The Tucker Blog

Cliffhanger

2011-12-05T23:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, I think it’s time to update the blog. I was prettygood at updating it while we were in the DR, but I kind of left it hanging.That’s the problem with multiple social media sites. I updated things on Facebook,but I never got around to the blog. I have now been contacted by enough peoplewho wondered what happened that I think I need to put it here. So we made itback. We have been here in Denver for the last month and things are goinggreat. But more on that later. First, a little catch-up …

The last few days in the DR were an absolute whirlwind. Wefinally received the birth certificate authorization from the Junta onThursday, 10/27. I’m pretty sure this is when we officially and legally becameher parents. From there we went immediately to the local government office inthe town Daniela was born to get the actual birth certificate. They originallysaid it would be ready the following Tuesday afternoon. But after returning acouple hours later to speak with the Director and give here our whole story,she agreed to have it ready the following morning. Funny story – when I went topick it up on Friday morning, literally within a minute of printing the birthcertificate the power went out, which is quite common there. But the lady saidI was lucky it was printed because they didn’t have any gas for the generatorand it could be a few hours before they have power again.

Anyway, from there we (Daniela and I) made a quick stopoverat an office to get the birth certificates legalized and then went over to thepassport office to get her Dominican passport. Fortunately we got there justbefore noon so we could still get the same day service. So a few hours later wehad the passport in hand. This was an emotional step for me because it was thefirst time I saw her name as Daniela Tucker with her little picture right nextto it. Something about that … So from there we tried to go over to the Embassyto get our appointment letter which would allow us to get the medical appointmentfirst thing Monday morning, however we found out it closes at noon on Fridays,so we were done for the weekend, but really pleased with how things were finallymoving.

So first thing Monday morning, about 6:30am, Daniela and Iarrived at the US Embassy in Santo Domingo. I hadn’t had a chance to confirmwith our contact there because it closed early Friday. So we waited outside.The line there is always huge with people seeking different visas to visit theUnited States. But since we didn’t have an appointment, we had to wait for ourcontact to arrive at the office. Half hour goes by, and the sun starts peakingover a neighboring building. Another half hour, still no word. Another halfhour, and I’m sweating, Dani is getting restless, and I’m begging to moveinside, but they can’t. Finally, after about 2 hours of waiting, they let memove inside to the air conditioning, but still no word from the contact. Finally,at 9am, after 2.5 hours of waiting, we were told to go back outside to a windowwhere we could get the appointment letter, which we did.

After getting that, we rushed over to the medical officewhere everyone seeking a visa must have a consultation. Because we were gettingthere later in the morning, it was pretty packed, hot, and sweaty. Afterfinding out I could only pay in cash and walking about 8 blocks round-trip,carrying Dani, to get money from an ATM, I finally made it to the window. Afterregistering and paying, the lady said I could pick up the results on Friday (itis Monday at this point). So again I explain our situation and she says she’llsee what she can do. A few minutes later a lady came over and it was like theRed Sea parting. She basically escorted us directly to a doctor and to thefront of each line. I almost felt bad. The only difficult part was she had toget 4 shots (not fun for her … or me), but otherwise within 30 minutes we weredone and they said they would have the results in an hour … awesome! And sureenough, an hour later they had them. I was pretty dumbstruck at this point,because this is just not how things work here. All we had left was the Visainterview and we were done.

We called our Embassy rep hoping we could get in right away.She said she couldn’t do it that afternoon, but first thing the followingmorning and we would get the Visa then. So after speaking with Delta andlearning the afternoon of the next day would have no fare difference, we jumpedon it and booked the tickets.

So first thing the next morning Daniela and I were onceagain at the Embassy. This time we had a letter so we were immediately let into a room filled with visa applicants and numbers just constantly being called.After about an hour of waiting, we were called and met with our Embassy rep. Wegave her all the paperwork and she said we could sit down again and she’d callus. About 30 minutes later we were called and a different representative wentthrough the paperwork, had me raise my right hand and swear it was all true, signeda few things, and then she approved her visa. She then said we could come backin the afternoon to get the Visa because they were having problems with thesystem. Once again, after explaining that we had a flight planned thatafternoon, she said she would see what she could do. This time we waited forabout 2 nerve-racking hours, before finally being called up and we had the Visain hand. From there we rushed home to pick up Mercy, Taryn, James, and Williamand were off to the airport.

We got there plenty early, which was a good thing. Therewere a lot of hoops to go through in getting a ticket, getting Mercy and William,who had been there for over 5 months, through immigration, and of course makingsure we had everything we needed for Daniela. But we eventually made it to thegate. The flight went great and everyone slept well. Again, it was quiteemotional finally taking off with all of us together and returning home. Everythingabout it felt surreal. I knew it was one of those days we would never forgetand I just wanted to soak it all in.

So we arrived in Atlanta and at immigration we were directedto an office to present all the visa paperwork. After speaking briefly with anofficer, who was great, he stamped her passport and visa and at that moment Danielaofficially became a US citizen. We were actually a little taken off-guard bythat. We thought that was something that took some time in the States to do,but that’s just the paperwork part. She actually became a citizen at thatpoint. Again, that was a pretty cool moment. And it was at that point that Ifelt like I could finally truly rest. We had done it. After over 4 years ofwaiting and 5 intense months away, it was finally done. She was back in theStates with us and it was official.

Daniela, moments after she officially became a U.S. citizen.

From there we flew to Denver where we arrived just beforemidnight to a fall blizzard. My mom picked us up at the airport, brought us toour new home, and we crashed.

TO BE CONTINUED …

“Reunited …

2011-10-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

… and it feels so good!” After about 2 ½ months apart,Taryn, James, and I were finally reunited with Mercy, Daniela, and William.Needless to say, it was a joyous and tearful moment at the airport. We thenwent directly to an all-inclusive resort on the north coast (found anincredible deal for just $44 per night for all of us!) where we spent a fewdays just as a family. It was just a sweet time. It actually took Daniela acouple days to get used to me again. When we first arrived she would not go tome, which was a little saddening. But I was glad it just took a couple days andnot a couple weeks like the first time around. Daniela is fully walking allaround and was noticeably taller and skinnier than when I left. She really isbuilt like a Tucker. William, on the other hand, is not. He is a BIG boy. Wehaven’t weighed, but I’m certain he weighs more than Dani, despite being a yearyounger (18 mo. vs. 6 mo.). Dani is also talking a lot more. It is a mix ofEnglish and Spanish, which is cool to see. And William “talks” quite a bitalso, though only in babbles.

As for finalizing the adoption, we have unfortunately hitanother delay. We were hoping to have the birth certificate by Tuesday at thelatest, but still have not received it. I’ve visited the offices for the last 3days, including 3 hours of waiting today, but to no avail. We’ve heard, “Itshould be here this afternoon” for the last 3 days. I will be there again firstthing tomorrow. This means that there is no way we will be returning togetheron Saturday as originally planned. If we can get it by early tomorrow, there’sa chance we could finalize everything else (passport, medical appointment, andvisa) by Tuesday of next week and return on Wednesday. If not, it would likelystretch into later next week or early the following week, in which case myselfand the kids would need to return to school and I would try to return wheneverything is COMPLETELY finished (ideally the following weekend), to pick themup and come home. So if you can, pray that it happens early tomorrow(Thursday).

Thanks,

The Reunited Tucker family

REUNITED!!

Llego Papa

Brothers

He gets more attention than a puppy.

Drinks with mom.

Tough life

I've fallen, and I can't get up!

2011-10-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Random title, but it’ll make sense in just a minute.

So last night I got a call from Mercy at about 11:30pm here,1:30am her time. She was crying and clearly shaken. In the split seconds beforeshe explained, the worst thoughts went through my mind – something happened toWilliam or Daniela. She said, “Honey, I fell.” “What?! What do you mean you fell?”

She went on to explain that she had fallen asleep in an awkwardposition holding William. So she woke up and went to put him in his crib and as she wentto put weight on her right foot, it was totally asleep. Her ankle rolled and asshe was falling with William in her arms she was able to twist her body andfell on her back to protect him. A stinging pain shot up her leg. SomehowWilliam remained asleep and she managed to crawl on her knees and get him inhis crib. As feeling came back to her ankle the pain got worse and it almost immediatelystarted swelling and turning black and blue. That’s when she called me. She wasfeeling light-headed from the pain. I told her to R-I-C-E it (my SportsMedicine education came in handy there) and wake up the Tichenor’s (who they’reliving with) to get some help, which she did.

This morning it was still quite swollen and black and blue,so she went to the hospital to have it checked out. Now remember, she’s in adeveloping country and even the best hospitals there are a few steps below amediocre hospital here. Some of you may recall my experience there a few yearsago getting my ingrown toenail treated. If you don’t, check it out here, about halfway down the post.Anyway, they X-rayed it and confirmed that she had fractured it, so she wouldneed a cast. So they proceeded to put on a good old knee-high, plaster cast – alittle outdated and probably a lot higher than they needed to go, but betterthan nothing. So she will be on crutches for about 3 weeks.

Ironically, yesterday was the day that Daniela figured outthat walking was much more efficient than crawling and began walkingeverywhere. So now she walks and Mercy doesn’t – nice timing.

