On their way to the airport Wednesday, with their blended summer family — an American, Russian and Colombian melting pot — Diane Weeks turned to her husband, David, and summed up her feeling about their two summer guests from Colombia.

“It seems like we’ve had them forever,” Diane Weeks said.

Her husband knew exactly what she meant.

Actually, the two Colombian children, Viviana, who turns 13 today, and Yenni, 12, have been in the family’s Town of Tonawanda home for only 19 days.

But already, David and Diane Weeks and their two younger daughters, Katia, 9, and Svieta, 7, feel that they have two new family members.
This was a case of summer love — at first sight.

Wednesday, Viviana, Yenni and six other Colombian children left Buffalo Niagara International Airport to return to their FANA orphanage in Bogota, following the Summer Victories program sponsored by Baker Victory Services. The six other children in the program returned home Tuesday.

Baker Victory officials hope all 14 will return here in months, as newly adopted members of their summer families.

The idea is that the Western New York families and their prospective adopted children get to spend a few weeks together, to make sure the fit is good.

Wednesday was a day for hugs and smiles and laughs, with young kids from another land clutching their future mothers’ skirts, their American snack foods and the memories of an all-too-short summer.

It also was a day for goodbyes and tears, when both the Colombian children and their summer families began counting the months until the kids can return for good — as newly adopted children.

Quite a few tears formed on the faces of the four Weekses — and the two future family members.

“I was surprised that such a strong bond or connection could be created in such a short time, especially because of the language barrier,” said David Weeks, a teacher at Park School.

Diane Weeks, who works at the Weinberg Campus, didn’t need the 19-day visit to fall in love.

“As soon as I saw their pictures in Baker Victory, I knew they were my daughters,” she said. “I didn’t even have to meet them. And as soon as they got off the plane, they said, ‘Mommy.’ ”

The Summer Victories program is in its eighth year, the first time hosting Colombians. About 55 kids from Russia and Ukraine have been adopted in the program’s first seven years.

Judith O’Mara, adoption director for Baker Victory Services, said the Weekses are exactly the type of family sought for the summer program.

“They are a very loving family,” she said. “They just welcomed these children unconditionally into their family from the moment they saw them.”
Diane and David Weeks, who have an older son, Joe Smith, 22, both come from fairly large families, and they knew they wanted more children.

“To us, the term ‘family’ means a lot of people,” David Weeks said.
Three years ago, they adopted Katia, then 6, and Svieta, 4, from Russia. Since then, they tried to adopt children from America, but they wanted older kids, and it was hard finding the right fit when they weren’t foster parents.

Last spring, they heard about the Summer Victories program, with its three-week summer living arrangement.

“I love that idea, because you have a chance to see the kids, live with them and see how they interact with your other children, things you can’t do when all you get is a photo or a video,” David Weeks said.

The four girls have bonded beautifully — like sisters.

“The problems we have are strictly out of sisterhood,” David Weeks said. “Sisters can be rivals, in wanting to be the best at everything, like swimming, and competing in games like Uno.”

But Viviana and Yenni played hooky from summer day camp Tuesday, so they could hang out with “Mommy” and their two future sisters.
As they got ready to part Wednesday, Katia turned to her father and said, “At least we’ll see them soon.”

To which David replied that it could take half a year until the adoptions take effect. “Then she got emotional,” he said. They weren’t the only ones.

Diane Weeks recently went to Wal-Mart to shop for blankets the girls could take back to Colombia. Suddenly, it dawned on her. “This is what it must feel like sending your daughters to college.”

Photo by Robert Kirkham, The Buffalo News