Dotson Family Adoption

Christmas in America

dotsonadoption — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:45:43 +0000

Here are a few pictures of our first Christmas together as a family. Christmas in Brazil is celebrated in the same form and fashion as Christmas in America. Instead of the emphasis being on “Papa Noel”, we placed the emphasis on Jesus. It is fun having young children in the house at Christmas time and seeing their faces light up when they open their presents.

To God be the Glory!

Dean

Many Firsts

dotsonadoption — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:46:44 +0000

We have been home for 23 days now and the kids are adjusting to our family and the American culture very well. We are starting to establish some form of routine around our house which is good for everyone . Along the way our children have experienced many 1st. We would like to share some of them with you. The picture at the top of this blog is our first time to attend worship together in the U.S. and together as a family. (Derek, our oldest, did not make the trip to Brazil)

This picture was taken in the car on our way to their first day at school. Our children love school! At least that is what they tell us . They have made many new friends and are thriving in the school environment. Veronica had been begging to go to school since before we left Brazil.

This may not be the first time they had ever flown a kite, but it was the first time they had flown one in America. They had a blast chasing each other around the yard.

Please do not laugh at this next picture, but this is the first snow that our kids had ever seen. Even though it was only a dusting of snow that barely covered the deck, they thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. How refreshing it is to see things through the eyes of a young child. No wonder Jesus loved the children so much, they see the beauty in everything!

To God be the Glory,

Dean

Home Sweet Home!

dotsonadoption — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:32:31 +0000

How sweet it is to be home!! Here is the first picture of all of our children together. What a wonderful work that God has done in our lives!

I am so sorry for the delay in sending this post out. Our final days in Brazil were crazy to say the least and we have been going non-stop ever since.

Rio seemed to be a blur for us. We arrived late on Wednesday evening and had to be up before the chickens the next morning to go to the American Consulate for the children’s visas. We finished up before noon and were told that they would call us when the visas were ready. We received a phone call that evening telling us that we could pick up our documents the next day, Friday, at 3pm. God provided us with the visas right on time! Our flight home was scheduled to fly out at 10:30pm the same day. While I went to the Consulate to pick up the visas, the kids spent their final hours in Rio swimming in the pool at our hotel. They love the water! We left the hotel at 7:30pm headed on the final leg of our journey; HOME. Did I mention that we were flying “stand by”? Once again, God proved to us that He is faithful and always in control by blessing us with available seats for the flight home. Not only did He provide us with seats, but He provided 6 seats that were together! What an awesome God we serve! Our flight took off from Rio at 10:30pm and arrived in Atlanta at 5:30am Saturday morning, November 20th.

To God be all the Glory!!!

Dean

Airplane? No problemo

dotsonadoption — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:33:22 +0000

We had mentioned in earlier blogs that our oldest, Veronica, had a fear of flying. Well a picture is worth a thousand words! We are leaving Curitiba for Rio de Janeiro to the final leg of our trip. Thank you for praying that our daughter would overcome her fear of flying. As you can see, God delivered once again!

And then there were Seven

dotsonadoption — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:38:42 +0000

I am proud to let you know that our adoption is now final! Yesterday, November 9th, Jena and I met with the judge and D.A. of Catanduvas, Brasil to finalize the adoption of our children. We had a brief meeting with both officials, took care of some paperwork, stopped by the recorders office to re-issue birth certificates and we were finished. It was a simple process that took about 3 hours. God blessed us with some amazing people through the process at Catanduvas. They were very supportive and went out of their way to make sure the process went smooth and quick. The only thing that took so long was the trip across the state of Parana. It took 6 hours one way to cross 3 different mountain ranges and pass a gazillion semi trucks . It was worth every last kilometer (miles for US citizens). God has grown our family from 4 to 7. Next step is to get the children their passports and visas and then we head home to the US.

To God be the Glory!!!

