More of~ Miss Emily Belle

All of these photos were taken of Miss Emily Belle on my recent visit to meet her in Guatemala. We had 4 wonderful days together, and yes, there was an instant connection between us. Upon my arrival in the lobby of the hotel, (she was waiting with her foster mom and a translator), there was just a flood of emotions that can not be put into words! The deep and profound love I have felt for her all along was suddenly real and alive in my heart. I had tried to keep that love at bay, knowing that she could also be lost to us with the current situation in GT. But, at that moment all worry was gone, and I knew she was ours!! But, handing her back after only a few days together was horrible! It was possibly the most difficult and most un-necessary thing I have ever been asked to do. She should have been ready to come home with me! I would not have made it through those days filled with so much extreme and raw emotions of joy and sadness all at once, without the very caring and nurturing hearts of the Grove family! I had the wonderful pleasure of travelling there with Jolene, Steve, Noah, Layla, Sally and Loyd. They are such a wonderful family who just took me in as a member from the first minute I met them. I can never repay them for the love and kindness they sent my way while we were in GT together. Loyd and Sally literally held me up as I had to say goodbye to my sweet girl. I truly would not have made it that day with out their loving and strong arms of my 'borrowed' parents! I had the privilege as seeing Steve and Jolene receive Layla and get her ready to travel home for good. Jolene was a true sister to me while there, as I missed mine so much. Steve kept me focused on what husbands do - they take care of their wives and children with love! and Noah and Layla reminded me so much of the chatter and action at home. I think they just knew I missed my kids so much! Thank you Grove family for all that you did for me...especially Noah, for letting me hold you for 30 seconds!!
Adopting from Guatemala has been a long and challenging process for us. In the past 18 months we have suffered the loss of two other little girls who we had hoped to adopt through our placing agency in central Florida. Sadly, both girls were later found to be un-adoptable and we continue to pray for both of them daily! We ask that you to, remember them in your thoughts and prayers by name, they are Jennifer Lopez who is about 12yrs. old, and little Maria Fernanda who turned 3yrs. last May. Both girls still need homes and we can only hope that the proper channels will one day be opened to us so we can continue their adoptions. The future of orphaned children in Guatemala is grim. It is a third world country where education, medical care, and even clean water is not available to most of the population. As violence escalates against indigent women there, more and more choose adoption as they hope for a better chance at life for their children. These women are brave and caring mothers who want the very best for their children. Unfortunately, corruption abounds in the Guatemalan system on both sides of the Gulf of Mexico. If adoptive parents chose a stellar agency with high ethics, honest attorneys, and facilitators who actually care about the children, it can be a wonderful experience. As most of you know we have had the honor of adopting 4 other times and have enjoyed wonderful, unmarred experiences as these children joined our family. We have three birth children, who are also gifts from Heaven! We see the wonderful purpose for the lives of all of these children God has blessed us with. We have had to totally rely on God throughout this Guatemalan process as well. We see God using our experience to help others navigate these difficult waters as we learn how to do this ourselves in our daily walk with Christ. We feel the Lord's guidance and trust Him as we continue on this journey for Miss Emily Belle. To date, her case has gone longer than we expected. She was born on October 1st, 06' ~ Lady Diana de Los Angeles Garcia Realegeno ~ such a big name for the tiny baby we accepted as a referral on 12-1-06'. She finally entered PGN on 4-11-07 and was kicked out for a problem on the GT side of her documents on 6-20-07....after those corrections were made by her attorney, her file re-entered the PGN courts on 7-25-07! We are hoping and praying for a quick exit of her file and that she will be signed OUT of PGN very soon. Once that happens, she can travel home with me, in about 6 weeks...we hope! Not all the information we are given is accurate or up to date, so we are really at the mercy of this agency to know what is happening in GT on behalf of this child. Please join us in fervent prayers that she be released from PGN soon, as she NEEDS to be with her forever family while she is still so young. We are so sad to have missed, now, most of her infancy...this was certainly not something we expected according to the first information given to us on her. But, we are committed to this process for her, and plan to do everything 'we' can to see that she is home as soon as possible. I'll post some progressive photos of her later on, but for now, these are the most up to date shots of her beautiful smile!