Andy got a Spiderman on his arm. It is pretty cool.

The "dog" show.

AJ and Dana enjoyed the "Dogs" and kid play area.

Chef Andy. The cooks in Colombia have to wear gloves, hat, and facemask.

Andy is a perfectionist with his pizza sauce. He made a cheese, ham, bacon, and corn pizza. Yum. There was about 20 things to pick from, including fruit (peaches, cherries, raisins), meats (ham, bacon, chicken, beef, sausage), and other things (nuts, corn, olives, pickles). Some pretty interesting combinations!

A freaky dog with Corey.

Another dog for Kelly and Nathan.

Andy and I in the Salt Cathederal.

The Nativity scene in the Salt Cathederal.

One of the stations in the Salt Cathederal above. Waiting for our English tour guide below.

Hi everyone,

We had a fun day yesterday (Saturday). We arranged with Mauricio to do the City Tour and he came and picked us up at 9:30 a.m. There was another family from Phoenix from Hotel Paris along as well, so it was great to have some American company. Their names are Corey, Kelly and Nathan, and Nathan's Grandma Alice. It was great to hang out with them for the day.

The first part of our tour was driving some scenic roads overlooking Bogota. We also stopped at an Emerald shop and couldn't resist getting a little something for Dana when she grows up. It was tempting to go wild in there as there was a lot of beautiful jewelry, but we kept it in check. We saw a beautiful high quality Emerald that was $40,000. Yikes. The store was very non-descript, and when you go in you are taken to the back of the shop and let in through a locked door. Once you enter the door you are in a luxurious setting, unlike the front of the shop that is just a typical souvenier shop. I guess it is necessary for security.

After that we traveled to the Salt (Sal) Mine and Cathederal which was about 1.5 hour away from where we were in Bogota. The drive was a nice one and we got to see some of the countryside that we haven't seen yet. We traveled through a few towns and saw their main square. Everything is built around a Catholic cathederal and square here. Usually the town's government office is on the square as well.

When we arrived at the Salt Mine it was located on a mountain, and we took a tunnel into the depths. At one point we were about 425 meters (I think about 1200 feet) below the peak of the mountain. In the mine the miners constructed a Cathederal and stations of the cross. The pictures can't show all of the details that went into it as it was pretty dark in there, but it is amazing at what they erected in there. In addition to the stations of the cross there is a full Cathederal in there. The cross at the front of it is about 65 feet tall and 40 wide. The ceiling is probably 75 feet tall. There are baptismal fonts, and many statues in there as well made from the salt marble. So after having a guided tour for about an hour we were ready to come back up to the sunshine.

After the tour we were pretty hungry as it was about 2 by then. Mauricio took us to Chia to "Andre's Carne de Res" (Andre's beef restaurant). It was by far the most funky place I have eaten at in my life. The best way to describe it is a Chuck E. Cheese and TGI Fridays combined and on steroids! The outside of the restaurant was decorated by the owner who is an artist, and had some cool sculptures. Once we went in it was sensory overload! There was his artistry everywhere. It is very beautiful, scary, and contemporary. For instance, we got a milk for Andy and it came in an old fashioned glass milk jug, with a spoon twisted around the top as a handle. Each table had a handmade sign showing it's name (we were at table Ursula 57). Jodie found a table with the name of Valentina and took a picture to scrapbook.

The coolest/freakiest thing there was the dogs (actors in dalmation costumes). From what we could gather it was based on 101 Dalmations as there were about 20+ dalmations running around, sniffing you, pretending to urinate on your leg, and doing dog things to make the kids laugh. There was a Cruella DeVille as well as her bad servants who were trying to capture the dogs for Cruella's fur coat. Later on there was a "Dog" show outside in the kids area.

Andy got to make his own pizza in the kids area. He made a cheese, bacon, ham, and corn pizza. It tasted pretty good! He loved to get dressed up as a chef and roll out the dough, spread the pizza sauce, and put the topings on. He is a very serious pizza maker. After lunch he also wanted to get his face painted, but opted for a Spiderman on his arm. In the kids area there were puppet shows, a swing set area, dance and costume room, face painting, painting t-shirts, and shows from the actors. Overall it was a great experience.

The best part of the lunch/dinner was the food for us. They have awesome steaks. I had a steak that was stuffed with bacon and cheese and folded up/toothpicked and grilled. It was by far the best meal that we have had here to date. Jodie had a steak as well and hers was great too. Jodie had a tear running down her cheek as she ate it (just kidding)!

