The Granda Cause

Awesome kids!

2009-10-30T10:53:00.000-06:00

I almost hate to jinx this by writing it down, but all of the kids grades have come in for the first quarter of school. No one has less than a B, with the majority being in the A's !!!!

Nancy has wow'ed us by getting only A and A+ 's and she's jumped in as an 11th grader at the same science and technology charter school that our 8th grader attends!!!

Diana has just advanced to the next level (after only 8 weeks) in her full-time ESL program and has B's in her other classes that are taught in english - gym, childcare and typing!

Miguel is getting all A's and a couple B's in his full-time 9th grade program at our neighborhood middle school, his classes include two Language Arts, Geography, Earth Sciences, and Math!

Marlon too is getting all A's and B's in his 7th grade full-time classes, even though Language Arts just about makes him crazy!

Jefferson is up to his 4th grade level on ready ability now (in Spanish) and is ready to tackle reading in English!

All of their teachers have the same thing to say about our kids "he/she is the best student in my class, works harder than anyone else, I can hardly believe he/she has only been studying English for 6 months!"

They are all really hard working and amazing young people and we are so glad that they are finally getting the chance to be recognized for it!

Adoption Finalized Today!!!

2009-09-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

Hello All,

I know you haven't heard from us in a while. Things are really busy at our house all of the time! But, today was a really big day for us all. After holding our breath for the six month waiting period, Judge Medley of the Utah 3rd District Court signed the adoption petition! It's a huge relief to have that taken care, so we can focus on moving ahead now. I've posted a photo of us all with Judge Medley this morning.

Thanks for all of your support!

Robyn, Eddie and the gang

Flickr photos...OMG, I have no clue how to make anything on here work!

2009-06-12T00:02:00.002-06:00

Since I cannot seem to get anything to work, here is the link to my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grandacause/

Paypal buttons temporarily off-line

2009-05-08T19:39:00.002-06:00

For anyone who wants to donate!

We've had a snaffoo with our paypal account and need to close it. The way we set it up originally will not work, so we have to create a shopping cart option on SVUUS's account. This has not been done yet, but please see our other options for donating (our Facebook cause has a donation option) or just email me that you are interested and I'll contact you when they are up and running again.

Thank you for your generosity!!!

Grande Granda

2009-05-08T19:37:00.002-06:00

Hello all,

For those of you who know our family, I wanted to let you know that Diana gave birth to her son this morning! His name is Joshua and he weighed a whopping 8 lb. 3. oz (which is huge for an Ecuadorian baby), is 21 inches long and has a full head of black hair. The labor was long and difficult because she had to be induced right away after visiting the midwife yesterday, she had a syndrome called H.E.L.P.P.S. (a complication of preclampsia and eclampsia) which put both her and the baby at risk for seizures and a lowered ability to clot. After a painful 18 hours, she was not able to delivery the baby herself and had to have an emergency c-section. Luckily, she and Joshua are doing well and are sleeping off all of the medications at the IMC Women's and Newborns Center in Murray.

They should be coming home on tuesday of next week!

A little early

2009-04-02T23:16:00.000-06:00

Well, this morning was quite interesting. I took Diana to the U of U hospital to have a routine ultrasound this morning, while Eddie took Marlon and Jefferson to school. During the ultrasound the technician noticed that Diana seemed to be having contractions. In order to confirm that she was actually having contractions and not cramps, they hooked her up to a monitor for an hour. It turns out they were contractions and they hooked her up to an IV with meds to stop them. Three hours later, she was able to leave. She's not on bed rest, yet, but she's not supposed to be up and around for more than 30 minutes a day! So, now we're thinking that she won't make it until May 20th. So, we'll need to get ready a little faster...

Dentists, school and ESL, oh my!

2009-04-02T23:01:00.000-06:00

I wrote a long posting yesterday with the latest updates and it's missing! I'll try to remember what I wrote down, but things are moving so fast that it's tough.

Miguel started taking classes at Butler Middle on tuesday, just an ESL class and two regular classes. He says it's not so bad!

Nancy and Diana did the placement testing for their ESL program at Horizonte Center. We told the testing center that they should just start them at beginning, and we were right. They won't start until April 20th, after spring break.

Diana had her first appointment with her spanish speaking midwife and everything looks good. She confirmed the May 20th due date and we go back again next tuesday.

Everyone has been to the dentist now, with a grand total of 35 fillings, two wisdom teeth removals and one root canal!

