[Disneycrazed]

Originally Posted by jeri11

although I never stayed at the Case Grande...
we stayed at the westin on our visits...
it makes me so sad to think of the emptiness of these hotels...
some of the best memories of my life were at the westin on my trips..
meeting all the special people on my journey and being with my baby....
in fact i have dreams almost everynight about packing, traveling, talking to others at the hotel...etc...
It was all so magical and surreal...
I pray every day for adoptions to start again very soon!

We stayed at the Westin also and you took the words right out of my mouth

[havensd]

We always stayed at the Westin and have such wonderful memories of spending time with our children there. I can still remember the smell of the hotel and picture all of the beautiful decorations and hear the Christmas carols playing in the lobby. The staff was always so warm and accomodating to the families and I loved seeing all of the families with their beautiful children. Some of my dearest friends I met right there in the family room on the 6th floor. I heard recently that the Westin no longer has the 6th floor designated to adopting families because there isn't a need for that many rooms to be set aside. So sad.

[lcikra00]

I stayed at Casa Grande 7 times, the last being in November 08 and although it was still buzzing slightly then, I could definitely feel the downturn. It makes me so sad that no more children will be staying there with their parents that fly far and wide to visit, but I will say that our family will go back and stay there. We feel so connected to Casa Grande. It was a huge part of our adoption journey.

[jimanddarla]

Hi Scott. Thank you for the post. It confirms what many of us suspected would happen when adoptions were shut down.

I want to post some pictures from our visit there in February. I was just telling Abraham tonight a "bedtime story" of our visit trip in February of 07, which was the first time we met him.
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[spragup]

What a sureal experience that must be...I know what we used to be running around here with our hands full of adoption case results are now just one trickling in now and then...our desks are now full of regular immigration cases from other countries...we miss the babies coming across our desks...the pictures, the emails from parents so excited they forget their address....we hope and pray for all the babies ...that this again will fill our lab doors here...
love these kids...
~pat~

[TenleysDaddy]

Hi everyone,
I must apologize for my depressing post of the Casa Grande.
As I traveled home and was met by loving wife and my beautiful little smiling Guatemalan Princess Tenley.
As they slept on the long ride home from the airport back into the mountains towards my home I thought to myself...........you know, Casa Grande is not a ghost town, it really was like just a holding areas for dreams waiting to start. I found great solice in the fact that one could look at the emptiness of Casa Grande as a little success story. Our kids are home and not awaiting pink at Casa Grande no more.
So with that being said, I wish Casa Grande was busy and filled to the doors with kids in process and coming home but we all know.........its going to be awhile before that happens again.
So here is what this all mean to me. We must look at our beautiful sons and daughters and remember the pain, longing and hope associated with our experience with Guatemala's adoption process, consider an empty and lonely Casa Grande, one where if you listen hard enough you can still see the families and still here the laughters and the cries from our soon to be children..............take extra time today to consider where they........and we have come from and hug and kiss your little Guatemalan a little longer today than you might have yesterday. Because if we lose sight of where we have come from as families, we will lose sight of the endless horizons our family will walk into hand in hand called our future.
God bless,
Scott

[lcikra00]

OMG!!!! You need to start writing books!!!! Are you an author by trade??

[guatemommy]

Your original post and the follow-up are so well-written and express so many of the positives and negatives of our adoption processes. Thank you for putting your thoughts into words for us to share.

[TenleysDaddy]

Ha ha......no not an author, I just speaking from the heart and let it sing out. I'm a firefighter by trade, but 1. I'm husband to Carmen 2, Daddy to Tenley............and 1 and 2 are my lifes joys and blessings.

Thanks for posting pictures too.....its so good to see the good ole days.

[Mary Mulcahy]

Here are some of my favorites:

1. The staircase with my new son December 22, 2002

2. With my son Ricco on the terrace in November of 2004

3. Ricco with the famous Gloria.

Mary

[coachmom]

I wonder how the economy there has been hit by all this and saddened that business people have probably not been able to appeal to the government to re-start adoptions.
I am sure American contributed many jobs through adoption.
Coachmom

[foxey13]

Originally Posted by TenleysDaddy

I heard a child cry today when she bumped her head on a chair and it was music to my ears but the cry faded into the emptiness of the hotel. I searched out the child and found a mom and daughter coming back from the embassy.............mom was all smiles and this warmed my heart immensly..............
There is hope..........
Scott

And what a GREAT duo to see. I know who that was and they had been in process for almost 2 years!

[becky]

Scott,

Your posts are beautiful and very sad. What also makes me sad is to see some of you post that you rarely ever come here any more!

I realize that it's not the same forum that it was when everyone was going through the process. But it is still a place of support and love. Most of us are blessed to be raising wonderful children born in Guatemala. We all share a common bond. We all need to be here to support one another as we go through life together with our children.

Even though my daughter is almost 7 years old I visit this board 2 times a day, every day. Even though the people who were on here 8-9 years ago when I adopted are for the most part long gone, I still feel drawn to this special community.

I guess I am just hoping that you all stay...no matter whether you are still 'in the process' of adopting, or if you are home and maybe have been home a long time.

I see some of the other forums that are just plain empty...I hope Guatemala never becomes that way.

Have a blessed day...

[coachmom]

I still come here even though our adoption has been 3 years now finished and we are doing a Russian adoption. This forum has been a great place to learn, laugh,cry, and pray with each other. I pray that all these children will find their forever home soon!
Coachmom