Our Registry

We are registered at Target and Walmart for baby items. 

Thank you for sharing your love and support with our family!

All Transactions Final - No Refunds

Alissa and I had to laugh when the last piece of paperwork that we received for Benjamin's adoption was a receipt for his Visa from the US Embassy and on it was Benjamin's full name followed by the words "All Transactions Final - No Refunds".  We thank God all transactions are final and we are returning home.  Believe me!  There will not be a refund.  We are so blessed to have Benjamin in our lives and can't wait for you all to meet him.  Our bags are packed and we are ready to leave early in the morning.  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this journey.  The last seven weeks have been a wonderful learning experience for the Keil Family.  We will see you all soon to share this experience in person. 

Yeeehaaaawwww...we are headin' home!

Yesterday Matt, Benjamin and I traveled to the US Embassy with Maria Teresa and the Kinsman Family from Forest Lake, MN. The Kinsman's are adopting five month old baby from FANA.  You might wonder why Benjamin needs a visa?  Benjamin has a Colombian passport.  Everyone who has a Colombia passport must have a visa to travel anywhere if they are not traveling in South America.  

First, we had to pick up our paperwork from Bienestar (They govern the adoptions in Colombia).  We signed for our paperwork at Bienestar.  We are so happy it was ready to go when we got there!  Then we traveled to the US Embassy.  It was a fun ride with both babies in the back seat (no car seats of course...no laws here so many people don't even own a car seat).

We made it to the US Embassy and took a short walk around to the front where there were lines of people waiting.  Maria Teresa marched to the front of the long line and explained we had to get an adoption visa.  We got right in and had to pass through a heavily guarded metal detector.  We walked into a large area covered by a canopy of more people waiting at tables and long benches.  There were two coffee shops in this large area with candy bars, sodas and empanadas.  The place was full of people waiting to do paperwork with the US Embassy.

We gave our paperwork to Maria Teresa who quickly got things together and turned everything into the US Embassy officials.  While we waited for our names to be called over the loud speaker, we got some cappuccinos and some tasty empanadas.  Shortly after, we got in line to sign and pay for the visa.  Then we waited in line again for a short interview.  Our short interview was simply that, nice and short.  We met two other families that were adopting children from Colombia - one family from Boston and one family from New York City.  We were walking and standing so much so I am very happy we brought the Baby Bjorn Carrier.  We were outside for the entire time so good thing the weather cooperated.

We completed the paperwork for Benjamin's visa!  We will pick up the visa today!  We will arrive in  Houston bright and early Friday morning.  We are so very very thankful Becky and Jacob will be at the airport to welcome us home.

Benjamin Quiz

WHO DOES BENJAMIN LOOK LIKE IN THIS PHOTO?

Please view the images below and vote.  You can provide an answer in the comment section.

A.   THE ETRADE BABY

B.    THE GERBER BABY













 

C.   STEWIE

D.    GRANDPA MUNSTER

A Couple Steps Closer

Yeah!!!! We have completed a couple more steps.  Today we have completed Benjamin's Colombian passport and medical exam.  Tomorrow we obtain one more document from the Colombian government and then travel to the US Embassy for Benjamin's Visa.  We have booked plane tickets for Friday morning so please pray that all goes well.  Two more steps to go!

This is how Mommy dressed me for my passport photo.  Cute huh?

Daddy says that he has the most beautiful family!  I agree.

This is me in the car on my way to get my passport.

Wow! Look at the horse and wagon behind us!

Come here horsey horsey!!!

And the Next Steps Are?

I feel like I have asked that question a million times in the past 7 weeks.  Oh, wait a minute...I have asked that question a million times.


Today we took one heck of an adventure!  

First I left to go to get the birth certificate.  The traffic is always a force to be reckoned with here.  Here in Bogota, they use your last few digits of your license plate to determine which days you will be allowed to drive.  This helps to cut down on the traffic.  America should do this!  Anyways, I traveled downtown to Bogota with Maria Teresa.  We talked about everything from education to foster care!  It was a great time!  We made it to Notary #1.  She was able to give us Benjamin's new birth certificate with Matt and I listed as his parents.  I was so excited when I had those copies in my hands!

We drove back to the hotel to pick up Matt and Benjamin so we could get passport pictures and then the Colombian passport.  We picked up Amy and Gabriel and then went to the get our Colombian passports.  We got to the passport office and took photos.  Benjamin is so cute in his photo!  We went to get the passport and sure enough...we had a mistake on the birth certificate!  I know - we were sad.  They had forgotten to add my maiden name.  So we traveled back to the Notary #1 and had her fix the mistake - she did add my name with a smile.  We went non-stop today from 9:30AM-7:30PM.  Oh, well.  We have learned to take things in stride while here in Colombia.