After that we had our trip back to the hotel and got home about 6:15 so a very busy day. Dana did well the whole time, as she napped and ate as usual, just in the baby carrier. Andy ended up falling asleep standing up while he was in my arms in the back seat of the van. That has never happened before! ;)

Today is Sunday and that means Santa Barbara. This is what Andy and I did last week, and we are going to walk up there and take Jodie and Dana this week now that we are traveling around more. It is about a 2 mile walk, and on Sundays they close one lane of the street for pedestrians/bikers. I'm sure Jodie won't come back empty handed. ;)

Have a great weekend!

Jeaneth (Janet) the Hotel Manager had flowers for us a week ago when we brought Dana home. They are still looking beautiful a week later.

Yesterday we took a walk to Baby Ganga and had a shake at El Corral. Jodie and Andy took a nap, and Dana and I went. She slept the whole time in the Baby Bjorn.

Here is a picture of the typical traffic. This road had about 3 lanes of traffic, but as you can see no one stays in their lane. Motorcycles are everywhere and they zip right inbetween the cars. I am surprised that there aren't more accidents but people just move where they want to and there isn't a lot of organization.

Family picture when we returned from our Defender of Minors meeting yesterday morning.

Here is the office building of the ICBF where the Defender of Minors has her office. The building is typical for the area.

Here we are with Gloria the Defender of Minors, who fell in love with Andy and Dana. Blonde hair kids are very rare here, so she had to get her hands on him. The other gentleman is our Colombian Attorney (forgot his name). This is our only meeting with him, and he filed our paperwork with the court yesterday.

Andy and Dana prior to our meeting. Posing on the Pool Table.

Happy Friday! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable short work week. Last Monday (26th) in Colombia there was a holiday for Corpus Christy which I think is the Holy Spirit. This Monday June 2nd is another holiday. From what we heard there are 23 national holidays all on Mondays-good thinking on their part. Can you imagine having a 3 day weekend every other week during the year. Perhaps we should take this on in the US!

Yesterday was our Defender of Minors meeting at 7:30 a.m. in downtown Bogota. We were up at 5 a.m. getting Dana and Andy ready as well as ourselves. We pulled it off, and were ready about 5 minutes prior to Helena picking us up at the hotel.

The meeting itself was very quick and more or less a formality. Gloria the DOM couldn't help commenting on how "Lindo" (beautiful) Andy is and "Linda" Dana is. She had a few questions for us on why we chose Colombia for adoption, and if we were happy with Dana. Pretty easy questions to answer. I think they are just making an observation that we are bonding together as a family. Gloria took Dana around her office and showed her off to everyone. We should know later today which court we are assigned to. We heard that Court 17 and 20 are the slower ones, so hopefully we will get another Court. From what we know we may have another 3-5 weeks here pending Sentencia.

We are thinking of going to Santa Marta for a week. They have a beautiful all inclusive resort there, so while we are waiting might as well see the country. Some of our fellow hotel guests may go there as well. So we will let you know our plans when they solidify.

Today Dana was up at about 4:15 and Jodie couldn't get her back to sleep so her first bottle was at about 4:45 a.m.! An early morning for everyone. By the time breakfast was at 8, she had her second bottle and took her morning nap. Everyone is taking their afternoon nap now (Jodie, Andy, and Dana).

We are going to try to do the City tour this weekend, and perhaps the Botanical Gardens.

Have a wonderful weekend, and keep in touch. If anyone wants to come and visit us we will be here for a while yet, so come on down if you want! :)

Take care.

Special Section for My RCI Students

Hi To My RCI Students,

I bet you have all begun your final countdown to the end of the school-year. I hope you are all still working hard and doing your best even though it is getting harder and harder to stay focused. I am sorry I have not been good about sending notes to you. I've been very busy taking care of Andy and Dana. Thanks to Colton and Brandi for your comments--very cool. I don't know if I should thank the person who wrote "nerd ha ha ha ha". I have a guess who that might be:)
As you may have read in an earlier post, we recently visited a coffee plantation. Colombia is very well known for its coffee. The plantation we visited was a small one. I guess there is an area northwest of Bogota where there are huge coffee plantations. This area is perfect for growing coffee because it has a lower elevation than Bogota (Bogota is about 3000 meters above sea level) and the days are warm and nights are cool. We learned that it is best to pick the coffee beans when they are red in color, not yellow (See picture below). People actually pick these by hand. If you were to taste a coffee bean right from the plant you would find that it doesn't have much of a taste. It is only after they are roasted that they get the coffee taste that we are familiar with. I am not crazy about coffee, but if I were I gather that Colombian coffee would be delicious.


