Need Prayers!!

Today Craig spent time completing the birth certificate for Carlos back in Soacha. We were very excited to complete this step, but today when Craig went to the ICBF office to receive the final papers for the Embassy, we ran into another snag. It should be a simple thing to fix, but of course we know that nothing is "simple" with government paperwork. We have 2 papers that say we are capable of adopting however one is dated prior to the other and they are supposed to be dated the other way around. Please pray that there will be an easy fix to this problem. ICBF has already identified they messed up, but what they are willing to do about it is yet to be determined. We know that we have 2 days to fix the problem or we will not be able to return home together. This would be so disappointing!! Please pray that the solution is quick and easy!! We will know more in the next 48 hours, so we will keep you all posted.

It is official: Carlos Wenke, but....

Today we returned to Soacha where we were planning to sign papers at the court house making Carlos officially a Wenke and then to the Registrar Office to change his birth certificate. Well, we were able to make Carlos a Wenke, but the Registrars office was closed until Wednesday. VERY DISAPPOINTING!!! We had calculated in our minds and hearts that we spent our last Sunday in Bogota. Now it looks as though we will be staying until our return flight was originally scheduled - October 8. This will bring us to 5 weeks in Colombia. As long as it may seem, this is to be expected. They had us prepare for 4-8 weeks in Colombia, so we should feel thrilled with a 5 week time frame, but honestly we have seen families come and go at our home here in 3-4 weeks!

The first picture is of Carlos showing us his home town. We were able to see where he went to school and where he lived. He hesitated to show us these areas, but then we explained this would be the last time in Soacha and that we wanted to take pictures for his memory book. It taught us what a strong little boy he has been and helped us understand how the first 13 years of his life were spent.

The second picture shows Craig signing the official paperwork at the court house.

In the big picture: We learned of Carlos less than a year ago. His sisters are celebrating their "gotcha day" on October 1. We are blessed to have the entire process go as quickly as it has!!

In short-we cannot wait to come home, but we love this little boy so much time is irrelevant!

The picture of boredom

Yes, this is our high school student playing the xylophone! He actually is quite skilled with it! Friday and Saturday were long days again at El Refugio, but Sunday finally is here and today we enjoyed going to the market. I love Sundays in Bogota because the traffic is not so present. There is probably only 10% of the traffic that we see during the week-which means the air seems fresher!! They actually close many streets for foot and bike traffic only. The whole city seems to appreciate a day of rest.
Tomorrow we get to go to Soacha for the day. Signing papers and making Carlos an official Wenke will be the only agenda on Monday. We should have a better idea on Tuesday when we may be able to return home.
Once again thank you to all of you for your prayers and notes! We miss you all.

The finish line is in sight!

Yesterday Craig told me that he has stopped praying for our paperwork and has started praying for patience. Well, our prayers for both were answered as today we heard that our paperwork is complete and that on Monday we will be able to go to Soacha (Carlos's home town) and sign the final paperwork. We will start in the morning with signatures and then in the afternoon we will get our paperwork notarized. Monday should mark the day when Carlos is officially a Wenke!
I am hoping that Carlos will let us take a few pictures of places that were important to him, but as of now he is determined that there will be no pictures taken. I know that life was very difficult for him in Soacha, so we will not push him, but still I hope! Tuesday, we will be going to the US embassy. I would think we would be hearing some English there!! (Jared is really missing his native tongue! - I actually fear that he really will kiss the ground in a public place when we get back to the US!) The visa will probably take a couple of days and then we have to take Carlos to a doctor before we can return. The United States requires a doctors visit prior to return. Interestingly enough, Spain & France do not require that step. Anyway, we are certainly hoping to return home by the end of next week or early the following. Time will tell....as for right now we are continuing to pray for patience.

