Travel Plans: Lima Tomorrow!

Doug, Chrissy, and Alex are flying from Bloomington, IL through Atlanta to Lima tomorrow, Oct. 20. We arrive at 10:15 p.m. and our friend Geoff Ingrum will pick us up and take us to our condo. Friday morning, we have an appointment at SNA where the person handling our case will welcome us and give us an overview of what will be happening the next few weeks. We will have dinner with the Ingrums Friday night, and get to know their children a bit. Then, Saturday we will go with them to their ministry to children in a very poor district on the outskirts of Lima.

Monday morning we will arrive at the Lima airport very early and fly out to Andahuaylas, up in the mountains. Our agency's attorney and her husband (who is also an adoption attorney) will accompany us, and we will be joined by a government social worker before we head off to the orphanage.

Then, the culmination of this 2 1/2 year process: we finally meet the children Monday, October 24, 2011.

A beautiful lake near Andahuaylas

From that time on, they will be staying with us, first at a hotel in Andahuaylas (until Friday morning), then in a condo in Lima. We hope to complete the adoption in Peruvian court by November 4, because I have to fly to Miami for a work conference from Nov. 5 to 8. The Ingrums will help Chrissy out if needed that weekend. Our friend Sam might also be in Lima around that time. When I return, we will celebrate our little girl's 7th birthday on Nov. 9.

The town plaza in Andahuaylas

Then, we hope to be back in the US before Thanksgiving. Andrew and Aaron are staying home, and neighbors and friends from church are going to bring them some meals and help them as needed. We plan to use skype regularly for video chats so the "new kids" can get to know their older brothers a little, too.

We have gotten so familiar with the children's pictures that we don't even have to look at them anymore to call up their faces in our minds. There's no apprehension at this point, just anticipation of finally finding out what each one's personality is, and how they relate to each other. It may not be easy for us or for them, but we are eager to get going on this journey.

FYI, our phones will be off (or in "airplane mode") because we don't want to pay the international charges for calls or texts. In an emergency, they would work in Peru. To contact us, please send email. We will have wireless access at least while in Lima.

Vamos a Peru!