We celebrate a wonderful family heading home!

Today is a bitter-sweet day. The first night we stayed here, we awoke in the morning to the playful sounds of a young boy splashing and playing in the tub. His name is Alejandro (pronounced Allie-Hund-Row). He is 3 years old and staying right next door to us. We soon met his parents. Fabio is his dad's name. They are from Italy. I (Chad) have never met anyone from Italy. I cannot tell you how nice of first impression this family has made. Fabio is a pizza chef back home in Italy. They live about 2 hours east of Rome in a small town of about 70,000 people. They only speak Spanish and Italian, so I wasn't much good to communicate. Kristin seemed to be well at talking with them. We have pretty much only eaten meals with them or the family from Michigan. Fabio is a very gentle and caring individual. If he sees something he could do to help, he will always do it. When I was sick a few days ago, he stopped by very concerned to see if I was alright. When Josh was sick he would seek us out to ask if Josh was okay and if there was anything that he could do. A very nice guy! Alejandro is FULL of energy. He has a sing-song voice and can make anyone laugh. If we left our door open Alejandro would come in and play with Josh very gently and nicely. They leave tomorrow for Italy. So we are sad to see them go. The Michigan family and us took them out for a Pizza celebration at a place 2 blocks from here called Archies. The kids made their own pizza's. It was quite a sight to see. Check out our photo gallery for pictures of this. John & Kim bought some little surprise cakes and after dinner, Kristin went back into the kitchen and put some candles on them and brought them out. We sang "Happy Travels To You" to the tune of Happy Birthday. I don't think they understood what we were singing, but they understood the gesture. It is good that they get to go home, but sad to see them go.



The rest of our day we hung out around the hotel. Josh and Kristin took a few naps. Josh is doing about the same today. His fever seems to be consistent, and he still sounds like a dragon. It doesn't seem to bother him too much, but it's hard for Kristin and I to hear him struggle for breath. The weather here was beautiful again today. It was probably in the low 70's and sunshine. We took Josh for a walk today, but this time we tried a stroller. He enjoyed it, but it was hard work with the bumpy sidewalks. Kristin needed some McDonalds after the Split Pea soup and fried banana's for lunch. Tomorrow is pancake day, so we both are looking forward to that. The doctor told us to keep Josh inside as much as possible due to the altitude and pollution. So we may or may not venture out tomorrow. It is Flea Market days on Sunday.


As for our return home, we didn't hear anything this week about the court process. We were told not to ask. The family from Italy was here 5 weeks, but adopted from another region in Colombia. It sounds as though things are moving quite slowly, so we are anticipating 6 weeks or more. Monday we begin our 3rd week though, so optimistically we could be closing in on half way there.

Well that's all we can think of today.

Hope all is well with everyone.