There Are Beaches in Haiti!

I've never seen them, but Michael got to go to a beach when traveling to get more supplies to work on the wall around the orphanage.  This is a side of Haiti that is rarely seen but the beaches are white and the water is crystal blue!

Michael has been in Haiti a week now and over the weekend we found out that our building materials for our house are going to get out of port today! Praise God!  It is going to cost $6,800 just to get them out of port but once again God has provided.  At first, I thought dang that's a lot of money, but it just so happens that the amount of money God provided through our financial supporters was $6,800.  NOT a coincidence!  So, we are finally beginning to see some progress.  The excavation should also start today. I hope to have pics of the progress on the house soon!! 

Sweet

Sweet pic from the girls sent to me from Michael's ipad.  They call me NayNay because they have a hard time saying Renea.  I think Michael helped them with this pic a little!

This is gonna be hard....

It's only been 3 days! How will we make it without Michael for 6 weeks or more?!! The boys were fine going to school today, but yesterday (the first day back) Gage cried all morning, and actually laid down in the floor at school and cried.  He has NEVER done that before!  I felt so bad for him.  I can only attribute that to the fact that he misses his daddy.  Fortunately,  Michael called and Gage to talk to him before he went to class.  We miss Michael, but I know that God will sustain us.

Michael got the news today that the Director of Agriculture is talking to the port to get our materials out.  That's good to hear and makes us hopeful, but the materials aren't out of port yet!!  :-)  You just never know in Haiti, things work so differently there!

I have to stay on Michael to take pictures.  It's just not his first thought, but as long as he is there and I am here, I'm going to insist that he send pics!  I want to see the progress on the house and of course the girls.  He took some pretty cute ones today.

This pic is funny with Michael peeking over the top...

Jeff-Taline is growing up, she looks different just since I was there in October, her cubby cheeks are gone!!  I sent the dolls for the girls and Michael said he played with the girls and their dolls for about an hour, changing the clothes several times and doing the doll's hair!  He said they took their pig tails down and put braids all over the dolls heads to match theirs!  Good Daddy time!! ;-)

More updates soon.... in the meantime pray that Michael's time in Haiti will not be wasted so that we can join him there!!

Praise God!

Michael landed in Port au Prince and made it safely to the orphanage.  I'm so jealous that he gets to see the girls.  They were happy to see Michael.  I am glad that Michael is there so things can start progressing.  Michael has lots of things planned to do, pray that God will allow a lot to be done quickly so the boys and I can join him.  I am very excited that our dossier for our adoption is done and now actually in Haiti.  Pray that God will go before every step of the process and that His will is done for Lovely and Jeff-Taline.  We also found out that our materials for our house are in port, but there are issues with getting the crates out.  Very typical in Haiti, but the longer they stay in port the more it will cost to get them out.  We were told that the port authority is holding the materials because they believe that the orphanage is just a "front" for Americans who want to make money in Haiti.  I believe God is more powerful than their paranoia and will do good things.  Michael is supposed to meet with the Leader of the Dept. of Agriculture (not sure why he has pull with the ports) but hoping he will write a letter saying that the orphanage is real and we can get the materials out.  There is a lot to do in the meantime, excavate the land, build retaining walls, fix the water system leaks.

Pray for patience while the boys and I are away from Michael!!  We miss him already!

A Rare Photo

I wanted to share this picture of Jeff-Taline.  I came across it on the GVCM website and it is precious to me because it is probably the only picture we will ever have of her as a baby.  I'm guessing she is about 18 months here.  Adoptive parents rarely get to see their child in the different stages of life prior to adoption.  I think she is so stinkin' cute! Look at that big belly!

Restaveks (child slaves) in Haiti

Please read the entire article. This is a very sad reality in Haiti.  Remember, this is a country that is only a two hour flight from Miami. Pray for Haiti
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/buy-child-10-hours/story?id=5326508&page=1

Yikes!!

Just a quick update to let you know that Michael has finally been able to get a flight into Port au Prince for January 2.  We are excited that he will begin to build our house there, but pray for his safety.  Although the riots have calmed down, Haiti can still be dangerous for foreigners. Check this out.   http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_4632.html