This is the machine where the coffee beans are roasted. I love the smell of coffee, just not the taste.

Here is a close up of a coffee plant. Would you pick the red ones or the yellow ones?

I thought I would throw this beautiful picture of an orchid in here. Colombia's national flower is the orchid. There are many many varieties.

Well, hope you learned a little something. The first student to tell Mrs. Ihlenfeldt that it is best to pick the red coffee beans will receive a special prize. The first student to tell Mrs. Ihlenfeldt that it is best to pick the yellow beans, will have a lunch bunch:)

Adios for now.

Mrs. McCoy

On top of Moinserrate and ready to have a snack at the restaurant.

Jodie and Dana are checking out a vendor on Moinserrate.

Andy and I went to the mercado on Sunday.

Hi everyone,

Sorry it has been a few days since our last post.

We have been taking it easy to get into a routine with Dana. On Sunday Andy and I went with some of our fellow hotel guests to the Mercado at Santa Barbara. It is a beautiful older part of town, about 2 miles from the hotel, and on Sundays they shut down some of the streets and have a market. There were tons of crafts, food, and people. Andy and I got a little dress for Dana, a wall hanging for her, and a pair of earrings for Jodie. Andy also got a Gecko stuffed animal.

Monday was a day of hanging out and playing pool. Of course it rained most of the day, so nothing new with the weather.

Tuesday we ventured out and walked to the Unicentro Mall, as we have been talking about walking there since we have come. We couldn't believe the security to get in, as the police were there doing a metal detector wand over backpacks etc. Also the way that people dress here. Everyday is like you are in your Sunday finest. Men were predominantely in suits or dressed very nice, and women were in very nice outfits. It is definitely not a place to go with shorts and flip flops like in the US. Jodie went to change Dana in the womens rest room, and there wasn't a changing station, so when she was about to put Dana on the wash basin, a woman next to her offered her sweater to lay down! I don't think that would ever happen in the US! People are very polite and generous here.

Today we saw two of our Danish families from the hotel leave to go home. It was an emotional day, especially for Andy. The two new fathers, Lars and Martin took Andy under their wings and really played a lot with him, mostly pool. Their families were very generous to Andy with their time, and we enjoyed getting to know them over the last 10+ days. Hopefully we will see them again when they are in the US, or who knows if we ever venture to Denmark in the future. Andy cried pretty hard when his buddies left for the airport. Luckily Fleming, Brian, and Allan have picked up on the pool patrol with Andy and he is turning into a little pool shark.

This afternoon we arranged to have Santiago take us to Moinserrate. Keep in mind that Bogota is already at 8,000 feet elevation. Moinserrate is a church built I believe over 100 years ago at the top of a mountain, which is roughly 10,500 feet above sea level. We took a cable car up to the top, which only took about 5 minutes, and very smooth. Once up there we were able to check out the cathederal, and stations of the cross. Andy was asking tons of questions on why Jesus was bleeding and on the cross, so we had to revisit Easter and how we celebrate Jesus' being brought to heaven. He didn't like the goriness of the Jesus figures here as they have blood on his body and instead of the crown of thorns they show more spikes in his head. Anyhow it is a lot for a 4 year old.

The views from the top were breathtaking. We checked out the grounds for a while, and of course up there they have a little mercado to buy trinkets. Jodie spent some time checking that out. Afterwards we stopped in one of the two restaurants up there for a snack and got some good food.

Tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. is our Defender of Minors interview and meeting with the Colombian attorney. From what we have heard it is a pretty short meeting and more or less a formality. Early next week our paperwork will be submitted into the court system, and we will be officially awaiting Sentencia, which can take another 3-8 weeks. Hopefully we will be assigned a faster court and it will be a shorter time, but no one has control over that.

So you are up to date. Dana is doing really well. She is eating just fine, sleeping through the night, and being a good little baby. We think she is cutting a tooth as she is sometimes pretty fussy, and her fingers are always in her mouth lately and she is drooling more. Jodie is doing some extra washing as well as she has had some blow outs in the diapers! ;) You have to love those details!

