Sept 23-- Coming home!!!

Our sweet little ones waiting in the airport for our flight after a very long morning. What happy little souls!

Lucia and Silas traveled very well. It was a nice flight.

Keva, we love the backpack for Kaylee. What a treat for Lucia!

When we got home, we were shocked to find that our dear friends from church did a room make-over for Silas. Due to the upstairs bathroom leaking and ruining his closet right before we left for Colombia, we were not able to create a baby room. Over the nearly 7 weeks of being gone, we arranged to have the bathroom remodeled. But we never expected that Silas's room would be made over! We didn't have anything set up for him. Not even a crib. And the Lord blessed us so through our friends who painted, decorated, and made the room look like the best in our house. We are so grateful for each of you!!!!

Sept 22--Last full day

Our last breakfast with our Halifax family. It was bitter sweat. We tried our best to soak in every moment of it!

We will always treasure our memories in this little cafeteria.

Our dear friends, Peir, Randi, and Nicoli before they leave for Norway.

Pablo and Gloria with Lucia. Oh how Lucia will miss playing with Pablo!

Great friends, Lucia and Pablo!

Lucia with her Colombia shirt.

Little Nicoli before leaving for Norway.

We will forever miss this sweet family with whom we shared life with during our time in Bogota. It was sad to see them leave and solidified even more that we will be leaving tomorrow morning.

Sept 21--What is in a name?...Silas Jacob

SILAS JACOB KIRKLAND

What is in a name? You may have wondered why we chose the name Silas Jacob. The name Jacob comes from his birth name, Jacobo. We have kept it to honor his given name. We were drawn to the name Silas, not only because we liked the way it sounded, but also because of the Biblical Silas we read about in Scripture. 

Silas is named after an incredible individual who lived during New Testament times; a man who helped spread the gospel following Jesus’ resurrection. You can read about the Biblical Silas, also referred to as Silvanus (we didn’t dig the name Sylvester!), in the New Testament, mainly in Acts. Our favorite story of him is in Acts 16:16-40. You will discover he is a man of God. A man who put his life on the line for the sake of the gospel. We learn through Scripture that Silas was a prophet and evangelist who had attributes such as prayer, worship, obedience, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and the ability to teach. From these stories, we will encourage our Silas through the life of the man from whom he got his name. 

These qualities of the Biblical Silas led us to other Scriptures which we used to compose a blessing statement to pray over Silas nightly as we lay him down to sleep. We feel strongly that God has called us to daily bless our children (no we are not perfect at this, but we do our best!) And we want to share Silas’ blessing with you, our family and friends, so you will know the prayer we ask the Lord to bless. His blessing is derived from Acts 16, Ps 113, Prov 3, and Ps 25. May the Lord bring to fruition our prayer for our son!

“Silas, you are a servant of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord everywhere, from east to west, for the Lord is high above the nations. Put your hope in Him, Silas. Seek God’s will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Obey His word and He will lead you with unfailing love and faithfulness.”

To help capture the essence of this blessing, we are giving him the word picture of a “compass”. Throughout the years, we will buy little compasses at pivotal points in his life to remind him of his blessing and to bring its meaning to life.

LUCIA PROVIDENCE DIANA KIRKLANND

If you are interested, this is what Lucia's name means. Providence is given as a middle name to draw attention to our providential God who brought us together as a forever family and who knows every day before it happens. Diana is to honor her birth name. We chose Lucia because we liked it and also because of its meaning: "light." We wrote the following blessing for Lucia when we adopted her four years ago, and we pray it over her nightly. It comes from Matthew 5:14-16. It is so sweet as she is learning more about what her blessing means. Her word picture is “light” (candles, flashlights, glow in the dark stars, etc). And as we look at our sweet daughter, we truly find that the Lord is bringing her blessing to life, for in so many ways Lucia shines! 

“Lucia, you are a light to the world. Like a city on mountain shining its light for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket, but put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, Lucia, let your kind actions shine out so that all may see and praise your heavenly Father.”

Sept 21--Embassy

Our little light got a booboo today at the Embassy as she and Brian were racing to get a gatorade. But she is okay! We left for the Embassy at 7:30 this morning and got home around 11:00ish. There were some paperwork glitches (more frustrations), but we believe we have it all sorted out and we should get our visa tomorrow at 3:30. Then we will call Delta to book our flight home (which we hope will be Wednesday morning at 9:30--direct flight to Atlanta!!!!)

