Today was Embassy day!

First off, I am sorry we have not pounded away at the keyboard very much, but all is going very well! It is a little more difficult to get things done on the computer when we are entertaining two little ones-Sofia is pretty easy, and Maya is very active-which of course I don't blame her! A hotel room is quite boring for an active 2 1/2 year old! So, we will tell all of our stories when we get home, and post them too!

Today, we had to be up and ready to go to the embassy by 7:30-believe it or not, we were not late! We were actually able to eat breakfast, and make it to meet our driver by 7:30!!(O.k., so I won't tell you that the time is two hours behind Ky time!) Ha ha! We were there till about 10:45, and was all done! We came back to the hotel, and Bus and Maya went for a little swim! I changed Sofia, and we went to sit by them! The weather is very warm here, right now-a lot like back home-upper 70's, 80's! It is the start of rainy season, but we have not seen any, yet!(Thank goodness!)

After their swim, we decided to go to the Artistan's Market by the zoo.(No, Hannah, we did not go to the zoo!) We went with a couple from our agency, and guess where they live?! Versailles, KY!! They are Angie and Denver Ockerman, for those CCI people reading the blog! They are wonderful, and we have really had a great time getting to know them! They have a beautiful daughter, Ana, that they are adopting, and bringing home, as well! She has the sweetest eyes, and sweetest smile!! Now, everyone is taking a little nap-except me-I really wanted to blog-and it has, as I said before, been a little harder for me to get to the computer!

Tomorrow we are planning a trip to Antigua! We are excited to go, and are using the same tour guide we used the last time we went to Antigua! His name is Jacobo, and we loved him! If you are ever headed to Antigua, Guatemala, let us know, and we will give you his info!

Also, Miss Maya will be headed back to her foster family tomorrow! Pray for her! We have been able to grow so much closer! She even loves her Mamma! During our visit trip in January, she was not the fondest of me, but now, she sees that I am willing to share her Papa(Bus)! We just love her so much-wait till you meet her! She is a definate spitfire!! When they dropped her off, she came running, screaming Papa!!!! Boy, did our hearts do a flip flop!!!

Anyway, I said I wasn't going to talk, but it was nice to be able to chat a bit! I wish you all could be with us, and see how beautiful, and wonderful Guatemala is!! The people, the countryside...all so very beautiful! We are so blessed that the Lord took us down this journey, and to Guatemala to find our beautiful children! Here is a few pictures we took over the last couple of days! Enjoy!

We love and miss you all!
Sabra, Bus, Maya, and Sofia

Since I don't want to take the time to edit and add subtitles-I will just share why i picked some of these pictures-outside of the obvious!

-Look at Sofia's hair! It is crazy curly, and I am gonna have to work hard to figure it out! Ha ha!

-Sofia LOVED her bath!(No crying-Hannah!!) She giggled, even when the water was flowing over her face!!

-The pictures of Maya, in her red heart shirt, were taken in a beautiful courtyard, where we got tons of video clips of her running! It was beautiful! She was so happy to be outside and able to run freely! Sofia was sleeping! Ha ha!

-The one of the two together in the chair-Both trying to be the star of the picture! Boy are we gonna have one active and "pay attention to me" household when all our girls are home!

-Our beautiful bathing beauty queen, who was so tired, but thrilled to go swimming with daddy!

-Sofia-who is going to be like her big sister was as a baby-a thumb sucker!(Can you believe that Hannah?!)

-Do you like the smile on Sofia's face? Well, you better, cause it is there all day long! She is an absolute Happy baby!!

More pics...

Hello everyone,
Today is going really well. Everyone is calmed down (especially me - Bus ;-)

I wanted to post a few pics for everyone to enjoy. So, enough with the small talk, and on with the pictures....


Love,

Bus, Sabra, Maya and Sofia

Pictures and update!

The girls finally made it, and their interpretors were a bit late! It was crazy, as they both showed up at close to the same time. Maya came first, and she was very happy to see us, and recognized us both! Sofia came next, and she was all giggles and smiles! We are doing great-just exhausted! We will write tomorrow, going to bed now, as it is 12:04am our time!

Sleep well!

We miss you all!

Love,

Sabra, Bus, Maya & Sofia

We're here!!!!

Hello everyone,
Just a quick post to let you know that we are here!!

We are supposed to get the girls tonite between 4:30 and 5:00 pm (6:30 and 7:00 pm back home). But, be aware that they may be late. We will make a quick post again tonite to let everyone know that the girls are here safely - but it may be late.

Love,
Bus and Sabra

Thought I would update the blog a bit....

