Ecuador Day 26

Alright, first and foremost. Some important things to note from today:

1) Hallie has declared that her name is now "Chelsey." Not sure where she got this, but she insisted most the day that she should be called Chelsey. Okay...

2) Flor and Jace have officially switched diaper sizes. We brought sixes for Flor and Jace was in fours...but he was busting out of them and Flor's were drowning her...so now Jace is happy in sixes and Flor is happy in fours. Oh, dear.

3)Jace says "hola". Its one of his favorite words (okay only words) and we finally caught it on video for you below. Kind of funny.

4) After calling MJ 4-5 times, she finally answered around 4 this afternoon. I asked her the status of our case and she said, "Oh you don't know?" No, I don't...no one has informed me. She then hung up to have Fabiola call me. Fabiola called and said that she was finally able to file our petition today (hallelujah) and that we got Judge 6. Not one of the ones we were hoping for...so pray that all will go well. She also related that MJ's words about Judge 6 were that he "sometimes speeds things up and does and good job and sometimes not." Well that about covers the bases, doesn't it? So, we will now wait until we are called in for signature verification and then we will have a court date soon after that. We were told 1-2 weeks before we go to court. 1 week would be much, much preferable at this point, so please pray for a quicker time frame with us.

So today was spent mostly at home, though we did venture out a few times. We went to the Mega this morning to pick up a few items. Mostly eggs...we have been eating a ton of eggs. Eggs and milk are unrefrigerated here, just a little fact for those who don't know. We have been refrigerating both just so that it is a little more like we are use to. Anyway, we are buying eggs in batches of 30s and we go through that many at least once a week, usually faster.

After the Mega, we came home and had lunch and naps and then had a leisurely afternoon here in the apartment. We decided to make sugar cookies as we found an easy recipe online that just used simple ingredients that we actually have here in the apartment. That was a fun project for the kids and kept us occupied for a while!

We had to use whatever we had in the apartment as toppings, which meant that we had crushed candy canes left over from Christmas, crushed butterscotch candies, crushed altoids of all flavors, and gum. We did find some sprinkles here in the apartment too, but just using those would be too boring.

So lovely!

Poor Flor...we had to keep her away from the cookies (remember the no sugar thing for her...) so instead she got some diet sprite to suck on. That's about the best we can do for her.

This evening, we met our friends the Schinnerers and the Harlans (well Erin and Adriana, her husband returned home to be with their daughter Addie) for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant. It was So good. Devin and I agree that it was the best meal we have had here. And luckily for us, we were the only ones in the place. So the kids ran wild, we made a lot of noise, and poor Pablo was almost driven crazy by the young, screaming girls (Hallie, Adriana, and Flor).

Being out with these families makes us feel human again and definitely rejuvenates us. We can complain about the process all we want and know that the others completely understand. Tomorrow we are going to the zoo with both families as well, which will be great. Erin and Adriana are here from Cuenca as they just have a few steps left in the process and then they get to head home. They will be home within the week, those lucky ducks.

Flor found a tortilla bin to put on her head as a hat. She also loved Jim a lot because he was willing to carry her around.

How cute are these girls? I told Hallie to put her arm around Adriana for a picture and she just stood there, so Adri went over to her, picked up her arm, and then put it around herself. Sooo stinkin' cute! 

Here is the video of Jace saying hola for you. I have a better one, but then Hallie starts talking and has a bit of an attitude, so we will go without that one.