Feliz Ano Neuvo!!!

Happy New Year……or…. Feliz Ano Neuvo!!!!

I just can’t seem to be timely enough to get a Christmas letter out, so a New Year’s letter it will be! And, what a year it has been for the Kollstedt’s!!

Matt finally got a full time permanent position in the Fairfield City School District! And he got the ideal job he’s been patiently waiting for…6th grade science at the Intermediate building!! He is loving it!

Cindy hasn’t had any changes with her job. She had a busy year of travel though with 4 trips to Guatemala! Each trip strengthening the bonds with Isaac and Cristian and each trip very different with wonderful memories she will cherish forever!

Jimmi & Sasha made a huge move this year, literally! In June they moved from Indianapolis to Phoenix and are loving it! He lives near his dad, which is great for them. Sasha is working in a Veterinary Internal Medicine office. Jimmi is now tattooing full time and is very happy! Jimmi even tattooed Matt this year!

Jordan is 18 and a senior this year! I can’t believe we have another son graduating! He is doing very well academically. He also had a great soccer season! His soccer has been a huge part of our life and will be missed. He plans on going to college but is uncertain where that will be yet, however we think it will be close to home J

Jackson is 14 and is in the 8th grade. He was very busy with baseball this year, and has now decided to go back to soccer! That is our favorite sport to watch our boys play, so we’re happy! He got his braces put on a few weeks ago and just had oral surgery.

The biggest change for the Kollstedt family is that we FINALLY brought home Isaac and Cristian from Guatemala! They came home on November 7th and are officially US Citizens! 15 very long months of waiting and they are finally home! Isaac is 14 and in 7th grade for now. Next year we may be bumping him up to 9th grade?? Cristian is 13 and is in 6th grade in the same building as Matt! School is going well, but homework proves to be very challenging at times. They are adjusting so well to being in the States! God’s plans certainly are perfect….we are all so happy to be in one house! (now if we could just get Jimmi to move back to Ohio!) It really has been a fairly easy transition for what we were expecting J Both boys are playing soccer and both are in the band. Isaac plays the trombone and also just joined the Jazz Ensemble, and Cristian plays the flute. Isaac’s English is great (he never shut’s up! LOL!) and it is remarkable how quickly Cristian is learning English!

The Kollstedt Zoo is still rather large! We still have our Scottish Terrier Molly, and 5 cats…Simba, Francie, Alpine, Bella & Riley. We recently had a very difficult week and had to put Mae to sleep the day after Christmas L

The household is VERY busy with 4 teenage boys! I think we are on the go from the time we wake until the time we go to bed! Keeping up with the busy schedule of work, school, sports, church, homework, housework and laundry is CRAZY! We are expecting that 2009 will be an exciting year with many “firsts” to look forward to!

We just want to thank all of our family and friends for the prayers and support we have received in bringing our boys home! We hope you have a very happy 2009!

