The Princess of Monteria!

We met her! We met Nataly tonight!

And...Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Elisa, Nataly's Tia!

It was such a blessing to get to meet both Nataly and her mom. We have prayed earnestly for Nataly-even while she was still in Colombia...and then we followed her as she began her new life here with her Forever Family on a blog...

It is so neat to see the child I've prayed for...oh my goodness--She IS a Princess! She's a doll! She's so beautiful! She has a radiant smile...at first seems timid, but then comes out of her shell... Her English is GREAT! She's smart! Oh, it was so neat to sit across the table from her tonight...and just think...this was the baby I prayed for...She is really special! I know she has added much life to her family and they are all blessed. Thank you, God for letting me be a part of their story! We have been blessed by you both, Jen and Nataly!

(I believe it was after we returned that I was online with our CHI Prayer Chat that I mentioned to the group, "Has anyone here considered Nataly?" Nataly was pictured with several other children in that month's Noticero. Well, Jenn spoke up, and ever since then, we have prayed specifically for her and her family! And God heard our cry! Jenn received approval a few months later, I believe, and then went to Monteria to adopt her...before Jenn traveled to Colombia, she sent us a picture of Nataly, and I had it photocopyed at Staples and each of the children had their own color copy of Nataly's pic. The picture was on their bedside table or dresser, and they prayed nearly every night for her! It was such a blessing for us to finally get to meet her!)

Here are some pics we took:

The children were so excited in the car on the way to Mobile about meeting Nataly. When we finally met up with them at Olive Garden, they didn't speak to one another initially...My three began playing around and pokin' Jenn, and as we finally sat down the kids began speaking to one another. Andrew and Nataly talked some... Tatiana would interject a few words here and there... I really enjoyed sharing with Jenn. Ben was also there and shared his thoughts about our adoption experience. Diego entertained us throughout the dinner with his chuckles. The children exchanged gifts. We were able to pick up some cool buys at Disney for Nataly, but I'm not sure that they won't be too big...but at least she can grow into them! Her facial responses to each were so precious! She gave hugs afterward! So sweet! She also brought us gifts! And wrote us each a letter! How special! Thank you, Nataly! The kids got in the car, and Andrew said, "Mami, I love Nataly!" Aww...and then, Diego chimed in, "I love Nataly!" They had a great time! Tatiana had earlier mentioned that they were both princesses. They are! We got some beautiful babies, Jen!

We hope to meet up with Jen, Nataly, and Elisa sometime this week while they are visiting in Orange Beach! They were all really fun and easy to talk to! I had a thought--we could have an unofficial Southern Colombian get-together!!!