Introducing Samuel, Daniel and Luis Eisenberger

In one of the easiest steps of this entire process, the boys officially became our sons today in the eyes of the Colombian government (and thereby the world). Technically their last name is Eisenberger-Woods because in Colombia you are given the name of both your parents. When we readopt them in the states, their name will just be Eisenberger - though I love the idea of passing on the Woods name, Eisenberger is long enough!

At 2:15 PM we hailed 2 taxis (we are too big of a fam with Tio Mauricio - our interpreter to fit in one) and headed to the courthouse where we met Hector Fabio, our lawyer. The boys were really well behaved considering they were beyond bored as we waited on the legal documents to be corrected so we could sign them. It was as simple as that. We met with the clerk of court to simply sign a sheet of paper, no judge was present. Now we are officially a family.

So what's next? We went to get the boys passports pictures taken. That was fun considering we have three boys who love to smile and you aren't supposed to smile (Luis' picture just looks mean). Apparently, Daniel took about twenty tries to get it right because the photographer would say "Uno, dos..." and on "tres" Daniel would chime in with his big goofy grin. He really can't resist counting. It will most likely be Monday before we get the passports because Hector has to get all of the birth certificates, and Daniel's is registered in Alcala because of the "separation at birth situation" with him. We hope to leave for Bogotá on Tuesday and should be able to finish our embassy business in time to catch our August 3 flight home.

Tonight we are celebrating with the most delicious looking chocolate cake, and tomorrow Rosario is throwing us a fiesta. We also hope to take José and his family out to lunch at a restaurant that overlooks the city. For all of my homesickness and complaining, I am glad that we are spending the weekend here in Pereira amongst people that we have come to consider family. One day, when the boys are older, it will be great to be able to come back and visit...but only for a week or so!