I’m sitting in the same hotel room I sat thirty days ago when we were waiting to meet the boys, except this time the boys are here with us. In less than two hours we will meet with the Judge and our adoption will be finalized. The boys will soon forever be Santos’s.

The last thirty days have been quite the roller coaster. Some days are relatively smooth, other days I find myself counting down the minutes till bedtime. (And then I cope with it all by pressing “next episode” on Gilmore Girls. It ain’t all bad folks.) This process is two steps forward, three steps backwards type of thing, but progress keeps us going, progress gives us hope for the next day.

It’s been a huge blessing to be with the boys in their country, their culture. While the days are sometimes long, being here for this time is good. It’s part of their healing and allows our family time to bond without distractions.

We’ve had the opportunity to travel a lot the last two weeks- and wow, what a blessing to get out a little bit and change up the pace- not to mention see and experience some of the most amazing places in God’s creation. (I’ll share pictures another day, the internet is way too slow here.)

We have a long road ahead. The boys have yet to experience true “culture shock” (though every experience they’ve had here in Brazil is new and different), but God is good. He is faithful. He shows up in the small ways.

In two weeks from today (if all goes well) we will be arriving home in California. We have a couple more stops to make before then (back to Curitiba, then to Rio for a week), but we’re all excited to keep going forward. I’m pretty excited about Rio- I hear there’s a Starbucks there.

Thanks for all the prayers and notes of encouragement. They mean the world these days.

Mandy Sig