Lyla is Home!!!

Yesterday was a long, tiring and emotional day, but Lyla is finally home! She was so good on the flights and skylinks and shuttle bus and running through DFW to catch our flight to Nashville. I will upload more pictures in the next few days as we have time to catch up, but I wanted to thank everyone again for keeping our family and Lyla in your prayers. Also, I want to thank all of you who took time out of your busy days to welcome us back home in Texas and Nashville, it was great to see everybody, although it was kind of like being at your wedding, I don't feel like I finished a conversation with anyone.

Our time was extremely rushed in Texas, but I was so happy for Lyla to meet her great grandparents, two of my aunts and cousins. I was also able to meet two of my second cousins for the first time. How cool is it, that the next generation of the Kennedy family is so diverse with adopted children from Guatemala and South Korea!

All the family and friends who greeted us in Nashville, ya'll have been so supportive to us over the past year. We got emotional last night as we got in bed and debriefed on a crazy and amazing journey, and ending our trip by celebrating with you guys at the Nashville airport.

Thanks!
Grant, HC, Graham and Lyla

We Got The Visa!

We had a nice and lazy day in Guatemala City today. We played and napped until late this afternoon when I went to pick-up Lyla's Visa to travel to the United States. Lyla is traveling with an IR-3 Visa, which means she will be come an American citizen when we land at DFW tomorrow! Being born in and growing up in Texas, I think its really cool that both of my children have become American citizens in Texas.

We wrapped up our trip with a celebratory dinner at Hacienda Real, our favorite restaurant in Guatemala City! The steaks and food were excellent as always, and the new playground for the children was a hit with Lyla. She likes to swing, as you can witness in the pictures. We are off to bed for a good night of rest as we fly out tomorrow morning to bring Lyla home to meet her brother and all of our family and friends! Thanks again for all of your prayers and continue to pray for safe travel and on-time flights tomorrow.

For anyone who wants to meet Lyla tomorrow, we would love to see you at the airport in Dallas or Nashville. Below is our itinerary:

AMERICAN AIRLINES #2196
Depart : Guatemala City(GUA) at 8:50 AM
Arrive : Dallas/ Fort Worth(DFW) at 12:20 PM

AMERICAN AIRLINES #1610
Depart : Dallas/ Fort Worth(DFW) at 2:05 PM
Arrive : Nashville(BNA) at 3:50 PM

See ya'll tomorrow!

Lyla on Film

Approved!

We have had another successful day in Guatemala! We started off with having to wake up Lyla for our appointment at the Embassy. She went down at 8 p.m. last night and we woke her up at 7 a.m. this morning. Pretty good first night if you ask me. Freddie (our driver/translator) picked us up for our appointment at the Embassy this morning which went well, we were lucky to be interview #3, which means we were in and out in less than two hours. Yes, Lyla's visa was APPROVED, so I will go back and pick it up tomorrow afternoon and we will be ready to come home on Thursday!

After we were done at the Embassy, we dropped by the hotel to pick up Ken and Sheila and grabbed a bottle for a day trip to Antigua. It took a little longer to get there, as a mudslide a month ago covered up and damaged the road over the mountain to Antigua. Antigua was the original capital of Guatemala and all of Central America. It is a beautiful city with great little restaurants, shops, a beautiful park in the center of the city, and buildings over 500 years old. There is an active volcano near Antigua that was blowing some steam and ash today, awesome to see in person.

Lyla is such a happy little girl, she is already very attached to mommy, but she likes daddy too. She did great in the van ride today and still loves taking in all the sights and sounds she has never seen or heard before.

Warming Up To Us!

We had a great first day with Lyla! She started off a little upset this morning and not really sure of the new surroundings, but after some food and a good nap, she is thinking about keeping us. We had a great afternoon of playing in the room and taking a walk around the streets of Guatemala City near our hotel. I thought she was going to get whiplash, she was having sensory overload with all the cars and trucks and motorcycles and funky people and smells! She is already one-up on her big brother as she made it through the first dinner at a restaurant without melting down! Sweet Potatoes and Apple Sauce are OK, but Lyle LOVES the Puffs (I knew you would be excited Reid). Lyla got her bath and bottle and she is down for the count, and we are about to follow, as we have had one heck of a day and our appointment at the Embassy is at 7:15 a.m. in the morning.

We've Got Her!!

Well, you can't really explain it in words, but about 11:40 am this morning, it happened. We are so grateful for Eagles Nest and all the mamas that take care of the babies before they come home. Lyla is perfect in every way! MiMi was able to bring Lyla to us and enjoyed seeing pictures of GRANDE brother Graham, but unfortunately Rosie was not able to make the trip. Our time was cut short with MiMi as we truly had to start the bonding process with Lyla.

Please pray for Lyla as she is scared and confused on who these new people are that are loving all over her. Also, pray for our family as we continue this bonding process.

We will update later this afternoon with some happy pictures after nap time!

We Are Here!

Well, the trip to Guatemala went about as smooth as it could go. The flights were smooth and both were actually early, but we were ready to be here. It was dark when we arrived, and the streets were pretty quiet, so Ken and Sheila haven't experienced Guatemala City in its full glory quite yet.

Now we are off to bed to get some rest for our BIG day tomorrow. We will be united with Lyla between 10 am and Noon tomorrow. We can't wait to get our hands on her!!!!!!!!!! We are also excited that MiMi and Rosie will be able to escort her to us. MiMi has cared for both Graham and Lyla while they were at Eagles Nest, and Rosie has cared for Lyla.

Please pray for safe travel for Lyla, MiMi and Rosie in the morning, and we will post some pictures ASAP tomorrow.

So Excited We Can Hardly Stand It!

Well, we are about 12 hours away from catching our flight to Guatemala City and we are so excited we can hardly stand it! Did we pack the bottles? Did we pack her enough clothes? Did we remember our shampoo? So many questions and worries and all I want to do is get on that plane and go get my little baby girl.

I always knew that HC could pack some bags for a trip, and it has already started for little Lyla! Yes, she has one and a half suitcases, and we are sharing one. HC's parents got in from Georgia this evening, so we are all here and ready.

Thanks again to all who have prayed over our family through our journey of adopting Lyla. It has been a roller coaster, but we are truly blessed to have so many friends and family who have been supportive over the last year. Please keep us in your prayers over the next few days, especially for safe travels and for everyone to stay healthy.