Kim and her husband Jay, and their own son, Alex have been caring for baby Alex for the past several months. Baby Alex had to have cleft palate surgery. His family had kept his face covered for most of his young life, they were embarrased to have people see his hare lip. They would put a cloth on his face when he was in public.
When we offered them the chance, through C.O.T.A. ( Children of the Americas) to be able to send baby Alex to the U.S. for his surgery, they were scared but they wanted the best for their son. I was honored that they trusted us enough to take their precious baby to a foreign country and operate on him and to bring him back.
This picture was taken of Alex on his way to the US and before his surgery.
Today is the day we have all been waiting for!! Alex is coming home.!! Kim has done a wonderful job keeping a blog , she has updated all the photos of Alex having a wonderful time. This has been a great comfort and joy for the family to be able to come and look at photos of Alex and to even see videos of him. 
Here is a picture of Alex after his surgery.
This is from a post that I put on the Mayan Families Connection group this morning.
We are all waiting to see Kim and Alex today!. His parents are very anxious to go to the airport and meet him. I know that it is going to be bittersweet for Kim. She and her whole family have grown very attached to little Alex and I am sure , that he is to them.
I think that it is incredibly selfless the job that Kim and Jay took on, caring for, loving and making baby Alex a part of their family and then after his medical care, handing him back to his family here. As Jody from COTA has told us, this is done with all the costs ( apart from the medical care) coming out of the foster family’s pocket. Kim is flying Alex back to Guatemala which will make the transition so much easier for Alex. I hope that her own son, also Alex, will have an easy time adjusting to being an only child again. He looks like he was having a lot of fun with baby Alex.
Alex’s family live in a very basic home, they do not have a mattress on their bare plank boards they use for a bed. They do not have any toys and quite often they do not have enough food. But they do have a lot of love for Alex and they cannot wait to see him.
This is going to be a big change for baby Alex who has become very accustomed to the luxuries that he had at Kim and Jay’s home. Kim is bringing a pack and play for Alex to use.
Alex’s parents are also expecting another baby in a few months.
Julio is going into the city to meet Kim and he will be taking photos for us to share with you. Julio will be picking up Aida from COTA and after they pick up Alex and Kim , they will go to the U.S. Embassy and register the return of Alex to Guatemala. After that they will head to Panajachel, Kim is staying at Patti’s apartments and Alex will head up the mountain with his parents back to Tierra Linda.
We are planning on visiting Alex in Tierra Linda on Friday
