December photo of Christéla

Here's our December photo of Christéla we just received. She is standing!!! And her hair continues to grow back in... she is just growing so much... :)

December photo of Aliyah

Here is Aliyah's update photo! She looks so beautiful... and happy... and with new braids!!! :) Yeah! :)

We didn't receive an update photo of Christéla... we've asked about it and will post it as soon as we get one.

Happy Birthday Aliyah!

Happy Birthday my sweet Aliyah! Today you turn two years old. It was right about the time you were born, two years ago, that Daddy started to have a heart for adoption. I'm certain that it was when you were born, God looked down and knew we would be your forever family - and started to place that desire in Daddy's heart. I'm sad that we aren't able to be with you for this special day - but I pray with everything in me - that God will move mountains and you will be home in time to celebrate your next birthday with us!

Missing our girls...

Keith and I just celebrated our 7th anniversary today... as we thought back over the last seven years, we never expected we would have four children... and we never would have thought we would be adopting two beautiful girls from Haiti! But, we are so excited about where the Lord has brought us as a family - and pray that our lives glorify Him!

As I sit here tonight and look at the pictures of our girls, I miss them so much. I long to hold them. I long to show them the love we have been given... and pray that they come home to us soon! We love you Aliyah and Christéla! We are doing everything we can to bring you home! Zach and Josh pray with us for you every night. They pray that God will "keep you safe" and we pray that somehow Jesus will wrap you in His arms and tell you He (and we) love you and that your lives are so precious. - Love, Mommy

Photos of Aliyah

Here's the photos of Aliyah with our friend Mike - he took the girls our photo albums and got some pictures for us!

Photos of Christéla

She is getting so "fat"!!! Yeah! As many of you know, when we met Christéla she was only 8 pounds at about 10-months old. It is so good to see her gaining weight like a baby should! :)

Newer Pictures!

There were several families who recently had the opportunity to travel to Haiti and sent some pictures for us of our girls! We sent down some "baby proof" photo albums for the girls with pictures of Keith and I, Zach and Josh and Grandmas and Grandpas... so they can become familiar with our faces while they wait to come home. This is what you see Aliyah examining in some of the photos above.

As far as the adoption goes, we've gotten 1st Legal with Aliyah and are waiting to get into IBESR. We are still waiting on the abandonment decree for Christéla... the orphanage is going to have the Mayor come out since she has now been in their custody for seven months to see if he will go ahead and declare her abandoned. If this happens, then we can start the process of her adoption as well. PLEASE pray with us that the mayor will make this decision! Our agency is hopeful with us that this will happen - but are cautioning us that we "shouldn't get our hopes up too high" as it still may take a year...

Abandonment...

We recenlty learned from our agency that it may take up to a year to get an abandonment decree from the Haitian government for Christéla. This decree is needed before Christéla's adoption process can begin. Please PRAY with us that this isn't the case! Please pray that this decree is issued soon so that her process can begin. Our dossier is ready for her... so, as soon as that is in place, things can start. It is such a long process as it is... and with her health issues, we don't want to see her have to wait that long to come home! We had originally understood that she had to be in the custody of the orphanage for seven months and then that could be issued... that would have been in mid-December. Apparently, that may not be the case.

In other news, our dossier for Aliyah was sent by CCI to Haiti on October 15. We heard today that it arrived on October 21. We are waiting to hear that we have entered "First Legal." Here's an excerpt from another Haiti adoption blog about this step:

First Legal: Any document that had to be authenticated by the Haitian
Consulate has to be taken to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for further
legalization. They legalize the signature of the Haitian Consular Officer that
legalized your dossier at the foreign Haitian Embassy in your country.
If the child to be adopted is already identified and/or as soon as the child is
identified, the child’s portion of the adoption dossier has to be compiled. This
dossier portion includes the social history on the child which is prepared by a
Haitian Social Worker, a Psychologist report, a Medical report and a Lab Report
is made. Additionally, the child’s birth certificate, parent’s death certificate
or relinquishment papers are added to the dossier at that time. Additionally,
any birth or death certificates have to have Archive Papers attached to the
document. This certifies that the signature on the birth certificate and/or
death certificate corresponds with the signature of the official who signed
it. When all the papers are back from Legalization and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and the child’s paperwork is finished, the dossier is prepared
for the National Office of Social Welfare (IBESR) and sent to the lawyer. The
dossier consists of one original document dossier and three copy dossiers.

