Stuff

I know a lot of things.

I know that, despite the labeling, this is NOT a hand grenade.


I know that the Everglades isn't actually a swamp; it's really the world's slowest moving river. It flows about one-half mile per DAY. That's slow...

And I've been able to determine that the Haitian Adoption Process is the Everglades of International Adoption.

No change in our paperwork since it was submitted to IBESR in November.

A good friend asked me today, "Do you think you'll have them home by Christmas?" And I had to say, "I would love nothing more than to have them home by Christmas, but....."

Welcome to Everglades National Park. Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, even though your heart is in Haiti.

Happy Anniversary.... Now Go Jump Off a Cliff!

It's our 11th anniversary today. I got Brent a paragliding session at the Point of the Mountain. So, he does get to go jump off a "cliff" but in a good way. It looks like it will be a blast and I'm very excited for him to go try it out.[Brent's addition - What she forgot to say is that I have an ever so slight(ly raging) fear of heights. She didn't even buy me a pair of Depends to wear during this adventure. I think she is after the life insurance policy!]

He got me what he called "the Lori version of a dozen roses and chocolates". (I don't eat chocolate) - a bouquet of assorted flowers including calla lilies (which I had in my wedding bouquet and he gets points for remembering that) and the "polygamist family pack" of fruit leather. Fruit leather is my crack cocaine. The man knows me well.

New Hope For Little Angels Tshirts...

We now have a few YOUTH sized T-shirts.... Please check out our Etsy store for details. You can search for seller "lolorosen" or "Hope for Little Angels of Haiti" (which is the name of the orphanage where our kids live).

Remember, 100% of the sale goes to the orphanage for food and medical supplies!

Little Man

This is really the only video clip I have of our Little Man. He was sick and therefore grumpy, so we didn't get a lot of pictures of him. I did have a few darling videos of the two of them playing together and then I somehow deleted them. :( Very sad.

I do have this one remaining. He's very sweet. He's got such a fabulous smile. He has a great laugh. And he NEEDS to be held. Even when he's playing, he runs in for a hug every minute. Literally.... once a minute he needs a hug. You can see him duck under the camera at the end of this to come get his hug.

I love this little man. He's got such a beautiful soul. I can't wait to be his mother!

Far Off Friends

In all the craziness of life lately, I neglected to thank my two friends in The Netherlands for the packages they sent just before our trip.

From my dear Jack, I received a fabulous and delightful book about the Dutch. I read it cover-to-cover, Jack and loved it. Thank you so much for sending it! I learned some things that I thought were true, but really aren't. And I learned somethings I'd never have guessed. It was a fun read and now has an honored place on our bookshelves next to our other great works of the masters. Thank you, friend.

From my dear Rene, I received a brief letter and a stack of US bills. I guess he'd been holding on to them for sometime and kept thinking he should just go get them exchanged for Euro, but then realized that he could send them to me as is and I could use them to buy food for our babies in Haiti. I did take the money to them on our last trip, Rene, and it will be used to meet the orphanage's needs.

Thank you both for your continued support and friendship!

Felines, Frost, and Floods

Today I remembered a funny incident from a number of years ago (13 to be exact). Many of you know that I'm LDS. I spent 18 months doing missionary work in Southeast Florida when was in my early twenties. Right after I returned a neighbor arranged for me to house sit and watch her kids while she and her husband were on a cruise. That was perfect for me as I didn't have a regular job yet.

So I went over there. We had a great time. All three kids were in school during the day, so I got them up in the morning, drove them to school and then took care of things in the evenings. Her kids were a dream and the week flew by. The night before the parents were due home, the parents called me and asked if I'd be OK if they took one more day. They were enjoying their vacation so much they wanted to take a little more time. I didn't have any other plans, so I said it was fine.

Utah in the spring can have wonderful sunny afternoons followed by frosty nights. The kids had a great time playing in the yard after school. Really the only issue I had was the cat (I'm allergic) but as it was outside most of the time I survived.

The morning of the "extra day" dawns and I got the kids fed and started herding them out to the car for the drive to school. The little girl went out, and came right back in, crying hysterically. Between her sobs I could only make out the words "cat" and "driveway". I went out to see what was going on. Yep, the cat was in the driveway, but I had a feeling the way it was lying on its side was probably not healthy. I'm not sure what clued me into that concept but it may have been the way the sunlight was gently dancing and sparkling across the frost on its fur. I'm no animal expert, but I watched plenty of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" as a child and I was fairly positive that fur isn't frosty or sparkly by nature.

I went over to check on it, and sure enough, the 14 year old cat had lived his long, happy life and picked that night to exit this mortal life. I retrieved a towel (pronounced "tow-el", not "tal" like so many in Utahns say it) and tried to gently wrap up the body. Unfortunately, rigor mortis had set in. Rigor Mortis is a scientific term based on an old Latin phrase that loosely translates to mean "you might need the snow shovel to pry the cat carcass off the concrete". Frozen feline fur. Need I say more?

