Adopting Haiti Documentary

A friend of mine from our local Haiti group sent this e-mail today. I'll be watching hope you will too :)

Hi all!

Just wanted to send out an email letting those of you know that are interested and have not seen it on Facebook that a documentary on Gracyn's orphanage evacuation will air on Hulu.com January 12th. I am not sure of the exact time, but my assumption is that it will be available at any time starting on Wednesday, the one year anniversary of the earthquake. I would love to have as much support shown for this film as possible, given that it is a new producer who did an excellent job and brought light to the plight of these children that helped bring them home. The orphans that are still at Maison des Enfants de Dieu continue to need support as well, so I think this is an awesome way to help bring awareness to the needs of the orphanage. I also have friends who were interviewed for this film, and have previewed it personally at their home. Gracyn does appear in the footage several times (you may not recognize her as her hair is short and you will not see her beautiful smile), and yes, it is hard to watch. She appears sad and afraid, but this is her story. Please watch if you can and feel free to pass along the info! Thank you, Katy

Recipe for Haitian Spaghetti

Originally I got this recipe from googling it. Here goes.......
Olive oil
Spaghetti noodles
Diced onions
Minced garlic ( fresh /dried )
Cloves
Thyme
Ham
Spaghetti sauce
Boil the spaghetti until al dente. While cooking your spaghetti , in a large frying pan sautee the onions, garlic, thyme and cloves in olive oil. Once they have cooked for a few minutes add diced ham ( we cut up a ham steak ) and brown with the other ingredients. Lastly, drain the spaghetti noodles ( I tossed them with a little olive oil before putting in the pan ) and add them to the pan with the other ingredients. I added 4-6 Tbsp of traditional spaghetti sauce to the mix and cooked for a few more minutes. Wha La !

Happy Belated Haitian Independence Day

Our New Years Day is Haiti's Independence Day. This was our 2nd attempt at Haitian Spaghetti to celebrate the day. We are not a sauerkraut & pork family so this was an easy transition for New Years. Easy, quick, simple & yummy. Thanks to my new Christmas pans ( thanks mom :) this batch turned out perfect ! It brought back the memories of our hotel stay in Haiti & not being able to get enough Haitian Spaghetti at breakfast ,lunch or dinner. So far this is the only Haitian food we've learned to cook . But, it's a keeper. If anyone would like to give us quick
easy fav's to try we'd love it.

Happy New Year

Today we took the kids ice skating. For most of us it was the our first time ( all but Zoe & I ) and I have'nt been ice skating since I was probably Zoe's age ! We knew this adventure could go really good or really bad. Lucky for us as soon as we laced them up & sent them out on the ice,they were natural pros :) I helped Vania along and Adam was a good sport taking it slow & steady. No injuries & no major collisions. Everyone had a great time !

Can you believe that it was 60 degrees here today ?No coats for us ! We left the rink and got blasted by the warm breeze from outside. The snow & ice have melted & the kids are glad to finally be able to ride their scooters outside.

Now we're settled in for the night. Just hanging out, ready to bring in the New Year. I can't imagine a year more eventful than last year. But hey, you never know right ? Happy New Year !
Bambi

Merry Christmas

She got her scooter :)

Holding onto dad for dear life !

Merry Christmas !!!!!

Vania is still buzzing around like a little bee after her first Christmas. I can tell she is totally over stimulated because she can't focus on anything but sorting through all the new Christmas treasures. A minute ago I found her lounging in the laundry basket with my new shoes on,Various items of clothing under her, her new Hello Kitty Scooter a water bottle she was chugging and her baby doll. That lasted all but five minutes then she was onto something else :)I may find her sound asleep under wrapping paper somewhere before I am done posting this. Everyone is tuckered out !
She has absolutely loved the Christmas holiday. She loves all the Christmas songs and performed with the other kids in our church Christmas program. She picked out her very first official ornament for the tree. A pink Christmas bulb with a little bow on the side that says Vania Anne 2010. Made chocolate covered pretzels with the kids. Saw Santa for the first time in which she was terrified at first. Now, every time we see a Santa ringing the bell for the Salvation Army she wants to go over to say hi. Then she says,"see mommy I'm not afraid of Santa anymore!" And the joy of opening her Hello Kitty scooter was priceless. "My Hello Kitty Scooter , My Hello Kitty Scooter, yes finally !" I believe were her words.
My favorite moments of the season..... putting -To :Vania Love, mom & dad -on her presents ! & hearing her wish everyone a Merry Christmas in her tiny little voice :)
GOOD TIMES!

Santa Clause Is Coming To Town

Oh Christmas Tree !

Vania was very excited to put up the Christmas tree. Much more than the rest of us this year. I'm glad to have her young energetic spirit to get us in the Christmas mood :) All she is asking for is a "Hello Kitty Cooter (scooter ) " for Christmas. And she reminds me about 100 times a day :) I finally told her that she would have to take it up with Santa, since he'll be the one bringing it. Unfortunately for her, we have skipped all the outrageously long lines to sit on Santa's lap so far this year . But she will get her chance to give Santa her list next weekend at our church Christmas party. We'll have to keep you posted.

She was excited to find an ornament we made for her last Christmas with her picture inside.

Taking her picture in front of the tree started out well until.........

.......She decided rolling her eyes back in perfect time with the flash was much more fun :)

She just cracked herself up !

This is the morning after we put up the tree. She had to count all the candy canes to make sure they were there.