Our Princess Stephanie

What I wish I could be doing right now, hugging our sweet Stephanie. She's so kind, affectionate, and sensitive. The sad face is because it is almost time to say our goodbyes. The boys usually don't cry until I'm actually leaving but Stephanie begins getting very sad and tearful the night before. It breaks my heart to see such a sweet happy girl so sad.

Jude and Stephanie doing what they do best: being blaze (means silly or crazy in Creole). Jude is sitting on Karla's lap. Stephanie is sitting between Karla and Kim, I don't even want to try and guess at what the kids are doing. :) Kim's got that look like "Who is the crazy one on the team that is raising these nuts?" I'm sitting next to Kim at the edge of the picture with Lovenie sleeping on my lap and did not catch what was going on in this picture.


Presenting Stephanie with her locket. Inside this pretty heart shaped locket was a picture of me on one side and a picture of her Haitian Mother on the other. Stephanie was very touched by this. It's probably the only picture she has of us both. I want her to know it's okay to love the Mom that has raised her for so many years. She will always be a mother in this family also, theres room and enough love for both of us.

Packing up on our last night together. We were both so sad. Even Jude had a moment of not smiling.

She's just radiant! When I stayed with her last time I noticed she didn't have pajamas so brought her two pairs this trip. One was a set we couldn't resist- High School Musical. She LOVES this movie! When I pulled them out she squealed and gave me a huge hug and thank you. I never did see her wear the pajama pants but wore the top with a cute skirt.

She was very excited about these girly pajama's too. They are a satin blue with pink cats all over them. She's standing up on the bed for me to get a picture of the whole pajama set (her idea). It was really cute.

Just being pretty.

Stephanie curled up in the bed we shared with Lovenie, watching a movie on my portable DVD player.

Stephanie in the storage room right after the Mary Kay make-up our neighbor gave me to take got distributed. The girls had such a blast putting it on themselves and each other. She does look very pretty but I think we will save it for "dress up" for the next several years. :)

Stephanie posing for a picture with our sweet friend Emmanuel. So I ask his Mom (who reads my blog).... You want to start talking prearranged marriage now or wait a couple years? :)


Stephanie is just such a joy to be around. I wanted so much to have at least one really girly daughter in my lifetime and well... you can not get much girlier then our princess Stephanie! She's also so full of energy. She laughs and giggles a lot and we tease each other with saying "your crazy" and "no, I'm not your crazy" back in forth in Creole (Thanks Kez for teaching me this very important creole lesson!). She is quick to give hugs and is very playful and fun. I've also been so proud of her many times as you can ask for her to help with anything at all and she gets a huge smile and does what you ask and does it really well. She is an amazing helper.

This is the day that the Lord has made

I must confess... the very first few days in Haiti (while it included some great moments) were very very difficult for me. I could not sleep on the red eye so went all night before we arrived without any sleep (usually a trigger for a seizure for me). My body hurt all over from luggage hauling, travel, and hours upon hours of bumpy tap tap. Plus the added stress and frustrations of the missing suitcases! Lovenie was sick and clingy and for the first few nights woke up again and again so I didn't get much sleep for the first few days. I felt seperated from the group because Lovenie was so fussy that I could not get near them for devotionals, finding out what the plans were, or any other reason because Lovenie was so loud and fussy no one would be able to hear each other if I joined in. It was really tough. I often fought the urge to just walk into the bathroom, lock the door behind me and just have a really good cry. I had one moment at the end of another tough day that I just fell onto the bed and laid there a moment. Jude came over and curled up next to me, gave me his big sweet grin and began to sing to me in english. He sang to me "This is the day that the Lord has made." I of course couldn't help but smile and it lifted my spirits in huge ways. I look forward to the day that I am able to communicate to Jude how much that meant to me. Even if they were tough days, they were also filled with the most amazing blessings and adventures and it is a day that the Lord has made... That makes it a really good day!

Because I knew that the kids must know how to sing this song along in English we sang it in the back of a packed tap tap and their big smiles were so precious. They wanted to sing this song for their Daddy. The problem was that the electricity was out and it was their last night with me at the guest house. (the goodbye tears had already started that night) I had hoped to get them to sing the song again in the daylight but with the next day being busy and heavy in the sadness of our goodbyes it was hard to think again about singing. Please see the video bellow for some very sweet singing by Stephanie and Jude, with Jacques trying to hold a lantern to light the video. You can't see them but hopefully the sound of their singing and giggles will be enough of a delight!

