Life, Kids, Homeschooling, Adoption

Vacation

2011-06-07T22:42:00.000-05:00

DECEMBER 2010

2010-12-17T15:57:00.000-06:00

I wish I had more time to keep this updated. So much happens with 3 kids, especially when one is 2 (yes, she's 2!) and is learning something everyday.

I had to post because I just got done playing a duet with our 9-year old daughter. She's much better/faster than I am so she has to wait on me and sometimes just start over. She's so patient, but it is so fun to try and play a duet!

Jack is on the floor behind us trying to fix my vacuum. He had the job of vacuuming the living room today, but something got stuck, so he has completely (completely!) taken apart the vacuum head (central vac) and found the culprit. A bobby pin. He's now putting it back together. I love it that he can figure things out like that. He loves to build and figure out problems. I"m already starting to rely on him for some things around the house!

Charline is literally learning something new everyday. We started the 'Holding Time' technique at Thanksgiving and it has done wonders for this household. Even her preschool teacher mentioned how she was able to 'get over' an issue very quickly. YES! Major improvement over the several, many, lots of tantrums we were facing each day. She's a much happier kid and we are a much happier family! She is learning new words everyday, she said 'cow' today! I should really keep a list, it's so cute to hear. She went to our animal program today and go to see a turtle (wouldn't touch it) a snake (touched it, reluctantly), a flying squirrel and a turkey vulture. She also loves to help around the house, whether it's putting the dogs in the kennel while we go somewhere, helping unload the dishwasher or clear the table. She loves to help.

This past weekend I taught the older two how to cross-stitch. They love it. Jack seems to enjoy it more than Taylor, actually. I think it's because he's creating something. They are both excited to finish their project. We have to do it mostly during nap/bedtime so baby doesn't interfere :) They've both taken over the project and now know how to read the picture themselves and count stitches and everything. So, this year they've learned to sew, knit and cross-stitch. I hope we can continue to practice throughout next year!

Anyway, Christmas cards haven't even been started, but I am hoping to get something put together, probably will be after Christmas, possibly after the New Year. It's been hard to get in for pictures!

Thought I'd post a small update anyway.

OCT 2010

2010-10-15T09:07:00.001-05:00

How does life get busier and busier? Oh wait, I know the answer---ME! I over-schedule! In saying that, I really don't have time to write on here, but I need to, to remember better the cute/cool/not-so-cool things that happen with 3 kids.

I am writing because this morning, I came in our bedroom to make the bed and hear "mama? mama?" getting louder and louder. Charline's room is directly below ours, so I can easily hear crying/talking, etc. Jack had already been asking to go get her, so I said he could now. He went down and without being asked, changed a poopie and got her dressed. He's 6. 6. He LOVES taking care of his little sister.

Last Saturday, I ran to the Farmer's Market and while I was gone (Nathan was here, obviously), he had made fried eggs and toast for Taylor, then himself and when Charline got up a while later, he made her eggs and toast also. Did I mention he's 6???

He's also gotten Charline ready for bed the last 2 nights. Again, he changes her diaper and gets her pajamas on her. He will even give her a bath. Of course one of us is always around for all of this, but the fact that he is so willing to help his little sister (without being asked!) is so wonderful.

Not to leave out Taylor, she, too, is a little mother hen. She loves to play with Charline and distract her so she doesn't go into a full blown temper tantrum. She's the farmer, though. Jack would be more of a gardener, she's more of the farmer. She LOVES her chickens and taking care of them and it's strange, but they obviously love her back. They follow her and sometimes, she's the only one that get them to their pen at night!

Anyway LOTS to do today, need to go. Hopefully I'll be better about writing the happenings, because so many neat things go on around here.

He has such a big heart for his sisters, it really makes me want to cry.

2010-06-17T15:53:00.000-05:00

So much to write, so little time. I see I haven't posted for almost 3 months. We've all been adjusting very well. Charline continues to sleep well at night, eat good during the day and is growing like a weed!!

She had her 18mo. check-up at the doctor yesterday and she is actually ON the charts now--pretty close to 'normal' ranges!! She is over 22lb (gained 8lb since coming home) and has grown 3" since coming home also.

I should be better about writing more down in a journal or on the calendar, but it is so hard so I'll have to generalize. She has gotten SEVERAL new teeth in the last few weeks. She has already had her first haircut. She has been to the lake and lakehouse and had a blast. Although...she didn't like the lake water. She went to the beach/ocean 2times with me in Haiti (more times with her nannies) and loved it. She loves bath time and her little pool at home, but had an issue with the lake. :)

She has been to Silver Dollar City (huge amusement park) and LOVED the kiddie rides! We had to ride several times and she just squealed with delight.

We have all camped in the motorhome in Branson and in Springfield (I'll explain later) and figured out how to make that work.

I have taken her to a tea room, just her and me. It was fun! She has chased our chickens and duck. She loves the sandbox, although I need to watch her because she likes to eat the sand :) She still loves to be outside, especially without shoes on. Clothes are optional for her too :)

Not to leave out the older two...

Taylor has had her formal dance recital and it was beautiful! She had to learn her dance as well as another dance because she was asked to be the helper for a younger class. She did fantastic. She also had her formal piano recital. Again, she did fantastic. Her piano teacher has 39 students and she was one of 5 picked for an honor group to play for the 30minutes prior to the recital starting. She is a phenomenal piano player. She especially likes to record her playings on the piano and either sing along to her own accompaniment or choreograph ballet dances to go with her music.

Jack has gone rock climbing a couple of times and loves it. He's definitely our monkey boy, so rock climbing is right up his alley! He also has started tee ball this spring. We've enjoyed going to his games, but he's totally bored. Not enough action :)

6 weeks ago we started a minor remodel. They did some of what they had planned, got stuck on other projects, added new pantry cabinets, added a bigger deck and ended up doing really shoddy work on the inside. (Very long story shortened!!!) Part of the re-do was to completely re-finish the wood floor also. The contractor tried-2 times and he still didn't get it right----which is why we moved out for 10 days to a campground 5 minutes from our house, to let the floors get done. We enjoyed the pool while at the campground at least. We now have to have various other professionals (dry wall, paint, trim, etc) come in and fix all of our contractors mistakes, so after 6 weeks, our house is still a mess. Very stressful.

Anyway, that's been our busy life for the past 3 months in a nutshell. I'll try and post more regularly, but it seems so hard to find the time! By 8pm (when all kids SHOULD be in bed), I'm completely exhausted. Hopefully this summer will slow down at some point, so I can just relax and have some fun.

Bike riding / planting seeds / Charline

2010-03-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a nice day and I decided it was time the kids learned to ride bikes w/o training wheels. I took them off and took off the pedals on Jack's bike (couldn't get them off T's bike) so they could work on balance before actually riding. That lasted 3 minutes, he was anxious to ride! I put the pedals back on and they got the hang of it in about 5 minutes and rode and rode. Thankfully we have quite a bit of pavement for them to practice since we don't live in a neighborhood that would have sidewalks. They now LOVE riding their bikes and Taylor's excited about riding her bike w/o all the noise the training wheels make!

Monday, we planted seeds in some peat pellets to try and grow seedlings for our attempt at a garden. Today, the broccoli has sprouts! The onions and pumpkins are starting to peek through too! I also am trying to get sweet potatoes to sprout by putting them in a glass of water. So with riding bikes, attempting to grow food, our new duck, chick, our tadpole and our many (wild!) birds at our feeders, we're having a lot of fun this spring!!

Charline loves to try on shoes, it is so funny. Whether they are her shoes, or anyone else's!

Today is different that yesterday, weather-wise. Yesterday was sunny, upper 60's or so. Today, it has rained all day, is windy and cold (45 but feels like 37)! The kids are out riding their bikes, with their winter coats/gloves on, though. Charline LOVES to be outside. She tries every chance she gets, so I put on her lined rain coat (she already has on 2 layers under that), her winter hat and gloves and she's out enjoying the cold/windy weather. Actually enjoying it.

This weather is so crazy. 70's to 40's/snow/ice to upper 60's to 40's/rain/wind. Thankfully the kids enjoy just about any weather, especially Charline.

Charline also LOVES bath time. She loves water. She loves water being splashed on her face. She'll be snorkeling before we know it!

She was truly meant to be a part of this family :)

New Vegetarian

2010-03-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

(3-24-10)

Sunday night Jack comes in wondering what 'butcher' means. I asked him where he heard it--making sure it wasn't used inappropriately in a Star Wars/Batman show. He heard it from daddy about butchering animals to eat them. We talked about it, how we get out meat from cows (they are butchered) and chickens/turkeys, how they're killed, then plucked of all of their feathers. At this point, Taylor deems herself a vegetarian. She did this a few months ago and lasted a day, so I didn't think much of it.

Monday, we went out for Mexican. Nate and kids usually split chicken/steak fajitas. Not Taylor! She ordered rice and beans, but finished my tostada (w/beans). Tuesday, we ran through Arby's for lunch. Again I forgot, but she refused to eat the sandwich. I always order the turkey/swiss w/o turkey. She ordered the same, but w/no onions and reg. mustard not spicy mustard. Today we made a new crock-pot soup that called for chicken stock, but I used vegetable stock (she protested the chicken stock), but she's learning how to modify foods to fit a vegetarian lifestyle. She seems pretty determined this time to stick it out, so we'll see. I've ordered a couple of books, however, on raising a vegetarian child, to make sure she is getting what she needs.

Yesterday, we went to the Discovery Center. I tried to get there early (9:30am) to beat the Spring Break crowd to no avail. 2 bus loads kids werer there! We still enjoyed it. There is a room for 5 and under, so we went there first. There was a really neat spot with magnetic gears and info. about them. So neat. Of course, that is what Jack loves! So we learned about gear ratios and how it takes some kind of energy (human, electricity, wind, water, etc) to move the gears. When we got home, he got out his bike and figured out the gear ratio.

They also had a demonstration on sound which was neat because we learned about the hear/sound last year! They really enjoyed that and even participated in making some music with different lengths of pipe. We re-learned all about vibrations/sound.

Jack is also into the human body, and they had a real human skeleton and a real human brain on display. He thought that was pretty neat! We stayed over 2 hours, but had to leave at noon b/c we were already passed Charline's nap time, plus it was lunch-time. We missed two big areas, so we're excited to back sooner than later. I got 'season' passes last year, but didn't use them that much, but I think we'll use them more now. Charline did great, so I'm not worried about her either, except that we have to work around nap/meal times.

I also just ordered Season Passes to Silver Dollar City and White Water for this year, so hopefully we'll use those a lot too. I'm slightly nervous about taking all 3 by myself, but I think it will be fine. Charline loves her stroller, but also like to walk, so that is nice.

Charline is 100% walking now. I was always concerned that it would be harder to keep track of her, but actually it has made things easier. She's more independent which she likes, actually. She's not quite as clingy and is free to explore most of the house. We have a gate at the top of the stairs and she just roams and explores. The only room that's not suited for her is the classroom, so I'll have to re-do that soon. We've moved school into the kitchen for now so she can explore the kitchen (tupperware, plastic plates, oven mitts) instead of getting into the classroom stuff while we're doing school. Plus, the kids' desks are low enough for her to grab their papers and bug the kids. It's working for now to have the kids at the kitchen table.

Anyway, gotta go.

LIFE

2010-03-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

Where to begin??!!

It has been a long time since I've posted and a lot has happened.

Charline has been home 2 months today. She has grown and changed so much in that time, it is still astounding! When she came home she weighed 14lbs, was incredibly weak and could only sit up for about 30 seconds, then she would just fall over. Now, however, she is a normal 15month old, weighs 20lbs, and is full of energy and curiosity! She has been fully walking for about a week now which is beyond fun. She can sign for "more" and "please" which helps and she can say "up" (Uhh) which helps too. She likes to climb and do whatever big bro/sis do!

Taylor is still in her ballet class and taking piano lessons. For ballet, her teacher has asked her to help a younger class with their ballet performance. She is ecstatic. She goes to class 15 min. early now to learn their routine, then attends her class for 1hr 15min. to learn her routine. Her teacher said she would advance to Level 3 next year because she takes it seriously, she works hard and improves every week. We are so proud of her.
She is also excelling at piano. She is truly gifted and likes fast-paced music. So fun to listen to her play! She likes to see how fast she can play something, although I'll hear her teacher correct her often because she's supposed to play at a certain tempo :) She will have a piano recital in June, after her May ballet performance. It's a joy to watch her!!

Jack is still all boy. He loves to wrestle, climb, jump, and just be active. He still enjoys puzzles too! After playing baseball with Uncle Chris the other week, I learned, he's really good! He agreed to sign up for tee ball this spring.

Uncle Chris has been here 2 times since Charline has been home. We sure enjoy having him here. The kids love to play on his iPhone (I just have a boring Blackberry). This last time, he had to get his tire fixed and took both kids with him! They were only gone for 1 hour, but he said they talked him into buying them a candy bar and a pop (I even sent snacks with them!). So funny!

Friday (Mar 19) it was about 70 degrees, sunny and gorgeous. We played outside ALL day. Jack had zoo class from 1-3, so Taylor and Charline and I walked the zoo. It was packed, but still fun. We came home and played outside some more. It was soooo beautiful. It has been so dreary and cloudy that it was nice to enjoy the warmth and sun. Of course, that night it rained and by Sat. afternoon, it turned to sleet and by Sun. morning (today) it accumulated and is rainy/sleety/snowy and windy. Ugh. We are enjoying our time as a family though. Nate and Jack just put together 5 floor puzzles!

Yesterday, Nate took the kids to Orchelins (farm supply store) and bought the kids a duck and a chicken. I rallied for at least 1 chicken to have the potential for raising our own eggs. The kids love their new animals. We've had to set some rules, however, such as they can only get them out when we know about it. The duck is hilarious because it follows Taylor everywhere. She has to stay on the wood floor though (another rule). We don't let them run around the house, they do have a nice, comfy cage with a nice heat lamp, but occassionally, Taylor will let the duck follow her.

Nathan tilled a garden a couple of days ago, so hopefully we will have some type of garden this year. We usually don't have a garden because we are gone so much--at least 4 weeks at a time for vacation, but this year, we're not going anywhere. Wait, I need to clarify....the kids are I are not going anywhere :) Nathan will go photograph Tiger Sharks in April in the Carribean on a live-aboard for a week. Then he'll go to Alaska in July for 2-3 weeks for Salmon Sharks again. Normally, we'd go, but not now. St. Louis Doctor didn't think it was wise to take Charline to Florida in April (to Disney World after Nathan got back) beacause she has been so sick. The doc. didn't want to risk her getting sick and compromising her healing body. Alasksa--who wants to take a 1 year old on a 12 hour trip (that includes 2-3 flights, one of which is 5-6hours)???? Anyhow, we'll stay home for those, but will try and go on a 2-weeker in Sept. somewhere close (when all other kids are in school!!).

Well, my free time is up. Charline is napping, but the fam is hungry. Always busy. I'll try to keep updates more frequently, but it's hard.

I didn't mention school, it's going great. Kids are learning a lot and having fun doing it (most of the time!)

~L

Charline is Home -- Sun 1/31

2010-02-04T07:26:00.000-06:00

Sunday 1/31: We all went to church. I figured that since Charline still doesn't do that much, might as well go to church! Of course, she did great. She just let us hold her the whole time and didn't make a peep--except for her cough. And she didn't have a blow-out at church--yeah! Everyone at church had been keeping up with her situation and been praying for her, so it was nice for them to see her, they all loved it.

We had put together her stroller yesterday, so we brought that along and went to the mall to walk around to see how she likes riding in a stroller.

So far, she hasn't squawked about anything...the cold weather, being bundles up, wearing 3Xs the amount of clothes she's used to, the car-seat, car rides, hats, gloves, carpet, the crib (the dog she had a few issues with, but that's improving).

Anyhow, we arrived the mall way before anything opened (even Starbucks), so we walked and walked. She didn't mind at all! We finally went to eat at a new Mongolian restaurant in the mall, her FIRST time at a restaurant in America! I tried to give her her water out of a sippy cup, but that doesn't work. She likes water straight out of a regular cup or glass. She ate a few of her snacks, then I gave her some noodles all chopped up. She LOVED them! Then she had a blow-out. So after a change of clothes, she finished her lunch and we went to the store Sephora to get her some products that will be good for her hair and skin. It was a great trip.

--Once again, have to go, Charline just woke up--

Charline's Home--Thu 1/28 - Sat.1/30

2010-02-04T06:53:00.000-06:00

Thu 1/28: We ventured out today to Taylor's Ballet class. Charline did great. She is still pretty inactive, so to take her anywhere is easy. As long as I'm holding her, she's perfectly content!

The kids absolutely LOVE Charline. They try and try to play with her. Taylor loves to pick her up and hold her. She will also play the piano for her and the first couple of days, it would put Ch. right to sleep on the living room floor. It was so precious. Jack loves to play with her and try to get her to interact. Their game is...Charline drops it (any object) and Jack picks it up. She loves that game with her big brother!

Today, she seems a little more alert, more curious. She also smiled a little today--at the kids!

After Ballet, I went to a children's 2nd hand store and got a 'sling' and a wipes warmer. She cries and cries b/c the wipes are so cold (she doesn't cry anymore--money well spent!) She also likes her new sling. It keeps her nice and snuggled in to me, so I can have 2 arms free! Works great for school-time too!

When Nathan comes home, the new trend is after supper, we get Charline ready for bed and Nathan holds her. He lays in the easy chair and she rests on him. She usually falls asleep like this. Nathan loves holding his new daughter and Ch. loves being snuggled in with her Daddy!

Fri 1/29

Charline tends to wake up about 1x/night hungry, so I get up and feed her and she usually goes right back to sleep. This morning, she was super tired, so by 9am, Jack is so anxious for her to get up, he HAS to check on her. Well, that woke her up. It was just so cute he was so ready for her to be up for the day. The kids absolutely love her!!!

Today, it snowed 6-8 inches, so we stayed in all day!!

Sat. 1/30

Our little newspaper (The Republic Monitor) gal came out to do an update on our situation now that Charline is home. She even took a couple of pictures, so we have our first family photo!! Charline even let her hold her. It was neat!

Nathan took Taylor and Jack to see the movie "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs" then out to Steak and Shake for supper. They had a great time and said the movie was hilarious!

Charline continues to have stomach "issues" and I can't get it figured out. I've tried bananas, rice, applesauce and nothing seems to "bind". We'll keep trying.

--I'll write more later, time to get the fam up and going--

Charline's Home--Sun 1/24 - Wed 1/27

2010-02-04T06:33:00.001-06:00

Sun. 1/24: Aaron, Charity, Elijah, Ayden and Evan came with us to the airport to greet Nathan and Charline. A couple of couples came up wondering if she was from Haiti, they were so happy for us. We hadn't told any reporters she was coming home, we wanted a simple, family reunion. I was so glad Aaron's were there with us, it was such a sweet time!

That night the kids all wanted to sleep in our bed with Charline and I (Nathan needed sleep bad, so he slept elsewhere). Taylor, Charline and I all slept together, Jack was too wound up to lay down, so he slept downstairs with Daddy. Charline awoke in the night b/c of a major blow-out. The first of SEVERAL. I had to change all of my bedding and throw in in the washer on the sanitary cycle. Taylor was up with me the whole time--she was so excited to have her sister home.