Day after Vaccinations

It is Wednesday and we were planning to go to the Gold Museum today, but it looks as though the germs we put into Carlos yesterday (Hep B & DTP) are being a bit aggressive on him. So we had a change of plans and are spending yet another day in our "nursery". Carlos has slept all morning which means we did homework and laundry. Nothing new yet as far as the 3 signatures needed to complete this process. Last night we ended up with a "pow wow"...It appears 100% of togetherness is starting to wear on all of us. The frustration is when all the babies are put down to bed for the night at 9:00, but we are not ready. Here is the deal, the Wenke's have a hard time being quiet. I know many of you cannot believe this, but it is true. Here is the list of things we miss the most:
Cold milk
hot shower - the entire time
soft beds
fluffy pillow
privacy
being loud
stromboli
oh yea...friends and family
Thank you for all your prayers and support. We absolutely love to receive comments on the blog and emails. We watch airplanes and dream of the day we are to return home. Until then our best wishes to all of you.

Monday's News

Monday morning, 8:30 am, we received the news that the judge approved our paperwork! This will -should- be the longest of 4 steps. Tomorrow we are off the get Carlos a few shots...We were a bit concerned that the immunization report only showed 2 shots. This could have created more delays...we would not want to over due the amount of "germs" we throw into Carlos all at one time. We will be getting a few more when we get into the U.S, but for now they are only requiring 2 shots. He is so excited about tomorrow! We are bribing him with pizza out for lunch and a game of soccer. Speaking of soccer....today I finally proved my skills. It has taken a while, but I finally received accolades from Carlos. He said "good soccer mama" I was the high scorer today with 5 of the 8 goals scored. I am sure it was a fluke, but I was willing to receive a moment of glory.
Well, I must be honest football has never been my favorite sport, but the Colts are playing Dolphins and I don't want to miss out. I also need to play peace maker as Jared loves football and Carlos has already expressed his lack of interest in tonights game. He has been used to getting his way on many activities, but he is a bit out numbered on this one. Time to go.

Words from Carlos

Hola Amigos. Como Estan? Quiero jugar soccer. Me llamo Carlos Andres, pero mi mama y papa me llaman Charlie Brown. Estoy muy feliz con mi nueva familia. Quiero espero ver a Angie y Judi. Por favor Mr. Triemstra quiero aprendre manejar carros.
Carlos
Translation:
Hello friends. How are you? I like to play soccer. My name is Carlos Andres, but my mom and dad call me Charlie Brown. I am very happy with my new family. I want to see Angie & Judi. Please Mr. Triemstra, I would appreciate a ride in your car.
Carlos
Today was another uneventful day...until before dinner. We have made some friends from France who are adopting a 5 year old boy. We have spent a fair amount of time with them at the park and on our outings. They met their son 2 weeks ago as well. They have been struggling with some temper tantrums. Well, today they were feeling frustrated with how things were going and asked their son "do you want to go with us to France or not?" They told him that they loved him, but didn't want to continue if he wasn't desiring to be a part of their family. He told them that he didn't want to go with them to France. Well, Carlos understood their dilemma and being a Spanish speaking friend, he offered to go and talk to him. Carlos went into their room with their son and just the two of them spent some time talking. When their son came out of the room he went right over to his mom and gave her a kiss and gave his dad a big hug.
Some of you already know this, but 2 weeks before we had our "presentation date", a horrible mistake happened and we were unaware of a presentation date that had been assigned. Carlos went to meet us at the adoption office, and we didn't even know we were supposed to be there!! Carlos was rightfully upset as were we. We know all things work for good, but didn't know why we missed that date and why our new date was 2 weeks later? Knowing God has a perfect plan, today we asked ourselves if Carlos was needed for this exact moment. To help another young boy understand the wonderful importance of a family. Carlos waited 13 years to be in a family, he could share with this young boy his feelings. What a wonderful experience!! Please pray for this wonderful French family as they continue to work through this process. Pray that their son - Estaban- will open his heart to them and they may feel the love of a family. Praise God for Carlos and the wonderful friend he was today. Carlos and his mom

P.S. For the Triemstras...Carlos is an avid car enthusiast. He loves fast cars. Today when we saw a mustang he went crazy. We told him that our amigos in the United States - the Triemstras have one. We told him that we would do our best to talk Mr. Triemstra into giving him a ride when we get home.