Custody

2009-04-01T21:26:00.000-06:00

Oh, I forgot to post on friday that our petition for Temporary Custody was signed by the judge here in Salt Lake!

Quick updates

2009-03-23T23:18:00.002-06:00

We applied for social security numbers for everyone on wed, no problems!

We got the estimate for a small addition to our tiny house (to add a 4th bedroom and a second full bathroom) and it was $17,000 more than we have left over in our savings account from our refinance. We don't have a plan of attack yet...

Jefferson and Marlon started school on friday and really enjoy it. We're still working on finding the right fit for Nancy, Diana and Miguel. For now they're doing a computer program at home.

We are just days away from starting our fundraising blitz, the hold up has been with finding the time to get the Paypal non-profit donation buttons ready and trying to get all the info for people put together in the same place while still living our lives! Since Eddie was laid-off early this winter, we aren't able to get a mortgage on a larger house, but we still hope to add on somehow. It's not so bad for now, but once the baby comes (March 20th), this house will feel twice as small!

The kids had their first experience with snow last night and though it was great, we have a snowman to prove it!

Home at last

2009-03-18T22:54:00.001-06:00

They're home!

Eddie, Nancy, Diana, Miguel, Marlon and Jefferson arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon and were greeted by a crowd of family! We spent the rest of the day at home, getting them settled in. Saige showed the boys how to use the trampoline and pulled out ALL of our yard and pool toys as well. They played soccer and volleyball, jumped on the trampoline (sat in the sled and to be bounced) and chased each other with our floating pool "noodles". The girls got busy unpacking and organizing everything and went through all of the baby clothes we've been given.

We finally called the boys and Saige in when it was dinner time, ate, and everyone took showers. Then Ben showed the boys how to use the Nintendo and Eddie put on a movie for the girls. Next came bedtime!

Phew!

All in all the day went really well!

Houston we have a problem...

2009-03-11T22:25:00.002-06:00

Oh No!!!! Eddie, Nancy, Diana, Miguel, Marlon and Jefferson did not get on their plane in Ecuador today at 4pm! Ecuadorian immigration would not let them through! They cannot leave until we get them Ecuadorian passports. We were told previously that they wouldn't need them, since they have U.S. Passports, so we never got them! Ugh, we have every document conceivable for them except that! So, now they are all stuck in Quito (4 hours away from where they were staying) until he can go to the immigration office. He's hoping they will be able to get some kind of "emergency" passports and leave on the 4 pm flight tomorrow. But we really won't know until he gets to that office. I guess it was asking too much to have everything as smoothly as it did the last trip. I'll know more tomorrow morning...

South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society you are awesome

2009-03-09T12:17:00.002-06:00

The wonderful people of the church that we go to, South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, have really given us tons of support! So far each sunday we've come home with our car filled with clothes, toys and blankets. We have also been given $1975 in gift cards and cash! xoxox

Check in

2009-03-08T00:12:00.002-07:00

Eddie called, all is well at the equator. Change of plans...he and all the boys (ours plus their cousins boys) are headed down to Guayaquil to pick up Steven and bring him back to Santo Domingo for a few days. They're staying the night in La Troncal which is where their father is from. I think they also visited the cemetery where he is buried, but I forgot to verify if they did it today or were planning to do it tomorrow. Meanwhile, I've been trying to put the house back together since Eddie had to clear out the three bedrooms to do the rearranging. The beds, dressers, clothes and desks are all in place now, but there is somehow so much left over and most of it has overwhelmed the kitchen and living room! I'm glad to have lots to keep me busy, I think I'd go crazy waiting for five more days without something to keep me occupied!

Eddie is off!

2009-03-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

Eddies off and flying now. I took him to the airport late last night and he should be in Quito by 1:45 EST. Then it's on to Santo Doming de los Colorados again to pick up the 5 older kids. They'll go down to Guayaquil to spend two days with Steven (the one who is staying behind for now) and then back to Santo Domingo to pack! The only thing we're still stressing about is whether or not the Dr. will give us the letter we need so that Diana can fly while pregnant. Ok, there's a bigger worry than that one...it's whether or not Diana is actually going to get on the plane. She's been a bit hesitant all along, but we really hopes she takes the leap and chooses to put what's best for her and her baby's future first. They will all fly back on the 11th and stay two nights in Los Angeles with Eddie's sister (and theirs) Maria. Then on to Salt Lake on the 13th (yes, I know it's friday the 13th, but I have bigger and more realistic worries to fucus on than that!). I'll keep you posted when I hear from Eddie!

