I need more tissue!!

Well, it has been a VERY busy and crazy couple of days!! Sorry I didn't blog last night but we are now in a hotel and they charge me for every minute I'm on the Internet!! So I am counting the minutes and minimizing where I can. My poor husband, I now will only stay on Skype for so long because I have to check my email, facebook and Skype all within my 2 hour time limit!! I always do the same thing on the phone....can't waste my minutes!!!

Today is Thursday - so let me start with Wednesday. Wednesday started with an early morning - 6:00 AM to finish packing and check out by noon. What is surprising about this are two things.. 1. I cannot believe how much stuff we have accumulated in the past 3 months and 2. How sad I was to say goodbye to our home of 3 months.

When we were packing to come here - I had sheets, pillows, dishes, pans and towels...all of that, is staying here, so I assumed that I would have very little to bring home. That has turned out NOT to be the case for us!! I guess since we have an additional child, that makes a little difference ;) We have all suitcases packed to the limit and moving them out of the house was a task in itself. Norman came to our house at 7:30 AM to take two carloads of stuff to his house (we gave him all of our fans, kitchen ware, bed clothes, towels etc..) - he then had to take another load to the orphanage. So by the time he got back to the house, we were running short on time.

We had to go to immigration before noon and see if there was any way we could pick up Gracie's passport a day early - (which of course did NOT happen...they told us to come back the next day) we also had to check out of the condo by noon. So when Norman arrived, he came to the rescue once again!! We left to pick up his wife, Susanna - checked into the hotel and left the kids with her - while Norman and I went back to the condo, filled his car with luggage and checked out!!

After 3 months of basically hell in a small - bug infested house...I was crying when it was time to say "goodbye"!! I looked at the street that Scarlett and I had run up and down for the past few weeks, the walls in our house that were decorated with hand-made pictures from my girls, the small bathroom I have been getting ready in where you can't shut the door unless you are in the shower and thought.....wow, I am going to miss this place!! I said goodbye to every room, to all the guards and was on my way to our new home.....The Intercontinental (sounds pretty awesome right?!?!)

We arrived at the hotel with 10 bags of luggage and I was hoping that our room was large enough to fit all of it!! When we pulled up - 2 bell men were opening my car door and asking how they could help. I had 7 bags taken to storage and 3 brought to our room - I had a man open my door and Norman, as usual...carrying any bags I had in hand and I just stopped.....I stopped, looked around and told the men surrounding me "Now this is exactly what I need...to be surrounded by men who want to help me!!!" Nice!!

We love our new home - it has hot water....YES, clean carpet, VERY comfortable beds, sheets and blankets, room service and a Mini - BAR!!! ;) I'm happy!! We spent a couple of hours here just relaxing and then started to get ready for our big "Goodbye Dinner" that we had planned. Our opportunity to thank the people who have been so inspirational and loving to our Gracie. We decided to have the dinner with the Tomczak's...since Jonathan and Gracie grew up together. We had about 20 people there - it wasn't too many people where we couldn't visit - but had everyone included...it was a really wonderful time....we laughed and talked and then finally, said goodbye. I know I will see everyone again soon but these people have been my family here and it's hard to say goodbye. To be honest, I cry at Hallmark commercials (do they even have those anymore??? I have TIVO), almost every movie I watch and sometimes...for no reason at all - so I was a mess last night!!

Today, Thursday was yet another busy and emotional day!! It was our DAY at the immigration office...they had turned us down yesterday when we attempted to get Gracie's Passport early, so today...today we NEEDED to get Gracie's passport or we would be here until at least Monday!! I haven't been sleeping well and my stomach was doing back flips but I really felt confident that we would be walking out successful!! We got to the office an hour before we were suppose to be there and walked into a room completely full of Nicaraguans!!! I was the tallest and whitest girl in the building!!! It was total chaos... there was about 12 different lines and I had no idea where to go or what to do (stomach out of control by this point) - Norman, took my paperwork and started to weave through the crowd... he came back a couple of minutes later and said "Don't worry Lesa....sit and wait" so I did as I was told and seriously, 10 minutes later I hear "Gracie Grimes!!! Gracie Grimes!!!" I went up to the window and handed my passport to the guy and he looked at me - looked at my passport and then handed mine AND Gracie's passport back to me!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?! I HAVE GRACIE'S PASSPORT!!! I did the Happy Dance right there and then (a lot of hip shaking and arm waiving with a big smile on my face)!! When the girls saw me, they joined me in the Happy Dance and Norman, well he just shook his head and laughed at all of us!! I started to cry then and didn't stop for about 20 minutes. Tears of total JOY!!!

After talking to my husband...we headed to the Dr's office for her health certificate and then to the US Embassy for her Visa. We were in the Embassy for about 2 hours, completing paperwork, answering questions and making more payments (did someone say that adopting in Nicaragua was free?!?!?!) - the girls were pretty much out of control but I didn't care too much. I was in a very weird mood today....I smiled a lot but didn't pull any punches. For example, when our coordinator Margine told me that "there could be a problem with the computer and we may not get your Visa in time for your flight tomorrow" my reply .... with a BIG smile on my face "there will NOT be any issues...that I am sure of"!! My husband thinks that I am scaring everyone here and they are going to be sure to get me out of their country.....fine by me!! ;)

So now - we have one more step!! Going to the embassy tomorrow to pick up Gracie's Visa - if there are no issues, we will have everything we need to go home!! YES!!

We ended our day today with an awesome Mexican meal with our dear friends, The Tomczak's. It was our last time with them and again, I cried and cried when we said goodbye. Jonathan has become a very close friend of my children and both Jason and Michele have been there for me through it all. I will miss them all terribly!!

So it has been a VERY emotional couple of days....I look forward to finishing things up tomorrow - to having no issues and to enjoying our last day in Nicaragua!! Our plan is to take a late afternoon flight Saturday...getting us home early Sunday morning. We will spend the day in our PJ's resting and embracing the fact that we are home....sounds awesome!!!

Here's to a GREAT day tomorrow - Love you all so much - Blessings, Blessings, Blessings!!!