Giving Thanks !!!

And so much to be thankful for!!! For many years we have been drawing a paper tree and everybody puts leaves on it in Nov. Each leaf has something we are thankful for on it.
I put up the first leaf with just Tatiana and I and she said she was thankful for regals, presents. Later Daniela added her first and she is thankful for comieda, which is dinner and food in general. So sweet to see their little hearts start to sense blessing as being there.
Thank you Lord for all these blessings you give us that we don't have to worry about not getting tomorrow. Salvation, a home, a bed, clothes, food, friends and family that love us. We are so grateful !! As we think on this line we can't help but think of all the people that have given: time, money, clothes, gifts, prayers, and love to our family during this process.
A great big thanks to God for all of you.
May He bless you all richly!!!

Only a week?

Wow, it has only been a week!! Time has a way of becoming irrelevant. There have been so many changes. When we left Cali we were all wearing shorts and flip flops. We traveled last Sat. for 14 hours. We left the hotel in Bogotá at 12 noon to be 3 hours early as required for an international flight. We stood in line for a long time!! Thank you Lord for the really nice lady next to me in line because, my escort in Bogotá spoke hardly any English. The representative started to ask questions out of the normal train of thought and he had no idea how to get me to understand what they needed. The credit card run through on the phone that I had given to pay for the change in schedule had not worked and I needed to pay for that again. Ivan was by my side curious and watching everything. Melissa had pulled the others over to the side to sit in a group with all the maletas(backpacks).

We flew out of Bogotá for Panama City and Tatiana was quite scared. We bought Chicklets and all three kids were chewing away like crazy. I sang them the flying song from Peter Pan which they have watched and loved and they really did quite well they gave us lunch. The flight was less than 2 hours.

When we arrived in Panama City we had one hour to switch flights. We did not know the language, had no help and we were the last off the plane. We hiked / ran through the terminal after a bathroom stop and when we got to the gate they told us wait. So we sat on the ground. They then told us the gate had been switched so we got up and ran another 5 gates or so and got to the right one. They would not let us sit down until we were searched. So once again they went through all of our stuff. They took a bunch of Melissa's cosmetics and wouldn't let the kids have water. Once we got through we sat for about 5 minutes before it was time to board.

There was a fight for the window seat, we only had one. The lady that was sitting with us left after less than 5 minutes. Another window seat, a gift from God. People on this flight were MUCH LESS understanding. We hadn't even taken off and this big guy in front of Daniela had turned around 2 times and finally said "can't you make her stop kicking the seat?"

My thought was, "you should be glad she isn't screaming at the top of her lungs."

We spent the 6 hours trying to get the kids not to kick the seats in front of them. After they served dinner, Tatiana fell asleep on my lap. Daniela switched from Melissa in the middle of Ivan and her to next to mom and fell asleep on the other side. I spend the flight with both arm rests up and trying not to move, but very very grateful because no body was screaming and that was my personal fear. Ivan fell asleep on Melissa and when we landed in Dulles at 12:20 PM all three were asleep. We had to wake them and carry 6 carry-ons. Melissa got 2 and I carried Tatiana. They did so well, they just wanted to see Dad. We didn't get to see him for more than 1 1/2 hours. We had to wait in a long line to get through customs, give them the paper work, wait, pick up all our luggage 6 LARGE pieces, along with carry-ons and sleepy kids and go through a second line. Right at the end Tatia started whimpering Popi, Popi. When we saw dad she hid behind my legs and would not greet him.

We then proceeded outside. This was the biggest shock of all!!!
I had been telling the kids frio, frio, which means cold. I had a talk with Ivan and explained the seasons and that it snowed in Virginia. I had told them that it snows in January, but not often in Nov. We got hit with temp. in the teens when we walked through that door to outside. All six kids fell asleep on the ride from DC to our home in Richmond. Matt has grown at least an inch or two, and he sat next to Daniela, the energitic, physical child and did great!!!
We got home at 4am. Everybody woke up and the kids wanted to bike ride. Hint for anyone trying this later. Don't put the bike on the front porch if you are getting in the middle of the night. Daniela went right to exploring. She went upstairs and straight into Nikki's room, since it was first and stuck her hand into the fish bowl. She responded with a bewildered look. All three LOVE the fish!! (breaded, fried etc.) Matt & Nikki each have a Beta. We all finally got to sleep and the kids like clockwork woke at 6am. OK, it was probably 6:30.
I woke up also being programed to do so.