Roller coaster ride

2009-03-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, today has been such a roller coaster ride of disappointment and excitement. It started off with two donation requests and english tutoring for the youngest all falling through and ended with getting a freezer, the rest of the mattresses we needed and a generous gift card to IKEA donated to us. Then to top it off, someone delivered a card to our house tonight with a donation in it that is large enough to pay for half the cost of the plane tickets for the kids! All of these donations have been a huge relief to us. When we started this process and committed to helping these kids Eddie and I both had jobs, so refinancing the house to pay for the expenses and to add onto it was reasonable. Since then though, I've been laid-off twice and Eddie has been laid-off since November (it's a terrible time to be in the field of architecture).We have realized that we're not going to be able to do this all on our own. It feels wonderful to know that there are other people that are willing to give these children a better life along with us!

You guys are good people

2009-03-01T23:37:00.001-07:00

We've started receiving donations of clothes, bedding, books, gift cards and baby things from friends at our church and friends of theirs that have been forwarded a needs list that we sent to only three people. The generosity of our friends and their friends, who don't even know us, is amazing! We appreciate so much the love and support that is being shown us by our local community and this "virtual" community that we are all connected through. This is a huge challenge that we are taking on and it feels wonderful to know that we are not alone in helping these children on their way to a safe and healthy life.

Sincerely....Thank you!

Squishing everyone in

2009-02-23T20:34:00.001-07:00

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.

Attorney from heaven

2009-02-09T22:31:00.001-07:00

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?

It's a ....VAN!

2009-02-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Tickets for trip #2

2009-02-03T22:35:00.001-07:00

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.

Home again

2009-01-28T06:55:00.000-07:00

We just got back to Utah on sunday, but have both been sick since then so I haven't posted anything yet. The rest of our trip went really quickly. It was great to spend a couple of more days with all of the children, but then we were off to Quito to start our long trip home. Now that we're here, we've started working out their options for school, healthcare,and looking into possible social security benefits from their father.

We are anxious to buy their plane tickets to come the first week of March, but the family that the youngest, Steven, lives with doesn't want to let him come, so we're waiting to get the tickets. Legally Eddie is his guardian, but they only cooperated with the guardianship and citizenship because he assured them that we would force him to come. But once Eddie saw how they lived (8 people in a one room concrete block house in the campos outside of Guayaquil), he changed his mind. They have had Steven since he was born and really love him, so it is hard to consider taking him away. But Eddie feels that it is more important the he be with his brothers and sisters here where his has the chance for a better life. He is going to talk to them again today to see if he can get them to understand that Steven would be coming to a home where he is surrounded by family who love him and can offer him great opportunities as well. Everyday we wait, the tickets get more expensive since we want to get the kids here earlier than we had originally planned. In order for them to leave Ecuador, they have to be with Eddie, since he is their legal guardian. And he has to have a letter from the court giving him permission to leave the country with them. It would be too expensive to have them come in separate trips because of the legal and airline ticket costs, but we have to make sure that Diane (16) is here six weeks before the third week in April...because she's pregnant. Yep, we had hoped the girls would be able to avoid this exact situation by coming here, but we were too late. So, getting her here before her 34th week of pregnancy is driving our schedule. If she doesn't have the baby here, she won't be able to come at all. In order for her child to get citizenship if it is born outside the U.S., she would have had to live here in the U.S. for 5 years before the child was born. We have so much to do to get ready for them all to come here!

Success at the Consulate in Guayaquil!

2009-01-21T19:10:00.002-07:00

We all went to the Consulate yesterday (by all, I mean all of the people that needed to be there and everyone who just wanted to cram into the van we rented, I think at one point there were 18 people in it) and everything went very smoothly. All of their Consular Report of Birth Abroad applications and Passport applications were accepted. So, they are officially U.S. citizens now!!!! (Endless thanks go to Shawn Tribe in Citizen Services for her endless patience with my endless questions). Their certificates and passports will come in 8-10 days. We´ll have our lawyer do the document with the local court that will give Eddie permission to take them out of the country, so everything will be ready for when he comes back for them in 4-6 weeks. While we´ve been in Guayaquil, we´ve been staying at a small hotel on a hill above the city, with just us and the children. This is their first stay in a hotel and they are enjoying the quiet of the garden here (and of course the pool). When we´ve been in Santo Domingo de los Colorados we´re surrounded by other relatives and friends (plus the constant noise of the city, radios, cars, chickens....), so now we are finally getting to get to know them better and to tell them more about what their lives will be like in Utah.