A bright side to all of this is I found out yesterdaymorning that it should be within 7 business days from Monday that we receivethe birth certificate (much better than a month as we were last told), whichwould put it on Tuesday, October 25^th at the latest … supposedly. Itshould then just be a few days to get her passport and visa and we could comehome. So since I don’t have school next Thursday or Friday and Taryn and Jameshave half-days on those days, followed by their Fall Break the following week,we have decided that we will all try to fly down there on Wednesday evening(the 19^th) and hope that everything is finalized by the followingweekend (29^th/30^th), so I won’t have to miss more than aweek of school and the kids wouldn’t miss any. The kids and I are also making sure to bring a bunch of Sharpies to color her plaster cast, just like the good old days.

So there it is. Please pray that somehow the process wouldhave no further delay, as well as for Mercy’s ankle. I’m just glad we will bethere shortly to help. We will continue to try and keep the blog updated.

Okay, maybe not almost there

2011-10-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

I found out from our Dominican lawyer this morning that what we thought would be a 3-5 day span between submitting our certification of no appeal (which should be done this Friday) and receiving the birth certificate could be more like a month. She's convinced that's inaccurate and will find out more this Friday, but obviously that kind of took the wind out of our sails. So I won't be flying down there this Friday and hopefully we will learn more then. I have a short week at school next week and our kids have half days on Thursday and Friday, followed by their 10 day Fall Break. So if it looks like this could stretch on well beyond next week, I am strongly considering heading down with the kids on Wednesday of next week and staying through the following week. Mercy is having a really hard time not having seen the kids (and I think me too :)) in over 2 months, and vice-versa. So while the flights are a lot of money we'd rather not have to spend, I think it's worth it.

That being said, we are holding out hope (at least a little) that we will get better news on Friday and perhaps things will move quicker. But either way we will go with it.

Almost there

2011-10-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

Well, the 30 day appeal period ended on Saturday, October 8^thand nobody objected to us adopting Daniela (surprise, surprise). It seems likesuch a pointless part of the process, as we were there for about 90 days priorto that and it doesn’t make sense that that can’t be done then. But it is whatit is. Our lawyer hopes to receive the certification of no appeal and submit itto the court today and then we just wait for approval and receive the birthcertificate, which makes it official. At that point we have an interview withimmigration officials at the Embassy and receive her passport and visa, whichshould just take a couple days. And then we can all come home. As soon as I havean idea when we can get the birth certificate, I will fly down. We are reallyhoping that happens this week so I can fly down there on Friday and hopefullywe can finalize everything within that following week. Mercy’s mom and my momwill be staying with Taryn and James here in Colorado for the week.

It’s crazy to think Mercy has been there for over 4 monthsnow and we have all been separated for over 2 months. It has been extremelydifficult, to say the least. Probably even moreso for Mercy to be away fromTaryn and James as they’ve started school and other activities, we celebratedTaryn’s birthday, and we’ve moved into the basement of the house we’rerenovating. While daily phone calls and frequent Skype sessions have helped, needlessto say, we are very ready for it all to be done. As I’ve said before, I have anew respect for single moms and dads and for those military families that areseparated for long periods of time. I don’t know how it can be done withoutsolid support from friends and family.

As for our house, we moved into the basement about 3 weeksago. I took on the assembly and installation of the kitchen cabinets (with muchhelp from my friend Jay Clark), the bathroom cabinets, and all the painting.Since then we’ve been working on the upper 2 floors. I also took on thepainting there, which I’ve spent every spare moment on in the last 10 days(about 60 hours!), along with some help from friends and family the last 2weekends. Besides a few touch-ups, we finished all that this weekend. We planon having many of the finishing touches done by our contractor while I’m goneand once I return, I will begin installing the kitchen cabinets on the mainfloor (hopefully just a couple weeks), and at that point we should be able tomove in (we will be renting out the basement). It’s actually been pretty coolto take on some of the work on the house. Not only has it kept us within thebudget, but I’m like 1,000 times more handy than I was a month ago (but don’ttell Mercy that) and it has helped keep my mind off being away from Mercy,Daniela, and William. That being said, I’m ready for all that to be done alsoand just settle in, something we haven’t really done in years.

As always, we appreciate the support and encouragement thatfriends and family have been in this challenging time. Not only in all thetangible ways (help with kids, painting, etc.), but also just the calls, e-mails, Facebook/blog comments, orwhatever. It really does mean a lot. I hope to keep the blog updated while I’mthere finalizing the process.

Godspeed!

Pictures: I can’t wait to see these faces in person again!

The end is in sight!!

2011-09-05T22:04:00.002-07:00

Well, we just got news today that Mercy and Daniela will be appearing before the Judge on Wednesday, which means our 30 day appeal period should begin on Thursday. This will be followed by 5-10 days to receive her birth certificate, her passport, and her visa, and they can head home. That would be around October 12-17th. I will be headed there shortly before to bring them all home. It feels really good to have the end in sight and we are just hoping and praying for no unexpected delays.

Gloria a Dios!

Heartache

2011-09-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

We’re approaching the one month mark since Taryn, James, andI left Mercy, Daniela, and William in the Dominican Republic. The kids havebeen in school for a few weeks. They love their teachers and are enjoyingschool most of the time. I started teaching a couple weeks ago and am reallyexcited about this year. This senior class is great, which really impacts thevibe of the whole school. I’m teaching “Worldviews and Apologetics” (juniors),“Leadership” (sophomores/seniors), and “Foundations of the Faith” (seniors).I’ve also been spending a lot of time at the house we are renovating. As someareas have gone over budget I’ve attempted to take on some of the renovationmyself to help bring some costs down. And for those that know me well, that’spretty funny. Let’s just say I didn’t take Woodshop in 8^th grade.I’m getting a lot of help from friends, especially Jay Clark, who lives just afew doors down from the Dimos’ where we have been staying. We have assembledthe cabinets and plan on installing them tomorrow. I’m also taking on most ofthe painting, fixtures, and other things that don’t require a lot of skill. Ithas been fun to see it come together and I am excited for Taryn, James, and Ito move into the basement within the next week, and especially excited to haveus all back together there within the next couple months.

On that note, things with finalizing the adoption are movingalong, but there is still no clear timeline. The Judge who has our file has 10business days to give his approval, which would be by Monday, September 12^th.At that point a 30 day appeal period begins. At the conclusion of that it takesabout 5-7 days to get issued Daniela’s amended birth certificate (with ournames on it!), and 2-3 more days to get a U.S. passport and a Visa for her, atwhich point we are free to travel. So basically once this Judge gives approval,which should be within the next week, we have a pretty fixed 40 days left.However, there is no guarantee he will give approval. He could determine somethingis lacking in our paperwork and require us to supply it. This happened with theThomas family, who I mentioned before is there adopting also, which has delayedthere process by a few weeks. We really hope the same thing doesn’t happen withours.

We’re all trying to make the best of this time apart (ifthat’s possible), but it definitely got old really quick and just keeps gettingharder. I have a newfound understanding and respect for single-moms (or dads).It is not easy keeping up with everything, and I have the advantage of livingwith another family which definitely makes it a little easier in some ways. Thewhole separation has had the most noticeable effect on James, who has becomemuch more clingy to me and is having a hard time going to school (though he’sfine once he gets going there) and going to bed at night without me rightthere. It’s hard to see him miss Mercy so much but not really know how toprocess it completely. Anyway, needless to say we’re ready to be done with thisand be together. It will feel really good to have a somewhat fixed timelineonce this ruling is made. In the meantime, we would really appreciate yourthoughts and prayers.

The following are some pictures from our last week together(a month ago now), as well as some pictures from Mercy’s mom and Aunt whovisited shortly after we left.

Matching suits

Grandma Trude

This really captures her insecurity in standing and trying to walk. I love the look on her face.

Crashed

Swimming with Oma

I'm having a hard time grasping that I have 4 kids.

The shirts say it all.

James' last morning at the beach.

Looking for shells.

The Finale show. I need to post the video at some point, because it was quite a show.

Bros

One last cuddle at the airport.

Shopping with Alex

Eating dominoes with Tom

Aunt Bridgette

Outside the community center

Dani and Emilio

Picnic at the Botanical Gardens

Home stretch … kind of

2011-08-04T11:10:00.018-07:00

I write this as Tropical Storm Emily looms above and continues to dump rain on us, though it moved more Westerly than originally forecast so we avoided a direct hit. Hopefully our neighbor to the West, Haiti, can avoid any major rains and flooding.

We have just 5 days left in our 60-day cohabitation period, at which point myself, Taryn, and James will be heading back to Colorado to start school. In some ways it feels like we just arrived here, but at the same time it feels like Daniela has been with us for MUCH longer than that. Things with her continue to go really well. Just a few days ago she started standing on her own and yesterday she took her first steps. I’m really glad I was able to be here for that. I’m quite certain she will be walking when I come back to pick them up in September.

We’ve had a chance to visit our friends in La Victoria a few more times so they could meet Daniela and William. Mercy was able to visit with the women she worked with in the “campo” and I’ve had some more good conversations with David, Janel, and members of the Board about the future direction of the community center. Perhaps more on that in a future post.

Also, my mom arrived a couple days ago and is obviously in heaven meeting Daniela and seeing William, who she hasn’t seen since he was just a couple weeks old. Daniela opened up to her almost immediately. I think it helped that she had seen and “talked” to her through Skype numerous times before. We could tell Daniela recognized her. It was probably weird to have her go from 2D to 3D. But it has been great to have her here. Mercy’s mom is also coming on Saturday. If the Tropical Storm moves through, we hope to head to the beach tomorrow for a couple nights with both moms. It will be our last little hurrah before Taryn, James, and I head back on Tuesday, August 9^th.

