U.S. Citizenship!

Praise the Lord for protection and for his favor!! The trip to Quito and to Ambato last week went better than we could have hoped for!!

We left Monday afternoon to get a bus to Quito, and got soaked in the process...thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful, and we got into the hotel and were able to rest around ten that evening. Early the next morning we headed over to the American Embassy, where they conducted the interviews for the children. God was in control, and the agents that attended us were very kind and helpful, and the process went very smoothly. They not only helped us with the paperwork that we were doing, but also answered the questions we had about Cinthias' visa, which we hope to be able to apply for next month, Lord willing the interview will be the same day we have to pick up Daniel and Estebans' paperwork.

Praise the Lord, there was actually no problem whatsoever about proving my physical presence in the states, they said that as long as the passport i had was my first one, the that was proof enough. The only problem we did have was being that we are applying after the children are several years old, they needed pictures to chronologically document the childrens' growth and prove that we have been living together as a family the whole time. Although most of these pictures were on the laptop that got stolen, I sent the ones that I was able to download off of Facebook, and they let me know yesterday that they both have been approved!! In a couple of weeks we have to go back to pick up both boys' CRBA (like a birth certificate) and their passports, and apply for their social security cards. God is good!

All of this was done by noon on Tuesday, and since we did not have to travel back home until Wednesday noon, we were able to spend some time together as family in some parks and the mall, which the boys really enjoyed!!

Although it was raining a lot, and there was some flooding right before we left Quito, praise the Lord that he kept us safe and we got back home in one piece, all be it very tired. Without our own vehicle, traveling on the public trolley and bus can be very long and tiring, especially with two young boys and all the baggage that they incur!!

On Thursday, right after arriving from Quito, I turned around and had to travel back to Ambato to finish up the transfer of my visa from the old passport to the new one. That is finally behind us, and with it the very last piece of Ecuadorian paperwork that we will be needing to do for a while! One thing we will have to do in the next few months is get a health insurance policy, which is around $85 a month. Please pray for the Lords' provision for this need!