Mon. 1/25: Nathan stayed home from work still trying to catch up on sleep.

(Fri. we don't get the call til late, I'm at Wal-Mart about midnight getting diapers, etc. to send with Nate, so he only gets about 3 hours sleep. Sat. He's at the airport by 4:30am, in FL before Noon and waits all day, gets a call at 9pm that he and the other families are to drive 3 hours to get the kids, he returns to the hotel about 5am on Sunday. Naps a couple of hours, then flies all day home...very little sleep in about 48 hours).

Charline didn't do much but rest/sleep and eat a little. The kids tried to play with her, but she just didn't have the energy to do anything but lay there and have major blow outs!!

One fun surprise today was a bouquet of flowers! My friend from Alaska was so nice and sent over flowers and they are so beautiful and fragrant!!

Aaron stopped by to get a picture quick and Nathan tried to hand her over and she screamed. Not sure what she was thinking--being handed off AGAIN, but she wasn't having any of it!

Tue 1/26: Jack went to work with Nathan while I took the girls (girls...isn't that great!!!) to the doctor for Ch's first check-up.

Weight: 14.14 lb (normal for 13mo.old is 20-21 lb)

Height: 28.5" (I measured her in Haiti in June and she was 26")

She tested negative for TB and her Iron levels were much better (in the normal range) than when she was tested in Haiti! Yeah!

Even though she has a terrible cough (has had it since June at least), her lungs are clear.

Her ears are good, but she has had an infection that cleared on it's own (we'll monitor that)

After 2.5 hours, we grabbed some Arby's and came home. 30 minutes later, the dishwasher installer showed up, yeah! Taylor loves helping with Ch.! She gave her some of her curly fries and roast beef and Ch. loved it!! She was shoveling it in (she needs calories, right??) when Nathan called saying Jack was throwing up everywhere. We loaded up and went and got Jack. Poor guy was having a terrible time with this issue! We went inside for just a minute and Ch. let Marla hold her!! I was surprised, but it was so great! We only stayed a couple of minutes, then headed home...Jack stayed downstairs and watched cartoons b/c I didn't want Ch. or the rest of us getting whatever she had. If Ch. lost any more weight, she'd have to go in the hospital.

Jack dry heaved the rest of the day, but was able to keep down 1 tsp. at a time of Gatorade later that night. Yeah!

Wed. 1/27: Jack woke with a 100.2 fever, but remained fever-free the rest of the day and no more vomitting or dry heaving! He felt hungry, but i stuck to the BRAT diet quite strictly. It worked. He got better and nobody else got what he had!

Charline continues at this point to be pretty lethargic. She eats sometimes, not always. Likes a bottle sometimes, not always. And no matter what she eats, it all comes back out.... I am so worried she's not going to gain weight. Sometimes all the formula comes back out in formula form, what do I do??

CRIBShe likes her crib and after the first couple of nights, she is sleeping in her crib now. For a little while, she would start off in her crib, but wake up at night and wouldn't go back to sleep unless she was sleeping in our bed, usually on top of me....so she can hear the heartbeat? It puts her to sleep everytime.

NAPS: She tends to take 2 naps/day, which is nice. I am able to get some school done and keep up with the laundry, although that's a daunting task because I've never had to wash so many sheets/clothes, plus wash them on the sanitary cycle which takes 2 hours each load!

Charline's Name

2010-02-04T06:28:00.000-06:00

We have been spelling Charline's name "Charlene" for this entire time. I believe it's because when we got the referral from our U.S. agency, that is how it was spelled. However, in going through this process during the last month, we have realized that all of her official/adoption documents have it spelled Charline.

When we visited the doctor 2 days after she was home, they said it needed to be spelled the same as all of her official documents. I'm assuming it will have to be that way for Insurance and many other documents we'll have to fill out in the future, so we are now spelling it Charline, as it was originally spelled in Haiti to make everything so much simpler and to make sure no paperwork gets thrown out because of a typo.

I know the Haitian government will throw out/have you re-do paperwork for a simple typo, and I know we're not dealing with the Haitian government anymore, I don't want to take any chances with our government!

CHARLINE IS HOME

2010-02-04T06:21:00.001-06:00

Charline has been home about 10 days now. I should've been reporting each day, but a) she needs held constantly, so it's hard to get computer time and it's hard to type so much with just one hand. And b) she wasn't doing anything for so many days. She was completely lethargic, wouldn't even lift her head off of my shoulder. Would barely eat, could only sit up for a few seconds, maybe a minute, then fall over. She had been so dehydrates and malnourished, she just didn't have the strength to do anything but sleep and poop, and cry when she wasn't being held.

We were terribly worried, but knowing a few things and knowing what she had been through especially the last 10 days before coming home, we knew she needed time to adjust to her surroundings and her body needed time to adjust to a new environment, new water, new food, etc.

She came home on Sunday 1/24. I called Nathan while he was in Florida, because I was looking at the calendar of when we found out about her.

March 22, 2009 we got an informal referral (meaning someone at the orphanage was so excited to tell us there was a baby girl for us)

March 23, 2009: Our agency gave us the formal referral for Charline.

EXACTLY10 months later...

Jan.22: We get a call from the State Dept. informing us Charline has the clearance to leave Haiti and come home.

Jan. 23, 2010: Nathan is reunited with our daughter forever.

God is good.

SUN. 1/24: CHARLENE is almost home!

2010-01-24T06:42:00.000-06:00

FRI. 1/22 started off as any other day. I took the kids to lunch, then Jack to zoo class and while he was at zoo class, Taylor and I participated in a Field Trip to "Kids Against Hunger" to donate items and learn how this organization is feeding the hungry in Haiti, Mexico and Africa.

We came home and decided to go out to eat for supper. Nathan and I made a pact not to check email until 7pm. We were told we'd get an email from Barbara if Charlene had gotten a Visa, so I put my phone on vibrate, then he stuck both phones in his inside coat pocket.

Well, we never heard my phone, heard Nate's phone, but didn't answer in time b/c it was hard to get to. I checked the phone # via White pages and it was from Westchester, D.C. I thought that was strange, but they didn't leave a message and I said if it was important they'd leave a msg.

We ate and got back in the van. This time we were going to have the phones ready. Well, my phone was ready, but it was Nate's that rang. Again, we missed the call, again from D.C. We had also missed a call from SecureNet about the alarm at the shop (not an uncommon call), so I wasn't too worried. However, we had missed 2 or 3 calls at home as well and this is the message we had on our home phone..

"This is (___) from The Department of State Adoption Task Force regarding Charlene. Please give us a call back." WHOA. Maybe that call was important :)

We finally got a hold of them and they said Charlene had been issued a Humanitarian Parole, they would call us back when they had the manifest stating which plane she'd be on. WHOA.

At this point, Nathan is calling Barbara wondering what is going on.

While we were waiting for the State Dept. to call back, I ran to Wal-Mart to send money to a friend who lives ini PAP and has helped with our adoption, but who is currently in the Dominican Republic buying supplies, then driving them back to PaP to help people who don't have food. I get a frantic call from Nathan telling me I need to come home NOW.

We learn that Charlene will be on a plane to Florida the next day (Sat. 1/23) and Nathan needs to get to Orlando ASAP. So, I got him a ticket for Sat. at 5:50am, he was in Orlando by 11:30am Saturday morning...(about 12 hours after word from the State Dept.)

He patiently waited at his hotel all day. We were told this is what would happen:

Barbara and the kids in their private plane would fly to West Palm Beach, FL.

They would clear customs there, get back on the plane and fly 1 hour North to Melbourne, FL (that's where the pilot's hangar is).

Then they would get in a Limo (another nice man wanted these orphans to arrive in style and donated his limo!) and drive to Orlando and meet Nathan and the other waiting families at the hotel.

That's not what happened. Nathan gets a call about 8:45pm (FL time) saying the kids are stuck in Customs and the families need to West Palm Beach NOW. So, I rented them a 15 passenger van (that's a God thing...do most car rental places have that on hand??) and they all drove 3 hours to West Palm Beach. Customs usually closes at 10pm, but the Customs officials stayed there until 1am to process these kids--Awesome. If they hadn't been able to get there, Charlene and the others would've been placed in custody of someone overnight-ugh. Another God-thing!!

Nathan called at 11:50pm (12:50am FL time) to say Charlene had cleared customs and she was in her Daddy's arms! Praise God! They were still waiting on 2 other families to clear customs, then they were going to drive the 3 hours back to Orlando. He said Charlene fussed about the carseat, but quieted down when the van started moving!

Apparently there were 2 couples and 3 dads and if I or anyone else had gone, there wouldn't have been enough room in the van. A God-thing!

Nathan called a few times throughout the night reporting on Charlene. It was absolute music to my ears. He says she's taking it all in. They rode a glass elevator to the 6th floor to their room and she just looked and looked.

Can you imagine for a moment? She just left her devastated homeland with sights/sounds/smells that are probably unimaginable to us, then a few hour later, she's in America, in a 5star hotel with completely different sights/sounds/smells/air temperature.

They will fly into Springfield tonight (Sun 1/24) and I can't wait to see them (less than 48 hours after "the" phone call!). I have a full day planned (Church, Shopping--I still don't have anything for Charlene- and Groceries) so maybe the day will go fast before we have to go to the airport. I'm so excited to have her here finally and be a complete family.

For us, the wait is over. For many others, many of our friends, it's not. Please pray for them, that their kids get out quickly and that their kids remain healthy through all of this!

Thank you Barbara for working so darn hard to get these kids their needed paperwork! And thank you to the U.S. Government and all of the Senators who pushed hard to make this happen! And thank you, God, for being a rock and letting something good come out of this devastating tragedy!

BLOGS I've read to keep up-to-date on Charlene's orphanage:

www.dieunika.blogspot.com (he's awesome and his updates are awesome)

www.reachouttohaiti.com (Barb's site. Daily updates on the left)

www.laceyinhaiti.blogspot.com (1 of 2 American nannies at the orphanage. Her Dad is currently visiting there and her Mom will post if she hears from Lacey)

Prayers have been answered and in God's perfect timing and perfect way.

Overview of the past week

2010-01-24T06:24:00.000-06:00

This past week was spent waiting, basically. The Senator's office has been so good about calling with any updates the State Department has come up with!

The Senator's office did call on Monday? saying that the State Dept. is going to issue "Humanitarian Parole" to the orphans to get them to the States. She then said they needed to gather them up at a 'safe place' in PAP, issue the parole, put them on a plane to NY. I am ecstatic the gov't is working so hard and so fast to get our babies home, but that plan made me nervous. I kept praying that Barb would get her a Visa and escort Charlene to the US via her private plane. Now...Barbara does not have a private plane, a businessman from Florida is graciously donating his plane and fuel to be able to bring supplies to Haiti and our babies home. Unbelievable!!

We went to a prayer meeting Wed. night to pray specifically for Haiti. Those wonderful people prayed for Haiti, the Haitians and even specifically for Charlene and our family. It was amazing.

I should've been journaling each day, but as I look back, it seems all I did was wait. Wait for the email saying Charlene was coming home. Wait for a phone call for any possible updates.

This is by far the hardest thing I've ever gone through, but I think that and I instantly think of Charlene's situation.

She has survived a deadly earthquake that has killed her neighbors hundreds of thousands of people. She is unprotected from looters, etc. She is sleeping and eating outside on the gravel/dirt with 70 other people crammed in a tiny area. Does she have enough food?? Does she have clean drinking water?? Does she have formula so her body has proper nutrients?? Is she able to have clean diapers when needed??

She is 13mo. old and has endured more in the lat 11 days than most of us will ever endure in our entire lives.

I thank God for sparing her life. I thank God for the caregivers He has placed at the orphanage to care for her and the other precious babies/kids. I thank God for Barbara who will stop at nothing to legally get these kids to safety (USA). I thank God for the Senators and US government who have worked tirelessly to bring these beautiful Haitian children home quickly.

I thank God for everyone who has prayed for Haiti, prayed for the people there, prayed for our family, our situation and especially for Charlene. I thank God for everyone who has donated, either to Haiti relief or directly to Charlene's orphanage. Every penny counts and is much needed.

I will never be able to thank everyone for their prayers, donations and support, but know I am beyond grateful for it all!

I will post more later.

Update

2010-01-16T06:38:00.000-06:00

It's Saturday, I will report what happened on Fri 1/15.

We were on the phone/email and Facebook all day. I contacted Congressman Roy Blunt's office and I thought she said there was nothing they could do since we were already in contact with Senator Kit Bond's office, but I was mistaken. She (Sue Ellen) called later in the day to report that they were working together to "get around the red tape". They had sent all of our information to the Consulate and to their congressional liason in D.C. Liz from Senator Bond's office called later to report that she was talking with someone (a real person) from the State Dept., but also told us that we need to wait. My Mom has also been doing the same thing we have, only with her government officials in Iowa. She's written letter after letter, made phone calls and I think she's at where we're at. Wait to hear from the State Dept.....

The State Dept. works during the day and has their meetings at night about what to do and what to do with these children. Sen. Bond's office said we may get a phone call Sat. morning about what was determined/talked about at the meeting last night. Even though it's a 3-day weekend for most gov't offices, the State Dept. is working around the clock and Sue Ellen (Congr. Blunt's ofc) and Liz (Sen. Bond's ofc) will have their cell phones on in case they hear from the State Dept. and will contact us immediately.

Facebook has been a God-send. It is has allowed all of us adoptive families stay in contact. I have gotten to know the other families that are adopting from the village where Charlene is before this, so it's been great to stay in contact with each other and keep each other posted on whatever we find out.

I called Charlene's orphanage Fri. afternoon and talked to a really nice man. He and a friend flew down on a private plane. He told me of all of the repairs he has been able to do. He said batteries were thrown about in the earthquake, so he got them back to working again, so they have some power. They were able to have a good meal Thu. evening and share with others outside the Village. That's the thing about Barbara, she will ALWAYS share with others in need, even if SHE's in need. The babies are still staying/sleeping outside because they continue to have tremors which make it terribly unsafe to be in the concrete buildings that now have cracks and are unstable. I was so thankful that he was there repairing what he could! He didn't have any info. on the babies, as he's not concentrating on them. He said they plan to fly out Sat. morning to take 2 or 3 kids to FL for medical treatment.

Nathan talked to Barbara last night and she gave us a supply list a little different from the list Lori gave me the other day, so that is helpful. She really didn't say anything new, all kids seem to still be okay, but they have to get them out. We (all adoptive families) have to be diligent in getting our government to issue these visas to these kids that have already been adopted in Haiti. I have (adoptive) friends who have done interviews with their TV stations, NPR, newspapers to get the word out, hopefully all of this media attention about these children will help the gov't find a way to bring our babies home.

Saying that...Charlene is legally our daughter. Haiti approved/finalized the adoption by the time we visited Charlene last Oct. It was just a matter of 'legalizing' the documents, then getting her a passport and visa, so THANK GOD she was that far along in the process!!!

Nathan and my Dad have plane tickets for the first flight to Haiti on the 21st. I am to contact American Airlines each day to make sure they haven't cancelled the 21st flight. I am absolutely terrified of Dad and Nate going down, but I also will feel better with them there with Charlene. They will be able to help at the Village for a few days before returning home hopefully with Charlene!

I don't really know what else to 'report'. I can say that the outpouring of prayers, love, support, help from SO MANY people blows me away. There is no possible way to thank everyone enough for all of this awesome support.

I will keep posting as I know more.

Latest from State Dept.

2010-01-15T05:50:00.000-06:00

I was told to pass this along...in case any adoptive families are reading this, but not on FB.

U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti are requested to contact the Department of State at AskCI@state.gov for information about their adoption case. In your inquiry, please include: full name and contact information of parents, full name(s) of child(ren), date(s) of birth of child(ren) [if known], and the name and contact information of orphanage. Your constituents can find additional information about adoptions in Haiti at http://adoption.state.gov/news/Haiti.html#.

We are trying desperately to get Charlene home on an emergency Visa. Nathan is scheduled to fly down Jan. 21st (leave 20th, arrive 21st). He will take 5 bags of supplies and hopefully, prayerfully be able to bring Charlene home with him.

Mom and Dad and Nathan and I will be working all day today to get a Congressman or Senator can get us an appointment at the US Consulate in Haiti so Charlene can get a Visa and get out. That is her only hope.

We actually talked to Barbara last night and she couldn't stress enough what a dangerous situation the kids are in at the Village. They continue to have aftershocks which continue to leave even more cracks in the concrete buildings that are somehow still standing. The could collapse at any time. Plus, disease/illness will start to set in. To be honest, lives will be lost if these babies don't get out.

Please pray, I can't stress that enough. The State Dept. seems to be on the side of getting these kids out, I just pray we can get Charlene out now...next week.

more news

2010-01-14T13:10:00.000-06:00

Our paperwork is currently in MOI (Ministry of Interior). After MOI, it moves to the Immigration office so Charlene can get a passport. After the passport, the paperwork moves to the Visa building where she would be issued a Visa to be able to come home.

I just learned that the MOI and Immigration buildings have collapsed. Our fears have been confirmed that our paperwork is most likely lost/buried in rubble. (The Visa bldg is ok, I believe)

I know Barbara is an excellent keeper of paperwork, so I pray that all papers can be re-created and continue on in the process.

There is only one operational gas station in PAP at this time and all grocery stores have doubled the price of their food. This is going to make for some very dangerous situations as people are desperate.

Please continue to pray for Haiti and for Charlene and for her Village and nannies.

Donations for Charlene's Village

2010-01-14T12:34:00.000-06:00

I'm re-posting this. I just talked to Lori and she made it clear that any money she receives goes into the bank that same day and Barbara will have instant access in Haiti. Lori makes copies of all checks received and keeps all receipts from the bank and gives them to Barbara when they meet.

If you would like to help, please send your checks to:

Lori Shepler

11188 Giddings Place

Noblesville, IN 46060

I have also learned that the grocery stores have doubled the price of their groceries, because they can, so Barbara really needs all the financial help she can get.

Thank you in advance for helping our daughter's orphanage be able to get through this terrible tragedy!

2010-01-14T07:18:00.001-06:00

PROCESS:
Minister of Foreign Affairs (2-8wks) DONE
Preparation of file for IBESR (2-8wks) DONE
IBESR (3-12MO) ENTERED JUNE 2009 (wile I was in Haiti!) EXITED 9/29/09
Civil Court (4-8wks) -- OCT. '09 -
Legalization (4-12wks) -- DEC. 09
Minister of Interior (3-6MO) ENTERED DEC 21, '09
JAN. 12, 2009: EARTHQUAKE

Immigration/Passport printing (2-8wks)
USCIS (3wks+)
Visa Process (1-2wks)

= 10.5mo – 29mo TOTAL

Pictures of Charlene's Orphanage after the Earthquake

2010-01-14T06:28:00.000-06:00

This is where Charlene lives

This is Charlene's kitchen

One of the bedrooms--minus the wall

The new playground that a mission group put together--minus the protective wall

More playground equipment. Taylor played on these. Notice the protective wall COMPLETELY gone

The kitchen

This WAS a building, I'm assuming the food depot.