September 18 - still waiting

Picture this .... 2 1/2 weeks of spending100% of our time with 4 boys. Tomorrow is Colombian Valentines Day...Craig & I will spend the day like we spent the last 16 days with mucho togetherness. Honestly, everyone has done an amazingly wonderful job, but we are seeing a bit more physical activities. I think boredom is reigning heavy on everyone. Today at the park we began to imagine that we saw Tysen & Buster...our neighbors dogs. We even miss them!!
We have not heard anything on our paperwork yet. Unfortunately, if we don't hear anything today then we will need to wait until Monday. We have heard good news in that the region where Carlos lived, the judge acts quickly on behalf of the children, so we are optimistic that we should hear something soon. (One judge has been known to take 3 months! - Praise God that he is not our judge!!) Then it will be doctor & embassy appointments. Until then, we are trying to keep busy. With 5 families in the home, space is becoming more crowded.
Yesterday, we took a trip out of Bogota to a coffee plantation. It was a nice trip and we appreciate seeing the Colombian country & culture. Laundry hanging on top of "homes" or shacks and vendors selling meat hanging exposed all next to the busy poluted roads is a consistant sight. Dogs and chickens roam freely, and cows are tied next to the road and used as lawn mowers. I find myself fascinated with the laid back life style. We are greeted by soldiers in army gear with guns in hand. All this makes me appreciate the free world that we enjoy. Everyone is very polite, but I still find myself to be a quirk with the blond hair in this part of the world.
We certainly want to let all of you know that we miss you and enjoy receiving emails as well as comments on the blog. You are our sanitity!! Next blog we will have Carlos say hello. Until then Gods blessing to you all. Debbie

14 days...but who is counting?

WE ARE!!! Yesterday was a rainy day in Bogota. Which of course for us means indoor activities. The days are becoming a bit long, and the nights longer! We are staying in a home which can house 6 families. We are doing life together, however, we are the only English speaking family in the home. There are 2 french families and 1 Spanish right now, but we understand there is an English family coming today! Jared is so excited to have another English family in the bunch!! Craig loves hearing all the crying babies. He has mentioned more that once that he is glad God called us to adopted Carlos and not an infant!
The sleeping arrangements in our room have been interesting....I call it dysfunctional! We have a double, 2 twins and bunk beds in our room. One would naturally think that I would be in the double with Craig, however, Carlos has been finding his way into our bed. His favorite spot is next to Craig...which means I try to locate another bed option. Last night this is what our room looked like- Craig and Carlos together in the double, Jared and I in a twin, Carter in a twin, and due to the fact that the beds are so hard, Austin took a thin mattress and doubled it up on the lower bunk. None of us slept well. We are definitely missing our beds at home. Hopefully tonight will be better!
Yesterday there was a new family from France that arrived. They would be meeting their 4 year old daughter. This was such an exciting day for them! Craig & I noticed that they were hugging and crying with the Spanish family...of course we were wondering what was going on as they just met. Well, come to find out the Spanish family had just adopted the 2 sisters of the French family's soon - to -be daughter! WOW!! The sad part for us is that the French family was so neat (and could speak English with us), but now they would need to find another place to stay as their 4 year old daughter would remember her sisters, and this could be difficult on them.
On Monday, we went to the Montserrat. This is an awesome experience!! It is a cable car ride up the side of a mountain to a cathedral. The flowers on the top of the mountain were amazing. The experience included monuments to remember the stages of the crucifixion. We also enjoyed the ride, but I must admit my heart beat a step or 2 faster as we were riding up 2000 feet with 30 other people in a cable car! This was another wonderful experience.