It has been awhile since I updated the blog! Things are going great around here, and we have had many praises to report! We also found out today that my brother, Eddie, had some recent medical test results come back clear!! Praise the Lord!!



It has been so long since I posted a few pictures! Our little ones continue to grow into not so little ones anymore! Caleb is finally growing out of his 12 month clothing, and trudging through the 18 month clothing and beyond! He has such a strong little personality, but I have seen signs of it easing up a bit! He has learned to pick on Hannah, and now he tries to tickle her-of course she plays along, and he giggles and giggles!! He has really learned to communicate with me-and I am starting to understand more of his words! His latest word is "backpack"!! This of course has to do with Dora the Explorer, he adores her!!! He gets a BIG giggle and smile on his face when she comes on the tv!! I think it is because she reminds him of his big sister Hannah! He also has started to say the word thank you, and I was quite astonished that after the Walmart cashier put our bags in the cart, he said thank you to her! She smiled and said Your welcome!! Mommy just stood there and gushed!!! As many of you know, Caleb has been a trying individual at times, but every day we get more and more of this adorable little guy's real personality-and it is going to be a doozy! He is gonna be a real charmer, with lots of giggles and laughter too!















Hannah has less than 6 weeks of school left before summer break, and we are blown away how quickly this year has gone! She will soon be our little fourth grader! YIKES!! This school year has gone by way too fast!! She is also growing by leaps and bounds, and is almost as tall as me!! Her favorite things to do right now, is talk on the phone, and sing! And sometimes, I even catch her singing on the phone!! :o) She has proven to be quite the big sister, and helps Bus and I out a lot, by playing with Caleb so we can get things done around the house! Caleb adores her, and at any given time of the day, you can here him yelling for "Nannah", which is his name for Hannah! It doesn't even matter if she is not home, he looks around and hollers for her! Ha ha! We are hoping that Hannah can be an even better sister to her littlest sister, Sofia, as we have travel dates to pick her up!

Sofia is now Sofia Grace Maslin, and Bus and I will be leaving to pick her upon Monday, April 30Th! She received her PINK slip/her embassy appointment. Her embassy appointment is on May 2!! We will arrive back home with her on Friday, May 4. We are sad that we are not picking up Maya, too, but know that it won't be too long before we return to Guatemala to pick her up!! We are planning to spend some time with her while we are in Guatemala. Please continue to pray for her, and her process!
Keep checking the blog-we are hoping to have more good news soon!!
Love,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb, Sofia and Maya

Final praise report on my mom!!

We got the final doctors report today that my mom is officially cancer free. Praise the Lord!! It's always tough to hear that someone you love has cancer. We just know that we were extremely fortunate and blessed that hers was treatable and is now gone.

She is continuing to recover well and gets stronger every day.

Thanks everyone for your prayers for my mom

Hello everyone, I just wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts for my mom (and our family) through a pretty difficult time. I want to share a praise report (!!!!) that my mom had her surgery today. She came through the surgery fine and is recovering in the Markey Cancer Center. The main praise report is that the doctors found no indication that the cancer had spread and that unless something shows up on the pending pathology reports, she will be considered cancer free and require no additional treatment for cancer!!

It certainly has been an emotional week, but so far everything has turned out on a positive note. Since we got the report that Sofia is out of PGN yesterday, it would cap off the week if we found out that Maya got out today or tomorrow. But, I've probably used up my quota of prayer requests for the week (month and years to come), so I won't push it. But those of you with a little stock of prayer requests still available, feel free!!

Thanks,
Bus

Sofia is OUT of PGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes-our littlest one is coming home! We got the news tonight that she is OUT of PGN! We are so excited! She turned 5 months old today! We are hoping to go to Guatemala to pick her up in about a month! There is still paper work to be done in Guatemala, and the embassy appointment to be made! I will keep you up to date with our travel arrangements, and I am sure that we will be posting any updates! We just got a few new pictures of Sofia, yesterday. They are pictures of her at her 4 month medical update, on March 13th.(She was actually 4 1/2 months old) She weighed 15 lbs, 15 ounces!

What a chunk! An adorable little chunk!!

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!!

Love, Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb and

Sofia!!!!!

*Still waiting to hear GOOD news on our beautiful Maya Mishelle, whom we miss very much!! (((xoxoxo)))

Adoption #4-It's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes-I know many of you think we are crazy, but look at this face, and tell me what a cutie he is! Hannah just celebrated her 9th birthday, and her and her daddy have been hounding me(pun intended) for a yellow lab! Well-I finally gave in, and here he is! Happy birthday Hannah!!




