Bonding of Brothers!

Jimmi & I had a wonderful visit with the boys! We arrived April 6th and our flights were fine. The plan was to be picked up at the airport in Guatemala City and go to stay one night at the Westin Hotel. One night alone with the boys away from the orphanage, and fun time for the boys to swim. However we had one small glitch.............Isaac wasn't with them when they picked us up :( Turns out that he was not able to behave well enough that week to get that privilege....ggrrr! Initially I was frustrated, quickly followed by wondering how would the time be with Cristian without Isaac being there to translate for us?? I quickly decided to let go of my frustration, and we had very little problems communicating with Cristian. His English has improved since December. His English is very broken, however he really tries hard! It ended up being a blessing twofold.....hopefully Isaac learned a lesson, & it gave us great one on one time with Cristian. Jimmi didn't seem to have any problems bonding with his new brothers :) Casa Bernabe was very busy! There was a team of 60 there for retreats for the staff and kids. Jimmi & I were lucky enough to be able to stay in one of the rooms in the boys house, Casa Neuva Esperanza. It gave us a chance to see their daily routine up close which was nice. The days started VERY EARLY......thanks to my "Guatemala alarm clocks"......roosters!!!! There were roosters that were right outside our window from the house next to us, and then there was Claudio.....the house rooster that came into the laundry room every night! They woke us up every morning usually between 4-4:30....while it was still dark outside! It is amazing how loud a rooster is that is in a house! Mornings started with all the boys in the hallway of the house with discussion time (usually at 5:30 and in Spanish so I have no idea what they talked about!) followed by wonderful prayer time. It really was a great way to start out the day. You could feel God's presence, even though I didn't understand them. The boys then would have showers, followed by bible time at the kitchen table, and then breakfast. The week we were there wasn't a "normal week" since the staff had a retreat for 2 days. Missionaries were in the houses with kids, and they had school work to do in the mornings (no school that week). Jimmi and I helped out in the boys house....however we also had alot of alone time with Isaac & Cristian which was nice. We played outside, took walks, went to the store & mall one day and just enjoyed being with each other. They have endless energy! We went on a retreat with the boys ages 9 and up on Fri-Sunday.....camping at the top of a mountain! There is currently a retreat building under construction there, so we slept in tents. No showers and a outhouse! LOL! We arrived and it was a little different then what we had imagined. The tents were set up in the dirt of the construction area....no grass, no trees! But it ended up being a fabulous 3 days! There was a 360 view from where we were........BEAUTIFUL! The retreat center will be beautiful when completed, and the land around had many trees & gardens planted. If you'd like to see pictures a find out about that ministry you can go to the website http://www.hisappointedtime.com/ What a great ministry they have for the hurting. We had some "structured" fun time, worship together and free time. The boys had several "boy talks" given by a missionary from Oklahoma about living a pure life for God that mom couldn't be there for. Jimmi and I took advantage to have some one on one time together during those times and hiked down the mountain and explored the village at the bottom. We walked several miles into the village and back up. A close up look of the Guatemalan culture and so much poverty. The people were all very friendly though. The boys played soccer with some boys from the village 2 days which was their favorite part. It was great watching Jimmi, Isaac & Cristian playing soccer together :) We had rain one night and everything turned to mud. Isaac shared some of his past with me one afternoon when he and I were sitting alone in the tent together. These were our favorite 3 days of our trip! I also had a great time visiting with Sindy. She is very special to me, and we will continue to sponsor her. She was the happiest that I've ever seen her on this trip and we bond more with each visit to Casa Bernabe :) We left on April 14th, and it was very difficult for me to leave them. It gets harder each visit and this time I cried despite trying not to. Now it's back to the waiting game :( Haven't had any updates on our paperwork. As far as we know the papers that the US Embassy requested clarification on are with a judge in Guatemala. Our friends the Chow's had great news while we were in Guatemala though.......they finally got their Pre-Approval! Hallelujah!!! Hopefully it won't be long until we will be receiving ours! Please pray that we won't have to visit again and that our next trip to Casa Bernabe will be to pick up our boys to come home!....I'm so anxious for everyone to be able to meet Isaac & Cristian!