Piecing our lives together!

I love puzzles!  Catrina loves puzzles!  Eddie...tolerates puzzles.  :-)  One night while working on a puzzle at the kitchen table (coincidentally just after shopping for a new puzzle to send Catrina), Eddie made the comment that our adoption process is not unlike doing a puzzle.  With each crazy doctor's visit or odd test, with the display of one more private aspect of our lives, we find that it's all slowly piecing our family together.  In this light, we decided to do a somewhat unique fundraiser so each of you can take a part in helping us piece together our future.

We have a 500 piece puzzle (the one displayed below) and we are asking that you consider funding a piece, or a small section of the puzzle with a donation of any amount. When you sponsor a piece or pieces, we will write  your name on the back and add it to the puzzle. Once its done, we will frame it with glass on both sides and hang it in Catrina's room. With this, she will have a visual reminder of how many different people love her and helped get her home.  She will have a better understanding of what is means to be a family.

I also plan to post photos of our progress with the puzzle so you can see how it's coming along.

We chose the butterfly theme because butterflies are the symbol for hope and new life! As a beautiful reminder of His hope and the new life He offers, God sends a ton of butterflies to La Gonave, Haiti each spring.

Recommended donation is $10 per peice, but any and all contributions will be accepted and appreciated!

You may sponsor a piece or pieces using PayPal (the Donate Button on the right), or to pay with cash or a check, simply post a comment below (I will moderate it before it gets posted and remove it if necessary so as NOT to display your personal information) so I can get you our address to you. 

Don't forget to let me know the name(s) you would like to appear on the back of your piece(s).

Thanks in advance and thank you for your continued prayers! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful network of loving friends and family! May God bless you all as much as you have blessed us!!!

My first official Mother's Day!



Please ignore the goofy Lisa in the back ground...she's a chronic photo-bomber.  :-)



Final Update from my May Visit to Haiti

All appologies for the delay in posting an update!  I've been quite busy trying to get back into the swing of things back in the states.  Yes, I'm back home and of course I miss both Haiti and our sweet girl!

My last post was Thursday of the week I was in Haiti, so I'll go from there.  On Friday, I did actually get to meet with Mme. Soliette, but Francesca was sick and couldn't make it.  Since we didn't really have any "business" to discuss, I checked in to make sure Catrina's attitude and school work have been much better these days (both affirmative), then just spent some more time getting to know the woman currently raising my daughter.  I must admit, she couldn't be in better hands!  Mme. Soliette has an amazing testimony and her love for the Lord is the most evident aspect of her personality.  Her birthday was this past Thursday and her celebratory plans were to take a meal to the homless shelter (more similar to our Hospice) and spend some time with them!  What a blessing!  As always, the orphanage has financial concerns and issues with some of the kids, but she simply trusts that God will provide...as He always has!  Please continue to keep Mme. Soliette, the kids, and the staff in your prayers! 

After our meeting, I headed back to the Wesleyan Compound, where Catrina and many of the other children were playing with the team I had followed over to the island this week.  After some good playtime and a snack, the other children headed back up to the orphanage while Catrina and I got to spend a few more hours together before dinner time.  We swang (Nou renmen balanse!), Catrina rode bikes with the other kids on the compound, we climbed trees, etc. 

The girls taking a much-needed break :-)

It was very low-key, but also lots of fun!  Mme. Soliette didn't want Catrina to stay the night on Friday night, as she had homework to do and chores to do on Saturday morning, so just after dinner, we got Greg to take us back up to the orphanage to drop her off for the night.

In my visit with Mme. Soliette, I also had the opportunity to ask how I could be a blessing to the orphanage and her work there.  She apparently had some sort of inspection coming up and needed help getting the building painted, so a few members of the ALIVE team and I headed up Saturday morning and spent a few hours putting a fresh coat on the downstairs of the orphanage.  This level was likely the worst, as it is bedrooms at night and classrooms during the day.  I must admit this was the first time I have ever painted in which I have been assisted by little boys with no pants!  :-)  In fact, we had to ask some of them NOT to help because they were getting too far ahead of us.  All in all, we managed to get the bottom floor about 70% complete, which I'm sure was a huge blessing to Mme. Soliette!

