Good- bye 2009

It is time to take down the Christmas Tree and get everything ready for the New Year! I love my tree it is decorated with pictures of my kids from the time they were babies until present. Setting up the tree is a time of reflection as I pull out each picture ornament and find the perfect spot on the tree for that picture, I reminisce about each child and what was happening when the picture was taken, where we lived and what was going on in our lives.
The same is true when I take down the tree I am sad to be packing up so many memories, but I am also looking towards the future hoping that this will be the year that the girls come home, and thinking about all the great things that are going to happen for our family in the coming year! Good- bye 2009 like an old pair of ratty shoes that have trudged through too much muck and mire, you will not be missed. Hello 2010 there is great expectation in store for you, please don't disappoint!

Make a Smilebox greeting

My Late Christmas Present!

I opened my email today and look what I found...
UPDATES!!!

Avrie looks so good, happy and healthy!

I can't believe how long her hair is after I cut if off in June!

And Destina, I can't wait to get her home! She is wearing one of the shirts I left with her..

I miss them so much! No news on our file yet!

Our Christmas Adventure!

2 - the number of parents/grandparents we were able to visit

5 - the number of days we were gone!
7 - the number of people we had in the SUV
2000 - the number of miles we traveled
32 - the number of hours spent in the car with our children
4- the number of states we were in or driving through

6 - the number of siblings, including Lisa, that we got to see
Brother-in-law Dan!

Brother-in-law- Mark and
Sister-in-law Cathlin

Sister Julie and niece Nalaya

Niece Lisa, but more like a sister, and hubby Paul

Big sister Sheree hubby Eric and Jay!

3 - the number of restaurants we ate at

10 - the number of cousins (not counting spouses and their children) we had the chance to reconnect with
9 - the number of friends we had a chance to visit with wish it could have been more and for a longer time

The memories from this trip were too many to count we had a great time cramming so much into so little, we came home tired and worn out from all the fun! Thank you to Julie and Grandma and Grandpa for letting us stay with you and for taking such good care of us!

Christmas Song 2009

Make sure your volume is up loud, it is a little hard to hear, and we were too tired to do a retake!

Merry Christmas

Can You Guess....

which one of my girls just came home for Christmas from Hawaii???

Her plane was 3 hours late, she landed at 12:05 AM we were on the road headed back home at 12:40 AM and pulled into the driveway at 2:30 AM my head hit the pillow at 3:00AM! We are so happy to have you home for 2 weeks!
We have been making cookies all day and delivering them along with our Christmas Song if you do not live close enough to us to get our cookies and our free entertainment stay tuned I can share the entertainment but you are out of luck on the cookies!

WELCOME HOME MCKENZIE!!

Stockings are Hung by the Chimney With Care...

Wishing they could be here for Christmas!

Adoption Analogy -- Running on the Treadmill

Adoption is hard, my adoption has been extremely hard. So today I have come up with several analogy's that I feel relate to my adoption experience. Now I don't want to discourage anyone from adoption because in the end I will have my girls home and this will have been one of the hardest, yet best experiences in my life. And my experience is on the upper end of the worst case scenario in the adoption world, I know there are worse, but there are also a lot of cases that are better!
I love the Amazing Race so this analogy is along those lines....When we started out we had 2 choices, kind of like a detour in the Amazing Race, we could run on the bumpy road with pot holes and obstacles in our way, but the end was determined and if we made it we would be through that detour in a relatively short time. The second choice was to run on a smooth treadmill with the occasional bump in the road but the catch here was there was no end in sight. Somehow we must have choosen the treadmill route, I feel like I have been running on this treadmill for a really long time and once in a while someone will yell out to me sorry, you must start over....so I get back on the treadmill and push the start button and get my energy back up and start the run again. I am going along and then I hear sorry, you must start over again but this time it wont be so bad you have already been running for so long that surly this time will be a shorter distance you are almost there! So I drag my tired body back on the treadmill push the resume where left off button and I am happily on my way knowing that the end will be here soon, right? I have already been running a long time. I even get encouraging words along the way from my fan club, "hang in there it will be any day now and it will be your turn to get off". This goes on for quite a while and I'm getting tired. Next thing I know I am being told no, no, no, you were not almost done running you had to start all over, again, you just didn't know it this time, but now you are getting close to the end, it should be any day now and you will be able to get off of the treadmill called IBESR and on to the next task.

