Friday, November 28, 2014

Thanksgiving - What are we thankful for?

Thanksgiving Holidays 2014
 
 
As we enjoy our holidays with family and friends, we are thankful for so many things.  Even though are Haitian boys aren't home yet, we are still having a wonderful holiday with our other three children.  And, of course, we are eating more than we should.  As we go to our different families for meals, my children have given us a theme this year from Disney's Bug's Life...."They come, they eat, they leave."  We are also having a wonderful time catching up on our distant relatives.  We have been asked numerous times, "when are the boys going to get here?" and we still do not know.  All is silent in Haiti and we are still waiting to get our of the court system down there.  Once they do get out, then they will have a court decree declaring them ours, and they will take our last name.  We could literally go to Haiti and they would be ours, but we will still need to get passports, Visas, and finish up the USA side of the adoption to be able to come home.  Not sure how long this will take but estimate of three months is good. 
 
 
Even though we do not have the boys with us we are thankful that hopefully by the Spring they will be home with us. 
 
We are thankful that God placed them in our path so that we could find them. 
 
We are thankful for Chris and Hal Nungester for running the orphanage where are boys are, and the influence they have had on our boys in their informative years.
 
We are thankful for our three children here in the US that have accepted this adoption and are as excited as we are to get them here.
 
We are thankful to God for working in our lives and prayerful that all five of our children will come to know HIM and have an active faith in HIM.
 
We are thankful that Cherdinor's mother and father came to the US Embassy in October and gave up their rights to us so that we can adopt him.
 
I will leave you with some photos from our trip in September and some videos that make us smile.  I will also put pictures of my other children.  These five children are what I am thankful for most this Thanksgiving.
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
by the way "tout moun" means everyone.
 
Happy Thanksgiving


Monday, October 6, 2014

September Filing of I-600 and Second Bonding

 
What a wonderful trip!!!  We had an appointment on September 15, 2014 at the American embassy to file our I-600, and we took advantage of being in Haiti to spend 4 days with our boys in a nice hotel and do some more bonding.  This was our second time to spend some time with our boys and we loved it.  These boys have grown, and they are now 7 and 5, respectively.  They were 5 and 3 when we started this long journey.  I have posted some pictures and videos to tell you about our trip.
 
 
 
This is our selfie, all smiles.

 
After our appointment at the embassy we had nice meal at the hotel.


 
Pool time was awesome. 
 
 
 
 
Hide and Seek in the hotel.  They were always busy.
 
 
I finally got them in the pool and they loved it. 
 
 
Making progress and we took his braces off so he could show off.
 
 
 
We will hopefully have everything done by January to April of next year and we can go get these boys.   On October 14th 2014, Cherdinor's parents will have to go to the American Embassy for the purpose of officially giving him up.  He has not met them so this is going to be a tough day for him and for us here in the United States.  Lots of prayers will be going up.  Davidson was abandoned so we will not have to have any parent interviews.  Everything is at least moving along.  Keep us all in your prayers that things will keep on moving.
 
 

Sunday, October 5, 2014

A Poem of My Feelings Today

Feelings While Adopting Internationally
The Roller Coaster 

One day, trying to grab something you want so badly you can taste it but seeing it out of reach,
 knowing that you will get it one day,
but no increased efforts on your part makes it come to you any faster.

Next day, not looking at the thing out of reach
because looking at it only makes you want it more,
and not getting it only makes your heart hurt and tears well up.

Then, glancing at the thing out of reach
realizing how much you really want it,
so you increase your efforts to grab it again.

Only to understand how truly out of reach it is
and that you must wait
until someone gives it to you.

Knowing that they are in no rush to give it to you
no matter
HOW MUCH YOU ASK.

Praying to GOD daily to intervene and make that wait shorter
but not getting the answer you want.

Anger because you feel like even HE is not listening,
but resigned that HIS timing is wise and
patience is needed.

Back to trying to grab something you want that is out of your reach
and continuing this cycle for years.

