Back in Guatemala!!!! (day one)

The day is finally here! We are back in Guatemala! It is currently about 8pm (Central time) on Monday evening. We left our house this morning at 5:30am, flew from Huntsville to Atlanta, and were in Guatemala by 1:30pm. Before I fill you in on the details of the day, let me tell you the great progress that we have made over the past week.

First of all, our agency apparently works on the weekends. We checked our email yesterday and found an innocent looking email from our agency labeled, "update for Powell family." It is always an exciting time around the house when such an email is received. However, our hearts sink just before opening because of the possibility of setbacks in the process. Thankfully, yesterday's email was a good report. Our case entered family court on October 11. We found out yesterday that on November 15 we exited family court! We are currently waiting on a preapproval notice from the US Embassy (which should come in the first part of December) and then we will be set to enter PGN!

The second bit of good news we received when we got here in Guatemala. Isabella went to the doctor this morning, had her next round of shots and weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 3 ozs!!! She is definitely growing.

Now, for the events of the day. We decided that this trip we would play by the rules and not risk any problems with our agency. So, we waited in our room until 3:00 for the phone to ring. 3:00 came and the phone had not rung. Eventually it would ring, but not for another 17 minutes. Have you ever really measured how long 17 minutes is? Go ahead, count it off, we will wait...finished? It's a long time isn't it! Those 17 minutes took forever, but then the phone rang and we headed downstairs to meet the foster mom in a special receiving room. It was so great to see Ruth again! She is an amazing person! We began to speak with her about her activities with Isa during the week. Holly asked if Ruth took Isabella to Church. The answer is yes; every Sunday. Not only that, but we found out that "secretly" the head of the foster moms requires each of the foster mothers to pray for the children each day. On top of that, Ruth told us that her Pastor and church family are praying daily for Isabella! To top all of this off, she asked if it would be ok for Isabella to be dedicated in the Church here in Guatemala. Of course we said yes! (Don't worry people at home, she will be dedicated in the US as well.) We are continually amazed at how this whole thing is coming together. Moreover, we are amazed at the support that we have received from people in the US. A good friend of mine came up to me this past Sunday and said that he started leading his son in his good night prayers, including in those prayers, Isabella. He said that the other night he had finished praying with his young son, when his son looked up at him and said, "but Daddy, aren't we going to pray for Isabella tonight?" You can't get much more support than that! Thank you to all friends and family, in the US and in Guatemala that are praying for our daughter and her safe trip to the US!

On a bit of a different note, Holly and I got hungry and decided that I would venture outside of the hotel to try to find some food. What a great experience that was! I was only gone for about 30 minutes but had a great time exploring the city. My original plan was to locate the Chili's restaurant just down the street. However, after finding that it was closed for renovations, I had to settle for the Dominos Pizza that I passed along the way. Way a great surprise! The pizza is very different from the pizza in the US. I loved it! Who knows what kinds of great things we will discover tomorrow.

I guess that is it for now. If something interesting happens in the near future, I will let everyone know. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!

Shalom,
Chris, Holly and Isabella.