Friday, March 19, 2010

Paperwork finished in Rwanda!!!

Yay!!! We finished all of our paperwork. We are done with everything in Rwanda. We have a darling little passport of my beautiful princess and we are finally ready to go to Kenya to work on our visa. I can't believe that we have been here for 11 days and left 13 days ago. We are going to tour the countryside tomorrow and go see one of the lakes and then Sunday we fly to Kenya.
Today we went to a really cool Art Studio called Ivuka. It means rebirth. If you are ever in Rwada I would recommend coming here. It was started by a man named Collin. He started a program for local artists to come and paint and sell their paintings. They are amazing. He also does a program for little kids, especially orphans or poor children to do art for therapy. His program is really amazing.
So, here is the problem. I take about 100 photos of Zoe every day. And then I come to the computer and I'm supposed to pick out only one to show on my blog. Well, today I couldn't decide. So, here are a bunch of pictures of my special princess. I just can't get over how beautiful she is. She is laughing and smiling all the time. She loves to play games with daddy. She loves him to chase her while she is running as fast as her little legs can carry her to her mommy, laughing all the way.


The man in the orange shirt is Collin. He is in charge of the art institute. I got some beautiful paintings from here. One is for Zoe's room and I'm so excited about it. I forgot to take a picture of it before they wrapped it up. I'll post it later.


Zoe and Daddy. Hanging out in front of the art institute.

my princess
my princess wondering why I won't stop taking pictures of her.


On our city tour we saw the hotel from Hotel Rwanda. This is the actual hotel. The movie for some reason was filmed in South Africa, so the hotel they used wasn't the real one. This is the real hotel.

We only have tomorrow to see Rwanda and then we leave on Sunday. I can't believe we are all done with our paperwork, Zoe has a passport and we will be leaving. It is such a sad and happy feeling that I have about departing. We travel out of country all the time and never has it been so sad for me to leave. I am very excited to get Zoe home and of course to see my boys, but I feel that Rwanda has become a part of me. I love this country so much. I love that my daughter is from here. The people and the country are so beautiful and I will miss it very much.


If you ever have an opportunity to visit Africa, I would recommend coming to Rwanda. It is an amazing place.

4 comments:

Rachie said...

So happy your paperwork is done, it must be a relief! It sounds like there is so much waiting to do there to get things done.... I'm do happy for you all! I love checking your blog each day for updates! And all the pictures, she is so adorable! Can't wait to meet her!! Love, Rachie!

One Hot Homestead said...

I remember your little girl from when we picked up our son Leonard at the orphanage in December. She was so beautiful I could not take my eyes of off her! I think her hair was longer and braided but I know it is not unusually for the other kids to pull at it and ruin it. Anyways, I just wanted to drop a line that I am so happy for her and for your family. You are right Rwanda is a beautiful country. We are thinking about a second adoption and so waiting to see what happens with the changes in the adoption authority and Rwanda going Haugue compliant.

Kim and Steve said...

I love Zoe's smile. I can't wait to meet her. I'm glad the paperwork is done in Rwanda.

Lori @ Five of My Own said...

Oh Jamie I just want to reach through the screen and squeeze her! Congrats on finishing the paperwork in Rwanda, another milestone in the journey.