Antigua, Guatemala Day Trip

We spent a wonderful day in Antigua. The weather was perfect and we had a great tour guide, Victor, to show us around. Antigua is the former capital of Guatemala and is full of history. It is located about 45 minutes from Guatemala City. When we arrived there we toured a jade factory. One of these pictures is of a woman grinding jade into smooth polished pieces to be made into jewelry. Next we drove out of the city and walked to a point where we could see the whole city behind us(see picture) as well as a volcano. The cross we were standing in front of was built by the Spanish when they came to Guatemala centures ago and brought Christianity with them. We went from there back down to the city and toured a coffee plantation. After a wonderful lunch of local cuisine, we finished the day at the local handicraft market. Peter did so well with the whirlwind day of touring. He took 2 naps in the car and really enjoyed seeing his native homeland with us! I left Antigua today with a better appreciation for my son's heritage and native culture. Guatemalans are such proud, hard-working, beautiful people. This country's children are some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen. Peter has become quite attached to Hannah and if she is around, he won't go to anyone else. Makes his mommy feel bad!! We are looking forward to returning home tomorrow. It's time to get this little boy home where he belongs!! Just too bad it's so cold where he will be going!!!

US Embassy Today

We arrived at the US Embassy before 8am today after enjoying a lovely breakfast at McDonalds! You are assigned a number in advance and we were number 20 out of the 21 families that were there today. We spent 3 hours waiting for our turn to speak to Embassy employees. Once we were called, the interview with them took less than 3 minutes!! They stamped our paperwork and said he is officially our child!!!!! I had hoped to take pictures in there but my cameras were confiscated in security and returned to me once we left the property! We had someone take our picture upon our return to the hotel. The other picture was by the pool today. Although the weather is in the 70's, there always seems to be a cool breeze here so it's too cool for me and Peter to get in the pool! Hannah and Rich didn't mind it however. Met so many nice families here who are adopting including two who live within 10 miles of us. Peter was awake ALOT last night! He woke at 11pm, 2am and 5am and was up with us at 6am. He eats a few ounces of formula and stays awake for at least 45 minutes each time. Needless to say, I was exhausted all night and today too! He was so good at the Embassy though and throughout the entire day. Let's hope tonight is a little better!! Rich, Hannah and Peter are all sleeping so I better try to sleep now too. Tomorrow is a day packed with touring and shopping!!! We really love hearing from you on our blog comment sight!!

We are here!!!!

We had a great flight down and arrived in Guatemala City around 2:30...they are on the same time as us. Peter was brought to our hotel at 4:45 by his foster mom, Brenda, and her daughter, Natalie. They have done such a wonderful job caring for him and giving him the love he needed while he was in their care. We know they loved him like their own child and the foundation has been laid for him to grow into a wonderful, happy child. They were sad to leave him and it was hard to see that. Hopefully we will keep in touch with Brenda as she was an important part of his early life. We are so grateful to her. Once she left and he realized he was stuck with us, he wasn't so happy! Nine months is a tough age to be placed with strangers and that's what we are to him. He cried for a long time and seemed really afraid of us. I know he was looking around for Brenda and it was hard to see him so sad. Please pray that he will be comfortable with us before the long flight home! He's a precious little boy with a sweet disposition so hopefully we will see more of that tomorrow!! Our appointment at the US Embassy is at 8am tomorrow. Will let you know how that goes.

My Bags are Packed...I'm Ready to go.....

Aren't there some song lyrics with those words??!! Two days until Rich, Hannah and I leave for Guatemala to pick up Peter. We are all so excited to get that beautiful little boy home where he belongs! This wait is so hard but it is finally coming to an end. These pictures were from our trip to visit Peter in August. Thank you to everyone for your kind words, thoughts and especially for your prayers. Keep checking in here and follow our journey. We'd love to hear from you in the comments section! Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Picture of the Day

This picture was taken way back in July 2007 when Peter was only 2 1/2 months old. The wait is so hard but we leave in only 6 days!! The girls helped me pack for Peter yesterday. It's hard to know what to pack as we aren't sure of his size. I guess we all felt like if we could pack for him and see his cute little outfits then we would feel like we are doing something besides just WAITING!!! The temperature has been so cold here for the past week. I wonder how Peter will do in this environment after living his short life in "The Land of Eternal Spring"! I bought him a snowsuit the other day...I hope it will fit him! Keep checking back as we will post while in Guatemala.

Only 9 More Days....

It's hard to be patient when we have been waiting for this little guy since we first saw his picture in May 2007. He was just 11 days old when we got our referral. In nine more days we will finally be with him again and this time we won't have to leave him behind when we return to MN!!!! I feel so blessed to have four great children and one more blessing named Peter makes me the luckiest mom in the world!! These pictures were taken when we visited him in Novemeber. You can see what a big, healthy baby he is! He was already over 18 pounds at that time(6 1/2 months). He must be well over 20 pounds by now! It was so nice having Taylor with us and she really enjoyed getting to know her baby brother more. Peter will have 4 very adoring siblings when he arrives in the Lund household!

