Friday, August 20, 2010

Sentencia :) and Sicky... :(

Good morning sunshine!
Carter and Josh get some funny power from our friend, the Colombian Mime. They thought he was a trip... so did we. :)

The Uribes family... Natalie, Tony, Hayden (Carter's head is in front) and little Isaac. We are so blessed to have met them on our journey!



An after supper smile... he was so happy to eat Strawberry yogurt! Since his throat's bothering him, I'm trying to feed him colder foods to soothe it.


He loves that thumb! :)

We are thrilled to announce that Jonathan is officially OURS!!!!! Samuel Jose officially became Jonathan Samuel Castellon Ricardo (that's right... here they use the mother's last name too).Whoo hoo! We received our sentencia (rather quickly, thank God) and Frank went to court to sign the paperwork. We wanted to all go, but Jonathan's been sick with fever the past few days, so we opted to keep him here at the hotel so that he wouldn't get worse. Originally we thought that teething was the reason for the fevers, but yesterday the fever went a bit high (about 102) and we knew it had to be something else.

Our hotel has free medical service so, we asked for them to send a doctor to take a look at him. Last night at about 7:30pm the doctor and his assistant arrived to look Jonathan over. Our guide Gloria (our sweet angel) came too for support. After giving him a checkup, the doctor noticed that his throat was infected... extremely red. That would explain why the poor baby made a funny face when I would feed him. I suspected it might be an ear infection but I guess throat was close! So, the doctor prescribed an antibiotic and some vitamin C drops. Today he's still been a bit under the weather... but still happy. This little guy doesn't stop smiling at all... even sick. So, we're trying to make sure he gets his rest and feels better.

Because Jonathan's sick... we don't want to leave for Bogota just yet. We want to give him ample days to get better so, sometime early next week we'll travel to Bogota for the last leg of our journey. I have to say... I adore Medellin and part of me doesn't want to leave! :( We have made such amazing friends here and the hotel staff has been nothing short of amazing with us. We are thrilled we were able to get a good court and can now proceed, but honestly, I feel deep down in my heart that we're not through with Medellin.... the people we've met, the places we've seen and this entire experience has been a true blessing. Not only are we bringing back the BEST souvenier ever (our son) but we also bring with us the love shared with many.

We also had a lovely time today having lunch with Gloria, Nora and Blanca Velez, (our Gladney reps), as well as the Uribes family. We went to a great restaurant called Mondongos. Josh was thrilled since his kids meal came with a Ben 10 toy, and Frank and I had delicious meals too (without the toys of course). Jonathan was still a bit under the weather, but he did ok. I finally got a pic of the Uribes family to show you all... they are so sweet. Dr. Tony is going home tonight with the older boys, Hayden and Carter so, Natalie and Isaac will be here waiting for the paperwork to be completed. Hopefully we can hang out with her and keep her company, at least until we are off to Bogota. It's so very sweet the connection between Jonathan and Issac. Today again, Isaac reached for Jonathan and you can tell they recognize each other. I wasn't fast enough to capture the moment, but I'm hoping they'll be more of them so I can finally get with it and snap the picture!

While outside the restaurant there was a funny mime who had us all laughing hysterically. He posed for a pic with Carter and Josh. He even stopped traffic for our minibus to pull onto the street... poor mime almost got in trouble with a taxi driver for it. I tell you... the drivers here are intense! All in all, it was a wonderful day... the lunch was so great, thank you Blanca and Nora! Seriously, we have been taken care of almost to the point of being spoiled while here in Medellin... I think that's one of the reasons I don't really want to leave! :)

Frank had to travel to the court office of Jonathan's "district" in order to get a copy of his birth certificate for the sentencia. He said it wasn't in a good area of town... close to where we had gone for the metro cable. I just look at both my babies... ok, my big boy and my baby and I'm amazed. God chose them for us... our family. He wanted them to have a Mommy and a Daddy who love them, no matter what. Looking into the eyes of my boys, I know... they may not look like us physically, or carry our genes but they were created in the image of our heavenly Father and they are perfect for US. They are our boys and always will be. My heart prays for them so much... that they'll grow to love Jesus and want to be like Him, serve Him. That they'll make good decisions which will keep them in God's will. That they'll choose good friends.... and eventually (a LONG time from now) choose godly wives and raise a household with the Lord at its center. I know they'll make mistakes... I did... many. So did Frank. But, God led us through those mistakes to repentance, forgiveness and restoration. He can restore anyone... with a willing heart. No matter what you've done... God can forgive and forget. He will, if you let Him.

I pray my boys will always be willing... to go to the arms of Jesus, love and stand for Him, and to love others. It'll be a rocky road, but I'll fight, on my knees. The Lord's taught me that sometimes that's the best line of defense... at his mercy.

So, today I'll post pics of our outing... as well as some video we've taken in our lovely "home away from home". One is just of Jonathan being himself... (mind you, he's sick in this video... you would never tell), one of Josh playing the role of "skivy boy"... he's had me laughing most of this trip, and the last is a sweet one: I sometimes put Jonathan in his crib for a few minutes to try to get things done. He doesn't like it one bit and ususally cries for awhile... well, I did that and heard him and then he stopped. When I went to see why... I saw Josh showing him a toy and trying to calm him down. I melted. It was so sweet, so I had to capture it on video. Josh is showing Jonathan the toy we sent to Casa de Maria with our pictures on it. For some reason the baby loves it... he looks at them often and smiles.

Please pray Jonathan will feel better soon... and that all will continue to go well as we look ahead to Bogota.

Love you all.

PS: You won't believe this, but tonight I was feeding Jonathan his bottle when Frank noticed a small brown liquid on my pants... yeah, that's right! I got hit AGAIN by Captain Poopypants! You wouldn't belive... I was wearing the SAME PANTS that I had on that day at Crepes and Waffles.. I will NOT be wearing those pants anymore on this trip! For sure!

4 comments:

  1. Yeah!!! SENTENCIA, now our grandson's will be coming home soon.
    Thank You LORD for keeping them in YOUR HANDS.
    Love
    Awella & Awello (that's what Joshua calls us)

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  2. Yippeeeeeeee. That was FAST, for us. I'm sure you guys felt like it was an eternity. Does this mean you may be in MIA by next Saturday????? maybe for the gladney picnic??? I know, I'm pushing it.

    We missed you guys today at church. Jeremy was excited to move on to his new class and asked about Josh. So happy you got sentencia and are coming home soon!!!!!!!!!

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  3. I am just now able to see this blog. My sister has been here for the weekend and I didn't see this until now. I am so thankful that Jonathan is "official" although I know he has truely been your son since they placed him in your arms. I can not wait for you all to return so I can give you al a great big hug. Everyone in The Way Station has been asked about you and saying how much they miss you! I love you all more than words can say!

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  4. Since we were on vacation, and then school starting here - I was just getting caught up on your posts. Congratulations on Sentencia!!!!!!
    We're so happy for you!!!!

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