Feb Update 2012

"This month I have chosen to highlight a few of Berline’s friends.  There are currently 61 children at the Toddler House and five 2 year olds from the main house who visit the Toddler House each morning.  The older kids have enjoyed getting to know these little ones and pouring on the love and affection.  All the kids at the Toddler House are like one big family.  These kids are their brothers, sisters, and friends.  They eat, sleep, play, and go to school together.  It is a joy to spend time at the Toddler House and see all the kids playing and having fun together.  Sure they don’t always get along but it is obvious that they are learning, growing together, and that they love and care for one another very much.

Berline had her friend Judith help her write out who her 3 best friends were and why she likes them.  Judith is 11 years old and is one of the oldest girls at the Toddler House and is a role model for many of the younger children.  Berline told Judith what she wanted to write in Creole and Judith translated and wrote it out in English for Berline.  Attached to this email you will find 3 pages that Judith helped Berline write and then Berline decorated them.  It is fun to see what the kids have to say about their friends in their own words.  I hope you enjoy getting a little insight into Berline’s friends here at GLA."

Berline January 2012 Update

Berline is healthy and growing:


Height: 120 cm


Weight: 50 lb
I can't get over how cute and smiley she is!  I want to kiss that face all over!  They gave us her height this time.  She is 2 inches taller than Bo.  We thought she looked tall, but you can never tell from pictures.  She is taking Creole/French classes in the morning and English classes in the afternoon.  That would be difficult for any 6 year old.  I know I would get confused.  We have bought a few books and CDs to learn a little Creole.  That should help with her transition.  Although I am sure the Creole will have a little Okie twang to it, so it may not help as much as we hope :) 

We are in the Dispensation stage of our paperwork.  That basically means we need permission from the President of Haiti to adopt her, because we don't meet the guidelines (such as no biological children).  Please continue to pray with us as we wait.

Our Adoption Newsletter

We made an adoption newsletter for Berline's adoption.  I am very proud of it.  It was difficult to make it look professional and still personal.  I guess I am over-thinking it, but this is new territory for us.  We have never done a fundraiser for our adoptions, and this is our third.  We sold a few Tshirts for Bo's adoption, but it really wasn't a big project.  We hate asking for money, and so we haven't done it.  But this time it is necessary, hence the letter.  I like the fact that we have so many people that want to know what is going on with our family and how they can pray for us.  That is just as necessary as the money.  So if you didn't receive the letter, pray for us too.  We will need encouragement in this long process.

Meet Berline

We are happy to introduce you to our new daughter in Haiti!  She is turning 6 years old this month.  We are so excited to add her to our family.  A Haitian adoption is a long and unpredictable process, but we know it is worth the wait.  The wait could be a year, we really don't know.  Please pray with us as we wait for our daughter to come home.

Christmas Photos

Kerby

We are close to bringing Kerby to the States!  Who is Kerby you say?  Kerby is a little boy at Hands & Feet Orphanage in Haiti where we have visited several times.  In fact one of our good friends is a short term missionary there right now.  Kerby is deaf.  We aren't sure why, and he needs to be evaluated in the States.  As you know, I love to be pushy and went right to work on getting a doctor and hospital to donate services.  Our own ENT agreed immediately to help.  We just got the hospital to agree yesterday.  So now we wait for his medical visa, but then he will come to stay with us!  I am so excited to be his host family!  I can't even describe the joy it gives me to think of this little boy being able to hear!  When all of his therapy is done here, he will return to Hands & Feet.  Then we will get to see him every year when we visit.  The picture above is Kerby with Jachin when we visited the orphanage last Spring Break.

Update

So it has been way too long since my last post. I find myself posting small things on Facebook and neglecting my blog. I love having documentation of our lives, so I will try to catch up :) I guess the last post was in April! We have done so many things since then:

Kimber's dance recital
Jachin's guitar recital
baseball for Bo and Jachin
Football camp for Bo and Jachin @ OU
Kimber's cooking class
Kimber's art class
a very HOT summer (almost too hot to swim!)
trip to the beach
trip to Disney Land
School Start
Caleb growing and growing!
Andy teaching at OU
Flag Football for Bo and Jachin
Musical Theater class for Kimber
Me getting obsessed with Chalk Paint
Caleb getting kicked out of Mother's Day Out (for being too rough)
Me telling Jachin he can hit a kid (to protect his little brother)
I ran the Warrior Dash
Finished our dossier to adopt from Haiti!

Sooo we have done a lot, and it was a good 5 months.