Fun in Leon

Today we were all together as a family...all my girls and my husband!! As good as it is, we only had today to enjoy it (my husband leaves tomorrow morning) so we decided to venture out and do something none of us have done before. We have heard very little about Leon. It's about an hour drive from Managua and the beach is another hour from the city - so we decided to check out the city today with some friends.

I didn't realize that because it was Sunday, many of the shops were closed and the city was very quiet. It reminded of a little of Granada - clean streets, lots of shops and not as much poverty. We saw some beautiful churches - one "San Francisco Church" is the oldest church in Latin America - we took lots of pictures and our little friend Jonathan kept asking "Why is Jesus dead on the cross" It is a challenge for his parents, they speak limited Spanish and Jonathan, very little English, but we did our best to explain. Martita kept saying "shhhh, Momma, come and look" and she would show me all the statues..she was impressed and in awe.

We talked to someone on the street and got a recommendation of a beautiful hotel that had great food at affordable prices - so we went there. It was gorgeous - we sat the kids at a separate table and due to their "active personalities" were served very quickly!! ;) The food was excellent and the company was even better!!

We walked around the city a little more - went into a couple of shops that were open and I realized that I always go to church on Sunday and never venture out, so I had no idea that Sunday is NOT the day to explore!!

Having Allie here is a lot of fun. Gracie is spending a lot of time with her and was telling some locals that Allie was her mother!! Albeit, she looks a lot more like Allie than me, I smiled at her and asked, "who's your Momma?" And she would smile very big and point to me.

As we walked down the street - people would stop and stare at us - but the attention was mostly directed toward Lucie. People actually touch her hair when she walks by!! People who look very grim, will smile when they see her and talk to her in Spanish - she is getting a lot of attention and I am hoping it will not have a long-term impact on her!! Rock star in Nicaragua does not mean Rock Star at home!!! ;)

Tomorrow is a big day for us. We have a meeting at 8:30 AM with the Minister of Mi Familia. She is the one we are waiting for to call Arly to authorize that the Consejo meets. Our understanding is that everything is ready and waiting for her call. So we asked to meet with her and tomorrow is the day. We spent some time talking to Jason about what our approach should be - again, we will be pleading for our case - for our family. Asking her to please sign off on our paperwork (which we believe she has authority to do) or to at least, make the call to Arly for the Consejo to meet. There have been so many delays and we are so ready to move forward.

Having meetings at Mi Familia have historically been very difficult for me - I feel so out of control and so frustrated by this process. To make tomorrow even more difficult, my husband is leaving - this too has always been very tough for me. He is planning on being back August 7th but that is almost a month away.....so so difficult. I try not to think about it. I try to focus on the positive - I have Allie here for a week and then there will only be 3 weeks left until he comes back!! I pray that our case moves forward, so I can focus on the adoption and not be counting the days until he returns. Most of all, I hope I can remember how blessed I am.... how much I have to be thankful for....and remember this is a journey that I need to enjoy and not dread...again, it's a challenge!!

So please pray for a very successful meeting tomorrow (I, of course, will update you all tomorrow), please pray that my husband gets home safe and sound and that he thrives at home and in his job and please pray that I will remember every moment that I get lonesome or sad, that I am so truly blessed in every way!!

Love to you all - and again, thank you for taking this journey with me!!!