We will update the blog again soon.

Colombian Babies!

The moment that many of our fellow families who are waiting to adopt are waiting for: Pictures of Colombian babies!!!! When we followed other peoples' blogs when they were in Colombia we just couldn't get enough pictures of the babies. We had a photo shoot last night here at Las Palmas. All the other babies beside ours are being adopted by Danish families. I will tell their names and ages from left to right. Jonathan, 10 months. Dana (our sweetheart), 5 months. Mads, 6 months. Magnus, 7 1/2 months. Emilie, 6 1/2 months. Anders, 11 months. They are all beautiful and so happy and content most of the time.

Dana and Mads get cozy while Magnus sits by feeling a little sad and left out.

The Big Boys: Juan (age 2) and Andy (age 4) watch a movie together. Juan was adopted by a couple from Spain.

Emilie and Anders seem pretty comfortable together. Emilie and Dana are the only girls here so far.

Dana and Mads seem to have an instant connection. We will look into possibly arranging a future wedding. Can you believe the hair on Mads?

Lunch at El Corral! Another rainy day in Bogota during their rainy season.




















Big Bro Bro helps give Dana her first bottle of the day.











How in the world did we get the two cutest kids in the world?!


















PJ time this morning.








Dana's first bath with us. We have never seen so many rolls and cellulite! Isn't it cute!!

Hello everyone,

Today was a laid back day. We woke up at 6:30 with Dana and gave her the first bottle of the day. She wakes up smiling and happy. You know how some kids it is hard to get them to smile when you take a picture? Well we don't have that issue. She is happy go lucky and loves to look at her big Bro Andy.

After breakfast we gave Dana her first bath. Wow does she have the rolls on her! Andy didn't have any of those so we are enjoying Dana's chub. Lots to of folds and creases to clean in. Dana took her first nap and when I went to get her after she woke up she had her first #2 diaper. WOW was that a big one!!! A couple of days worth. Lucky me it took 6 wet wipes to clean it all up!!!!

We decided to take a walk around 11:30 and go get some lunch at the El Corral (Colombia's equivalent to Burger King), and the hamburgers were excellent. The food at the hotel is good, but after a week of it we needed a change of pace.

On our way home there was an earthquake (5.4 on the Richter scale) on the other side of the mountains surrounding Bogota. We wish we could say that we experienced it, but as we were walking we didn't feel a thing. When we got back to the hotel, they told us that the house was shaking, and the pool balls on the pool table were moving back and forth. Everyone was evacuated into the courtyard. A couple of the Danish ladies went to Unicentro Mall and they were on the second floor and they said it was shaking and swinging quite a bit, and they were scared. No one was speaking English and they didn't know if it was a bomb or what. Luckily after they went outside someone told them it was an earthquake. So we must have been in a spot that wasn't affected, or we just didn't feel it! So just in case you hear something on the news tonight, we are all just fine here.

Cecilia came over about 3 today to check on us and make sure that we are doing fine. After I put Dana down for her nap, we talked for a while about the political unrest and crime/drugs that have plagued Colombia in the past. She said that the last 10 years or so it has been pretty good under the current administration. Bogota in her opinion, has always been an island outside of the crime and drugs that are prevalent in the rural areas. She did say that most of the drug lords own a lot of the apartment buildings, and have big homes here, but they do their work in the rural areas and live there mainly. She said this is the way that they launder their money by investing in Real Estate among other things. Very interesting.

Otherwise tomorrow we may finally venture over to Unicentro Mall, as we haven't been there yet. We keep taking longer walks every day as Dana really enjoys her time in the Baby Bjorn.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Andy is going in for the smooch!















Tummy time.















Should I roll over or not? I have to think about that for a while, and chew on my finger.













Andy and Julian (Austrailia) playing on the bunk bed. He was only here for two nights, and they hit it off as they are both 4. Julian was adopted in Cali 4 years ago, and his parents were there again to adopt his little sister. They got Sentencia and left for their long trip home today.

Hi everyone,


We had a low key day today, getting to know Dana and her schedule. We were a little off yesterday, so we wanted to get her back to her routine to help her. Change is hard for anyone, even babies.


Some pictures are below. Dana had another great day watching Andy, cooing, and eating very well. She has to keep up those cheeks.