Best Friends

These two have always looked out for each other, I can't wait to hear their story of how they became such good friends. Destina would give her prized possession to Abie and I know Abie would do the same I have seen it happen time and time again on the trips. They look out for each other, they make sure the other one has enough food, toys, and snacks. They like to share shoes, every trip I see Abie wearing a pair of Destina's shoes and Destina wearing Abie's shoes, they willing give to each other. They share a very unique bond that I hope they will never forget. Abie will be coming home before Destina and I know they will both feel the loss when Abie leaves. It will be so much fun to see these too visiting each other over the years to see if that bond continues to grow, I am so glad that Destina has had Abie and that they look out for each other, it is nice to know that someone has your back!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?

Destina and Fabrice

I can't seem to put 2 thoughts together lately so I am resorting to videos! This video is Destina and Fabrice playing/fighting in the pool. Fabrice is a little bigger and stronger than Destina but she keeps coming back for more. They are both laughing and they both have huge smiles on their faces.
Fabrice is a great kid and is being adopted by a great family. Destina and Fabrice are really good friends hopefully after they both come home they can still keep in touch and see each other once in a while. I am not going to make any predictions but.....

Oh and the child making choking noises in the background is ok she survived the intake of pool water and was doing fine by the end of the video!

It is Still November so it is....

Still National Adoption Month!

Wishing

Right across the street from the hotel is an open air market where vendors sell their goods to the few tourists that come by. This is one of the highlights of the trip when we get to leave the hotel and do a little shopping. But because it is a little crazy and there are a lot of people that come up to us and want us to buy this or come look at that or people that are just begging for money we go in groups and we don't take the kids. But we can go up to the balcony of the hotel and it overlooks the shopping and we can watch what is happening down on the streets.

Destina loves to come up here and watch the shopping and watch the people it is so busy with cars full of people coming and going. She was a little sad that she could not go shopping with me and sat on the railing of the balcony wishing that she could go, and watching the people she knew across the street. Even though she has lived in Haiti her whole life I think she has been pretty sheltered and has not left the orphanage other than to come to the hotel or to adoption related appointments. So this is all new to her and fascinating as well.

It is fun to go shopping and bargain with the vendors. I wish I could buy something from all of them they are working hard to provide for their families!

More Avrie

Here is Avrie again talking on the phone by the pool. It is about the same as the last one I posted of her but in this one she is very direct in getting my attention, which she already had since I was the one recording her. She is also quick to pick up the phone to talk to papa when prompted, and she is just so cute!

God Gave Us Families

At Church our little children sing a song entitled "God Gave Us Families" It says " He sent each one of us to earth, through birth, To live and learn here in Families....God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be - This is how He shares His love, for the family is of God"

I really love this song and love even more to hear the children sing it out with gusto, they each have a family and for them this song is so true.

But what almost brings me to tears when I hear this song being sung is all of the children out there that this song it not true for...all the children that don't have families. I am so glad that this song is now true for Destina and Avrie, Darlene and Jean Tony, Fabrice, Nerlande and Younlson, Abie, Joe, and Jordan, Jessica and Nathan, Vania, Changliais and Schneider, Collin and Zambrie. These are the names of the children at our orphanage being adopted by great families!

Adoption changes the life of a child, it gives them a family and a family is of God.

November is National Adoption Month

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

November is National Adoption Month! Maybe adoption is not your thing, but there are many ways to help children. I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and find a way to help an orphan. There are many programs that could use your support!

Middle School Loss

Three of my five kids have or were attending Whatcom Middle School. Last night a fire started about 1 am and burned until 7 am. We are sad my kids loved going to school everyday, they loved their teachers, their friends and they loved their school. The school was only 2 months away from a year long retrofitting remodel, this is a huge loss for our community. We are waiting on word as to what will happen with all the students now. When we moved here we took great pride in this school which was built in 1903 Scott's grandma graduated High School from this school in 1928.
Click here for news footage.

Recommended Reading

I do a lot of reading and once in a while a book comes along that really changes the way I think or feel. This is one of those books! It really opened my eyes to the AIDS/HIV epidemic in Africa and the plight of the children there. It shares the story of how one woman really can make a difference in helping "the least of these".

"It is the first recourse of everyone ethically involved with inter-country adoption to place orphans with relatives, with friends, or with families within their home countries; no one imagines or pretends that adoption is a solution to a generation of children orphaned by disease. It is one small and modest option, a case of families in industrialized nations throwing lifelines to individual children even as their governments fail to commit sufficient finds or to free up the medicines to turn back the epidemic."

