Rub a dub dub, Big Joe's in the tub...

Couldn't pass up this one of Joe bathing in "his" tub -- an inflatable duck! Good thing the duck wasn't any smaller or Big Joe wouldn't fit in it much longer. :-)

I'm a Big Sister Now!

Lucy waited for soooo long to give her little brother a bottle. She talked about it for months before we were able to bring Joe home. She even cried about it a few times. As you can see, she was VERY happy to be giving her brother a bottle. Of course, she couldn't hold him for long since he is only about 5 pounds lighter!

Jumpin' Joe

We have been home for a week and Joe is doing great! He loves playing, or should I say throwing his toys. He gets very excited when Jorge and Lucy are around. He likes to pull Lucy's hair which Lucy isn't too thrilled about. Jorge is always giving him hugs and kisses....it is so cute! They have been a hug help to Mom other than fighting over who's going to do what. They are always willing to help. We are just so happy that Joe is home!

Here are a couple of pictures of Joe in his jumper that he is really starting to like, especially when Jorge and Lucy jump with him.

Joe's 1st Birthday

What a great present for us to get Joe home before Easter and before his 1st Birthday, which was today. Tonight after dinner we celebrated with chocolate covered cup cakes and Nana and Papa Vogel joined us for a little celebration.

I'm pretty certain that Joe enjoyed his cup cake thoroughly...

A picture of Nana and Papa with their three Dix grand kids.

Happy Birthday Joe -- We Love You!!!

We made it home with America's newest citizen!!!

Below is the welcoming party at the airport in Columbus prior to our arrival. Rob's sister had our two kids in addition to her two this week as we were off getting Joe. We have quite the foreign contingent below. From L to R, Mia (China), Lucy (China), Leila (Russia) and Jorge (Guatemala). They had a blast making the signs below and even more fun waving them at us as we made our way out of the concourse at the Columbus airport. What a beautiful bunch of kids!

Our first picture as a family of five at the airport.

Rob's sister had a cake tonight for Joe's first birthday celebration. Joe has a little icing on his face from his first piece of cake and Jorge is planting a big brother kiss on his new little brothers cheek.

We are home and we couldn't be happier! :-)

Last night in Guatemala City

Well, no more pics to post till we get home. We depart the hotel a bit before 4am local time tomorrow morning so we can catch our 6am flight out. Can't wait to get home and have our family of five united for the first time. Thanks for following along and look forward to introducing our new addition to you in the near future. Talk more soon!

Day #4 in Guatemala

Today was a most amazing day. Instead of vegging out at the pool this afternoon we decided to seek further explanation of the religious festivities of Holy week. The best way to understand it is to experience it, so after we secured Joe's visa we caught a taxi and had it take us down town to the religous procession this afternoon. The one we took in was brief and probably only lasted an hour or so. There is another one this evening that starts around 4pm and goes till midnight somewhere in the city. The experience did not let us down and it was nothing short of amazing. Below are some pics from this afternoons activities...

Here is a pic that Shelly snapped in the taxi on our way down town. Joe and Dad's first taxi ride together.

More unbelievable sawdust carpets. All the time making them and the procession walks right through them and they are destroyed in a matter of minutes. This is very much a catholic procession and you can see the burning of incense at the far end of the street as the celebration makes its way toward where I am taking the picture.

Below in the first two pictures are men carrying Jesus of Nazareth.

Below in the next three pictures you will see women carrying the Virgin Mary.

Below is the only blonde spectator at this event and some cute little boy named Joe.

Holy Week in Guatemala and Sawdust Carpets

This week is Holy week in Guatemala. It is a time in Guatemala for spiritual rejoicing, time for reflection over the life, passion, death and the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. A union of Catholic brotherhoods prepare for the traditional days of processions to honor Jesus of Nazareth and the Virgin Mary, among other religious figures. Sawdust carpets, or "alfombras", like the one below, are a basic element of the overwhelming Holy week celebrations in Guatemala. The long and extraordinary carpets are part of a rich and popular art culture of Guatemala. They clearly illustrate the mixture of native and Christian-Spanish civilizations and the impact on their current lifestyle. The manufacturing of an "alfombra" is a way for believers to show gratitude for the miracle of thier belief. This is really magnificent to see and I'm sure the pictures will not do the detail of these carpets justice.

