Guatemala Adoptive Family BBQ

This year we again attended the Guatemala Adoptive Family BBQ that Gabi's family hosts on the last Saturday of July every year.

The planned craft this year was tie-die so we made tie-died sugar cookies to bring along with Popsicle cut outs decorated in the American and Guatemalan flag colors.

It was great to see Ally with her friends:

Gabi, Rosa, Ally and Roxie eating corn on the cob. Alice was there too, and 40 other kids!

Ally and Roxie

Rosa and Ally trying to walk on stilts.

Roxie, Ally and Becky playing some kind of game.

The girls and chalk.

Then it was time for posed group shots

Alice, Rosa, Roxie, Ally and Gabi

Flashback photo to 2010. From left to right then: Ally, Alice, Roxie, Gabi and Rosa. 

The moms too!

Mary Beth and Becky looked great in their matching stripes.

Ahhh the love. Rosa and her mom Julie.

We even had someone take a picture of our family!

And our kiss sandwich!

As we drove home and later that evening Ally seemed upset. We talked at bath time about how almost all the kids at the BBQ were from Guatemala. But it wasn't until bedtime that it came out. Ally is starting to process what being adopted from Guatemala means. She talked about how poor it was there and how bad she felt for people there and then expressed how she was feeling bad because she too was one of those poor people from Guatemala and so were all the kids at the BBQ. And it didn't feel that great to her to be here in the USA and not there in Guatemala. She was feeling guilty. Guilty for being adopted out of poverty. 

Ohhhh it was a sad and difficult conversation. Lots of tears and lots of hugs. I told her that we are so happy to be her parents and that we love her very much. I told her I could understand her feeling that way, but that it wasn't her fault. Any of it. And we would listen and help her in any way we could.

I share this here in the blog because most of you who read it love Ally too and I want everyone who loves her to know that this is a common feeling for adoptees and we all need to validate how Ally feels and continue to shower her with  love and support.

If I have one word to describe Ally I usually say kind. She still amazes me how kind she is. At 8 years old to realize these huge thoughts and feelings. We are grateful she talks to us about them.