Greenlight for Court!

Well we got the good news this morning that everything is ready for court Wed! Praise the Lord for his provision! Continue to pray with us over the next couple days for court to go well; for our representation before the court, for the judge to agree to the adoption, for our nerves to be rested and know God has it all in His hands... and of course for Peyton to understand the process and to be ready to come home with us. We are not sure if Peyton will have to be in court or not. He may be old enough to where the judge wants him there and where he has to agree to be adopted. So if this is required, we pray he does not get scared or anything and understands whats is going on and that he clearly shows (through actions, words, and spirit)that he wants us to be his parents.

Things have been going well. Our visits good, but are different from one to the next. Some, Peyton is calm and stays entertained with things well. Others, he is hyper and doesn't stay focused on anything long and pushes boundaries. We are not sure what causes these changes. It may be that sometimes he is on some sort of sedative (like Ritalin or something), or it may be that he had sugar that morning, did or didn't nap, or got in trouble, etc??? We don't know what happens with him while we are away so it is hard to say. We also think that part of the issue may be the other children. When other groupas come out, he seems to get more active. Like he wants to show off or something. They distract him. He wants to play with them but he isn't supposed to. So not getting to do what he wants may make him act out. But who knows, the other day he sat with us at the table almost the entire 2 hours and there was a groupa out with us for maybe half of that time. Yet he stayed calm and focused on things at the table. It will be nice to get him home in our own environment so that we can really be his authority and know what is happening with him 24/7. It is hard “parenting” him under other control and an environment we don't know much about and not being able to communicate.

We had a nice weekend with good visits. Saturday the weather was wonderful and Erick and I took an afternoon stroll into the main part of the city (about a 10+ min walk from our place). There happened to be some sort of race going on, runners and bikers all over the place and streets blocked off and entertainment set up. That was kind of neat to see. We were looking for a place to eat some local food, but we never seemed to find anything on our walk. They have a bunch of outdoor “bars” open that serve drinks and desserts but no meals- in the middle of the day, weird. We finally ended up at the cafe/pizza place we went to the first day here in this city. We thought we would try to order but we ended up leaving cuz we just couldn't figure out the menu AT ALL (we miss being able to communicate). So we walked back home and on the way stopped at the huge outdoor market (which is like a mall outdoors) across from where we are staying. We picked up some “fast food” there, though mine was disgusting. It was supposed to be a hot dog, but was nothing like what I am used to. Erick lucked out with a good sausage kolache. All in all, we had a nice walk on a nice day and saw some of the city and took some pics. Saturday night we watched a movie on Netflix. We got interrupted by a Skype call from the kids, they missed us. We gladly stopped our movie to see those wonderful faces! We are ready to be back home with them (and Peyton too).

Sunday morning we slept in and then walked to the market again for some breakfast (lunch rather). We walked around and it is amazing how many vendors are set up, this “mall” is huge. There is everything from meat markets, dairy markets, fruits and veggies, to clothes, shoes, toys, bikes, bags, kitchen items, on and on... never seen a mall like this before. And it was crowded! Occasionally a car would drive out right down the walkway. Most of it was under a giant tent structure, others just set up outside it or alongside the street. Then there was a series of smaller tents all together that made up more of the mall. But I wonder if they all pack this stuff up every day and then set back up again. Bad weather would even ruin the stuff up under the tent I would think. Anyways, then we went back home and watched last weeks church service online. It is good to have a piece of home to watch and stay connected that way!

We only have 3 visits left with Peyton before court. Then maybe 1 after and then we go home. I will update you after court when I get a chance. Thanks for your prayers!

Love
The Wilsons