Adios Juan! We are beginning to walk around and tell special places "goodbye." Today, Lucia, Silas and I walked together (Brian had to work). We paused at one point, and I told Lucia to just soak it all in...the sights, the smells, the feelings. She was so sweet, for she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I will soak it into my heart. I'll keep it there."  

We went to Juan Valdez to say goodbye to this special place that holds many wonderful memories for us (our girl time). We enjoyed our last brownie caliente and granazada (like a frapp). 

After our time here, we walked back to the hotel saying "bye" to various special places. I got teary eyed with tears of joy and sadness as we were walking. This really has been an incredible experience for our family. Especially for Lucia, she has matured in so many ways while being here. 

Playing in the courtyard with Per and Nicolai.

Inez surprised us by bringing Obleas to eat. She let me practice making them since we are bringing back 50 to share with our family and friends!

Randi and Nicolai enjoying obleas.

Per and Randi gave us these socks that Per's mother knitted. They are nice, comfy and warm!

Sept 20--Hacienda La Margarita

We went to Haciendia Margarita today with our friends, Arnstein and Evelyn. Jorge Rico (same tour guide who took us to the coffee planation) took us in his mini-tour van about 40 minutes away from our hotel to enjoy this "horse restaurant."

It was a fun ride in Jorge's mini-bus. The girls especially enjoyed it, giggling and singing much of the way.

This "horse restaurant" is located on a farm previously owned by two drug lords, who are now in jail. Their sister owns the place now. We met her and she was kind and welcomed us. The security here was very tight. They checked our diaper bags, while asking us "do you have guns." With this said, it was a family friendly place and we highly recommend it!

Future cowgirl!

There were farm animals everywhere! We were able to walk up and pet them as much as we liked. And there were many baby animals. 

Valentina and Lucia

Petting the animals.

This is the entrance of the restaurant. We had a table to the left.

While we ate lunch, we enjoyed live entertainment.

Mariachi band.

Horse show during our lunch! This was a riot!!! Horses danced down the middle of the restaurant. It was terrific! Later, after the horses, they brought all the baby animals in for the children to come and pet. So in the middle of the restaurant were children and baby goats, cows, horses, sheep. And also poop and pee. Oh yeah, and the occasional waiter delivering cheesecake to a guest. It was a hoot! We loved it!

This guy appeared to be the "star" horse performer. He had his horse walking on its two back legs down the middle. It was amazing.

Okay, so how weird is this... that same horse performer came up to us b/c he knew Jorge. He began talking to us in English. Come to find out, he lived 24 years in Florence, S.C. Really, how small is the world!

Before we left, Lucia and Valentina road horses for a long while. She said this was her favorite part of the day.

So, we had a terrific day and one we will not soon forget. Now, off to bed (while watching the Emmy's) b/c we leave at 7:30 am for the Embassy. Hopefully we will get Silas's visa with no problem.

Sept 19--Clemson and....soccer?

"Nicolai is so cute." We hear this about 100 times a day from Lucia! She absolutely adores him.

Dressed for the game. Go Tigers!!!

Yeah! Clemson beat BC, and it only took 5 hours!

The guys headed off to a soccer game around 4:00. With Brian are Per and Arnstein. Both are from Norway.

Santa Fe (Bogota) vs. Junior (Barranquilla)

The game lasted until about 8:15. Brian enjoyed the game and may just become an avid soccer fan! He liked the enthusiasm of the fans the best. He says his favorite chant, which apparently lasted the entire game, was "Junior es tu papa."

Sept 18--Our last Friday

This morning, Trisha and Lucia enjoyed "girls time" by walking in the city to get some Colombian flag ribbon. We then enjoyed Dunkin' Donuts and an oblea. It was nice to spend time together, just the two of us.

We are really going to miss Bogota, and we are trying to soak in everything during our last days here in this wonderful country. I asked Lucia what she was going to miss the most and she said, "my friends." I agree. We have been so richly blessed with the friendships we have made. We will also miss the city and the places that have grown special to us, for they hold so many treasured memories.

Hanging out in our hotel room.

Brian and Lucia painting in the play room.

Can you tell what is on their minds? 

Brian = football. Lucia = princess.

Tonight we went out for dinner at Crepes and Waffles with Inez and Maria. It was nice to get dressed up for a special dinner. We tried to get a family photo since we were dressed nicely.

Lucia and her ice cream mouse. 

Chocolate fondue. It was delicious! This will remain a special memory, spending time with Inez and Maria at Crepes and Waffles and walking through Parque 93 at night.