Grandma Janice Visits!

 After Ithan's birth, we were fortunate to also have my mom come down for a visit!  She had just had knee surgery, but she came down anyway... thanks, Mom!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to copy her photos from the week and I didn't take very many with my camera!  So... here are the ones I do have!

 Grandma Janice with Marcos (who loved sitting by her in her "special seat!") and Ithan (who loved sleeping with her in the chair!).

 What grandmas do best... love their grandchildren!!!

 Mom also had a birthday while she was down, so we celebrated with shrimp and cherry cheese pie!

Grandma Janice with all the grandkidlets!

We appreciate so much have extended family who love our kids and desire to come down and spend time with them!  Thanks family... :)

And thanks for the continued prayers!

Abuelos Rink Visit -- Part 2 (The Beach!)

Finally... the second part!!!  

(I figured I better get this blogged before Grandpa & Grandpa Rink come down again in a couple weeks!)

For the second half of their visit, our family headed to San Carlos, MX, for spring break.  Fortunately, we were able to convince "Tio Seth" (Uncle Seth) to come along as well!  With a one-month old baby, he was greatly appreciated for entertaining the other kids along with Grandpa, Grandma and my husband!

So here are our pics with captions!

Candi, ready for the water!  But alas... it was a little too cold!

Aron & Marcos hanging out in the sand after a morning walk along the beach.

Candi and Grandma Jeanne!  Candi was quite the water-puppy as long as Grandma or Grandpa would help her out!

Our first family photo with baby Ithan!

A panoramic view off the porch of the condo we were able to rent!

 Seth & Diego; unfortunately, Diego was a little sick the whole time we were there with a fever and slight cold.  He still hung out by the pool, but mainly on the deck chairs!

 Our very own tribal chief, Marcos!

 Grandpa Jim and little Ithan Santiago!

 Does this look like vacation mode or what?!?

Like I said... Seth was a fabulous addition!!!  :)

The kids certainly enjoyed wearing out their dad and their "uncle!"

 On the last day we went to a Dolphinarium (I'm not convinced this is a real word in English) where, unfortunately, we didn't actually see in dolphins perform!  It was mid-week, so we just caught a seal show... which the kids still enjoyed!

 Aron, Marcos and Diego with front-row seats!

 Panoramic view of the delfinario... it's a really neat place!

 The grands and all the grandchildren!

 Outside the delfinario there was this blow-up jumpy thing -- which the kids also loved!!!  :)

Our precious kids... thank you, Lord!

(Can you tell that Diego is a little bit sick?!?)

 It's incredible to me that Ithan once looked like this and was this small... if I ever get the photos updated on this blog, the timeline is NOT going to match!

 Group photo at the side of the pool!

AND... wiped out on the return journey home!  Too tired to even finish her lunch!!!

Thanks for your continuing prayers, even when I haven't posted!  As far as the adoption goes, we are still waiting on some papers to be finalized for taking away of rights, but... praise the Lord!  There have been some advances!  :)  We are thankful for God's continued guidance and just pray that we can have the patience to wait on His timing for it all to come about... thanks for taking the journey with us!

Much love from down South!!!

Abuelos Rink Visit -- Part I

Hi everyone!  I'm very thankful today to have Internet and be able to send some photos (from way back in April... yikes!) out to the cyber-world!

We were fortunate to have Papa and Mama Rink come visit our family over the kids' Spring Break and these photos chronicle the first part of the trip.  There are also a couple Wulf boys in the photos since they were staying with us at the time!  My next post will have photos from our time in San Carlos. 

Lots of pics... enjoy!

Aron with new Legos!

Candi and Grandma Jeanne making lasagna!

There's always something to do!

Grandpa Jim and Candi... early morning!

 Three pretty neat guys... :)

We had planned to go bowling in Nogales one night, but unfortunately the bowling alley was closed!  Instead... we went to Peter Piper's Pizza where our kids got to play games with tokens for the first time... it was a hit!

 Enjoying grandparent time!

Candi used some of her tokens to ride this helicopter... and you should have heard her giggle!

Zach pretending to ride the motorcycle... :)

 Aron pretending to ride the motorcycle with some help from Daddy!

Ithan was... well, not that impressed.  Sleep was preferable!

Marcos and Diego playing games!

 Joel & I

 Sunday morning!

 I love seeing these skin colors together... God, You are so good!  :)

Mama Rink cuddling up with baby Ithan!

It's funny to look at these photos that were only a few months ago and realize that the kids have already grown so much... crazy.  Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers and support as we continue with the adoption and prayerfully making headway with all the paperwork!  Please pray for continued patience and God's leading.  Also for the start of Vacation Bible School Monday morning!

Diego's Birthday & Other Happenings!

 Alright... I need to figure out this new blogger format!  All the photos of Diego at the end of this post were supposed to be at the beginning... but, alas... we'll just learn for next time!!!

This is Ithan's one-month photo!  I saw on someone's blog how they had taken a picture of their baby next to a stuffed animal each month to show how much he/she had grown; what a great idea!  So, here's baby Ithan next to Chocolate, the stuffed bear I got from my Uncle David when I was three.  Also, notice the beautiful (and super-soft!) blankie that Ithan's Great-Aunt Peg made!  :)

 Picture caption:  Typical  :)

 Second picture caption:  Also typical  :)

This kid is going to learn fast!

 We were fortunate to have some family down with the work teams!  Jeff, Rhonda and Hope made it down to visit CVE  with the Bluffton Senior Group and ate dinner at our house one night!

Aron & Marcos doing their reading time with their little brother! 

 We found a good use for the new corner in our house!  Fighting is just never a good idea... ;)

Diego came up with a great way to do bowling in our new hallway!!!

(Note:  All these photos were taken before painting in the remodeled section of the house... I'll update with some new photos of the finished product as we're enjoying it now!)

 Diego turns 8!  And can you guess who picked out the Star Wars legos for him?  :)

Wow... I can hardly believe it!  Diego came to CVE when he was 2, almost 3, and has just kept growing!  We are thankful for your prayers for him as he becomes a young man!

 Diego with the rest of the birthdays being celebrated in the comedor!

 After the face smash!

Diego invited one of his classmates to stay overnight, which was exciting since it was the first time he's ever had anyone overnight!

Thanks for your continued prayers for our family!  We have enjoyed all our visitors this past month and a half and look forward to moving forward and getting back into some semblance of a routine!  Please pray for our endurance and a renewal of energy in this time without teams and visitors... thanks!