This is the day..a song for Daddy

A moment of worship in Haiti

Church time in Haiti

Dr. Bernard taking his place up front.

One of my favorite pictures: One of my best friends, Ange, sitting next to one of her daughters with her head bowed in prayer before the cross. She is such a strong woman of prayer and faith that I think this captures her so well. BTW- No I was not taking pictures during prayer time. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures during church but my kids had no problem with it so lets just say I didn't stop them and I'm grateful to have these memories.

Our team had just been introduced and it was time to SING!

Left to right: I'm in the red dress, my friend Debbie next to me, Bryn, Karla, and Julie with the microphone fearlessly leading us in worship.

It is so hard to believe that it has been 2 weeks now since this day. It seems as if it just happened! Let me tell you a little parable about a wise man. This wise man's name is Dr. Bernard (sound familiar?). He was bringing to church with him many guest this Sunday, including 12 women and many children (can you imagine getting us there on time?). As he arrived at the church and gathered together his American guests he decided now was the time to inform them that we would be expected to be involved in some way during the service. We could introduce ourselves to everyone, have one person from our team go forward and sing a song, or go forward as a team and sing to the church. The wise man just gave a split second for us to make a decision and as a team we decided to subject the unknowing victims inside to our singing. Now we had to quickly pick a song to sing with no time for practising. The day before we had all just met in the Tap Tap and I suggested we sing worship songs. We sang one song together and then it just kind of dropped as we all soaked in the adventure. I totally can not remember what song it was though, can anyone help me out? Was it Our God is An Awsome God? Since that was the only song we knew all our team members knew we decided it would be the song we would sing. With our brave song leader Julie leading us all we struggled through a couple verses and then ended the misery of the congregation. It was actually kind of fun! We had hoped it would be a song others would be familiar with and sing along in Creole or French but I don't think that happened. This wise man knew if he told us before when we had time to think about it we would chicken out.

The service: It was the longest service I've ever attended clocking in at 3 hours which I had expected since I had been told about it from someone who knew. It was a beautiful service with lots of beautiful singing, lots of prayer, a message, communion, and and more singing. They were kind enough to even give a short overview of what the message was about in English. If I remember right it was about 3 ways to forgive. There were other American visitors there as well. They went before our singing and just had one person stand up and say all their names real quick and then sit down. Most of us were secretly kicking ourselves thinking "why didn't we choose that?". The communion was just like we have here and was beautiful. What was amusing about it though was that they use real wine for communion. This took at least one of our friends who does not drink any alcohol by surprise. Later another friend told me about her brother who came to church with them in Haiti and had never touched a drop of alcohol until he downed his communion much to his surprise. ;) Welcome to Haiti, where you have to be prepared for anything---even in church! It was a really great experience.

The door is open!!! :)

So, I shared with you all my nervous excitement about maybe going to Haiti for an extended period with our boys. I spoke with the director today and his response was "I'm open to it." We just need to work out the details at this point. I'll keep you all updated. So it's not 100% definate, but very close. :)

Wanting to move to Haiti

No you do not need to check the date: I assure you it is not April 1st! :) We are trying to get a call through to speak today with the director of our orphanage to see if there is a way that me and our 3 American sons can come and live in Haiti for 2 months! We also have some other exciting news to discuss with him but I can not share it just yet (no we are not adding another child).

We feel that it would be such a wonderful experience for our children to get to live where their siblings have lived, learn creole, learn a gratefulness that even us adults learn when we go there, and so much more! It would be so wonderful to spend time with all of our kids together! We continue to pray about it and are so hopefull to have an answer soon, if possible today!

I'll keep you posted. In all we want God's will to be done so we have been praying that He would open the door to this opportunity if it is his will, or close the door if it is not. We will accept and be glad for whatever the answer is, but in our hearts we want so much for the answer to be "Yes, come stay in Haiti!"

The truth about cite soleil

Please take a moment to view the video bellow. At least 4, possibly all 5 of our children in Haiti have lived at Cite Soleil. Stephanie and Jude lived there up until the last couple of years. Their birth mother is still living here with baby Vilner. I beg you to please keep their health and safety in your prayers and prayers for the many starving, and hurting in Haiti and around the world!