We all ate desayuno(breakfast) and by 9 decided to try church. The kids were up for it and we had gone every Sunday in country, so we showed up late, sang sweet precious worship songs that we could understand in English and when they dismissed the kids, Matt went with Ivan, Nikki with Daniela, and Mom with Tatiana. Melissa was home in bed. She had inadvertently locked her door and we assumed(wrongly) sleep was her highest priority. The kids did great considering everything!!! One of the first people we saw was a young lady that had graduated from college for speech therapy and was fluent in Spanish and she greeted Tatiana in my arms in Spanish. I saw her wonder and relax some. Thank you Tara, Thank you Lord. The Wesner's were on puppet ministry and Soraya is from Mexico and was also able to help Tatiana not feel so scared, but after about 20 minutes she said she wanted to go home and ride her bike. We checked in with the other kids and they all said they were tired. surprise, surprise so we left.
The rest of the week was a blur, lots of sweet friends stopped over to greet us, made meals for us and welcomed us all home. Friends have done so much!! Hats and gloves so needed Sunday night gifts from the Johnson's. We tried to keep it low key for the week, but the kids had classes and despite advice to stay home we went out
Tue. to take Matt to Spanish class,
the teacher had Ivan read the memory verse and he was so proud.
Wed. to chemistry lab
Chris thank you for your wonderful hospitality it was so fun!!
Thursday Tatiana stayed with Dad and we took Matt to History co-op and older 2 to Walmart and the local library. They got a card and there is a section of children's books in Spanish. Another great big Thank you Lord.
We have so much to be thankful for!!! We are very aware of God's grace and kindness towards us as we all adjust to these huge changes.

Please pray:
For comprehension and communication. We need to understand each other.
For health, Dad getting over bronchitis, Mom & Melissa hot summer to freezing cold and kids totally new everything.
For grace for all of us to desire to lay down our lives and serve one another with love.
For mom to find a schedule that works for all.
OH YEA!!
another evidence of God's kindness. The Monday after we got home it snowed big puffy beautiful flakes. We all rejoiced, rushed to dress and bundle and by the time we got outside there was no more snow falling. We were able to make a few small "balls" from the cars. So lovely and the first time they had seen snow in their lives.
I know this is really long and if you are still reading. thanks for caring!
May the Lord fill your lives with His love, peace and joy,
Rejoicing In-Christ, Shirlene for the Jones'
Aside:
Ivan is pronounced with a long e sound, the v sounds like a b, and "on" on is the final sound.
More like E-bon'.

Week 1

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week. More to come...

C'mon Get Happy!!

The Jones family will be united tomorrow at Dulles Int. Airport as Shirlene and Melissa escort Ivan, Daniela and Tatiana home to the good ol' US of A! It's adios Colombia and Hola! America. Dad , Nikki and Matt will be traveling to Dulles to pick up 5 passengers, 6 large pieces of luggage and 6 carry-ons.

All this is made possible by the Richardson's volunteering their 15 passenger van for our jaunt. The Richardsons voted to see if they wanted to lend us the van. Present for the vote were Craig and Donna, Blair, Brynn, Grant, Kam, Kendall, Hayley, and Corby. Instead of waiting for Jori's absentee ballot to arrive, Craig announced that his vote counted as 10...thus ending the suspense and speculation of voter fraud and disenfranchisement.

Shirlene suggested that I not drive on the way home because los niños will want to spend time with me. Following the 2 hour drive we should be arriving home at about 4AM Sunday morning where a slumber/pajama party is planned in the family room. Everyone is invited! BYOP (bring your own pillow) We will understand if you can't make it. Besides, the kids will be asleep!

Also our home phone number 320-5551 will no longer be in service. We are using mobile only from here on out. Bill 814-5726 and Shirlene 512-9734.