We had our final observation visit (they only did 2) with a psychologist from CONANI yesterday. It was a psychologist who worked with Daniela before but has been out of the country (in Spain) the last couple months. It was neat to get her perspective on Daniela’s development. She commented on how great Daniela looked and that it seems like she’s just come to life. Daniela was interactive with her, but would NOT go to her. I think she was especially freaked out by the outfit, which was kind of the typical uniform for the psychologists at CONANI and she did not want anything to do with that. The psychologist said that’s always a little sad for her, but at the same time exciting to see she has attached to us.

So as I mentioned before, on Tuesday, August 9^th, Taryn, James, and I will head back to Colorado and Mercy, Daniela, and William will stay here as we complete the judicial and immigration processes. It sounds like that will take 30-45 days. We are dreading this time apart. Not only for the obvious reason of being apart, but it’s a bummer that we have made such a strong connection with Daniela, only to have to leave her for 4-6 weeks. Hopefully Skype will ease the blow. We really hope they will be able to return to Colorado by September 15^th so they can attend my brother in-law’s brother’s (is that like brother in-law once removed?) wedding and see many of our family who will be in town. Plus Taryn’s birthday is September 23^rd and she does not want to miss that.

All that being said, in some ways it’s actually good they will stay a little longer since the house we are renovating will not quite be livable. Taryn, James, and I will likely crash at our friends the Dimos’ house for a couple weeks until it is ready.

That’s the update from here. Thanks again for all the thoughts, prayers, and encouragement we’ve received. It really does mean a lot.

Here are A LOT of pictures from the last few weeks:

She loves eating with Biemba. Smart girl to charm the cook.

Mercy chillin' in the campo.

Mercy always laughed at how the women here just "whip it out" to breastfeed with absolutely no shame. She was happy to finally be able to do that herself.

Eli and her son admiring William.

Biemba with Daniela in the campo.

Taryn and her pal.

Going through some of the jewelry they have made.

Yesenia and William

Tito practicing with a baby. His wife, Rosa, is due in December.

More practice.

Sisters

Beach Day in Guayacanes

Saying goodbye to the Tichenor's. We lived in their house for the first couple weeks, moved next door, and are now living there again while they are in the States. They rock!

Taryn and Yisleny. Our good friends Bibiana and Johnson, from La Victoria, adopted Yisleny from Haiti about a year ago.

Their other daughter, Alicia.

Bibiana and Johnson

Buddies

Johnson and James

Johnson and Daniela

And finally, Johnson and William

Group shot. Caught William in mid-sneeze.

Taryn and James with Bailey and Olivia at the Botanical Gardens.

Crawling ...

... and flying!

The Roots

Learning to stand.

Krispy Kreme for Mercy's birthday

Then the park

Birthday dinner over the ocean

Emilio is a great friend of ours who recently graduated from the military academy here.

Eliandra ... all grown up.

Nilort

Sammy with the babies.

Making an Oreo

Dariza with William

Sisters sleeping in the back

Rosa with William. She is due in December.

Our babies hanging out

Grandma Trude!

Singing and dancing at the pool. The other kids started joining in the party.

Part of the family

2011-07-14T16:58:00.007-07:00

So we’re over halfway through the 60-day cohabitation period. In some ways it feels like it’s gone by fast, yet at the same time it feels like Daniela’s been with us much longer than 30 days. We quickly reached the point where we can’t imagine our family without her. I’m truly amazed at how fast feelings so strong have come about. Honestly going into the whole adoption process I didn’t know exactly what that would look and feel like. I imagined those feelings would eventually come, but I was surprised at how quickly and how strongly. I was talking with Mercy tonight about how in some ways, for me, the feelings have been even more intense than having a child from birth. I think there are a number of reasons for this, but one is how there is not only the excitement of having a new child, but since she is 1 year old and interactive, there is this rapid bond that occurs that is more tangible than with a newborn, where she’s getting to know us, learning to trust us, having fun with us, and just giving and receiving love and affection. The best way I can describe it is it’s like one year of feelings for a baby wrapped into one month.

Anyway, needless to say, things are going really well. Daniela is an absolute joy. It hasn’t been without it’s challenges and difficulties, but as I already said, I can’t imagine our family without her. The most challenging part so far (besides the chickenpox week) has been feeding. She’s eating well, but she is extremely impatient about it. Once she begins eating, if we even start to step away to get some more food, she is instantly crying and screaming (you can see this on the video I attached). The social worker confirmed, as we had assumed, that it is because of how she was fed in the orphanage for her first year, which was pretty much a line of a dozen or so infants and whoever was screaming was getting food shoved in their mouth and if you weren’t vocal, you didn’t eat. And I’m sure there were times she went hungry and is still sensitive to that. So we’ve obviously been extra understanding in this area, though we are beginning to take some measures to combat this. One thing that’s been helpful has been the whole sign language thing. She quickly learned “more” and “please” (also on the video clips), which has cut down on some of the screaming and demanding. It can be a quite violent “more” motion, but it’s a step in the right direction.

The coolest thing is to see her trust in us growing. This, too, can be seen through the video clips. You can see in the first few days she is just taking it all in, coping with things through her rocking motion, and a little distant, but as time goes on she just opens up, trusts more, and is coming into her own. She went from only being able to be with Mercy, to being okay with me (or Taryn) when Mercy was not around, to being okay with us when Mercy is around, to actually wanting to go to us sometimes even when Mercy is there, and now she’s even willing to be held by other people that she’s seen us be okay with.

And she’s just got a neat personality that we’re seeing come out. She’s full of joy and is just constantly smiling and laughing as she crawls around. She’s also becoming quite sociable. She’s learned to wave at people and now waves at anybody who’s around, even total strangers. And she’s become familiar enough with Skype calls to family and friends that when she sits with me at the computer, when she hears Skype opening or sees the home screen, even if nobody is on a call, she will start to wave at the screen.

And finally, she is the sweetest little cuddler. When she’s tired, or scared, or sometimes even when she’s wide awake and just needs some love, she’ll cuddle herself up into our chest, throw the thumb in her mouth, and just settle in. Sometimes she’ll take her other hand and just rub our arm or chest or shoulder. And then periodically she’ll just look up with her gorgeous brown eyes and flash a little smile through her luscious lips and 4-teeth. It doesn’t get much better than that.

On a different note, though we miss Colorado, we are really enjoying being back here in the DR. It’s been great re-connecting with old friends. While we’re obviously spending most of our time together as a family, we’ve had a chance to spend some quality time with our closest friends here, both Dominican and American. I’ve made a number of trips out to La Victoria to see how the community center is doing, had some good meetings with David (the President) and some other members of the Board, hung out with Janel (the Director) a lot, and just passed time with old friends in typical Dominican fashion on a plastic chair with a cold jugo.

Here’s some more pictures from the last couple weeks, along with some video clips from our first month. Hasta pronto!

When the braids come out ...

Columbus' house. It was actually his Christopher's brother Diego's house, but he stayed there.

Posing in her Sunday best!

Using her sign language ("more").

I think William keeps catching up.

Daniela's best friend, Sarai (David's daughter).

Biggest mangoes I've seen here. One of my favorite parts of living here is a fresh mango (or 3) every day.

Video clips from the 1st month:

Week 3 Pictures

2011-07-02T14:38:00.012-07:00

Here are some more pictures from the last week:

At the Botanical Gardens.

More smiles from Will.

Tutoring from a Dominican hairdresser on how to do the hair.

And the new hairstyle. Classic Dominican look.

Janel, in the Krispy Kreme hat, hanging with Will.

Lindsey and Scarlett. William is giving Scarlett a run for her money in the "girth" department. And Scarlett will probably not appreciate that comment in about 10-15 years.

Skyping with the Dimos girls.

Lovin' on Will.

James showing how to properly drum.

Crawl races.

Some cuddle time.

At the Zoo.

Daniela with the Lions in the background.

Pony rides.

Chillin'!

Beach, brothers, and more

2011-06-26T12:47:00.005-07:00

Here's some highlight photos from the last few days:

Olivia, Taryn, Greta, and Bailey- Olivia and Bailey's parents are with the same U.S. Adoption agency as us and are here adopting a 2-year old boy, Alex, who's running by in the second picture. We had a great day at the beach with them.

Daniela's first time at the beach. She loved "walking" and feeling the sand in her feet, but she wasn't quite as fond of the water.

As I mentioned before, Daniela is enthralled with her big brother James. He entertains her more than anyone else.

She's also enjoying her "little" brother, who it doesn't appear will be "littler" than her for too much longer.

So this is what it's like to have twins ... kind of.

The brothers hanging out.

Biemba finally met William, which may explain why he's growing so fast (she cooks the meanest rice, beans, and chicken around).

Here was our numerous attempts at getting a passport photo. It kind of gives a visual overview of her personality. Our lawyer asked that we bring a photo in this week, which we hope is a good sign the process is moving along.

