The process begins...

Yesterday we had our interview with the Defender of Minors at 7:30am. Now, it's true that Esteban usually wakes up (the first time) at about 5:30am, but that doesn't mean we want to get up then! In any case, we managed to get ourselves, up and presentably dressed, to be picked up at 7am for our appointment. The Defender of Minors is like a guardian ad litem and she had to give her okay for our lawyer to submit our application to adopt Esteban to the court. We met our lawyer just as we arrived at the office, and he had all our paperwork with him (He enjoyed that he and Esteban shared Francis in their names). We all went in to meet with the Defender. She talked to Esteban, asked Julien and I a few easy questions (as well as discussing Cuban politics and Castro with Julien)--like what do we do for work, and how are we liking being parents--and then signed off on the papers. Hallelujah! Our lawyer said he'd get the papers to the court yesterday, and hopefully by Monday we'll know which judge we've been assigned. (Knowing which judge may help us know how long we'll be here, since some judges have a reputation for being faster than others.)

We're so glad to have made some new friends here in Colombia. Paul and Jody Sanford and their 3-year-old Owen added baby Sara to their family on the same day and through the same agency as we did. It's been great to be able to share our first days together. Since we're going through these processes at the same time, we go to many appointments together. And since we enjoy each others' company, we also have been doing lots of walks and exploring and expeditions together.

After our early appointment, we went on an all-day trip to Guatavita, a lake where the indigenous people (The Muiscas) made many gold sacrifices (Pre Spanish Conquest). There is a great visitor's center there, and the area is being restored to its natural habitat. Esteban loved the hike! It was about a 90-minute trip each way, but broken up by several stops going and coming back, so we were gone from about 10am-6pm. It was a long day of riding in the car!

Esteban had his first cereal this morning--and he chowed down like a champ!



















Here's another video of our little guy playing with Sabeth:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2376049675484579935&hl=en

And here are some pics from the last few days. They include a photo when my mom came to visit us on Monday evening, and our friends the Sanfords.
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=196141205531016777/l=357967268/g=3203364/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

We're starting to think ahead to Julien's departure on Tuesday, and we're all a little sad. We will miss each other!