It's like being in another country....

2009-01-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it safely down here without any problems. Eddie´s cousin, Fabian, his family and the children met us at the airport. It took two hours to get out of the Quito city limits and then two more down insainly steep and wet mountain roads. Lanes and road rules are optional here, so the trip was interesting to say the least. Santo Domingo de los Colorados is a medium size city, kind of like Framingham, Ma. or Salt Lake if you replaced all of the nieghborhoods and businesses with the most run down neighborhoods of a big city. We ended up staying in a hotel near Fabian´s house and it isn´t so bad, it´s more like a hostel back in the states.

So, I have to tell you about the kids. It is very hard to think of them as Eddie´s siblings, they are soooo small ! The oldest, Nancy, will be 18 in three weeks and is the same exact size as Fabian´s 9 year old daughter! None of the clothes we brought for her fit at all and a few fit Diana (almost 17), but that´s only because she is pregnant. Nothing for the boys over the size 12-14´s fit either. They are all kind, considerate and get along with each other well. If any of the girls want to sit down, a boy immediately pops up out of their seat. They are used to having chores to do, and don´t complain when asked to do something. They are content with their lives here and feel that they are being taken care of really well, especially compared to their last guardian. Fabian says he took them from the last place when he saw how sick and small they all looked because they were hardly fed and slept on the floor. Let me tell you a little about each of them. Nancy has always been the caretaker, she is shy, kind and a very good student (she has had two english classes as well). She and Fabian´s daughter are always together, talking and holding on to each other. Diana is more independant, doesn´t like to do the cooking and as Fabian says, she seems to rely on her good looks too much. Miguel (15) seems comfortable with himself (his hair is always carefully gelled) is friendly and helpful. Marlon (13) just goes with the flow and watches everyone else. Jefferson (11) is quiet, but smiles easily and enjoys being around the older kids, he is never more than two feet away from Eddie. We haven´t met the youngest boy yet, Steven (8), we´ll meet him tomorrow in Guayaquil. Eddie could tell you more about the kid´s personalities, because he´s spent more time with them (while I´ve been in bed) and usually rides with them in the bed of the truck to go everywhere. We took them to buy new shoes yesterday morning, their choices were very telling about their personalities: Nancy - functional slip on keds, Diana - silver flats, Miguel - beige leather dress shoes, Marlon and Jefferson - sneaker/hiking shoes. We ended up buying shoes for Fabian´s three kids and his wife and even his god-son, the total was $90. We have lots of pictures so far, but no way to download them from our camera!

I will write more if our next hotel has internet. Sorry this is so short and choppy, but it´s almost weird to be writing in english. I´ve already gotten used to speaking in very simple spanish, since I have a limited vocabulary I have to be really creative in expressing what I want to say. Like when I was trying to say that I have a twin sister, I had to explain that I have a sister who was born on the same day as me and we are identical. Anyway, I hope everything is going well for all of you. Feel free to write to us!

On the move...finally!

2009-01-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

Eddie and I are leaving for Ecuador tonight. We'll be at the U.S. Consulate all day tuesday to submit the 13 separate applications we are doing. I've been having the most vivid dreams the last couple of nights that I find the perfect sized luggage (the restrictions are so tight now!), finally meet the children and then miraculously move into a mansion for the same price as our 1100 sq.ft. house costs us right now! It's so exciting to get to see one of those themes become reality. Keep your fingers crossed for us that our nine months of hard work pay off at the consulate and they accept our applications without any problems and that our lawyer can get the final guardianship papers delivered to us before our appointment! We'll be posting during our trip if we have internet access.
Thanks for the support you've given us and for being interested in helping these children have a better life!

Are we there yet?

2009-01-11T23:43:00.000-07:00

Four days and counting down until we leave for Ecuador!

Last night Eddie got to speak with each of the five older children briefly for the first time ever. They finally got the package a couple of days ago that we sent last month. Eddie says they all sounded shy, but excited about our trip to see them. We were going to be staying at a hotel the first night, then the cousin they live was going to come get us the next day from Quito, but now they all want to come meet us at the airport and have us stay with them.