Well, if I have not made it clear yet, we are missing all of you! We are so thankful to have each of you in our lives!! Debbie

We went to a riot and a soccer game broke out-Almost

Saturday night we wanted to experience true Colombian culture so we went to watch Santa Fe vs. Millionaires in a soccer game. Our adoption coordinator contacted a gentleman who was our host. Carlos was a bit disappointed because his favorite team - Nationales- were not playing, but he got over it when we arrived and he became completely overwhelmed by the excitement in the stadium.
When we arrived at the stadium, we became a little nervous. We had never been to a sporting event that included full armored riot police and tanks. We passed through 3 security check points. One included a complete "frisk"! We were very thankful to have our host to reassure us that we were safe. Our house maid had us change our clothing to be neutral. We did not want to associate with either team, as riots sometimes break out post game. I think however, we were the only ones in the stadium wearing black. I also think I was the only blond female in the entire crowd. We don't blend in well.
The crowds are wild...talk about team spirit!! I wish we could take a bit of that to a Kalamazoo Christian Football game! They never stopped chanting and jumping for the full 90 minute game, plus the pre & post game celebrations! Thankfully, in the stands was a chain linked fence that separated us from the the wild spectators. As Jared said "it separated us from life and death". For our parents, don't worry we are all o.k.. Our guide kept reassuring us!! What a blast! Carlos was so excited and asked if we do this in the United States, I reassured him that we do...now we need to go to a Michigan State vs. Michigan game....maybe the closest thing to this???
Fireworks announced the goals and my boys are quite convinced that the cheerleading attire would not pass at KCHS. However, they too enjoyed the experience. Full riot gear police separated the fans from the players throughout the game. Need we say more? What a fun experience and thankful...as Jared puts it...to be alive!!! Craig & Debbie

The reason for the title

Many of you already know how this journey all began...for you - we will talk more tomorrow, but for those who do not know how this began, here is the story of how we got to Colombia and now have Carlos.

About 5 years ago, my heart felt a prick to open our home of boys to yet another. I felt that we enjoyed so many boy activities with our family, and could be a blessing to another little boy. I remember fishing up in Canada in the summer of 2006 and found myself praying for a little child -that I did not know- and for the life experiences he may be having. Craig & I received a Bethany packet, but I felt overwhelmed with the content. It laid under our bed for years. I remember seeing Scott & Beth VanOosten @ Russ' Restaurant with their newly adopted daughter and feeling the excitement with them of bringing a child into their home. I remember when our friends Jeff & Kelli Scheffers began their journey, and feeling excited for them, but also the continued prick that God was leading us, as well, to do more. We were able to spend much time with the Scheffers and enjoyed watching their new son find his place in his forever home.

Fast forward....Last October, I was driving to work, & found myself praying that we could make a difference in this world. I knew that God wanted us to do something more, but didn't know what. I prayed specifically "God please place this boy at our front door step". Two weeks went by and while we were at church, that prayer was answered. I was talking to Jeralyn- a woman in our church (who also was a teacher for one of our boys). She had just adopted 2 beautiful little girls from Colombia the week before, and had just returned home from her stay in Colombia. I congratulated her and she introduced us to 2 shy little girls - Angie & Judi. -By the way--no longer shy with us!! Then she said the words that I will never forget. "THEY HAVE A BROTHER"....The tears started to flow, Craig was standing close by, and when he saw what was going on, he stepped over and I said the same words..."They have a brother". His response was "o.k., lets do this".

We went home and called our families. When my sister heard this, she started to cry. The day before, while she was cleaning her house, she felt the Holy Spirit prompt her to pray for our family. She prayed for wisdom for the Wenke's because they were about to make a decision for their family. When we heard that, we knew God wanted us to work to get Carlos into our home.

Over the next 8 months, we worked on paperwork. We also were able to fall in love with 2 brown eyed girls who now call us "Tio & Tia" -Aunt and Uncle. They were able to talk with Carlos and encourage him that a family was coming for him as well. That being said, 8 months felt like forever as we anticipated meeting him.

Here we are in Colombia finishing up the final paperwork and looking forward to bringing our now 4 sons home to begin life as a family. We can see that God had this in His great plan for us and for Carlos. This is the reason for the title...God's Plan.

Feliz Cumpleano tu Debbie!

