Update from Ecuador

So I have an update from the equator... there was a mix-up on Sofia's birthday and so now we are having to take a step back in the process and wait a little longer... :( It doesn't look like we'll be able to get passport and new birth certificate until Friday now, which will push going to Guayaquil for Sofia's visa until Monday or Tuesday, which means the earliest they'll be able to come home won't be until Wednesday. Mom, Jenna, and Sofia were really hoping to come back Friday and be home for the weekend. Please, PLEASE pray that they can come HOME very soon. Not only do we have an ancy nine-year old girl here that is really missing her mama, but I know Mom and Jenna are going crazy being stuck in an apartment all the time and are ready to be HOME. Also, Sofia deserves to be home. Right now she is stuck between two worlds - her old life and her new life which is really confusing. We're trying to remind ourselves to be thankful considering this time the process is going much quicker than the process last year, but it is just so hard after you get your hopes up to be home this weekend. Please pray that the confusion can get straightened out quickly so that we can all be together again as soon as possible. I wish I had some good news to share, but I don't know of any today! I'm hoping for a better report soon. Until then, prayers will lift us up! Thank you all :)

Day 24 in Ecuador

Well I am back home now while my Mom, Jenna, and Sofia finish up the process in Ecuador. I already miss my friends and the rest of my family who are still waiting in Ecuador. I also just miss this country. I love Ecuador and hope to go back again someday soon.

But I am so glad to be with my Dad and Alison again. Wow, I missed Alison so much. The morning after I got home, she was very excited to see me, and I was excited to see her. I think she grew since I was gone! 

Today Alison and I had a snow day from school so we've been enjoying watching TV and eating chocolate-chip cookie dough. :) 

Alison loved the Ecuadorian pants my Dad brought her back from his last trip. Right here she was about to prepare a traditional Ecuadorian-snack - fried bananas! :)

Sofia had her doctor's appointment on Tuesday. My mom reported that she was crazy in the waiting room! My mom said that everything is going well with Sofia's behavior as long as they stay in the apartment. Jenna and Sofia are enjoying watching movies on the portable DVD player. Sofia has been copying Jenna's English. We had been talking to her primarily in Spanish so Jenna's English is helping her to learn.

Today, my Mom and Sofia are able to start the exit process to come home which is great news! Hopefully they can get Sofia's passport and cedula on Monday, fly to Guayaquil on Tuesday for her visa, and come home Wednesday! This time last year we were still waiting on a court-date. This process is going much smoother and quicker! We are so pleased!

Our friends Zoe' and Gabi left Wednesday afternoon. It was so good to have them with us!

Please pray that Mom, Sofia, and Jenna can fly back home on Wednesday. This would mean that they would be home two and a half weeks earlier than last year! 

His Hand

Sofia has begun testing quite a bit and we've had some rough days, but we know this is all in God's provision and in His hand. There is nothing major, just some small things that can add up. But we have seen a revolution and redemption in the life of a child before, and we know that He will not fail to the same again! He brought us to this, and He will bring us through it! His promises are what keeps us going some times. I know part of it is Sofia just trying to see what she can get away with, and all the changes can totally mess with her head. She is still doing extraordinarily well and we are so impressed at the progress she has already made. She really is a joy, and a super sweet girl. We are blessed that she is in our life.

On Saturday, Sofia, Jenna, and Mamí all went to Parque Carolina and rode horses and played in the playground. While they were having fun with horses, Papí, Zoe', Gabi, and I went to some markets in Quito. I love the markets here. They are so full of color. 

Later, we went to some friends' house here in Quito. On our way there, we left a camera in the taxi! Thankfully I had just uploaded a lot of photos, so the only ones we didn't have were from that morning. So we lost the photos of Sofi and Jenna horse-back riding and of the balloon party Jenna had put on for us in the morning. We are very sad that we lost the camera but are thankful that all the important photos were saved. We are now using my camera which isn't as good of quality but it still works! 

We were sad that Papí had to leave again Sunday morning. We went to church again and Sofia had fun dancing to the worship music once again! It is so precious to watch. Music really calms her.

We spent time with our new/old friend Kaleigh which is always fun :)

This morning (Monday) I had another opportunity to volunteer at For His Children for a couple hours which was a lot of fun. Afterwards, the whole family went to the park. This park is actually very memorable for us because we spent just about every day there last year because it was right across the street from our apartment during our last trip. We had a great time! Sofia loved the teeter-totter! 

Me with my friend Zoe'. 

Monkey-bars is the perfect place for this little monkey :) 

Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery here in Quito.

Here you can see the snow-topped Mount Cotopaxi. This volcano totally towers over the city!

Here are some cute pictures of Sofia I got before she went to bed.

I love this precious girl.

Tomorrow we have Sofia's doctor's appointment. Before she can become a citizen of the United States she has to have all the necessary vaccinations. Hopefully she won't have to get many (if any) shots. Please pray that this appointment will go well!

Our process is already going quicker than last year. We had court two and a half weeks after we arrived in Ecuador this year as opposed to three and a half. We are getting off to a good start! Hopefully within two weeks everyone will be home together, but only time will tell! Please pray with us for God's perfect timing. 

And also, please pray for Sofia. She is going through a lot of changes. It's hard to see your treasured Papí come and leave, and come and leave again. And then I will leave Wednesday morning. And on top of all that, her world has been totally flipped upside down. New rules, new things, and brand new people that she now calls "family." Please pray for every transition and please pray that her heart will be prepared for the next great transition - when she gets to come home! 

Sofia Isabella Broaddus

We had court tonight! Besides Sofia getting a little impatient towards the end, everything went really well! Sofia didn't originally have a middle name, so we decided a few months back that she would be Sofia Isabella - a name that means wise (Sofia) and God is My Consecration (Isabella). What a beautiful name to describe a beautiful girl! 