The Children of Cite Soleil

Precious Lovenie

Who will fall asleep first? I was SO tired and Lovenie was really sick. I had trouble getting her to go to sleep each night, and she would wake up many times during the night. She was so sick and I felt so bad for her. It occurred to me after I got home that it was probably the first time in her 3 years of life that someone loved and comforted her that much while being sick. It was both an honor to be there for her and yet breaks my heart to think of the many times I was not able to comfort her. I got her flu or parasite and am extremely ill. I went to the doctor yesterday for lots of labs and test and hope to hear soon what we can do to make it better. It was totally worth it!

A peaceful nap time. It was with such relief when I could get her to go to sleep and lay her down without her waking right up and yelling at me. :) Just like her American brothers when they were babies.

All Dolled up with the bows I put in her hair. Notice how wide open and alert both of her eyes are!


I tried to give her a cute little doll we got her for her birthday and she had no interest at all. She instead really liked this soccer ball. She would hold it and rock back and forth on it. And if you can notice she also had a small pack of Kleenex in her hand. It had a pretty pink cover and it was her FAVORITE thing! She loved the crinkly noise it made in her hands.

Hanging out in the room with our dear friend Job

Waiting to be dressed. You can see how thin our tiny little girl is. I still find it so hard to believe she's 3...1 maybe, but not 3!!!

Being sweet and quiet on one of the very rare moments she allowed me to put her down without a fight.

One of our first moments together again.

Just sitting looking pretty, content enough for me to just sit next to her.



What an honor it was to be there holding and loving on our little girl while she was so sick! We had really been praying for her and I was so excited to see how God had answered our prayers in such a BIG way. Just 2 months before Lovenie was not making any noises other then mimicking a crying sound and calling me "ma" once. The last update picture we got of her had us very concerned for her health and we prayed and prayed for God to heal her. I received that picture just a couple weeks before our trip. When I was with her this time she was very alert, the blankness in her eyes was totally gone! She called me "Mama" many many times while I was there (loved it!). I got to see her cry her first real tears, make her smile for the first time, and even got her to laugh out loud a couple of times!!! We have so much hope for our little girl!

She was playful with her siblings and able to play little games with them like trying to grab things out of their hands, but while we were in church if anyone tried to get too close to her Mama they would be rewarded with a kick. :) Gonna have to break that but I'll admit it was kind of funny. She likes it when I would rock back and forth while holding her. If I stopped she would rock back and forth in my arms to try and make me keep going and of course it worked. One night I was outdoors at the big guest house balcony walking back and forth, rocking her in my arms, and singing to her. When I stopped singing she patted my arm and sounded as if she was trying to sing. There were so many moments like this with her that I held back tears and praised God again and again! What a beautiful and wonderful little girl God has given to us!


I took this very short video of her making sounds and trying to speak. It may not mean much more then little girl's gibberish to someone else, but to me, the fact that she was making sounds...was one of the most wonderful miracles I've ever witnessed. Click here to share in this miracle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsXoV7zwwcc

Nanny Blessings

Tyson (Ange's son) helping assemble the Nanny gift bags.
Char and Kim during Nanny gift bag assembly

Praying over each Nanny

More prayers for each Nanny individually

Picture of Karla helping organize the delivery of gifts and prayer to the Nannies

One of the Nannies after receiving her dress, shoes, and gift bag. It must be a custom that many Haitians do not smile for photo's. However, do not be fooled. They were so warm and receptive for not only the gifts but also the prayer and we received many smile, hugs, and even kisses.

So I kind of jumped in on the mission trip at the last minute. It was being organized by Karla and Ange for the past year or so. I heard that a lot of their focus was on showing God's love to the nannies and doing all they can to show them love, appreciation, and even gently ways to better care for our waiting children. One team even taught baby massage and I heard they were very receptive to that. I have to admit, I was thrilled at the idea's and thought they were wonderful and so excited they would be done, but if I were to be honest my complete focus was my great love for the older children of NLL and HFC so I decide that while a majority of the team would be spending time with the nannies and babies, I really wanted to be with the teens, but God had different plans for me. :)

We were all asked to bring some small gift for the gift bags of the 30 or so Nannies. I had no idea what to bring. Just days before the trip a neighbor that I did not even know had decided to end her days as a Mary Kay Consultant. I asked her if she had any samples I could have for the Nannie gifts. She loaded me up with samples, lotions, make-up... so many great gifts. However, because my suitcases did not arrive before the Nanny bags were assembled they were not added. But I did get to go through on one of the last days and seek out the Nannies and give them yet another gift and that was fun too. They were very excited about the make-up. THEN the older girls got their hands on the large remaining amount and it was a Mary Kay party like never before!!! :) I wish I had more pictures but that was just around the time my camera was running out of battery and there was not electricity to charge it.

