I miss you, I miss you!

Talking to the girls is beautiful, intense, sweet, emotional,  inspiring, energizing, unbelievable, sensory loaded, and Simply the BEST all at the same time!   I shared a little about how we do it with a translator, let me share what the conversation feels like. 
We decide to call our daughters so we start calling or texting our Spanish speaking friends to check on their availability.  They are quick to provide their availability and we determine if it works. These women have been HUGE BLESSINGS in our lives by giving us the gift of communication with our daughters!

Then we make the call, once, twice, three times or more.  The rings make our stomachs flip flop!
When we finally get an answer, sometimes days later and 3 ladies later, our translator introduces herself and us.  I understand parts, I hear my girls name and ours, Mama & Papa!  Then we hear the caretaker's enthusiasm, love that tone, intination and volume are part of communication, it makes you realize how much communication is more than words.  We really rely on these with no visual or tactile connections. 
Then we wait.  Which one will get on first?  Then we hear a raspy voice and hear which daughter.  This last conversation both girls spoke emphatically. Both said I love you Mama and Papa, unprompted, a few times, and in English!  These words are sweet.

It is hard to remember the whole conversation.  Ben reminded me today that when Julissa got on the phone she said, "I miss you, I miss you, when are you coming?" I instantly remembered and realized that my focus was on the question and my frail attempt at answering her.  I appreciate the words I miss you.  We feel the same way, we feel like we miss them, and to share the same sentiment thousands of miles apart.

We are coping, we feel the prayers, we have had some great support.  we also have come up with a Plan B, which would be a huge leap of FAITH, but at this point necessary for our daughters.  Again, we appreciate the love and support from our various communities and friends. 

Looking forward to sharing a picture of our Peruvian Princesses!

More JOY!

Not long after we moved to Beverly I discovered this fabulous little Mexican Grill.  Ben and I don't eat out alot, but when we do, we really enjoying going to this one little place with great food and great people.  The first time we went we had this very warm waiter, I appreciate great service, and the food was FABULOUS. The combination made it  quick favorite.  We quickly began suggesting to others new to the area, locals, and out of town guest.  I love it when evrybody is so pleased with their meals, its a real crowd pleaser.  Everybody LOVES it, raves about it and forget us, want to come back to Beverly to go to the little Mexican restaurant.  But back to the waiter.  I always enjoyed seeing him, love having him as our waiter, and telling him about how we and others love the place. On one of the days we received bad news rgarding another delay, Ben was grasping for things to console me, and well you got it, he suggested the Mexcian Grill.  I was happy to go for guacamole and black bean soup!  I am convinced, along with everyone we bring there, that they have the best guacamole EVER!  We arrived and we typically go for dinner, so some of the staff was unfamiliar and I asked to sit where Jaime was serving.  He asked, you mean the peruvian guy?  I exclaimed, I knew I loved him! He let us know that Jiame wuld be in later for his shift but for know he would be our waiter, apologized up fornt that his guacamole was not as good as Jaime's and was very friendly. We were so excited.  It is important to us as we bring our daughters home to do all that we can to make sure we embrace and share in their culture as we become a family and they embrace our culture. |We have talked about the ways in which we will do this, one being meeting and sharing our lives with other Peruvian families. Well tonight we went to dinner to see Jaime and confirm that he was in fact from Peru and share with him our love for his homeland.  We learned he has a family, they live right down the road from us and his son attends the school we are considering for our daughters.  WE ARE SO EXCITED! 

Inside this little place we found good food, warm hearts, and a connection to the waiter who has served us graciously for the last 2 years. Jaime has been waiting on us our entire adoption journey and tonight we shared our love for a country 3700 miles away.  What a gift we have discovered.  We are looking forward to meeting his family and introducing our Peruvian Princesses.