R. Scott Miskelly


Friday, October 3, 2014

Georgeous Pictures of the Boys

A friend went with us to see the boys May, 2014, and she happens to be a professional photographer and I wanted to post these pictures she took of them, also.  Cherdinor had Chikungunya during these photos and his fever was greater than 100.

I absolutely love these:





We wish we were holding them now.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Our First Bonding Trip, May - 2014

At the end of May after we finished up our mission trip in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, we were able to stay over three days and do some bonding with our boys.  We picked them up from their orphanage and took them to stay with us at an American hotel with swimming pool.  We had a blast.  We had Cherdinor's 7th birthday party and present for them both.  We had a great time.  The only thing that took from our stay was Christy being sick with stomach problem and Cherdinor just getting over Chikungunya.  He had just stopped running fever but his feet hurt him every night and he woke up crying.   The highlight of this trip was the flushing toilets.  They wanted to go to the bathroom all of the time to flush the toilets and wash there hands.  Afterward they would get a little bit of lotion and they loved this.  They had to be watched though because they kept flushing things down the toilet. My favorite thing to here them say was "pitsy, pitsy crem pou mwen?"

They had never been to a swimming pool so they were scared to death of the water.  My son and I could barely get them in the water but they did enjoy sitting around the pool and playing with the water.  They loved the bubbles and the balloons, too.  They were also afraid of the candles on the birthday cake, or it could have just been the fire, but we could not get them to blow the candles out.

We had a great time and I will put some pictures and video on this post to let you live some of our trip with us.

I did get Chikungunya when we got back to the US and had 101.0 or greater fever for 7 days and acute joint pain with a rash.  It was miserable and I understood why Cherdinor cried every night. 

 
Sorry, Madelyn, the only family member not present.
Cherdinor has fever over 100 in this picture.

 
Birthday bags with their presents that they carried around all three days.

 
My first Bible bedtime story in Haitian Creole. (My favorite picture)

 
New clothes - The best.

 
Pool time

 
I was getting a shampoo, but it was a spit shampoo.
 
 
We were playing with bubbles.
 
 
Davidson is settling down for nap time can't you tell.
 
 
 
 
Our First bonding trip was amazing and I would not change a thing except we would have liked to put them in our luggage and carry them home with us.  I wish Madelyn and Darby could have been with us, also.  This post is a little late but we had fun our trip in May, 2014.
 

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Going to Haiti on a Medical Mission Trip

Well, it is time for us to make our annual Medical Mission Trip to Port-au-Prince and I am getting excited.  At the end of our clinics we plan to see and bond with our boys for 3-4 days and we can not wait.  I hope to have lots of good pictures. 

The silence on our paperwork is still deafening.  There is not much we can do on this as we wait for IBESR to finish our paperwork.  On facebook I see and hear the frustration of so many families who are waiting like us and I feel for them.  But in reality there is nothing we can do but wait.   This is one of those times that you give everything over to GOD and try not to worry over things that we have no control.  I did not realize how much a heart full of worry can almost make you crazy.

Jesus said, "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" Matthew 6:27

I can't make myself taller so why should I think I can move this paperwork.  We will continue to leave it in GOD's hands and pray every day.   During this time we will do our part.  We went for our re-fingerprinting in Memphis, TN and it was a beautiful spring day.  We have a routine now and went to Waffle House which is very close to this center.  Our home study will have to be re-done this summer and a new I-600A completed for September.  Onward we go.

This is us at the USCIS building in Memphis getting ready for fingerprinting.

 
 
The next time we post we will back from Haiti and I will have a lot of good pictures of our boys and I can't wait to share them with you.
 
Miskellys


 
 

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Time keeps on Ticking, Ticking, Ticking... into the future

I did not realize how long it had been since our last post.   As the title of this post states, time just keeps on ticking.  It is time for us to update our fingerprints, get a new home study done, and we will update our I600A before September.   I was hoping we would be at the point of filing our I600 but we are not yet.  We are still in IBESR.  We did communicate with the director of our orphanage and she states that a transition team is working on several of the cases that are stuck and hopefully we can find out where we are and what is taking so long.   With the laws changing we are not sure if we will need dispensation still or if it will go straight to the court system once it exits.   We are one of those families who were in process when the country of Haiti converted to a Hague country, but we are going to be grandfathered in the process.  It is all very confusing.