Sleeping outside...

During this terrible tragedy, what can I be thankful for?

1. God is in control--even when I don't like it or understand it-AT ALL

2. The many, many, many prayers/support from family and friends and people I don't even know.

3. Charlene is alive!!!

4. All babies/nannies are alive

5. There are 2 nurses visiting the Village during all of this

6. The Village was damaged, but not demolished.

7. If anyone is going to get anything accomplished, it's BARBARA!

8. I've had contact through Facebook to keep fairly up-to-date on information

Please continue to pray...this is just beginning. The orphanage will run out of food very soon, they need that wall rebuilt for protection, they need diesel for their generator and our babies need to COME HOME. Please pray for safety, peace and wisdom for all involved.

Thank you!

Donations for Charlene's Village

2010-01-14T06:19:00.000-06:00

If you would like to help Charlene's Village, here is some information that was posted on FB.

From Lori: just heard the needs for barbara are: food depot collapsed in the night, so they've no food, no diesel fuel, their surrounding wall [for protection] has completely collapsed, masonry work's needed, etc. - please read comments [below] for how we can all help..

Lori Goen-Shepler mailing $ to me so i can deposit it into barbara's bank account, so she can draw from it in haiti - mail to:

lori shepler

11188 giddings place

noblesville, IN 46060...

Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

Please continue to pray.

Haiti

2010-01-14T05:41:00.000-06:00

Barbara: she started this orphanage several years ago and still runs it. She always wears a blue dress.

"Village": The name of Charlene's orphanage is Ruuska Village, so sometimes I refer to it as the village, sometimes orphanage

"Creche": Another orphanage down the road from the Village. Mostly for toddlers.

LaWanna: She is not mentioned in these articles, but she is Charlene's nanny. She is from Indiana and has taken wonderful care of our daughter.

Lacey: A nanny who started taking care of babies a few months ago ago at the village. She is mentioned in the 2nd article.

It's 6am and I haven't heard anything. A FB friend said she was going to call Barbara last night at 5pm and post any news. That didn't happen. I'm sure communications is near impossible. We'll continue to wait for more news.

Kelli Hewitt (Lacey's Mom) posted an email from Lacey (written 1/13)..

Uffff, It is crazy here today. We didn't get any sleep last night. Now we are sending emails... the babies are still outside. Upstairs is too big of a mess but we really need to get it cleaned.. all our diesel cans were stolen.. Barbara says the LOOTING has started. Everyone's homes have collapsed, we don't have enough shelter here either. The nurses, Carol and Mandy, are busy putting stitches in kids' faces, doctoring head injuries, and burns...etc.

Please continue to pray.....

Love, Lacey

A friend posted these news articles she found. They mention our daughter's orphanage. The first one is about a nurse visiting her orphanage, who Lacey mentions in her above email.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9334202

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100114/NEWS01/1140310

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Town-residents-watch-and-wait-for-Haiti-news-320572.php

There are still lots of adoptive families that don't know if their kids are alive or not and there are adoptive families that have learned the horrible truth that their kids did not survive this earthquake. I am so thankful that Charlene and all babies/nannies were unhurt in this tragedy! I ask for continued prayers for the families who aren't so fortunate.

I'll post more as I know more.

Haiti Earthquake 1-12-10

2010-01-13T11:15:00.000-06:00

a 7.0 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince yesterday (1/12) about 5pm. Via facebook (the only form of communication it seems) we learned that all kids/nannies at the village were okay.

1/13: Today, we've learned that all kids still seem to be okay, HOWEVER, the food depot (the building that stored all food) collapsed during the night. Also, the wall that protects the village has also collapsed. They have no food, and no diesel (for the generator). Without diesel, they may not be able to run the water filtration system. Without the wall, the women and children there are extremely vulerable.

The news reporterss say over 30 "aftershocks" have happened since the 7.0. I have a FB friend in Haiti now visiting her son and she said they had aftershocks all night with 2 'big ones' at midnight and 3am.

We are thankful that, as far as we know, Charlene and all kids/nannies are okay. We are concerened about their safety, about the food shortage and clean water. Another concern is that everyone remains healthy though this, as all hospitals have either collapsed or have significan damage.

Another concern is our paperwork. We were in the last stage before our paperwork was to be looked over by the U.S. gov't for Charlene's visa and passport. I don't know what will happen now, but will update if I know anything.

I am asking for prayers for safety for Charlene and all babies/nannies at the village. That they have enough food and clean water and that they all remain healthy. Also, for our paperwork to somehow continue on in this process. I also ask for prayers for Charlene's Mom. We knew her whereabouts before this, but I don't know now. I pray that she is okay.

I'll post updates as I know of them.

~L

Haiti 10/23

2009-10-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

Our morning started like all other mornings. I awoke before everyone else. I grabbed the computer and sat at the restaurant to write on the blog. A few minutes later the waiter politely said our coffee was ready (I hadn't even asked for any). So I sat at the table and had a cup of coffee, it's delicious coffee!

Nathan and the girls joined me a few minutes later and we all ate breakfast together. T and I had omelets with no cheese and no ham. Nathan had one more round of french toast! We then took our showers before the power turned off and took a walk down by the beach. We went to an area we hadn't been to before, not sandy, but overlooking the ocean. Of course the haitian vendors flocked to us, most of whom had sold to us for the last 2 days, a couple of new ones too. We are completely out of small change, so that helped a little. Nathan talked to a couple of guys inquiring about shark diving. The younger one said Haitians are terribly afraid of sharks, so he wasn't sure if N8 could find anyone to take him to purposely find sharks. Nate had a good chat with them.

After awhile, we all headed to the room. I got real sick, so N8 took the girls for awhile. he fed Charlene who then fell asleep, so we stayed in the room together resting (I was awake!) while N8 and T ate lunch. After a couple of hours and some medicine, I was feeling a little better and good thing because Vera was on her way to pick us up! I had to be able to make it an hour w/o getting sick again...and I did! I did a lot of praying!

It was a cloudy and eventually rainy day, but not bad weather. Very nice and soothing actually. We were still the only patrons of the resort at that time, but there were about 5-6 visotors when we left. n8 and T checked out the upstairs rooms and he said they are 100xs better than the room we had...wish we would've known that sooner! Ours was okay, but soooo dark. He said the upstairs rooms are bright with white tile and high ceilings.

We left the resort and drove back to Port-au-Prince. We were going to stay at Zack's house, but had a change of plans last minute, so Vera made us reservations at a hotel in the middle of PAP, but then the Visa Lodge finally called her back saying they had a room, so here we are. It's nice. The room is nice. It has a nice a/c, tv, kleenex(!), high ceilings with a ceiling fan. Charlene was instantly in a better mood in that room. We noticed that right away. She hasn't been very happy the last 3 days or so. I was even looking through my pictures and she doesn't have that natural smile like she did at the first hotel. We know it's partly due to teeth coming in, but we think it's because the room is brighter. Lesson learned.

Charlene has been very crabby and has cried A LOT. She wasn't like this last time, but she didn't have teeth last time wither. Her bottom 2 teeth have really come through a lot the last 2-3 days. I've given her Tylenol a couple of times, I know she's hurting. It was fun to see her smiling and happy again this afternoon in this hotel room. We even had a little game going where she'd crawl up the the pillows, plop down at which point I would grab her feet and drag her to the bottom of the bed and tickle her. She'd crawl up again...etc. We did this over and over. It was so fun. She hasn't been that playful since we left the first hotel in PAP.

Vera had to drop off her truck to get fixed, but came back with her friend Margorie (Zack's sister). Margorie fed Charlene and held her. She just loves Charlene. Margorie seems like such a nice gal, wish I could get to know her better. When we met her the first night, she called Charlene "Charleena". I love it. Taylor has started calling her Charlena , too, it's so cute. I asked if that was how it was to be pronounced, but it's not, that's just what she calls her. I asked her if that was a common name in Haiti and she said it was.

Well, the pizza showed up, but Nate and the girls disappeared. N8 wanted to take Charlene back to the room to 'run around', but of course, the pizza showed up 2 minutes later. I may have to dig in, although i hope and pray I don't get sick. If I do, i'll only have to go about 24 hours w/o eating before I'm in the comfort of my own home. No fun being sick away from home :(

~L

Haiti Thu 10/22

2009-10-23T07:02:00.001-05:00

This is our last full day at the beach. We decided to not go snorkeling, but just hang out. I'm at the restaurant with the computer while everyone else is sleeping (6:30am). The rooster crows like clockwork about 6am. Then I walk outside and hear the workers sweeping.

Charlene slept all night. She did start coughing about 1am. I even moved her up to the propped up end of her crib, but it didn't help. Finally her coughing woke her up, she cried and stood up. I was right by her crib again, so I rubbed her back and spoke and she calmed down. She stood as long as she could, even briefly falling asleep :) She eventually layed back down and slept (w/o coughing) the rest of the night.

We all ate breakfast: Taylor had an omelet with ham and cheese, I ordered an omelet w/o the ham, but got it w/o the cheese too :) and Nathan had french toast. He normally really doesn't like french toasat, but he loves how the haitians make it. It is crispy and so delicious. They also gave us a platter of bread, peanut butter, jelly, coffee, real creamer, and fresh orange juice.

We then got readyf ro the beach. T. got in the water right away, swimming and playing. N8 went out to the floating dock and saw jellyfish! I just held Charlene. The sound of the waves puts her in a trance almost. I even waded out in the water where she was wet, too and she fell asleep. this happens every time, so soothing for her. N8 came back and took Charlene then I swam out to the dock. I layed out in the fabulous sunshine for a while, dipped my hand to splash water on me...it felt so good. Did it again and my hand hit the top of a jellyfish. I sat up, looked around and saw a few. I was able to pet them some more, such a wierd feeling. I tried to get T. to swim out. She started, but then spotted one and turned around and swam back to the beach. There were only about 5, so it would've been easy to navigate. I swam back to shore and Nathan took T. out to the dock b/c you can stand on it and see them good. She is the only one with goggles, so she had to tell N8 where to swim to avoid them. They did great, stayed out there awhile, then swam back to shore, b/c the snorkel guy had brought us snorkel gear for us to borrow for the day. So, N8 and T put their gear on and went back out. I was having fun holding a sleepy Charlene. She loves being held and listening to the ocean. Normally she is scrambling to get down and move around, but not at the beach. Nate then went over by the stone wall and saw some really neat fish. He said there was more fish there than at the reef. He even saw a Lion fish! I've only seen those in aquariums. Taylor was over with him and long story short..she all of a sudden starts panicking and swimming for shore. I knew she had been stung. nathan swam to her and Isaac (a Hatian vendor we had befriended) ran to her also. He said she needed lemon. I went to the restaurant, they didn't have any. He then went somewhere and came back with a lime (his English isn't perfect...it was a lime we needed). He and Nathan rubbed lime all over her, but she got stung on her bottom and her back. She was crying and screaming. Isaac said to wait 3 minutes, then give her a shower, so nate ran her back to the hotel, gave her some Zyrtec and a shower. How we had running water in the middle of the day, I don't know.

While this was happening, the guy had some buy with our lunch. Nathan told him to come by at noon. he did with fresh, fried chonch, fried plantains and about 4 coconuts (for the cocunt juice). I also had 'ordered' 3 coconuts and that guy had come by too. So I stayed at the beach with Charlene, all our food and all the good we had purchased and Isaac. We are still the only patrons. I drank one coconut and part of another b/c they leak and I didn't want to waste any. I sat down with Charlene and Isaac had started eating his lunch...a fresh avacado and some bread. He gave us a large slice of avacado and some bread. Charlene ate it all. the avacados here are much different than the ones in the stores at home.

Nate came back and helped carry our stuff back to the room. We ate the lunch there. He loved it. I didn't like it, but I don't like seafood like that...lobster, etc. It was spicy, but good. I ate the plantains, and so did T. She loved those and the coconut juice. Coconuts are really heavy!! I poured out all the juice into a cup for her.

Nate said her bottom and back had swollen, but by the time I got to the room, she was calm and the swelling had gone down and it just looked like about 300 bee stings. She watched her science videos to get her mind off of it. After awhile, T and I walked around (it was naptime for Ch.) and we noticed the pool was looking much better, I could actually see the bottom! So, T put on some shorts and a tee and we went to the pool. After Ch's nap, she and N8 came too. I kept Ch. on the chair with me and she snacked on ritz crackers and N8 and T played in the pool Taylor wanted to pretend they were sea mammals. She chose to be a Green (sea) turtle (as opposed to a loggerhead turtle--and she had her reasons. She listed several differences thanks to her science videos). When I was in the pool, I chose to be a blue whale, N8 chose to be an Orca. They had fun. The clouds rolled in prob. around 3:30 or so. We finally left around ?5pm and got cleaned up and went to supper.

N8 and I ordered grilled fish and T. ordered spaghetti noodles. Charlene threw 2 fits during this meal. N8 walked her around once and I took her to the room to calm down once. Finally, I just took her to the room to go to bed. She gets real tired about 7pm. She did fall asleep no problem.

Charlene likes to throw temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way...about anything.

She slept good though.

Haiti Tue10/20 & Wed 10/21

2009-10-22T07:05:00.000-05:00

...Tue 10/20
When we arrived at Wahoo, we weren't too sure about staying here. The room was less than ideal and we were the only ones here. I hadn't seen one other woman and it made me nervous. We agreed to stay only because they'd gone to a lot of trouble to bring us here, plus Vera offered to come pick us up if needed. Nathan and I grumbled about our situation for awhile, then decided to spend the night (had no choice, Vera never would've driven out here at night) and see how things went the next day. We barracaded the front door and the sliding glass door to feel more secure. While we were grumbling, the front desk guy knocked on the door and brought us our change from paying for the room...ok, maybe they weren't so bad after all. So, we went to the bar area and enjoyed the fresh air. We ordered a fruit punch which was made from real, fresh fruit and was absolutely delicious. I learned later from Vera they usually put rum in it, so I clarified that it was sans alcohol. The haitian guys hanging out (workers) just sit and watch the tv--usually soccer, sometimes a movie. All was okay.

Wed. 10/21
Nathan had told a snorkel 'tour operator' we'd meet him at 9:30am to snorkel on a coral reef. I was a little leery of getting in a boat with our 2 girls, but decided to try it. It was wonderful. It was the 'captain' and his 'first mate' who rowed us down the beach ways to a coral reef. This boat is so primitive and hand made of whatever wood they could find, but it's sturdy! The oars are the same, worked great, but handmade of whatever was available. Nate and Taylor got in first. I stayed on the boat with a sleeping Charlene. I could hear Taylor's excitement over what she was seeing. The reef does have some color and some fish, but it's not like other reefs we've seen. Still, to an 8-year old who has only snorkeled in the lake, it was exciting. She saw lots of sea urchins, some cute and unusual fish and lots of different corals. Nate came and switched with me, so I could snorkel as well. Taylor then wanted to take off her life jacket and dive down like I do, so we let her. I stayed right by her, showed her how to do it and she did! She didn't dive down real far, but far enough to have to blow out her snorkel. She felt so free w/o her life jacket. The water was so clear and shallow that I wasn't concerned (plus, i was holding her hand most of the time). The captain would then take a stick and smash up some urchins which would bring the fish in to feed. It was neat. There were also some hatians spear fishing and we got to see their string of fish. The fish are small, but it will make a good meal.

They rowed us back to our beach (5 mintues) and we continued haggling (sp?) with the vendors that came out just for us. I had picked out some stuff, but we had to go snorkeling, so they waited for us. Silly us, we didn't bring small change, so one guy said he's bring us our change tomorrow...we'll see. The other guy said we could trust him to go up the street and get change, so we gave him $100 and he came back 2 hours later with our American change. He even left all his goods and his ID with us to prove that he was trustworthy. These are neat people.

One haitian came by with a live crab. I wasn't sure what he wanted, so one older vendor translated that for $12, he would cook it over a fire around the corner and b ring it back for us to eat. We would've if we had any small change. Later on, I was laying out on this floating dock and a boat with 2 guys came over wanting to cook fresh conch with coconut. Again, I couldn't b/c I didn't have any money. Later, he came by and Nathan told him to come back tomorrow and we'll eat his conch, coconut and bananas at 12pm. Hopefully that happens. What an experience.

We played at the beach a little longer before going to eat lunch. We arel still the only people here. Usually missionaries come over for the day, but not today, we have the whole beach/resort to ourselves. I feel more comfortable as I've interacted with some people and I'm starting to recognize faces. Our lunch took probably 2 hours. I think they went out and caught the lobster and fish right then to cook it :) It was delicious, but Taylor's vegetable soup was spicy this time, so I ate that. That is made fresh as well.

By this time it's about 3pm and the clouds are rolling in. N8 and T went back to the beach and Ch. and I went to the room. She fell asleep, so I picked her up and took her down to the beach as well and she napped there. N8 and T played in the sand and made a sand wall and made up stories. Taylor is such a little fish and thoroughly enjoys the beach, the sand and the water. Charlene didn't get in the water this time, but she just let us hold her and she just relaxed listening to the waves crashing softlyon the beach. We came back to the room about 5pm--it gets dusk at 5:30 and dark at 6pm. Our electricity was on, so we all were able to take showers. I took Charlene's hair out of her ponytail and she has a LOT of hair, but just on top of her head! I gave her a shower in cold water and she didn't care at all, I'm sure she's used to that. i washed her hair and she just hugged me and acted like she liked it. I then handed her to N8 and she just cried and cried. Sometimes, she only wants mama to hold her. How sweet.

It had started raining, but we ventured to the bar/restaurant so Taylor could eat. She ordered spaghetti, but all Charlene wanted to do was crawl/walk, so I took her back to the room. I mopped the floor with the towels, but by the time I was done, she was falling asleep, so I got her ready for bed. She fell asleep at 7pm! We had a huge thunderstorm. I have never heard lightning/thunder that loud before--it was scary. The last big crash, T and N8 came running to t the room. He thought it had hit the hut where the bar is. It finally calmed down. I wrote in my journal, T and N8 watched an animal documentary and fell asleep. We were all in bed by 8:45pm.

Haiti October 2009

2009-10-20T18:39:00.000-05:00

Sat. 10/17
Left home at 5:15am, a little behind schedule, but our plane was late, so it didn't matter. Got through all checks okay. We checked 6 bags loaded with donations. I bag was 50lbs exactly, the other was 48lbs. The others were 40-some pounds. Good thing I took out the gigantic can of formula and put it in my carry-on!

We made it to Dallas about 20 minutes before the next plane was to leave, so Taylor and I literally ran to the next gate (got to take the cool am-trak deal too). They kindly waited for Nathan to arrive with our carry-ons (we had to valet-check them in Springfield). But, that plane ended up having technical difficulties, so we sat for about 45 minutes before leaving.

