Adjusting at home!

The past couple of weeks have flown by! Michael is adjusting well. We've had lots of visitors but have mainly just been settling in at home and getting to know Naboo. ;)

On December 4th, we celebrated Michael's first birthday. We invited friends and family over for cake. Gram, Pop and Uncle Blake joined us on Skype. Michael really likes cake, as you can see. ;)

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday gifts!

The next weekend we headed down south to Gram and Pop's house for a visit. It was Michael's first time to Franklinton! Michael met Mawmaw, Aunt Von, Uncle George, Aunt Cathy, Aunt Mary Nell, Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Sissy, Aunt Frances, Uncle Grady, Lindsay and many other special friends! We had a great time hanging out before Christmas with Gram, Pop, Uncle Blake, Carrie and Ava - oh, and Pepper too. ;)

On our way home from Franklinton, we stopped in Baton Rouge to meet Aunt Shelley. She and Unky Rick gave Michael his first baseball!

So now it's back to normal...for a little while. ;)

What a crazy week!

Back to blogging! After a crazy week, I will try to remember everything that has happened over the past 5 days. It has been a whirlwind!

On Monday the 21st, we did the usual - lounged around the room, took our afternoon stroll. We heard from Maria Elena that the copies of the adoption decree and Michael's new birth certificate were ready and that she would pick us up on Tuesday morning to head to the passport office at 8:30 a.m. Once we got there, it only took about 45 minutes to get it. While we were waiting, this nice man standing beside us told us congratulations and that he was very happy for Michael getting his forever home. ;) Here is a picture of Michael and our attorney Fabiola, as well as Michael and Maria Elena, at the passport office.

We got back to the hotel around 10:30 that morning, booked our flight to Bogota, packed up the rest of our stuff, left our "Cali home" (our Radisson room) and went downstairs to say goodbye to all the wonderful hotel staff members that took such good care of us. Here is a picture of Michael and Isabel, and Michael and Juan Pablo.

We will always have a special place in our hearts for Isa and Juan Pablo and hope to see them again!

Then, it was off to Bogota! Here is a pic of Michael and Ford in the Cali airport.

We got to the hotel on Tuesday evening and settled in (our hotel room was somewhat smaller but we figured we could handle it for a couple of days). ;) The Gladney representative in Bogota, Lucy and her assistants Juliet and Patricia took us to Michael's appointment with the U.S. Embassy doctor at 6:30 that evening. Turns out, he and his wife (who is also a doctor) did their residencies at Tulane in New Orleans! I am constantly amazed at how connected the world and its people are. ;) By the time we left the doctor's appointment, it was pouring rain. Bogota (like Cali) had been experiencing a lot of heavy rain lately which was closing roads and wreaking some havoc around the city. So, a busy Tuesday was in the books!

On Wednesday morning, Lucy and Patricia picked us up for our appointment at the U.S. Embassy to apply for Michael's visa. Lucy told us over and over not to expect to get the visa back until Friday (because the embassy was closed Thursday for Thanksgiving). We accepted that we wouldn't be getting home until Saturday, but I still had a spark of hope that our luck would hold out. ;) The embassy official was a very nice lady (from the U.S.) who, after reviewing all the paperwork, asked me "When is your flight home?" I told her we hadn't booked it yet because we weren't sure when we'd be getting the visa back. She said "I can't promise you anything but we can try to have it ready for you to pick up this afternoon." I nearly yelled with joy! Lucy said this NEVER happens, and she thinks they were trying to get everything closed out for the holiday. ;) Whatever the reason, we embraced it! So, after lunch Lucy called us at the hotel and said "Good news! You can pick up Michael's visa at 2:30 p.m.!" So I went back to the embassy with Patricia and picked up the visa, while Ford and Michael did a little grocery shopping for the rest of the day and trip home. We were on slim pickings. ;) Quick funny story - while reviewing Michael's visa at the embassy, I noticed they had marked his marital status as "Married." Ha. So we had to get it fixed before we left. That was the only hiccup! Here is a pic of the embassy from the street. We weren't allowed to take pics inside. If you look closely you can see the American flag flying.

After we all got back to the hotel, Ford got on the phone with the airline to schedule our flight home. The only flight out of Bogota to Miami was at 1:10 a.m. - hmmmmmmm........ We decided to take it. So we packed up again, made arrangements to get us to the airport and hunkered down for a few hours. We had to be at the Bogota airport a couple of hours before the flight, so we left the hotel at 10:30 that night.

