So many pictures, so much time!! Ha ha!!

Ok, so I was going to go straight into the pictures, but I wanted to share that we did have a great time at the zoo, and market! It started to rain when we were at the zoo, but we didn't let it spoil our time out! Hey, guess what? There was a 6.8 earthquake here, off of the pacific coast, earlier today, but we were driving down the very bumpy road(Ha ha, Christie-"Weeeeee"), and would never have felt it! The people in the playroom, said the tv was swinging from its arm! YIKES!!! Anyway...we have had a good day, and hope to head to the pool and some shopping as soon as we have our McDonald's lunch, and Maya wakes from her nap!!

Here are the pictures, Can't wait to be home tomorrow!!

Love, Sabra, Bus, Hannah & Maya Mishelle

Hannah and lady selling Mayan dresswear!

Hannah trying her hand at making the beautiful fabrics that they are wearing.

Hannah dressed in Mayan attire

Maya Mishelle in her bath-she loves it!

Maya Mishelle during her bath-she loves it!

Momma and Maya Mishelle after her bath!

Guatemalan Elephant, and yes-I do believe he does speak spanish! Ha ha!

I think he needs to pick up a little weight!

Hippos! I was going to say Bus and Sabra stopping for a drink of water!

Skinny bears!

Pink Flamingo!!Papa and his girls at the zoo!

Momma and her girls at the zoo entrance!

Papa and his girls at the zoo enterance!

Maya Mishelle in her cadilac, or should I say Yugo, driving through the zoo!

Lion when we first got there!

Lion trying to ignore us!

Lion done with us, and ready for a nap!

One day until we fly home!!

Well, the illness disappeared as quickly as it came, and the smiles are starting to return. There is still lots of adjusting going on, as Maya was used to playing with 6 & 7 year old boys(her foster brothers). She is doing ok, but very jealous of Hannah, and quite frequently lets Hannah know of her jealousy. I know that in time, all will be well-but I think it is a bit of a shock for Hannah to not have her little sister smiling and hugging all over her! We just keep reminding her that it is going to take some time, and that we are all adjusting, and will be for many months! Please pray for Hannah's understanding and patience, and Maya's heart to heal, and to accept all of us. I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like when we get home and she realizes that there are two more kids! Ha ha! Oh, what joy the Maslin household will be!! Hee hee!

Today is kind of a free day, as we are waiting for Maya's visa to be dropped off at 3:30 pm. So, we are hoping to go shopping, and to the zoo. It is the rainy season here, so it will be touch and go, as the weather changes at the drop of a hat! For example, Hannah and Bus were in the pool yesterday, when the largest bolt of lightening struck, very quickly followed by an ear shattering clash of thunder. Need I say , they quickly got out of the pool-Bus laughing, and Hannah shaking in fear!!

We are so excited to be coming home, and can hardly wait to see Caleb and Sofia, as we have missed them so much! We have had a great time, but the hotel room is getting boring!! We will be on our way tomorrow, though, and we are counting down the hours/seconds!

Here are a few photos we took yesterday!

Love, Sabra, Bus, Hannah & Maya Mishelle

Sisters with beautiful smiles!

Big ol'smile!

"Papa" & Maya

Maya wearing Hannah's flip flops!!!

Our silly little comedian!! She can make something fun out of anything!! Ha ha!

Not such a good embassy day :-(

Nothing terrible happened with regards to the adoption, that all went fine. But poor little Maya didn't feel very good. She just slept in daddy's arms (which isn't typical of her). She kept saying her legs hurt. Since she had shot yesterday, we thought she was a little feverish from that.

Well, apparently it wasn't. Right as they were about to call us for our second interview (just about finished), she vomitted EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! Ironically, I was talking to a US Medical doctor who lived in Guatemala as a medical missionary. He very aptly commented, "She doesn't feel too well, does she?" To which I replied, "You aren't going to charge me for that diagnosis, are you?" He informed me that he would count is as part of his missions work.

The good news is that we made it through, and now little Miss Maya is ours forever. She is such a little princess and as I told Hannah, this morning's experience was just one of the "gems" that make up the entire necklace. Now, I'm dating myself, but as some who read this will remember a television show that started with a song that said, "You take the good, you take the bad - and there you have the facts of life." We wouldn't trade her for all the riches in the world!!!

