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.