Guardianship:
Our lawyer emailed us a copy of the custody papers signed by the Judge on thursday!!!!! She's having them translated to English for us to use here in the States.

Citizenship:
After a few moments of panic when the Consulate emailed us that they'd be closed on the day we'd planned to go in (the 19th), put us with a totally new caseworker, then said they had no appointments the next day either...they finally worked it out for us to come in on the 20th and have the casework that we've had for the last 8 months.

We are half packed and I can't wait to get going, the waiting is miserable!

Holiday surprise

2008-12-31T22:05:00.002-07:00

Eddie had a long conversation on yesterday with the cousin's wife that the five older children live with. She said they haven't gotten our letter yet! So he had to tell her about our trip next month for the first time. Luckily, they seem to be prepared to spend the whole week with us to get all of the paperwork completed. So, we have a tentative plan worked out for getting from Quito to Santo Domingo de los Colorados to Guayaquil and back again. Now we need to pin down hotel reservations for us and the children in Guayaquil. She also gave us all of their shoe sizes, but I'm not sure if they are in "European" or "Continental" sizing in order to convert to U.S. Now we are just waiting to hear from our lawyer about a final date to get the guardianship papers signed (the courts have been closed for the holidays down there too). Oh, did we mention that she also told us that one of the girls is pregnant!!!

Our "Hello there, we're the weird Americans who are kidnapping you" package

2008-12-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

I'm so thrilled to see how many members we have on our Facebook Cause!!!

Yesterday we send a package to the Granda kids with a letter of introduction (since we aren't really sure what they have been told yet), photos of all of their family members here and a book about Utah. We wanted to send clothes and shoes, but shipping is so expensive (the cost to send a 10lb. package costs about $100) and Ecuadorian customs doesn't allow the shipping of "leather or rubber shoes"...odd huh? (Not as strange as not allowing unrefined salt). But, we will be bringing it all with us in January.

Guardianship in Ecuador going well

2008-11-30T22:41:00.001-07:00

OK, the two relatives that the kids live with both went into court on friday to give their statements for the guardianship proceedings. Our lawyer, the fabulous Priscila Sanchez, said that Eddie's guardianship could be official as early as two weeks from now!!!

Possible change in schedule: We had originally been planning to bring them here in May thinking that their school year ended at the same time as ours. We've learned that the kids' school year ends in January. So, we can bring them here earlier and get them right into school. It would be a repeat of the same school year for a couple of months, but it would give them a chance to adjust to the language without the pressure of being graded (we'd make sure the school district let them "audit" the classes). This way they would have close to 6 months before the next school year to improve their english. We have three school districts in the valley that we can choose from to find the best fit for each of them. Luckily, open enrollment applications aren't due until after our trip to meet the kids, so we'll know more about what their grade levels and interest are.

Plane tickets, trip #1

2008-11-17T13:15:00.001-07:00

The plane tickets have been bought!!! We'll be flying into Quito on Jan. 16th (via Los Angeles and Panama) and leaving on January 24th.

2008-10-25T20:38:00.000-06:00

Citizenship:

Our caseworker at the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil emailed on friday to say she's received all of the final DNA documents and wants to know when we can come in! Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure Eddie has to have guardianship of the kids before we can apply for their U.S. Passports, which we plan on doing at the same time as the Consular Reports of Birth (which no guardian is required for). So, we have to wait for the guardianship. But, we're going to double check just in case.

Guardianship:
Eddie heard from our lawyer today, she has all of the documents we've sent to her and is going into the court on wed. to file the petition for guardianship. So, we should know then about how long it will be until it will be finalized. We are so excited to be getting closer to having all of the paperwork out of the way. Unfortunately, since I last looked at plane tickets a month ago, the prices have gone up $200 each, even on Copa Airlines (out of Panama) and Delta has the most confusing new system for using skymiles that will rule that option out! Ugh, we just want to get there and be able to finally meet all of the kids!!!!

2008-10-16T10:04:00.000-06:00

Guardianship:

Here is an email Eddie received from our lawyer in Ecuador this morning:

"Yes Mr. Granda, the money was transferred to my account and I just received all your documents. The only thing left is the birth certificates. When I receive them I will present the request at the court in El Oro. I will update you with any new information and when I receive the other documentation. I will have everything ready and I will update you next week. I am starting everything and the court request is almost ready to file next week."

