It seems like just yesterday my good friend Lynn told me about this wonderful place called FANA. And now this time tomorrow we will be headed for home with our beautiful baby boy. Our journey here in Colombia (this time) will end at 47 days, and what an amazing journey it’s been. We’re filled with so many different feelings right now: first and foremost thankful, for this wonderful baby, and excited for Luke to meet his family at home. We’re feeling relief that our adoption is now complete. But we are also feeling a bit of sadness to have to leave this wonderful place we’ve called home for six and a half weeks. We feel so fortunate to have been able to see so many beautiful places and take in so much of the Colombian culture. We feel like we did and saw so much and yet I know we’ve only barely scratched the surface. And thanks to Jorge, not only did we take in the beauty of Colombia, but our eyes were opened to the reality of the poverty and those who are in need of basic necessities of life that we all too often take for granted. We’ve come to realize now as we pack up our things that there is so much we will miss: the wonderful people, the lazy days with nothing to do but love and adore Luke, enjoying a coffee and taking in the sights and sounds around us, enjoying this quality bonding time and getting to know our son without the distractions of “real” life. It’s rare I think that people get to enjoy uninterrupted time like that and we are so thankful for it. And oddly enough I think I’ll even miss the sounds of the blaring horns and the crazy drivers where there are no rules and no lanes. And of course, the coffee and food: the great late night burgers from downstairs, the milkshakes and ice cream from Crepes, the empanadas, and all the wonderful meals we’ve indulged in for the past month and a half. We had such a wonderful experience from start to finish and hopefully all the families who are to follow will have an amazing time as well. And now to Luke, this peaceful and happy soul who has experienced so much the past six weeks. Since meeting his parents, he has been vaccinated, braced, x-rayed, had ultrasounds, and nebulizer treatments and has never lost that adorable smile (and thankfully, no worries and all is well). I know all parents probably feel this way about their children, but he really is amazing. He is so sweet and kind and we feel so blessed God has called us to this journey and chosen us for one another. The sound of his giggle or him sucking his thumb in the middle of the night would melt your heart. And now we get to take him home and shower him with the love of our wonderful family and friends. We are so thankful for each and every one of you. You have all helped us and supported us from the very beginning of our dream to have a family. And we couldn’t have spent so long away from home without your continued help. So, thanks to B for your genuine excitement to meet your 4th great grandchild. To our parents thank you for your encouraging words and endless support ( and to my dad for shining up our cars like new). Alison and Kevin thanks for getting the mail, watering our plants, checking on the house, paying our bills and the millions of other things I called and asked you to do. Lisa and Mike thanks for answering all our silly questions (and Mike thanks for shoveling the snow). We are so excited for Luke to meet Michael, Morgan, and Nico and we feel so blessed to be able to raise our children together. Alicia thanks for your support and wonderfully funny comments that always kept us laughing. To our great friends thanks for your phone calls, skyping, and comments on the blog that helped us continue to feel connected to you all and to home. We are so thankful to Kenny's colleagues who have been so supportive and understanding and have given Kenny the opportunity to work here with the wonderful people in the Bogota office. To my great friends at Mountain View thank you for being so supportive throughout our entire process and for all of your comments. I’ve enjoyed reading them and staying connected. To Mercedes and Elena and everyone at FANA, we are forever grateful for the love and care you provided our son while he waited to be united with us. To all the wonderful people here in Colombia who have taught us, driven us, translated for us, helped us in any way, we thank you. To Jerri thank you for all you’ve done in helping to create our family and the hundreds of others. Thanks for always being there regardless of how stupid or numerous our questions were. Your dedication to the children and families of FANA does not go unnoticed. To our wonderful buddy couples who prepared us so well for our journey, we thank you. Our experience has been so wonderful I think in part because we knew what to expect, where to go, what to do, etc thanks to all of your advice. To all the wonderful families of FANA, many of whom have shared in our journey here in Colombia, we thank you for your love and support. We feel blessed to be part of your wonderful family. To all of our faithful readers, we thank you for following along on our amazing adventure. And finally to the brave, young woman who chose life for Luke in so many different senses of the word, we are eternally grateful to her. Her love for this child is so evident. She longed for him to have a family and a life that she could not provide. We vow to her that we will do our best to raise Luke to be a wonderful Christian person that she would be proud of. So now we prepare to close this chapter of our journey, take with us wonderful memories to share with Luke as he grows, and begin the next chapter of this wonderful life ahead.
