A Merry Christmas in Haiti!

We received these photos of Pierre and Ange-Laurette receiving their packages from Santa. This was the celebration the mission group Answered Prayers organized. They made decorative paper chains, taught handwashing and food preparation, and shared the individualized gifts we had been able to send down in November. Both kids look so good!!! Actually ALL the kids and nannies were beaming from ear to ear!

Ange-Laurette is now 9! Her birthday was on Sunday. Another family was arriving in Haiti that day, so we sent along a birthday surprise for her. We will celebrate again when we see her in January, with cupcakes like we had brought along for Pierre last time. Ange-Laurette is a petite 9 but has the life-experiences of a much older girl. Her huge grin tells us she is doing well and likely enjoying her new participation in a nearby school Monday through Friday. It will be fun to see her new school skills in math...although we are most excited to just hear that laugh of hers!

Pierre was hard at work in other photos from the mission trip. He could be seen in any shots of kids doing artwork or coloring pages. He outlines each object before coloring it in...and he takes it all seriously until completion. We will need to make room on the frig for all the masterpieces he is sure to bring home from school one day. :)

How much we miss them!!

Just a quick entry to share how much we are missing Pierre and Ange-Laurette! The holidays are so bittersweet: one of our favorite times as a family but also without two very special kids here to join us. We know that they will be receiving their Christmas boxes within the next week. We also know that my parents are working hard to send the orphanage some of the fortified rice packets from a mission they support, Kids Against Hunger. We celebrated my dad's birthday this September packaging over 2500 meals! My niece was part of another packaging that actually may end up in Haiti. It is a wonderful mission and so much more meaningful once you have seen firsthand the difference in a child once they receive the nutrients they so desperately need.

We have two learning opportunities in the next week. We will join a webinar tomorrow and then a conference call on Tuesday to learn more about the steps in the Haitian adoption process. Bruce and I are eager to learn absolutely everything we can to help prepare us....and to help the kids adjust to this new culture, while still maintaining as much as we can of their own culture and traditions. Please say extra prayers this Christmas, for all the children just like ours who are without a family and without even the necessities of life this holiday season. Pray that Christian mission groups reach out beyond our borders to touch their lives in significant ways!

Christmas Stockings en route!

Every year, Answered Prayers sponsors a Christmas Stocking Drive complete with a Haitian Santa Claus and presents for each child and nanny at BRESMA. Parents are invited to sponsor their own children if they would like. They didn't have to ask US twice! We also chose to sponsor one of the nannies. We had fun choosing these recommended items for each: an outfit, sandals (hard to find in SD in November!), soap, toothbrush, book, and a couple toys. It is so fun now that we know their favorites in characters, types of toys, and colors. Since it is Christmas, we didn't worry as much either about if it was a toy that would get destroyed or if it could be shared easily. All the kids would have something their very own (for the day), so we could splurge. :) Ange-Laurette got a doll with hair, which she always requests. Fixing hair is a BIG thing in their culture, and she does it well! We also found a "skipper" which they spin around one ankle as they jump. That will keep her endless energy channeled. :)

For Pierre, we enclosed an "American futbol" for him and the other big boys. That will be a skill he will definitely want to have once he arrives here, between his younger brother's obsession and the recesses with other boys at school. Then, we added his hero, Spiderman, on a battery operated 3-wheeler. I can see all the younger kids making their Spiderman hand gestures now! We so wish we could be there to witness the frenzy when the packages arrive. It is so much like our Christmas morning....yet so very different. I was laughing with the postal worker as I mailed each child's package yesterday: If only we could limit our American children's gifts to one shoe box in size!

We prayed they'd sense our love as they were opened. Bon fet Noel, to our kids a world away!

PRESIDENTIAL DISPENSATION....GRANTED!!!

Last night we thought we heard the phone, in our sleep, about 11 p.m. Then, I got that sinking feeling that it might have been one of those emergency phonecalls and went to check the message. It was Diana with the phonecall she promised...anytime day or night~

We had received Presidential Dispensation to legally adopt AND both Pierre Cardin and Ange-Laurette's cases had moved out of IBESR (Haitian social services). This is the longest, toughest, and most unpredictable step. This is the place so many before us had gotten "stuck."

Diana explained that this marks the halfway mark. Things usually proceed in a more orderly fashion after this....and the adoptions should be complete within 9 months. It also means that bringing the kids home during the warmer months in South Dakota is a likelihood! We will have time to adjust as a family before having to deal with school!

We will now begin to plan our January visit, where we will finally get to bring Pierre his Granmay Gran (my mom)!

