Adoption of the Three!

We have NEWS!!!

These three much beloved Casa de Amor siblings....

...are now IN ITALY with their new adoptive parents!!!!


The new family!

S. will soon be 8, A. is 6 1/2, and D. is 4 1/2 years old

A few pictures from the first evening meeting:

Tio David giving a group bear hug to the three before the first big meeting

Tia Rosa, our social worker, greeting the couple and their agency representative

First hugs!!!

Brand new parents with three kids at once, WOW!

The photographers and onlookers

Some of us were a bit emotional! Katrina C. and I were reminiscing about February 16, 2009, when we picked them up after the street kid raid...

I didn't even know her name yet, but little D fell asleep on me on the way home and I was in love... (The other two in this picture were adopted years ago: E left with her older brother, JK, and A went to a local missionary family!)

The day A joined his sisters at Casa de Amor I (March 3, 2009)... How they've changed!!

See the posts from February 2009 posts beginning February 16 for the whole story and the difficult first days of the three as they transitioned from life on the street to life in our home.

Waiting in court for the big second hearing!!

Some sweets to help keep some busy kiddos calmer during the wait and anxiousness of everyone around them...

I could barely peel little D. off of me to be able to leave after the hearing. The gelato break gave me the moment I needed to get away... So hard! This is not our first older kid adoption where the kids beg to stay with us, or to return to the home even after going with their new parents. It's hard to know how to nicely say "Hey, even though we all love each other a lot, your best future is with a family, not with us, even if it's a hard change at first!"

The transition period for this new family of five is far from over! PLEASE keep them in your prayers!! I would say it's been the most difficult adoption we've ever observed that still "went through", although the most crucial court hearing was delayed an extra 10 days till the family felt more secure. Their biggest challenges were communication (the couple doesn't know Spanish, the three don't know Italian) and discipline. Anyone who knows these three knows that both of these areas are crucial!!

And, finally...
...no post on "the three" would be complete without a picture of their favorite tia, Savannah! :)