Water Baby

Rescheduled

We received this e-mail last night from our agency,

The birth parent interviews have been rescheduled, I have not been given the reason or who was responsible for the reschedule, I have asked for the new dates and as soon as I get them I will let you know. I will add that this is very common, most birth parent interviews do not take place on the first scheduled date. It is sometimes a bit difficult to get the birth parents in to the USCIS office and especially several in one day. The interviews only need to be completed before the end of the process so there is still plenty of time to have them completed and I will keep you all posted as I receive information.

With care,

Chareyl

Disappointed , YES ! But still keeping the faith that God is bigger and his timing in this process will be perfect.

Bambi

Splish Splash

This weekend after celebrating my mom's birthday ( we love you mom :) we went with my sister to the fountains to play. It was lots of fun ! My niece is turning 2 in a couple weeks and we also brought her cousin who is about 1 yr 1/2 old. The kids LOVED playing and taking care of them . So much that it kept turning into an argument about who's turn it was to hold the girls. Great practice to get them ready for their little sister:) It made me smile to think of Vania someday playing along with them in the fountains.

Tick Tock

No news yet from Haiti. It may take a few days to hear anything about the parent interviews. So.. for now I'll try to stay busy & stop checking the e-mail repeatedly. We will keep you posted .

Bambi

Birth Parent Interview

We have a very important day coming up this Monday the 27th. Vania's birth mother has an appointment with USCIS for her birth parent interview. What is this ?

The I600 ( which we filed in June ) allows the USCIS to set up it's interview with the birth parents to finalize the parents decision to relinquish their parental rights to their child(ren). That interview will adjudicate the orphan status of the child(ren) to be legally free for adoption.

We have been cautioned that these interviews do not always happen with the first scheduled appointment. Because most people in Haiti do not have phones ,they will have to go out and personally find her mother to bring her to the appointment.

Please pray that they would be able to find Vania's mother for Mondays appointment. Please pray that there would be no delays in the scheduled appointment and that the interview would go smoothly. Please pray we would hear some news from Haiti following the appointment :)

Happy Friday,
Bambi

Turning 2

Happy Birthday Vania Anne !
I love this picture. It captures the whole fiesty attitude of a 2 year old :) We love you Vania ! Even though we can't hold you in our arms , we are holding you in our hearts . Thinking of you on your special day.
Love,
Mamma, Papa, Zane , Zoe and Carson

Happy Birthday Zane

Happy eleventh birthday Zane !

This is a picture of Zane and his Aunt Erin's dog named Chelsea. It has been a busy day of birthday excitement. We went to see the new Harry Potter ( which was excellent ) and then had the family over for cake , ice cream and birthday presents :) We love you Zane ! Thanks for keeping us young ( with a few gray hairs here and there ). Hope you had a great day.

love,

mom & dad

Footprints

On the second day of our parent trip volunteers came around to get hand and fingerprints done of the kids . What a great keepsake ! I have Zane , Zoe and Carson's hand prints hanging up at the same age ( roughly 2yrs old ) so being able to add Vania's is really special :)I thought of this well known poem as I looked through these pictures and thought of all the children and families waiting in this adoption process.


Footprints


One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. he noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that at the worst times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. How could you leave me when I needed you the most?"

The Lord replied " My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of suffering and when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried
you."

-- Margaret Fishback Powers

Ann manje ! ( let's eat )

One of the many reasons the parent trips are important is that it gives us a number of days to stuff the kids with nutrition. It's like an important pit stop on the adoption journey. We had Vania for 5 days during which we beefed her up with nutritional foods, got her hydrated with lots of fluids and made sure her love tank was on full :) Then you send them off hoping you did your best to get them charged up for another 3-4 mo. until the next pit stop.

In the first picture Vania is eating dry formula. Some of the kids really like it and it is great nutritionally.... but not her favorite. The next picture is of her eating from a jar of peanut butter. Also messy and nutritional but she liked it a little better. The winners for her favorite food though were #1 beef jerky ( which she ate like a truck driver ) and Haitian spaghetti , served at the hotel ( my fav as well :)

It was very entertaining to watch her eat. She was so methodical about every bite. Picking through her food, sorting and moving it to different sides. If she didn't want something she would turn her head and spit it on the floor, toss it onto the floor or as a last resort offer it to us. After all how could we say no to her ?

Bambi

Ice Ice Baby

Vania discovers ice. I love her facial expressions in this video ! She makes me laugh :) I know we have missed many of her milestones already . It might not be her taking her first steps , but there are many more things for her to discover for the first time. I'm glad we are able to catch some of them. I miss her!
Bambi

Happy B-day Adam

Grandma,Grandpa,Adam,Bambi,Zane,Zoe and Carson
(notice the extra set of rabbit ears , that is the waitress having fun)

Tonight we went out to the House of Japan for dinner to celebrate Adam's 35th B-day! We had a great time. It's always entertaining to have your food cooked up right in front of you. Carson kept ducking behind the counter every time the cook set food on fire. Lots of fun :) If we could cook like that at home the kids might choose to try more veggies! Happy birthday Adam! We love you!!!!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July ! Today I am remembering what a privilege it is is to live in America. I've done nothing on my own power to earn the right to be here. I have done nothing on my own power to reap it's benefits. But, I have been truly blessed by God's graciousness that in his great plan for me and my family he chose for us to live in America. Not by accident but with a purpose to complete the works he started in us.