Outings

2011-06-22T17:19:00.005-07:00

So we’re coming up on 2 weeks with Daniela and things continue to go really well. This was an extra special Father’s Day/Birthday (June 19^th/20^th) to say the least, with two additional children since just last year. Hearing Daniela see me and say “Da-da” for the first time was about as good as it gets for a present. She is now doing great with me and seems quite comfortable. She will still cry when Mercy passes her off to me or usually when she enters the room (which is totally fine with me), but I’ve gotten pretty good at quickly distracting her so within a few seconds there’s no problem. And she’s getting better at playing with me and the kids even when Mercy is in the room. And I must admit it feels good that when she’s in my arms there isn’t really anybody else, other than Mercy and Taryn (she still trumps me, as is obvious by the pictures), that she will go to. But she is definitely most entertained by James. She just lights up when he comes in the room squealing at her, dancing, and just flailing about. She freaks out a little when he goes to grab her (as would I if I were her), but she really does just adore him. And it was James who gave us the most profound commentary on interracial adoption the other day. Out of nowhere as we were playing with Daniela he said, “Dad, I want brown skin like Daniela.” And I said, “Why?” To which he replied, “White is just boring. Brown skin is more designed.” I went on to explain how skin color is actually just the result of millions of years of evolution and adaptation to different geographic locations relative to the equator. This seemed to really hit home with him. Okay, I didn’t really say that last part, but it was a pretty cute commentary.

Anyway, this girl just loves getting outside, which is great, and not always the case with kids who have been inside virtually all their lives. She is enthralled with the trees and loves to just hang on to the big leaves they have down here. Every morning one of us will take her on a walk around the community here and every few days in the evening (when it’s free) we head to the Jardin Botanico (Botanical Gardens) and play there and she just loves to take it all in. And she is totally social with other people. Anytime somebody walks by she just starts “talking” to them like she knows them. This, also, is great to see since she really hasn’t been around many “outside” people before. We also took her to the Acuario Nacional (National Aquarium) and she got to check out all the marine life, not to mention her first viewing of the Caribbean Sea. We also went to the Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone), where she “took in” (and I’m sure appreciated J) the various historical sites. But the swarm of pigeons really was quite interesting to her. And finally, she had her first “swim” yesterday at a local hotel pool here and just loved it. She just floated and bounced around like a little island princess. She really likes the water and is perfectly fine, and even enjoys, getting water splashed on her face.

And again, none of this would be possible if William weren’t just a great little baby. He is so content as we drag him on these outings and rarely fusses at all. For that, we are continually thankful.

Here are some more highlight pictures from the last week:

Morning walks

Sisters

The girls at the Colonial Zone

Spiderman

Da-da

More sister time

The smiler

Crawling

Krispy Kreme in the Dominican Republic?? But a nice Father's Day morning!

The tunnel in the Aquarium

James and the stingray

The family picture

The boys

Spiderman

Bathing suit

At pool with her new friend Kirsten

Loving the pool

At the playground

Deep thoughts

1 week with Daniela

2011-06-17T05:27:00.003-07:00

This morning we’ve had Daniela for one week! And it’s almost 2 weeks since we first saw her. The connection and attachment continue to improve and things got considerably easier as the week went on. Her chickenpox have all dried up and slowly the scabs are disappearing. Yesterday was the first day we felt comfortable letting her and William interact and we no longer have to go through the whole detox routine when we go from her to him. We are still hoping and praying that he didn’t contract the virus. If he doesn’t show in the next week or so we should be in the clear.

Next, despite the delay, we are fully in our house now and it feels good. We are really lucky this worked out. As I mentioned before, it is literally right next door to our friends Bowin and Lindsey Tichenor, who we got to know at the tail-end of our time living here and who we were living with for the first week. They should be sainted just for dealing with all that. The former tenant happened to be leaving the week after we got here and the landlord was willing to rent the house for a month or two. We will probably just rent for a month, at which time Bowin and Lindsey leave to be in the States for about a month so we will move back into their house, and when Taryn, James, and I leave a couple weeks after that (in early August), Mercy, Daniela, and William will continue to live with them until the legal process finishes so they won’t be alone. We are in a community on the outskirts of Santo Domingo called Arroyo Hondo, not far from the Jardin Botanico (Botanical Gardens). It is a safe and secure area, the house is 2 stories, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, we have hot water, 24 hour power, and air conditioning in 2 rooms!! Compared to how we lived while we actually lived here, this is the high life. But it feels good to have our own space and feel somewhat settled in as we adapt to life with Daniela.

Yesterday was also a big breakthrough with Daniela and I. I got her when she woke up from her afternoon nap and since she was well rested and hadn’t seen Mercy yet, she was great with me. Very little crying, we played, laughed, I fed her, we explored inside and outside … it was by far the best time I’ve had with her. And there was a noticeable difference the rest of the day. She seemed much more at ease and comfortable with me. That felt really good and hopefully will continue.

And it’s been fun just to get to know her. To learn her personality, how she eats, sleeps, plays, what she finds funny, etc. In many ways, as is typical with kids coming from an orphanage, she is still figuring all these things out herself. Because she has gotten very little one-on-one attention and play time, I sometimes feel like we are just now teaching her what is fun, what is funny, and just what that looks like. She oftentimes has this quizzical look where you just know she’s trying to figure out how to process all that’s going on. But it’s so fun when that quizzical look turns into a big smile or laugh as she even figures out those emotions. But don’t get me wrong, she still oftentimes cries as she works it all out. Sometimes while Mercy is feeding William in another room she will cry almost non-stop, with just a few breaks when her thumb makes it into her mouth, her head goes to my chest, and she goes to her “happy place” for a few seconds, before continuing with crying. Or almost whenever she sees Mercy walk into another room she will begin to cry hard, probably wondering if she’s going to come back. But little by little there is less crying and more smiling, laughing, and playing. And she’s just golden with eating and sleeping, again two things kids from orphanages tend to learn well. She will eat just about anything, though as a good Dominicana, she really likes mashed beans, and pureed rice and chicken. And once she gets tired we just lay her in her crib and she quickly figures it out and falls asleep. She sleeps 10-11 hours at night and two solid 2 hour naps in the morning and afternoon.

So that’s about it with her. Overall things are going really well and it’s now hard to imagine life without her.

And finally, I can’t neglect William any longer. He was just born one month ago and the poor guy already has to compete for attention. But seriously, he’s doing awesome. He’s taking the whole international travel, hot and humid climate, and adapting to a new OLDER sister and new schedule in stride. It was actually cool that on the 2^nd visit of the socialization week, when Daniela gave us her first smile, it was also the first day that we got a true smile (not just gas) from William. But he is eating well, sleeping well, growing quickly, getting more interactive, and again he’s just been awesome in dealing with all the changes with almost no fuss.

Thanks again for your thoughts, prayers, and support through this. The encouraging notes on the blog, on Facebook, and via e-mail are great. We look forward to Daniela and William meeting all of our friends and family in person very soon.

-The Tuckers

Gotcha Day: June 10, 2011

2011-06-13T22:09:00.002-07:00

In the “adoption” world, the big day is oftentimes called the “Gotcha Day”. This is the day that you get to take home the child for good. The name has always sounded a little corny to me (if you think of something better, let me know), but it really is a day worth celebrating. Friday, June 10, 2011 was that day for us and Daniela.

Mercy, William, and I drove to the offices of CONANI at around 9:30 in the morning and we were brought into a small, air conditioned conference room where her pediatrician and one of the psychologists were waiting with Daniela. They had her decked out in a really cute pink dress and a white head band for her big day. We briefly discussed her chickenpox, along with a couple other issues that had come up in her medical reports. Other than some typical issues for an institutionalized one year old (and the chickenpox of course), she is doing great. At that point they said good-bye to Daniela and handed her over to us. Initially she cried a little as they left, but shortly after she was fine. After about a 20 minute wait, the main psychologist came in and we briefly talked about the socialization week, what the ensuing 60 day cohabitation period would look like, signed a few more papers, and we were done. We walked out of the office, got in the car, and drove home with our new daughter. Now we still have to complete the 60 day cohabitation period, followed by some legal work, but she will be with us from here on out and barring any major issues, she will legally be ours in a few months.

As I write this, we are on our 4^th night with her. All is going well, however, it has been extremely challenging due to the chickenpox, as well as our living situation. The chickenpox continued to get more severe with hundreds of sores all over her body. They have now pretty much all popped and scabbed over, which is supposedly the point at which she is no longer contagious, though we are remaining cautious with William for a few more days. Hopefully at that point we will be totally in the clear. Our living situation was a little difficult because we were not able to get in our own home on Friday as originally planned. So we spent the weekend in the same house we’ve been in with our good friends, Bowin and Lindsey Tichenor. They have been incredible and totally accommodating with us, despite some less than ideal circumstances. They have 4 kids who are 10, 8, 6, and 5 months old. We’ve basically tried to keep Daniela in the living room of the house so as not to infect the babies. I’ve been sleeping on the couch next to her, though she’s slept through the night every night, something they obviously learn to do on their own at the orphanage. Anyway … anyone who interacts with her needs to wash off and sterilize before touching anything else in the house, especially the babies. This presented a number of challenges, especially for Mercy, who was back-and-forth between William and Daniela. We did start using a bottle with William for those times where Mercy just couldn’t get to him. Besides the uncomfortable nature of chickenpox, Daniela is also teething, and dealing with some constipation (hasn’t pooped for 3 days). So our prayer is that that would come soon. Fortunately we were able to move into our own home, which is right next door, today (Monday). This, along with the chickenpox subsiding, should help alleviate many of the difficulties. Another of our continued prayers is that William (or anyone else for that matter), has not been infected, or if he has, that it would be a mild case.