Please Pray....

Although I never met these people, I have followed their Blog. Please pray for Will and Aileen. On January 15, 2008, they received a call that their beautiful baby girl, Ariana, has passed away in Guatemala from pneumonia. They had just spent a week with her in early January. My heart breaks for them and I pray that God will surround them with loving people to carry them through this difficult time. You can view their Blog at www.adoptingariana.blogspot.com

Peter's First Christmas

We had hoped that Peter would be here by Christmas but paperwork seems to move slower in Guatemala around Christmastime! We miss him and pray that he was surrounded by people who love him over the Christmas season.

November Visit

After a month and a half, we finally got back to visit Peter on November 8, 2007. I had visited him every month since July but our family decided to do a family vacation to Florida in October so we missed visiting Peter that month. Mommy, Daddy and Taylor got to go to Guatemala this trip! The hotel we have always stayed at, Grand Tikal Futura, is connected to a shopping mall. This comes in handy for taking walks with Peter and also at meal times for the girls. The food court there has American food chains like McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Dominos. We would pick up fast food for Taylor and then eat nice food in the hotels' restaurant while she kept Peter occupied and happy. Taylor and I went shopping at a local market with some other adopting moms while all the dads stayed at the hotel and babysat! Peter is such a good baby...except during the night when he wakes up ALOT!!! It's always so hard to leave Peter and return to MN. We had hoped to get back in December to pick him up but it didn't work out that way and now it will be almost 3 months since this visit until we go for our final trip. We know he is in good hands with Brenda, her mom and her daughter Natalie. Peter even has a foster sister that Brenda cares for too. We also know God is watching over him and protecting him until we can be together as a forever family. We are so thankful for all the prayers from our family, friends and church family. You are all such a blessing to us!!!

More Peter Pix!

These are pictures from September when Mommy and Grandma visited Peter. There is also a picture of his new Foster Mommy, Brenda. She has been so wonderful for him and he seems to be thriving with her. She says he wants to eat all the time and it shows! See the November pix!
We had a great time visiting him in September and even took him shopping at a local market with us. He might as well get used to shopping with Mommy as he will be doing it alot once he arrives in Minnesota!!

Peter Pix!!

Timeline for Our Adoption

This has been a long process but when we finally bring Peter home from Guatemala on January 30, it will have been so worth the effort to get him here! Here is a re-cap of the highlights since we began the adoption process in August, 2006.

• August 5, 2006- Attended a Christian Expo in Mpls. and talked to a vendor about International adoptions. Started to pray that very night that if God has another child in mind for us, He would lead us down that path.
  
• September 21, 2006-Mailed our application to International Adoption Services.


• December 3, 2006-First Home Study meeting


• December 11, 2006-Second Home Study meeting


• January-April 2007-"Paperwork Pregnancy". We were amazed at how much paperwork there was for international adoptions!! Most required documents had to be approved in three steps: 1. Notarized 2. Certified by Secretary of State of Minnesota and 3. Authenticated by Guatemalan Counsulate. We also had background checks and fingerprinting done by our city, the State of MN, and Homeland Security!


• April 29, 2007-Willian Eduardo Tox Cho is born in Guatemala.
• July 3, 2007-First DNA done.
• July 8-10, 2007-Rich and I visited Peter in Guatemala City for the first time!!
• July 12, 2007-Family Court
• August 19-22, 2007-Lynda, Taylor and Hannah visit Peter
• September 7, 2007-PGN
• September 23-25, 2007-Mommy and Grandma visit Peter. He gets a new Foster Mommy, Brenda. She is wonderful!!
• November 8-11, 2007-Mommy, Daddy, and Taylor visit Peter.
• November 28, 2007-Out of PGN!!!! Finally!!!!
• December 12, 2007-Our attorney in Guatemala picks up new birth certificate.
• December 25, 2007-Peter's first Christmas and he's not home with us yet. We are all so anxious for this process to be done!!
• December 28, 2007-Second DNA done.
• January 3, 2008-DNA results in and it's a perfect match from the sample they took in July!
• January 10, 2008-Finally received our "Pink Slip" via email from the US Embassy in Guatemala with our appointment date!
• January 27, 2008-Travel to Guatemala for Pick-Up trip!
• January 28, 2008-8am US Embassy Appointment! Peter's "Gotcha Day"!!!!!

Waiting for Peter

This was the very first time I ever held Peter, back on July 8, 2007. I can't even describe how it felt to see and hold him that day! He was so beautiful!! I instantly felt a bond with him as his Mommy.

Since then, I have been to Guatemala City to visit him 4 times. He just keeps getting cuter every time I see him!

Peter was born April 29, 2007 outside Guatemala City. He was 7 pounds, 10 ounces at birth. His Guatemalan name is Willian Eduardo and we plan to keep Willian as his middle name.