I wish I had some Embassy pictures to post, but alas, our Embassy outfits will live as a memory in our minds only.

Pray for little Maya, she is so sick. Pray for us that it isn't a virus that we all catch. We certainly don't want to get sick on the way home!! Or worse, yet, bring it our kiddos and families back home.

We love you all,
Bus (and Sabra and Hannah and Maya)

Here is Maya not feeling too well. And of her taking a nap. She chose a nap over the pool, shows you how sick she must feel.

Together at last!

Finally, with way too many delays, we are together at last!! Yes, Maya arrived about 6:45pm!! They were suppose to be here at 5pm, but as before, they were a no show until 6:45pm! It was fun getting to know Sonia, and we would highly recommend her as a fabulous traslator!

Our meeting was good-a little slow to begin with! I believe it was very overwhelming for all involved! Maya had been to the embassy doctor, and of course, she had received a shot!! She was tired, and probably frustrated from the very long day!! Her foster mother was VERY sad, and was fighting back tears! We, of course, were a little frustrated with the facilitators, to say the least, and really didn't have anything to say to them, so there was a bit of tension.

After a short meeting with the foster mom, whom we love and adore, we left with Maya to go to our room. She was very sad, and cried for her foster mom for about 20 minutes. We comforted the best we could, and gave her some time to grieve. We had a cup of Ramen noodles, and some orange crush. Not real healthy, but what do you expect in a hotel room? Bus pulled out the ball, and the smiles and giggles began! The ball was all over the room, and of course I took some pictures, or should I say, tried to take some pictures!

We know that she will continue to grieve for her foster mom, and we respect that. But, in the meantime we plan to love on her as much as she will let us! Pray for her, and again her foster mom!

She is warming to Hannah, but of course, there was some jealousy! We told Hannah to give her some time, and they will be great together! She is already calling Hannah, Nannah! Too cute, if I have to say so myself!

Well, I know tomorrow will be a new day, so for now, I will post a few quick pictures! We are headed to the embassy appointment tomorrow, so we will be up early in the morning for that! I will try not to leave you hanging, like on Sofia's pick up! Ha ha!

We love and miss you all!

Sabra, Bus, Hannah and Maya

What we're ALL waiting for...

I know everyone is waiting for the big arrival...















Well, so are we. Much to our disappointment, Maya won't be here until after 5:00 pm tonite. She was supposed to come at 9:30 this morning. No one let us know. Finally, our translater, called the agency to get number to our lawyer. The lawyer informed her, that Maya's embassy doctors appointment was today at 3:00 pm. So, they were going to bring her after that. So, we paid our translater for an hour and half to talk with us in English.



Oh, then the big kick in the teeth, the airplane ticket for Maya to come home is over $1,000. That's the biggest rip off in the world.



Well, sorry to vent, but had to tell someone. Also for those waiting for pictures.... Here you go!!

We are here!

We are here in Guatemala-just VERY sleepy and tired! It was a long weekend, as many of you know, we went to Virginia for a family reunion! It was fun to see everyone there, and we had a great time. Unfortunately, we didn't get home from the reunion until 7:30 pm, and we had not packed a lick! So, we stayed up into the wee morning, packing, cleaning, washing,.........you get the picture! We had about 1 hour of sleep-my cell phone was dying downstairs, so the beeping kept me awake after I went to bed! All is well, though, cause we believe we have everything!(Pray that we do!)

Maya will not be with us until tomorrow morning, and she will be here about 9:30am Guatemala time(11:30am eastern time). We thought tonight would be a good opportunity to spend some time with our first born-Miss Hannah! She is excited beyond belief to be here, and is taking in every little detail as though it is the first time she has been here! It is fun to see things through her eyes-as they are so bright and excited, and make Guatemala new to us, as well! I can't wait for Hannah to meet Maya! I hope to get some pictures of the expressions and meeting!! Please remember to pray for Maya's foster mom, Lidia. I cannot imagine how hard it is to know that this could be the last time she will see Maya. I am praying that they have enjoyed each others company these last few weeks, since we knew when we would be going to pick Maya up!