Sorry, back to the Nanny gifts: The Nannies were at first very resistant to coming down to the room we set up for them. With the help of our son Jacques (translating for us) we were able to get just one of the nannies to the room. We gave her the gift bag, she got to pick out a dress, or skirt and shirt, and shoes. We then took her picture and then Karla, Ange, and I prayed over her before she left. She went back up with her gifts and that's all it took for the Nannies to start pouring into the room!!! They were so excited about each gift, having their picture taken and all most all of them were extremely receptive to our praying for each of them! Karla, Ange, and I would take turns praying out loud for each Nanny while the others would pray along agreeing. Have you ever felt God's presence so strong that you get chills and have to fight back the tears? That's how it was. Ange, Karla, and I were barely getting through the prayers as we fought tears and the heaviness of God's presence in the room was certainly felt by all! We prayed asking God to bless them, bless the hands that care for so many children, let them know how loved and appreciated they are, and so much more. Most of the prayers ended with the Nannies giving us each a hug and kiss on the cheek and a big thank you. It was not only one of the greatest experiences during our time in Haiti but one of the greatest experiences of my life. God is so real and was so present! It's so great when you try to bless someone else and instead the blessing is poured out on you 100 fold! God's so good! If anyone's reading this has ever doubted if there really is a God I encourage you to ask Him to show Himself to you. I've experienced His presence in such a strong way so many times in my life that I could not ever imagine questioning His existence. He promises if we seek Him we will find Him. If you have not already done so... seek Him today and He will show Himself to you and you can always be absolutely certain that He is so very real and experience the great joy and love from knowing Him!

Our Sunshine Son-- Jude

I just stole this picture of Jude off of Ange's blog and I think she got the picture from Karla or someone else on our team. The moment I saw it I thought "This is SO Jude!!!!" This picture was taken in the back of the tap tap that we likely had been in for hours in the heat and yet Jude continued to laugh and smile, and then to see him wink for the camera....so him! He's as cute and sweet as it gets!!!!
Not too big to let Mama cuddle with him! We look just alike, don't you think? I love this precious son God gave us!

Hanging out in the room showing off how cool he is. Check out the infamous Jude smile. You will almost NEVER see him without a smile.

Playing around

Close up

Jude all dressed up for church, wearing his big smile, his watch we sent him as a gift (see the green glow on his wrist) and the sunglasses we sent him on top of his head.

"Peace" Just showing off how cool and cute he can be. This was just moments after we had been reunited the first evening.

Jude concentrating on the hand held game of Tetris we brought him. It was a huge hit. Job (watching Jude play) is friends with both Jacques and Jude so we saw quite a bit of him in our room. He's a sweetheart too! I've warned his adopting Mom that if she backs out we are going to swoop in and steal him away!! :) Jude of course shared his game with anyone that would ask.

First Moments with our children!

My dear friend Ange, one of my niece's, and Ange's Mother In-Law. A candid moment within the first hour of Ange and daughters reuniting and Candy meeting her granddaughters for the first time- see them all smiling. I thought it was sweet and had to take a picture.
Our precious friend Emmanuel! We asked the kids to find him so we could see and hug on him soon after we got there. He is SUCH a wonderful kid! Debbie and I have been praying for him for many months and both felt we had a God given love towards him. It was quite emotional for her to meet him for the first time and for me to see him again. We adore him and want all of God's best in his life. It was so good to see and hug this sweetheart again!

As Debbie stepped off the tap tap all the parents tore off (admittedly myself included) to look for our children that we have waited so long to hug and kiss. Debbie was just standing there unsure where to go or what to do. She told me she said a prayer asking God why she was there and right after praying that this beautiful girl, Charline, walked up and grabbed her hand and did not let go. There was an instant connection and bond and Charline went everywhere with her, even staying with us in our hotel room. Debbie's family is praying for guidance on God's plan if she is supposed to be a member of their family or not. I was just blown away by their instant attachment to each other, it's unexplainable other then God!