Once we get through First Legal... we'll then wait to get into IBESR.

New Picture of Aliyah!

We just got this new picture of Aliyah! Such a beautiful smile and happy girl! Her hair is really growing in as well... maybe we'll see braids in a few more months. We heard that CCI received our dossier for Aliyah on Tuesday... and we hoping to send it to Haiti today. So, we are praying for a smooth (and fast) process now that it is in Haiti so we can bring our little girl home.

Paper Baby #1 in the mail

It's been a while since I've had a chance to update our blog... I've been so busy finishing up our dossier, filling out more grant applications, and getting ready for another fundraiser, that I haven't had time to blog. But, here's an update:

On Friday (Oct 10), I mailed Paper Baby #1 to CCI (our adoption agency). It weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces worth of paper about Keith and I and our family... this dossier will be used in Haiti for Aliyah's adoption.

We are compliling a seperate dossier for Christéla... but I had one document for hers come back from the Haitian Consulate without the seal it needed... so, I had to send it back to them. When I get it from them, I'll make 4 copies of all of it and send three copies plus the original to CCI and keep one copy for us. This will be Paper Baby #2.... and once it is mailed, everything will be out of our hands for a while.

We have an updated photo of Christéla for October... her hair is starting to come back in and she still has that beautiful smile! We haven't gotten one of Aliyah yet... but I'll post it as soon as we get it.

Ava's Hope Grant

We are so excited to announce that we just received a call this afternoon from Ava's Hope. They are awarding us a $5,000 grant to help with our adoption costs! This is such an answer to prayer and we are so excited!

Here is an excerpt from Ava's Hope's website:

AVA's Hope was founded in 2005 to fund the adoption of international orphans who
otherwise have no hope for the love, care or future that a permanent family
provides.

We believe that no child should go without a family simply because of
the enormous expense associated with the adoption process. We aspire to ensure
that money is never the reason a child goes without a home.

Thank you Ava's Hope for helping us in the process of bringing Aliyah and Christéla home!

If you would like to learn more about Ava's Hope, or how you can help other families through their grant program, please visit their website at www.avashope.org.

"Do Hard Things"

The other night I was driving home from a short visit at my parent's home in eastern Colorado. On the way home the radio program Family Life Today came on. They had on two young guests - 16 year old twins that were promoting a new book they wrote to encourage young people to "Do Hard Things." Their premise was that when we do hard things for the glory of God, we grow in our faith and walk with Him. As I thought about that, I was encouraged. As I look back over my life, the times I've grown the most in my faith are the times when I've done things that were hard - things that stretched me and made me rely only on Christ.

We find ourselves in that position now. This adoption process has brought us back to Christ and relying on Him more than we have for a long time. We love the girls we are adopting - and can't wait to have them home... and that is part of the difficulty. It is such a long process... maybe another 18-months to 2-years before we are able to bring them home. As we watch hurricanes and tropical storms pass through Haiti and see the devastation to that country, it breaks our heart for the people there and we just pray that the orphanage and all the children and staff are OK. We are also dealing with some medical news for one of our girls and we hurt that we can't be there for her to care for her while she is sick. We just pray that Jesus will hold her in His hand and comfort her.

• Please pray for our girls and their health.
• Please pray for the orphanages in Haiti as they are struggling even more now to get the necessities amid the devastation in Haiti.
• Pray for the people of Haiti who have suffered greatly in the last several weeks from flooding.
• And please pray for us as we are trying to raise the money for the adoptions. We are applying for grants and praying that some of them are awarded to us.

Thank you for your prayers!

Newest Pictures of Aliyah and Christéla

Our sweet Aliyah. She has such a radiant smile and I just can't wait to be able to bring her home and hold her and see her laugh with her brothers and sister! (They had to shave her hair off earlier this summer due to a bout with impatiago on her head... but it is growing back in some and she should have braids again soon - can't wait to see them again!) Lord, please hold her in your arms and let her know how much you love her.