The Maslin family would like to introduce the newest addition to our family-
Bob!!!!



Who do you think is in charge?!

Prayers worked so well yesterday, I have another prayer request!

Although we were filled with joy yesterday with the news that Maya was resubmitted to PGN, we were also shocked to find out that our dear mom/momma-in-law, Ruth Ann, has been diagnosed with endometrial uterine cancer. She is doing great right now, and we are waiting to hear more from her upcoming doctor appointment. She has an appointment Monday, March 19th with an oncologist/surgeon at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Please cover her with your thoughts and prayers, as the doctor believes that with surgery, she can make a full recovery.
Love,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah & Caleb

Unbelievable PGN news!!!

Your prayers worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got an email from our agency today, that said we had been resumbitted to PGN, as of today!!!! We are so very excited, and appreciate all your prayers and support!!! Please continue to keep both of our girls cases in your prayers!
Thanks,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah and Caleb

Please pray for Maya's case, again, today...

Yes, the civil registry is still holding Maya's file, and not signing it. We don't know if the birth mother appeared like she was suppose to, and from what we now now understand, don't really think that it is necessary for her to appear? We would really just like the issue to be resolved, and be resumbitted back into PGN. We have been kicked out of PGN for 3 months, and the wait is really beginning to trully sadden and confuse our family.

Please take a few seconds, and pray for the civil registry personel responsible for our file, that he/she would be moved to finally sign the needed document, and that this be the final Wednesday that our facilitators are told "Check back next Wednesday". Thank you so much for praying-we believe that with prayer, anything is possible!

Love and (((HUGS))),
Sabra, Bus, Hannah and Caleb

We could use your prayers Thursday, March 7, 2007

We haven't posted in awhile-as there really hasn't been much update on the girls cases.


Sofia is still in PGN, and entered on February 1, not Jan. 23, as we had been told. She is growing like a weed, as we did receive a brief medical update stating that she weighed 14 pounds and 7 ounces at 3 months of age. The typical stay in PGN is about 2 months right now, but as we have seen with Maya's case, 2 months is not always the case.





We are hoping that Sofia's case will be out soon, but who knows when her case will come out?!






Maya's case has actually been kicked out of PGN, and for quite some time! We were told that we were kicked out sometime in the middle of December! UGH!!!!!!! We are waiting on a signature from the civil registry, where births are registered. They want to see the birthmom and the midwife that delivered Maya before actually signing the document. Supposedly, the birthmom, who moved about 8 hours away from the town where Maya was born, is coming back to town Thursday, so that the document can be signed. We are very hopeful that this will actually take place, and we can be resummited to PGN this week. We really appreciate any and all prayers and thoughts.

The director of our agency is in Guatemala right now, and she sent us a few pictures of Maya-one of them is the one here on this post. We are hoping that she will also see Sofia, and if she does, we will share the pictures with you as well!

Thanks again for your prayers!
Love,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah & Caleb
Maya and Sofia

Bittersweet goodbyes...

We couldn't remember what time the girls were suppose to be picked up(imagine that), so we thought we would go down and check the lobby around 3:30. Well, when we got there, Maya's foster mom was standing there. It took us a bit by surprise, as we thought she was suppose to go back at 4pm. Maya was very confused, as we thought she might be, and sadly went back to her foster mom. While we were standing there talking to her, Sofia's foster family appeared, and our little walk to the lobby quickly become our goodbyes. Sadly, it was very hard for us, but because it happened so fast, there wasn't a lot of time for tears. We hugged and kissed the girls, and sent them on with their foster parents. Thank goodness we have been through this before, as it made it a bit more bareable, even though it was still very hard. We know it won't be long before we return to take them home for good. Please say a little prayer for them tonight, especially for Maya, as it was hard for her to leave her Papa.(Bus) Also, stick a little prayer in there for us, as we miss them, but also miss our kiddos back home! We will be back home tomorrow, so this will be one of the last posts from Guatemala. Keep checking in, cause I know we will be hearing good news soon!
Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Love, Sabra and Bus






Sofia's bath-"Um, How's about a little privacy, here"


















Maya's bath-"Why did ya have to wash my hair?"





















A little snack before her bath!





















Sofia asks,"Brrrrr...where's my clothes?"




















Sofia says,"Gee...the bow sure warms a girl up!
Oh, and by the way, can you pray for my sister Maya-she is sad tonight"

















Maya drinking her favorite drink-juice! Sure wish I had a pocket for my hand!


























Maya and her Papa! She sure does LOVE him=o)