Kern family arrival has changed!!

The new arrival time is 11:32 pm on Delta 676. Sorry for late notice. It couldn't be helped. Love, the Kern Family

Some parting thoughts on Colombia

It's about 230AM here and I have insomnia. Thoughts are filling my head and I can't sleep. I guess it's time to write them down.

I'm sad to be leaving this place and happy to be going home all at the same time. There is a finality to this trip that is weighing heavy on my heart. We are done with adoption. No more paperwork, fingerprints, psych evals, physicals, HIV testing, tracking paperwork, updating paperwork, redoing paperwork. And the waiting....These things have consumed my life for the better part of 5 years. Don't misunderstand me. It's all been worth every ounce of energy expended! But it's an odd feeling to be done with it all. I wish I had it in me for another adoption. But I don't. I'm exhausted. (Maybe that has something to do with a family of 4 with a new baby being in Colombia for almost 6 weeks in a 12 x 12 room?) When people ask me how many kids I want I've always said it depends on who you ask, Kurt or me. Kurts has always said 2 and I've always said 3. I wish I could turn back the clock to do some things differently, meet Kurt earlier in my life, let go of a dream to have biological children with my husband faster, start adoption plans sooner. You get the idea. But that is not my life. If things would of happened sooner or later it would not be Kurt, Lucy or Mateo. I wouldn't change that for anything in the whole wide world. But what I do yearn for is youth. I wish I was younger. Not only have we aged out of the Colombia adoption program but I am exhausted from all of this emotionally and physically. We waited for Lucy for 9 mos. We waited for Mateo for almost 3 years. If I add in all the time spent on trying to have a biological family before that it would be 8 years.

But then again...we could get a call down the road that one of our children has a biological sibling waiting for us and my heart would leap with joy at the thought of it and we would gladly start the paperchase all over again.

I hesitate to share these feelings because I don't want to scare off some random person thinking about adopting. But this seems to be the trend now with international adoption, longer wait times while children still languish in orphanage care. But that is a whole other story. Onto a brighter topic. Let's chat about my home away from home.

Colombia, the beauty of it's landscape, it's people, the food, has gotten into my blood. It is an amazing place to behold with my eyes and my heart. It is a safe place to visit. Not only is it my children's birthplace, it also feels like home to me. I have such a special afinity for this place I find it hard to put into words. I've met so many wonderful people that have touched my heart in my 2 trips here, the experience unique and special. Each time I've encountered someone new there is a story about a place in Colombia that I must see next. My bucket list is getting long! So...I know that we will be back just not for adoption. We will be vacationers, or maybe more like a Colombian Americans family coming home after a few years away.

A new chapter awaits. Thanks. I'm off my soapbox now. Feel better and tired now so I'm going to go back to bed.
Smooch
PK

Flight info

We're coming home Tuesday! We'll be on Delta Flight #1669 from Atlanta arriving at 714pm.

The last of Cartegena

Create your own digital slideshow

What a great trip! It was so relaxing. Mateo ate like a little piggy and Lucy LOVED the ocean and sand. Cartegena is a lovely place. We're looking forward to returning when the kids are a little older and we can do more sightseeing or better yet sans kids;)

As always it's a bit of a shock to the system to return to the hustle and bustle of Bogota after a quiet trip away. But we did come back to some good news....Sentencia! This means that Mateo is legally ours (even though he was ours as soon as he was placed in our arms) and we can leave the country. The last few days have been a whirl of activity; going to the courts to get the actual Sentencia document, Notary to get Mateo's original birth certificate and then amended birth certificate with us listed as his new parents, then off to the passport for Mateo's Colombian passport because he will have DUAL citizenship the lucky stiff and finally a visit to the US embassy to get Mateo's visa to enter the US. We go back to the embassy today to pick it up. While I'm picking up the visa Kurt will go to the Delta office to try to get us some tickets home for Monday or Tuesday. Then of course the packing will ensue and the last minute shopping at the Sunday markets:)

We will post our flight info when we get it. Feel free to come down to the airport.

Enjoy the pics
Smooch
PK

Old town

This free picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Cartegena

Personalize your own free slideshow

Cartegena here we come!

Well we're officially starting week 5 here in Colombia. We're finally leaving in the morning for Cartegena! We'll be there for 4 days returning on Wednesday afternoon. There are tons of families here getting sentencia ranging from 7 weeks to 3 weeks. We've been getting fat on celebration cakes! It seems as though things are moving quickly in the courts these days. I have a feeling we could be home before Easter:) But you never really know....

Monday night Kurt and I went out to Bogota Beer Company after the kids were in bed. The staff took our baby monitor while we imbibed a bit. Good beers and my gin and tonic was delicious as well. The free Aguila beer here at the hotel was getting to us. Can you say Miller Lite?

We went to Parque 93 on Wednesday for lunch with some other families. Gotta love el Corral Gourmet hamburguesas! It's been a pretty quiet week here. There's a new family here from Ham Lake so we went to Maku and Jacques bakery for a treat. They serve Baileys in their coffee:-O

Caio from Bogota
Smooch
PK