Hi Everybody,

We have arrived from our very very very enjoyable trek across America, visiting family and friends. Sadly our trip was shorter than planned due to Jim having to get back to work. The kids loved both Indiana and Philadelphia very much. Yamile would love to live in Philly with my mom and dad. The kids loved their tio and tias also. They also loved having lots and lots of primos. Sadly they were not crazy about water ice but loved soft pretzels. They also loved the beach. Indiana we had a small and weird incident with a cat. They thought it would be fun to wrap the cat like a baby and carry it, the cat did not agree. They also loved their aunt Rosie and princess her dog.

I’d write more but Jorge has decided to try to nap on my arm and I am having trouble typing!

 God Bless,

Gina

Hi,

Sorry it has been so long but our family has been on a cross country trek visiting family. The kids had a great time meeting their aunt Rosie and Uncle Steve along with their new cousins Randy and Stephanie. The kids especially liked Rosie’s dog Princess.

The kids also enjoyed meeting my family 50 over fifty people came to Yamile’s birthday bash. A special thanks to Scottie and Calien for being such good guys with the kids. Scottie gave Jorge lots of his candy from his Pinata and Calien was just very sweet speaking Spanish to them. The kids really love their abuelos (my mom and dad). Yamile would like to stay here and not go back home. (I totally understand). The night of their party they gave out lots of kisses and hugs. Today we went to Chuckie Cheese for the first time. They loved it. Yamile also had her first Cheesesteak. She liked it a lot . She also tried ribs for the first time today. Again she loved them.

We are having a great time and just want to again say thanks. The kids have also picked up some English and my family is learning Spanish. The know apple and juice, thank you, hello, good bye, I love you, Oh my gosh, they can count up to about 10, I am thirsty and hungry (sort of), of my goodness, ops, clean. They pick up a little bit every day. Jorge really liked saying Yippe and whoppee.  

God Bless,

Gina

Hey everyone…Jim filling in for Gina and yes she will Blog again! We arrived in Philly late Friday night. The kids did very well, more so since the trip spanned 12.5 hrs. They enjoyed seeing the many mountains here in PA as we traveled to INDY. We all slept very well once at Gina’s parents!

While in INDY, although they were not able to meet Julie yet, they did meet my sister and niece, stheir husbands, and some of their cousins. Everyone was very happy. There were lots of gifts and we will pick those up on the way back.

On Saturday, Gina’s parents had organized a wonderful Birthday party for Yamile. There were over 50 friends, relatives, and many many small cousins. The kids were able to play games and there was lots of good food and gifts for both Yamile and Jorge. There was even a clown! It was an amazing time. We are VERY appreciative of all the support and outpouring of love for our new family. After the party, the kids slept the next day until almost 11am! They were exhausted and overwhelmed a bit.

We are relaxing today and will get them out and about again tomorrow. All in all, they are doing VERY well. Their English is still very minimal and we are working on that daily. Their command should increase once school and daycare start back in Houston. Their instruction will be bilingual so that should help big time as well.

We plan to go to Delaware soon to spend time with one of Gina’s undergrad friends, Sharon and her son. We were not able to visit with Sharon the last time Gina and I were here.

Will close for now…Muy buenas!

Jim & Gina

Hey everyone…Jim filling in for Gina. We apologize for the lag in posting. We had to prep for the kids’ first major road trip. I am very pleased to report that we are now in INDY and they will meet part of my family today. Both Yamile and Jorge did exceptionally well during the trip! Our first day was grueling as we got under way from Houston at noon. We stopped at Cracker Barrel (a wonderful rustic type of American restaurant) and the kids loved the food. Gina had also packed lots of juice, snacks, and we had both packed toys to help them have something to play with during the trip. We finally arrived in Memphis, TN at 2am…The kids slept some in the car and again, Gina and I were both amazed at well they handled such a long trip. Day two was MUCH better as we hit the road at 11am and then reached INDY at about 7:30pm.

We are in a Comfort Suites Hotel which is really nice (though not in the same league as the Intercontinental and that’s ok). It is, however, much more user friendly than a Hostel with few amenities.

The kids will meet Rosie (my sister) and her family today. Hopefully, they will get to meet Julie, my oldest daughter as well. Tomorrow, we will hit the road for Philly and it’s about 12 hrs from here.

Jorge became alittle ill last night, but seems to be his old self today. Yamile is showing no side effects from such long car travel yet. Sat is her big Bday party and we are all looking forward to that.

I will close for now…Muy buenas!

Jim & Gina