Fully Funded!!

Great news!  We were recently awarded a $3500 grant from Gift of Adoption.  With this grant, we are now officially fully funded!!  We told the Lord we would give our lives to another one of his beloved children, but He would need to provide for the adoption expense. And He Has….every penny. THANK YOU, JESUS!  And thank you to every one of you who responded to this need and donated.  Your support has been truly incredible. 

Everything is pointing to an August trip to Colombia.  We will most likely get only 1 or 2 weeks of notice before we board the plane, and we will be there from 3 to 8 weeks.

On another note, we were able to meet our little guy in person last Friday by skype.  Before the call, we talked with our kids about how strange it may seem to meet their “brother” for the first time….how it might seem like he doesn’t belong in our family because these things take time.  We prayed for him and for ourselves.  And the call could not have gone better.  He is adorable, smart, and a bit shy.  The kids and I taught him a Spanish song/game which we all enjoyed.  We talked about his favorite things:  futbol, the beach, futbol, Subway sandwiches, futbol and school.  Oh, and futbol.  We introduced some stuffies to him, and Sam Sam and Victor showed him the proper way to play plastic-army-guy-battle.  He knows we are his future family, and he is experiencing the expected mix of emotions.  Excited about some things, but sad about others.

We also got to talk at length to his foster mom, who has cared for him since age 1.  It was wonderful to be able to thank her for the tremendous gift she has given him by parenting him so well during these past five years.  We learned that he is a bit OCD with regards to making his bed and keeping his things organized (score!)  We learned that he loves olives of all types, and that he goes to bed and gets up “with the chickens.”

Just so you know, we are not legally allowed to post any photos of him until he is legally adopted by us.  For now, this will have to do.  Say hello to Titus “Tito” Kozaczuk.