To be honest, Thursday (the 24th, Thanksgiving) was a blur, as you can imagine. We all were going on very little sleep. We left Bogota at 1:10 a.m. and arrived in Miami at 4:50 a.m. Michael slept a little bit, but was kind of fussy. I have never been so happy to be on American soil! We were taken to the immigration office after passing through customs. Luckily, there was only one person in front of us, so it only took us about 45 minutes to go through immigration. After leaving the immigration office and going to our next gate, I spotted a small piece of heaven - STARBUCKS. Haha. That peppermint mocha was the best thing I have ever had. ;) Our flight from Miami to Dallas left at 9:45 a.m. and landed at 12:10 p.m. Michael slept all 3 hours! We had a pretty short layover in Dallas - our flight to Shreveport left around 1:40 p.m. While waiting for our Shreveport flight, we ran into a TNT friend, Jean Dresley and her husband and daughter who were coming home from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. We had a nice visit. ;) The flight to Shreveport was a little emotional for Ford and me. Michael was a little fussy but slept about 30 minutes. Ford and I just kept looking at each other and saying "We did it. We did it."

That was only the beginning of the waterworks. ;) The moment we turned the corner at the Shreveport airport and saw everyone waiting for us, I couldn't help myself. I will never forget the sights and sounds. My momma was right there in the front with her arms open and Michael and I fell right into them. Michael went straight to Gram and Pop and Mamai and pretty much anybody who wanted to hold him. It was a special moment. We had about 30 people there waiting for us - friends, family and even the KTBS news crew! Earlier that day, Mamai had called KTBS and told them if they wanted an inspirational Thanksgiving news story to be at the airport at 2:45. They were, and now we have a video to commemorate our homecoming. How blessed we all are!

My parents and Ford's mom came home with us and helped us get settled. Mamai brought over Thanksgiving leftovers, so we had ham, dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and, thanks to the LaPierres, homemade macaroni and cheese. It was the best meal I had ever had. ;)

Here are some pics from that day.

The week ended with a Tiger win on Friday! My brother Blake and his friend Carrie (with sweet Miss Ava) got in town right at kickoff. The LaPierres - Jenn, Chris, Kennedy and Brady - joined us for the game. It was a great time. Michael played and played. Ford and I were so happy to wash our own clothes and dishes and just do medial things around the house! Here are a few pics from Friday, the 25th.

Well that sums up our crazy week! Sorry for the long blog post. ;) We are so happy to be home and are so thankful for all of the love and support that you all have given us during these last few weeks. We needed it! More to come from the Stinson house! Happy Holidays to you all!

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday, the 19th, was pretty lazy. We did the usual - dressed in our purple and gold and did some shopping at Unicentro. After walking the nearby nature trail for a while, we settled back in to listen to the LSU game. I really enjoyed a non-stressful game this weekend. ;)

Sunday, we were treated to a tour of the city by our hotel sales manager, Juan Pablo. He and the rest of the Radisson staff have been so wonderful to us. He took us to various parts of Cali. First, we went to Cristo Rey, a full view of the city up in the Andes (accessible by car) with a statue of the "protector of Cali" (similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro, except smaller). The view was breathtaking!

Then we went to a part of the city called San Antonio. It is known for a beautiful, old, renowned Catholic church. It was next to a park where families were enjoying the good weather, and children were kicking around soccer balls.

Juan Pablo then took us to a nearby artisan market. It was nestled in this very quaint, friendly, little neighborhood. I could have spent the better part of a day there shopping and looking through all the handmade items, but with 3 boys with me, I made short work of it. I picked up a couple of things. ;)

After a bit of shopping, we went to take a quick picture by "El Gato Del Rio" or "The Cat of the River." There is a sculpture of a giant cat in a park near downtown Cali that has become a city symbol. Its image is all over souvenir items. As its name suggests, it is right by the Rio Cali (or Cali River) that runs through the city.

For our last stop, Juan Pablo took us for a traditional Cali treat - cholados. A cholado is an icy drink mixed with all kinds of fruit (pineapple, banana, mango, lulu) and topped off with condensed milk. There is an entire street that has cafe after cafe serving cholados. They were wonderful! Michael thought so too. ;)

During our afternoon, Juan Pablo told us an interesting story about his family. When he was 13, the guerilla forces kidnapped his brother and father from their home. He remembers them trying to take him, but his mother was crying and very upset because he was so young. So he was left with his mother, while his brother and father were taken. In that time, guerillas would kidnap family members to get money for their release. After their release, the Colombian government held them safely in one of their army bases. As we passed this one, Juan Pablo said "This is where we picked up my father and brother."

It was such an experience to see Cali through the eyes of someone born and raised here, as well as hear his stories. It was a day we will long remember!