So what is next?
1) We have to go to get the passport Tuesday morning at 7:45 AM.
2) Go to the US Embassy approved doctor for Little Colombian Cookie's check up.
3) Apply for visa from the US Embassy.
4) Pick up the visa the next day from the US Embassy :)  Yes, please!
5) Take our flight home Friday morning (before-the-rooster-crows-early folks).
6) Break down in tears the moment I step in the door of our home in Friendswood, TX. AMEN!

In my mind it is much better to know we are headed home in a few days.  Nothing beats home.  I can't wait to put Benjamin in his highchair and in his crib in his room.

Family and friends, thank you for the love, prayers and support.  Please pray the last few remaining steps go as planned.

All-American Day

On this past Sunday we had a taste of American!  A new family from Buffalo, NY joined us at El Refugio  named Tracy and Miguel.  They have been in Bogota for about five weeks now and are also adopting through FANA.  Tracy's husband had to go back to the States for work.  So they moved over to our hotel.  They are very nice and good company for this last week that we are here.  We walked to the Sunday market where we met two other adopting families from the States.  Both families are also adopting through FANA.  One family is from Minnesota and the other from Buffalo, NY.  After the market we came back to our hotel and watched the Great American Race (Daytona 500) and ate some McDonalds.  Tracy said it was the best Big Mac she has ever tasted.  I guess we are all ready to come home. Today we should be getting Benjamin's new birth certificate.  Tomorrow we go to the US Embassy for his passport.  Please pray that the last remaining steps go well.  If all goes well we will be returning home by this weekend.

Tracy, Alissa, Benjamin and Miguel on the way to the market.

Miguel

Many old American trucks populate Bogota.

Great American Ford truck!

The Papers Are Signed!

We have great news!  The papers that needed to be signed by all four members of the court have now been signed and we have the copies!


Next step is to go and get Little Colombian Cookie's birth certificate (certificado de nacimiento).  We will do this on Monday morning bright and early.  After that we are able to get Benjamin's passport and US Embassy doctor's visit and then we are able to go to Texas!  This process will take a few more days.  The earliest we will be home is Friday and the latest on Sunday.  We can't wait to go home!  


We are so thankful for all of your prayers and words of encouragement!  We will be home very soon!

Look out Texas...here comes Benjamin!

Still Waiting

Yesterday I went to sign the papers for Benjamin at the court.  As I was reading through the papers I found an error.  On the scale of errors it was a simple one - they were missing one number.  The court refused to add the missing number.  We re extremely disappointed and saddened.  We hoped to be home and were told it may be much longer than we or anyone else anticipated.

We are praying our lawyer is able to add a special letter attached to all of paperwork with the correct number.  Thursday we pray the other two people that need to sign the paperwork can do so.  If not we may not be home next week either.  We still have to get copies of the paperwork, make an appointment at the US embassy, and get Benjamin's passport.

As you might be able to understand, we are missing home and really, really want the error resolved.  Pray we can have God's Hand on this situation.

Family Court #20

Mis Amigos

Hola Amigos,

I wanted to introduce you to all my friends here at El Refugio in Bogota, Colombia.  Dos amigas (2 of my girlfriends) have already left me for France and Spain.  There are four other families still here with us.  Three families are from France and one from Spain.  Mommy and Daddy told me I am an American now.  Well, almost.  We are waiting to hear from the court.  Which we now consider a bad court since they took more than the 10 day allowance.  Why is it an allowance if you can take more days than allowed?  Frustrating!  We are going on our sixth week here at El Refugio and will be home soon.  I am looking forward to coming home.  I hear Mommy and Daddy talking about how much they miss home and all their friends and family.  We pray that we will be home this week.  Please pray for us.  Below are some pictures of my amigos and amigas.  We don't know each others' language, but we all get along just fine.

Love you,
Benjamin

This is my amiga, Daniella.  She was able to go home to Spain after three weeks.

Here are our families together.

I am just waiting for that call from our lawyer.

He better call soon.  I am ready to go home!

This is my girl, Abigelle.  She just left me for France.  Such a romantic country.

She is a cutie, huh?

This is her family.  They stayed with us for four weeks.

We loved playing together!

Daddy tried to make me feel better after my friends left me.

Boy, life is hard!

Now I am just hanging with my other friends and Daddy's iPhone.

This is me and my buds!

This is Carol, Christian, and their Mommy and Daddy from France.

This is Lauda and her Mommy from France.

This is Diana and her Mommy and Daddy from France.

My friends make me happy!!!

    

Museo del Oro

Yesterday we took a taxi to the Gold Museum located in downtown Bogota in a modern building facing Plaza de Santander.  The trip there took 1.5 hours due to the busy traffic.  The Gold Museum is the most famous of its kind in the world and contains more than 34,000 gold pieces from all the major pre-Hispanic cultures in Colombia!  There are 7 floors each with several exhibits for visitors describing how the gold pieces were made, what they were used for in society at the time, and where they were found.  Each piece has a short description in Spanish and in English so we could follow along.  Some pieces date back to 1500 B.C.  There are also objects in stone, bone, clay, and textiles detailing the history of Colombia.