Haiti Slide show

On one of the Haiti groups that I read, someone posted this slide show! It shows a beautiful side of Haiti that is not seen or talked about very much. Please check it out! click here!

If you are tired of coming to my blog and hearing about Haiti, sorry! That is the beauty of having a blog I get to post what I want when I want! You as the reader can choose to read or not! I hope you continue reading!

Medika Mamba

Please check out our friend's Brent and Lori's blog listed on the left. They are awesome people working hard to make a difference in the lives of the children at our Orphanage including our little Gracie! Thanks Lori!!!

P.S. We got the piece of paper from our government saying that we are approved to adopt 2 children! Yeah now all of our paperwork is off to Haiti and in their hands! Please pray that we will get into the court system (IBESR) soon! We have been trying to get in one way or another since January!

Kelsie's Party!

Kelsie had her Birthday Party this week, although her real birthday is earlier in the month! She had 8 girls for a sleepover and basically a repeat of Katie's party. Why do something different when the first one turned out good? But I must say that 12 year olds are louder, more crazy, and messy than 15 year olds! They all had a good time and we recovered!
Kelsie is now off for 2 weeks of fun in Utah visiting her favorite cousin!

Article about Haiti!

This article came across a Haiti group that I read and I though it was quite interesting. It talks about how desperate the situation for food is in Haiti. At the end of the article it also talks about the Medika Momba that we are trying to get into our orphanage.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080720/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_hidden_hunger

My thoughts!

I haven't really been posting much lately as you can tell. It is not because I am so busy that I don't have time, as a matter of fact it is the opposite. I have a lot on my mind, going through some pretty hard times right now and haven't wanted to post about all the details.
I have been questioning a lot of things in my life and searching for answers. I know that there are some of you out there that are thinking "Why are they adopting when they can't provide everything for the ones they have?" Maybe I am the one who is thinking that and doubting that I was lead by a higher power than my own to Haiti and these little girls. I know we are tested before the blessings come, I know that I have to rely on the Lord to get me through these hard times, but at what point to I cry Uncle? It is not just one aspect of our lives that is in turmoil it is coming on multiple fronts.
I am not one to open up and share my innermost feelings with just anyone so writing this is hard for me, so why am I doing it? I'm not sure! Maybe putting it out there will create some clarity for me.
Here is the good that is going on in my life just in case anyone thinks that I am not being grateful:

We are all enjoying great health
I have a great family
We have food on the table and a roof over our heads
I have great friends

My list of needs would take all day to write so I will keep that list to myself.

Why we are adopting - This is the list I need to see daily!

No matter how many trials or hard times I go through they will never compare to what my little girls would go through if they are left in Haiti. I don't know if any of you watched the Nightline Piece, the link is below, but it is truly a hard way to live without any hope. While we were in Haiti and broken down on the street we had people coming up to us begging for food it was sad, we wanted to give but if we started how would we stop. To face the challenge of trying to put something in your stomach daily to eat is something very few of us will every face. The choices in Haiti are not good, better or best, they are survival.
As we were visiting with the file manager in Haiti we were telling him thank you for all that you do for the kids. He stopped us and said "No thank you...you are giving these children hope" So am I really making a difference? I have to believe that I am making a difference to 2 little girls who otherwise would not have hope what would become of their future? And they are the lucky ones they have a place to sleep and food on the table.
I have become connected to Haiti in a way that I would never have imagined, that most people don't understand. When I am home I am thinking about the next trip down there. I am thinking how can I help this orphanage, what can I do more or better to help these children even after mine are home safe with me?
While I was in Haiti I kept up a guard around my heart. I wasn't going to fall in love with these 2 little girls and risk getting hurt again. I did pretty good I liked the girls they were cute and I knew that they would fit into our family quite nicely. But I stayed guarded! It wasn't until a week or so after I came home that the wall around my heart started to crumble, and they were fully embedded unto every fiber. They are my children! It is hard to know that I left them when I know that Destina thought she was coming home with her "mama". How will she react the next time we see her and then have to leave her? That thought breaks my heart.
We have become friends with the most wonderful people who are either adopting or have adopted and still have that connection to Haiti. We are (or mostly they are) arranging for a shipment of food to go to the orphanage it is food that will help the most malnourished children in the Orphanage. The food is donated from a company called Medical Momba all the calories and nutrition needed for one day is packed into one serving all we have to do is cover the shipping. My little Gracie is on that list of one of the most malnourished at almost a year old she weighed 14.5 lbs. and that was at the end of the week after she had been fed a steady diet of pedi-asure the whole week. Thank you Lori and Nichole for all that you are doing to make this happen!
So my resolve has been that I will get through my hard times, these children do belong in our home, and yes I would do it again! It has not been an easy road but little in life that is good is easy! The blessings will come I do trust in the Lord!

