Update

Lizzie,

Thanks for the "kick in the rear." haha

I have been trying my best to keep some distance from all the current turmoil surrounding the current status in Guatemala; it is simply too frustrating to wade through all the "mud" that is being thrown from the different entities involved. Rather than worry about it, I decided to just "do the family thing" and avoid letting all this "stuff" interfere with life in general. So far, so good! 8)

Alia is nearing 10 months and is probably the most pleasant child we have known. That is saying a lot, as Amaya was what we considered an "easy" baby to care for. Alia went from not sitting on her own when we picked her up in July to pulling herself up to everything, and in the past couple of weeks she has learned to let go and keep her balance for a couple seconds at a time. She then grins with that big smile of hers and does it over and over again. I'm guessing she will be walking sometime before her first birthday. It will be quite odd looking, as she is barely on any growth charts here in the states. It will be hard to tell her apart from some of the stand-up Dora figurines that Amaya adores so much! 8). Amaya recently turned four and had a Scooby Do themed party to celebrate. We play this game she calls "Scooby Do." I am Freddy, she is Dafne and Alia is Scooby - Amaya says that she gets to "make the rules" (of which there seems to be none). We chat about nonsense stuff, and the most important "rule" is that we address one another by our proper "Scooby names." Funny!

The Dateline script is being written as I type. There seems to be no set date, just that it needs to be ready ASAP. I have a couple things to send in to them as of a couple days ago, so I am guessing they are looking for an October readiness. Through communicating with the producer for nearly a year now, I've learned that nothing is "set in stone," and it can change on a whim. There originally was a date of Sept. 10 set, but that fell through - not sure why. I will be sure and post something more definitive as soon as I hear. Hopefully it will get its airtime prior to any sort of shutdown in Guatemala.

Alexia's case is somewhat frustrating and confusing. The communication between ourselves and Feliciano has brokendown substantially. With the current "threat" toward hogars or private homes, I'm sure the situation is quite difficult within the Guatemalan system. PGN and the government in general is making it quite difficult for some to operate in Guatemala. Our last update consisted of us being told that our file was complete and inside PGN as of August 19th. It was expected to be in another 8 weeks which would put us getting out sometime in November. To be honest, we are nor very clear on the status of her case at this point.

best wishes,
Troy