Home

Sorry - this post is a bit slow! We returned home on Tuesday. Our approval to leave Texas with both Isaiah and Makenzie came through around 1000 am and we headed for home. We arrived safely back at home around 1:45 am Wed. Long trip, but it is so good to be home. Thanks for all your prayers. Babies and the whole family are well.

God is great.

Jim and Betty

Still Waiting

Kids with Uncle Frank and Aunt Molly

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy as we continue to wait for approval to come home. our state asked for 5 additional items on Isaiah which were provided today. Hopefully we will finally get the OK to come home tomorrow. Please continue to pray.

Jim and Betty

A Bit of a Delay

Just a short note to let all of you know we did not get the final approval to leave today. our state has asked for some additional information. We don't know what they want, but hope to resolve this on Monday. Please pray for this to be resolved quickly so we can get these babies home. All is well with us here other than being anxious to get home.

Jim and Betty

Half Way There

First, let me thank each one of you who have been praying for us. Today God answered our prayers by smoothing out the wrinkles in our interstate transfer request for Makenzie. We thought last Friday the whole paper trail might have to start over again- in answer to your prayer and ours, God has accomplished it all through a series of phone calls today. By mid afternoon, we had approval for the request to take Makenzie home. To God be the glory and credit for bringing this about. We praise Him for it. We have also been told that all the right people are watching for the request for Isaiah and will immediately keep it moving. We are told that everyone along the way thinks we will have his approval by Friday or Monday at the latest. That puts us back home on either Saturday or Monday. We are so grateful that we are able to leave with both Makenzie and Isaiah at the same time.

I want to especially praise God tonight for my brother Frank and his amazing wife Molly. They have been putting us up here in San Antonio. They have treated us like royalty and have blessed us in more ways than we will be able to express or repay. I know scripture says there is a friend who is closer than a brother, but I am so grateful for a big brother who is like no other. He always looked out for me when we were boys and continues to do so today. THANKS to my big brother Frankie!

Please continue to pray for continued speed in the process and God's speed and safety for the journey home.

Jim

Together at Last

We were finally able to bring everyone together today. We discharged Isaiah from the hospital today at around 12:30. It was such a relief to get him in our arms to stay. As we received our shower of blessings for which we had prayed, San Antonio received so much rain we were experiencing flash floods all morning. All this rain did nothing to dampen our spirits- God has given us the desire of our hearts and blessed us with these two beautiful babies.

When we got back to my brothers house, we had the most unexpected experience. Makenzie's entire continence changed once she heard her brother cry out the first time. Up to this time we had not seen her smile yet. I know it sounds difficult to believe, but she has smiled almost constantly since we brought Isaiah home. She now has the same peaceful expressions on her face as we had come to expect from our 8 biological babies. She has also visibly calmed down and is more relaxed and sleeping better. Every time we lay them down next to one and other she flails her arms around until she touches him- then she just lays still with her arm on him. This is the most amazing response we have ever seen in with babies. Very touching and heart warming.

We do covet your prayers tonight. We figured out late today that there is a mix up somewhere with our paper work. Our state for some reason, thinks this is a foster arrangement rather than an adoption. Everyone involved will begin on Monday to straighten this mess out. Isaiah's paperwork should begin processing on Monday also. We covet your prayers for God to intervene and give wisdom for this to be resolved quickly. We have people advocating for us in our state and TX, and trust that God will work all this out together for good according to His perfect will.

Here are our "reunion" pictures.

God Bless.

Jim and Betty

Three Things in Texas We Decided not to Adopt

I know many of you thought we were here to adopt a set of twins, but while were are waiting on the legal system to approve us to leave the state we thought we would, in true Texas pioneer spirit, scout around to see if there were any other adoption opportunities for us in the Lone Star State. Our roaming around led us to some truly unique spots in the old west where we firmed up in our mind that we found the perfect fit for our family in Isaiah and Makenzie. So they are the only ones (or things) we plan to bring home. The pictures above represent the the things we have unquestionably rule out for adoption now or in the future. They are from top to bottom; an Emu, an Ostrich, and a Zebra. Once we told the Zebra, he took it so hard he tried to take a bite out of our dash board. None the less, we stood out ground and left him in our dust as we drove off into the sunset. Happy trails to you......

On a more serious note, we had a great day. Betty and I spent a couple of hours in the morning with Isaiah. We got to feed him for the first time. What a great eater- not finicky like his sister. While we we visiting we got to spend an hour just visiting on a personal level with the twins pediatrician from their time in the hospital. What an amazing man. He told us both kids are doing great and they do expect Isaiah to be released tomorrow. Mostly though we just swapped stories about our adoption experiences. He has adopted 11 of his 13 children. I have never met a man with a bigger heart for orphans. We were so blessed to have shared a brief time of fellowship. We were most encouraged to spend time with someone God has similarly called. We pray God's blessings on him and his family.

In the afternoon, as you can guess from the photos, we went to drive through wildlife ranch- it was a great time. God bless each of you.

Jim and Betty

Meet Isaiah

We finally got to hold our son Isaiah this morning. He is doing well. He has not had any of the normal Premie issues or problems other that the decompression. He has so far not had another instance of this since Saturday. If all goes well, he could be discharged Friday- this is our prayer. We are so anxious to bring him home. We got to talk to the nurse who has spent so much time with him and get her impressions of how he is doing. He eats like a champ so he will continue to grow - he is currently at 4lb 12 oz. He was originally 2 lb 13 oz so he seams to be thriving. We were told that there is no worry of him not eating!! He is as cute as can be and like his sister so tiny.

We are having an amazing time with our precious gifts. We never dreamed we would hold babies of our own again. Nothing is impossible with God.

God Bless,

Jim and Betty

Hello from San Antonio

What an amazing week we have had. A little over a week ago, we received a call completely out of the blue. I (Jim) was at volleyball practice with Kaitlyn, and Betty called my cell phone. So fast I could almost not keep up, she was telling me we had been called that there was a set of twins in San Antonio and they want us to consider adopting them. After a few years of hoping to adopt an infant and having thought God had other plans for us as parents (like going back to Bogota), we were taken completly by surprise. So after Betty spent 10 seconds telling me 4 minutes of information followed by a pause.... "What do you think?" I was shocked, I was dumbfounded, I was elated. The only words I could find to say was YES!!!

So the last several days have been a whirlwind. We are in my brothers house in San Antonio. This morning we welcomed Makenzie Joy Elizabeth into our family. She is so beautiful and so tiny! We are blessed beyond measure and just don't know what to say. We are still absorbing it all and just feel overwhelmed by it all- God IS so good.

We will have to wait a bit to have Isaiah Samuel join us. He is still in the hospital and can't be discharge until he overcomes his decompression. This is when his heart rate slows down and he can stop breathing. The last instance was on Saturday. He has to clear 5 days without an episode before he can be discharged- maybe Thursday. He was only 2 lbs when he was was born- he is now a bit under 5 lbs. We will get to go into the neonatal unit tomorrow to meet him and visit a bit. Please pray he will not have another episode. We will post pictures of Isaiah tomorrow but for today enjoy our postings of Makenzie.