Monday, June 29, 2009

Fun with our foster family in Guatemala

We have been very blessed to be able to come to Guatemala to spend time with Arabella's foster family. Bella and I arrived on Wed., July 24th, and will be going home on Thursday, July 2nd. I wanted to come before Bella was 2 so I would only have to buy her a lap ticket, which is about 10% plus taxes of the adult ticket price. She did pretty well on the plane. We did have to go into the tiny bathroom for a leaky diaper change. It was fun. I had to stand Bella up on the toilet seat and change her standing up - good thing it wasn't a poopy diaper! She only slept for about 45 minutes of the entire 4 hours we flew, but she played and wasn't very fussy at all.
She was shy for about 10 minutes when we met Karen and her family at the airport, but she remembered them right away. They invited us to stay with them and it has been a very special time. They bought a pool to put on the front patio for the kids to swim. Bella loves the water; we're having trouble keeping Bella out ot if. They swam 2 days so far. We went to the city and the kids had horseback rides in the park on another afternoon. Bella had a goat cart ride. Margie and Joshua rode with Bella in a little cart pulled by a goat. It was so cute! She made Mami Karen hold her hand and we sang all the way around the path.
We went to church, to lunch at Karen's parent's house, and to the mall yesterday. Bella calls Karen Momma and likes her to hold her. She is having so much fun with the children. I am thankful for this special time with the angels who took care of Bella from the time she was 15 days old until she was 91/2 months old (when I picked her up last summer). They are truly beautiful people and love Bella with all their hearts. Bella loves them all, too. They have a special bond.
Above are some of my favoite pictures from the past few days.

4 comments:

Dream Angel's Mommy said...

What a great post. So glad to hear you had such a good visit. Bella is such a lucky girl to have so many that love her.

Lori said...

Wow! What a wonderful post. What a blessing to be in Guatemala again. You all are so blessed to have that bond and connection with the foster family.

lauren said...

Wow - didn't know you guys were going...that's awesome! I keep thinking I need to get on the ball wiith Isabelle's readoption/passport/name change, etc., so that travel is even an option! Whan an amazing opportunity!

LouLou said...

I had NO idea that you went down.... Tonya, that is fantastic... I am so jealous... I chatted with AP's foster mommy a few times this week on the computer, but I would LOVE to see her again. You are one of the sweetest people I "Know".