Love knows no language barriers -- or borders.

That was all too plain to see at Buffalo Niagara International Airport as tears streamed down the faces of members of two American families and the five children they hope to adopt, who were returning to their native Colombia.

The orphans, between the ages 8 and 14, have lived with the Buffalo-area families for the last three weeks on a trial basis. The stay is considered a key step on a six-to-10-month path leading to their adoption.

"It's the start of their having a family forever," said Elena Martinez, director of the FANA orphanage in Bogota, before boarding the plane with the children for the 2,650-mile flight to Colombia, where they will return to foster families.

The orphanage specializes in finding homes for older children without parents, said Judith O'Mara, director of adoptions and foster care for Baker Victory Services. The Lackawanna agency works with the orphanage to place children in Western New York.

Baker Victory Services also makes available picture dictionaries and computer-generated translation programs to help families and children who don't share the same language communicate and provides translators.

For Oscar, 14, Silvia, 10, and Cristian, 8, coming to Western New York meant living with a Pendleton family who wants them and can give them a stable life.

"We stressed to them from the beginning that we are adopting you, not might adopt you," said Paul Donahue, who welcomed the children, as did his wife, Clare, and their three children, Emily, 19, Matthew, 17, and Eileen, 15.

The Colombian children said they had two wishes -- to go swimming and ride a roller coaster.

"We taught them how to swim, and they were doing cannonballs in the deep end," Clare Donahue said.

The kids also rode the Silver Comet 21 times in a row at Martin's Fantasy Island on Grand Island, with Paul Donahue in tow every time.

The children had another first-time thrill -- riding in a car. "They fight over who gets to sit in the window seat, because the window goes up and it goes down, it goes up and it goes down," Clare Donahue said, chuckling.

A certain amount of creativity was used to foster communication, Clare Donahue said. With daughter Eileen, who has passed the Spanish Regents exam, interpreting, the family pantomimed a lot, she said.

The family turned to Colombia to adopt a child after efforts to do so in Mexico failed.

Clare Donahue said the time spent with the Colombian children was "fantastic" and added that she can't wait for them to return and officially become part of the family.

Patrick and Natalie Bubb of Williamsville, with their children Francesca, 12, and Dominic, 11, said they hope to be able to go to Colombia in late summer or early fall to bring back their adopted children, Isabel, 10, and David, 9.

Unable to have more children, they turned to adoption, seeking children closer to their own kids' ages. They considered adopting children from the United States but didn't want to do an open adoption, in which the birth parents are involved before and after the adoption.

The faster track for adopting older children appealed to them. Also, Natalie Bubb is a Spanish teacher.

Patrick Bubb declared the three-week visit "awesome," even with some squabbles that developed as the weeks went on, like the sibling rivalry that surfaced when Francesca shared her bedroom and clothes with Isabel.

The Colombian children were fascinated by the variety of food available in the United States and anxious to try new things besides their usual diet of beans, rice and pork, the Bubbs said.

"They like chicken wings and pizza," Paul Bubb said. "They also think Americans eat a lot of food."

An excited David had his first visit to a zoo, taking pictures of the animals to take back with him.

The Colombian children, including two others who stayed with another Buffalo-area family, didn't know each other before but bonded through FANA and during their visit here, the Bubbs said.

And they bonded with their new families.

"We're going to miss them. I just hope between the American and Colombian governments that the paperwork will go through as quickly as possible," Paul Bubb said.