US Embassy Guatemala

We tried to clarify with the Embassy as to what additional information they are asking for to satisfy their I-72 request. They will not provide the information to our attorney or to us but expect us to meet their request. I've been in contact with Peter Visclosky, US Congressman Northwest Indiana, and believe that he will contact the kind folks at the Embassy and encourage them to solve the dilemma.

Matthew must have an amazing future planned by God because Satan sure has his hands on the speed and quality of the adoption process. We'll all continue to pray because we know that God is in charge and will see us through.

I'll have to watch "Meet the Robinsons" again. The main character, "Louis", has a similar story to Matthew.

"Dear Brothers, is your life full of difficulties? Then be happy. For when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. For when your patience is in full bloom, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. You will be full and complete" - James 1:2-4

Update I-72 and others

We actually got in touch with someone at the US Embassy in Guatemala City. We were told that our PA will be approved the second they receive the document needed from the PGN. We are going to be a thorn in the side of our adoption agency so that they will put the pressure on the attorney to get this done.

For those of you who believe in prayer....Matthew needs some. We are told that he is ready to come home with us and he is sad that he is still waiting. Although he is well cared for and very healthy, he is not very happy.

On an upbeat note, a lady from Pennsylvania is going to visit the orphanage this coming Saturday. We sent her a new outfit and some toys for Matthew. We can't wait to see the new pictures that she will take. We will put them up on the blog as soon as we have them.

One last tid-bit........some of you asked several questions about the orphanage. Here is their web site: http://www.casa-guatemala.org/

You will come across some pictures of Matthew (Marlon Antonio). The information that they have about him is about two years outdated so don't panic for us when you read it......all is well.

Easter blues

With Easter coming tomorrow, it will be another holiday that we miss out on with Matthew. The frustration of not having our PA from the US Embassy adds to that. The "normal" waiting time for PA is 60 days and Easter will be day 82. Of course, it didn't help that we were issued the I-72 on day 60 and all of Central America is Catholic and closes EVERYTHING for Holy Week. We'll keep our fingers crossed and say extra prayers for our PA to come next week.

On a positive note, we have an AWESOME video of Matthew. Our friends in Ohio made an excellent video of the orphanage and made a copy for us. The video is special for me because Matthew says, "te amo Papi", which means, "I love you Daddy."

Where is Guatemala?

We have had a few people ask us, "where in the world is Guatemala?" Well, simply enough, it is the next country south of Mexico. It is bordered by Honduras and El Salvador to the south and Belieze to the North East. Matthew is currently in Guatemala City which is the south central part of the country.

New Pictures

We have some new pictures of Matthew from our friends in Ohio who just came home with their new daughter!!! As we look at the pictures of him it makes us VERY sad because he has changed so much and we've missed out on it. Words cannot explain the void in our hearts right now. But in the meantime, we have some nice pictures of him.

I-72 and a case of the blues.

As we continue to wait for our pre-approval from the US Embassy in Guatemala City, we were slapped with an I-72. An I-72 is a request for further information about Matthew. It looks as though another family tried to adopt him before we came along. A document is needed from the PGN to state that we are the correct family for Matthew. Hopefully our attorney in Guatemala will fix this ASAP and we can get our long-overdue PA!!

Pictures from our visits......

This picture was taken during our first visit to Guatemala. It was taken about 30 minutes before we had to take Matthew back to the orphanage and head to the airport.

This picture was sent to us by a family who went to visit their daughter-to-be. It is the latest picture that we have of Matthew.

This picture was taken during our second visit in Guatemala on June 15, 2007. We stayed at the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel.

This picture was taken on the day we met Matthew at The Casa Guatemala Orphanage on December 28, 2006.

The Beginning

This is the very first picture we ever saw of Matthew. We accepted our referral (agreed to adopt him) on November 23, 2006. There have been many bumps in the road and we are sure that there will be many more but we know this is one of the best decisions we've ever made.

OUR TIMELINE:

DOB: 8/23/03

Birth Name: Marlon Antonio

Accepted referral: 11/23/06

Special COfA Court Ruling: 7/10/07 (FINALLY!!!!!)

Entered FC: 7/11/07

Done with FC: 12/3/07

Enter PA: 1/2/08

Exit PA: ?

PGN In: ?

PGN Out: ?

Pink: ?

Home: ?

To explain it all........

DOB is self-explanatory and I already explained the referral.

The special COfA court ruling was a huge nightmare. To make it as simple as I can, COfA stands for certificate of abandonment. It took the court an AWFUL long time to determine if Matthew had any living relatives, if anyone knew who he was and to determine if he could be adopted. After posting him all over the place (TV, radio, newspaper) not one person came forward to identify him. The court then ruled him available for adoption on 7/10/2007.

FC stands for Family Court. This process (which took 5 months for us) is the social worker's report on all of us. The social worker had to pick apart the multiple documents we had to send which included everything from our tax return to my shoe size. She gave a favorable rating and agreed that we would be an excellent family for Matthew.

PA stands for Pre-approval. We are currently waiting for pre-approval from the United States Embassy to bring Matthew to the US and declare him a US citizen. We should receive this any day now and are chewing our fingernails in anticipation.

Once we get PA we will be submitted to PGN. PGN, or Procuraduria General de la Nacion, is similar to our Attorney General's Office. It is their job to pick apart all of our documents to make sure all of the I's are dotted and T's crossed. They will make sure that everything is legal. This process takes about 8 weeks but can take longer if we have to go back to dot that I or cross the T.

Once out of PGN we will go back to the US Embassy to wait on our Pink Slip. A pink slip is the issuing of our appointment date at the embassy to finalize the process (Adoption Day). From here, we bring him home!!!!