Debbie's Day....
I woke up this morning to everyone singing Happy Birthday, then it was a breakfast of french toast & eggs, followed by a game of soccer (soccer is a daily staple). Then it was time for shopping. The entire afternoon was spent in a shopping mall with my guys. They did a great job of pretending to enjoy themselves and wanted me to find many gifts to bring home. Success was had in that we bought a huge chocolate torte for dessert...Colombians are not big on dessert, they have fruit instead...isn't chocolate a fruit? Anyways I did purchase a fun hot pink jacket for fall. Kind of obnoxious, but fun. Carlos is definitely becoming more willing to joke with us, cheat in card games & give his brothers a hard time. He also identifies when he needs to console. Jared was feeling a little down last night and Carlos jumped in bed with him and tried to make him feel better. It is fun to watch him find his place in our family. By the way when soccer teams are chosen, I am always picked last. Can you believe it...all of my soccer skill is not being identified. I will keep working on it. Tomorrow we will be taking Carlos to a Colombian Soccer game. He doesn't completely understand what is ahead for him, so we are excited to see him experience a game. We will keep you posted. Until then may you all experience a wonderfully relaxing weekend. My love, Debbie

Finally some pictures

Here are some pictures that we finally figured out how to download. Hopefully more to come.

Our Interview

September 10, 11:30 am Bogota time - WE ARE APPROVED!! Our paper work will be presented by our attorney, Flora, tomorrow. But, first let me explain our approval this morning. We had our meeting with our attorney, our caseworker, a defender of minors caseworker, and a social worker from Carlos´s region of birth. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how we are all doing as a family. They specifically asked Carlos as to his feelings about his new family. He answered ¨this is the family that I have always dreamed of¨and began to cry. This was the first time that he cried with us. We all began to cry and hold him. (as I am right now) What a moment. Praise be to God for allowing us this opportunity. We know that he is to be a part of our family and that God has been preparing him for the last 13 years to FINALLY be with us. Please pray that our judge will act quickly on behalf of our case and that our adoption will be finalized soon. We love Bogota, but cannot wait to share Carlos with all of you!

Once again, Praise to our wonderful Heavenly Father!
Craig & Debbie

Carlos´s words

Yesterday Carlos spent some time on the internet and emailed his sisters back in Kalamazoo. He ¨sushed¨us out of the room and said that he wanted to send us an email as well. Of course Craig and I could hardly wait to receive an email from a little guy who is with us!! His words:
Hola papi & mama gracias por todo nunca hava tenido un papi y mama como usted te amo.
Translation: Hi daddy and mommy I am thankful for you. I never had a daddy or mommy that I love so much.
Every day -todos dias- we hear Te amo mucho mucho mucho. I love you very much. We cannot even believe how much love we have for one another. So happy that we can be involved in Carlos´s life and he in ours.
Yesterday we visited a park and Craig was encouraging Carlos to jump to him from a slide. He counted uno, thres, quatro...one, three, four....needless to say Carlos laughed and laughed due to some poor spanish skills. He continued to wait for Carlos to jump but he was very nervious. Finally he did his Catholic cross on his chest and jumped. Boy did we laugh. Happy to see he connects to our heavenly father in times of need.
Today we visited a Salt Mine that now houses a Cathedral. It was an amazing experience. We were with an English speaking tour guide which of course made the experience that much better. It had 14 stations which depicted the journey to the cross. WOW. Picture yourself inside a mine with the largest underground cross in the world. It was a 30 x 60 foot cross. They actually have weddings in this underground cathedral and hold mass there every Sunday. Carlos continues to be our tour guide. When a woman wanted to exchange money with us, he would actually check the returned amount to make sure first, there was enough, and second to make sure it was real. Bless him for looking out for us!! Tomorrow we have our interview with the agency. Then, our paperwork will begin the process in their court system. Pray that the system moves quickly! p.s. Craig is still working on pictures

Carter´s Thoughts

I am having a fun time. I love Carlos very much and he loves me. He always tells me that he loves me. One thing that is kind of interesting is the food. The fruit is different. Carlos knows about each of these different fruits and tries explain them to us. I have a new favorite fruit. It looks really disgusting. It looks like sunflower seeds covered in snot. But it tastes really good. I am having fun, but I cannot wait to come home. I also wanted to thank the Scheffers for their ideas of things to do while in Colombia. lol. One of their ideas to keep busy was to test tap water and see which one would give us diarrhea the worst. Anyone have any other ideas of what we can do to keep busy? let us know. Carter