This is just one of the paragraphs that hit home for me. When we first started thinking about adopting many years ago I though I would be saving a child then I could pat myself on the back and say way to go, good for you! But after adopting Jayden I realized that I really didn't do all that much to alleviate the suffering of children, yes I helped one child and to that one child it made a world of difference, and to Destina and Avrie it will be life changing, even life saving for them. But what about all the other millions of orphans what is my responsibility to them? Can I just sit back and say "well I did my part" and go on with life? I don't think so, I think I have a responsibility to do all that I can to help those that can not help themselves. This weighs heavy on my shoulders and I hope that it will always be nagging me. I don't ever want to be complacent and be satisfied with what I have done, I want to always be thinking of what more can I do.

If you care at all about the plight of children I urge you to read this book, check it out from the library, it is worth the time to read!

Hello Papa

I have a lot of video of Avrie sitting by the pool talking on the phone to papa, in this video I started out trying to video Desitna but if you listen carefully you can hear Avire calling "mama" over and over trying to get my attention. So I had to take even more video of her talking on the phone. Also, notice that once she is done with her granola bar wrapper it is easily discarded and she wants the phone to talk to papa!

The Low After a Trip to Haiti

It has been 5 days since I returned home from Haiti. My back is doing much better, each day I am able to move more and more. It is hard to come home from a trip, there is all the unpacking and laundry, but the really hard part is washing all of the girls clothes and putting them away. As I fold each item of clothing I remember what we were doing, each outfit that the girls wore brings back memories of the time we spent together. The bags of their clothes still sits in my bedroom a silent reminder that they are not home, that for now I have to put them away until the next time I get to see them. There is a pair of Destina's shoes kicking around by our laundry room that I have not put away yet, it is like all the other kids in the house they leave their shoes around for me to pick up, somehow I want to leave Destina's shoes kicking around as a reminder that she should be here and that her shoes should be strewn about the house and I should be getting mad at her for leaving her shoes around like I do my other kids.
I have had a really hard time coming home this trip my every thought is in Haiti. We had such a great week I did not want it to end. I am weary of this process after 2 1/2 years we are still so far away from the end that it is hard to believe that they will ever come home.

While in Haiti we found out that when they went to add Avrie to the file already in IBESR they had to pull our file out and start all over again. So after being in IBESR for 6 months we basically had to start from square one again. We had to get Presidential Approval again, even though we already had it. It is pretty discouraging to know that after 2 1/2 years we are still not making progress, we are still stuck. At least we know that our file is just not sitting on a desk being forgotten that they are working on it so I am hopeful that we will have some movement soon. However, my girls are still in Haiti I am 5,000 miles away and I miss them terribly....maybe I will leave Destina's shoes kicking around the house, maybe that will make it feel like they are closer to home.

Guest Bloggger Kelsie

Guest Blogger Kelsie...

When we first got off the airplane it was hot, not just hot, but humid. Then we had our wonderful ride in the very cramped van to the hotel. At the hotel we found the kids and the older ones ran to their parents. Destina found Mom really soon and after they said hi she saw me. I asked her if she knew who I was, she said Katie, but I don't think she really thought it was Katie. I told her I was Kelsie, she gave me a hug. Then we found Avrie, she didn't really know what was going on but she knew her mom, she went right to her. We went up to the hotel room and unpacked a bit, gave the kids some peanut butter, and then went swimming. Destina really warmed up to me fast and I knew she was my sister. Avrie on the other hand didn't really like me too much at first, but that all changed as long as she was in a good mood.

I got to go to the orphanage, and it was a great experience. The kids were so happy to see us and to get some dum-dums. The orphanage was ok, I wouldn't want to live there but it was a nice place.

Over all I am really glad I got to spend time with my sisters and to go to Haiti.

Back Home!

I am home, it was a great trip! The kids were a dream! Destina was so good and our bond just keeps growing.


I just could not be more happy with Avrie she looked great, she was so darn cute I just wanted to eat her up. She was a tease and has a cute personality. She is getting the care that she needs to thrive and to stay healthy until we can bring her home.


Darlene came out of her shell and really bonded with Sheree, she is such a beautiful girl and very photogenic I don't think I have one bad picture of her.




JT was really fun to get to know he was pretty quiet, but he was sharing a room with 6 girls. He was happy as long as he had the remote control and he got to be in charge of the TV. He was also happy to be able to sneak away and have some guy time with Fabrice. He was an amazing boy he was very smart and sweet.

