Elizabeth's Journey From Guatemala

In August of 2003 we made the decision to add another little girl to our family, but not a baby this time. The baby years were over for us, and Giorgi needed someone closer to her age as well. I contacted my friend at International Families and asked him what the possibility was of making this happen. Within hours I received photos of a little girl who was just about to turn 5 years old -- just 2 1/2 months younger than Giorgi. Fatima Cesibel was living in Hogar El Jardin in Guatemala City since she was 4 years old. She looked so sad, but much like when we first saw Giorgi's pictures for the first time, there was an instant connection. We had our work cut out for us though as we had not made any preparations as we never expected such a quick response!
By January we had immigration clearance and everything was in place and moving in Guatemala. We were hopeful that the adoption would be finalized by April. but in April we encountered delays when Guatemala rejected some of the required documentation feeling it had been intentionally altered. That created quite a bit of headache as we worked to get it corrected and resubmitted, but we were not about to give up. There were several more delays, but finally right at the end of August we got the word that the adoption had been approved and the final signature had been obtained making Fatima our daughter.
On September 25, 2004 Giorgi and I traveled to Guatemala. We were met at the airport by an attorney and were driven directly to El Jardin where we were greeted by Aracely, the orphanage director. She called for Fatima to be brought out to the patio where we were waiting. Fatima was very shy but came right up to me and gave me a hug. Through the attorney, Aracely asked me if we were going to change Fatima's name. I told her that I wanted her to discuss that with Fatima -- that we had chosen the name Elizabeth but it was up to Fatima whether she wanted to change her name or not. She immediately told Aracely that she wanted the name Elizabeth. We started using the name Elizabeth immediately.
We left El Jardin and Elizabeth never looked back. She was in awe of everything she saw and experienced. She and Giorgi were immediate friends. She was shy and quiet, but boy could she eat! She was very tiny for 6 years old, wearing 4T and even a few 3T clothes. I did a lot of walking around Guatemala City trying to keep two 6 year olds occupied.
The plane ride home was uneventful. I thought Elizabeth would be scared, but she was so well prepared and ready to start her new life. My favorite memory was the big smile that erupted on her face when I showed her the bedroom with her OWN big bed. She was so excited about everything that was just hers and did not have to be shared.
The next day we drove Giorgi to school and enrolled Elizabeth in kindergarten and applied for ESL services. She would not start for another 2 1/2 weeks though to give her a little chance to get used to us and to get her medical exam and immunizations up to date. I had prepared for speaking mostly Spanish and communication was amazing easy for us.
In upcoming posts I will blog about Elizabeth's early days and months with us up until the present.