Saturday, August 28, 2010

Enjoying Bogota with Friends

Jackson and Jonathan are new buddies... they got acquainted as we parked them side by side.

Ruth Ann, Frank and I pose for a smile under the beautiful Bogota sun.
Ruth Ann still looks the same as she did 15 years ago! She is a blessing and I'm so happy God's brought her back into my life after so many years...


We've had a very exciting couple of days! My dear friend, Ruth Ann Craven and I grew up together. We were best friends in middle school and it's amazing that God's brought us back together again in Colombia! She and her husband Steve are adopting their second child from CRAN here in Bogota and happen to be here at the same time as us! Such a God thing... their daughter Anna Marie was adopted two years ago. This time they're adopting a little boy, Jackson who is actually the same age as Jonathan.. they're only 1 week apart. We actually got our referrals the SAME DAY... even though we went through two different agencies... so very cool. God is amazing and wonderful, I'm always blessed by the sweetness He allows us to experience.

So, after arriving here in Bogota, the next day we met up with the Cravens for a nice afternoon in the Park... oh yeah, and lunch at El Corral. So seriously, I know that in the US we have amazing burger joints like... Johnny Rockets and Fuddruckers, but seriously, El Corral tops them all. Their menu has like 25 different burgers to choose from... I'm not kidding, and they're HUGE! I ordered a Costalena burger with plantain chips and a crumbled cheese... it was delicious! It was so great to see the Cravens and catch up with them! From there we went to Parque 66, a cute little park close to the restaurant where Anna and Josh got to play while Ruth Ann and I caught up. Let me say that her kids are gorgeous and so very sweet. She has them dressed like Pottery Barn Kids models... and next to my children with their stained pants, one socked, bouched up on clothes, they look amazing! :)

Of course walking around with them in Colombia is fabulous! We found out from one of our friends who happens to be colombian, that men are NOT supposed to be pushing strollers around. It's not a "macho" thing to do... we found this to be extra funny since that day Steve was pushing the double stroller, followed by Frank pushing Jonathan's stroller and Ruth Ann and I talked behind them with Josh in hand. HA! So glad we are NOT married to the stereotypical Colombian man... both Steve and Frank are amazing daddies, they do it all! I'm very thankful that Frank is willing to play daddy all of the time, and he's GREAT at it! :) Both Josh and Jonathan are so blessed to have him... and they truly love their daddy. Even Jonathan's starting to say dadada..
From there we headed to Juan Valdez for a coffee. We then accompanied them to COMCEL to get new SIM cards for their iphones. That took awhile, but I was thankful since Ruth Ann and I got to chit chat and catch up. While we were there, a sweet older lady came to talk to us. She wanted to see if Ruth Ann would sell her double stroller since she knew a girl who needed one. I explained to her that we were adopting and she needed the stroller for the journey. The lady was so very sweet... she congratulated us and told us we were a blessing. She even hugged us as she walked away. The iphones were ready to go and we got some taxis (hard to do in rush hour traffic) and then it was back to Hotel Paris.

Friday we went to the Santa Fe mall with the Cravens and our friends the Rodriguez family. We were hoping to take the kids to Divercity, a kids amusement area similar to Wannado city in FL where they get to play dress up, etc. but it was closed. So we just walked around the mall and enjoyed each other. The kids get along really well... we feel so very blessed that the Lord has brought amazing friends into our path during this journey. They make it so much more special...

Here's a short video of Josh playing with his new friends at Hotel Paris. Maria's pushing the kids.. one of her daughters, Nicole is in the middle and on the right is another new friend, Marisa, who's 3 and was adopted from Los Pisingos. Her parents are here adopting another little girl from Pisingos named Isabel who's 5 months old.
Ah, life is good... love you all.

2 comments:

  1. So, so thankful that our paths were able to cross here, even for a short time. You and Frank are amazing friends and amazing parents, and we love your family sooooo much!!

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  2. Sandy, what a blessing to see the joy that ALL of you have. Your precise descriptions of even the hamburgers make my mouth water and I hardly ever eat meat!!!! You got some cutie pies!!! I am glad that you will get to come back soon. Miami needs you!!! LCE REALLY needs you, but, you must take care of you and your family first. Love you MUCHO!, Pamela hugs to all!!!!

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