As for me I had a great week until Friday at about 12:30. We were waiting to go to an appointment to sign our names in a green spiral notebook at the tribunal office saying that yes we have been in Haiti and yes we want to adopt. This should help speed up the process if and when we get out of IBESR. Anyway, I was walking down wet cement stairs with Avrie and I hit a slick spot and my feet came out from under me and I landed right on my back on the cement stairs. I couldn't move, Destina had this panicked look on her face and I told her to go get Mama Sheree, who was sitting in the restraunt. When Sheree didn't respond to her she ran to our favorite waiter Jean Claude and told him what happened and he came running to my rescue. He took Avrie from me and helped me get up and walked me to the restraunt. I had him get some ice and the kids all took turns icing my back. Destina was very scared she has lost so much in her short life and I think she was worried that something really bad had happened to me. After about 20 minutes I decided to walk over to the pool and sit at a chair there while we were waiting to go to our appointment. The pain was so bad walking from the restraunt to the pool I almost passed out, and I had Kelsie run get a "barf bag" as soon as she got back I used that barf bag! One of the sweet moms on the trip took the bag and brought me a cool wash cloth for my face! (Thanks again Candice you were my life saver) Destina got really scared and by this time I had a crowed around me she started crying and we had to have someone tell her that I would be ok. I iced my back for about 2 hours then someone gave me a muscle relaxer (thanks Brent's mom) and that really helped except it made me a little loopy for the rest of the night.
I could not carry Avrie around nor could I lift anything such as all the suitcases I needed to get home the next day. Everyone chipped in and carried my bags Kelsie took the heavy backpack with the laptop and lugged that home.
I was able to sleep on all the flights home thanks the the muscle relaxers so sitting on the plane was not too bad. When I fell I was really worried that I broke something or did major damage, but I think it is just muscle damage and it will be sore for a while.
Other than that it was a perfect week!

Destina and Darlene

It is taking forever to load pictures the kids are keeping me busy so I will post more when I get home. Destina and Darlene are getting along great the week has been a lot of fun Avrie is such a sweetheart and JT is a great kid!

Avrie!!

Hello Papa!!

She loves talking on the phone!

All dressed up in her fancy earrings, necklace and bracelets!!

She loves suckers and it shows, just have a look at her teeth can you say dental bill???

Sheree is teasing her off to the side and Avrie is teasing her right back!

She has been a lot of fun but still likes to be held! She is walking a little more and playing with toys quite a bit. She loves looking at books. She has a silly personality and likes to tease. The week is going good but it is going by too fast!! I love spending time with the girls! Kelsie is still awesome she went to the orphanage today and it was a great experience for her. The older kids love hanging out together it is like we are living in an apartment complex with all their best friends and they meet at the pool and meet in the hallway and bring their toys to play. They all get along great it is fun to see how they interact with each other and look after each other and once in a while they get mad at each other but that is pretty rare, unless it is one of the younger kids teasing the older ones and the olders ones usually will put that child right in its place! They are really cute kids!

(For my new friend in France...we leave on the 24th but I think I saw a group of people from France and was wondering if that is your group?)

Staying Busy Chasing a 2 year old!

Avrie is doing great she is a little eater has been eating all day. She loves listening to music and playing with her toys. We went to church today and I actually had to entertain a 2 year old before they were always too sick to be wiggly. She sat on my lap good but I had to have toys and snacks ready to go when she demanded them. She was walking around quite a bit today, Kelsie was "chasing" her it was really cute, but she still would rather be carried everywhere! She has quite the personality, she will tap my cheek when she wants my attention and that seems to happen about every 30 seconds then she will point to what it is she is trying to show me. She can say Mama and Papa when I show her pictures. She likes to look at the photo book I brought. Her favorite snack of the day was Cheetos! It has been so great seeing her healthy and happy!



Destina is having a great time too! She loves having Darlene and JT in the same room. They are bonding as cousins quite well. Destina and Darlene are the trouble makers and JT is the sweetest boy he is always doing what he is told and never tries to cause trouble like the other two! Destina and Kelsie made these play dough sunglasses she was so excited to come in and show them to me.
I havn't had a lot of time to take pictures I am still holding Avrie a good deal of the time then when the camera is out Destina wont smile most of the time and Avrie won't let me put her down to take pictures very often, maybe as the week goes on I will have more luck.
Kelsie is awesome she is having fun playing with the kids and she has been a great help. She really doesn't like all the bugs but they are loving her! It is also too hot for her she really likes the NW weather. It has been really hot like clothing soaked if we are outside for very long! I am very happy for AC right now!

Hot in Haiti

It is hot, hotter than when we were here in June! Good news is all our flights went well, the luggage was at the airport, and best of all Avrie looked great! What a different child we have this trip than we did in June. She is smiling talking and laughing. She still likes to be held and doesn't like to walk but hopefully that will change during the week!