Getting ready for court! Sofia loved her new Papa Noel hat :)

Sofia loved being with her Papí again.

Jenna is such a great big sister already! She loves playing puppets with Sofia. Jenna thought it was quite hilarious that Sofia named the blonde puppet Alison and the latino puppet Jenna :)

Waiting for court...

Isn't Sofia's smile gorgeous? I know Mom's eyes are closed in this one, but I couldn't resist posting this beautiful picture of Sofi.

Today has been a very special day, but we wish Jamie and Alison were here to enjoy it with us. 

Sofia is getting impatient...

Finally, Sofia is a Broaddus! We are officially a family of seven! 

From left to right: The judge, Mamí, Sofia, Papí, Allie, and Jenna.

Afterwards, we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate our big day. 

Puppets at the dinner table: Why not?

Papí playing with Sofia outside the restaurant.

Sofia Isabella, my crazy, spunky, sweet little sister, there are some things I want to tell you now that you are a part of a forever family. Some things that you must not ever forget. 

We will always treasure you...

We will always cherish you...

We will always hold you close...

We will always watch over you...

We will always protect you... 

We will always be there for you...

And we will always, always, love you. No matter what. No matter what, you are a part of our family. You are treasured, cherished, and loved. And we are so happy for you to be with us. We are so happy that we get to hold you close. That we get to watch over you. That we get to protect you. That we get to always be there for you. That we get to love you. But most of all, we are so happy that God sent you to us. We love you, precious girl, never forget that! 

We Have A Court Date!

I have a lot to catch you all up on, but since I have to get at least some schoolwork done today, I'm going to try and make it short! But because I wanted to dedicate a whole blog post to my time at the orphanage yesterday, I've gotten behind on updating about some exciting news! WE HAVE A COURT DATE!

On Tuesday night, we were told that court would be on Friday, which is today! So Dad had a day's notice that he would be leaving Thursday morning! 

On Wednesday, we picked up two of our friends whose families are missionaries here in Ecuador. They flew in from where they were staying to come spend time with us in Quito! They are sixteen and fourteen years old and we met them last year in the park here in Quito and have kept in touch. It is fun that we have been able to spend time with them again this year. 

We went to the mall and the park on Wednesday. We played on some exercise equipment that they recently put in this huge park.

Sorry about the blurry photos, we didn't have our camera with us so we had to use my Mom's phone to take pictures. 

From left to right: Zoe', me, and Gabi. 

My Dad and Jenna arrived to Quito late last night and we are so glad to have them. Please pray for Alison because she couldn't come on this trip. It is too soon for her to be back; being in her birth country again so soon could cause her a lot of anxiety and confusion. Also, she can't miss school because she is eagerly trying to catch up to the fourth grade. But please pray that she won't feel lonely or left out because we so wish that she could be with us! We miss her fun-loving personality and she would definitely make this trip more exciting for us! :) She has mentioned that she already misses Jenna. Although it took awhile, Jenna and Alison are best friends and love playing with each other. We do think Alison does feel kind of special right no, though, because her Grammy (whom she loves but doesn't get to see very often because she lives in Oklahoma) has flown up to Idaho to spend time with Alison. They are already enjoying eating out and getting treats from McDonald's. :) And Jamie is returning home this weekend to take Alison skiing! 

Alright, I better do some schoolwork today before Sofia gets home from school. I'll update about court later! :)

A Day at the Orphanage

On Tuesday, January 15, I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at Sofia's former home, For His Children Quito. I met up with our good friend from the States who we met through Facebook while journeying both our family's adoptions. 

 

I spent the first couple of hours with the toddlers. Not all of them were at the orphanage during the morning because they had school, but I still had the privilege of playing with most of them.
They were so much fun! I spent my time following them all around the orphanage property, jumping with them on the trampoline, and feeding them lunch. They are all so sweet and I'm in love with them all! 


Nearly all the children have colds right now. I can definitely see how quickly colds can spread here with so many kids. One little boy called me "Mama" a couple of times. It must be so confusing, not knowing who your mama is and where she is. I wonder how these kiddos know about mamas and daddys. One little girl repeatedly cries for "mama" when she is crying. I remember that Sofia's second word was mama, yet she had

never had one. I wonder how they

know about mamas, how they know about family. It definitely shows you that God's plan for every single child is to have a family to call their own. Even if you are in a wonderful orphanage, you still don't have someone to call "Mom," and these kids know it.   

Don't you just love this smile?

I'm in love with this precious girl and my greatest desire is that a family will choose her as their own.

After I helped the caregivers with lunch and clean-up and after a short grocery shopping stop with two volunteers, I got to spend the rest of my day with the babies. Some of them were so tiny and they were all absolutely precious. 

Look at that face! Isn't he darling?

I mostly spent time with the one year olds. We were actually there when one of the one year old girls went to be with her forever family. We watched the caregivers pack up her stuff and hug her goodbye. It was a wonderful moment.
There were four other kids that were all about one year old - three boys and one girl. 

I fully enjoyed every single minute I had with these kids.

I had the opportunity to feed some of these children their dinner. They were all spoon-fed soups and sauces and other easy foods. 

This child (above) totally stole my heart. He is cute, charming, and so sweet. I wish I could just hold him and play with him all the time. I loved making him laugh and seeing this gorgeous smile. Playing with him was my favorite memory of the day. 

I spent the night in the guest room and had to wake up early to go back to our apartment. I was sad to leave the kids, but I know that I'll be back. I don't know when, but I will be. Someday I'd love to spend several weeks volunteering here. I love these kids and they deserve all the love they can get. 

“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf^[a] welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” (Mark 9:37)