We wired $300 down to Eddie's cousin on monday so that he could close his shop for the day and travel to three different cities to gather the children's birth certificates and their parent's death certificates (again). Two months ago, those were the only original documents we had in our possession that our lawyer needed, and we were working on getting all the other documents from U.S. sources. But, since they were stolen with everything else, we have to get them again. One step forward, two steps back!

2008-10-09T21:53:00.001-06:00

Guardianship:
Eddie just returned from a day-trip over to Los Angeles. He was able to get the last of the documents that our lawyer needs to get things moving - the Power of Attorney. So, now we have everything she needs to give to the court for guardianship except for the kids original birth certificates and their parent's death certificates that were stolen.

Citizenship:
Our caseworker at the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil got an answer back from the legal dept. in DC about exactly what they want from the DNA lab to finally certify the kid's paternity as accepted. I've forwarded the response to Affiliated Genetics, so within a week we will have that piece of the puzzle in place.

Yay, another productive week!

2008-09-28T18:08:00.000-06:00

Good news for in both categories!

Guardianship:
We can pay our lawyer in Ecuador now!!!!! The money for our loan came through on friday, so we can finally pay our Saint of a lawyer (I know that word in front of "lawyer" seems crazy, but it's true), who has done a lot for us already.

Citizenship:
Since we have the money from our loan, we paid up on friday and got the results. All six children are 99.7% - 99.9% likely to be half-siblings of Eddie (that's how the tests results are worded). This is fabulous news, because that means that the children have that same percentage likelyhood of having the same father as Eddie, which is what the tests were done to prove in the first place. Since we are claiming their right to U.S. citizenship through their U.S. citizen father. We needed to prove that they were his and the consulate wouldn't accept just their birth certificates with his name and signature on them as full proof (because their mother wasn't married to their father. Now we just need the consulates legal office to officially accept the use of Eddie as the representative for the father's DNA and give us some sort of document stating that they accept, so we can proceed to trying up any more loose ends before we schedule a date to fly down there to Guayaquil.

2008-09-24T23:41:00.001-06:00

Things are finally moving along again!
Guardianship:
After calling a dozen times in a row, Eddie finally got through to a real person at the Ecuadorian Consulate in Los Angeles. He was able to confirm that they received his paperwork (a month ago mind you) for the Power of Attorney, so our Lawyer in Ecuador can be his representative in the guardianship proceedings. He scheduled an appointment to go in a sign it all for Oct. 9th and bought a plane ticket.

Citizenship:
KC at Affiliated Genetics called to say that the DNA testing and comparisons are ready for us. She couldn't give us the final results, because we have to make our final payment ($1250), but hinted that everything looked good. We closed on our home refinance on Monday, but it the money won't be deposited into our bank account until friday. So, we have to wait patiently for a couple of days until we can pay to get the final results!

Brief History Summary

2008-09-10T12:39:00.001-06:00

Eddie's father passed away 7 years ago, leaving 6 children in Ecuador to be raised by relatives there. The children's mother had already passed away less than six months earlier. We want to bring them here to Utah to live with our family. We are in the process of working with the U.S. Consulate in Ecuador to establish their citizenship and get them passports (we are applying for their 'Consular Report of Birth Abroad', which their father could have done easily any time before he died). We also have a lawyer there working to establish legal guardianship of the children for Eddie, since he is their half-brother and is over 18. Once the guardianship is secured, we can fly down there for a couple of weeks to apply for the CRBA's at the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil. Depending on if we get those on the first try, we can then make plans to bring them all here.
All that is slowing us down is red tape, Fedex and enough money: $2000 for the lawyer, $1950 for the DNA testing, money for the (9) plane tickets at $900 ea., a mini-van, $2000 in Consulate fees, about $6000 for two trips down there and an addition to our 1100 sq.ft. house!

2008-09-10T11:20:00.000-06:00

Citizenship Update:
All of the kids have had their DNA samples taken and the kits are on their way via Fedex (worry, worry) back to Affiliated Genetics here in Salt Lake!

2008-09-02T16:59:00.001-06:00

Citizenship:
Whoo, hoo! Fedex called to confirm that the DNA testing kits were delivered to the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil!!! The rep. wasn't able to tell me anything about it until today, when they got the information. Apparently the reason the package was delayed for over two weeks at the customs office in Ecuador was that it was CLOSED from Aug. 11-30th for repairs. How in the world could Fedex not get any info about something that vital, way to know your business Fedex.
Now we need to schedule an appointment for the kids to meet with the consulate approved Dr. to have the cheek swabs completed. They will have to travel the five or six hours down to Guayaquil from Santo Domingo de los Colorados with cousin that they live with and stay overnight.