Jared´s Journal

Monday, September 7, 2009
HI! Today we found out that Carlos is really good at soccer, and not so good at bowling. His score was 19. My score was 84. I had the only X. It was not the best place but it worked. We also found out that if he laughs we laugh. We also found out he saves money. There was a DS game for about $70 or 140,000 pesos and right away he shook his finger and said ¨no no no ¨. He definitely is a Wenke because he is very loud. Peace all - Jared Wenke

Domingo - Sunday

This morning we started our day with scripture selected by many of you. We were able to help Carlos along in his new Bible which has the spanish translation. We are certainly learning to enjoy the small things here in Colombia. Today we went to a zoo which also had some amusement rides. The zoo continued to excite all the boys. Certainly Austin, Carter & Jared are seeing this excitment through their brother´s eyes. We heard many English words like ¨yes¨and ¨wow¨ I even heard an äwesome¨. But my favorite moment was the bumber car rides. I enjoyed the activity from a chair with a camera. When the ride was complete Carlos ran over to me and with very clear English he said ¨thank you¨and gave me a kiss. These are the moments that touch our hearts - just learning to be excited about the little things again. Debbie

Austin´s post

What a lot of soccer. I think we played soccer for at least half the day straight, and if we were not playing soccer we were either at the mall or timing each other on obstacle courses at the park. It was fun but tiring. We didn´t get much sleep either last night thanks to a party taking place right outside our window and a baby crying constantly at our residence. Spanish homework is easy thanks to Carlos who is basically my own personal tuitor. Purchasing things at the mall is also kind of comical because my mom and my dad don´t know many numbers past 100 and Colombians deal with pesos. There are approximatly 2000 pesos per dollar so carlos has to take the money and pay because we don´t know how to. We are sure that people are making fun of us even though we don´t know what they are saying. Well anyways bye for now Austin.

what a day for us

It could not have been any better. Although none of slept really well, we started our day effortless around 6:30. We left our B & B around 8:00 for a sight seeing adventure. It took us an hour and a half to get to Soacha - the area of Carlos´ home. Soacha is an extremely poor district of Bogota. We were a little early, so we enjoyed a coffee and pastry...of which we cannot still pronounce. Then it was finally time to meet our son. We went to the district office for adoptions and signed the necessary papers. The moment came at last, and they brought Carlos in to meet us. We cannot even describe the emotions that went into that meeting. First, let us tell you...HE IS BEAUTIFUL!! Jared said right away that Carlos is going to be a real ¨chick magnet¨. He is a fun loving, polite, and gracious young man. The hug that we experienced was very genuine. He brought us each a gift...Craig received a key holder, I received a beautiful flower arrangement, & the boys received a wrapped bag of various candy. Then we left for our B & B.
In the afternoon we took Carlos shopping. The boys were given money to spend in Bogota, so we exchanged the money for pesos and let them enjoy a spending spree. Was that ever fun!! We completely enjoyed having Carlos try on the clothes that he liked and model them for us. We all had a good laugh when we got to the escalator as Carlos had never seen one of those before. We rode it many times...each time laughing the whole way. I still can picture the security guards watching us wondering what in the world we were doing!
We also purchased some new pillows due to Jared's naming his pillow the ¨slim Jim¨. We are finding how truly spoiled we have become with our ¨extras¨ in life. Carlos has been a good reminder to enjoy the small things- like the escalator.
We are completely in awe with Gods plan in this adoption. The fact that this 13 year old has opened his heart to us is awesome. Praise be to God!!

Here we go

We said our final good byes to our parents tonight in Chicago. Tomorrow morning we begin our journey to Colombia. It is hard to believe that in less than 36 hours we will be meeting our son! He has 2 more nights in his foster care home and then he will receive love like never before!! We cannot wait to swoop him up and make him ours. Our flight leaves tomorrow morning - thursday- @11:00 arriving in Bogota Colombia @9:00 p.m. Please pray for our safety in travel and preparing Carlos for his new life with us.