As for the relational stuff, Daniela seems to be doing well. Despite all that she is dealing with, both physically and emotionally, she is laughing more, smiling more, “talking” more, almost walking, and just seeming more at ease. She has really attached to Mercy, though she still has not gotten totally comfortable with me. In fact, in some ways the more comfortable she gets with Mercy the less comfortable she is with just me, without Mercy there. We’re confident that will change with time, but it is a little hard for me.

And finally, it’s stinkin’ hot here. Mid to upper-90’s with some serious humidity. We are just constantly sweating and almost always near a fan. This made moving into the new place quite miserable. But it sure does make you appreciate the simple pleasure of a fan and a cold glass of water.

Anyway, it has been quite a ride. As if just the adoption part isn’t enough, everything else has made for another adventure. But we feel blessed for this opportunity and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The internet is a little more unreliable here, but I will try to continue to update. Thanks again for your thoughts, prayers, and support.

-Gregg, Mercy, Taryn, James, William, and Daniela Tucker

Meeting Daniela: Day 4

2011-06-09T18:06:00.003-07:00

We had a really good day with Daniela today. Like yesterday, she came around 2pm with a psychologist and a social worker. She was showing a lot more sores from the chickenpox, but some are beginning to pop and dry out. Hopefully she’ll be over it within the next week. Taryn and James stayed with us again this time and I’m convinced that was a big part of her having a better day. She is clearly still a little uncomfortable with the chickenpox and of course still getting used to a new place and new people, but she interacts great with Taryn and James. They really seem to put her at ease. They sang and danced for her, brought her toys, played peek-a-boo, and they both even fed her this time. And she’s clearly beginning to recognize and attach to Mercy. We even got our first smiles and laughs from her, which almost brought us both to tears. All this made it really hard to see her leave yet again, but we were elated to hear that that was the last time we would need to say good-bye. Tomorrow morning we go into the CONANI office for another meeting with the psychologist and after she will be released with us to begin the 60 day cohabitation period.

Please pray for the logistics during the next week of her staying with us while keeping William isolated from her as best we can. This is especially difficult because both will be very dependent on Mercy. Unfortunately my milk hasn’t come in and Mercy is a little hesitant to put William on a bottle. And since I am literally the first male to ever interact with Daniela, she is clearly still a little perplexed by me. So it will be quite a challenge for Mercy to care for Daniela, wash off and sterilize as much as possible, and then care for William. I’ll be amazed if we get through this without William getting chickenpox, which would be a big bummer, but putting off her coming home with us is not even an option. We figure if this would have happened a month or a year from now, we’d have to deal with it, so why not now.

Thanks again for your support and prayers.

Meeting Daniela: Day 3

2011-06-08T22:41:00.003-07:00

We were able to see Daniela again today. She definitely has the chickenpox, but since her fever wasn’t too high, the doctor cleared her for another visit. The visit wasn’t confirmed, however, until about an hour before. But we are thankful it worked out and should keep everything on schedule.

We obviously kept William in another room, and besides a quick hello (or hola), had Taryn and James go play with some friends during the visit. So it was just Mercy and I.

She was a little more lethargic from the fever and had a few visible sores on her forehead and arms from the chickenpox. That, along with the continued acclimation to her new surroundings and new family, made it a little more difficult meeting than the first, though difficult may not be the best word. Let’s just say of the 2 hours, she cried off-and-on for about 30 minutes, was carried and consoled by Mercy for 30 minutes, and slept in my arms for about an hour. Initially some of the crying was due to one of the nanny’s from the orphanage being present. Once she left the room, it got a little better. But she definitely was comforted in Mercy's arms, which was cool to see.

This meeting also brought out some new emotions for us, mainly of grieving for her and what she’s lost in her first year of life – her mom, her dad, her biological family, and now her familiar surroundings at the orphanage. And while obviously we know that her joining our family is by far what is best for her (and us), we are still saddened by all she has had to go through. It’s especially noticeable for us because we are simultaneously experiencing with William, in his first couple months of life, all that she and we have missed out on with each other. And that IS sad. But we’ve learned that her sadness and crying is actually a good thing, far better than if she were showing no emotion. That while hard, it is a good thing that she has made some connection with her current home at the orphanage. And meanwhile our love for her continues to grow with each hour we get to spend. While it is becoming more evident that it won’t necessarily be easy (which we were aware of going into this), we know it is good and right and meant to be.

Please continue to pray for us. Pray for Daniela and her heart. That she would find peace in the midst of this transition. That she would somehow sense and understand in her young mind how much we love and care about her. And that she would continue to quickly heal from the chickenpox.

-The Tuckers

Meeting Daniela: Day 1 and 2

2011-06-07T22:05:00.005-07:00

So we had our first visit with Daniela yesterday (Monday, June 6^th). It was an incredible, almost surreal experience. After over 3 years of waiting, it was hard to believe the day had finally arrived. Nine months of waiting creates quite a bit of anticipation (as we felt just a month ago), but I think 40 months of waiting really does create that much more. The only bummer was we only got one hour with her, and then more waiting and more anticipation. So here’s what the day looked like …

We woke up in the morning and in typical Dominican fashion, had no idea when and where we were supposed to have the first visit. We actually thought (and hoped) it might be at the orphanage, though we had heard that wasn't likely due a national law/policy (I may explain later). We finally got a call from Madelaine (our lawyer here) around 9:30am and she said CONANI (the Dominican national adoption agency) was bringing Daniela to the house we are staying in (which for now is some good friends of ours who are missionaries here, the Tichenor’s). She also said they were having a little trouble finding the address we gave them (Google and Mapquest aren’t quite as effective here), but that they should be there between 10 and 10:30am. A few minutes later we got a call (in Spanish of course) from CONANI asking for more specific directions. I speak pretty good Spanish, but directions over a bad phone connection when I don't really know street names wasn't working. So I ended up meeting them at the closest supermarket and they followed me to the house. There was a torrential downpour (quite normal this time of year, especially this year) as I got into the car. Five minutes later I was at the supermarket and after one circle in the parking lot, I heard the honking of a white truck just outside the entrance. So I pulled out and to the side of the truck and got my first glimpse through a rain soaked window of Daniela. She was in the back seat of the truck, being held by one of the nanny’s from the orphanage (no car seat here – of course). I couldn’t even make out her face, but I still immediately began crying. So with water pouring out my eyes and even more water pouring on my windshield, I drove back to the house.

After we arrived, I got out of the car and brought an umbrella over to help them in. There was the driver, the director of the orphanage, a nanny from the orphanage, and a social worker for CONANI. Mercy, Taryn, and James met them at the door, where she was met by Mercy beginning to cry and Taryn and James giving a chorus of “Hola Daniela”. They brought her in, sat on the couch, and handed her over to Mercy. Again, it was a pretty surreal experience. We started asking questions about her personality, what she enjoys, her health, her schedule, along with many other things. The two from the orphanage did not speak English, but the social worker spoke some, though most of our interaction was in Spanish. The seemed somewhat knowledgeable about her, though it's clear she is one of a number of children there and they don't know her as intimately as we will eventually. Anyway, we continued to interact with and get to know her.

This was literally the first time Daniela has ever been out of the orphanage in her one year of life, so she was obviously trying to take it all in. After a car ride in the pouring rain, an unfamiliar house, unfamiliar people absolutely enthralled with her ... I'm sure it was quite overwhelming for her. She was fine with us holding her and looked at us quizzically, trying to figure it all out. A few times she also seemed a little scared and began to cry, but was quickly consoled. She seemed especially comfortable with Taryn and James, as I’m sure much of her interaction is with other kids. But overall she was totally comfortable with us holding her, interacting with her, giving her a bottle, etc. As we expected, she definitely doesn't express herself like a typical one year old since I'm sure she gets much less one-on-one attention, which makes us all the more ready to take her in. So overall it went really well. They let us know that we would get to see her the rest of the week for 2 hours (from 2-4pm), each time with them bringing her to our house.

Then a few hours later, at 2pm, they had us go to the CONANI main offices to meet with the psychologist and do an initial interview. The 2 people we spoke with there were really great. The first was just a brief introduction from one of the directors there, who spoke great English. The psychologist, however, does not speak great English. She was really nice and we started in English, but decided to switch to Spanish and it went much smoother. She just verified a bunch of personal data (birthdates, marriage dates, addresses, passport numbers, etc.), along with some questions about how we met, what our motive for adoption was, etc. And they actually let us know that if all went well we may be able to take her with us and begin the 60-day cohabitation on Friday, which would be great. We were also able to ask her a number of logistical questions about the process. So that went well also, and we walked away anticipating our visit the next day.

Unfortunately, the next day (this morning – Tuesday, June 8^th), we received a call from a director at CONANI and she started the conversation with, “We have bad news.” My heart sunk. She went on to tell us that Daniela has chickenpox which began to show, is running a bit of a fever, so the doctor decided to cancel the visit for the day. We were obviously saddened, but are hopeful that we can work out a visit tomorrow and that this won’t delay the overall timing. We also are a bit concerned that William (one month old) or Scarlett (5 months old) may have been indirectly exposed through us or the toys, which would be a bummer. Everybody else in the house has either had it or been immunized. Neither had direct contact and both are getting some good antibodies through breastfeeding, but it’s still possible. So please join us in prayer, first that Daniela would get the attention she needs and would heal quickly. That William and Scarlett would be protected, or if they have been infected, that it would be a mild case. And, again, that this wouldn’t delay any of the timing of the process.