Karla- the teams Captain (Dr. B and the rest of the team enjoyed calling her Boss because it seemed to frustrate her, we are so bad!) She was just wonderful and a gifted leader. We were all so grateful for her. This picture was taken right after we got to the orphanage. Look how happy she is! :)

It's just almost too much to take in, 4 of my children I have not been able to hug and kiss for months suddenly at my side. Thank you, Thank you God, again and again for these precious moments with them!!!! Can I just please repeat... Our children are just stunning, aren't they??

After getting Lovenie I rushed outside to find Debbie to make my first ever introduction of one of our new family members to someone I knew! It was such a great feeling. I did not know at that moment that Lovenie had already become legally our daughter!

So, our first moments with our children again: It's never how you picture it in your head but it is always beautiful and wonderful beyond description!!! We did not have much time our first afternoon at the orphanage because of our luggage ordeal. We all were hot and exhausted (many of us took in a red eye flight, myself included, and did not sleep at all the night before) but the idea of holding your child(ren) does wonders for waking you up! First I saw Stephanie. She was just inside the doors hiding behind a table peeking out at me and giggling and then hiding behind the table again. I ran to her and showered her with hugs and kisses and then tickled her and teased her for trying to hide from me, she just giggled. Then she was off to put on a pretty gown and finish fixing her hair (ah, it's so good to have a girl!). I then ran up to the babies room and nearly cried when I saw Lovenie there in her crib. I grabbed her and it was her turn to be smothered in kisses and hugs! I just repeated to her again and again in Creole that "mama's here" and how much I loved her. Then I hustled downstairs to show her off to Debbie and all my friends. She was a little confused and resistant to me for the first 15 minutes or so and then got over it and clung to me 24/7 calling me Mama over and over again and not letting me out of her sight (much less out of my arms!). I still had not seen the boys. They live in a house across the street. I asked someone (I don't remember who) to please go and tell Jacques and Jude that their Mom is here and wants them. I waited in the court yard by the gate, holding Lovenie, and watching for the big gate to be opened and in came our boys with huge grins. They came right to me with lots more hugs and kisses, and I just never wanted to let them go. The pictures above were mostly taken in the fantastic new library the mission team that just left had built (I'll share more about that soon). Stephanie had put on her pretty gown, finished her hair and was ready to join us again for our photos. :)

We did not have very long to find and love on our kids before everyone was running around like crazy trying to get bags together for our children. We were allowed to bring the children we are adopting back to the guest house to spend the nights with us. Also brought to the guest house was the new nephews of Bryn, Job and Bernadin (friends with our sons), she was there to meet, and Charline- Debbie's new precious friend. Then we all were very late and had to rush off to the Kindergarten graduation, and then on to the guest house from there.

Thanks Athena!

Thanks to the help of my very dear friend Athena I am able to once again put title's on my blogs! Thanks Athena!! I sure miss and love your family! Much love, Angela

"She comes with a lot of Baggage"

1st attempt:

You've heard this saying said before and it's not a real good thing to hear about someone...however, while in Haiti I was wishing someone could say it about me!!!

When we got to Haiti our team was all together. There was 13 of us and we all flew in on the same flight. At the end of luggage delivery our team was short 10 suitcases, and Debbie and I had received NONE of our 4! Then we spent what must have been hours in line taking turns giving our information regarding our missing baggage. They gave us a slip of paper with our baggage claim stickers on it and told us all to come back and try again tomorrow. So, some of us left with nothing but our carry on's and by the time we got to the orphanage we had very little time to greet our children because we were already late for the kindergarten graduation and then those of us that had our children staying with us loaded up in the tap tap right after graduation and headed to the guest house before dark. It was pretty frustrating to not get to spend time with all the kids at HFC and NLL because our time was wasted at luggage claims. That night when we informed Dr. Bernard what happened he asked me to go around and collect all the baggage claims from everyone. I went first to our room to get Debbies and mine. Debbie found hers but I went into panic mode because mine was no where to be found! I dumped out and sorted through everything in my purse and two carry on's and it was nowhere! Trying to retrace my steps I remembered that when we left the baggage claim I somehow ended up with the loaded up cart of everyone's carry on's. I was not expecting to push it and my neck and back were really hurting from the travel. I had been passing out beef jerky to those of us waiting so the rest of the team was rushing towards the door and I was fumbling with my baggage claim paper, the jerky bag, my camera, and trying to push the cart to keep us with the rest of the team who had no baggage and was walking quickly ahead of me. Once outside I was swarmed with the porters and was having trouble pushing the cart and holding onto everything else in my hands and trying to keep up with my team. So looking back on it I think there is a good chance that during that chaos is when I may have dropped my baggage ticket because I don't recall seeing it again after that point. This had me feeling VERY stressed because the woman at the counter told me anyone could pick up the bags as long as they brought in the claims. So, if someone found it in the parking lot they could go in and take my luggage...no questions asked... the TV and gifts to our kids...all gone!