Ciao, Ciao Brown Cow

The Last Days

Hi everyone!
I just talked with my lovely wife via land line. Internet use for them in Bogota is not reliable. Shirlene and Melissa et. al. arrived in Bogota Monday morning and had a full agenda to find a place to live and get the kids in for their final physician check ups. She found them a lovely one room hotel to live in until the kids get their visas from the embassy. They thought they could do that today (Tues.) but the American embassy was closed in observance of Veteran's Day. They were assured it would be completed by tomorrow so Shirlene called the airlines to get their tickets changed. Unfortunately, COPA didn't have any available flights until this coming Saturday at 4PM. Which would put them touching down in DC at 1AM Sunday. It should be an exausting week for them as they are living in tight quarters with no food provided. Then the long flight home followed by passing through US Customs. Please continue to pray for my Shirlene's and Melissa's strength, stamina and endurance. If anyone is currently praying for patience for them...please stop.

Para Ivan de Papi

No va a ser largo, hasta ahora estamos juntos otra vez.
(It won't be long now until we are together again.)

Mi niña necesita un hombre para proteger y servir a ellos.
(My girls need a man to protect and serve them.)

Para establecer un ejemplo para la fuerza para obtener a través de estos pocos días.
(To set an example for strength to get through these few days.)

Necesito su ayuda Ivan.
(I need your help Ivan.)

¿Podría ser ese ejemplo para ellos?
(Would you please be that example for them?)

Te Amo Ivan,
Papi

Passports

Hey a bit of a rough day. We all were very excited about flying out Sunday and Ivan did not get a birth certificate so was unable to go get a passport. He had a bad day. I think it was rejection or something. Daniela woooo woooed the whole way home in the taxi and when we got back. Tatiana refused to walk. It was a bit exausting. I also was hoping to fly out Sunday.
GOOD NEWS we were able to get the last birth certificate and 7:30 am Monday morning we will go down to the office and get the final passport. So we should fly out to Bogata sometime Monday. YEAAAAA!!!
Feeling a need for change we all went to a park on a hill. It had a lot of booths and we were able to view local artists. Fun and more relaxing. I brought bubbles for the kids and we all were able to turn around to laughter.
Coming home soon can't wait!!!

Agua Blanca

Thursday Nov 5th.
Progress-
Elana is to travel to the cuidad(city) of birth for the children to get new birth certificates. The older two were born in Tuala and Tatiana in Armenia. Tuala is on the way to Armenia. Elana's trip was able to get the one from Armenia, but it was late in the day and she was only able to get one from Tuala. Please pray for the final birth certificate to be accomplished today Friday. IThe plan was to get the children's passports today and fly out to Bogata on Sunday. The kids are aware of this. It will be dissapointing for them if we do not fly out Sunday. If we don't get it today we will do a passport Monday morning and fly out afterwards. I am supposed to meet Lucia in Bogata at 2PM on Monday. Pray for God's timing. It will be a big change for the kids to fly out. They have never flown and Tatiana is scared. We all have become close with the ladies here. Bogata will be the beginning of a very big adventure for them. They have a tendency to resist with a firm "no" when feeling upset. Please pray that the Lord gives us creativity and extra hands to get all three where we all need to be. Ivan has been amazing as a help in all this and I believe he is already starting to comprehend English. Smart as a whip!!
Evenets-
We usually take a morning trek and an afternoon one. Today we got to go to Agua Blanca. I have been asking to. The lady whose house we are staying in is a teacher at this school. Two days before we came she had a bad fall and has been recooperating from surgery the whole time we have been here. I was able to encourage her today that there is a time for all things and that rest is a gift from God. She misses teaching. The school is in a very poor section of the city. We usually stop the car and all get out. She backed the truck into the kitchen and barred the doors before we got out. They feed the kids there. For some of the children this is thier only meal of the day. We saw 41-five year olds in a circle on the floor with the desks pushed back. They said good morning to us in English. So sweet. They were otherwise quiet. They use a Montissori(I know that is spelled wrong)approach. And we also saw about 35-11th graders. Thier English was even better. What an amazing thing. By the way they only have 11 grades then graduate. The number of children in the school was astounding. They were all respectful well mannered and doing hard work. The space was tight. It isn't a large building! They has a shop where they taugh woodworking and a kiln with clay for art. They had a computer room with seats for about 30 to have a terminal each. They are funded by local governmant agencies, gifts from a Baptist group in Germany and a Catholic group in Belgium as well as others. I was so moved to think of all the lives they are able to lift and bring hope to. What a neat experience. Ivan started asking about school in the car on the way home through Carmensa. This is difficult to talk about becauSe they have no idea what homeschooling is. So I told them that because of Christmas school was not so much of an issue until January. PleasE pray for our decision and communication process here also.
We went to the pool in the afternoon. The kids love the pool. It is good for them to get exercise. Running away from the mommie monster gets old after a while though they do not yet seem to tired of it.
Thank you all for all your love, support and prayers!!
We are so thankful for so much!!!

