Ecuador Day 24

Today was a pretty great day. We heard that our court will be at 2:15 Thursday, so prayers around then would be much appreciated- for the favor of the judge, for things to go smoothly, and for the judge to get the Adoption Decree finished in record time. I did a little more reading on the blog from last time today, and while that helped remind me what is in store from here on out, it also served to discourage me again. But the good news is that we are ahead of schedule this time. Last time we went to court on DAY 40 (UGH!!) and this time we are on track to go on Day 26. I'll take that change. After that, we have to wait for the judge to finish the adoption decree. According to my blog last time, they are supposed to have it done, by law (and this could have changed) in 8 days. Ours wasn't done until 17 days later. (Double UGH!)

So, here is what we have on tap still, if the process is the same. I emailed MJB to find out what steps we have from here and when we can accomplish them and she is vague as usual, hasn't responded to direct questions, and says we can talk about it Thursday.

1- Court

2-Doctor appointment. Scheduled for Thursday at 8:30 am, though I cannot get MJB to confirm this is still the case. And I have no directions as to where to go. So may or may not happen...

3-Wait for Decree. No other steps can be accomplished until we have the decree.

4- Go to the Civil Service Registry for new cedula and birth certificates. This takes ALL day- or it did last time.

5- Get a new passport

6- Our MIES worker may or may not have to write another report summarizing everything (we are praying NOT)

7- Fly to Guayaquil to get a visa

8- Judge signs off on everything

SOOO, realistically, this could all be accomplished in short order, but it depends very heavily on the judge. Last time our judge clearly didn't like us and took her sweet time getting the decree done and then again signing the exit salida. After court, I was still here 5 more weeks. That's ridiculous. All of that should take a week, no more. I am really hoping we can go to the civil service registry next week sometime. I mentioned this to MJB. Of course it will depend on our ability to get our decree. But my mom and sister fly in next Saturday night and I would love for that to not take up one of the days they are here because I would be gone the whole day and they would probably be sitting around the house. No fun.

Anyway, that's that. How about we talk about today?

We spent the morning walking to the market for food and then walking on back home. Walking home was a miserable idea, but I am not blaming anyone. (Devin). Whoever thought walking up the hill with all those groceries was a good thought? Just kidding, he had to push Flor up the hill AND haul all the groceries as they were attached to the stroller. I just had to haul a whiny kid named Jace. And boy, walking up a hill is one thing, but walking up a hill at 9250 feet above sea level is something else. And this is no minor hill. 13 blocks to be exact. Anyway.

We then had lunch and everyone laid down for a nap. Wahoo. We got up around 2:30 and got ready to go out the door. We decided today was a good day to visit FHC, Flor's old orphanage. It had crossed my mind a few times to facebook one of the directors there a few times, but I just kept forgetting. Now that Flor is leaving Friday, we figured we needed to figure it out ASAP. I messaged Jen at FHC last night and she wrote back right away saying that we could come this afternoon! Yahoo! We planned a snack for the kids to share. 

We took a taxi to FHC (he ripped us off. No I am not bitter) and had him drop us on a corner that looked vaguely familiar (remember we only went there 4 times last time we were here), and we were only 1 block off. wahoo. That's pretty impressive if I do say so myself. We walked the rest of the way and were right on time. 

Things have changed a little at FHC. The oldest child there is now 5 and all the older kids are in Latacunga (another city) at the FHC there. So we didn't know any of these kids, but that is okay. The toddler house has about 12 kids and the baby house has about 12 kids. We had a snack with the toddlers and took a lot of pictures. Some of the tias are the same and remember Flor, so it was fun to see them and have them see her. Flor showed no recollection of any person or place there, which I kind of expected. We hung around and played with the toddlers for a time and then took a tour of the whole grounds because a lot has changed. The house where Flor lived, across the street from the main campus, has no one living in it now and is used for storage and things like that. The llama is still alive and kicking. :) They still have the pool and trampoline but they have changed some of the grounds in the back. It is all nice and new. They have also painted inside the toddler house, fun pictures on the walls. It is cheery and happy place and so full of love for those kids. We got to go in and spend a few minutes with the babies, which we didn't do when we were here before because we were focused on our bonding process with Flor. Oh, they were so cute!! Melted my heart plum away. There was a little girl that I just wanted to take home right then and there. So cute.

It was so much fun to go back to FHC and remember how wonderful of a place it is. Flor was so well cared for and deeply loved there. I feel such gratitude for the way the tias there care for the kids and to know that they loved Flor the same way. They were there for her for significant things in her life, such as learning to walk, that we weren't there for. They are incredibly selfless and wonderful ladies. 

I have a lot more pictures that I am not posting, because per Ecuadorian law, you have to be careful with pictures of orphaned children, They can't be posted publicly. My blog is not private, but it is not searchable, so I will just the ones with far off shots and no up close faces. 

This was this morning before we left. Don't I have such beautiful girls?

And the other two wanted in on it...

I think I must be obsessed with this house. A new angle to see it's huge expanse.

Ok, here we are at FHC! Very homey and non-orphanage feeling, right? And hi, llama...

It is in the very north of the city, so a bit of a different view than we are used to.

Snack time! Cheetoes and oreos. Yum Yum.

Tia Nancy, who knew Flor. 

They have this darling wall hanging with the handprints of the kids from 2009. Sure enough, there's Flor!

Tia Maritza, who also cared for Flor. 

And the girls oodling over the babies. So darn cute!!

This is the little girl I decided I should take home right then. She is a real beauty, with tons of hair!

Flor in front of Casa Sol, where she used to live. They are about to hold a garage sale in November and are sorting the items donated here. Jen told us that they have had the garage sale the past few years and have had those coming from the US for mission trips and stuff bring their items to sell. She said the last few years they have made over $15,000 each time for FHC. So awesome!

One more day until court, YAY!