Twas the Night Before Gotcha Day.....

Here we are in Guatemala City…what excitement has built in our family since our departure at 4:00 am from our home in Alabaster this morning. We landed in GC at 12:30 today and only had a slight panic…..our luggage (all six bags) were some of the last ones on the conveyor belt. After about 25 minutes of watching many other passengers collect their baggage, we were beginning to get concerned. Then, we saw our luggage arrive, and we were ecstatic. We had the privilege of going through customs…..it’s not like other countries we’ve been to and not like the last time I was here either. The uniformed official-looking customs agent looked at our form, looked at us and showed us to the door. That was it….amazing!

We made it to our Holiday Inn with very little effort. We are only a mile or so from the airport and can even get back there tomorrow by ourselves. We’ve learned enough Spanish to get by with the major things and are learning more by the minute! We even ordered our dinner tonight in Spanish and got exactly what we wanted…it was delicious by the way!

I’m posting a few pictures from our excursion outside of the hotel today. We walked for several blocks around the hotel and found a local McDonalds. Those of you who know us well know that we wouldn’t normally eat in a McDonalds and haven’t in almost a year. But, we went in and found a McCafe (that was the name of it) inside the McDonald’s. It was a coffee shop. They had the most amazing coffee and desserts….we sat on couches and enjoyed our time together as a family.

Speaking of family, this is our last night as the foursome we’ve been for over eight years. We are so eager to meet our son tomorrow. Here’s the plan so far….we will go back to the airport around noon tomorrow and meet Larry Boggs (he’s the missionary who runs Eagle’s Nest along with his wife Claire) and the team from The Church at Brook Hills. We will travel from GC to Solola up in the mountains. This is a grueling 2-3 hour drive and tends to lend itself to promoting carsickness. I’d like to meet my son without getting sick right in front of him.

Our family is thrilled that we will become 5 tomorrow. Jett Turner is officially ours, and tonight will be his last night to sleep without his Daddy, Mommy and sisters nearby. It will be his last night not to know his forever family. Sleep well Jett…we’re coming!