Our Kids - Offically

It is Wednessday Nov 4th. I can't believe it we are actually looking at the end of the process. Yesterday I went to court with our lawyer Elana. that was an experience. It is downtown. The streets are crowded with people and vendors. I was driven into the middle of a mob to meet her secretary. I got out of the car and stuck like glue to this lady in jeans who spoke no english. We got through some vendors to an elevator crammed in with lots of others and went up to a office. They pulled a file and showed me were and I signed. They then pulled the papers from my offical file and the secratary walked out with them. We went back and tried to find the car. We did manage to and my lawyer went over the papers with me. In one place it said I was from Italy and had the wrong passport numbers, she send the secretary up to "fix" it. WOW things sure work differently.
Now the kids are offically by Colombian standards ours!! Celebrate!!

Te Amo Niños

Estas palabras son de una canción me encanta
que captura el amor que Dios Padre tiene para mí
es el mismo amor que tengo para ti

these words are from a song I love
they capture the love that god the father has for me
it is the very same love i have for you

Dios diría "mi amor es superior,
su bajo, su interior, entre en su
las veces que usted duda de mí, cuando usted no puede sentir
las veces que ha cuestionado "esta es de verdad?"
las veces que has roto, los tiempos que se enmienden
las veces que me odian y los tiempos que doblar
así mi amor ha terminado, por debajo de su
su interior, en su entre,
estos momentos sanación que está
y cuando su corazón se rompe
las veces que usted siente que ha caído de la gracia
los tiempos que está perjudicando
los tiempos que curar
las veces que pasan hambre y trató de robar
en tiempos de confusión y el caos y el dolor
im existe en su dolor bajo el peso de su vergüenza
im existe a través de su dolor
im existe en la tormenta
i mi amor te mantendrá en mi poder por sí solo
No me la atención cuando has caído, donde se han
Yo nunca te abandonaré
mi amor nunca termina, nunca termina

i hear you say "my love is over,
its underneath, its inside, its in between
the times you doubt me, when you can't feel
the times that you've questioned 'is this for real?'
the times you've broken, the times that you mend
the times you hate me and the times that you bend
well my love is over, its underneath
its inside, its in between,
these times you're healing
and when your heart breaks
the times that you feel like you've fallen from grace
the times you're hurting
the times that you heal
the times you go hungry and attempted to steal
in times of confusion and chaos and pain
im there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame
im there through your heartache
im there in the storm
my love i will keep you by my power alone
i dont care where you've fallen, where you have been
i'll never forsake you
my love never ends, it never ends

Papi te ama a mis hijos
No puedo esperar para celebrar de nuevo

The Road to Armenia

I can't quite get used to the traffic laws here in Cali, or should I say the lack of observance of the traffic laws. In the USA, traffic signals, stop signs and double yellow lines have special meaning in the minds and pockets of it's drivers. I'm not sure of the reason, whether it be the Colombian police force being busy with more important things or just indifference to the laws by the general public, but it seems as if laws became guidelines then guidelines drifted to suggestion in a way that has made ground travel within this country a whole new way to trust God.

Take for instance our recent 2 day vacation to Armenia, the birth place of one Tatiana Jones. We decided to take a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to get away from the city and stay in the beautiful rural Colombian countryside. It turns out that our bus was actually an extended minivan. The trip was mostly two lane highway in which our driver seemed to have some sort of death wish with oncoming traffic. Time and time again our van passed slower moving vehicles by crossing double yellow lines in clearly marked "Do Not Pass" zones. He passed on blind corners, cresting hills and directly into oncoming traffic as if he had recently seen a James Dean movie.

