The Granda Cause: February 2009

THE BEACON APRIL 2009

Article from South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society's Monthly Newsletter:

THE GROWING GRANDAS

It all began with a conversation on Mother's day last year. Eddie Granda and Robyn Taylor-Granda, members of our family here at South Valley, were talking with Eddie's mom, and mentioned that they were considering adopting. And, they were thinking about adopting from Ecuador, where Eddie's family was from. It was then that Eddie's mom mentioned his half siblings. They had no idea at the time, but that conversation would lead them on a roller coaster adventure! An adventure with up and downs, frustrations and triumphs, and certainly change their lives, and the lives of a few others, forever.

Eddie's parents had divorced when he was a teenager and his father had gone back Ecuador. About four years after his father's death, Eddie learned that he left numerous young children behind. Since he'd had no contact with his father's side of the family for years, that was the extent of the information he had about the kids. So Robyn and Eddie decided to investigate the situation to see if there was anything Eddie's aunt Nancy (who kept tabs on the kids) might need some help with. The news wasn't good. As it turned out, not only were there many children (aging from eight to eighteen), but their mother had died only six months before their father! The kids had been passed between the mother's relatives for the first five years. They were living in such terrible conditions that Eddie's aunt finally went down there and took them to live with her nephew, where they have been for the last three years. As they spoke to relatives to learn more and searched for legal ways to help them, it became clear that the kids needed to have legal guardians who could take them permanently. So Eddie and Robyn made a decision. They decided to legally adopt the five older children and gain guardianship of the youngest. In order to do that they first had to work for a year to become their legal guardians in Ecuador. This would enable them to: document their U.S. Citizenship (by getting Consular Reports of Birth), get their passports and to bring them to the U.S. Instead of adopting them from Ecuador, they chose to bring them here to the United States first, which was made possible because their father had been a U.S. citizen and they met all of the conditions to pass on the right to citizenship. But there were more hurdles to come! The government of Ecuador required DNA tests to prove Eddie's relation to the children. And after more red tape and gathering of legal documents, all their documents were stolen, and they had to replace them. With all the set backs, Eddie and Robyn just pushed on, even attending to the responsibilities of their regular lives, including responsibilities here at South Valley. Robyn was working through governmental red tape by day and planning

REGAL events by night! So, now, after hiring a lawyer, doing DNA tests, getting all of their official documents stolen, gaining guardianship, learning that the 17 year old is expecting a baby, making a trip to Ecuador, getting their reports of birth and passports, making a second trip to get the kids, being denied exit from Ecuador and having to get all new tickets after the five day delay...they are finally here !!! By the time you read this, the Grandas will have the following new members: Nancy-18, Diana-17, Miguel-15, Marlon-13, Jefferson-11 (with Steven-8 hopefully coming next summer). And maybe one more; Diana is due to have her baby any day!

Now with the kids finally in the United States, the adventure is just beginning! And Robyn and Eddie can use your help. As of this writing they could use the following donations:

Bassinet

Playpen

Car seat/carrier

Diapers (lots!)

Baby formula

Gift cards to Babies R Us or coupons for diapers and

formula

Ongoing:

Boys shoes and winter boots (for boys the size of 9, 11

and 13 year olds)

Boys snow pants (sizes 8-12)

Boys clothing sizes 8-12

Girls clothes sizes 12-14 girls and women's/teens small

and x-small

Gift cards for Old Navy (for the girls)

Daily use products like: Shampoo, conditioner, lotion,

body wash, toilet paper, razors and

deodorant.

Gift cards or coupons for entertainment activities

Gift cards or coupons for places that we usually shop at

like Smith's grocery, Costco, Old

Navy, Target, etc.

Services we'll need each month like haircuts!

Household:

Any food donations of cereal, rice, lunch snacks, canned

tuna, etc.

Paper goods (plates, cups, paper towels)

Laundry detergent (liquid)

Gift cards to Home Depot or Lowes

Small vacuum for hard surface floors

DVDs with Spanish dubbing or subtitles

Soccer balls and small nets

Gift cards for bookstores, toy stores, craft stores, or even

Amazon.com.

For the latest details, please go to www.causes.com/

GrandaCause. Go there to read the full story, see

pictures, and even donate cash through South Valley's

Social Action Council program, Family-Caring-for-Family.

by Drew Carrillo

Monday, February 23, 2009

Squishing everyone in

Getting ready update:

Our three small bedrooms have been rearranged into every conceivable set up possible! The boy's room fits the loft bed, bunk bed and desk okay, but the girl's room just isn't cooperating (I think the desk is going to have to go, but where?) and we still need to be able to put a crib in there in April, ugh!

We met with a contractor on saturday to start getting an estimate for a bedroom/bathroom addition (which would require taking out the half-bath) of aroundv380 sq. ft. We figure that would be the minimum that will be the most useful. He'll have some figures for us hopefully before Eddie leaves on the 5th.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Attorney from heaven

So, we met with the attorney today and it went very well. He thinks the Adoption petition will go very smoothly since the kids are already U.S. citizens and Eddie already has guardianship. He's going to write up a draft of a Temporary Custody order for us to look over next week. The kids have to live with us for 6 months before the Adoption will be signed by a judge. And the best part of the meeting was when he told us that we will NOT have to pay ANY legal fees, only the court filing and vital records fees!!! How amazing is that?

Saturday, February 7, 2009

It's a ....VAN!

It's official...we are VAN owners! I never thought I'd own a van, even then if I did I figured I'd get some small fancy thing with lots of cool gadgets. But this thing is HUGE! So, I have give lots of THANKS to my Aunt Leslie and Uncle Greg for being willing to give us such a great deal on this van, which has a whole new engine and tires!

Also, I have more good news. We are meeting with an adoption attorney on monday to start the paperwork for temporary custody and then the adoption here in the U.S. The temporary custody order will do just what it says, it will give us custody here in Utah, so that we can add the kids to our insurance, register them for school, apply for their social security cards, etc. Since the kids are already U.S. citizens, we can do a regular adoption, rather than a international, so it should be almost as straightforward as the process was when Eddie adopted my 13 year old son last fall.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Tickets for trip #2

The plane tickets have been purchased! We bought tickets for Eddie to go back to Ecuador on March 5th and bring the five older kids back on March 12th!!! We've decided that Steven will stay with his aunt and uncle for now because of his attachment to them. It was a hard decision to come to, but since he is so young, he really isn't ready to leave the only family he knows, even if he could have a better life in many ways with us. We'll be keeping in touch very regularly and frequently from now on, so that he can get to know us and the rest of his family here better.
Today we also made that last payment to our lawyer, for a total of $2715 in legal fees for the Ecuadorian guardianship. Now we have to get started on the U.S. guardianship/adoption (we're not sure if we have to get guardianship first before we can do the adoption), work out insurance for Diana's pregnancy (our insurance won't cover maternity for dependents), get school in order (so far we have a dual-language elementary school for Jefferson this year, and a dual-language Jr. High for Miguel and Marlon for next year) and rearrange our two bedrooms to fit all of the kids in! Oh, we're getting a 12 person passenger van from my aunt and uncle next week, which is a big relief since both of our cars only seat 5 people. We've been watching the tv show "17 Kids and Counting" to calm our panic about having 7 kids (that's including our own two) and a baby on the way.

The Granda Cause