New Flight Information

They will be home tomorrow afternoon. American Flight 1032 leaving from Dallas arriving in Minneapolis at 1:50pm. Waiting in MSP Chris, Sam, Alex and Nate.

**STUCK IN MIAMI**

I am stuck in Miami overnight. More details to come.

America, Here we come!!!!

It is with such mixed emotions that we leave today. Spending 6 weeks together, you really grow to love all of the people here in the house. The maids --I hate calling them that-- become mom/grandma. The house guests, brothers and sisters. We laugh, we cry, we celebrate...The adoption bond goes so much farther than just our children. This is such a beautiful country --so much more than the icky rumors we hear in the States. It´s so hard to say goodbye.

And yet I´m saying hello to my boys. I can´t wait to see you and have missed you more than you will ever know!!! I´ve heard nothing but good reports about you while I´ve been gone, and am so proud. See you in a few hours. I can´t wait!!!!

Our bags are packed and we wait for the taxi (and the dreaded goodbye). I am a little afraid that the suitcases may be over weight (I packed Vilma and DeeAnna --the maids today), but I guess we´ll have to wait and see --the house scale is not that reliable. Ah, it´s raining. Even Bogota is sad we´re leaving.

Ok, time to say the goodbyes. See you in a few hours :).

Last night in Bogota

I picked up Nicko´s Visa this afternoon and sighed a HUGE sigh of relief. Mission Accomplished! We´re ready to come home. I´ve got clothes drying in the dryer, a baby not quite asleep and some pictures of FANA to post. Then it´s off to dream of flying home...

I also went to FANA today to sign some final paperwork and finally took the long awaited tour. Here are some of the pics of Nicko´s home for 2 years. It really is a wonderful place.

The entrance

This tree has a name, but for the life of me I can´t remeber what it is. I know one of my FOF friends will help me out, though :)

Pictures of children adopted out of FANA line the halls and offices of Fana. Weiberdinks, Chris and I found your presentation pic while Nicko was staying there during his illness.

The play/therapy room

One of the newborn infant rooms

These babies are a little bit older

Nicko´s old stomping grounds

Nicko´s old room

The Lab

The dining room

Outside play area

Room to run

I am off. See you in about 14 hours!!!!!

"Your Visa is approved."

Ah! What sweet words. One more day of paperwork and then it´s off for home. Nicholas´adoption is final. He´s now a Kjersten-Thayer whether he likes it or not :).

Tomorrow AM I head to FANA for some last minute paper signing and to say goodbye. Nicholas is so fortunate to have had such wonderful care givers these last 2 years. Words are not enough to say thanks.

Tomorrow afternoon I head back to the embassy to pick up his Visa. I´m hoping it won´t take too long as I want to pick up some food for a good old fashioned fiesta. It gets dark by 6:00 PM here, so none of us head out after then. It makes for some pretty early bed times :(.

Answer to prayer: Shelby and Rachel were able to change their flights. They will be leaving on Thursday. As frustrating as it was to change flights and have the extra unexpected expense, we are pretty proud of ourselves for only being 1 day off in our return trip estimations.

Funny story: Today as I was riding home from the embassy, I found myself thinking that traffic really wasn´t that bad. UGH! I´ve become numb to the crazy driving. It´s definately time to come home.

Speaking of home, Nicko and I arrive in MPLS Wednesday, July 25, on American Airlines flight 2128 at 11:30 PM. Definately not an arrival time for the faint of heart. I can´t wait!!!! Two more nights. I sure am going to miss my friends here though. Mixed feelings are so tough.

I´m off to bed --well, to watch TV anyway. Have a great night!

The joke´s on us...

Not sure why this didn´t post last night, but here it is. We´re off tot he embassy. Make it a great day!!!!

¡Hola! everyone at the ARC for Family Camp. It´s soooo disappointing to not be there with you. Hopefully we´ll be able to come up and visit on Friday so you all can meet Nicholas. Have a wonderful and blessed week!!!!

Today was our last Sunday at Brother Lingo´s church. Usually we are able to get the gist of his sermons based on the notes he gives in the bulletin. He always gives the references and Shelby, Rachel and I follow along that way. Today we got to church, opened the bulletin to find the references and there was nothing but lines. Rachel and I laughed and laughed and laughed. Brother lingo was very nice about it though. After telling us he ran out of time to do the bulletin study guide, he made copies of his sermon notes for us. We studied Namaan today. Our final song was "He´s able". How appropriate of our journeys...