So brazen were his feats that I caught myself reminiscing of my paramedic days recalling numerous drunk drivers emerging virtually unscathed from horrific fatality accidents. Studies find that their bodies are so relaxed at the point of impact that the kinetic forces of the collision are evenly distributed over the entire surface area of their body, thus reducing the chances of isolated major organ trauma.

OK. Maybe I wasn't reminiscing as much as I was distracting my mind with the laws of physics.

Anyway, the chances of me being inebriated enough to survive an imminent head on crash were more remote than the areas we were traveling through. So I tried thinking happy thoughts. I thought so many happy thoughts that I think I started to fly. Not wanting to alarm my wife and kids by flying around the inside of a careening van I decided to try and relax my entire body instead through some sort of mind over matter dreamlike state in which the goal was to convince my body that it was asleep whilst my mind entertained regrets of not getting our wills in order before we embarked to this country.

Alas, try as I might, my thoughts kept returning to a Jack Handey quote. "When I die, I would like to go peacefully, in my sleep, like my grandfather did. Not screaming and flailing like the passengers in his car."

Time has passed like a blur

Hope it keeps on! We went to Tatiana's birth place. A place called Armenia. Cali is in the Cauaca River Valley and Armenia is north in the Quindio River valley. It is a coffee growing region. It is also beautiful. We took a bus there on Wed, a 2 1/2 hour drive. It was one of the scariest rides I have ever been on. The roads were twisting through the mountains and the bus driver would whip through at a fearsome rate, passing on blind curves. We had kids asleep on us that we were trying to keep on our laps instead of flying through the air. We were glad to see ground when we stopped. We got picked up at the bus station and brought to our finca(hotel). It was beautiful!!! What a breath of fresh air. literally, Cali is pretty polluted. The scenery was breath taking and after a relaxing lunch we visited a Mariposa (butterfly)farm. It was beautiful and relaxing. We went back to the Finca and the kids enjoyed the pool on the edge of the moutains. When we woke up in the morning the kids were facinated by the parrots. Ivan tryed to hold 2 of them. One nipped. A little later a man came out and fed the and showed them to the kids. We had breakfast and left at 10. The kids got in 2 more rounds at the pool in the AM. Determined not to rush we went to the Coffee Park. It is a combination museum and amusement park. Looking for a push cart for the kids we got on a sky ride to the far side of the park where the amusement rides were, and never saw anything else. It was a bit of overload on the kids so they did a good bit of acting out between huge spurts of fun and a torrential down pour at lunch. Bill and I finally got some coffee. The plants are short compared to most. But the fresh fruit and coffee (mandarins off the tree), topped off a great time. By the time we got picked up for the bus ride home, Tatiana was in full scream. She soon fell asleep. I wish I could have. Grueling, but worth it. We got home after 9 on Thursday eve. We have been told never go out at night. The kids had slept the whole ride so didn't go to sleep until midnight. Dad and Melissa crashed. Friday was spent running around to finalize things, and we all got up to a bit of a tearful parting on Sat. We would have liked to leave together. Bill should be in church Sunday if he isn't too dead.
Progress on the adoption:
We were told that our case was transferred to Paraja because of a strike in Cali. We found out after our return on Friday that the case had remained in Cali and put at the top of the queue so in a three part process we have part 1 finished. Part 2 is a sign off and part 3 is getting new birth certificates. The sign off was completed before Bill left. Shirlene, Melissa, and the kids are now waiting in Cali until the 2 places the kids were born issue new birth certificates. Our lawyer is supposed to leave on the trip to get them Tues. Please pray that this goes through quickly. Once that is done we fly to Bogota for the final leg. Supposed to be less than a week.
Today while driving home we passed a police station. Our host pointed out that it had been bombed a year ago and the neighboring buildings flattened by FARC. Amazingly only one person was killed. Please pray for the people of Colombia to come to peace.
We miss you all so much and send our love and prayers!!!
Shirlene for the Jones' in Colombia.