Thursday, November 22, 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Our Future Americans! (note their little flags?)
We had a great Thanksgiving Day - even though we missed being close to family & friends! Hope you had a wonderful day as well! The 'residencia' we are staying at (Betty's Place) is owned by an American woman who is married to a Colombian man. She orchestrated a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner...complete with all the 'usuals' including turkey (of course), cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing (Robert made it from scratch AND no recipe - and it was a HIT!), and of course PUMPKIN PIE!

We've talked about Thanksgiving with the kids over the last few days and I think they started to understand it a bit more today. They did great trying the new foods...but by far their favorite (not a new food) was the turkey...we have three major carnivores on our hands! :)


Our oldest little carnivore!

There were about 30 people here for dinner - including all the families staying here, as well as the staff of the place and a few other special invited guests. We had a great time and all the children played together really well.


She loves her Papi!



Not quite a family photo - where is Laura?!

We also got to talk to the Meadows family earlier today via Skype - we attempted a conference call with Holly's family as well as her brother who is currently in London, England. It worked for a few minutes - and the children got to say hello to their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Very cool to have a phone call that spanned three continents!

Yesterday Laura & Angie went to the hair salon with two other girls staying here (Diana & Jamie) to get their hair done. The salon is called Norberto's and it is a mix of circus meets upscale Aveda salon for kids! The kids sit in fun chairs (Angie had a race car) and can watch movies or play X-box while they get their hair done. They even have full manicure and makeup services for the little girls - I did splurge and let Angie and Laura get a manicure too...they had a great time!


Notice the classic X-Box stare?
Princess Angie with her hair stylist & manicurist hard at work!
The Finished Product - isn't she lovely?

Today we took the classic 'Couch Picture'. For those of you who have adopted or are familiar with adoption - there is often the 'couch picture' that is taken of every baby & child being adopted by a group of people. For those adopting from China - it is often the children within the DTC group, and for us here in Colombia - it is the children of the families staying at the same residencia as us! So here is the shot of the children that are in the process of being adopted from Colombia that are staying at Betty's Place with us (with the exception of Daniel and John Reyes - the 2 little boys on the left end of the couch in the Colombia soccer uniforms). Daniel Reyes was adopted from Colombia 5 years ago and is here with his family visiting!
All the new children in The Couch Photo!
(From L to R: baby Lauren (NY), Daniel & John Reyes (MD), Jamie Bronson (NY), Juancho Dressel (MN), on Juancho's lap: baby John (MA), baby Ava (MN), Diana Bronson (NY), on Diana's lap: baby Esteban (France), Angie Dressel (MN), Laura Dressel (MN) and on Laura's lap: baby Alexanne (France))
Juancho loves the babies - on his lap are baby John, baby Ava & next to him is baby Esteban!
Angie & Laura with babies Esteban & Alexanne (Esteban wasn't liking this idea so much!)
Juancho's favorite baby by far is Baby John (aka - Juanito)
Below is another Angie video - she loves to put on Mami or Papi's shoes, as this video will show. She is also quite an affectionate girl who sends 'besos' (kisses) to you all as you will see too! After Angie gives you a kiss and says 'Otra vez' ("Do again!") she turns the viewfinder of the video camera around so she can see herself...this girl loves the camera! Click on the link indicated below to watch the video. We'll get one up soon of the other children too - we have quite a few...but we haven't had a strong enough internet connection to get the video uploaded fully! Soon!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Robert and Holly!

Congratulations! I have been following your 'journey' on your blog. I am very happy for you and your family! I can't wait to meet your children!

Abierto por favor!

Julie RDH
Dr. Jim Perry's

Uncle Mike said...

Congratulations Robert and Holly. We've been following your blog from Michigan. You're in our thoughts and prayers. It looks like you're bonding with your kids. Our Laura says "hola" to your Laura!

Blessings,
Uncle Mike and Denise