We're Out of Here!

Marisol and Mom at the courthouse

As I stated in the previous post, we had our sentencia today! When we met with Yolanda our lawyer this morning, she said she doubted we'd get all the official papers we needed and that we would most likely need to finish up Monday and fly out Tuesday. We were lucky and everything moved fast. Sentencia itself was anticlimactic--we signed some papers with a clerk, and then the judge didn't even ask us any questions. She just said Marisol was cute and had pretty eyes. Then Joe and I just stood there like morons while she talked on the phone. Patricia, our interpreter, had to motion to us to leave.


Next stop was Marisol's updated birth certificate, which we got across the street from the Palacio de Justicia. This moved quickly, but by the time we were finished, the passport office had already closed for its 3 hour lunch break. It was crazy to see Marisol's new name and picture in her passport, especially with the last name "Chambers" on it. She's doing great, though, even after being dragged around to government offices all day long.

So, now if everything goes as planned (ie the airport doesn't mysteriously close, as airports are wont to do here) we'll fly to Bogota Sunday morning. Mari has to get checked by a doctor at the U.S. embassy in Bogota, and then we'll have to get her visa that says she can legally move to the States. Then we'll fly home on the redeye Thursday night and be in St. Louis Friday morning.

After spending the last few weeks just waiting, it's nice to have things finally moving and to have the end in sight. Our time here has been good, but we're really ready to get Marisol settled into her real permanent home. Please just keep praying for us that there are no more bumps in the process now that it's all almost done.

One more week!