Here are some pictures from the visit and we will continue to update here.

-The Tuckers

Convergence

2011-05-30T22:33:00.004-07:00

That’s the best word to describe our lives right now. It’s like all these major life events are being crammed into a small time period.

As most of you know, on May 2^nd we welcomed William Robert Tucker into the world. He was 7lbs 10oz, 22 inches, and other than consisting of the Tucker/McDonald gene pool, he is perfectly healthy. We truly feel blessed. And Mercy did awesome. After having Taryn and James in the hospital, we decided to do a water-homebirth this time, and it was an absolutely incredible experience. I went from pretty ambivalent about it, to totally sold. It made me a little bummed we didn’t do it with Taryn and James. I really hope to get Mercy to blog on her whole perspective on it soon. But overall it was just peaceful, intimate, comfortable, worshipful, and … well … natural. It just felt like that was the way it was meant to be done. And of course it probably isn’t for everyone, especially those with higher risk pregnancies, but I walk away surprised that more people don’t decide to do it that way. Anyway, again, I hope to get Mercy to share more about this soon. But William is now almost a month old and doing great. Like most babies he pretty much just eats, sleeps, and poops, but he does all of those really well … and he’s cute.

Next, about a week ago we received our permission to travel from the Dominican adoption agency. The timing could not have been much more perfect. It was literally my last day of school that they said we could go down as soon as possible. So shortly after we booked our flights. began moving out of our rental this week, storing our stuff, packing, and we will be leaving on Saturday, June 4^th. If all goes as planned, we will meet Daniela for the first time on Monday, June 6^th. Needless to say, we are absolutely elated. It was over 3 years ago, while living in the Dominican Republic, that we started this whole process, thinking we would finish it while still living there. Little did we know … So it is crazy to think we are finally entering the final stretch. That being said, it is quite a long “final stretch”. Unlike other international adoptions, the Dominican Republic requires a 60 day cohabitation period, where you live with the child in the country while being periodically observed by a social worker. We initially thought it was just a couple weeks after this that we could return home, however, we just learned that it could be 1-4 months AFTER this 60 day cohabitation period that the adoption is finalized and we are cleared to travel home. So as of now the plan is for all of us to go down for June and July, then Taryn, James, and I would return in August to begin school, and Mercy, William, and Daniela will stay there until the adoption is finalized, at which point I will go back and return with them. Quite complicated, but we’ll be okay.

Next, after over a year of searching, just a couple weeks ago we went “under contract” on a house here in Denver, just a few blocks from where we’ve been renting for the last 9 months. It is a short sale, so it has been a long, drawn-out process, which continues to be drawn out. It looks as if all go through, though we will be closing after we depart.

On top of this, the house needs quite a bit of work, so we have been working with a contractor doing all we can to plan the renovation of the house (even though we haven’t even closed yet). Our hope is that much of the work can be done while we are gone and we can move-in when we return.

So in summary … we had a baby, we’re adopting a baby, we’re packing up and moving out, we’re going overseas and moving in, we’re buying and renovating a house while living overseas, and I think that’s about it. That’s what I mean by convergence. And we have nothing to complain about. We are extremely thankful for the support we have received from friends and family, both here and in the Dominican Republic, that are so willing to support us in whatever way. And while it definitely feels like a lot of stuff at once, I think our 4 years living in the Dominican Republic has significantly eased any stress. We are excited not only to meet Daniela, but also to re-connect with many of our close friends there.

Please pray for safety of travel, a strong connection and attachment with Daniela, that our time separated at the end would be minimized, that the renovation stuff would come together, and ultimately, that God would be glorified in all we do.

Dios les bendiga,

Gregg, Mercy, Taryn, James, William, and Daniela Tucker (wow, that is a lot of people)

P.S. We plan to update the blog more regularly while we are there.

William Robert Tucker

Meeting his older sister ...

... and his older brother.

Cousin Kirra

Helping Taryn with homework

Reading to the little brother

The grandmas

G-Pa

Meeting Abi

It's a ...

2011-02-28T15:34:00.003-07:00

... GIRL!!

Well, for those of you who haven't heard the news yet, last Thursday, after about 3 years since we started the process, we received our referral for adoption from the Dominican Republic. Her name is Daniela and she is 9 months old. Here's the 1 picture we have received:

Daniela

We were very much expecting around a 2 year old boy, so that she is a girl and that she is just 9 months old was quite a shock.

Based on Gregg’s translation of the documents we’ve received (they are in Spanish and are currently being professionally translated) her mother is believed to be of Haitian ethnicity and the father is unknown. She was abandoned by her mother at a hospital in Santo Domingo after her birth on May 11, 2010 and all investigation and efforts to find her, or any other family, have been fruitless. So she has been living in an orphanage since then. She was born at 37 weeks, low birth weight, and had neonatal sepsis, but she is recovering and has a positive prognosis.

If we understand correctly, from here we wait 2-6 months for some of the legal and immigration processes, both in the Dominican Republic and here in the States, to be complete, at which point we will travel there, stay for 2-2.5 months for some observation and continued legal and immigration processes (it’s a complicated adoption country), before returning here. As most of you probably know, Mercy is due on April 25^th. So the ideal timeline for us is that we are able to travel down there at the end of May (yes, with a 1 month old), shortly before or right after Gregg’s school year is completed, stay for the summer, and return sometime in August.

Please join us in prayer as we continue the process. While we are unfathomably excited, we continue to hold it all loosely, knowing that it’s not “official” until we bring her back with us. Pray for patience - as the urge to go jump on a plane to bring her home is quite strong. Pray for the timing of it all – that the pregnancy/birth would not cause any major hitches in the process. And pray for wisdom and strength as we embark on a journey that sounds both hugely exciting, but also a little overwhelming (adding an infant and a 1 year old to our family within a month or two). Also, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post (before we knew her and could pray for her specifically), pray with us that God would comfort and protect Daniela’s heart and mind. That even now, she would sense God’s love and presence. Pray for her emotional health in the midst of any loneliness, confusion, or anxiety she may be experiencing at the orphanage. And finally, pray for the people that are taking care of her in these months before we arrive to welcome her into our family. That God would give them a special love and affection for our child, as well as all the children awaiting their families.

Trusting in Him,

Gregg, Mercy, Taryn, and James

BIG NEWS!!: Tucker Family Update

2010-09-17T22:32:00.040-07:00

Do people still blog? We obviously don’t. There are quite a few people I know who have ceased, or at least dramatically decreased, their blogging. I’m pretty sure the main reason is Facebook and Twitter. That obviously has become the preferred medium of communicating what’s going on in one’s life and proceeding to blog on it seems repetitive or FAR too lengthy (over 140 characters is just too much). For us, the other reason is the dramatic shift in our lives over the last 6 months. The uncertainty that accompanied our transition from life in the Dominican Republic back to Colorado made it difficult to blog. It literally would have been about 6 months of “we’re still homeless and not positive what we’re doing, but we are enjoying re-connecting with friends and family”. But I finally think it’s time for a real update. The difficult part now will be to try and summarize the last 6 months briefly. So I might as well start with the “BIG NEWS!” …

As most of you know, we have been waiting for quite a while for an adoption referral from the Dominican Republic. Well about a week ago we received a “referral” for a child, but it wasn’t from the Dominican Republic, and it wasn’t for an adoption …

Mercy is PREGNANT!!

Needless to say, we are ABSOLUTELY elated!! We were definitely surprised, especially since we have been so focused and expectant for the adoption, but we are excited nonetheless. We are not positive how this will affect the adoption process, though we plan on continuing to pursue it. It’s possible this could cause a delay, but we’re pretty used to that and trust God that the timing will be as it should be. The due date will likely be at the end of April.

Everything else in our lives the last 6 months is quite boring compared to that. So I’m thinking some extended bullet points and few pictures will suffice.

At the end of March, Mercy and I were able to take a 10 day trip to Israel. The trip was with renowned Christian philosopher and historian, Norman Geisler. Really, there’s nothing like it and it’s hard to put the whole experience into words. Remarkably, 6 months later, I’m still sorting through my experiences and observations. I was lucky enough to be able to take a couple trips there in college, but Mercy had never been. As I’ve written about before, my first visit there the summer after my freshman year of college was a life-changing experience. After a period of serious questioning and researching Christianity and the different religions of the world, my trip there left me convinced of the truth of the Bible and Christianity. To cross the Sea of Galilee on a boat, to see the ruins of synagogues where Jesus preached and where the crowds listened to the Sermon on the Mount, to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, to kneel where Jesus was born and sit where he died and rose again were powerful, unforgettable moments. But it was interesting to go back almost 15 years later, at a totally different point in life, and with Mercy. I would say it struck me on a deeper heartfelt level this time. The first time I was overwhelmed at the reality of it all. This time it was like getting to know someone better by visiting their “hometown” and learning more about their life and culture. I was also once again struck by the touristy nature of it all (though most are better described as "pilgrims" on a pilgrimage) and the elaborate (some say extravagant) churches and mosques built on holy sites, but it bothered me less this time. Anyway, hopefully I can share more reflections on it all later. Here's some highlight pictures (believe it or not, this is just a fraction of the pictures):

Checkin' out the TODAY show on the stopover in New York.