Made it to Miami okay with about an hour to spare, so we grabbed some sandwiches and waited. We then waited 2 stinkin' hours on the plane. The excuse: Someone was supposed to be on the plane but they weren't but their bag was and the bag crew had to sift through all bags to find it. this was the same excuse as last time. I asked a stewardess about it. She said a) the bag wasn't on the plane b) this is common b/c they are extra/super cautious about any bags going on a plane without the owner. So, we arrived in Port-a-Prince 2 hours late at dusk, so by the time we got our bags and met Vera it was dark. I was nervous about that, but it was actually quite nice. After getting chewed out by Barbara for not informing her we were coming (we only informed Vera, didn't know we had to tell Barbara too), we headed for a hotel where I thought we had reservations. Nathan got to hold his baby girl for the first time! She had been waiting with Barbara for about3-4 hours, so she was asleep.

We got to that hotel, discovered we didn't have reservations, they called another hotel who had room, the Habitation Hatt hotel. It was very nice. Nice clean rooms, gated, a/c, running water, tv, fans and a gorgeous pool. We all slept good that night!

Sunday 10/18
We spent the day at the hotel. Taylor swam in the pool a lot while Charlene and I watched. I thought she was ready for a nap, so I didn't get her swimsuit on. That afternoon she didn't go either, it started to get stormy looking. The restaurant there is wonderful. It is bright and airy and the food is delicious.

Charlene is much more active at 10 months that she was at 6 months. She can crawl everywhere, she can walk holding on to things--she wasn't even using her legs at all last time. She talks a lot, grabs everything and has one huge honkin' tooth on top (top right). She has one bottom tooth (left) you can see and the right one just broke through. So cute. She cries more, gets mad more and doesn't sit in the Jeep very well anymore. She has to be moving. Last time it took her 3 days to smile at me without being prompted. She was doing that the first day this time. She loves being around us, loves being held and LOVES these little sweet potato baby snack things I brought. Should've brought cases of that!

Taylor loves playing with her little sister. She enjoys giving her little pieces of food, toys to play with and making her laugh. Charlene responds to her name, so Taylor would call her name when we were at the pool and Charlene would look and Taylor would jump in the pool real funny. Charlene loved that!

We all took a nap this afternoon. Nathan got the first chance at a nap, then we 3 girls all layed down on one of the beds. Charlene fell asleep on me and Taylor beside me. I slept about 2 hours and the girls about 3 hours.

Monday 10/19
We had an appointment at the US Embassy today at 11am. We got picked up about 8:30am and headed over there. I brought all the papers i needed, but we still had to fill them out. I've never seen so many people in one waiting area before! All waiting for Visas I guess. Charlene's birth mom was there, so it was great to see her. I was really hoping to meet her last time, but it never worked out. I have so many questions for her, but there wasn't anyone to translate for me :( She got to hold Charlene for a lot of our wait. We signed out papers, swore before some official that we would take good care of Charlene and answered some questions. The birth mom did her interview while we were there and took Charlene with her. All went well.

Barbara then took the 4 of us and Charlene's birth mom to the village (orphanage). We took some pictures together, toured the village, and ate lunch with LaWanna and all the babies. We then went back to the hotel.

Nathan took Taylor swimming while Charlene and I stayed back for hopefully a nap. Charlene napped a bit at the Embassy, but really needed a good long nap. Charlene wouldn't take a nap, but about 20 minutes later I hear Taylor and Nathan coming up the stairs and she's crying hysterically. She was trying to get out of the pool on the side and slipped and hit her mouth, knocking out 2 teeth. Fortunately, they were baby teeth. Nathan thought she only knocked out the front one that was super loose anyway, but when I looked, I noticed the one next to it was gone too! nathan's eyes gew wide. After about 10 minutes of calming Taylor down, he went back to the pool and found the 2nd tooth! (He had the first one already) Unbelievable. Charlene was so off schedule and so tired, that she fell asleep at bedtime, but without a bottle, so she awoke about 3am hungry! I fed her, but she didn't want to lay down alone, so she fell asleep on me and we all slept the rest of the night. Not the best night's rest, but ok.

The food at this hotel is delicious. There isn't many choices, but what we've had has been good. All I can eat is beans and rice, but it is sooo good. I was going to order a salad, but Vera warned that we don't know what water was used to wash the veggies, so I get beans and rice. Taylor also loves the beans and rice but has also gotten spaghetti. Nathan has tried various sandwiches. They have the best french toast for breakfast and the freshest orange juice.

Tuesday 10/20
We ate b'fst then Nathan and Taylor went swimming, then we got packed up, and sat down to eat lunch and Barbara showed up to take us to the beach. Taylor was complaining of a stomach ache, so we knew she had to eat. Barbara couldn't wait, so she called vera to come get us. She did and we went back to the village. We switched bags from Barbara's car into Vera's and headed to the beach. It's where we are now. It's been alright so far. Will write more later.

Jack

2009-10-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Jack said 2 funny things this morning...
1. Kenai has some white splotch crusted on the fur on his back. I asked what that could be. Jack responded, "It's probably slug slime." The day before they had found lots of slugs outside!

2. (This is a little gross, but typical boy) "If you want a stink, then you can count on me, because I toot and burp a lot." Nice...

Homeschooling is going very well. We've pretty much got a routine, but also go with the flow. It's getting a little easier teaching 2 different levels, but still challenging. I'm also working on 'training'. That's something I've realized is incredibly important. This school year, not only do they have 'chores' to do in the mornings, some have to be done before b'fst now. That has helped. Having set times for some things helps too. Such as 8:30am the bus (kitchen chair) leaves for school (former dining room). Just this week, I've started 8:15am devotion time and they seem to like that. I've tried to eat at 11:30 and be done eating by 12pm (or else they will eat/play for ever). In the past I've done a 4pm 'pick up the house' time, but we're not always home at 4pm.

Today we went to Incredible Pizza for a Wonders of Wildlife show. It was about caves, so we learned about animals that live in caves and got to see some cool live animals. The kids did fun crafts and a scavenger hunt. 2 weeks ago, Mad Science had a class at Incredible Pizza. They learned all about 'matter'. Solid, liquid, gas, atoms, molecules, physical vs. chemical change. Awesome. Taylor is also part of the Conservation Kids Club at the Nature Center and last month they learned about snakes. Got to see/pet real ones and learned A LOT about snakes. It's fun doing field trips b/c I learn a lot too!

Time to go. 4 days 'til Haiti and still lots to do...

~L

2009-09-29T17:15:00.000-05:00

We're out of IBESR....our prayers have been answered so far. Thank you, GOD!!!!!!!

Haitian adoption paperwork process recap:

PROCESS:Minister of Foreign Affairs (2-8wks) DONE
Preparation of file for IBESR (2-8wks) DONE
IBESR (3-12MO) ENTERED JUNE 2009 (wile I was in Haiti!) DONE (Sept. 29, 2009)
Civil Court (4-8wks)
Legalization (4-12wks)
Minister of Interior (3-6MO)
Immigration/Passport printing (2-8wks)
USCIS (3wks+)
Visa Process (1-2wks)

= 10.5mo – 29mo TOTAL

New School Year

2009-09-10T09:21:00.000-05:00

Well, we started school last week, a week earlier than planned and good thing! Last week I had planned on easing into our routine, focusing on some skills I wanted mastered in the next few weeks, getting back into the grind of schoolwork. Long story short....it was one of the worst weeks ever!!! Taylor fought me tooth and nail on just about everything. She threw tantrums like a little child when she didn't want to do something. It was absolutely awful! We even took a field trip to Branson to see the Moscow Circus (which was fanstastic!), threw a fit in Branson over a grilled cheese sandwich....wow.

After one of her fits, I sent her to her room b/c I needed a break. We had a discussion and attempted to finish our day. The next day, I realized sending her to her room wasn't the answer, so for her next fit, she got put to work--vacuuming. Tthen she had to get back to what she was doing. That worked a little better.

Good news: This week has been 100 times better! Today is Thursday, we've done school for 3 days this week and she has done beautifully. She dilligently works most of the time, she gets up on her own with her own alarm clock and gets her day going w/o me hounding. Yeah!!!

~L

OVERVIEW OF AK VACATION

2009-08-19T20:11:00.001-05:00

Travelled 8,240 miles
After leaving Valdez, Alaska, drove for 6 days and ended back in Alaska (Hyder, AK)
Did 6 border crossings/went through customs 5 times
Crossed the Continental Divide 4 times
Changed time zones 6 times
Passed through/visited 7 states
Visited 3 Provinces in Canada
Saw: black bear, brown bear, grizzly bear, moose, bald eagles, sharks, bison, caribou, deer, elk, oyseter cracker (bird), sheep, sea otters, sea lions, weasel, countless birds, salmon, countless rivers, streams, lakes, glaciers, peaks, mountains.
Acquired 4 cracks in the RV windsheild, a brokend RV parklight, chips and scratches on both the RV and the Jeep and a chip in the Jeep's grille. Not bad. We were expecting worse.

THINGS I LEARNED ON THE AK VACATION

2009-08-19T19:32:00.000-05:00

I would always think of things I learned, but never wrote them down...hopefully I can remember a few.

1. Pay the $24 for the latest Milepost!! Most places are now shut down, it would've been handy!
2. Don't borrow anybody's anything.
3. If you want to do something, find a charter!
4. Kenai can walk/run on a leash beside the bike
5. Get tension rods for cabinets. On more than one occasion, we hit some nasty, bumpy roads that threw our cabinets open and spilled out all contents! Ugh. It's a wonder the kids weren't injured!
6. Stay at "Provinvial Parks" in Canada/State Parks in US as much as possible!! They are gorgeous!
7. When necessary (as in crammed in a motorhome), the kids CAN fold/put away jammies, make their bed upon arising, put shoes in the same place each time they get in the motorhome, hang up their coat in the same spot each day...it's amazing!
8. Kenai would've done better with a sedative while riding!

9. Learn how to properly use the inverter button to get kids to obey!!!
One of the first days, the inverter button was off and the kids tried to watch a video. Nathan mentioned the button was switched off. I took the opportunity to inform the kids that the TV didn't work b/c there were toys still on the floor. They proceeded to pick them all up and voila!, the TV worked. So, from that day forward (after lunch AND gas--usually about 2pm), the kids could watch a video. That quickly evolved to be one cartoon and other had to be educational. That lasted about a day, then they were just watching educational...the same 2 movies over and over. "Prehistoric Planet" and "Wild Detectives" where they put the "critter cam" on various animals to learn more about them.

It was funny, toward the end of the trip, I saw the kids go in the back (inverter is off of course), then I see Jack come back up and say to Taylor that the TV isn't working b/c there are toys on the floor.

Now, how do I get that little game to work at home (to where they know it's not ME controlling the TV on/off mode)?????

What I learned fishing:
1. The reel goes under the pole. The first day of fishing, I was reeling backwards the whole time. I went into the fishing store the next day wondering why I had to reel backwards, they informed me the reel goes under the rod....ahha.

2. Listen to the 5 year old and bleed the fish right away!

3. The best way to bleed the fish is to cut the gills with a knife...I was wondering why Jack kept saying his fingers hurt while trying to bleed the gills.

4. It helps to have a needle-nose pliers to remove the hook from the fish's mouth...fingers don't work. They have TEETH!! Learned that on day 1 also.

I know there's more, but that's all I can' think of for now.

Mon.8/17 - Wed. 8/19 2009

2009-08-19T19:23:00.000-05:00

Monday: We waste no time in getting right back in running, running, running.

I had an appointment at 1:30pm.
Kids had book club at 2pm (How To Eat Fried Worms)
Kids had swim lessons at 3:30pm

Tuesday: We dropped the van off to (finally) get the A/C fixed. I had bought an old book, "The Birds of a Feather" and happened to bring it. Good thing b/c we had to wait just for the driver to take us home. I love that book!!! Stayed home and continued unpacking/cleaning.

About 5pm, I noticed moths (okay, no big deal) and their nasty little offspring and their disgusting habitat in my pantry. I was so entirely grossed out! I love bugs, but not when they're living next to and come to find out IN my food. I called the bug company and they said all I could do was completely empty the pantry, take away their food source and wipe it all down. SOOOOOO GROSS!

So, that's what I did. My pantry is the size of a very small room, so it's no easy/fast task to completely empty it out, but I did that. I ordered a pizza for the kids (didn't want to eat anything from the pantry!!) and took everything out. Vacuumed/scraped/scrubbed everything. When the shelves were clean, Jack saw them as a climbing gym! The top shelf is 7 feet tall, he climbed to the top and layed down. Then, Taylor started to climb, asked if the shelves would break. I said it's always possible. We have solid wood shelves, but still...so she climbed down. Jack than proceeded to say that I wouldn't be able to climb up because I "weigh a ton or two". Gee thanks :) Diet starts tomorrow :)

I put back all canned items, trashed everything else and cleaned all bins/containers that were in there. That even prompted me to go through all recipe books, and stacks upon stacks of recipes I thought I'd make one day and sorted/filed them all. Needless to say, my pantry looks 100xs better and less cluttered than it did.

Wednesday: We are running out of food, but managed to eat left over pizza, left over spaghetti and I made nachos for Taylor. She actually helped brown the hamburger and turn it into nacho meat. I need to be better about doing that, so she'll start gaining knowledge in how to cook!
We ate out at the swing set tonight (Taylor's idea) which was fun. We could see Kenai pacing the grass below (we're about 6 feet off the ground on a platform), then a few minutes later, I could see Kenai's head. He had climbed the rock wall up to the platform!!! Jack then grabbed his collar and helped him up the last couple of feet. He defintely earned a couple pieces of pepperoni pizza! The kids played on the swings another 45 minutes.

A good day stuck at home, got a lot done as far as de-cluttering/organizing/sorting/laundry/un-loading & re-loading the motorhome.

We have decided that Jack and I will travel to Iowa on Friday, so tomorrow is my last day to get stuff done around here before we're on the road again. I think we'll officially start school the day after Labor Day, so that gives me time to finish planning that! Maybe I could use one of my "Free Weekend" passes to get that accomplished ??

LAST 2 DAYS OF AK VACATION

2009-08-19T19:05:00.000-05:00

The last 2 days aren't entirely eventful, just lots of driving.

Sat. 8/15: Rapid City, SD - Rock Port, MO

So close, but not close enough!
We stopped in Belvedere, SD (not too far from Rapid City) which had an 1800's town, something I wanted to do on the way UP. It was fantastic. I love 1800's life and the books we read tend to be geared toward that, so it was fun for Taylor and I to explore what an old town (businesses/houses, etc) might look like. Nathan took Jack and he said they spent most of their time in the blacksmith shop.

At 11:45am, they had a show in the saloon, so we got some popcorn and root beer and enjoyed these 2 old men sing funny songs and joke around. They even wanted help with one of the their songs, so Taylor ran right up to the stage, she didn't ask us or anything! She played the cowbell and wore a cowboy hat. So fun. Then they had a 'shoot-out' out in front of the saloon. Jack got picked to be part of the show there. One of the guys was going to shoot off Jack's ears (but his partner made it back with a tin can just in time). Jack didn't know what to think about that, but he was laughing in the end.

They had one little section of antique books for sale and I got to browse quickly while Nathan filled up with gas and found a few books for school...yeah!!

For the kids' book club, we are reading "How To Eat Fried Worms" by Thomas Rockwell. We started it a couple of days ago (finally found it at Borders in Rapid City). While we were driving, Jack tapped me on the shoulder, showed me the book and asked if I'd read! I only read a few pages at a time to keep them interested and it works! So, we layed in the back and read...read about how the 3 buddies went looking for the first of 15 worms and came back with a nightcrawler. Easily 2-3Xs the size of a regular worm by my estimations and we read how the character having to eat the worms was a little perturbed he had to eat this gigantic earthworm.
WELL, we pulled into camp about 10pm and I took the dog out for a walk. Lo and behold...a huge nightcrawler. I hollered for the kids to come look! We were out with our flashlights and tape measure...it was 10 inches long. We had fun. I happened to make spaghetti that day, so I went in and tried to explain better to Taylor why the worm eater in the story was so upset...tried to use noodles to compare/contrast a worm and a nightcrawler. It was a neat (learning!) experience.

592 miles/ 12 hours 45 minutes (90 minutes of which was at 1800's town).

Sun. 8/16: Rock Port, MO - HOME!!!

We figured it'd be a pretty easy day, even get home a little early. Well, we forgot we lost yet another hour yesterday, so we didn't get going until 10:20am. It was fairly uneventful and we got home about 5pm.

I have no notes written and only remember Jack and I playing a lot and I reading a lot to catch up on school stuff.

331 miles / 6 hours 20 minutes

GRAND TOTAL: 8240 miles travelled.

Side-note: Anyone considering this is crazy! It's a beautiful drive, but is almost stressful when attempting it in a mere one month time frame. Suggestion: Drive one way (I prefer UP) and ferry back. Or just fly :)

AK VACATION: still driving home...

2009-08-14T23:30:00.000-05:00

Thu. 8/13: Sheridan, WY - Rapid City, SD

The kids got to play on the playground for about 45 minutes this morning. We try and let them play as much as possible since a lot of the campgrounds in Canada were not kids friendly, no playgrounds and definitely no pools.

Right after N8 started the RV engine, the 'check engine' light came on...not good. We stopped at KMart and he bought and added more oil, then added fresh diesel down the road. It seemed to help it run a little better, but not great. We made it to our destination without any problems, thank goodness.

While we were at KMart, I noticed several recycling bins at the back of the parking lot. I got to unload 4 weeks of recycling! But, all Jack saw was the McDonalds across the highway. He just stood and stared the whole time. It was cute. (There were no McDonald's where we went).

So, for lunch, we stopped at McDonalds! I went and got groceries at a nearby grocery store instead :) It was so busy at the McD playground, the kids turned right around, walked out and said it was too noisy!

I was unloading groceries in the RV, when N8 and the kids came in with a vase of purple flowers and a purple and pink cake. They are so awesome! I put the cake in the fridge and was tempted so many times :)

We arrived at our campground okay and it was HOT (96degrees)...for reference Valdez was 56 degrees)!! Nathan took the kids to the pool for a couple of hours while I cleaned the motorhome. It needed it. I was able to enjoy the cleanliness for about 15 mintues before they arrived. I made soft shelled tacos, then took the kids to a free S'Mores deal the campground was doing. The kids enjoyed roasting their marshmallows and eating those yummy s'mores!

A mom adopting from haiti sent me more pics of Charlene with Birthday greetings! Yeah!

Travelled 255 miles, 5 hours 45 min.

Friday: 8/14: Stayed in Rapid City, SD Finally, a day of no travelling!!!!

Nathan woke up before me and worked on a surprise in the front room with the kids. I had orders not to enter until told so! So, I showered and got all ready and got the 'okay' to enter. I was greeted with my flowers, a moose earring/necklace set from Jasper N.P., coffee, 3 awesome cards, 2 'coupons' for 2 free weekends (N8 takes kids and I get peace and quiet) and a piece of cake. So, we all ate a piece of cake for b'fst (I love b'day cake!) We then finished getting ready, then headed to the campground's pancake breakfast...all you can eat pancakes for $1. So, we managed a b'fst for $4.12! Not bad. This morning was very cool, but I figured it would surely warm up since yesterday was sooo hot.