Rachel and Shelby got disappointing news this evening. Their tickets home are booked for Wednesday. Unfortunately, they were told tonight that it´s impossible to get their paperwork done by then. They will have to switch their flight to Thursday. Since they will need 6 tickets, it will cost about $1000. And even then, will there be 6 seats available????? I pray so!!!! We all just try to remember how big our God is.


Here are some pics of the weekend...

Nikkie counting her millions...of Peso´s, that is. The peso is worth roughly half of the US dollar right now. When we´re shopping, we´ll look at the price and divide by 2 to get the approximate Us Dollar amount. It´s kind of fun to carry around a $50 million bill. It´s worth about $25 US.

See Papi. Mama makes sure I brush my teeth every night.

It´s hard to see him, but this is Keenan. He was adopted from FANA 2 years ago in Sept. He and Nicko were probably in the nursery together. His mommy and Daddy are here from Boston and are adopting another baby boy. The baby is precious, but has no name. Daddy has ´til tonight to choose.

I´m off. Tomorrow we go to the embassy for Nickp´s Visa. I´m excited!!!! Have a good night!

We´ve got tickets!!!!

We´ll be landing at MSP at 11:30 PM on Wednesday!!!! I am more than excited. It´ll be a looooooooong day, but we´ll be home. I´ll post the flight info tomorrow or Monday after I print my ticket. There is no printer hooked up to this machine.

Today was rather uneventful except that Nicholas decided not to like eating at both lunch and supper. He´s eaten both dishes before and liked them, but I guess today was different. Tonight supper got spit at me --made me a little upset. That hasn´t happened since my days at the nursing home. Hope this doesn´t mean rebellion is starting. He´s been pretty compliant up ´til now, so maybe it is. We had a good cuddle time before bed, though. It was nice to end on a positive note with lots of kisses. It sure is difficult to start training a child at 2 instead of birth. At birth it all is learned somewhat naturally as you start from day 1. With adopting an older child we have to do it differently and often times re-train what someone else has done. God grant me the patience and wisdom I need to jump this hurdle successfully.

I had something else to tell you, but can´t remember what it is. Tomorrow I guess.

Tomorrow Nicholas and I go to worship at the Lingo´s church for the last time :(. Brother Lingo asked me last night if we understood any of the service. What I find interesting (and told him) is that even though the service is in Spanish, God still speaks and we are able to figure out the message based on the scripture read. And we can sing the songs in English.

Well, I´m off. I´m not going to sleep, but maybe I´ll veg in front of the TV for a while... Sleep well everyone!!!

Colombian Independence Day

I have to admit I was disappointed today. I was really looking forward to a parade and such to celebrate Independence day, but it was not to be. Usually there is a parade, but this year the military moved to the island of San Andres. Nicaragua and Colombia are fighting over the island, so Colombia wanted to show it´s strength and ownership. Instead we went out for supper with the Lingo´s (the pastor of the church we´ve been visiting while here) at "Crepe´s and Waffle´s". Very good!!! We had great conversation and wonderful food. I so appreciate being able to worship with them as I have missed my church family.


Because of the holiday I was unable to change my ticket. Avianca does not issue e-tickets, so since I have a paper ticket I have to go down to the actual Delta office which was closed today. I do have seats reserved on the Wednesday flight, just hope they´re still available when I get there to pay for them. Shelby and I will go tomorow. I wanted someone to come along to help with Spanish (although neither of us is very good) and to feel more secure. I´d hate to have to turn down another marriage proposal :).


I wanted to include some pictures of the Colombian military. There are police and military in various areas to ensure safety and control. Sam, Alex and Nate, I thought you´d enjoy seeing them.

Rachel and Shelby took Nicko to the park while Chris and I tried to figure out ticket stuff. We were unsuccessful, but he had a good time :)

We love to swing...

Through the tube...

Helping Stephanie with weight...

Ahhhhh!!! Progress!

Ok, so this is really late. Sorry to keep you waiting. The computer has been tied up ALL evening.