Precious Phonecall from Haiti

We were able to call the kids while our adoption coordinator, Diana, was visiting there early October. She does not yet have a cell phone with speaker phone capabilities, but she did her best to interpret for us. As she searched for "our girl," she put Pierre on the phone. He said timidly, "Ah lo?" Bruce greeted him and told him it was "dad." Pierre responded again, "Ah lo?" It must be awfully strange for them to hear these foreign voices on the end of the line and not be sure what to say. Bailey jumped in to say, "Hi Pierre!" He excitedly answered, "Hi Mom!" When I asked him how he was doing, he said, "I'm good." And he sounded good, as well, as he said hi to Nate and Bailey as if they were long lost buds. Then, Ange-Laurette got on the phone, with her much-improved English. She seemed to understand most of what we said, answering, "I'm fine. Me love you, too." When Bailey emphasized that she missed her, Ange-Laurette genuinely responded, "Me, too."

We asked Diana to tell them that Nate is taking good care of Pierre's soccer ball and truck....that Bailey's friends are excited to meet them...and that we will visit in January. She shared their comments: Pierre said that he needs to come to South Dakota because he loves South Dakota (that on a day we were getting our first snow and freeze!). Ange-Laurette wanted us to know that she prays for us everyday. Both were eager to tell us how hard they have been working in school. They would send school work with Diana to give us and we would be proud.

We asked Diana to tell Pierre that it was ok that he was sad on our last visit to Haiti. She quickly explained that he would not be at all embarrassed for crying...that is an American thing. :) We asked her to describe Ange-Laurette's hair for the day. Ange-Laurette described the pony tails and barrettes, adding how happy she was that it was getting so long. I asked her to have Diana take a photo for us. Ange-Laurette shocked us all by saying, "Diana already did!"

We were all beaming ear to ear! Their joy was obvious and the connection between all of us was so real. Bruce said, after we said our long goodbyes, that he could actually picture them here in our home with us, for the first time! Later that week, we received these priceless photos of our babies. We cannot thank Diana enough for moments and photos like these!!

Bailey's descriptive paper for school

"Driving through the streets of Haiti is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As we begin our trek down the bumpy road, every sense is quickly overwhelmed. The first sensation is of the extreme heat and foul smell of exhaust. I recognize how pale I must look to the hundreds of African descendents.

Our navy van nears the city. Lining every cement wall is coiled barbed wire. As I look up the mountainside camouflaged with rivers of trash and roofless houses, my heart breaks. A smile returns to my face. Strutting along the pathway are joyful children heading to school. The dozens of beads in their hair match the billboards we pass. I almost bounce up and down on the sticky leather seats picturing the two siblings I will soon meet.

Jerking to a halt, I fly forward in my seat. Wincing, our driver stops for a group of men ripping a lady's fruit out of her arms. Beep! Beep! We're off again. Our van darts down the street, dodging women with baskets upon their heads. White UN vehicles kick up loose gravel as they pass. The Caribbean music on the radio and smell of spicy foods fill the air. A bony, stray dog slinks among the trash lining every curb. Dark-skinned Haitians sit in the scorching sun. Their tired bodies are eager to sell used luggage, worn sandals, colorfully painted tiles, and all types of fruits.

At last, my senses are relieved as we turn onto a quiet back road. My heart leaps when we come to a stop at an orange metal gate. Behind the orphanage wall comes laughter and excited Kreyol chatter. Seeing the bright smiles of my new brother and sister make the long journey well worth it."

Wish we knew the words...

Each time an adoptive family visits, they are welcomed by a song or two from the children at BRESMA2. We could learn a thing or two from the nannies who are somehow able to get 40 children to sit still, to wait as long as it takes for the parents to come inside, and to sing with all their gusto. It is truly amazing that these children can be so well behaved with so little structure and without traditional parenting day-to-day. They have a much stronger sense of what it means to share and they are open with each other regarding their feelings and thoughts.
Still, there is the taking of each others' things and a pecking order the little ones must detest. Bailey had brought hair accessories for the girls when we arrived. She carefully gave a red headband to the smallest girl in the group. Almost immediately, one of the bigger boys pulled it out of her hand and put in on himself. She was sad but did not look surprised, and certainly did not fight it. We laughed to know that the joke was on the older boy, who looked a bit silly in a red headband anyway. :)

We were unable to locate any of the items we have previously sent the kids. Ange-Laurette showed us her High School Musical bag from our last trip, but it only had a few items within. They continue to accept gifts we send shyly and never want to return to BRESMA with their special things. Understandable. Still, we will do our best to brighten their days and send small packages with each visiting family that we can. We want to shorten the times between visits by letting them know they are thought of and loved!