Second attempt:

The next morning was Sunday and we had first heard that those of us missing our luggage would return to the airport so I did not dress for church and then found out last minute that we WERE going to church first so I had to run back up and quickly change into church clothes. I was even more nervous about going to the airport so late because that gave anyone that found my claim even more time to take my luggage... but off to church we went for the 3 hour service (it was a great experience I'll share about it later) and then we went back to the guest house to change and then we were finally taken to the airport. Once there I found we ran into a whole other mess. We had all assumed that I could use my passport ID to claim my bags (assuming they were not given to someone else). When we got to the door to go to claim our bags security would not allow me to go with the other gals because I didn't have a ticket I tried explaining to him that I lost it but if I could just go to the counter (right behind him) they would have my information. He was having none of that. I continued to argue with him until Kim grabbed my arm and told the security guy "okay, okay, we are going" and dragged me out of there right before I could give in to the temptation of kicking him in the shins (I make a great missionary don't I?) Kim told me about being there with a friend who argued with a security guard and almost ended up in jail and she said she could tell I had pushed him way too far. Thanks for saving me from myself Kim! I learned Haitian men don't take kindly to being questioned, especially by an American WOMAN! I passed off my passport to one of the team members that was able to get in to see if they could do anything about it. My friend Debbie was with them and helped them all look through the luggage and they actually found the suitcase with the TV!!! They were somehow able to take it and get out the door with it without being questioned. I was praising God when I saw it!!! They said the rest of everyone's luggage was in a cargo building. We all climbed into the taptap and drove a ways away to the cargo building. After all of us searching in there we learned that everyone had found their luggage. The ONLY suitcases not there were the ones I packed- One in my name, and two in Debbies (Debbie let me check in two suitcases in her name). Now we not only didn't have our suitcase but we had an even bigger problem... The claims desk told Debbie her luggage would be in the cargo and KEPT her claim ticket!!! Now neither of us had what we needed to get back inside the airport to claim any of the other luggage. We had no idea what we would do!!!! Afterwards we headed to the orphanage for another very short time with the kids since we had to leave everyday before dark and most of our day was already spent.

Third attempt:

Monday: The plan was for the driver to take the team and drop them off at the Orphanage so they could spend time with the kids. Then he would take Debbie and I to the airport to get our luggage, so we were all surprised when the driver took us instead all to the airport! We felt bad that the rest of the team had to wait in the back of the tap tap and take that long ride with us for no reason when they could have been with the kids. We had NO idea at all how we were going to manage getting inside the airport with us both not having our baggage claims! We just prayed all the way to the front door where we saw a very nice porter that had helped us when we arrived (sometimes it helps to be very kind and tip big to the porter's, you might need them later on). We told him outside of the airport what was going on and he said "You come with me". Just before following him through the airport door I prayed that God would make us invisible to the guards and sure enough they didn't even notice us as we slipped in behind our Porter! Later Debbie said it was as if we were invisible and I smiled and told her what I had prayed. Then we got to a second set of security! This time we were so grateful to have the porter do the talking for us, but it looked as if they were not going to allow us in after all. I started to really pray and ask God to send SOMEONE to help. Right after praying that two men that worked at the airport came by and asked what the problem was. Now the two security guards had our porter and two airline employees arguing with them to just let us in to look for our bags... and they finally gave in. Praising God! After all of that we searched through all the bags and felt deflated when they were not there! Now what?? At least we could get to the baggage claim counter to plead for help so we got in the long line and began our wait. While standing in line I turned around and saw a stranger standing behind me. I knew I had never met her but her face was so familiar. Finally it all clicked and I said "Are you by any chance Barbara?" She looked surprised that I knew her and answered she was. I was so excited that I threw my arms around her in a hug and said how happy I was to get to meet her! She must have thought I was a lunatic but treated me nicely anyways. I had seen her picture on a friends blog and she runs the orphanage Reach out Haiti and I had heard such wonderful things about the work she does. So in line I got to meet her (how cool is that?) and we chatted about our mutual friend. It was a very cool uplift when I really needed one. We finally got to the counter where the very unfriendly employee took a very long time looking up our info and hand wrote us a baggage claim she said we could use to get back into the airport. We were at least relieved for that. Then she told us that only two more bags had arrived and we would have to go claim them in the cargo building. My heart sank again because this meant yet another really long ride for everyone in the hot dusty tap tap to find the one last one another day! Then she decided to give me more bad news... While our luggage was in the cargo building we could not get it because they closed at 4. I asked her what time it was and she said 4:10 and I just wanted to scream. After I pressed her a bit she did admit that if we rushed over there they just might let us in if they have not already left. We got out of the airport as quickly as we could and found our driver and asked him to please hurry and rush us to the cargo building to try and get our suitcases.