Happy Birthday Katie!

It was Katie's 15th Birthday on Friday and she had a group of girls over for a party and sleepover. The girls had BBQ pizza and made ice cream then played night games up at the school. They all had a great time and Katie had a great time hanging out with some pretty awesome kids! Happy Birthday Katie!!

The Forgtten Children

If you missed the ABC News Nightline story last night on child slavery in Haiti, please, please take a few minutes and go to the link below and watch the video. There are 4 parts - you can navigate between them at the bottom of the article.

A reporter decides to see how long it will take him to buy a child in Haiti. The results are truly shocking. You can see good images of what Haiti looks like - how beautiful the people are, how lovely the mountains are, how desperate the country is.

I'm so grateful that our little ones are safe in an orphanage. I am so eternally thankful that their mothers were able to put them in an orphanage so that they could have a better chance. We don't realize how lucky we are.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=5326508

July 4th!

This fourth of July we decided to go to the city of Blaine Washington for their Blaine Freedom Days! For those of you who don't know where Blaine is, it is the last stop before the Canadian Border. As a matter of fact you can see the boarder crossing from where we were. Going to the Blaine Freedom Days is like taking a step back in time 20 or 30 years! They have a parade where the announcer knows everyone that goes by in the parade! "Hey here comes the Jones family, how is your horse doing"? "Here is the Taylor family with their 1910 tractor that they have had since 1910 I remember the day you guys bought that thing"!
We showed up about 5 minutes before the parade started and we had good standing spots, didn't think to bring chairs or blankets! The kids had a great time collecting candy (except Katie), and watching the parade go by. After the parade we ate our share of junk food from the local vendors and walked the arts and crafts booths and car show! The library was also holding a used book sale where I found a couple of good reads!
Then we headed home and had BBQ Hamburgers and set off fireworks and watched all the other fireworks around the lake!

See how happy my kids are to be at a parade!

One last thing! Kenzie has her own blog and would love to have people read it and leave her a comment! The link to her blog is on the left side!

Chicken Popsicles?

When you have lived in a 3rd world country for all of our life you learn not to wast any food. It was real interesting to watch Destina and Malot eating. The first night back at the hotel we ordered them "National Rice" which is rice and beans cooked Haitian style. Both of the kids, eating with their fingers cleaned their plates. Malot was a little picky he didn't eat any beans that were split open, but other than that they didn't wast anything. As the days went on and the kids began to realize that when they were hungry all we had to do was go sit at the table at the restaurant and food would magically appear, they became a little more picky! Malot started picking out all of the beans and Destina would stop eating when she was full. They shared food, if Destina thought Malot's food looked better she would make a trade, weather Malot wanted to or not. And he seemed ok with this for the most part.
As for eating chicken Destina treated this like she was eating a popsicle! She would eat every speck of meat even the gross stuff I usually leave on my chicken. Then she would bite the top of the bone off suck out all the marrow and chew the bone until all the flavor was gone then spit out the remains! I can't wait to take her to KFC when she get home she will turn heads for sure!