Ecuador Day 68

I just noticed that my computer has now changed everything back to English. Sad day. Okay, happy day really, but still a hint of sadness there too!

I am updating the blog from way up in the air. We are on our way home to SLC from Dallas right now and I thought that this was a great way to occupy my super frenzied/excited/emotional mind.

So yesterday. Friday, February 24-

Flor and I spent the morning at the OSSO house going crazy. MJ had told me that she was going to go sit in front of the judge's office starting at 8 am in order to get her to sign our salida. I kid you not, I called her every hour to try to get an update, but there continued to be no update. I was SO nervous. After all, if the judge was going to sign the thing, you'd think she would just do it first thing and get MJ off her floor. I don't know, I can't figure that woman out.

MJ finally told me (on one of my hourly calls) to come down to the courthouse area and sit at a little donut shop up the road because she was "almost done." I had no idea what that meant, but we were happy to have an excuse to get out of the house. The sitting was driving me crazy. We arrived at the donut shop at about 2:30. MJ didn't meet us there until 4. My anxiety increased with every passing minute. It was so agonizing. I had no idea what was going on and was about ready to go walk to the courthouse myself and cry to the judge- believe me, the tears would have come readily.

Well, MJ finally showed up and took her sweet time telling me the news that the judge had in fact signed our salida!!! YIPPPEEEEE!!! I clapped and jumped up and down right then and there. Oh, the weight lifted off my shoulders. Apparently it took so long because the judge was in a meeting of some sort for most of the day. Oh well, I was just glad it was done.

Flor and I then walked across the street to pick up a few items for the way home and to book our tickets. American Airlines has a booth in the mall there, so we stopped there first. The man we spoke to gave me bad news after bad news- first that there were no flights that would get me home until Sunday night at 11 pm (I wasn't having any of that) and second that the change fee was actually going to be $800 plus instead of the $350 we were told because we had to pay for the difference in fare costs too. Well, he sent me right into tears, the poor man. Talk about such a high to right back down in the matter of minutes. Oh, boy. You can all see how my emotions have been lately, eh?

I decided to just go to the Schinnerers apartment, which was nearby, and see if I could get a hold of an AA rep in the US who might give me better news. Well, I was successful on the first count. As I talked to her, she let me know that a seat had just opened up from Miami to Dallas-- which was the original problem flight. There had been one all along, but since Flor and I need two...So obviously Heavenly Father heard my pleas that I so desperately wanted to get home to my family. So grateful for that little miracle. The other news was not so pleasant-- as the cost of the fare differences plus our change fare ended up being a mere $1200. No big deal. Oh well, it's just funny money, right?

So, with the good news, Flor and I were off to eat with the Schinnerers and to say our goodbyes. We went to a new place in Quito called Jalapenos. The guy who runs it bought the recipes from Chipotle in the US...so needless to say it was a hit. Oh my, so good. It has only been open two weeks, but dang- we discovered it two weeks too late!

Saying goodbye to Jim, Robin, and Pablo was horrible. I have grown very attached to them and value their friendship so much. We are going to have to go to Oklahoma sometime soon to see them. I'm not even joking. It will be weird to not see them practically every day. It was a given that Robin and I would talk at least once per day and discuss our full schedules and what we might do to squeeze in time together. HA HA... just kidding. Really, though, they are incredible people. I have said this before and I will say it again, but a ginormous side blessing of this whole experience is the friendships that we gained with such choice people. When I say that, I include all the other families that we have met and gone through this process with. There are also others that I have become close to who are in the process of adopting from Ecuador and I consider them great friends too, though we have not yet met.  It's just so great to know such good people.

 I spent the evening packing our things and getting ready. Our flight this morning from Quito was at 11:10 am, which was nice so that we didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to get to the airport. We get in at 11:40 SLC time, supposedly. We'll see! I will write more about today's journey later.

Hallllllllelujah that we are finally to this point! What a journey it has been...

(P.S. I am super tired right now and a bit loopy, so reading back over this, there are some sentences that just don't seem "right." but i can't figure out what is wrong with them. So--- please forgive any disjointed or wacky thoughts. I promise I am smart- sometimes.)