Visitors!

Grandpa Dave

Grandma Joyce

The grandkids

Aunt Amanda, Uncle Greer, & Gio -- he is such a silly and fun boy!

Brian, Julia, Griffin, & Lily stopped by on Saturday. Lily is 3 months older than Gabi. Lily was born on my birthday and Gabi was born on Julia's birthday! We will have lots of play dates this summer. We've also had visits from Jason, Char, Erica and met neighbors Tom & Mary today! This is quite fun to be surrounded by great people!

Our little flower child! Peace out.

Love,
Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Baptism

Gabriela was Baptized this morning at St. Joseph's Church in Golden. She did really well! It was such a special day for all of us. Grandma Mary made her Baptism gown. Uncle Greer and Aunt Amanda are her Godparents. Grandma Joyce, Grandpa Dave, cousin Gio, and Greer's mom, Roxanne, joined in our celebration. We are so thankful for their love of Gabriela.

With Greer, Amanda, & Gio

Settling In...

We're definitely enjoying being home and resting up. Gabi slept from 8:45 last night until 7 this morning. We were about the same! We did all venture out this morning to pick up a few necessities at Target.

It's cold in Colorado! Good thing Great Gramma Dot made me this warm hat and mittens!

Getting to know my new best buddies. I think they're pretty cool, but I have to be on the lookout for Jackson's tail.

Practicing my trumpet-playing skills :)

Chillin' with daddy! Gotta love this life!

We're looking forward to having Grandpa Dave, Grandma Joyce, Aunt Amanda, Uncle Greer, and cousin Giovanni visit tomorrow! Gabriela will be Baptized on Sunday.

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Home Sweet Home!

It was quite a journey, but we made it! Gabriela is sleeping away in her own crib now -- the moment we have been waiting for! We left Guatemala City this morning on a 6am flight. We had a 4 hour layover in Houston that included a trip through customs to approve Gabi as a brand new US Citizen! She did really well on the flights. She played and slept on the first flight, but by the second flight, she struggled a bit. She was just so tired. Little catnaps on our laps don't cut it when you're used to 3-2 hour naps a day, I suppose.

We're pretty tired tonight, so we weren't up to taking too many pictures, so I'll post some more tomorrow!

Gabriela -- a world traveler!

My first ride in my carseat (and my first Denver traffic jam). Good thing I fell asleep and dad was driving really slow to keep me safe! :-)

Quite a wonderful welcome home -- Thanks Char! It made our return so special to know you were thinking of us!

Yea -- finally in the room mom and dad made special for me!

Gabriela is also infatuated with Jackson & Rocky. She giggles and smiles at them and isn't scared at all. Fun stuff!

Have a good night!

Love,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

A Forever Family at Last!

What a wonderful day! Our appointment at the US Embassy was this morning and everything went well! Gabriela was approved for a US Visa and will automatically become a US Citizen when we go through customs in Houston on Thursday. The Embassy experience was interesting to say the least. We waited for 4 hours with some other adopting families and Guatemalans awaiting visas as well. They were pretty inefficient, but don't get me started on our government :-) The important thing is that she is well on her way home and her adoption has officially been finalized by the US Government!

We got back to Guatemala City yesterday from Antigua. We went to Gabriela's doctor's appoinement yesterday afternoon. She weighed in at a hefty 18 lbs. 5 oz. We saw the same doctor that diagnosed Gabriela's hip dysplasia when we visited. He said that it felt normal now and that is the news we wanted to hear! Looks like the brace was successful! We will keep her in the brace until we see the pediatric orthopedist in Denver next Wednesday. We hope he has the same opinion and she can ko the brace or only have to wear it at night!

Gabriela is becoming more and more vocal the longer we have her. She is probably making up for her mom and dad being so quiet! She still loves to smile and laugh and makes farting noises with her tounge at the most embarrassing times -- in church, in front of the doctor, and at the Embassy. We think she is becoming quite the ham and will do anything to get people's attention. She also loves to play peek-a-boo as well. Fun stuff!

Here are some more pictures from Antigua. It was such a beautiful city and we really enjoyed the time we spent there and the people we met. We will definitely return in the future -- maybe when we don't have to carry an 18 pounder everywhere we go! ;-)

Arco de Santo Catalina

We will celebrate Gabriela's Adoption Day on March 25th every year. These are some of the gifts we bought at the incredible Artesian's Market in Antigua. Everything was so beautiful and it was fun to practice my Spanish interacting with the shopkeepers.

Ingelsia Nuestro Senora de la Merced

We have another day to relax in Guatemala City and then it is home! We can't wait for Gabriela to meet all of our wonderful friends and family.

Love,
Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from Guatemala! We hope you all had a very fun Easter Sunday! Here are a few pictures from our day. It is a time for family and we are so thankful for our new little family of 3!

In my pretty Easter dress!
During Easter Brunch at our hotel.
We went to Mass at this church -- Inglesia San Fransisco (St. Francis).