After lunch on Saturday, we had the younger kids (and Catrina) down from the orphanage to play and had tons of fun again.  Once again, Catrina got to hang out afterwards, but this time she got to stay the night!  We had so much fun!  We watched movies (both in English and oddly she was more interested than I was...lol!), made birthday cards for Eddie, jumped rope, etc.  Catrina fell asleep on the couch not too long after dark, which means we were definitely up well in time for Haitian church, then English church on Mother's Day Sunday.  Later in the day, Heidi explained to Catrina what Mother's Day was, at which point, Catrina decided to give me a magnet she had painted for Mother's Day and send one to Eddie for his birthday.  Gotta love the generosity!  :-)

All in all, I had a wonderful Mother's Day and I was SO sad to see it rush by, as this was my last day with Catrina before we had to head back to the states.  I spent pretty much all of Monday and Tuesday traveling to get back home, just in time for Eddie's birthday on Wednesday.  :-)  What a whirlwind it was, but worth every bit of it!

As far as our adoption goes, now we wait...  Please pray for peace, please be in prayer with us that God will move mountains and move our application through the IBESR quickly and with few (or NO!) hiccups.  Please also be in prayer that God will work in the heart of Catrina's birth father and all other individuals necessary to make this adoption happen. 

Hello again from Anse-a-galets, Haiti!

We arrived on the island of La Gonave yesterday and I FINALLY got to go up to the orphanage for about a half hour to see my sweet girl!  She totally wasn't expecting us, so she didn't see me coming and didn't come out to meet me, but was certainly happy to see me when she did!  She threw her arms around me from behind and wouldn't let go for several minutes!  Wow!  What a blessing!  Her first question to me was "When do you have to go back?"  and her second was "Do I get to go with you?"  ...saddly I had to tell her no, but at least she's excited about the adoption!  :-) 

Our first day back together...

 Today, I got to pick Catrina up just after lunch and keep her until after dinner.  Today her surprising question was "Why can't I stay the night with you?"  I told her that it's because she has school tomorrow, to which her response was effectively "Well, I don't have school Saturday or Sunday."  :-)  I said we'd have to ask Mme. S's permission, but I don't see why not!  Who knows, I might have some fun sleep-over photos to share soon!  Eddie, Catrina specifically said she misses you and loves you!

I am supposed to be meeting with Mme. S and Catrina's older sister tomorrow at 2 pm, because apparently we aren't actually Catrina's legal guardians in Haiti until Catrina's bological father signs the decree.  We paid for him to go into PAP last October, but he kept making excuses and then apparently got really sick.  Now he is just simply refusing to go.  Not so much because he doesn't want us to adopt her, but really just because he doesn't want to bother going into PAP to sign it.  Please pray that God will change his heart and he will go into PAP (and that he will find the money to do so since we can't really give it to him again or it could be held against us...)  Please also pray that our meeting goes well tomorrow.

One additional, somewhat unrelated, prayer request is for the sweet, sweet missionary family who are so kind to host me on La Gonave.  They have a LOT going on out here at the island lately and could always use some extra prayers.

Much love to you all!

Hello from Haiti!

So sorry you've all been anxiously waiting!  I was SO busy last week I didn't even get a chance to post.  I'm sure at some point, I will regale/bore you with all the details, but what it comes down to is that God is good and  arrived in Haiti yesterday with a signed dossier!  :-)  PRAISE GOD!!

As of now, I believe our lawyer got out dossier (formal adoption application) submitted to the IBESR (Haitian Social Services) yesterday, albeit not without some hurdles to overcome.  Then I got the first full nights sleep that I've gotten in over a week!  A proud 7 1/2 hours!  Loved it!  I also had the wonderful opportunity to spend some great time with some dear friends in PAP.  What a blessing it was to chat and hang out with wonderful people who are of a similar mind and heart.

I am currently at the beautiful home of another missionary couple who live right on the Carribbean with a mission team (literally, I just went snorkeling in their back yard!  How cool is that?!).  Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we head to La Gonave, where I am hoping at some point tomorrow to get to go see our sweet girl!

Thank you SO much for all your prayers and love and support so far!  Next, please be in prayer that the IBESR will quickly and properly process our dossier.  We need a presidential dispensation (Pres. Martelly has to review our file and sign off on it) and there is also the typical wait time.  We're praying boldly that God will continue to bless and move so we can get this sweet girl home as quickly as possible!

Thanks again and love to you all!

"...IMPOSSIBLE things are happening every day!"

In the midst of our chaos last weekend, we were blessed with the opportunity to go see a production of Cinderella that was the work of my high school alma matter, with an orchestra conducted by my brother-in-law.  They did a fabulous job (made me wish we'd have done musicals when I was in school there...) and thanks to them, I've had the song the Godmother and Cinderella sing stuck in my head all week.  I'm sure that was no coincidence! 