Today was a busy day and Mommy and Nicholas are VERY tired!!!! We started by heading off to get Nicko´s new birth certificate. Once we got to the office, it only took 10 minutes to get --AMAZING!!!! Then it was back to El Refugio to pick up Nicko so we could get his passport. We drove past the Presidential Palace on the way. I´ll have to look for a post card as I didn´t have my camera along. Believe it or not, the passport is created while we wait. Yup! None of this 14 weeks stuff. Anyway, Nicko HATED getting his picture taken. In his picture, Nicholas definately doesn´t look like he wants to go to the States. An hour later we were heading back to El Refugio for lunch and naps.

Nicholas also met with the doctor this afternoon. He raved to me of the excellent care that Nicko recieved at FANA. During his exam, he talked of Nicholas stiffness and how therapy will really help improve that. On the way out, I had Nicko show off his walking skills. The doctor stopped me at the door to tell me he took it all back. "Nicholas´stiffness is not that bad. Isn´t it great what a little TLC can do for these little ones?" He was amazed at Nicko´s progress. Talk about a proud mommy. His final statements made the busy day so much better.

Monday we head to the embassy to apply for Nicko´s VISA. It will be done Tuesday and we will HOPEFULLY fly home Wednesday. Chris will be working to change my flight (and purchase Nicko´s ticket) tomorrow.

Good News!!! Shelby and Rachel signed Sentencia today!!!! They are hoping to get everything done to fly out on Wednesday so they don´t have to change their 6 tickets, but who knows. With the holiday, that may be really tough :(. El Rfugio is going to be so quiet come Thursday.

So this is the end of a very busy day. I´m so glad to have made progress. No pics today, we were too busy for that :(. I have to say that it´s amazing what can happen when I sit back, relax and allow God to work. Why does it take so long to figure that out???? And why is it the same lessons I´m learning over and over and over... Must be the Finnish blood, right Dad?

Have a good night!

It´s a new day...

So I´m off to get more paperwork done. I have no expectations, I´m just going to enjoy the process. I definately think that if one would like to learn to trust God more and give up control, adopting a child is the way to go :).

While eating breakfast this AM, I was reminded of the verse I used to chant as I ws running Cross Country in high school --I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me (Don´t have the reference with me. My Bible is in my room where Nicko is still sleeping). But I know that I will make it through today because God is carrying me. It´s really comforting to picture that.

Better run. I´ll update later :). Thanks for ALL of your encouragement!!!!!

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you...

Nicholas Arthur Thayer Kjersten

• In Colombia it is custom for everyone to have 2 last names: father´s and mother´s maiden, so that is what his new birth certificate will read.

• Sentencia has been signed, but in true Thayer fashion, there were, of course, some glitches. When we got to the office, the defender of Minors had not signed the paperwork so we had to wait, hoping she would come down to sign. I´m not sure what our lawyer did, but after an hour, he worked his magic and we left with signed paperwork.

• Then off to North Bogota to get Nicholas´new birth certificate. We had to travel to the office where Nicholas was registered originally, about an hours´drive across the city. Bogota is HUGE --between 8 and 9 million people and I´m told that to go completely across the city it can take as much as 2 hours --no interstates like MPLS/St Paul.

• The ride was fun as I was able to see the original city. It looks like what you would see in the movies of a really old European city with all of the buildings touching and really narrow streets separating it into blocks. Our driver when we were site seeing said that many of the buildings are hundreds of years old. The architecture is just amazing.

• Anyway, we got to the registar´s office where in true Thayer fashion we, of course, had issues. The secretary couldn´t get the computer to place my maiden name in the right location as it is not listed on my passport. Finally we had to do it the old fashioned way. It was good that this took a while as the man who needs to sign the new birth certificate was out of the office for a meeting. Unfortunately, he did not return and we were unable to figure out if he would be back at all, so we left. We´ll have to return tomorrow AM, hoping he will have signed the new document. Keep your fingers crossed.

• Unfortunately, this little delay has put the kabosh on our Tuesday return. We needed to have Nicholas´VISA application (passport is required) in by Thursday PM so that we could get it on Monday. It takes 24 hours for approval from Washington, and since Friday is Colombian Independence Day with everything closed, we have to wait. We couldn´t get his passport today because we didn´t have his new birth certificate. And so the snowball goes down the hill.

• Tomorrow will be a busy day as we run back to the north side to get the birth certificate, visit the embassy doctor and get the passport.

