Happy 10th Anniversary!!!

On December 3, 2004, we received our first baby, a 12 month old boy from a jail/street life! He now lives with his loving parents and sister in Italy (I visited him last year!), but he launched the adventure that continues today.

Special thanks to VivaBolivia for the grant to print our invitations and a little gift (below)!

Our calendar bookmarks! (Reverse side lists the requirements for Bolivian adoption.)

This week has been full of anniversary preparations and activities to celebrate the milestone! On December 3rd, we were blessed to be able to celebrate in government facilities downtown on our pretty main plaza. Here are a few pictures of that morning!

Getting set up (my four kids!)

Sophia socializing with some of CDA's babies

Seven years in a row of nativity pictures featuring a "baby Jesus" and our kids! 

TEN years of group pictures, beginning with our first arrival (start at top left corner and go left to right)

Display of hand prints of our current children

With permission from the mother, pictures of twin boys we cared for until their mother was more stable

Also with permission, pictures of the famous "triplets of gold" (as the press called them) that we cared for 13 months, until they went to live with their mother and doting godparents

 Display of the different areas of work of Casa de Amor Children's Homes

Speakers: Dra. Patricia Gisbert of Child Defense, Dr. Freddy San Millan (Director of SEDEGES), Jennifer Beaty (Founder/Director Casa de Amor), Celia Jordan (President of Bolivian Adoptive Parents Association), Maria Medina (CDA Health Coordinator)

Our administrator/social worker Rosa Sarzuri was the Master of Ceremonies

Lots of press came!!

 Not very far into the program, it was standing room only. I estimate nearly 100 people (many of those children) were present!

David, our accountant, presenting Jennifer with a very thoughtful gift, a plaque commemorating 10 years of service to Bolivia's children!

Maybe after another 10 years, everyone will know how to spell my last name (at which point, it will be officially Beaty and they'll have to start over learning, ha)...

Milling about for a long time after the event, catching up with new and old friends

It was a wonderful reunion of past children of our homes. So fun to see them all again!

Two mischievous girls (both in local adoptive families now)

The twin boys (so big!) and their mother (thanks for the picture, Hannah!)

The triplets on the front row with their mother

Jennifer with the triplets, all grown up (thanks, Carla Booher, for the picture!)

The next morning, Rosa and Jennifer got up early and went to a TV interview to share more about our work. As nerve-wracking as it was to sit down under those bright lights with cameras rolling and a well-dressed journalist, we had a great time! We might head back soon for a one hour long interview.

Many, MANY thanks to all of our faithful supporters who have made these ten years not only possible but so wonderful!!


Links to other blog posts and great pictures of our 10th anniversary celebration:

Hannah

The Booher Family

Visiting SPAI, an Adoption Agency in Italy

My husband and I spent almost two weeks in Italy in June. Our main purpose was to visit some of the twelve Casa de Amor children now living in Italy with their adoptive parents. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip!

(To read more and see pictures of the children, go to my personal blog, here!)

Found it! Looking for SPAI's office right after arriving to Ancona by train.

While there, we planned a quick side trip to Ancona to visit SPAI, "Servizio Polifunzionale per L'Adozione Internazionale". SPAI is the adoption agency that has placed several of our children into Italian families, the most recent being Juan Gabriel in January 2012. (This year we have had zero international adoptions as Bolivia's government remains unwilling to even consider renewing international adoption agreements.)

Ancona is a nice little port town

Casa de Amor is also very grateful to SPAI for the past several years of financial support. We thought it would be nice to go thank them personally!

Meeting Doctora Clementina Merlan in her office. She would love to visit Bolivia again, but with adoptions currently closed between our countries, we are not sure when that visit would take place - or when we will have grants from SPAI again.

Touring SPAI's office, full of momentos from the countries they work with

I loved SPAI's street, pedestrian traffic only

Adoption Poster Contest, TIME SENSITIVE!

This morning it was brought to my attention that SEDEGES (child welfare authority here in Bolivia) is coming on board with a special day that a group Casa de Amor helped found participates in, "Dia del Derecho a Tener Una Familia" (Right to Have a Family Day), on September 2!

It's great news to see SEDEGES planning to participate.

One of their activities is a campaign to bring awareness to national adoption. Part of that campaign is a contest!

The challenge? "Create a design with adoption as the theme."

The prize? "Publication of the design on a national level."

Deadline? It's already passed, but because only three poster designs have been submitted, SEDEGES is extending the deadline until TOMORROW, August 23.

There's an organization here that regularly publishes some neat designs highlighting adoption. One of my favorites is shown here in a bookmark version in 2009.

If anyone feels inspired to participate, send me your design ASAP! :)

More of the Three :)

I couldn't resist posting some favorite pictures of the three who were just adopted. They have many hundreds, but here are just a few! :)

The pictures above were taken by professional photographer Melissa Dickey from Texas on her visit to Casa de Amor in May 2010!

December 23, 2009! I brought back these "matching" clothes for the three from the US.

Christmas Eve 2009

Annual Casa de Amor Baby Home Nativity Scene, December 2010

Picture & Outfits by Tia Savannah :)

All the big ones of the Baby Home with Tia Savannah, May 2010

Before coming to Casa de Amor, while still on the streets of Cochabamba in late 2008

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! :)