Our first stop was 'Bear Country U.S.A.' We drove through the park, saw lots of neat animals, walked around a bit in the rain, walked through the gift shop (didn't get anything, it's all made in China) and moved on to our next destination....Mt. Rushmore.

Made it to Mt. Rushmore! We paid for our parking, wlaked through the maze of people, shot a few pictures and left...yep, left. TOO MANY PEOPLE!! We stayed all of 20 minutes and left.

We then headed to Reptile Gardens, paid our admission, and went to eat at their cafe, which offered no non-meat choices or choices to remove meat, so I ate nachos. Yum. We then watched an alligator/crocodile show. The guy explained the difference betwen the two, then 'wrestled' an alligator and showed how to properly detain an alligator. It was an informative and educational show. We then walked over to the giant tortoises, one of whom is 128 years old! We then moved on to the snake show. Same guy, same informative, educational show, only with venemous and non-venemous snakes. It was great! We then walked around and saw more fantastic reptiles, etc. then drove into Rapid City.

We stopped by Borders to get a book for the kids' book club on Monday, Nathan checked out something at Best Buy, then we went to eat at Applebees for my birthday supper. I ate way to many onion rings (once a year is okay, right?), then we came back to the motorhome. The sun finally decided to make an appearance! It felt good after a chilly, rainy day.

The kids took their dinosaurs and we headed to the playground. They started by burying their dinos, then going on a dino dig. Unfortunately, one dinosaur was unable to be found, so I, another adult and 2 other kids had to get involved, and we found it. so, they abandoned their dig and proceeded to play on the equipment. They played for over an hour before we came back to the Rv, took showers and played more of our 'wolf' dice game! Right before Nathan would roll, he'd say, "Big bucks, no whammy" which evolved to just "no whammy", then to "no whammy, jammy" at which point the kids were rollin'. They thought that was hilarious!!

I got more Facebook birthday greetings, a call from Mom and Dad and a call from Vickie. It was a great day!

~L

AK VACATION: Still Driving Home

2009-08-12T23:39:00.000-05:00

Sun. 8/9: We drove from Stewart, BC to Fort Fraser, BC.

We stopped for lunch at a rest area and I made nachos, I guess we were tired of sandwiches or cheese and crackers.

We got off the Cassiar Highway and onto the Yellowhead Highway headed toward Prince George.

We saw a sign for an RV park and just stopped! It even had a little playground, the kids were elated! They went and played on the playground/sandbox while we watched from the RV. Nathan grilled some purple potatoes from a vegetable stand in the Yukon and some of our salmon (made salmon sandwiches). It was "delish" as Jack would say.

I learned that Saskatoon berries grow here, something bears and humans can eat!

We drove346 miles today (over 8 hours)

Mon. 8/10: Drove from Fort Fraser, B.C. to Jasper, Alberta (Jasper National Park)

We added a new, large crack to the windshield today! This one even has a 'run'. Oh well. Nathan saw a bumper sticker that said, "I drove the Alaska Highway both ways, (darn) it!" So true...

We stopped for lunch at a rest area that had a playground! and I made soup and grilled ham and cheese.

We made it to Jasper National Park, waited in line to get an RV spot. All they had left were spots with no hook-ups, but the spot was beautiful. It was at the back of the park with few neighbors. We unhooked the Jeep and drove to the tram, where we rode to the top of Whistlers Mountain. It offered gorgeous views of several mountain ranges and the town of Jasper. We ate supper at the top, walked around awhile, then headed back down (it was pretty chilly up there at 8pm). We then drove into the town of Jasper, looked in some shops and headed 'home'. We were all tired. We put the kids to bed and Nathan and I watched a Jeff Allen comedy DVD.

We travelled 333 miles (8 hours)

Tue. 8/11: Jasper National Park, Alberta to Shelby, Montana, U.S.A.

We started off by driving through Jasper National Park, then through Banff National Park. This is a beautiful drive and would be fun someday to take a week or more and start in Jasper N.P. and work our way down to Banff N.P. in a tent or something much smaller than what we have. We are extremely limited in where we can stay in this motorhome. There are lots of little parks and tons of hikes to take. Someday...

We made it to the border..YEAH! We had spent the last 45 minutes eating any fruit we had left (plums/nectarines/applels). Not sure what they won't let us through with, but I wasn't going to give them up. All we were left with were sugar snap peas and little tomatoes, the officer didn't want those :) They were actually checking vehicles in front of us, so I was glad I had cleaned up the motorhome before we got there :) We pulled up, turned off the engine, handed over 4 passports and the questions started. They wanted to see the kids (normal) and this officer asked the kids their names. Taylor shyly said hers and Jack spoke up and said his. Then the officer asked who we were. Jack wouldn't answer! He just slunk down behind Nathan's chair. Luckily Taylor answered, but he asked Jack a couple of tiimes and he still wouldn't say anything. Luckily we got through ok..that was the toughest border crossing yet. So glad to be back in the USA. Didn't think it mattered much, but it does.

We made it to Shelby, MT (35 So. of the border) at the same campground we stayed at coming up. We were in a spot that had a grassy area and a little dirt pile, so the kids had fun playing in that! I made spaghetti and pizza (all of us couldn't agree, so I made both) and we ate outside...so nice! The last couple hours of the drive were extrememly windy, fortunately, it died down so we could eat outside.

Travelled 490 miles, 10 hours

Wed. 8/12: Shelby, MT - Sheridan, WY

It was SUPER windy last night. It woke me up b/c it was shaking the RV! And for some reason, we didn't get going until 9:45am today, ugh. While N8 was unhooking the RV and getting ready to go, the kids played in their dirt pile once more, wondering when we get to come back!

They love dirt, sticks, rocks and bones (Jack)

We stopped for lunch at a burger Cafe in Boulder, MT (I'm running out of food, it's not that easy to pull this thing into a grocery store parking lot sometimes).

We saw 2 "Marine 1" helicopters circling above in Bozeman, MT. Nathan heard that the President was taking his family to Yellowstone for a vacation.

In our attempt to cover a lot of miles, we had to bypass a lot of fun places to stop, such as the headwaters of the MO river, the Museum of the Rockies, a grizzly rehab facility, etc. Maybe another time.

When we got to the campground in WY at 8pm, N8 took the kids to the pool while I made supper. The water was freezing and the hot tub was for 21 and older, so they were back fairly quickly. We ate at 9pm, then the kids went to bed.

Travelled 557 miles today, 10hr 15min)...a l-o-n-g day, but worth it!! I mentioned what a long day it had been and the kids said...it wasn't that bad!

Got an awesome message from Charlene: "Happy Birthday, Mommy!!!!! I love you, Charlene."
(LaWanna..her nanny..is so awesome!)

~L

AK VACATION: Driving home

2009-08-09T01:19:00.000-05:00

Well, we finally have wi-fi, if only for a night (and still no cell service at all) so I'll try to re-cap the last week as briefly as possible:

Mon. 8/3: We got packed up and ready to leave Valdez, after 9 full days there.
Problem #1: Nathan learns that the shark cage they had built is going to cost him over 2X's what was quoted. Not a good start to the day.
Problem #2: The sewer was completely clogged up. Not sure how, we were on full hook ups. Anyway, Nathan tried an experimental approach to fixing the problem that was either going to end really well or really, really bad. Fortunately, it went well!
Problem #3: The driver's side big slide wouldn't budge. Called home to the RV service center. Again, Nathan decided on another experimental approach before trying to manually pull it in and again, that worked.

Not a good start to a day of driving, but all ended well. We paid for the shark cage on the way out of town (talked them down $200--whooppee doo) and drove through the beautiful Keystone Canyon again and over Thompson Pass.

We stopped at Worthington Glacier b/c the kids really wanted to hike up to the glacier and since N8 was along, we did. We actually hiked up to the glacier cave that could've caved in at any moment. It was really nice and a good hike. We ate lunch and kept driving.

We ended up stopping in Copper Canyon, only about 100 miles from Valdez. It was HOT! I couldn't believe what a different 100 miles made!! I had to go fishing one more time....I learned how to fish for sockeye and spent the next several hours trying off of the campground's banks. I had one hooked, but it got away. (travelled 107 miles)

Tue. 8/4: I signed up for a fishing charter for Sockeye's (Red's) We left at 6am, drove about 20 minutes up river, got in a raft and floated down a bit to a fishing spot. It was the guide, 2 older guys from the Princess ship and me. Luckily I had learned how to properly fish, but it still takes lots of practice. I also learned it's more fun to search and hunt for the fish than to simply cast over and over, so that's what I did. I, again, was soooo close, but couldn't snag a salmon. If I had more time to try I know I would've gotten one. Luckily, the guide was an expert and snagged 3 fish, all of which are in my freezer! We hopped in our raft and rafted down category 3 & 4 rapids to get back to the campground. Made it home about noon and were back on the road by 12:45pm. We drove down the road and had to wait in line for gas, what a drag! Then got to experience the good ol' frost heaves again!! We stopped for gas in Tok and agreed if the Salmon Bake was open, we'd just stay there...but it wasn't, again. Not sure what's going on. So, we left town, crossed the border into Canada (they let us keep our bear spray!), lost an hour and camped in Beaver Creek, Yukon. We drove through terrible, smelly smoke thanks to a forest fire in Fairbanks. Today, I had a headache that got progressively worse, plus woke up with a sore throat, so the smoke didn't' help at all. (travelled 262 miles)

Wed. 8/5: Travelled from Beaver Creek, Yukon to Takhini Hot Springs, Yukon, just outside of Whitehorse. The air seemed better today which was nice, although the headache was a full blown migraine, so I slept most of the day. Nathan did spot a grizzly on the side of the road, but there was nowhere to turn around, so we drove to the next pull-out, unhooked the Jeep and drove back the 10miles looking for it, but it was gone, so we hooked back up and kept driving. Made it to the Hot Springs and went swimming! One section is pretty warm, the other is extremely hot. It felt good. (Headache got progressively better throughout the day) (travelled 280 miles)

Thu. 8/6: Got up and went swimming until about 1pm, ate lunch at the cafe right by the pool (Hot Springs) then drove into Whitehorse. That was a mistake. We love the quietness of woods and out-of-the way places..Whitehorse was a loud, congestion, like-any-other-town town. We pretty much got groceries, came back to the RV and swam some more. Jack swam til 9pm and Taylor til 10pm, stopping every few minutes to eat a bite at the cafe again. It was fabulous! They said to watch out for the bear that wanders around, but never saw it.

Fri. 8/7: Travelled from Takhini Hot Springs, Yukon to Dease Lake, BC. We had to put some miles behind us, so we planned a big day! We stopped for gas in Whitehorse and the guy at the gas station said there were 60 wildfires in the area...more smoke, but not as bad as before! We noticed the leaves are turning and falling and some of the fireweed is to the top..in only 2 weeks!
We entered British Columbia, stopped for a black bear on the side of the rode, saw a moose (didn't stop) and got on the Cassiar Highway! We were told it was beautiful and worth the drive :) The first 5o miles were 100 times worse than any AlCan part, it was terrible. The last part before the campground was muddy and dangerous, but we made it alright.
We needed a full hook-up with laundry facilities, so we picked a campground at Dease lake. Little did I know that was just the name of a tiny town, not actually on a lake, but it worked, I did laundry until 10pm and again starting at 7am! We are learning that campgrounds around here like to cram motorhomes in as tight as possible with little/no room for anything like a picnic table, etc. So not what we like!!! (travelled 425 miles)

Sat. 8/8: Travelled from Dease Lake, BC to Stewart, BC. The Cassiar Highway greatly improved today except for one spot, it was a nice, needed change! The scenery is spectacular and the farther south we drive the landscape changes to more lush greenery, very neat. We drove through a 'Provincial Park' that was gorgeous. It only had electricity, but would've been so worth it to get out of these crammed RV parks!! We will start looking for those on our way home now! Anyway, I happened to notice a place where you could watch bears feeding on salmon at a stream, so we took a side road (37A) 40 miles off the Cassiar highway to Stewart, BC. Now this road has even more spectacular scenery. Waterfalls and glaciers everywhere, absolutely beautiful. We found a wonderful camprgound with full hookups and plenty of room!! We set up camp, unhooked the Jeep and headed into town...the town of Hyder, ALASKA! (just 3 miles down the road). We ate pizza and headed to see the bears. We waited 2 hours, but never saw bears. The kids were complaining so much (I didn't bring anything for them to do), so we got in the Jeep and headed down the road more to explore and on our way back towards the bears, we saw a black bear cross the road in the distance. That was it. Oh well. We drove home, got through customs okay (didn't have to go through U.S. customs) and made it home by 10pm. We all got ready for bed and played 4 rounds of WOLF, a dice game. Taylor won 2 and N8 won 2.
This campground has bears that wander through it, so kids are instructed not to run around without one of us! Also, we are not to walk around at night, bears and wolves might be out. Isn't this great?!? (We travelled 245 miles today)

Just to re-cap: We've driven 1319 miles in 6 days. For reference, on the way up, we travelled 3114 miles in 6 days (made it all the way in 8).

Jack: He saw somebody's RV sewer line and saw it up on little supports like the Pipeline in Alaska and he said, "instead of a pipeline, it's a poopline".

~L

VALDEZ: Sun. 8/2

2009-08-02T17:46:00.001-05:00

1. Biking through town
2. One last trip to the ice cream truck.

I stayed up 'til 1am blogging and checking email, it's the only quiet time! I'm meeting so many moms from all over the world who are adopting from haiti and last night I had to start keeping track of who I was talking to and who they are adopting and where they're from. Plus, 2 of them told me to contact 2 other people of FB who have pictures of Charlene, which means without meeting these people and having a face with a name, it's hard to remember. So, I worked on that.

SUNSHINE TODAY! There was actually a point when I didn't see one cloud in the sky, it's a miracle. The sun feels soooo good.

I woke up early (7:15am) and headed to the grocery store to get that out of the way. Pretty peaceful first thing in the morning! Came back, cleaned up the motorhome, then we returned the 4 tanks Nathan had borrowed for his trip. We then came back, hopped on our bikes, headed down to the dock so Nathan could replace a battery for the Captain, then we rode around town...so nice in the sunshine!! We stopped by a place for lunch right by the harbor, biked over to the trail where we picked all of our salmonberries, then biked back home. Jack's little legs were so tired!

We hung out at the motorhome for awhile, preparing for a long journey home, then took the Jeep for a drive. We went out to Mineral Creek Trail. Most of it is driveable, although a few were hiking it and a couple of 4wheelers where out there too. It was still sunny!, so we took the top off the Jeep and enjoyed the warmness of the sun and the enormity of the mountais and waterfalls. We got out a few times, ate salmonberries when we found them, then came back to the RV to eat supper. I tried a new recipe: 7 layer taco pie and used my new deep dish pie plate! It was delicious, but just as we were about to eat, the ice cream truck came around! We let the kids pay one more visit to the ice cream truck, they were thrilled!! Once again, kids didn't get to bed til 10:30pm. I'm hoping that changes as the time changes and the days get shorter. I don't know how much longer I can stay up till midnight (or later) just to relax in the peace and quiet :)

I can't believe this is our last night here. We daydream about how to make it last longer, but we must face the fact that it is time to go. We have allowed almost 2 weeks to return home, so maybe we won't have to have everyday be a l-o-n-g driving day. We noted a couple of spots we wanted to stop at on the way home. It will be a fun trek home.

Jack says he can't remember what his toys at home look like, so he's anxious to get home and see those. Taylor is sad to leave, she really likes it here, although she said she wouldn't want to live here because she wouldn't be able to go swimming. The high school has a very nice pool here, but I have to say, there is a difference between always having to swim indoors and getting to swim at the lake or outdoor pool when it's super hot out.

The only thing we didn't accomplish was a Glacier Cruise to see the Columbia Glacier and possibly whales. I guess we'll just have to wait til next time. We did see/do a lot in a short amount of time, even though it was raining, cloudy and cold (for us) 90% of the time. It was a great stay in Valdez, great campground with fantastic views! I wouldn't change a thing and can't wait to come back again!!

Nathan can't wait to come back and explore more with the Salmon sharks too! He had a great experience and got some great shots of a shark that is hard to photograph!

Not sure if I'll have time/opportunity to write as we drive home as internet gets sketchy. Our tentative goal for tomorrow is Tok...pretty easy day. Maybe the Salmon Bake will be open this time?!

Charlene: The only new news I have on our daughter is that she took another trip to Calico beach recently and loved the pool. That's about it. LaWanna will return to Haiti tomorrow (Mon.), yeah!!

VALDEZ: Sat. 8/1

2009-08-02T02:57:00.000-05:00

1. Nathan and Jack's fish.

2. N8, T and J looking at spawning fish

3. N8, T and J at Allison Point by the hatchery

4. T and J on the sciff ready for a ride.

Today, Nathan woke up bright and early for some reason, so he got the kids up and fed. He then made Taylor and I eggs. Yum! Then we all walked down to the dock to the Captain's boat and helped bring the shark cage back to the motorhome. Nathan had already taken it apart on a beach out by where they were diving, the parts just needed transported to the motorhome. The kids were great helpers.

We then got ready to run errands in town like try and return the tanks he borrowed, get another fishing pole, 2 life jackets and more gear, eat, get gas, a coffee and a block of ice (yet another suggestion from a seasoned fisherman).

Nathan's Captain said we could borrow his sciff for the weekend, so we loaded our gear for a day of fishing (even though it was already 1pm). We headed out for a river Nathan had been told about. We found it, but found it to be too shallow to get near, so we turned around. We did get to see nesting seagulls, a couple of oystercatchers (birds) and icebergs from thenearby glacier. The kids loved seeing the little icebergs. Just like with clouds, they guess what they looked like! We attempted some fishing nearby, but it just wasn't working, so we headed back towards town. The waters were so rough, it made fishing near impossible. We were going to just boat over to where the kids and I have been fishing, but Taylor said she was getting seasick, so we just went back to the dock, unloaded our gear and drove over to Allison Point.

We went to the spot where our neighbor had suggested in hopes of lots of fish and a few bears, but the waves were rough, the wind was brisk and there were no fish. So, we hopped back in the Jeep and went to our regular spot. Lo and behold, Jack landed a fish!! BUT, a guy we had just talked to said keep only the fish that have a silver color, not green or dark. This one was green, so we through her back. We could see tons of fish at the edge and they all looked inedible, so we gave up our fishing endeaver, hopped in the Jeep and drove up and down Allison Point looking foe bears, again no luck. We ate a picnic supper by the hatchery (again hoping for a bear), then headed home.

Nathan continued to clean/store his gear, I did some laundry at the laundromat (1st time! Love the RV washer/dryer) and the kids rode their bikes around the motorhome.

Needless to say, everyone is tired. One more full day in Valdez before we leave on Monday. Lots to do to prepare for a 2 week journey home and still lots to do to explore. What to do...

VALDEZ: Fri. 7/31

2009-08-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

Today was another full day! We woke up early (Jack slept with me again...love it!), ate and headed out to go fishing. We stopped on our way to watch some bald eagles (1st 2 pics above), then went to our spot to fish. T & J fished for awhile, then ended up just playing on the boulders. They pretended certain rocks were the houses, kitchens, bedrooms, etc. It was great. No fish caught this morning.