• I have to say that I am really tired of the glitches. It doesn´t seem like any of this process has gone smoothly. I think it´s just Satan´s way of trying to discourage us. And honestly, it often works. I still hear God´s quiet voice saying, "Do you trust me?" though. We wanted God to be glorified through our adoption process. If we didn´t have to trust Him, if we could do it all on our own, would He get the credit? Now if only I could remember that during the frustrating times of waiting...

• Please keep praying for us. Not only do I have to wait longer to see the boys (I am REALLY homesick), but we have the added expense of changing my ticket and longer hotel stay. We are also uncertain of the cost of Nicholas´ticket. There have had several unexpected expenses (Dr visit, prescriptions, extra taxi rides while Nicholas was back at FANA, etc.) along the way and this is really starting to hurt. None of us expected this to take the full 6 weeks and the Thayer household is starting to get more than frustrated, so please pray that we can be patient a little bit longer. Also pray that we all remember that this is part of God´s plan and that He is in control.

• Thank you for your suport and prayers. We do know that you are faithfully lifting us up in prayer.

We did have some fun today, so here are some pics to lighten the mood :).

Nicko and Bryan have become quite the little buds. Off to one of the many neighborhood parks....
OOOOH I love to swing!!!!

Paqui and Simone show the boys how it´s done...

Look at that smile. How can it not make you happy????

God answers 2 prayers in one day!!!!

OK, most importantly, CHARLEY HAS A HEART!!!!!!!!! Transplant teams are being dispatched now. Hopefully all will go well and the heart will be beating in Charley´s little body tomorrow AM sometime. I pray that all goes well and that his body will accept it. What a sacrifice this donor family has made. My prayers are for continued peace for them through their grief.

Now our news. Tomorrow at 8:00 I leave to sign Sentencia!!! Nicholas will officially be a Thayer --no turning back :). Even with the holiday, we will be able to get everything done by Tuesday so we can leave as planned. Do we dare pray for earlier?????

I love how God slaps us when we are being naughty --OK, so I really don´t. My attitude today was so bad and still, God blessed me. Definitely a harsh lesson in humility and I really had to spend a lot of time in prayer confessing my attitude. I´m so glad for His gift of forgiveness --especially when I don´t deserve it.

I need to get Nicko to bed. Have a great night and we´re prayin´you through, Tony and Charley!!!!

Tuesday #5

Sorry for not blogging in a while. Computer time is hard to come by right now :(. There are more families using it now, so we all race to get there :).

OK. So I REALLY have a bad attitude today. I want nothing more than to come home, and it´s not looking like it´s happening. And I´m really feeling the pressure. My actual ticket is scheduled for next Tuesday --YIPPEE!!!! except that Friday is a holiday so the government will be shut down again. It would really be nice to sign sentencia by tomorrow so that more paperwork won´t be slowed.

It´s funny. So many people (both in the States and here) told me that our process would be a quick one because Nicholas is "special needs". WRONG!!!!!!! Oh well. As someone wise once said,"Everyone comes home, Nikkie. No one who´s adopted a child from Colombia is still there months later."

Sunday we had a nice surprise. A family from Minnesota who´s adopted 2 children from here in Colombia came for a visit. They are back to show the kids Bogota and where they came from. It was fun to meet Lance and Amy and 3 of their 4 children and hear a bit about home.

Here are some photos from Nicholas playing yesterday. He still has that bright, shiny smile that really does brighten your day. I´m going to go snuggle him now. That will help my mood.

Ready....Set....

GO!!!!!!

Talking to Daddy on the phone.

Yet another Saturday...

We went bowling at Unicentro (the mall) this morning with 2 other families --Shelby and Rachel, et al and Simone, Paqui and Brayan.

Dayana, Johan and Rachel

Nelson and Stefany

Can I PLEEEEEEASE try????? No? Then I´ll just push the reset button --Hee, Hee, Hee

The whole crew after our trip to Mc D´s for McFlurry´s

Our 3rd family left this AM. They went on holiday to the coast and will be back Saturday. Hopefully they´ll be back to El Refugio, but if another family comes, they´ll have to go elsewhere. Two families from France joined us last night.