I took a few photos at the airport of Hannah, so I will post these. I will try to post as soon as we can tomorrow, so that everyone can see the happy sisters together!

Thanks Moms and Dads, Ruthie and LaVern for taking care of our sweet littlest ones at home while we are away picking up the newest member of our family! It means the world to us to know that they are in safe hands, and to know that they are being loved on!

We will write more when we can,

Love,

Sabra, Bus, & Hannah

We have our date for picking up Maya!

As many of you know, we have gotten our travel dates for picking up Maya!! We will be leaving this Sunday at 6:15 am from Lexington, and will return on Thurday, the 14th! It is hard to believe that our journey to Maya is just about over, and she is coming home! It seems so long ago that I saw that picture of her sweet little face on the CCI website! We are so excited to be bringing her home! Bus and I decided to take Miss Hannah to help ease the transition of Maya coming home with us! Please keep all of us in your prayers, and all those left at home being taken care of by our families!

Watch for pictures, coming soon!
Love,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb, Sofia, & soon to be home...Maya

Great Memorial Day weekend, and some pictures, too!

Well, we had a fabulous Memorial Day, and hopefully you did too! The weather has been perfect, and we spent the weekend in the pool! We discovered Sofia loves the pool, as well. She kicks and smacks the water-her very own giant bath tub! Caleb chatters because he thinks the water is cold, but Sofia just loves it-must be those chunky little milk thighs! We also have a small baby pool, that Caleb plays in-I thought this would be nice for when Maya comes home-they can play in it together! The big pool will have to be for when we can all be in helping each other! Life is just kicking along, and there is so many things coming up-we are still waiting to hear when our trip for Maya's pickup will be, so stay tuned! I try to post pictures when I can, but it is hard to do when I am changing diapers, doing laundry, making meals,.....I think you know what I mean. Ha ha! Bear with me-who knew one more child could make life so busy!

Here are a few pictures to let you see what is going on here at the Maslin's household!

Love,

Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb and Sofia

Notice he took his diaper off!

Cheese! Having a great time in my pool-with my swimming trunks on!Hee Haw!!! This pool is fabulous!Who says you have to be a 3 to play with this toy?Hannah and her 3rd grade teacher on the last day of school! My big girl is now a 4th grader!Shhhhh....Sofia fell asleep in her Jumparoo-all that bouncing put her to sleep!Sofia sucking her thumb in the bath tub!Caleb playing in the bath tub-cheese!!Dig my shampoo doo?! It makes me hungary-see my tongue?! Of course, I am always hungary!I love playing in the pool! This raft is so comfortable!!See how comfortable the pool is?! Ha ha!Ok, so we got this new turtle raft, and I don't have to get my feet wet unless I want to!Hannah loving her pool time!Sofia with her wrinkled nose smile!!

Still settling in!

We have been home for two weeks now. We are all still settling in-doing pretty good, but Sofia is still not sleeping well. Pray for us about this-we really want her to sleep a little more restfully. She is quite fussy in her sleep, and wants to eat twice a night even when we feed her cereal before bedtime! YIKES!! This little one loves to eat!!

Sofia is adjusting well, and loves people! She is very friendly, and easy going! She has smiles for everyone she meets! We just love her personality!

Her favorite activity outside of eating, and bathing is playing with her big sister and little brother! She just adores them, and loves their every move! Hannah can hardly wait to come down in the morning and see if Sofia is awake so she can hold her!

I am still trying to figure out how to make dinner, keep the laundry up, and house cleaned, and take care of a baby and Caleb! So, if you call, leave a message-I may not always be able to get to the phone! Ha ha! The good news is, Sofia's done with her antibiotic, so the dirty diapers will appear a little less!

Here are a few pics of what is going on at our house! Enjoy!

Love, Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb, Sofia, and Maya(No travel news, yet!)

Sofia wants to share some great news......

Maya will soon be joining us here in Richmond!!! Yes-we found out that Maya is out of PGN!!! We are so excited! Please continue to keep us in your prayers-we are hoping for a smooth process straight up to embassy day, and home!!! Keep a watch -there will be new pictures and another trip to Guatemala coming soon!!!!
Thanks for all the prayers!
Love,
Sabra, Bus, Hannah, Caleb, Sofia and Maya