We skyped with the boys last Sunday and as usual they were very busy during the session.  Davidson has a hard time sitting still and that is surprising sense he is the one not walking very well yet.   Cherdinor will wave, smile and talk with us but you can tell he is shy.   They love to see pictures of themselves, look at their bedroom and see the animals that we have.

I was watching a movie last night and it had this following quote in it from and unknown author.

"Childbirth is an act of nature, adoption is an act of God"  ---- author unknown.

This has deep meaning to my family in so many ways.   Right now it seems that God is going to have to take action just to get them over here. 

The good thing is that we plan to go down to Haiti in May to conduct a week long mobile medical clinic.   After we are finished with the clinic, we plan to spend three days with our boys.   Cherdinor is going have a Birthday during that time and we will have a party with them for their birthday, and it will be our first ever birthday party with them.  We have a hotel reserved that has a swimming pool so we can play and bond with them as much as we can for three days.  I will try to take lots of pictures to post.  Bonding is an important part of this process.


One of the children in our orphanage died last week and we feel for the family that was trying to adopt them.  We send them our prayers.  It brought back memories of when Paul David died when we were trying to adopt him.  There is always fear and sadness in this process.  We are ready to experience some of the joy!!  We keep on praying and the clock keeps on ticking.

I will leave you with recent updated pictures.

 
Cherdinor, March 2014

 
Davidson, March 2014

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Just a Picture

We have still not heard anything about our paperwork.  An agonizing 17 months with our paperwork still in IBESR.  We are patient, but we long for them to be with us here curled up on the couch watching the Winter Olympics.  It won't be long.  Our friend Roberta Edwards who works at Sonlight Children's Home in Port-au-Prince went by to see our boys and took a picture of them for us.   She talked with our boys, and she told us they are growing and doing fine.  Thanks for the pictures.





Sunday, January 26, 2014

Jesus Loves the Little Children

Time is passing so quickly but adoption time is going so slowly.   It has been 16 months that our paperwork has been in IBESR and it is hard not to be impatient.  WE know that everything is in God's hands and we pray to him daily for him to get the boys to us quickly.  Hopefully everything that stands between them and us will be parted like the Red Sea, and they can get to us before the end of this year.   We can only pray that we will have them by Christmas.

We did get to Skype today and we were showing them pictures of themselves that we are collecting in a photo album.  Cherdinor looked through them and told me who he was with in the pictures.  Every time he gets on camera he gives us that adorable smile and wave that would break any one's heart.  Davidson, like always, can't be still and keeps that thumb in his mouth.  He will talk with us, but he has that mischievous grin that lets you know he is a stinker and that he is thinking of messing with the computer.  They are going to be a lot of fun when we get them here.

Our oldest daughter, Darby, has started back to college and even though we see her occasionally because the college is close by, we still miss her being at home.  High school soccer is about to start for Wilson and our youngest daughter, Madelyn, is playing high school basketball right now.  There is always a ballgame going on somewhere.  Our gospel meeting started this week so that will keep us preoccupied this week.

I teach a 3rd and 4th grade Bible class on Wednesday night.   They are wonderful kids.  We have been working on teaching them a Haitian Creole song.   They have been working on it for about a month and I recorded them singing this song and posted it for a Missionary in Haiti we support.  Her name is Roberta Edwards and she runs Son Light Children's Home in Port-au-Prince.  I am going to post that song here for everyone who is following our adoption.  I think it is important for as many people to know a little bit about our boys' culture as they can before they get here to try to make the transition a little easier.  These children will be just a little older than our boys but they will still go to church with them.


Hopefully, the next time I post it will be about exiting IBESR or about signed dispensations so we can get into the court system.   That is what we are praying.