Monday and Tuesday we spent going back and forth with our translator, trying to get him to supply everything we need for the Haitian Consulate and he pretty much refused.  On Tuesday night, we went to dinner with some dear friends from our new church but our hearts were heavy.  The wife of this couple asked me what's going on with our adoption, so I started filling her in on the issues we've been having with the translator and that we're likely going to have to find a new one, but finding a new translator who would comply with these requests was proving to be quite difficult.  Out of no where her response is "Let me call my Dad."  ???!?!?!?!  Huh?  Turns out her father is a certified French translator.  That was a little TOO much of a coincidence for me...I see it for what it really is...a miracle! 

So, Wednesday I gathered all our paperwork from all over the place and do my best to piece it together for him and send it to him late in the afternoon.  Just after sending it, I also got an email from our lawyer via our friend who is a misisonary in Hait (God bless her!  She spent 2 1/2 hours working through all of this with our lawyer) basically saying that...oh, by the way IBESR will be accepting applications through May 7 before they shut down until June.  May 7th...that is Monday and the day I get to Haiti!!!  Her plan is to meet me at the airport, grab our dossier, then run to the IBESR and get it submitted.  Then we will meet later to discus the details.  Miracle #2. 

First thing Thursday morning, I got a call from the translator (who had just looked over our documents) who just wanted to inform me that what we were asking of him was nothing short of impossible.  Basically for him to complete all this and get it in the mail to us in time for us to take it to Atlanta will require a third miracle.  We've been working closely with him and his wife over the past 26+ hours to get this ready.  One minute we think there is no way it's going to happen, then the next there is a glimmer of hope.  The emotional aspect of this feels oddly similar to spiritual warfare...  We're praying for Miracle #3.  Fed-ex is scheduled to pick up our packet today at noon in Tulsa, OK (1:00 pm our time).  Please be in prayer with us that this mircale will happen!  I know God is able!

Please also be in prayer that the Haitian Consulate (we have another appointment at 9:00 tomorrow morning) will sign off on our dossier and that the IBESR will accept it on Monday.  Also in the midst of all of this, I found myself at the doctor's office Wednesday night with an ear infection and a sinus infection.  If you don't mind, I would appreciate your prayers for that too and for safe travels this weekend and to/from Haiti over the next week and a half.

Peace and love to you all!

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." ~Romans 8:28

I'm not really even sure what to say right now, but I know so many of you are curious, so I'll give you the facts and elaborate later.

-Got the doctor's note on Wednesday
-Got our translated packet from the translator; found that he had used the same notary (whose commission expires July 2012...this will likely not be valid when the IBESR reviews our dossier, so it would be sent back), so the notarized summary page had to be redone
-Received updated translation summary on Thursday, only to find that the new notary expires in October 2012, so this is still not a good idea...going with it for now, for lack of a better option
-Drove packet to Columbia to have the Secretary of State validate the 4 major components
-Drove packet to Atlanta to have the Haitian Consulate authenticate the 4 major components
-Standstill! 

While at the Haitian Consulate, we were told that no only did we need the 4 major components of our dossier authenticated, but that they needed to authenticate EVERY document that was translated into French.  We scrambled around trying to get all of this together (which by some miraculous turn of events, we managed to do...although we hadn't expected to need it all).  Then while going through the paperwork with the Haitian Consulate, we found that:
1 - Apparently the French copy all of the our translated documents must be notarized.  We are currently trying to figure out if this is even possible, as our translator says it is not...
2 - We need to have EVERY document translated (and therefore notarized...AND legalized); including our tax records and bank statements...
3 - In addition to my letter from my doctor, I also need to have a new physician form completed, and translated, and notarized, and legalized...
4 - We need to get a new copy of Eddie's SLED report since we only have a copy because the original had to be sent to the US.  So, again, new copy, then translated, then notarized and legalized...
5 - In addition to our letter to the IBESR saying that we want to adopt Catrina and accept full responsibility, we also need to write a letter saying we accept financial responsibility and have it notarized, then translated, then notarized again, then authenticated at the Secretary of State, then legalized...

We are currently in the process of tracking all of this down and trying our best to figure out the resolution to all of this so we can head back to Columbia and Atlanta this week to have our dossier ready to go to Haiti when I head down one week from today.  We realize this is an ambitious goal, but we also realize the same God who created the Heavens and the Earth in all of existence in 6 days can certainly supply some signed paperwork in that same amount of time.  He reigns over all thrones!

Please be in prayer with us that HIS will be done in each situation necessary to get this dossier to Haiti as quickly as possible.  Please also be in prayer that He will guide us and give us His clarity and wisdom in all decissions along the way.

We know and trust that in some way God is working this for good!