We left and went to the pool so the kids could participate in "diving for gold" as part of the Gold Rush Days celebration. They had so much fun doing that! There were two stones that had red dots on the bottom and they earned the collector a special prize. They had two rounds of diving. Taylor collected lots of 'gold' each time (pic #3). Her swimming lessons have really paid off..she's a good diver as well as swimmer. She collected the special stones both times. Jack was even able to dive down and collect one piece of 'gold' each time (pic#4). Then they had 45 minutes of free swim!!

After showers, we went to the RV to eat lunch, then hopped on our bikes and rode over the the park for a Scavenger Hunt, again part of the Gold Rush Days celebration. Yesterday afternoon after our glorious sunshine, it turned windy and rained hard all night. The rain stopped today, but the wind remained. That bike ride was brisk, Jack didn't care for it, but we forged on. We had a list of 15 things to get. We got 13 in 26 mintues. While we were waiting for the results, we had to get ice cream from the ice cream truck. Jack was 'freezing' but had to get ice cream! Then, the kids got their picture with the King and Queen of the Valdez Gold Rush Days. They were thrilled! (pic#5)

There are 2 ice cream trucks in this town, they drive around with their kiddie songs playing. They drive by the RV about 8:30-9pm every night, the kids just love looking out the window, hoping they'll get a treat.

After the scavenger hunt, we rode over to the Whitney Museum. What a fantastic museum. We played their game where we have to fund 15 items in the museum, the kids had fun with that. We also watched a 45 minute movie about Prince William Sound. It showed glaciers, glaciers calving, avalancehs, lots of different wildlife both land and marine, birds and plants...it was a great movie. The kids really enjoyed that too.

We left there and decided to bike through town (I guess Jack forgot how cold he was) and rode through town to the dock and were going to look at the huge ghalibut that were brought in when I hear my name being called! Nathan had just pulled in!! That was the nicest surprise ever! So, the kids and I went down, greeted Nathan, then rode our bikes back to the RV so we could get the Jeep and bring it to the dock to load gear.

As I was getting the Jeep ready, our neighbor (from Austin, TX!) told me his fishing stories and how he had found a great spot that had fish and bears! I filed that info. away and the kids and I went down to the dock to help unload the boat. We brought everything back to the RV and made salmon for supper again. New recipe, a marinade and it turned out pretty good. After hearing Nathan's new stories and looking at his new pictures we all crashed and slept so soundly after a long day!

VALDEZ: Thu. 7/30 / Charlene

2009-07-30T17:18:00.000-05:00

Sun, glorious sun!! We had sunshine and and could see blue skies for a few hours today. Hallelujah!!!

This morning, I set the alarm, go up at 7am, got the kids up, we were at the store by 8:30am. Between the cashier and myself, we figured out the poles well enough to go fishing. Drove through the coffee hut (a regular occurance for some reason), and headed out to our fishing spot. Jack loves to reel, so I would cast and he'd reel. I taught Taylor how to properly cast and keep the string tight when it wants to loosen. About an hour later, Taylor landed a big fish...all by herself!! She had cast and reeled and everything. Right when she had caught the fish a motorhome full of older men stopped and were telling me to get a picture. Do they not know I have about 18 jobs to do when it's just the kids and I fishing? Luckily I had the movie going and caught it on tape. I did snap one picture, but our track record seems to be that everytime I'm worried about pics, the fish get away. Jack suggested we pop the gills right away, I said no, we need to wait. The 5yo was right! Next time we'll bleed the fish right away. Anyway, the filleter at the dock guessed Taylor's fish was about 5lbs. We all caught more, but were only able to land one more. So, after 3 1/2 hours, we decided to go get our 2 fish filleted, vacuum packed and frozen. We'll eat Taylor's fish tomorrow when Nathan gets home. The sun was shining the whole time, it felt so good. I even got a sunburn on the back of my neck (the one day I have my hair in a ponytail)

After getting the fish filleted and frozen or vacuum packed, we came back to the motorhome for lunch. Taylor begs everyday to eat out, but it ranges fro $17-30+ for just the 3 of us for lunch! Jack is on a Golden Grahams kick. He eats it for every meal...normally that wouldn't be okay, but we're on vacation :)

We then grabbed our bikes (still sunny at this point) and rode through town and found 2 nice parks. The kids played at each park for a bit, then we found the natural foods store and picked up some soup the kids really like (organic version of Ramen noodles). Then, found a super cute shop with neat kitchen utensils...got a couple of those and headed back to the RV. By now it's 5pm, the temp. has dropped a few degrees and it's cloudy!

Back at the RV, we finished our glacier/snow project. I had bought a kit where we could made glaciers and snow. Our 'glaciers' were frozen by now, so I made snow, then they got out their Ice Age animals, transformers, dinosaurs, etc. and played like the toys were in the Ice Age. Note: best to do that craft outside!!!

We ate supper (walnut burgers, ramen soup and Golden Grahams for Jack) and headed to the Civic Center for a movie about the Goldrush. (By now it's raining). Didn't know they never found any gold!! What a trek a lot of men did in search of 'happiness'. It was fascinating. Valdez is celebrating "Gold Rush Days" July 29-Aug.1, so there are lots of fun activities to do.

Stopped by the grocery store for milk and a cooler to store our fish. I learn something new everyday! Today I learned we need to 'bleed the fish' right after catching it and it's best to put it on ice in a cooler. I learned of 'bleeding the fish' a couple of days ago, but learned even more about the procedure today. I had been keeping the fish on a string in the water, but that's not cold enough, so tomorrow, we'll bring a cooler. Tomorrow will be our last chance for fishing. Can't wait!!!

Jack's favorite thing to say right now is.."Don't tell me (it's raining outside)" "Don't tell me (fill in the blank)" It's hilarious. He heard Taylor say it once, now he says it all the time.

LaWanna (Charlene's nanny) is on Facebook! I love facebook! She is in Indiana for a few days, but will go back to Haiti on Monday. She said Charlene is crawling by getting up on both hands and one knee and has been 'crawling' for about a month and a half. She says she is very active and is into everything, even eating..her hands are always trying to grab something. I certainly love news...maybe I'll get more now that LaWanna is on FB. She said she's going to bring a computer back to haiti with her to keep upstairs, because it's too hard to go downstairs to Barbara's computer. Hope it works.

VALDEZ: Wed. 7/29

2009-07-30T01:25:00.000-05:00

Woke up late again today (8:30am). Ate b'fst and made banana-oatmeal muffins. Kids were playing well, so we just hung out at the motorhome in the morning. We started our glacier project this morning, froze some 'glaciers'. We'll make snow later. We went into town, chose a different shop to get our 2 poles re-strung (again!), ate lunch at a bakery, picked up our poles and headed out of town. We took Kenai with us again today.

1. Drove about 62 miles to view Pump Station No. 12 of the Alyeska pipeline. (pic.1) Jack was so excited to see the 'real, actual pipeline'. It was so worth it to see the pipeline video the other day! We found an off-road and got to get a little closer to it.

2. Stopped by Worthington Glacier. (pic. 2) We could've walked up to the glacier, at our own risk. When it's just the kids and I, I usually don't do the risks...so we walked around for awhile and got back on the road.

3. Checked out Blueberry Lake on the way home...nice, clear lake. The kids could've stayed all day, once again, but fishing was calling, so we got back on the road.

4. After about 4 hours, we made it back to our fishing spot. We ate a picnic supper and found a good spot. Yet another disappointment, only this time, our poles didn't work!! BOTH POLES. I was so stinkin' mad!!! The bigger pole wouldn't reel right, it was stiff and just plain wouldn't reel most of the time. We even had a fish on the line and I had to just grab the line and pull it in that way. The fish ended up getting away. The other pole, I'd turn the crank and it wasn't doing anything, the string wasn't moving at all. Ooohhh, I was ticked!!! I went back to the store and of course, everyone who knows anything about poles/strings/fishing left at 4pm. And none of them are working tomorrow, but they said to see the manager at 8am. You better believe it. I'm about ready to just buy 2 new poles, but I don't want to give either of these 2 businesses my business!!

5. Headed home, kids took showers and we're all headed to bed. I think we're all exhausted.

There seems to be so much to do and so little time. I just don't think we're going to have time for the glacier cruise..it's all day, 11am-7:30pm, but Valdez has their Gold Rush Days going on now with some fun activities. Plus, they are showing a movie about the Gold Rush that I'd like to see, and the kids to see. The pipeline documentary and the earthquake documentary really made an impression on the kids. There is so much history in this town, it's fun to at least hit on each one briefly (earthquake, pipeline, gold rush, etc.)

Time for bed. The high tide is starting to get later in the evening, but later in the morning too, so the goal for tomorrow, is get to the store early (8am??), then go fishing, otherwise we won't be able to go until 9pm tomorrow. Quite frankly, I run out of steam about 8pm :)

Heard from nathan today. He thought the Captain might come back today, but he didn't, which means nathan didn't. They are going to stay at the lodge out by the cove where they are. he had another fantastic experience today. When I talked to him, he broke up alot on the cell phone, but I think he said he was on snorkel and was surrounded (3?) and had an in-your-face encounter. He was so excited. Can't wait to hear more details. Of course, he's fine and never had a problem. I asked if he was scared, he said no, just excited.

~L

VALDEZ: Tue. 7/28

2009-07-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

Woke up to no rain...although it's still extrememly cloudy, so it probably will rain. Yesterday the clouds were so thick and low, we couldn't even see the mountains and they are right across the street! Nathan headed out about 8am to take the boat back to the "shark" cove. His pole cam he made from scratch has been a huge success. Hopefully he can get some more great shots!

We ate (MO) blueberry pancakes with (AK) birch syrup for b'fst. Which gives me an idea, we need to go pick more salmonberries and put those in our pancakes!

We didn't get going til about noon today. Stopped by the fishing shop, had the poles re- strung with 30lb line this time (12lb line snapped almost every time yesterday). Stopped by for coffee and headed out on a road trip.

1. Stopped by a salmon spawning place, learned about the fish life cycle.

2. Then stopped by the Valdez glacier. Saw kayakers head out toward the glacier. Kids had fun climbing on the rocks on the shore.

3. Then we went down Dayville Rd. where we go fishing. We were told a bear usually shows up between 2:30-3:30pm, so we headed there during that time. We saw a salmon hatchery, tons of salmon and walked the beaches since the tide was out. Never saw the bear.

4. On the road back to the Richardson Hwy. we saw 2 bald eagles!

5. Headed farther up the highway and stopped by Robe River and saw float planes!

6. Went further, entered Keystone Canyon and saw 2 beautiful falls, stopped in front of Bridal Veil Falls and ate a picnic lunch (although the kids sat in back of the jeep and froze)

7. Last stop for today was an old RR tunnel hand carved out. Kids loved it. We then walked across the giant parking lot to see a raging Lowe River and another beautiful waterfall. The kids found 'dirt' although I'm wondering if it's silt or something. anyhow, give my kids (especially Jack) any amount of dirt and they're occupied for hours! I finally had to tell them it was time to go fishing (the only thing that was going to pry them away from their 'dirt')

8. Headed back to Allison Point and got to fishin'. It was a beautiful afternoon (still no sun, but no rain either!). We saw Sea Otters today, as well as the Sea Lions. Taylor was positive she saw a brown bear walk across the road not too far from us, too, but by the time we walked down there, we didn't see it.

We had been fishing for awhile with no luck. The salmon started running right on the shore, so Taylor just stuck her net in and caught one!! She let it go b/c it looked small, but that was our only catch today. Way to go, Taylor!! The water was murkey against the shore, plus it wasn't raining. Maybe the fish bite better when it's raining? Also, the fish shop did a terrible job re-stringing the poles! I spent more time untangling fishing line than actually fishing. We gave up after a couple of hours. After getting back to Valdez, we took the poles to another shop to get re-strung, but nobody was there to do it (it was 8:45pm), so maybe tomorrow.

The plan was to take a day trip and go about 65-72miles outside of town and see all the sites. But, everytime we stopped, the kids just wanted to stay and play, so we'll have to take another day and finish our road trip. We really want to see Worthington Glacier and the Pipeline. Jack is fascinated with the pipeline!

It was a good, exhausting day. There is still so much I want to do, and only 3 days to do it because Nathan gets back Friday night, and his captain is letting us borrow is sciff (?) for the weekend, so we'll be doing that Sat. and Sun., then we leave on Monday. I don't want to leave!!

VALDEZ: Mon. 7/27

2009-07-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

Kids and I ate eggs/sausage, went to the grocery store, the quilt shop and the natural foods store. Then we stopped by and watched a documentary about the 1964 earthquake and a documentary on how the pipeline was built. The kids were fascinated even though the earthquake movie was in black and white and the pipeline movie was several years old. They know the pipeline ends in Valdez and they really want to see it, but since 9/11, they are not offering tours anymore. We then ate lunch in the motorhome, made apple muffins and went fishing again in the afternoon. It rained all day, so no bike riding, but it wasn't going to stop us from fishing.

The kids and I found the perfect spot this time. I got the 2 poles all ready, found us a flat rock close to the water, cast, gave the pole to Jack and he got a salmon right away! We reeled it in, I got his picture (see above) and in the excitement of it all, the fish slipped out of his hands and got away. Back to fishing. The fish were biting like crazy. Long story short....we landed several fish, but my line would snap once I went to grab it, so we lost a lot, but were able to keep 3!! We finally had a system down where I'd reel it in and Taylor would try and get it in the net before the line snapped. Jack was ready with the fish beater. I, once again, am no fisherwoman (yet), so all I knew to do was give it a couple of wacks (like the halibut fisherman did), and try and get the hook out (didnt' have a tool) and string a string through the gills to keep the fish in the water to keep them fresh. We lost all 4 lures again today otherwise we would've stayed out longer and caught more for sure! The Sea Lions were everywhere again and were so fun to watch. We even saw one catch a salmon and have it in it's mouth. And the noises they make are so interesting. I love it that the kids are getting to experience all of this!

We went directly to the dock in Valdez, had all 3 filleted and learned we had 2 males and 1 female. The males had been the in streams for a bit. He could tell b/c of the color. The female had good color, so her meat was brighter. I had the 2 males frozen and had the female for supper!! The female was also loaded with eggs, so the filleter told us how to cook the eggs. I fried them in butter with s/p and garlic, the kids really wanted to try them. Taylor didn't like it at all, Jack took quite a few bites, liking it at first, then deciding he didn't like it. There was no way Nathan or I were trying that!!

Nathan called while we were at the 'freezer' for the fish and was on his way in. So, he was able to eat our freshly caught salmon with us...what a treat!

Nathan has had a good experience so far. He has some good shots of these salmon sharks! They are difficult to photograph and don't act like the typical shark. They are completely uninterested in the chum or any kind of bait, which makes it impossible to bring them close to the boat to photograph. So, Nathan happily gets in the water, snorkels to get close, then at one point, he starts to get tired, heads to shore for a break and as he is approaching the rocky beach, he looks up and a big black bear is looking right at him. He still gets out of the water and the bear wanders away...probably wondering what in the world he was looking at.

We had a good few hours listening to Nathan's adventures before it was time for bed. I stayed up til 11pm making more chocolate chip cookies for the guys. I had sent some on Saturday and they were already gone and asking for more. Happy to oblige.

~L

This video is super short, wish I had more, but it's hard to take movies/pics and make sure Jack doesn't end up swimming with the salmon and sea lions. :)

VALDEZ: Sun 7/26

2009-07-26T12:36:00.001-05:00

It rained all night (harder than normal), so I woke up 'thinking'. Thinking about how I need to move the bikes under an awning, how I need to find our fishing poles and how I need to get our rain gear out of the Jeep and into the RV (it didn't rain yesterday!!) and how Kenai probably really needs to go out this morning....always something to do!

So, I got up, accomplished all tasks, came back in the motorhome and the kids had gotten up, made and put up their hide-a-bed, made, ate and put away their breakfast and are now playing nicely together with their dinosaurs! They are so awesome.

We went to the local tackle shop and got all geared up for fishing. They strung 2 of our poles for salmon fishing, I purchased the lures, a license and a string to string all of catches! We headed out to Allison Point. First thing I noticed were all of the signs warning people of bears!

I got the first pole strung and it didn't work! (I have done very little fishing in my life and when I have, someone else has always done the work up until actually casting. So, to be out here with 2 kids trying this myself is an accomplishment!) A really nice couple stopped by and he helped me figure out my problem. After that we were good, although the lines on each pole kept getting all tangled. Once I'd get one pole cast and given to jack, I'd go over to Taylor to get her started. Then, jack's pole would be tangled or caught in a rock, then Taylor's pole would do the same. Plus, I had lost 2 lures to rocks and dropped a 3rd in between the boulders we had to climb to get to the water. I had one lure left. The kids ended up playing on the boulders and with the net and I fished. I had one on the line! but I got away. Lots of bites. It's amazing we didn't catch any fish, they were absolutely everywhere. They were jumping and swimming right at our feet. We'll try again another day. Surely we can catch one. We did have fun watching the Sea Lions frolicking nearby in the water. It was a good experience. Still a rainy, dreary day, but we're used to it now.

We're back in the motorhome, the kids have changed out of their wet clothes (didn't heed mama's advice to wear rain gear) and changed into warm PJ's and stood in front of the heaters!

Haven't heard from Nathan. he thought he might have limited cell sevice out where he's at, but doesn't look like it. I don't see how in the world he'd have service in the middle of Prince William Sound! He may be back for a visit tomorrow or Tuesday.

~L

VALDEZ: Sat. 7/25

2009-07-26T12:28:00.000-05:00

Today's the day Nathan leaves for his diving expedition! They put the finishing touches on the shark cage last night and got everything loaded on the boat today, left about noon. We didn't see him off b/c a) we were Salmonberry picking and b) the kids had a total meltdown last night over him leaving, so we purposly stayed busy.

The kids and I participated in a program through the Valdez Museum where we went Salmonberry Picking, then went back to the museum to make it in to jam. It was a great time. And it was great to get our minds off of Nathan leaving for a few days. The kids had fun and we came away with 3 jars of jam! We then ate lunch at a restaurant (again, very expensive to eat out!!), toured the Valdez Museum, checked out the library, went to a couple of shops looking for rain boots for Taylor, and went to the dock and watched the dock guys cut up (fillet?) a bunch of Pink Salmon that had been caught today. The kids were fascinated. One really nice lady let Jack hold one of her Salmon (got a picture!), then the kids watched it get filleted. They were most interested in the part when all the leftover fish parts got pushed down the chute by a powerful surge of water to where the seagulls were patiently waiting.

We spend the rest of the evening in the motorhome and just played.

~L

VALDEZ: 7/24/09

2009-07-24T22:26:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day. As we were leaving to get groceries for N8's epic trip, we saw a Grizzly Bear trot across the marsh in front of our motorhome (maybe 1/4 mile away). Of course, we took off looking for it. We bought some bear spray and headed down a trail where we thought it might be. We never did find it, but Nathan took another way and found tracks. It was definitely a Grizzly (he's practically a bear expert!).