Ground Zero

Wall Street / Stock Exchange

Lady Liberty!

Best sandwich shop in New York, if not the world (thanks Chuck and Maria). Site of When Harry Met Sally orgasm scene.

Flying in to Istanbul, Turkey

Mosque in Istanbul.

Our first morning sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. Powerful experience.

Ruins of Beit She'an. Rich history due to strategic geographical location.

View from above Beit She'an

Mercy sitting on an ancient toilet next to Norm Geisler.

Jordan River, in the vicinity of where Jesus was baptized.

Synagogue in Jesus' hometown, Capernaum. Probably one of the coolest sites due to it's high reliability and authenticity. Jesus taught in this synagogue (Luke 4:31-44).

Also in Capernaum, this is a church built on stilts over the house of Simon Peter's mother-in-law, where Jesus lived and healed the Roman centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13).

Taken from the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of a 1st century boat. Looking toward the northern Galilee region. It is on one of these hillsides where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

Chorazin synagogue in upper Galilee, mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 11:20-24.

Northern Israel looking across the border towards Lebanon.

Also in northern Israel, an 18th century BC(!) mud-brick gate at Tel Dan. Very possible that Abraham entered through these gates as he passed the city of Laish.

View of the Sea of Galilee from the strategic (and therefore controversial) Golan Heights (east side).

Modern day Nazareth.

View from Mt. Precipice in Nazareth, traditional site of story from Luke 4:16-30.

Mercy looking from Mt. Precipice toward the Jezreel Valley, an area with numerous important biblical places.

One of many ancient tunnels, though I don't recall the significance of this one. They all kind of blend together.

1st century tomb, though nowhere near Jerusalem. So just an example of what Jesus' tomb would have looked like.

View of Jezreel Valley from Mt. Carmel, which is the site in 1 Kings 18 where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. This is also the valley mentioned in Revelations where the battle of Armageddon will take place.

In Caesarea, this is the famous Pontius Pilate inscription, one of the most powerful New Testament archaeological discoveries. The existence of Pontius Pilate was questioned for decades due to his only mention being in the gospel of Luke. So when this inscription, with his specific name and title, dated between 29-32 A.D, was found in 1961, it was another huge confirmation of New Testament history.

Aqueduct of Caesarea built by Herod the great. Spanned almost 50 miles along the Mediterranean Sea.

Mosque at sunset in Haifa, departure point for Paul's missionary journeys.

Haifa at night.

King David's tomb in Jerusalem.

Stained glass in Jerusalem.

Model of 1st Century Jerusalem at the Israel Museum.

View from the Herodium, one of Herod's many fortresses and also the site of his tomb, which was a very recent archaeological discovery (2007).

Traditional site of Jesus' birth in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. I'm pretty sure this isn't what it looked like back then.

Courtyard in Bethlehem.

Palestinian police in Bethlehem.

More evidence we were in Palestine.

First view of Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Mercy hiking Masada. Cable car - shmable car.

Teens with machine guns - a common site in Israel.

Qumran cave, where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

More Qumran caves.

Chillin' in the extremely buoyant (15-18% sodium chloride vs. 2-3% in ocean) and therapeutic waters of the Dead Sea.

Dead Sea mud.

Western Wall at night.

At the Western Wall.

Dome of the Rock (Muslim mosque and 3rd most holy Muslim site) above Western Wall (MOST holy Jewish site).

Israeli Defense Force in front of Western Wall.

More Western Wall.

Dungeon in Caiphus' palace where, after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was likely scourged and interned prior to his trial in front of the Sanhedrin. Very powerful site.

Walking 1,750 feet through 6-12 inches of water in the pitch dark of Hezekiah's tunnel (mentioned in 2 Chronicles 32:30).

Looking upward on the Mount of Olives near the Church of the Ascension.

Another classic view of Jerusalem.

Ridin' the camel - yeehaw!

Mercy in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Stained glass in Gethsemane church.

Shops along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows), the route Jesus took between condemnation by Pilate and crucifixion.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified and buried nearby.

Mercy in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion. Again, I'm pretty sure it didn't look like this back then.

Traditional stone where Jesus was laid after being brought down from the cross.

Garden tomb - possible (though not likely) site of Jesus' burial.

Garden Tomb

In early May, after a few months of sending out applications, going to interviews, and thinking and praying about different teaching job offers, I decided to return to Faith Christian High School where I taught for 6 years prior to leaving for the Dominican Republic. It just so happened that the teacher I handed off one of my classes (Worldviews) to 4 years ago was going back to grad school, so I was able to pick up the same class, along with a Leadership class. It will be a little strange to not have any science classes, but I am excited to take on a new class (Leadership). I had a great experience teaching at Faith before and am excited to return for a new chapter there.

Snow at Arnica in May.

Mini-snowman

Spring in the mountains.

Auntie Amanda and Taryn

Later in May our family sold the mountain home (Arnica) which had been our main residence since returning from the Dominican Republic. It was bitter sweet, but mainly bitter. We have a lot of good memories there and it has been a place of refuge for us over the last 4 years, and especially in those last few months. It has and will be missed.

Last day at Arnica!

Lindsey's wedding. She's a former student and volleyball player of mine. And yes, it makes me feel old.

McDonald cousins

James, Jack, Ginny, and Taryn

Suburban cowboys!

In early June, after about a week at my sister’s house and coming to grips with our homelessness, we decided to take a road trip. We went to visit Mercy’s family in Idaho and my family in California. It was the first time in years that our WHOLE family (all members of all 4 kids’ families) was together. Needless to say it was wonderful spending time with brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. Hopefully that can happen a little more often now that we are relatively closer.

Taryn and cousin Sammy

The Fam!

Always gotta have a crazy shot.

Grandma Trude and the grandkids.

Then in mid-June, shortly after returning to Colorado, we left for the Dominican Republic for a month. We were there to see how the community center and ministry stuff was going, to bring a more formal closure to our time there (when we left before there was still a chance we would return), to help organize a group from our church which was going for a weeklong trip, and of course to re-connect with our friends there. Overall it was a really great time. Mercy and some others from the group battled the “gripe” (the flu – Dominican style) and there were some needed discussions about the state and future of the community center, but it all went really well. While it was very sad and difficult to leave this time knowing that it would be a while (at least 9 months to a year) before we return, it was good to appreciate what a big part of our lives that place is and recognize that we will continue to stay connected there.

Reuniting with the women in La Canita.

Some flooding while we were there, though it happens quite often.

The water level rises!

Our friend Freddy taking advantage of running water.

Jim, Adam, and Gregg at a waterfall in the Dominican mountain town of Jarabacoa.

Taryn engrossed in an American Girl doll book - ironic?

Practicing a drama at Biemba's house.

Classic Dominican houses

James and his pet catfish (for about an hour).

Worshiping in La Canita

Swinging in La Canita

Praying in La Canita

Making rugs from recycled t-shirts in La Canita.

Janel in front of the newly painted community center.

Sammy and Adam gettin' some air.

Caribbean baptisms

Group beach shot.

Group picture at the Bellos house.

Lunch at Biemba's

Biemba in her remodeled kitchen.

The kids playing behind Biemba's house.

Gregg, James, and Janel on the couch.

Our home for 3 years (the upper-level of the blue house).

An introductory kids computer class at the community center.

Learning the keyboard

At Viviana's house

Manolo ... 'nuff said.

Ministerio Hijos de Dios - the church that meets at the community center.

Sammy having some good times!

Gregg speaking at Janel's surprise birthday.

The surprise birthday group shot.

Our good friend David's first moments with his new baby girl, Sarai. After staying with them for a week, she was born the night before we left and we were happy to be able to meet her in person.

And finally, on August 1^st we moved into a furnished, month-to-month rental house in the northeast downtown Denver area (Cole/Whittier/Five Points). It is just a half-block from our good friends (the Dimos’), about a mile or two from some other good friends (the Currans), a couple blocks from Taryn and James’ school, and in the general area where we are looking to buy a home. We were actually under contract for a home, but it fell through after we weren’t able to resolve some inspection issues that came up. We’ve chosen this area specifically for it’s cultural and economic diversity, something we are craving after our experience in the Dominican Republic. This area definitely offers that. The kids’ school is 68% Hispanic, 30% Black, and 2% White, with 96% of the students qualifying for free/reduced lunch. It has been cool to be able to continue to use our Spanish with neighbors. It is definitely an “up and coming” neighborhood in a neat area close to downtown Denver and we are enjoying getting connected with the continued development of the community.

James and Mercy Dimos at Elitches.

Nothing says summer in Colorado like ice cream with friends.

Some moose (or is it meese? - kidding) in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Another moose chillin' in a meadow.

Another shot of the moose.

Elk graving at 12,000 feet

More elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Not a bad backdrop!

James, Taryn, and Edwin

Mercy and James with Mandie and Edwin, some friends we met in the Dominican Republic and visited in Estes Park.

Taryn and Edwin. Edwin was adopted from the Dominican Republic.

Riding the lift at Winter Park

James skying on the trampoline at Copper Mountain.