We took a short walk this afternoon and checked out the neighborhood. Along the way we stopped at the pastry shop for an afternoon snack. Dana did really well in her first Baby Bjorn ride (thanks again Katie). She just looked all around, and spit up a couple of times on Jodie's shirt.



Next week on Thursday we have our meeting with the Defender of Minors and Colombian Attorney at 7:30 a.m. (we have to be there at that time!). It will be fun to get everyone up, cleaned, eat breakfast and out the door at 7 to get there. From what we have heard the interview is pretty short (10-15 minutes), and they want to see how things are going and how Dana is adjusting to our family. After that point our paperwork will be submitted to a court, and we will be officially awaiting Sentencia. We are hoping that Sentencia won't be too long of a wait, but that is out of our control, so we just have to be patient.



Tomorrow we will be hanging out, and maybe taking another walk or head to the Unicentro Mall if we are up for it. Lots of rain so far, so the sun is rarely out. We are hoping that the rainy season ends soon, and we have heard that it usually is done around now.

Dana is into reading already. She loves to watch Andy and crinkle the pages.
















Lunch time, just up from a nap and after a bottle. Happy, Happy!
















The ladies and kids.
















Play time with Daddy.

Here is our Colombian princess. How about those cheeks!

Big brother Andy. Dana can't take her eyes off of him. He is being so sweet to his new sister.

Our first family photo!

Andy got to meet Dana before we did. He was taken up to the waiting room and gave Dana her "pink bear" and also met Glady's who is Dana's foster mother. Afterwards they brought her down to us to meet her mommy and daddy.

Dear Grandmas and Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles, and all of our great friends and family,

We had a wonderful morning today bringing our Colombian princess into our lives. After a long night of little sleep, we were up at 6 a.m. to get ready. Cecilia picked us up at 8 a.m. with Santiago as our driver. We navigated the streets of Bogota for the 30 minute ride to CRAN Orphanage. We were so impressed with the orphanage and the little that we saw of it. We will be going back in about 2 weeks for a follow up visit and formal tour. The orphanage is high above the city and has spectacular views of the mountains and city. The kids there were taken care of very well. There were lots of older children there that we saw.

When we entered we were brought to the orphanage directors office and met her and some of her staff. We were taken to a small room to make ourselves at home for the presentation. After a few minutes we were brought to a conference room to do the final paperwork and then met with Gladys who is Dana's foster mom for the last 5 months. She was a wonderful woman, and meeting her we know that Dana was so very well taken care of. She let us know of Dana's daily routine, and how she hasn't been sick at all and is such a good little girl. She is constantly smiling and cooing for her. We also found out that she is a great sleeper, with 3 naps a day and sleeps through the night (7 p.m. to 5-6 a.m.)

After our meeting Gladys and Cecilia brought Andy up to the room where Dana was waiting. Andy was able to meet his little sister before we did, how lucky is that for a big brother! Andy brought Dana her "pink bear". After a few minutes Dana was brought down to the room that we were in and the floodgates opened up. It is such a joyous feeling to have an addition to our family. My eyes are welling up just remembering it. We had some time to take some pictures and have some family time before leaving. All in all it took about an hour from start to finish.

When we returned Santiago brought us to a Notary and Cecilia helped us authenticate some of our documents and birth records so that we can travel around the country with Dana (just in case the Police stop us and ask for ID). Andy was starting to get hungry so Cecilia was nice to buy him a sucker.

We were back at Las Palmas at about 11:15 a.m. so a busy few hours. I quickly changed and walked over with Andy to Pomona to get some formula. When I got home Jodie gave Dana her first bottle, and she sucked all 8 ounces right on down without a problem. Now it is nap time, and she is doing well with her first nap.

So we are all truly blessed with our little girl. We can't wait to have each and every one of you meet her when we get home. I know that pictures aren't the same as smooches from Grandmas, and holding her in your arms, but we will do our best to spoil her rotten while here. Shouldn't be too hard at all. Those cheeks are meant for smooching. When Jodie changed her diaper she loved seeing the little chub rolls on her legs as well.

Andy wants everyone to know that Dana is sweet. "Dana is the bestest girl. Dana is really cool. Dana is really pretty. Dana drinks warm milk. She is the nicest girl that ever could be!"

We will share more later, as we have to get these pictures out for those that are sitting and waiting.

Love to all.