Samuel David McKinney Langley

Sentencia! Sentencia! Sentencia! OK, I am sure some of you are wondering - what is this Sentencia  thing you speak of and why are you so happy?

 Let me start with the “what is the Sentencia” first. Sentencia, is a final decree, or ruling, from the Republic of Colombia Judicial system (or at least that is my interpretation). In our specific circumstance this is where we “legally” became the parents of Samuel in the eyes the Republic of Colombia! As part of this process Samuel is given new last names. That is correct, names with an “s”. In Colombia there are two surnames, the mother’s maiden name and the family name. So Samuel’s name is now Samuel David McKinney Langley and will remain so until the adoption is finalized in the United States and he becomes an American citizen (with a single surname).

Now as for the “why are you so happy” part. Well, the first obvious reason is because the adoption is “official”, Samuel is officially our son!  Second, this means we are one step closer to coming home and uniting Samuel with our friends and family whom we miss so, so very much. Skyping with the kids is nice, but it is just not the same as being there with them.

Let me give you a quick recap of the day. Samuel got up around 7:00 AM after a great night of sleep. We all got ready and went downstairs to eat breakfast. We have a “breakfast routine” where we all eat the same things day in and day out, make small talk with the hotel staff, try to trick Samuel into eating eggs, pickup said eggs that Samuel spits out followed by an exit where Samuel vigorously waves goodbye to the hotel staff while the says “Chao” repeatedly.

After breakfast we went back to our room where I put in a half day of work and Mary Ann and Samuel played. Then at 12:45 we met our interpreter, Maribel. She picked us up and we went to the home of our attorney, Anna Marria, to pick her up. Then we embarked on the 1-hour journey to Lorica, where Samuel was born, so we could finalize the adoption paperwork. You may be asking, how can a 1-hour car ride be considered a journey? Well, if you have driven in Colombia you know precisely what I mean. If you have not driven in Colombia I can only compare it to bumper cars at Six Flags, but with people, bicycles, fruit stands, motorcycles (carrying families of 3 or 4 people) and an occasional stray dog in the mix.  I will miss some things about Colombia, such as the extremely friendly people, but I absolutely will not miss the being in a car on the road, being a pedestrian or listening to the constant honking of car horns… Anyway, enough about the driving.

After we arrived in Lorica we met with the Judge and some of her staff to complete the paperwork. Typically it takes three business days after signing the paperwork before a new birth certificate can be issued, but we totally lucked out! As it turned out one of the attorneys had taken a couple days to sign, which delayed the Sentencia a little bit. The attorney was so kind to backdate his signature, so we did not have to abide by the three day waiting period. The Judge (who was also very kind)allowed us to proceed with getting a new birth certificate today. This was awesome news! So after we got everything signed, which took about 2 ½ hours due to some errors in the documents (which were fortunately identified before we tried to obtain Samuel’s passport in Bogota) we headed straight to the office to get a new birth certificate for Samuel with our names on it. We need this to get the passport issued and complete the adoption process in Colombia. Well, our luck turned for the worse as we arrived at the office just prior to 4:30 PM and the person who issues birth certificates had gone home for the day (even though they should have still been at the office). This was somewhat of a blow to us as we were really  looking forward to getting to Bogota on Saturday and wrapping up next week. Now we need to travel back to Lorica first thing Monday morning to obtain the new birth certificate. We hope to be able to fly to Bogota Monday afternoon. Through all of this driving and waiting around today Samuel was just as perfect as could be. Everyone we were with just complimented on how well he behaved.

We got back to the Hotel around 6:00 PM and decided to go to dinner at El Porton, which is a decent restaurant that is close by. Samuel shared some bean soup with Mary Ann and ate some of the fries that came with her meal. After dinner Mary Ann was not feeling well at all (we suspect the chicken), but I pray she will be better tomorrow to enjoy our last weekend in Monteria (and possibly our last weekend in Colombia, if all goes well). Also, Samuel was awake until after 11:00 PM. Not sure why he did not go to sleep, especially since he woke up at 7:00 AM this morning and only had about a 45-minute nap. Well it is 1:15 AM and everyone is asleep. Looks like it is time to call it a night. Before I go, I would like to once again thank everyone for their prayers. We have seen God at work throughout our weeks in Colombia as a result of your prayers. Please continue to pray for our health, safety and prompt return home.

Love,

Jeff, Mary Ann and Samuel

Sorry, no pictures/videos for today. We will add some on the next update.