Cargo Office:

We are now really late getting to the cargo office (it was around 4:30). I was so relieved when Debbie pulled open the front door and it actually opened but we were soon to learn that didn't mean much. Fortunately for us it was a woman behind the counter but she kept insisting we were way to late. We begged and begged her for help telling her all we had gone through to get there. Finally we felt great relief when she agreed to page the warehouse to see if they would let us in. She tried again and again while we stood at the counter praying. Each time she would hang up after no one answered her page I felt fearful that she would say "Sorry, I tried" and give up but we kept praying and I couldn't believe how many times she kept dialing! When she didn't get anyone to answer she told us to wait there and she would try to find someone. She was gone a long time and we were pretty sure we were not getting in! We just kept praying. It was with huge relief that she came back and said "Go around to the warehouse door they are waiting for you." We ran to the door and were met by a security guard and two employees that were definitely not happy to see us. They kept commenting on how late we were and giving us glares, obviously very put out that we were there. We searched for our two bags while they glared at us and made comments. We found the two pretty quickly at least but then I had the thought that we were already in there and they were already mad so I may as well keep looking for the third missing suitcase real quick in case it just didn't show up in the system and sure enough minutes later I shouted to Debbie with joy as I lifted the last suitcase off the shelf! One of the employees said to me "You better thank Jesus." I laughed and said "Believe me I am!" We didn't need to come back and go through this all again!!! We tipped the employees generously and all the sudden they were as happy for us as they could be! :) A few days, lots of stress, and $95 in tips (okay, some bribes) we had our luggage!!!!! Thank you God! On a sad note: because the driver did not take the group to the orphanage FIRST and drop them off as planned our entire team had to head back with out going to the orphanage at all that day. I felt so very bad and I'm sure they were all disappointed also, but were so kind to us about it!

So now I have a lot of "baggage" about baggage! I know in sharing this that you will see my attitude is not always what it should be, but it is the truth about my feelings and frustrations.

Kindergarten Graduation

Some of the HFC Boys at the kindergarten graduation


More of the HFC boys at graduation: I know there are several adopting Mom's and friends of these boys that will be thrilled to see their handsome faces!!!! :)



Our gorgeous sons at the graduation: Jude and Jacques.



The graduation was held in a huge room and it was packed! Standing room only. We found out us American visitors were saved seats in the front rows- it was such an honor!

Dr. Bernard (director of HFC and NLL) giving his inspirational speech: I have no clue what he was saying but I'm sure it was great. ;)



Congratulations Kindergarten Class of 2007!!!
Are they adorable or what?

Where do I even begin in describing the K graduations? It was unbelievable how much effort and celebration went into it! Two of my nieces (Ange's daughters, who's children are blood related cousins of our children) were among the graduates and it was such a joy to get to see them graduate and I can't even imagine how precious it was for Ange to be there to see it. It was some party!!! Take a moment to view the absolutely adorable video from Graduation, especially adoptive parents of K graduating kids... I hope seeing this will be a great blessing to you!