We wouldn't know where to start with making one of these artistic creations to show our gratitude, but, make no mistake, we do know that there is a God and He is most merciful and we are so very, very thankful for all of the wonderful blessings He has given us.

Guatemala Day #3 -- Embassy Day and Luggage Arrival Day

Today started with a 3 hour visit to the embassy to finalize our exit from Guatemala with Joe. We will have his visa tomorrow by noon and will be boarding a plane with him first thing Thursday morning to make our journey home. After our embassy appointment Rob decided to get proactive about the recovery of our luggage and went to the airport for a search and destroy mission (Marine Corps Style........ if neccesary...:-). It was another interesting journey, but he managed to come back with our luggage and we immediately pulled out our swim suits and headed for an afternoon of fun in the sun at the pool. Joe is warming up to us quite nicely and really enjoys being out and about and really had a good time at the pool this afternoon. Looking forward to more of the same tomorrow afternoon if time and the weather cooperate, which we suspect they will.

Good Night Joe!

It's about 8pm and bedtime for the little....er...I mean big fella! We had a good day with Joe. He is starting to smile and laugh a little with us. We even gave him a bath which went OK. Some tears and some fun. We have our big Embassy appointment bright and early tomorrow morning. Of course, we will be wearing the same outfits AGAIN since we still have not received our luggage. It's rather annoying! But we are doing well with it. There isn't much we can do about it, so there's no sense in getting worked up. Maybe we will get a gift over night tonight and our luggage will magically appear! All that packing we did.....for nothing! By the time we get it, we will be packing it back up to leave! I guess one positive....No laundry to do when we get home!

Day 2 with Joe

Here is Joe and Dad by the pool after breakfast this morning. Joe is getting a little used to us. He is starting to babble and even said "Da Da". He actually slept great last night which was much appreciated by Mom & Dad. We were exhausted. He cried going to sleep and Mom had to hold him until he feel asleep. Needless to say Mom's arms got quite the workout!
How do you like our Guatemala duds? We went to a mall last night and did a little shopping. Keep you fingers crossed that we get our luggage today!

We are here and WE GOT JOE! I would say we got little Joe, but that would be a gross misuse of words -- this is no little one year old, he is a big fella!!! :-) Below is a pic of Joe's foster Mother, Milvian, as we meet everyone for the first time. It's been an interesting day as we were late arriving and Continental lost all our luggage, but we are here, we have cameras, which was important, we have a handful of diapers and some formula and WE GOT JOE! All is well and I think we all need a little rest at this point, so this is all for the moment. Write more later...

Leaving to go get Joe

Rob's sister snapped a quick photo of our family of four as we left for the airport motel in Columbus on Saturday afternoon. This will be our last time as a family of four. Thanks for the pic Michelle - we snagged it from your site this morning as we were waiting for the plane...:-) See you all soon with Joe!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!

We finally got the OK to travel to bring Joe home!!! We are leaving on March 16th and returning on March 20th. We've been waiting for almost 9 months since he won our hearts over with that first picture! At times it seemed like we would never reach this point....but we're here! All I can say is YIPPPPEEEE!!!

Breakfast with Joe!

Isn't this great? Look closely at who is sitting at the table....It's Joe!!! Rob surprised me and brought the high chair out of storage and decided to make it seem like Joe was home with us. What a wonderful husband I have! Jorge and Lucy have been kissing the picture and patting his head. They are as excited as Rob and I are!

We're in the Embassy!

We FINALLY received Joe's Birth Certificate and we were submitted to the Embassy for final approval on February 21st! What a Birthday present for me! Now we have to wait on a DNA test and for the embassy to give us our travel dates!! It's not much longer now!!!

Pictures for February

OK......These BETTER be the last photos we get before we get to see this little guy in person!!! We are in agony waiting to get our travel dates!!!

Who's Playing Soccer?

Princess Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday Lucy! She wanted a Princess cake with all the Princesses on it. How can I say "no" to that face???

Science Central

We're OUT!!!!

We received word on Jan. 2nd that we were approved through PGN!!! That means we are one step closer to bringing Joe home!!! And with that smile.....it can't get here quick enough!

OH....IO!!! Go Buckeyes!

The Crazy Crew!

Pandas, Pandas, & more Pandas!

Christmas with the Girls!

Merry Christmas 2007!