Celebrating Mercy's birthday at Tucker's Tavern. She had the Mother Tucker burger!

First day of school in America.

Walking to school with Oma ...

... and friends.

Go Rockies!

So that’s about it – our last 6 months in a rather large nutshell. We consider ourselves blessed to have had the experience we did in the Dominican Republic and for the many friends and family who supported us and our work there personally, prayerfully, and financially. We are also extremely thankful for our church, which despite going through an extremely difficult period, were faithful in supporting us throughout our time there, as well as during our transition back to life here in the States. We are excited to see how God continues to work within our church body and through our connection with the community of La Victoria in the Dominican Republic.

And finally, we are excited for this new chapter of life back in Colorado. We have definitely experienced some reverse culture shock and we still don't feel totally comfortable in life here - though that may never come, which is okay. It feels right to be back for now and we are excited to get connected in the community here.

Now ... back to status updates and Tweets (okay, I actually still don’t Tweet, but maybe someday).

Home sweet home

2010-03-15T20:31:00.021-07:00

December and January was quite a whirlwind. After being in Colorado for Christmas and New Year's, I spent a couple weeks in the Dominican Republic and Mercy and the kids with her family in Idaho. After that we all went to California to visit my mom, sister (Meghan), and her new daughter Ashlynn for a couple weeks. We were also able to drive down to San Luis Obispo to visit our good friends Matt and Sada and their new son Silas, as well as visit cousins in Santa Cruz. After that we flew up to Seattle to visit our good friends Paul and Abi and an old friend Kristen (Rouse) Pappas, before returning to Colorado in early February.

Since then we have spent most of our time at our family’s cabin in Silverthorne. It’s been a really nice break to be up there enjoying many of the things we haven’t had the last 4 years – space, views, cold air, quiet, hot showers, among other things, not to mention some skiing, sledding, and hiking. It’s also been nice to have room for friends to visit, catch up, and even spend the night.

In the meantime I have been updating the resume, applying to schools both in Santo Domingo and Denver, and spending time working on some things with the community center and the adoption. There is no “new” news on the adoption. We could literally get the referral today or in about a year (ie: there is no clear timeframe). We’re obviously hoping and praying for sooner. It would be really ideal if we got it within the next month or two so that the process could be complete by the end of the summer, but we aren't holding our breathe. Regardless, I am waiting to see what doors are opened for teaching positions and we will go from there.

As for the community center and ministry stuff in the DR, we talk to Janel, David, and others periodically and things seem to be going well. It is a little tough not knowing if we will be back there or not, though we will stay closely connected regardless. We will actually likely be there for at least a couple weeks in June to visit and help with some groups that are going down to see the microfinance co-ops we’re helping start in La Victoria. But needless to say, we miss our friends there dearly and that has been the hardest part about being back.

And finally, here are some pictures from our time back.

Cousins

Sledding with the Johnstons

Sledding in Silverthorne

Playing at Grandma Trude's

Taryn and Ashlynn

James and Ashlynn

Taryn and Grandma Trude baking

Mercy and James at the beach in Aptos

Flying kites

Damian and Jimmy goin' surfin'

James and Grandma Trude chattin'

Family dinner

Mermaids and merman(?)

James' 5th birthday cake

Brushing the horse

Walking the horse

Petting the horse

Dr. Hopper teaching history at Cal Poly

Sada, Silas, Taryn, and Mercy

2 hour old sheep

Taryn and Baby Silas

Uncle Gregg and Baby Silas

Rockin' out!

Duet of "Free Fallin'"

James and Kirra playing

Opening presents

Mercy and Abi catching up

Performing the play

Taryn and Maya

Cole jumping the stream

James follwing suit

The superheroes

Mount Ranier

The treehouse

Dinner time

Walking at sunset

Gregg and Paul

Kristen and Gregg

Paul chatting with his friend

Midnight yoga with the Tschetters

Driftwood exploring

Natural teeter-totter

Tucker and Pascua kids

Ice sled

King of the slide

Snow camouflage

Ice walking

Fun with the Ratnathicams

Snow mountain

Snow cave

Tubing

Best friends at Mary Poppins

Juli and Lucy Dimos

Pico Duarte: El Techo del Caribe (The Roof of the Caribbean)

2010-03-11T18:49:00.001-07:00

[I’m a little late posting about this, as the earthquake which occurred just a few days later kind of overshadowed this trek.]

Since we arrived in the Dominican Republic 3.5 years ago I had wanted to climb Pico Duarte. At 10,164 feet, it is the highest peak in the Caribbean. I tried to plan a trip a few times but it never seemed to work out. But finally, after being back in Colorado for Christmas and New Year’s and recruiting a good friend Henry (who previously lived in the DR) to go with me, it was on.

Our group was Bowin (a missionary who has been in the DR about 6 months), Josue (a 27 year old Dominican friend), Henry (a Colorado friend), and myself. Henry and I arrived in Santo Domingo late Tuesday night and we were picked up at the airport by Bowin. After a quick night of sleep, we left late the next morning for the 3 hour drive to the trailhead at La Cienaga, about an hour outside of Jarabacoa, a popular mountain town. We arrived around 3pm, which is a little late if you’re looking to find a guide, buy food, load up, and hike a few miles in, which we were hoping to do.

Pre-trip preparation

Since we hadn’t organized any reservations, we asked the “ranger” at the trailhead how we find a guide (which is required), and he said we should just go into the town (which isn’t much more than a couple colmados on a corner) and ask around. So we did just that. Their seemed to be a few other small groups who had just returned who were celebrating at the colmados in usual Dominican style – loud music, Presidente cerveza, dancing, and rum. Unfortunately, this meant each guide we were coming across was quite drunk, yet still willing to lead us. After haggling on the price and the number of donkeys we needed with a few prospective guides, we finally settled with the least drunk one we could find, and after a quick sancocho lunch, we bought some food for the 2 nights on the trail, loaded up the donkey, and we were off.

Our guide and our donkey

We left at about 5pm and hiked in a slight mist for about 3 miles where we pitched the tents in a little empty wooden structure and slept for the night.

Setting up tents in the empty cabin.

The next morning we woke up, packed up, and got on the trail at about 8am. The first 4 miles and 2,300 vertical feet were extremely muddy. There was still a slight mist coming down and it was foggy. Then came the most difficult part, where we climbed another 2,300 vertical feet in a little over 2 miles. Then the last 2 miles was actually a disheartening drop of 650 feet.

Bowin getting in the laughs before the work begins

Josue loses his shoe in the mud.

One of the few clear moments of the day.

Hiking in the mini-valley

Bowin trekking in the mud

Bowin and Josue taking a much needed rest

La jungla

Another quick clearing

Fitting that his shirt says, "Pure water, pure life"

Chillin' in the forest

Henry and Josue

This brought us to La Comparticion, a small camp near the peak. We again pitched our tents in a little empty wood cabin, lit a campfire, and waited for the guide to prepare the rice and salami. After 12 hours, 11 miles, 5,000 vertical feet, and nothing but bread, butter, and trail mix to eat, rice and salami never tasted so good. It was still foggy and we weren’t able to get a good grasp of how high in elevation we were. It was also quite cold, especially by Dominican standards, which Josue would confirm. At about 45 degrees, he had literally never felt temperatures so cold. And most Dominicans think temperatures below about 60 are life threatening, so it was not a pleasant experience for him. Needless to say, we fell asleep quite easily (except for Josue, who thought he was going to die).

Our tents in the cabin at La Comparticion

The fog in the trees

We woke up the next morning at 4am. We slowly rolled out of the tents, suited up in the cold, had some bread and butter, put on headlamps, and hit the trail by about 4:30am to try and reach the summit by sunrise. The last stretch to the peak was about 3 miles and 2,100 vertical feet. It seemed much easier since it was in the dark with nothing but our headlamps to see the trail. After about a mile we began to see the city lights of the island. Shortly after that, the sky slowly began to light up as the sun made it’s way toward the horizon. Now that the clouds had cleared for the first time since we began trek, we were finally able to get a grasp for just how high in elevation we were.

Early morning hiking

We reached the peak at about 6:30am and the views were breathtaking. You could see the ocean on the south side of the island and faintly see it on the north side. Though relatively we weren’t that high (compared to Colorado), being on the highest peak on an island made it feel like we were on top of the world. We watched the sunrise over the ocean a little after 7am and shortly after we got started on the 11 mile downhill trek.

Celebrating with Duarte on the peak

The pre-sunrise

Mission Accomplished!

Toward the south

And the north

Almost here

There it is!

Bowin basking in the sunrise

The peak

We made a quick stop at the campsite to load up the donkey, had a ramen, leftover rice, salami, and beef jerky soup for breakfast, and we were on our way. It took us about 7 hours to get back down.

Breakfast before heading back down

Overall it was an incredible trip. Other than the muddy parts at the beginning and end, the trail is beautiful and the views from the peak are amazing. Having a donkey carry the heavy stuff makes the hiking light and fairly easy, though I’m glad I had a few weeks of hiking in the mountains of Colorado just prior to the trip to acclimate to the elevation. It was definitely little more difficult for Bowin and Josue who had been at sea level prior to the trip. It was also cool to see such variations in the flora and fauna throughout the hike. It was like going through multiple ecosystems on the way up. Definitely worth the work.

Watching their steps ont he muddy downhill

Parting shot