It was another fun fiesta! A HUGE THANKS goes to Glenn and Tanya for hosting this each year! It takes a lot of organizing and planning, but, I know they would not have it any other way! We all value the relationships that continue to grow, not only is this a gift for our children, but, for us parent's, too! :)
It was incredible watching 2 biological brothers meet for the first time, bringing together 2 adoptive families, from New York to Michigan! It was also great to have a family up from Tennessee...taking a risk on 4 sisters, one of which, I discovered was our daughter's amiga at Pisingos for the 18 months that she lived there!
So our Colombian Fiesta is more than just a pinata and boat rides...
...although, for the younger ones, that is definitely the high light! :)
As our kids are growing I am finding that celebrating our families looks different for each child and parent...
...for our oldest, it is discovering that she is not alone. She so desires to be "normal" and to "fit" and being surrunded by kiddos with her big brown eyes, in families grown by adoption, helps her feel confident in her story! For our other daughter, it is overcoming fears that are associated with her broken past...being surrounded with children that look like her, she instantly relates to orphanage living, and fear overtook her for the first hour until she realized she was safe! For families with the little ones, it's simply celebrating the joy of their new bundle and the blessing of adoption...
It was so evident that relationships are forming among the little ones, and this is something that will go with them for a lifetime...
...it was fun to see parents amazed at how some kiddos have progressed in their development. Little Gavin blows us a way every year...
...and of course, everyone is always so excited to meet the newest little Colombian additions to the group...
...and eager to share their stories with"expecting" families waiting for their referral...
How generous of Kevin Kaameraad to bring his "day job" to the fiesta and make all the little bundles smile!
How generous of Kevin Kaameraad to bring his "day job" to the fiesta and make all the little bundles smile!
We are thankful for each one who participated, in bringing a yummy dish to pass, meat, and pinatas! We could not do this without everyone's help!
May you all be blessed until we meet again! And stay tuned for some really GREAT photos taken by Tanya! Keep watching the blog for our fall date night and future gatherings! I heard rumor that our date night is not only going to include a Colombian cooking lesson with our spouse...but, a lesson in Colombian SALSA!!! Get ready...you're not going to want to miss out on that!!!
6 comments:
Ok, can we change our minds now and come to the party? Oh dear, we're a day late.... :'( Looks like you all had LOTS of fun--sorry we missed it....!
Lori Beck
Thanks Kristi for this great post!! You put into words the tremendous gift of this gathering for us all. Thanks for ALL your work in communicating with this group and for helping to organize and prepare this big event. Thanks to everyone for being so willing to help and for joining the celebration of our families. We missed those who could not be there . . . but there will be other opportunities to get together! Thanks everyone!
Tanya and Kristi...thanks so much, the party was a wonderful success as usual!! Can't wait until next year!! And Todd and I might just have to give the salsa dancing a try! :)
We look forward to this event every year, and you all outdid yourselves once again!! Thanks you, thank you, thank you for a wonderful fiesta!! It's amazing how different it is every year for us, from our first year coming holding our referral picture to this year herding four kids out of our van. It also has been a huge help for our daughter to be around other children from Colombia, other families touched by adoption, and overall to see what truly defines a "family." We're so thankful for all of you! So glad we ended up with beautiful weather, and we look forward to the next fiesta!!
hi! my husband and i are in the early stages of an Colombia adoption through Bethany. i was searching for other families' blogs and found this one. we are considering ayudame and hoping to adopt an infant. would love to talk to one of you via email!
Leigh Anne,
Please feel free to email me: tanyamz@comcast.net
Tanya
Post a Comment