Guardianship:
We've still not been able to get in contact with a live person at the Ecuadorian Consulate in Los Angeles.

2008-08-24T00:21:00.001-06:00

Status Update:
Citizenship:
In order for the children's to obtain U.S. citizenship via their deceased
father, they have to be "legitimized". Since the parents were not married and father is not alive to legally claim the children, the Consulate is requiring that the kid's relationship to their citizen father be proven by DNA testing. Two months ago we were told that all we needed were their Ecuadorian birth certificates, since he had signed each of them, therefore claiming paternity. So, we need to prove that the kids have their father's DNA. Since we don't want to exhume the father's body in Ecuador, the testing company says we should be able to simply prove that they are Eddie's half-siblings. Though the legal department has not yet formally approved that route, we've gone ahead with testing. The only problem we think they would have with the plan is if they won't accept Eddie's birth certificate as enough proof that he too has the DNA of the father. But, since it is not his parentage that is required to be proven (because he is not applying for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad) for their citizenship, we really hope they will accept his parentage as fact.
Sooooo, last saturday Eddie, two of his full-siblings, and their Mother were all tested. The lab will map out their DNA, then subtract their Mother's contribution to create a "Reconstruction" (as they called it) of the Father's DNA. That will then be compared to the children's mapping. If the results aren't conclusive, we will test the children's mother's side of the family to be able to reconstruct her contribution and subtract it from their maps (like they'll do for Eddie's family). Right now all we're waiting on is FedEx to deliver the sample kits to the consulate in Ecuador to that the kid's can be brought down there (6 hours away) to have their cheek swabs done. The package was sent 14 days ago and has been stuck in customs awaiting "clearance" since the 13th! Customs will not tell FedEx how much longer it will be. So, we just have to wait. This testing put us behind schedule by a month with the best case scenario, now it looks like it will be two more months. With our 18th birthday deadline to have the citizenship secured for the oldest girl looming ahead (in Feb.), we are getting worried.
Guardianship:
Our lawyer in Ecuador is waiting for Eddie's Power of Attorney paperwork to be returned to her, along with his translated birth certificate and U.S. driver license with Apostilles. She can't begin to file anything without them. He's sent everything to the Ecuadorian consulate in LA that they need to create that document. They told him to call them the day after he sent it (a week ago) to schedule a day to fly out there to sign it, but he cannot get through to anyone there now!

How you can contribute

2008-03-26T21:00:00.004-06:00

Starting on this adventure, to bring these children here, we had no idea how life changing the process would be. Unfortunately, we didn't anticipate all of the initial expenses either! We guessed that we would need to rely on the kindness of others when Eddie was laid-off this winter (after I'd been laid-off twice in the previous year). We've had lots of unexpected expenses along the way, but felt strongly that we needed to push ahead regardless. The amount of support and help that our friends, family and even strangers have shared with has been amazing and has boosted our spirits when we've felt overwhelmed by it all.

I have so many people wanting to know how they can help that my sister suggested I put all the ways to help in one place:

Our church has taken us on as part of one of their Social Action programs, Family-Caring-for-Family, and is accepting donations on our behalf.

You can mail or drop off checks, gift certificates or gift cards to:

South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society
c/o Family-Caring-for-Family/Grandas
6876 S. Highland Drive (2000 E.)
Salt Lake City, Ut 84121
(Please include your name and address if you would like a donation receipt
mailed to you for your tax records)

You can donate at our Facebook site: www.causes.com/GrandaCause

(The on-line receipt is also your donation receipt for tax purposes)

You can also donate by using one of the Paypal links below.

(The on-line receipt is also your donation receipt for tax purposes, there are links to
donate each month for a year and links for one time donations)

(12) Monthly donations of $150

(12) Monthly donations of $100

(12) Monthly donations of $75

(12) Monthly donations of $50

(12) Monthly donations of $25

(12) Monthly donations of $10

(1) Donation of $100

(1) Donation of $75

(1) Donation of $50

(1) Donation of $25

(1) Donation of $20

(1) Donation of $15

(1) Donation of $10

Enter your own amount!