We had our first swim lesson today in the hotel's pool. She was a little weary at first, but quickly warmed up to the idea. She loved to splash and kick her legs. Any time she is out of her brace, she is kicking her legs a lot! Mom had fun too!

We are headed back to Guatemala City tomorrow. We had a wonderul time in Antigua, but we are ready to get on with the last stage of our trip -- finalizing our adoption of Gabi at the Embassy and then coming home forever!

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara & Gabi

A "Good Friday" & Saturday!

Hello everyone! I got these pictures a little out of order, but here you go! We are all happy, healthy, and having a great time. The processions on Good Friday were definitely an experience -- so beautiful. Gabi is such a little trooper. She seems to sleep only when it is extremely loud and the ride is bumpy in the Snugli!

A looming volcano over Antigua.

Little angels walk as part of a Good Friday procession.

As the procession goes past, the smell of myrh is so intense. Think Easter Mass x 50! This little girl is so beautfiul as she walks with her dad.

An alfombra -- carpets are made before the procession for them to walk on.

Our favorite pic so far! Such a cutie!

Thanks for my cute outfit, Donna!

Antigua is covered in purple until the evening of Good Friday -- then all of the banners are changed to black.

Another alfombra.

That's all for now! We will attend Sunday Mass tomorrow. Check back for pictures of Gabi in her Easter dress. We hope you all have a very Blessed Easter!

Lots of love,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Pictures from Antigua

Gabriela enjoys riding on her daddy's knee!

Both the horse and the rider are tuckered out!

A view of the courtyard right outside our hotel room. It is a beautiful hotel -- all Spanish colonial architecture and recently redone. Everyone has been so kind to us, even though many do not speak English here. My Spanish has been tested a little more in Antigua and that is good!

On our way back from a wonderful traditional Guatemalan dinner, we saw our first procession of Holy Week. The men and boys dressed in purple robes are called cucarachas. They carry these floats miles almost all day and all night. Each Catholic church in Antigua (and there are many!) has their own float that honors the sacrifice Christ made for us. I am sure that we will see many more in the next few days.

That's all for now. Gabi is sound asleep and I better get to catching up too! Love to you all! Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts.

Joe, Tara, & Gabi

Here She Is!

Hello All! We made it safe and sound yesterday. Gabriela is finally in our arms forever! She is still the little angel we remembered from our visit trip -- very happy and content. We spent quite some time with her foster family. Gabriela's foster mother is in red and her daughter is next to her in the picture above. They are both wonderful people and it was so hard for them to leave little Gabi. We all cried and hugged. She has such a big heart to care for Gabriela and then let her leave. We hope that she is comforted knowing that her aching empty arms have given us such joy! Maria even made Gabriela the little dress that she is wearing in the pictures. It is so cute and will be treasured forever.

We are taking off for Antigua today. The city is very quiet due to the holiday (everything is closed Thursday - Sunday for Semana Santa). We are really looking forward to watching the processions, celebrating this Holy week and most of all, spending as much time as possible getting to know our little girl. What a gift we have received.

All our love,

Joe, Tara, & Gabriela

Gabriela is Coming Home!!

This is the post I have been longing to write for such a long time! Yea! We received our "pink slip" today. Our appointment at the US Embassy is March 25th at 8:00am. We pick up Gabriela's Visa the following afternoon. We've spent this evening frantically making travel plans. Here is our itinerary:

March 19 -- Fly to Guatemala
March 20-24 -- Spend Holy Thursday thru Easter Monday in Antigua
March 25-26 -- Spend in Guatemala City at Embassy and Visa appointments.
March 27 -- Fly Home!

Gabriela will be put in our arms forever on March 19th! We are so thankful and can hardly wait! We are also excited to spend part of Holy Week and Easter in Antigua. This is one of the top tourist destinations for Semana Santa in the world. The pictures we have seen are incredible. It will be a wonderful experience for our new little family of 3!

Love to you all,
Joe & Tara

Keeping Things in Perspective

Well, we didn't receive our "pink slip" today. However, we are very confident that it will come tomorrow. As I was searching the internet for a gift for Gabriela's foster mom, I came across a poem that had this wonderful line:

Even though I didn't give you life, Life Gave Me You.

We are so thankful that we have been led down the path of adoption. Even though Gabriela is not quite in our arms forever, we are truly Blessed that she will be so very soon.

All Our Love,

Joe & Tara

Ready for Gabriela

Gabriela's room is coming together! An important piece of Gabriela's room is missing right now - a rocking chair that my Dad made for us. The seat is currently getting upholstered, so I will post pictures when it is done. It is beautiful and will make a great place for lots of snuggling and bedtime stories.

We should receive our "pink slip" on Wednesday, so check back then for our upcoming pick-up trip details. We can hardly wait!

Have a great week,

Joe & Tara

More Gabi Pics!

Hi all,

These were taken Monday when she had her DNA test done. Looks like that beautiful brown hair is growing back -- yea!

Tara