Our precious Christéla. Such a happy smile and two little teeth in on the bottom and one (I think) on the top. Isn't she just beautiful! (They shaved her head too!! To allow the sides to grow back in with the top... so we have two precious girls trying to grow their hair back in right now. :) )God, please be with her - hold her in your arms and love her... please protect her from any illness that might complicate things and please show her how much you and we love her!

Report after Hurricane Gustav

Just this afternoon we received an update from the orphanage where Aliyah and Christéla are following Hurricane Gustav. There was a lot of rain... over 40 hours straight... but thankfully everyone at the orphanage is OK. Praise the Lord!

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. It sounds like there has been a lot of flooding and this may severely hurt the farmers and crops. Haiti is already facing major food shortages and skyrocketing prices for food - so this may just increase those problems and increase the risk for more food riots and violence.

Please also pray for provisions for the orphanage in the face of the ever increasing food costs.

Our Social Worker is Approving Us!

Yeah!!! We just had our "last" home study meeting with our social worker. She told us at the end of the meeting that she was approving us!!! The report still needs to be written, but it is a great feeling to know that things are moving forward and that we have been approved! Especially since we have already developed such an attachment for Aliyah and Christéla! Thank you Lord!!!

Roller Coaster...

The adoption process has been such an emotional roller coaster already! Since making the decision to adopt Aliyah and Christéla, we have seen Christéla stay in the hospital longer than expected... just to get out for a short time and have to return. We have faced financial expenses (both directly related to the adoption, and some unexpected major car repairs) that have been overwhelming. We have seen pictures of Aliyah with a large abscess on her forehead... and learned that she has Sickle Cell Trait (which normally would not even be a consideration, but because of the altitude we live at, she may face some significant effects from it... and then again, she may be just fine).

Just over two months ago we had met with Linda, the director of the orphanage, for the first time and I had been concerned about whether I could love a child we adopted as much as I love my biological children. That question has so clearly been answered! There are nights when I lay awake just longing to hold them and comfort them - especially when I know they are sick or in the hospital. I just lay there and pray for them, that Jesus will comfort them. That He will hold them and care for them right now while I can't. I know that this whole process will bring me closer to Him - and for that I'm thankful... but I must say that it is certainly difficult having my heart in two places and longing for the day our girls come home!

An update on our progress:
Our dossier is almost complete... Our home study should be complete by the end of the month. Once it is complete, we will take everything to Denver to have it all State Certified... and then send it off for translation... We are hoping to have our dossier to Haiti in September...

Video of Christéla

This video was taken by another adopting Mom in July at the hotel that the mission teams and visiting families stay. Christéla had been able to stay with the director of the orphanage and her family for a little while after being released from the General Hospital.

Getting Started

Our adoption journey started about a year and a half ago when The Lord began placing adoption on Keith's heart. As Keith talked about this to me, I had absolutely no interest or desire to adopt (Josh was only 6 months old and adoption was the farthest thing from my mind at that time!). Over the next year I read a book called "Saving Levi" about a 6-week old baby that had been burned over most of his body and left for dead in a field in China. God started to give me a heart for the orphans of the world. We decided to support an orphan ministry and become a prayer partner for a 6-year old little girl in Cambodia that lives in an orphanage there. Then, in March our church had a large donation drive for For His Glory, a ministry that runs an orphanage in Haiti. I heard some women in my Bible study talking about the "dirt biscuits" that children in Haiti are fed to stave off hunger because they can not afford food... this broke my heart. So, I went home and checked out For His Glory's website. Shortly after that a picture came to us of a friend holding an abandoned baby in Tunisia. I really felt the Lord prompting me that He was calling us to do something... so, I mentioned to Keith, "I think we are supposed to adopt one or two little girls from Haiti." With this, we set up a meeting with Linda from For His Glory to discuss adoption. I was a little apprehensive - but we really felt like the Lord was leading us to this, so we decided to pursue it despite our fears.

In June we traveled to the orphanage in Haiti and met two precious little girls that we are working to adopt, Aliyah (Ludmia at the orphanage) and Christéla (Baby Hope). Since we've been home we've started our home study, almost completed our dossier (just waiting on two letters at this point... and the home study to be complete), looked into grants and fundraising options, selected an agency (Celebrate Children International), looked into adoption training, and spent a lot of time praying for our girls whom we've given our hearts to but are so far away. Now that we've met them, we long to bring them home!