For the unbelievably cute closing of the ceremony click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coz1pVsz6ck


There were some really great dances done at the ceremony here are a couple of them:



This one is so adorable and done by little girls (may have been some of the kindergartners)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bOG3fQF9dI



This one is of some of the older girls of HFC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAK-oRRhkrU

Team Member name request!

It has been requested that I post names of the team members so that people that know them from online can put a name with a face. I will do my best to do so because I really like the people that requested. ;) This is for you!
By Step and going left to right:
First Step: Aimee (adopting 2 children she met for the first time) and Julie (adopting 2 children she met for the first time) , Second Step: Amy J. and her sweet new baby (both in the green shirts, she is adopting a baby and toddler and was able to share a room and communicate a lot with their birthmom- met them all for the first time) and Debbie (my friend that came with me and is prayerfully considering the adoption of at least one specific child, please pray for her family as they make this big decision), Third Step: Bryn (Sister of Mandy who went to meet her new nephews Job and Bernadin), Kim (has brought children home through Dr.B and during the trip her strength and kindness was an extra blessing to me!), Me, Fourth Step: Ange (one of my best friends in Texas, one of the team leaders and is about to bring home 3 daughters making 6 children they have adopted from NLL), Char (Karla's Mother), Kim's Mother-in-Law- forgive me I've blanked on her name so if someone who knows it could tell me I could change this line ;), Fifth Step: Tyson (Ange's 12 yr. old son who was wonderful!), Karla (excellent team leader, Dr. B enjoyed calling her the Boss or Captain, she has adopted through Dr. B as well and kids are home), and Candi (Ange's Mother-in-law meeting 3 of her granddaughters for the first time!)

Please let me know if you are reading this and I got any info wrong. It was a busy trip and hard to keep track of everyone and their situation. What a great blessing this group was. Great attitudes, shared lots of love, and a joy to be with. The only thing that could have made it better was to have YOU with us!

FUN FACT: The person who took these great team photo's for us was my perfect son Jacques who can do anything and do it very well! (Yes a little bragging on my part)

Entertainment for the children of HFC

Entertainment For the Children of Hope For the Children of Haiti!

Around 50 DVD movie collection, More then 20 Playstation 2 games, Playstation 2 game system, and 26" flat LCD TV-- Thanks to the help of many people!

They have no idea why they were called together in this room. We had the presents covered and they were wondering what was going on. BTW- The really cute little boy in the orange shirt is our son Jude.


Still waiting: What are these blaze blans (crazy white people) up to anyways?





I had the honor of having Claudette (Dr. Bernard's sweet wife) translate for me. To see the kids reaction click on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaXUJEq4hR4

Home from Haiti with exciting news!!!!!!

Reunited with our children (minus Vilner). We are on the stairs of the gorgeous Bethel Guest House where we were so very spoiled!

The team: Adoptive Parents Mission Team 2007
From all over the country, made up of adoptive mothers and their family and friends


Hi Friends,
We got home after 11PM last night so I am still catching up on some rest but could not wait to share some of the most exciting news about the trip. Stephanie and Lovenie have made it out of second legal!!! What does that mean? They are legally our daughters! Jude is following close behind as his paperwork is being finished up in second legal. It's so exciting to finally have some of them have our last name and be recognized as our legal children! Now we wait for passports (could still be a while) so that we can bring them home!

Other HUGE news is about Lovenie. I shared with you all just a few posts ago about our concern for her health. One look at her picture and you get an idea of why we are concerned. I saw her just 2 months ago and shared that due to her stroke she had a totally blank look in her eyes and didn't smile, laugh, or cry. She wasn't alert and didn't really respond to anything. Our last update picture of her had us really worried so we continued to pray and asked you all to pray with us. Well, If it had not looked just like her I would have thought they gave me the wrong baby. She has totally changed. Praise God!!!! The blank look in her eyes is totally gone. She's alert, playful, and for the first time I witnessed her cry real tears, made her smile for the first time, and then even got her to laugh a couple times. It was nothing short of a miracle! Amazing!!! She was extremely attached to me and someone on our team nicknamed her velcro baby because I could not put her down or hand her off to someone else without her screaming (exhausting and encouraging). She called me Mama over and over again and a few times I could tell she was trying to say words and one time even sounded like she was singing. Praise God again and again and thank you for your prayers!!!

More to come: I have SO many exciting pictures, stories, and video to share that should be coming soon. For now I need to rest.