We did make it to the grocery store and Nathan is now off with the other divers and boat captain looking at the shark cage. It's time for the kids and I to go for a walk. They are having a blast together, but are having a 'pillow fight' with nathan's scrunched up sleeping bags. Kind of a rough game in such a small space. Can't believe neither one has gotten hurt yet.

It's still rainy...a constant drizzle actually and about 52 degrees. Nice and chilly.

~L

MADE IT TO VALDEZ

2009-07-23T13:51:00.000-05:00

Today is Thursday 7/23, but here's a recap since Monday (since we haven't had internet)

Mon. 7/20: Pink Mountain, BC - North of Watson Lake, Yukon. 479miles/12hour day.
AlCan was good to Fort Nelson, then it got rough. Went through some horrible contruction (extremely dusTy/dangerous), but made it through okay. Ft. Nelson - Watson Lake was PRIME wildlife viewing (thanks for the heads-up, Sandra!) We saw: black bear, caribou, Stone sheep, moose, beaver, beaver dams, buffalo, fox and grouse.

Tue. 7/21: Watson Lake, Yukon - Haines Junction. 356miles/9hour day
We didn't cover as many miles, but stopped for a bit at the Continental Divide and stopped at a fantastic museum in Whitehorse. It was about Beringia and the ice age...we learned a lot! We took a walk in Haines Junction on a paved road into town and found a bakery/cafe/coffee shop/ice cream shop/store. T and J got ice cream (even though they were cold) and N8 and I got coffees. It was a nice walk and a cute town. Stays light til 11p-12a, so we don't even notice how late it is!

Wed. 7/22: Haines Junction, Yukon - VALDEZ, ALASKA. 547miles/12.5 hour day
This was a l-o-n-g day, but so worth it. 547 miles is a good day, but SUPER impressive when driven on the AlCan, over frost heaves going 40miles/hour, in a big RV. It was cool (chilly!), cloudy and rainy most of the way from Tok. We planned on staying in Tok, even fueled up and got coffee at a little coffee shack, but noticed the Salmon Bake was closed, so we decided to move on. What's another 256 miles (Tok-Valdez) when you've already driven 3700?? We arrived at our campground in Valdez at 10:15pm (Alaska time).

We never had to unhook the Jeep!! And we only ate out once, something we wish we didn't even do...it's so much more pleasant (and fast, and cheaper) to just snack in the RV and keep going.

TOTAL MILES: 4016.9 (taking 8 full days)

Today, Thu. 7/23, it is cold (high 40's) and raining. We are right next to the marina which is handy in case Nathan does get to come back during his 7 days on the water, he can just walk 'home'. We have a beautiful view of the mountains and the water. We've already taken a walk into town and eaten breakfast. Our choices were bacon or ham, cheese, and egg sandwich or wrap. We all had a sandwich, the kids each got a drink, N8 got a coffee and I got a water. $38.oo. Whoa. We won't being doing much of that!

~L

ALASKA VACATION

2009-07-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

Sun. 7/19: Whitecourt, Alberta - Pink Mountain, BC: 400 miles (2635.5 TOT)

We made it onto the AlCan today!! It has been good roads so far. It rained most of today and was chilly! Completely opposite of 95 and humid that we're used to.

We are at a campground now enjoying a campfire and some campers' choice music. We went for a bike ride, then Nathan went for a bike ride for a few miles on the AlCan! We are now sitting amongst a million little bugs...they are everywhere. But we're covered in bug spray and sitting next to a lit can of OFF (it doesn't help).

Our goal tomorrow will be Watson Lake (well over 400 miles), but we'll see what kind of roads we encounter tomorrow.

The kids are having fun! They play well together (for the most part) and travel extrememly well.

We got two new pics of Charlene today...bittersweet. I haven't had internet working on my Blackberry for about 2 days, but we get out here in the middle of nowhere Canada and it worked! Glad for that, so I could see pics of our girl.

~L

ALASKA VACATION

2009-07-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

We are headed to Alaska (driving the RV) so Nathan can dive with Salmon sharks.

We left the night of July 14th and drove 2 1/2 hours to Peculiar, MO, just to get out of town. From there...

Wed. 7/15: Peculiar, MO - Kennebec, SD: 563 miles
Thu. 7/16: Kennebec, SD - Billings, MT: 553 miles
Fri. 7/17: Billings, MT - Shelby, MT: 421 miles (stopped at WM and a museum)
Sat. 7/18: Shelby, MT - Whitecourt, Alberta: 531 miles
(2235 miles so far)

Valdez is approx. 3600 miles, so only about 1435 miles to go...over half way there!

We haven't stopped much, we eat in the RV and keep driving. Kids are doing AWESOME. They play most of the time and only watch a cartoon in the afternoons.

I'll post more as internet allows. Getting up into remote territory tomorrow and beyond...

~L

Trip to Haiti

2009-07-18T21:53:00.001-05:00

I should've been updating while in Haiti but internet was scarce. I'll try and recap quickly..although i could write a book on everything I saw/experienced.

Key people to note:

Charlene: our daughter!
Vera: gal who helps run orphanage/paperwork (American)
Barbara: gal who started/runs orphanage (American)
Milan: haitian gal who helps with paperwork/translations
Zack: we stayed at his apt., rented 2 rooms

"Village": where Charlene stays
"Creche": orphanage down the road affiliated with the Village

Day 1: Dad and I arrived in Port-au-Prince (PAP) in afternoon. Met by Vera and Charlene!! and a nanny. Such a sweet experience getting to see/hold Charlene for the first time. She was with us the whole time after that point. Went to Zack's apt. to unload.

Day 2: Vera and Barbara picked up Dad, Charlene and I around 9:30am or so. They took us to the one and only tourist shop we would visit, then we ran errands in PAP all day, checking on adoption paperwork. We picked up Milan also, so there were always 4 of us in the back of a toyota p/u in 95 degree muggy heat with no a/c. Went to 2 grocery stores, got supplies for the orphanage, dropped them off at the Village and went back to Zack's. Vera made us dinner (spicy spaghetti). Zack's apt is not air conditioned, so it was hard to eat hot, spicy spaghetti in such a hot kitchen.

Day 3: Vera and Barbara picked us up around 11am or so. Ran errands all day again.

Day 4: Vera and Barbara and Milan picked us up and we went up the mountainside to feel the cooler weather.

Day 5: Vera and Barbara picked us up and we all went to the beach.

Day 6: We got dropped off at the airport about 9am at which point I had to give Charlene back.

There's TONS more to write about, but that's it in a nutshell. Charlene did AWESOME the entire time being in the truck carted all over everywhere. We all sweated buckets! Charlene was so sweet, loved to play and roll on the floor and play with my camera strap and Zack's keys. She slept so good, never fussed about 2 white people coming and taking over her care in a new environment for a few days! I was able to feed her cereal for the first time and take her in the ocean for the first time. Dad fed her mango juice too!

I absolutely can't wait to bring her home. The desperation really set in while I was there, but there is nothing I can do but PRAY!. So, I/We pray for her, her caregivers and for the paperwork to go through all channels quickly, smoothly and without problems.

~L

HAITI PAPERWORK PROCESS

2009-05-27T21:59:00.000-05:00

Immigration/Passport printing (2-8wks)
USCIS (3wks+)
Visa Process (1-2wks)

= 10.5mo – 29mo TOTAL

USCIS fingerprinting done!!

2009-05-27T21:40:00.000-05:00

Well, USCIS (U.S. Customs and Immigration Service) expedited our finger-printing process, since this was the only week we'd be able to go to KC until July. We drove 7 hours (RT) today to North KC to get our fingerprints done. This is for the FBI check. The kids did fantastic!

Now, I think we're done with most of the paperwork. We just wait to get approved from the USCIS to be able to adopt and PRAY that our paperwork in Haiti goes smoothly and quickly. Nothing happens quickly in Haiti, but I'm still praying for quickly!

Glad to have that done before I leave next Wed and before Aaron leaves for all of June and before we leave again in July for 4 weeks. Now we just wait.....and wait...........and wait........

~L

GOIN' TO HAITI

2009-05-21T12:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I leave for Haiti in less than 2 weeks. This is actually perfect timing to go because May is keeping me sooo busy, that it's flying by and I don't have my mind on this trip all the time.

I am to bring a port-a-crib, diapers/wipes/formula and baby/toddler toys for the orphanage. I've got most of that. I just learned of the needed toys yesterday, so we'll have fun shopping for those!

The airlines allow 2-50lb checked bags and those are to be used solely for orphanage donations.
I'm also allowed a 40lb carry-on and a backpack purse, those are to be used for what I need. I'll be working on that this weekend to see if I can get all of my stuff to fit in a carry-on. As far as the duffle bags, I'm out of weight, but not out of room, so we may just pay extra to take as much as we can to the orph.

I've got one more vaccination to get (Typhoid). I wasn't going to get it, but I changed my mind, hopefully it's not too late. I've gotten my Hep A and Hep B shots and will take malaria pills as well.

Vera (the gal I'm working with at the orphanage) says Charlene is getting LONG and still loves to be held all the time....I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nathan will have to wait a few months before visiting-he can't get out of work for this trip, so Dad is going with me. I'm super excited about that!

~L

BROOKS

2009-05-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

Well, Brooks is no longer with us. It was a tough decision, but the poor dog had too many problems (diabetes, glaucoma, gingivitis, infection, etc.)...it was for the best. He lived a good life and we have lots of wonderful memories of him.

Jack is doing very well...he just sees it as we have 2 dogs now instead of 3.

Taylor took it really hard. She cried a bit the night we told her, then asked questions. The next day was rough and that night was 'rougher' :) Brooks would always lay on her bed and that memory hit her hard that night. She got through that night with lots of tears and hugs and did better yesterday.

She's getting to the 'fact' stage and is able to talk about him without crying every time.

We will miss him dearly. He enjoyed many-a-vacation with us and will be truly missed on this one.

p.s. This was taken the day he passed away. It is the picture that makes Taylor laugh every time...so glad to have it!!

Dossier in Haiti!

2009-04-22T10:54:00.000-05:00

The Dossier made it to Haiti safely in 2 days, way to go Fed Ex!! It arrived last Friday, so it all begins....now it's just 12-20 more months. ugh.

Other good news, Charlene's Mom has returned from her village safely and has given Charlene's birth certificate to the orphanage, so now her paperwork can be processed along with ours. Yeah!

Next step...get approved by the US gov't to be able to adopt internationally. The paperwork is significantly less, so I'll send that off later this week or next.

For anyone who has been praying along with us, thank you for your prayers!! The Mom arriving back safely and the dossier arriving safely is a true answer to prayer!

I will continue to pray for the process and for Charlene's health and safety and all workers at the orphanage.

~L

EASTER

2009-04-15T22:44:00.001-05:00

We got invited to Omaha for Easter to spend time with family and see Matt who is back from Iraq. A few days prior to Easter, Jack got sick and had an off-and-on fever, so Taylor and I left on Friday.

We stayed at (Great) Grandma and Grandpa's house and got to see Calvin and Donna too. What a treat! Taylor really enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Saturday noon, we met Mom and Dad at Applebees for lunch. Then, Dad took Taylor back to the hotel and Mom and I went shopping. I finished off my Easter outfit, thanks to Mom's help. I'm totally fashion illiterate! I then took Taylor swimming, then Mom, Dad, Taylor and I went to eat supper and we headed to bed.

Sunday, we met Gloria, Ellis and Matt's at church for the Easter service. How nice to gather at church with family on Easter! And to have Matt's family there too, what a special treat that was! We all met at Gloria's after church and had John's and Randy's come over too. What a fun time for all. Great food, great visiting and a very fun egg hunt put on for the little kids by the big kids. 6'2 Casey hiding eggs for 3-7 year olds--he's so fun!! At least he was willing to lift them up to the high-placed eggs!

Mom and Dad drove home that night and Taylor and I headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house that evening. Taylor once again had fun with Grandma and Grandpa. She played with the automatic card shuffler and with the bird that can balance it's beak on anything. Taylor and Grandma compared their hands (78 years difference). Grandma told the story that Ryan once said her hands looked like trees!

Grandma also told the story that when Carson came over to stay for a day or two, he was having problems keeping his pants clean (potty training #2 apparently). Grandma told him how she just hates poopy pants. He never had a problem again. And Taylor thought it was hilarious. It has been re-told several times since she's been home :) Usually, any story having to do with various bodily functions right now seems to be pretty funny. Surely they'll outgrow that sooner than later :)

Taylor put herself to bed at 8:30pm that night, and we left the next morning for home. We made a pit stop in Benton, MO for lunch and Target and made it home safely. What a wonderful weekend!

~L

Jack says Mommy is fat

2009-04-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

So, Jack was sitting on my lap last week, patted by belly and said, "Momma, why is your belly so big?" My answer was that I eat too much. He then said it was because I've had 2 babies in there.

Then, Taylor and I left for 4 days and Nathan asked Jack, "Did you really tell Mommy she was chunky?" His reply, "No, I said she was fat."

Ahh...the innocence and brutal bluntness of a precious 5 year old boy.

Diet starts tomorrow...ha.

~L

Dossier to Haiti!

2009-04-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

Dossier was sent to Haiti today. YOHOO!

And, the gal (Vera) I had to send it to first to look it over said it was the best dossier she's ever received. I could've cried. I could say I put forth a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it was mostly tears! What a relief that we didn't have to re-do anything, we caught all mistakes before it was sent!!!

So, the process begins. I got a sheet today that explains the process and the different gov't offices it goes to in Haiti and it seems the timeline is 10.5 mo - 29.5 months. I'm just hoping by Christmas of 2010 to have her. But, anything can happen, good or bad.

Now we need to work on USCIS (U.S. Customs and Immigration) and have the US gov't approve us to adopt! At least that's only about 10 documents, I can handle that!

~L

Jack/Charlene

2009-04-09T17:20:00.000-05:00

Jack 's had a fever off and on for 3 days now. He tested negative for strep today (Taylor had it 2 weeks ago) but complains of headaches (possible symptom of strep). He has a fever again tonight with chills, so we'll continue the anitbiotics he got today and the tylenol. The doc. is sure it's nothing serious.

This afternoon, he got out a workbook (I have lots of workbooks for him, he LOVES them!) He's practicing writing his numbers and working on blends (ma, me, mo, etc). It's a preschool wkbk, but good for review. He loves practicing writing his letters and numbers. He's excited to be homeschooled next year and so am I. Both kids are so fun to teach, to learn from and have around!

Charlene
I had a long talk with Vera a few nights ago (when we discovered a couple of critical mistakes in the dossier) and she mentioned that Charlene's foster Mom has an email...and she shared it with me. Of course, I immediately wrote to introduce myself. She wrote back this morning with a little update on Charlene and a little info about herself. It was so exciting.

Vera mentioned they received 5 more babies recently at the orphanage, so LaWanna (the foster Mom) probably has more than 3 babies right now which equals no time for anything but caring for the precious children! Which makes the email all the more special.

LaWanna is from Indiana, so Charlene is being exposed to a 'white' lady who speaks English, yohoo! She also said Charlene is adjusting much better now, which is so great to hear.

~L

DOSSER HAS BEEN SENT!!!

2009-04-09T17:17:00.000-05:00

HALLELUJIAH!!!!!!!!!
Of course, I have to stay somewhat close to reality here and not be in the clouds :) It still has to pass Vera's watchful eye, then get to Haiti safely!!! Still...........it's out of my kitchen. My poor printer gets a break! (And me too--ha).

~L

DOSSIER about to cross finish line..but not quite yet.

2009-04-08T17:18:00.000-05:00

Each day, I think....today I get to send off the dossier. And each day, I find a new problem. It's actually comical now. It wasn't so comical last week :)

I thought I'd be able to send it today, but learned last night that the Home Study was to go to the Consulate with the other 10 documents. Didn't know that. So, that got sent out today. Also, learned we were missing some lab tests from the doctor, so I had those faxed to Nathan at the shop. He proceeded to send those to the Consulate as well (they were supposed to come home), so now I have to call the Consulate and tell them they need to disregard our lab tests. Doc. had to fax over results again...hopefully Nathan remembers to bring them home.

Also learned that all copies I made of notary signatures had to be re-done because they had to include the Consulate stamp too.

So, Mon. night I was up until 12am and last night until 1:30am--worked 8 hours straight last night.

I've got it ready now. The Consulate authenticated home study will bypass me and go straight to Vera in California and I will get the faxed lab reports tonight, make more copies and add them to the dossier. I have one original and 6 copies. Each set has 100 pages. My poor copier. I didn't know such a cheap copier could do so well!!!! (HP F4180)

Now, Vera will look it over and if it passes her scrutiny, it will be sent to Haiti. I pray nothing needs re-done. I feel confident that I've found some good errors before this has been sent off. Hopefully I've found them all!

~L

WORD FROM HAITI

2009-04-01T17:05:00.000-05:00

Well, Jackie (from the agency who's been in Haiti for a few days and got to spend time with Charlene) called today!

I have pages and pages of notes. She explained orphanage life, and what Charlene does and what her foster mom is like (a retired gal from Indiana).

She told about visiting there, what to expect, where to stay, what to send, what to bring, when to travel.

She took lots of pictures and notes from talking to Charlene's foster Mom and hopefully will send them yet today. I can't wait.

I need to sit down and organize all my notes so I can tell Nathan and get it all clear in my head.

They are definitely waiting on our paperwork, but are also waiting on Charlene's birth certificate as well. Her mom had to go back to her village and get a birth certificate made for her so she can get a birth certificate made for Charlene, then she has to travel back to the orphanage, which, as I understand it, is quite a ways away. But it has been almost 2 weeks and she could return at any time. That's why I am doing everything I can to get this paperwork down there ASAP.

Jackie did say that FEdEx is pretty reliable in getting paperwork there, so that seems to be the plan for now.

I just got the translations (YES!) and he said he could translate the new Psych. letters fairly quickly, so that's good news too!!

I feel like I'm in a "hurry up and wait" mode. I was doing okay until I talked to Jackie and now I'm all worked up. I'm excited to learn some new information, but that combined with 1/2 cup of coffee this morning, I feel like I'm moving 90 miles an hour--or at least my brain is. (I know that sounds wierd, but my body (brain) is not used to coffee at all.)

This is where prayer comes in...I need to go back to God and trust Him to take care of everything in His timing. And rely on Him to calm me down!
~L

PSYCHOLOGY LETTER

2009-04-01T16:52:00.000-05:00

I thought trip #5 to the Sec. of State yesterday was the last, but I was wrong. After driving to Strafford (30miles from our home) to have a notary fix her mistake.
Trip #4 was early Tue. morning to be told the notary didn't notarize the Psych. letter properly.
Trip #5 was after the cross-country trip to another town to have the notary fix her mistake. This time the Sec. of State approved the notary.

We then tried our best to get out to the shop before the UPS man to overnight these documents to the Consulate in Chicago, but we didn't make it. We prayed we'd make it to the shop before he did, but we didn't. Taylor was disappointed God didn't answer our prayer, but He knew exactly what needed to be done. We needed to miss the UPS man.