Sam, Alex and Nate, this is the famous Colombian Taxi. Isn´t it little???? You should see it with 6 people in it :)

Vilma (Beelma), one of the wonderful maids that takes care of me. She keeps threatening to take Nicholas home to her casa. She is the one who had such a great time teasing Chris about sopa and his spanish. "No English, Mister (sounds like Meester). Only Espanol."

Rosio, very quiet, but loves a good time and will do anything for you. She is just a joy...

3 weeks with Nicholas

Look at me! I´m walkin´!!!

Sometimes I get it right...

They even have Dandelions in Bogota...

I wasn´t going to blog tonight ´cause nothing really exceptional happened, but before supper tonight I was watching Nicholas walk around the house and realized how many things he has accomplished in the 3 short (depending on how you look at it) weeks we´ve had him. He´s a crawling maniac and can get from one end of the house to the kitchen (to bug the maids or beg for food) in no time flat. He smiles a TON and very easily. He loves his bubble bath. Rarely sucks his thumb. And he´s walking!!!!!!! This really is a miracle!!! He´s not supposed to be crawling, much less walking. It´s amazing what a little love and one-on-one attention can do for a child. I just had to share Nicholas´good news with Elizabeth, a nurse at FANA today. She was more than excited. I´ll be bringing video for them tomorrow.

Shelby and Rachel celebrated their 11 year anniversary today, so I watched their kids so they could go out. The kids were sooooooo good. We had a good time playing hide and seek, doing puzzles and watching a bit of TV. Then Nicholas and I headed off to the mall for some shopping. Don´t worry Chris, I only printed a few pictures. I didn´t buy anything...real expensive that is. Nicko and I are getting pretty good at finding our way around the mall/neighborhood :).

Amazingly, tomorrow is Friday. The week went pretty fast considering it was my dreaded week of missing Nate´s birthday and nothing happening paperwork-wise. I´m really hoping things will really take off next week --the next holiday isn´t until Friday. But who knows. I´m trying really hard to put aside my American ways and do the Colombian "go with the flow" thing. Some days are easier than others, though.

Well, I´m off. The house is quiet so I should probably head to bed myself. Have a great night!!!

Nicholas´ b-day gift to Nate

Happy Birthday Nate! In honor of your birthday I started walking on my own. Yup! I just let go of the couch and took off. Mommy tried to get video of me, but Laura wouldn´t leave me alone long enough to get the shot. Hopefully tomorrow. I have to go to bed now. I´m crabby and Mommy won´t let me stay up when I´m crabby. She can be tough sometimes... I love all of you --Daddy, Sam, Alex and Nate! Can´t wait to come home!!!

Love,
Nicko (pronounced Nee-koh)

PS --Here are a few pics of what I did tonight.


"Ring Around the Rosie" with Laura, Brayan and Paqui

We all fall down!

This is how I go down the steps. Wonder if that´s the cause of my bruised head...

Sleep good everyone!!!

Icky Day

Family number 1 left for France after lunch today :(. Their son is from the southern part of Colombia. It is more dangerous there because of the FAQ, so their process went very quickly.

All the kids at El Refugio

Today is Nate´s birthday. Not fun to be away. It was Lena´s birthday too, so we celebrated for both of them --Raspberry cake, mmmmm!!!! Lots of tears in Mommy´s eyes...

I had hoped by some miracle to sign sentencia this week --especially since things seemed to be moving so quickly, but at FANA this AM (Nicholas had anther DR´s app´t) I found out that the Defender of Minor´s office (where our paperwork is currently) is closed this ENTIRE week for workshops. Ugh!!!! So, here we sit. I´m really trying hard to appreciate the beauty of Bogota, but...

Nicholas´ doctor appointment went well. We need to keep up with his inhalers ´til we get home to the states and have him checked out there.

I had some interesting taxi rides this AM. The first taxi driver drove like a maniac. We almost caused SEVERAL accidents. He also didn´t know how to get to FANA. After driving through several unfamiliar neighborhoods, I finally recognized a street and was able to give him directions. Thank goodness I´ve been there so many times. The trip home was safer, but I had to turn down a marraige proposal. He even tried to sweeten the deal by showing me his casa (home) and iglesia (church). It sure made me wish Chris were here. Ugh! Only in Colombia. Wonder what Friday´s trip to FANA will bring. I think Rachel is going to come along. Safety in numbers...

I suppose I´d better run. Maybe I´ll take a nap...