FELIZ ANOS NEUVA! (HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

Happy New Year! Hope yours was as awesome as ours! Matt, I, Jordan & Jackson spent the holiday's with Isaac and Cristian at Casa Bernabe! (Jimmi & Sasha were in Gatlinburg with Sasha's family). It was an awesome trip! Definately no bonding problems with the boys. It was wonderful to see the 4 boys get along so well :) It is as if Isaac & Cristian have been a part of our family forever with the way they all get along so well. We flew into Guatemala on Christmas Eve. It was great getting to see the traditions there so that we can continue them at home. However, Matt seems to think our neighbors may not be as thrilled! LOL! Their tradition is to set off fireworks at midnight on Christmas Eve and noon on Christmas day, and at midnight on New Year's Eve! It was like the 4th of July at home.....tons of fireworks!!! (or "skyfire" as they call it). The entire orphanage had a nice dinner together on Christmas Eve...tamales. They also spread pine needles (approx 6 in needles) all over the floor. It smelled great! Christmas Day we got to attend a wedding, Manuel and his wife renewed their marriage vows. It was a beautiful wedding! There was also a program put on by the Advanced Band and Brass......Isaac plays trombone in both. He really is good! On the 26th we went on a day trip with the Casa Nueva Esperaza (the house the boys live in.) We took a bus ride along with the 17 boys in the house to an auto safari, and then to a swimming pool. Kim and Greg came down on the 27th to see Miguel. It was a great time for us all to be able to spend time together at the orphanage. We were allowed to take the boys away from the orphanage two nights, and stayed at the Westin in Guatemala City. The Hotel was fabulous...and very safe! We had fun swimming and sitting in the hot tub. I think Isaac, Cristian & Miguel had the most fun playing on the telephone!...Calling back and forth between our rooms! LOL! We ate dinner out one night and walked through a few "market" type shops. New Year's Eve was very energized at the orphanage! All the kids were out until very late. Watching them set off fireworks was very entertaining! I don't know how nobody ended up getting hurt! We also got to spend time with Cindy. Her birthday was on 1/3, she turned 12yo, and we took her shopping for some clothes for a gift. As far as progress with the adoption.....the paperwork has all been corrected and we are in PGN. We still don't have our Pre Approval, so I know we will be kicked out and then hopefully go back in quickly. The courts were closed over the holidays so things should start back next week. We did get copies of the files that were at the orphanage, and the best thing....we got a picture of Isaac & Cristian with their dad! I am sooo happy to have that for the two of them! I'm going to blow it up and put it in a frame in their bedroom. Don't really know a time frame as to when things might be completed.....the Chow's and us have made it a guessing game now and we all picked dates :) Keep praying for things to go smoothly and quickly!