I Talked to Jackie today, who is back from Haiti, (more on that in a minute) and she siad there can be NO mention of the kids in the Psych. letter. Well, there is. I made sure there was no mention anywhere else (except a blip in the homestudy) but I failed to make it either known and/or clear it needs to be omitted from the Psych. letter. So, once again, we have to have the Psych. letter re-done.

So, this morning, not knowing yet, the Psych. letter wasn't right, I sent it with Nathan to the shop to overnight to the Consulate in Chicago. I get the call that we can't mention the kids, call Nathan right away and he is just handing it to the UPS man, so thankfully he was able to keep itl

Luckily we chose a Psychologist who is willing to keep re-doing and keep re-notarizing these re-dos. Hopefully this is the last re-do. I think we're all getting tired of it. So, tomorrow, I will get the re-done, notarized copy and go back to the Sec. of State to have them sign off AGAIN, then we'll be ready to overnight these to the Consulate.

I pray for this all to be done in God's timing. That was made clear to me today about yesterday. So cool.

~L

Haitian Consulate

2009-03-30T14:05:00.000-05:00

I just want to say a word about the paperwork...

Quick guide for the dossier process:
all documents notarized, then..
all notarized documents need State Certified by Sec. of State to authenticate the notaries, then..
some docs go to translation for Haiti to be able to read them (they read French), then...
some docs go to Haitian Consulate in Chicago so they can authenticate the State Certifications, then....
All docs (dossier) go to Haiti.

We completed all notarizations on Sat. the 21st for the Dossier. The normal process is to then have all papers State Certified by the Secretary of State, send them to our agency in AZ. They then find a translator, have them translated, the translator sends them back to the agency in AZ. The agency then sends the docs to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to get authenticated, then they are returned to AZ. The agency then sends this completed Dossier to Haiti.

We get a referral on the 22nd (the next day), with the dossier in our kitchen, not Haiti. The gal who I'm talking with and runs the orphanage but lives in CA, is at the orphanage now visiting and just had a little girl show up needing a family. She has talked her friend, who also runs the orphanage, into "holding" this little girl for us until our Dossier gets there. (She knew we were close to having it complete!)

So, fast forward....cut out all mailings completely. So, that night, the Dossier and homestudy are scanned/emailed to a translator in CA who will then email back the translations by April 1st. The Haitian Consulate in Chicago tells me on my first phone call that it will take a week for my documents to get authenticated. So I figure, 2 days to get there, a week to authenticate and 2 days back to me. We don't have that kind of time!! I call again today and offer to fly over to Chicago, hand deliver...can they get it done any quicker, like in 2 days? Her answer, same day! She even said if I overnighted the documents, they would work on them the same day and send them back overnight to us. That's a 3day turnaround! AND I don't even have to wait on the translations...she said I can email those when I get them. God is Good.

The only wait now, though, is that the Psychologist had to re-do our letter. He had made one letter for both of us, instead of a letter for each of us. He has the letters done, but hasn't contacted me yet as to when I can pick them up. Once I pick them up, I need to run over to the Secretary of State (trip #4), then add that doc. to my other docs to go the Consulate, then overnight them.

Now it's just a matter of how to get this Dossier safely to Haiti.......Anyone going to Haiti? :)

REFERRAL

2009-03-30T13:54:00.000-05:00

This may be a bit premature and I still wonder if I should post, but I am going ahead so I can ask for continued prayer.

We got a 'referral' last week which means, they have found a child for us. It is a baby girl, her name is Charlene and she will be 4 mo. old on April 4th.

She appears very healthy and seems to be doing well in the orphanage, but it is an orphanage. It is a well run, well staffed orphanage (from what I'm told) but still.....

I ask for continued prayer for her, that she remain to be healthy.

I ask for prayer for the staff at the orphanage who take care of her to give her as much love and attention as they possibly can. That they are able to meet her needs in a timely manner.

And we needs lots of prayer for the paperwork, for the gov'ts to move this along quickly, or at least as quickly as they can. I suspect this will take upwards of 18 months, which is so heartbreaking for us. But, it's all in how fast the gov't moves the paperwork along.

And since I'm asking :), I'd like to ask for prayer for us...for patience and understanding. Now that there's a face for this mound of paperwork, it's hard to be here and she be there.

Anyway, thank you for sharing in our good news. And I am constantly reminded that anything can change with an international adoption, so we are praying that this all goes well and the gov't cooperates.

~L

DOSSIER IS COMPLETE

2009-03-23T08:09:00.000-05:00

The DOSSIER is a bunch of papers that Haiti needs such as passport photos, copies of our passports, Drivers Licences, social security cards, birth certificates, and marriage certificate. Letters from the bank, the employer, the police, the doctor and a psychologist as well as several reference letters. And of course there all kinds of legal documents and documents for the child. So, with that in mind....the dossier is finally complete.

What took the longest was waiting for Nathan's social security card...that was about a month, but we got it on Wed. and had the last of the dossier documents notarized on Saturday. Our homestudy and a 18 pages of the dossier are now in translation. They will be translated into French because that's the language in Haiti. The language is actually Haitian Creole, but it's a form of French.

I will go today to the Secretary of State's office here in Springfield and have all of the notary signatures notarized by them.

After translation, which should be complete April 1st, those translated documents will go the Haiti Consulate in Chicago to have their seal of approval, then all documents go to Haiti. Yeah!

That is all I can write for now, I'll write more later. I"m glad this phase of paperwork is complete.

I just continue to pray for the paperwork and that everything goes smoothly. I pray for all documents to be complete with nothing missing or wrong. Such problems could cause unnecessary delays.

~L

Taylor's clay art

2009-02-22T14:07:00.000-06:00

Well, I posted a piece of art from Jack, thought I'd post one for Taylor.
She also does an excellent job...in my opinion :)...on her paintings, but she has a talent for clay art as well. I had 2 packets of modeling clay I hauled all the way to Alaska and back for something to do on the plane and never used it. However, we used it for a science experiment the other day and she's been playing with it ever since. I can't get over the detail she has. This creature, called "Little Tiny" is only 1 1/2 inches tall and 1 inch wide at the arms. Very tiny, yet she puts on a necklace and facial features. Anyway, had to brag :)

~L

spelling bee

2009-02-21T18:27:00.000-06:00

Taylor and I went to a Homeschool Expo today where there was a spelling bee and where homeschooled kids displayed what they've worked on this year. Taylor loved the spelling bee! I didn't know it, but several of her friends participated, but we got there too late and missed seeing them. I hope it is something she will try next year. She would be very good at it.

~L

Dossier, Jack, travel

2009-02-20T23:24:00.000-06:00

I am sitting here making 7 copies of my newly received, certified birth certificate hoping my ink doesn't run out. One more document I can check off the list! Nathan and I have a psychologist appointment scheduled for next Thursday, so that will be good to get out of the way. I just hope the psychologist can figure out we're okay in just one session :)

Yesterday, while Taylor and I were doing school, Jack wanted to paint, so I gave him some paper and he gathered the paints and brushes. This is what he created and he calls it "The Sun". He put a star in the center because the sun is actually a star. He then changed what he wanted to be when he grows up to an artist and a daddy instead of a nurse and a daddy.

Jack is also into the human body. Bones, organs, everything. He loves reading books on any of that. We were at the book store a few weeks ago and he really wanted this model of the human brain. It comes apart so you can learn the different parts of the brain. It was $20, so I told him I would pay half since it's educational, but he's have to earn money for the rest. He cleaned and cleaned and earned money, but then spent it at Wal-mart on a Star Wars toy, so he started over and finally earned enough to go back to the store. He did, but got the 'body' instead of the 'brain'. He LOVES it. He put it all together today, organs and all. Next he wants the skeleton. Good news for me, I get more cleaning help :)

Last week while talking to Vera (gal associated with our adoption agency who travels to the orphanage frequently) said we could need to travel as soon as August. This was a shock to us and sooner than expected. Of course, that timeline could change at any time, so we'll see. Just to clarify, this is NOT to bring the child home. This is to meet with the child for the first time and meet with Haiti officials for the first time. In doing so, we save time on something else later on (visas?) I've emailed Vera to ask why that's important. We won't have a better timeline until our dossier (Haiti's required paperwork) is turned in. The dossier is what I'm working on now. My goal is to get all of this paperwork done and to the Secretary of State to sign off on it before I leave for Mexico on March 5th, but that may be stretching it. (The Secretary of State signs off that all notaries are real notaries and that they signed everything properly). From the Secretary of State, the paperwork will then be sent to be translated, then it will be sent to the Haiti Consulate in Chicago.

Anyway, I just finished making 21 copies of paperwork and it's "pert near" (as G'pa W. says) midnight, so better head to bed. Nathan has a terrible head/chest cold, so we all better stay rested.

Dossier, Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T18:15:00.000-06:00

Well, we are full force in the dossier process and I have to admit, the week after homestudy paperwork was complete and the dossier paperwork began felt like a vacation!! This is exhausting work (mentally mostly), but oh so worth it. The homestudy paperwork was pretty fun...telling about ourselves, our relationship, our life, getting references and background checks. The paperwork for Haiti is a lot more extensive and very sensitive. All signatures have to be correct, all notaries have to be exact and not close to expiring. All wording on all documents has to be just so. Pressure. But, it will be okay. I've been given a list of documents I need to get and make several copies of and that's almost done.

I've been talking with Vera, the gal who actually goes to the orphanage and may be the one who will join us with our new baby! She has been excellent and very patient with me and my hundreds of questions. She thinks we'll need to travel this summer which is shocking to us. She gave us a general time-line and things seem to be moving faster than I anticipated, but it's Haiti. Things take forever there, so I'm still counting on 2 years start to finish. We are truly excited though. My guess is we'll know who our child is within the next 2-3 months, but again, just a wild guess!

We took the kids to the zoo today for Valentine's Day. It was 43 degrees with a slight wind, so we bundled up. We had a great time. Needless to say, not very many people were there, which is just how we like it! After we had walked a ways, Jack's feet were starting to hurt and he wanted to ride on Nathan's shoulders. That reminded me of our hike at Wilson's Creek last weekend. We had hiked for a bit when he said, "I'm not tired of hiking, just tired of walking" We weren't even hiking, it's walking on flat, gravel trails. It was hilarious!

At the zoo, there was a family there. There was a black girl who called her caucasian dad 'daddy'. Nathan saw that and said later that that made him so excited to get our new baby. It seemed like God reminding us of what our family is about to look like and it is truly wonderful.

~L

Homestudy, dossier, life book, Jack

2009-02-08T13:29:00.000-06:00

I just got an email from the adoption agency that she wants to talk on the phone next week about US CIS. I assume it's a good thing and it's to go over the process and what is all involved. I also got an email from a lady who will assist us with our dossier!

The last week I haven't heard from the agency or the social worker, so it's nice to hear we're so close to moving on to the next step. One step closer to meeting our new child!!!

We were hoping to get a rough draft of the home study by now, but are waiting on one reference letter to be turned in. Once that is turned in, then hopefully the homestudy can be completed in the next week or two. I enjoyed the homestudy process, but will be glad when it's over only so we can proceed.

All we have left to do for the homestudy is to complete several hours of adoption training within the next 6 months, which is fine because the agency requires 10 hours of training as well, so we'll kill 2 birds with one stone there. Need to get started on that though.

I went on another scrapbooking outing, only it was an all-dayer, not a long weekend. And guess what??? I found (by chance) 2 pages of adoption stickers and a page with adoption sayings on it. I was thrilled. That will probably be enough as I don't want every page of the life book to have adoption references splattered all over it, but these were really neat.

I need to get started on this child's life book, but of course, I want to read a couple of books on the best way to do it. Of course, I was going to make a scrapbook anyway, but I'm guessing there's some stuff that needs to go into a lifebook that I haven't thought of. Can't wait to learn more about that. Back to the library, I go...

Well, it's a beautiful day today and I'd like to go hiking. The problem is convincing Jack! He's having so much fun playing dinosaurs and star wars in his underwear today!

~L

HOME STUDY / T & J

2009-01-30T16:08:00.001-06:00

Well, I just finished the individual interview and the home tour all at once! I didn't know what to expect or what questions would be asked, so I just prayed that I would speak words that I was supposed to speak and lo and behold...it went pretty good! Nathan goes in for his indiv. interview on Monday, then hopefully we'll have a rough draft of the home study by late next week or early the next week and have the completed home study done by mid-Feb. Yeah!!

School today consisted of practical living (cleaning the house!!) however, Taylor wants to do church at home tonight, tomorrow night and go to 'real' church Sunday morning. So, she and Jack have been coming up with what to talk about during home church. They had their Bibles out, discussed various Bible verses and wrote notes. Taylor wrote 3 words for Jack to read but said she wrote sentences for herself. They won't let me see their notes, so I'm excited to see what they 'preach' about.

~L

Adoption

2009-01-27T16:15:00.000-06:00

I guess I need to backtrack a little :)

Nathan and I have been thinking of adopting for about a year. We really went back and forth. When we first considered this, I researched for hours different agencies, made charts and graphs and completely overwhelmed Nathan! He needed a break. After a while, we had pretty much decided on Ethiopia. Last fall, we tried submitting an application and the app. fee to one agency and it never went through. I then tried sending a pic of the fam and that didn't go through either. We took that as a sign not to continue for a while. So we waited a few more months. We then decided to try again. Once again, it didn't work out with that particular agency, then I just didn't have a great feeling about it, so we waited some more.

Nathan then read an article about Haiti and how some women have to choose which of their children get to live because they are too poor to feed all of them. He came home one day certain we were to go to Haiti. During this time of waiting, again, I had researched even more agencies and found another one I really liked, but when we came home and said it's Haiti, that agency didn't do adoptions in Haiti, so I was back to square one in looking for an adoption agency. Ugh. Finally, I found an agency who I liked and who we are going through now, International Child Foundation www.childfound.org

Although Haiti's adoption process is very long, we really feel this is where God is leading us to adopt. Right off the bat, we learned that Haiti frowns upon families with biological children, but thankfully, the president is pro-adoption and is willing the grant the necessary waiver that is needed to let us adopt from his country. Although it is an extra step, we are excited to do this.

The entire proecss will most likely be at least 2 years. We submitted our application to the adoption agency in mid-December, are now in the middle of our homestudy which hopefully will be completed by mid-end of Feb. Then it's time to work on the 'dossier' which is Haiti's paperwork. Then we have to apply to US immigration, then all of this paperwork needs to be translated into Haiti's language for the officials to review.

We will get a referral (a child that the orphanage has picked out for us) fairly quickly but the wait after the 'referral' will be 12-18 months. Luckily the agency we chose will allow us to visit as often as we like.

It's a lot of waiting and A LOT of unknowns, something I'm not always good with. I am praying for peace and patience and wisdom and of course for this new child. I pray specifically for a healthy body, strong bones, good immune system, healthy blood, good ears and eyes, and a healthy brain. I pray for the caregivers that they have patience and wisdom and love on these orphaned children and make them feel so loved and wanted.

This is all so outide of my comfort zone, telling everyone about what's going on in our lives and asking for prayer, but if you wouldn't mind keeping this new baby in your prayers and the orphange and the caregivers in your prayers, it would mean the world to us.

Thanks for reading this blog.

~L

Scrapbooking Weekend!

2009-01-27T15:09:00.000-06:00

I went on a scrapbooking retreat this last weekend at a WONDERFUL Bed and Breakfast in Rogersville, MO about 45 minutes from here. The food was great and the location was perfect.

I got there on Friday about 5pm. Started scrappin' right away until 2am. My normal bedtime is about 9pm, so that was great. I had been up since 5 am that day, so it's amazing I was still going at 2am!

Saturday, I slept in 'til 8am, started scrappin' at 8:30am and only lasted until 1am that day. Still 15 hours is good (take out 1.5 hours for meals :))

Sunday, slept in again 'til 8am, but only scrapped until about noon, I was anxious to get home. It was a good weekend..I got 53 pages done which is the equivelant to the first 3 1/2 months of 2004. I've turned our downstairs kitchen into my scrapbook nook, so hopefully I can continue to make pages and slowly get caught up, but I wouldn't count on it. I'll just have to rely on these retreats!

I learned last Friday that I am to make a "Lifebook" for the new baby. I figured I would make a scrapbook anyway, but apparently I need to start a "Life Book" now to be able to incorporate the process and all of our feelings during this adoption process. There are books out there about how to make a Life Book starting now, so I guess I need to add that to the list of books I must read!!

~L

Adoption Home Study

2009-01-27T14:51:00.000-06:00

We had our first joint interview with our social worker last Friday. It went great and wasn't what I expected. I figured we'd be grilled (maybe she's saving that for the individual interviews), but it was mostly for her to inform us on what to expect with an adoption and more specifically an international adoption. I've already read a few books, so some of it wasn't new, but it was still good hear it again. The kids played in a playroom connected to the room we were in and they did great. I like having them involved in this whole process.

My individual interview is on Thu. and Nathan's was supposedt o be today but got moved to next Monday because of the ice today. And she comes out to the house Friday for the house tour. Better get to cleaning, since we're iced in today!

SCHOOL/WEEKEND

2009-01-18T17:02:00.000-06:00

Taylor and I decided to take a field trip to see the Titanic Museum in Branson yesterday (1/17). They were also having an ice sculpure contest, so it was neat to see that again. Taylor loved that, but really loved the Titanic again (her 2nd visit, my 1st). Our unit now is on Trust in general and trust in God while learning about boats and floating. The trip to the Titanic was amazing in that they have a lot of neat artifacts, tons of fascinating information and so much to see and learn about. We were there for 2 hours and didn't even know it. She got a level 4 reader about the Titanic and read some of that during supper and again before bed. She is absolutely fascinated with the Titanic which is so neat to see! We then went to the outlet mall for about 45 minutes then decided to stay the night at the Hotel Grand Victorian! Since we didn't have plans to stay, we ran to Wal-Mart to get some essentials, including a swimsuit for Taylor, our little fish. So, off to the pool we went until about 9:45pm. Then we went back to the room and watched Brady Barr compare various salamanders from around the world, including the Hellbender from Missouri! His "taste test" (which involved licking the back of each salamader) declared the Hellbender the winner for the nastiest taste!
Today (1/18) we came home, then went to Bass Pro to get some essentials for Nathan's Mexico trip and while we were there, there was a boat show!! So, with pad of paper and pen in hand, Taylor managed to find 9 different kinds of boats. We looked at how they were different and there different uses. How great!!
What a fun, productive weekend for schooling!
~L

Brand new blog

2009-01-16T11:45:00.000-06:00

This is all so new, but Nathan suggested we start a blog for this adoption process, it is a loooong process with lots and lots and lots and lots of paperwork.

So far...
We have submitted our application to the adoption agency:International Child Foundation (ICF)

We have started our homestudy through Lutheran Family and Childrens Services (LFCS) which involves: fingerprinting, background checks from 4 states, kids' physicals, our physicals, blood work, TB test, and mounds of paperwork asking what we are like as individuals, a couple and a family.

We now wait for the interview process with LFCS, references to be returned and our homestudy to be complete.

We then start all over with all of the paperwork for the "dossier" which is the paperwork that Haiti requires.

So, for now, that's about all I know. It's all a waiting game.

~L