Love,
Matt, Cindy, Jordan, Jackson, Isaac & Cristian

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope that it was a good one for all of you! I will say this was a very happy one for the KOLLSTEDT'S!! It was wonderful having Isaac & Cristian home for Thanksgiving :) We have soooo much to be thankful for! The boys have had absolutely NO problems adjusting to home! What a blessing! You would think that they have lived here their whole lives! God is sooo good! It has been a very busy 3 weeks since we've come home. We have had many appointments with the dentist, doctors, preparing for school etc! Two weeks of running and this past week we went out of town....two days in Raleigh, NC for Jordan's soccer tournament, and from there 3 days in South Carolina at my Dad and June's house so the boys could meet their grandparents! They have met so many new family and friends and got to see familiar faces of people who have been to Casa Bernabe. They of course are thrilled to live so close to their best friend, Miguel! Miguel is here spending the night at our house tonight and they are in the other room playing video games and talking away in spanish! LOL! I was worried that once they came home that they would forget their spanish! Worried about that for nothing! They talk to each other, they call Guatemala and talk to their friends, they talk to friends from Casa Bernabe who live in Indiana, and they have met new kids who go to our church that also were adopted from Guatemala! Last week we had a get-together at church with 3 other families from our church who have adopted from Guatemala (The Chow's, Hannavan's & Simms families).....11 kids from Guatemala :) It was a great time! I think it will end up being a monthly gathering at the least! Fun time for the kids and a time for the parents to share experiences with each other...and maybe even a small group for a bible study in the future? They will be going to school for their first day on December 1st. Isaac will be starting in the 7th grade at Fairfield Middle school (Jackson's school also) & Cristian will be in the 6th grade at the Intermediate School (where Matt teaches). We'll see how the remainder of this school year goes and then determine where they will be next year. Both will continue to be in the band at their schools...Isaac plays the trombone and Cristian the flute. Isaac has started soccer and will be on a team with Jackson & Miguel....Cristian has not to start soccer yet. The household is much more active!!!! I think it has turned into big ring wrestling many nights!! And keeping up with the laundry has been quite a chore! I have even more admiration for the house parents at Casa Bernabe now with 12-16 kids!!! I've added a new slideshow to the right of the BIG PICK UP trip :) I won't write frequent updates, but will write occasionally! We'd love to have friends stop by for a visit when you have time :) Thanks for all of your support and prayers during our adoption process.......awesome friends and family....another thing that the Kollstedt's are thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

HOLA from Guatemala!

Hola everyone! Well the BIG day is here and we are back from the U.S. Embassy!!! The adoption is officially COMPLETED!!! I can not tell you the relief that I am feeling right now! The past 24 hours has definately been a rollercoaster of emotions! The boys are great!!! I think Isaac has grown at least 2 inches since July! They are very excited about coming home! Tomorrow we go back to the Embassy to pick up the paperwork that we have to take to Immigration when we arrive back in the states and we will be HOME Friday! Can't wait for you all to see the new Kollstedt family :)

PINK!!!!!!!

Drum roll please!!!!!!!
We got our PINK slip late yesterday! WOO HOO!! Our boys are finally coming home! Our appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala is this Wednesday November 5th!!! The adoption will be finalized that day! Then we have to return to the Embassy on Thursday to pick up our paperwork packet that we take to immigration when we return home. We will be flying back home on Friday November 7th! God has been so faithful! Can't wait for everyone to meet Isaac & Cristian! Thank you so much to all of our family & friends who have supported us and encouraged us through this whole process! :)

15 MONTHS

Well, we've been at this process for 15 months! I'm feeling as grumpy today as someone who has been pregnant for 15 months! Yesterday I emailed the Embassy to see if I could find out anything about our PINK slip....expecting to receive it this week. They replied and let me know that they haven't received our paperwork yet! So today I spoke to Donie and she said that the paperwork is being taken to the Embassy today. She also said PINK slips are now taking about 2 weeks! So looks as if we might not be traveling to Guatemala for the big pick up until possibly the week of November 17th. We were planning on traveling as a family to Raleigh for Jordan's soccer tournament the weekend of the 20th and then going to visit my Dad & June in Myrtle Beach, but looks like those plans won't happen either if it takes that long to get the PINK slip :( So, I think I have a reason to be grumpy! However, they will be home for Christmas like we wanted so I guess I shouldn't complain :)

Passports!

We talked to the boys last night......and they picked up their passports last Tuesday! :) Isaac wanted to know what day we were coming down! They are ready to come home :) He told me what he was bringing home with him. Matt and I are trying to square away some things this weekend in the hopes that we will get our pink slip this week and traveling very soon :)

Birth Certificates!!

Great news yesterday!....Casa Bernabe has the boys birth certificates!!!!!...................

Jorge Isaac Kollstedt and Cristian Ezequiel Kollstedt

What a relief! So they will be home probably within a month!! They go pick up their passports this Wednesday the 22nd and then the paperwork will be taken to the US Embassy. Then it takes about a week to get our "pink slip" in an email which will give us our appointment date at the Embassy in Guatemala City to finalize everything! Usually the appt date is about 1 week from when we receive the pink slip, so looks like we will be traveling soon to bring our boys home :) We'll let you know as soon as we know the exact dates.