Day 6 in Colombia--our first meeting

Today we met with the psychologist and a social worker from the orphanage. They came to the hotel to prepare us for meeting the boys tomorrow!

They told us what a typical day looks like for them. It is very scheduled out...up at 6am (hopefully we can change that!), shower, breakfast (they love chocolate milk and eggs), school, snack (fruit), school, lunch, 1 hour nap time (Darin is excited about this!), activities (include swimming, soccer, English class, art/crafts, etc.), snack, finish activities, dinner, bath, 1 hour of free time, 7:30pm bedtime.

Then they told us a little more of the personalities of the boys. The older one is very analytical, likes chess, puzzles, board games, any kind of "thinking" games, and soccer. He is artistic, quiet, responsible, and always finishes what he starts. The younger one likes anything that moves:) He is an explorer, curious, outgoing, knows his limits, and handles criticism well. They are both a little shy at first meeting people, but warm up eventually. They go on field trips with the orphanage. So they have both ridden horses and are very excited to have them at home.

Interesting side note: I found it very interesting that the workers from the orphanage were very adamant about limiting the amount of television they can watch. They seemed very pleased when we told them that we don't watch T.V. very often.

We got the impression that they have been very well cared for and the staff at the orphanage are very happy that they are going to have a family after being there for three years.

Then they wanted to tell us the reactions of the boys when they were told about us. This is where I lost it. I was doing really well up until this point. They first talked to them about a family in general terms, and asked what they hoped for in a family. Then they told them that they already have one. The younger one reacted with an immediate, "WONDERFUL!". The older one put his head in his hands. We don't know for sure, but we think it was disbelief initially. He is one of the oldest children at the orphanage and we think he must've been thinking that hope for a family was running out. He then started asking many questions about us. They gave them the scrapbooks that we sent and the older one immediately memorized everyone's names. They went out of that meeting telling all of their friends, "WE HAVE A FAMILY! WE HAVE A FAMILY!"

So tomorrow we will meet them at 10am and we will bring them back to the hotel with us. At that point they will be ours forever! Of course there's plenty more legal paperwork to get through, but we will be a family of 7!