Dean

Lesson In The Jungle

dotsonadoption — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:51:43 +0000

As most of you know, Veronica is terrified of flying. We keep talking to her and reassuring her that all will be ok. One day we were out in the jungle, playing on the swing. The swing is a piece of wood tied on a rope that swings out over this nasty pond. The kids love to go out there and swing Well, one day I was out there with them and they started begging me to get on the swing. I was like…..heck no! First of all, all I could think about was what if that rope broke and I landed in that water. I knew I would just die right there. I can’t imagine being in that yucky stuff trying to get out Secondly, you have to be careful not to hit trees while you are swinging, and finally it is so low you have to keep your feet up high in order not to hit anything. Veronica kept begging me and begging me to please swing. So I thought I would use this to teach her a lesson. I told her how afraid I was of swinging on this thing. But because she wanted me to do it, I would do it just for her. But if I could do this being so afraid then she could get on a plane and fly for me. Well, I got on the dumb swing and no it did not break and I did not fall in that nasty water. I did scream the all time and got off as soon as I could. The kids just laughed at me and thought it was hilarious. But later on, Veronica told Carolyn about me and the swing and told her that her mom had done that just for her. So I guess I got my point across I think it was a turning point in getting over her fear of flying

Trip to the Airport

dotsonadoption — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:43:40 +0000

We took the kids to the airport the other day. Veronica has been very scared about flying home. We knew she would be fine but Daisy, the social worker, wasn’t too sure. Vanessa and Lucas were hoping that we were flying home that day. O how Em and I wished the same thing Veronica thought the airport and planes were very cool. We took lots of pictures and video and the kids were so excited to share them with Daisy the next week. We keep telling the kids that they get food on the plane, they can watch movies and listen to music. They will be fine. It is just the fear of the unknown for them.

Jena~

Horsing Around

dotsonadoption — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:23:28 +0000

Here are a few pix of our kids riding horses. One of the things they have always wanted to do is ride a horse. Thanks to the Atkinson’s, that wish has come true! The Atkinson’s have several horses and their son, Eli, was kind enough to bring a couple of them down for the kids to ride. The kids had a blast. For many people on the mountain a horse is the only form of transportation they have. Sounds crazy, but true. It is kinda of funny to drive past the local pool hall and see several horses tied up out front. Life around here is at a much slower pace than at home. I kinda like it . We have so much to be thankful for.

God is so good!

Dean

Wake up Call

dotsonadoption — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:59:46 +0000

We never know what surprises are in store for us from day to day. This is a perfect example of what our lives have become . The other morning we were laying in bed. We wake up to all kinds of birds, roosters, and other sounds in the mornings. But one morning, we heard a bird and we thought it sounded very loud. We were still half asleep so it took us awhile to figure it out. But there was a bird in our room, flying around. I just freaked out to say the least. I jumped under the covers hoping it wouldn’t land on my head. Dean got up and tried to shoo it out. We have all kinds of cracks and holes everywhere so we are thinking it somehow got in through one of those. Anyway, it flew out thank goodness and we were wide awake by then

Jena~

Happy Birthday Vanessa!

dotsonadoption — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:54:57 +0000

Vanessa celebrated her 9th birthday on Thursday, Oct. 21st. We were so happy to be able to share this day with her. I had brought a cake mix and icing plus balloons and streamers from the states. There is a pavilion here close to us that we used to have her a little birthday party here. With our kids and the Atkinson kids, we had more than enough kids to have a party We decorated the best we could. It was almost impossible with the tape that I had to buy here. But we made do and everything turned out nice. We blew up tons of balloons and the kids went crazy with all of them. We sang Happy Birthday in Portuguese and then in English. Vanessa was very surprised and overwhelmed with everything. It was a great afternoon of the kids just hanging out and playing. Also, Em, Veronica and myself made Brigardellas (?). It is a traditional Brazilian candy that they always have for their birthdays. It is made of butter, chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. We rolled it in balls and then rolled the balls in sprinkles. They are very sweet but good. All in all it was a great party Looking forward to celebrating many more with her as well as the rest of our new ones .

Jena~