Ya know it is hot if I am in a swimsuit!

I'm leaving for the airport but real quick before I go I wanted to post about a fund raiser that my friend is doing for our orphanage! Please read the flier and if you are needing any skin care or hair care etc items go to Nichole's web site listed on the flier and order some great products! 50% of the proceeds will go directly to our orphanage! That is pretty great! The products are amazing as well!
Or you can go directly to the site by clicking HERE

For the Lack of Anything to Post....

This picture fit quite nicely, I feel like my whole world is in the hands of someone in Haiti!

I packed 4 of the 6 bags that are going to Haiti tonight, they are stuffed! I started having dreams about getting to Haiti with only the 1 bag that I had packed so I thought in the interest of my sleep I would get the other bags packed so that I can dream about the other stressful things going on in my life!
We are hitting the 11 month mark of being in IBESR last I heard our file was getting Presidential Approval, which is odd since we were told that we had to get Presidential Approval BEFORE our file could go into IBESR so I guess we are one of those special families that need the approval twice! Nothing about this adoption makes sense people ask me what is going on, I tell them, then they look at me funny like I should be able to give them a reasonable explanation as to why what I just told them really doesn't make much sense! So I have given up trying to understand what is going on I only know that I am here and they are there and that is not how it is suppose to be.
So there you have it....my bags are almost all packed, we will be in Haiti in 5 days, and I know nothing about what is going on with our file!

In a Blink of an Eye!

We moved to Washington just over 4 years ago and this picture was taken about a month before we moved. Katie and Kelsie had just turned 9 and 12, I know Katie does not look 12 I had to go double check the date to make sure I was right! Time has flown by the last 4 years with good times and hard times but I am amazed at how fast the kids grow up. Look at Katie and Kelsie today...



Now they are 16 and 13, again I know Katie really doesn't look 16 and Kelsie doesn't look 13. Kelsie has about 2 inches on Katie! Kids grow up so fast and before you can blink an eye they are off to college. I remember the toddler days with 5 kids under 9 and I how I thought I would go crazy, only to find out I really miss those days.

Only 11 more days and I will have little kids climbing all over me again. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Avrie will be healthy enough to have fun and that we will have some good news on our file, because in a blink of an eye Destina and Avrie will be all grown up and I don't want to miss any more of their life than I have to!

Holding My Breath!

I have been holding my breath so to speak, we are less than a month away from our next trip to Haiti. In the past it has been within the month mark that I have received bad news about our kids, the really bad kind of news. So I have been expecting to hear the worst but today we got updates on the kids and boy was I pleasantly surprised! Avrie looks so much better! She looks so much bigger and it really does look like she has grown a foot or two. She looks like the little toddler she is! She is 2 1/2 years old and it looks like she has some fight in her. The fact that she is not smiling is ok with me it took me a couple of days to get her to smile the first time we met and I am sure it will take a couple more days to get her to smile once we get down there.
I can now stop dreading this trip and let the excitement build I will be keeping my fingers crossed that I will find a happy mostly healthy energetic 2 year old!


And Destina is looking good too I don't get the hat, but whatever! Also, she is wearing the same dress that she was wearing in her last update picture but she is wearing a necklace that I gave her so I am glad that she is able to hold onto some of her things!
Time to start packing!!

It Doesn't Take Long To Find Fun!

I think McKenzie is having fun in Hawaii! I hope she will find the time to get her homework done and get a job, but what is better than hanging out at the beach with 20 of your best friends cliff jumping? Kenzie is so happy to be in Hawaii she has met some great friends, loves her classes, loves going to the beach, her room is too small and the food is ok! We are all jealous back home!

Destina was a little quiet this trip and wasn't in the hyper mood she was in back in January. But I love hearing her say Hi to everyone in our family and her mood does change once she gets going. Only a couple more weeks and we will be together again for the 5th time! When will this process be done? When will she be home for good?

Got Hope?

I DO!!

Then and Now

This picture was taken in January of 08!
There is Joe, Destina, Abbie, and Fabrice
not sure who the boy in the plaid shirt is, could it beChanglais?

This picture was taken in October 08
Fabrice, Destina, Joe, and Abbie

This picture was taken in June of 09
Destina Fabrice, JT and Darlene

It is amazing how fast the kids grow up they were so small in the first picture and so much bigger in the last picture. Abbie cracks me up that is her favorite pose, the one in the middle, check out Marilee's blog she is posing almost the same pose, what a diva! What a bunch of funny kids! We will be there in 30 days, I wonder how much bigger they will be this time?