoes from each place we visited.

This is an old church in Antigua which was built in the 1500s....Parts of it were destroyed by earthquakes. Then we had a fabulous lunch outside and there were men playing music and a beautiful courtyard.

The streets of Antigua were so charming and colorful. Driving on the cobblestone roads was a bit of an experiences, but our guide was great!

We have arrived!!!!!

We got into the airport about 1o last night....quite interesting....under construction, but we made it!!!! All of the people are very helpful and kind! We are off to Antigua today to do some sightseeing!!! More later.....

STEVE LIED!!!!!!!

We got our PINK slip from the Embassy this afternoon and we are leaving TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can't believe it!!! We are gong to travel around on Wednesday and Thursday, and we will get Jack on Friday!!!! Our Embassy appointment is Monday and we will be back in Wisconsin on Wednesday!!! We can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing new for Monday...

I sent an email to the embassy this morning and have received nothing in return. All we can hope for is that our lawyer in Guatemala is doing everything he can to move it along. He's perform stupendously to this point. We just have to keep our faith that God has this one. It's delayed for a reason and we just don't know what it is. He'll come home soon. Right????

Another Let Down day (click here for embassy process)...

We were informed today that our case has not yet made it to the Consular's office within the embassy. It seems to be stuck in Dept of Homeland Security's office. My gut is that our case is lost for some reason within DHS. I've taken half a vacation day today just to make phone calls to Fiengold, Dept. of Homeland Security, and about 6 calls to the embassy. Everyone leaves early on Friday's there so I'm out of luck until Monday. I guess I'll try calling Monday morning again to get my answers. I have a link from the embassy above that explains the process. I don't think we've even passed step 1.

Frustraded!!!!!!!!!!!

Frustrated!!!!

We were suppossed to receive Pink (our embassy appt) yesterday morning. Kelly and I manned the phone and got nothing!!! Arrgghh!!! So Bethany is trying to figure out what is going on. In the meantime we are hoping to receive notice this morning. I have flights on hold thru a travel agency and they expire early this afternoon. We are really hoping to hear something by noon and on a plane tomorrow afternoon. We will see...

Got some new pics of Jack today

We've been submitted to the Emabassy...

There are a couple steps after comming out of PGA before actually flying down to Guatemala. First is getting submitted to the embassy for a short adoption interview and the other is the actual embassy appointment (called "Pink").

We were submitted to the Embassy yesterday (Monday) and are waiting for "Pink" by Wednesday or Thursday. Based on all the chat room sprawling that Kelly has been doing, we are looking at an appointment next week sometime. That means we could be traveling this weekend.

I will be posting pictures and daily updates like this one while we are down there.

Stay tuned...

Scratch 4-6 weeks...think next week!!!

Kelly and I just had the travel meeting with Bethany travel meeting and we were informed that we could be traveling end of next week sometime to bring Jack home!!!!!!!! Holy crap!!! More to come when we know specific dates....

JACK UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are out of PGN.....which means Jack IS COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Estimated time of arrival is about 4-6 weeks :) We, of course, are beyond excited and thrilled, and just can't believe all of this is actually happening. We are going to be a family of 5!!!!! Stay tuned for more info......