I finally got the cat wrapped up and set aside so that the parents could decide what to do with him when they returned. Planning a kitty funeral was definitely not on the list of things I could cover for the vacationing parents. So we added a little discussion about life and death and God's plan for all His creations to our morning drive and added a special family prayer that the kids would be comforted throughout the day and got them off to school.

At the end of the day when I brought the kids home from school the boys ran downstairs to their rooms to drop off their book bags. Instead of "thud, thud, thud" as they ran down the stairs, it was more of a "thud, thud, slosh". Turns out that the little girl had been playing with the hose the day before (which was fine by their family rules) and she'd even very carefully coiled it back up against the house when she was done. The part she missed was getting the water turned ALL the way off. All night long it had trickled down by the foundation and slowly flowed out across the family room carpet. These kind of things can go unnoticed when you're in a strange house that has its own unique and unfamiliar noises.

I called my folks, got their shop-vac and they helped me round up some fans and it all turned out in the end.

It's funny though, how sometimes the stars align and all the crazy starts oozing out the edges of life.

Time Keeps On Slipping into the Future

We had a Women's Conference for the women in the 8 congregations in our immediate area today. I was somehow asked to chair that event and I'm so glad it's over. It's a lot of work to feed 400 people. And it's funny how there's never enough time when you're preparing for something like that. The most important things rise to the top and the rest falls away.

I've been thinking about time lately, specifically all the time we're missing with our kids. I'm still marinating on how to express those thoughts, so I haven't written about it yet. It's painful and it's complex and I'm not sure which words will ever express it adequately.

I joke that this whole thing is like a bad divorce and Haiti has full custody and we get a week's visitation 3-4 times per year. Our trips to Haiti are never long enough, frequent enough or close enough together. You can't build a family on 4-5 days together every 4-6 months. Both Jessica and Nathan are much too young to grasp that Brent and I are thinking about them every minute and that we'd have them with us all the time if we could. They're too little too understand words and concepts like "orphanage" and "adoption" and even what it really means to be a Mom or Dad.

It's like my brain has split into two parts. On one portion there's a continual "Haiti and My Babies" program running. Are they OK? Do they have food? What else can we do? How else do we raise money for the orphanage? With the remaining brain cells I try to function in day-to-day life.

But this is where we've been led and we feel like this is where our children are. We've had a hard road this last year to get to Jessica and Nathan, but it feels like this is where we're supposed to be. Somehow those hotel rooms with their nasty floral bedspreads seem like home. And because we're with our babies I guess they are "home".

Someday, we'll finally get them HOME.

So... What Are You Trying to Say??

Today's Car Story is brought to you by the letters A and V and by the number 4.

We're talking specifically about vanity plates. I saw a Pontiac Vibe today with a custom license plate that said (wait for it)

PONTIAC

... 'cause it's a PONTIAC, see. Which makes me remember that the father of one of my good friends in high school had a license plate that said "GRNDAM" on his Pontiac Grand Am and that I also recently saw one that said, "GRANDAM" (because Utah has upgraded to 7 characters since I was younger). I'm wondering if Pontiac owners have a corner on this "use your license plate to point out the obvious" market - you know - for those times when the brand name on the license plate surround and the logo and label on the back of the car just isn't enough.

Do you think those are the kind of people who name their children "Kid" or "Farm Boy"? (which is a fine name for your boyfriend if your name happens to be Princess Buttercup, but otherwise, not so much.)

I also saw a mini-van with the plate:

YAY ME

Which made me think two things.

First, we should probably all be more openly positive towards ourselves. It would probably be good for the environment and the economy and general well being and stuff.

Second, can you hear me clapping for you, Tinkerbell? Cause I am. I'm clapping on the inside.

I know you don't read this blog (if anyone actually does read this blog) for my rantings. You read it for the pictures of the kids.

So in this one, Jess found this little toy that one of the other kids had that made farting noises when you pushed the buttons. I think you can tell that she thought it was completely awesome!

In this one, Nathan was playing Hide and Seek behind the bathroom door. He was quite proud of himself.

This one doesn't need words.

Copy Cat

There's one final part of the Jess Hair Saga.

The evening after the "Braid Trauma 2009", I showered and washed my hair (picking through the conditioner like I always do) and I realized that because I always keep my hair pulled back while we're in Haiti, Jessica had never really felt my hair.

So when it had dried enough, I leaned over and put her little hand in it and showed her how soft it was. Her face got this little stunned look on it. She started picking up chunks of it and slowly letting the hair fall through her fingers with the most amazed expression on her face.

I can't say that I blame her. Seriously - my hair is FINE and LIMP. I've had barrettes and hair clips that would apparently rather jump to their death than hang around on my scalp. My hair friend has to bleach parts of my hair just to damage it enough so that it will have some degree of texture. It's really freakishly soft, fine and limp. The best days for my unfortunate hair were probably around 1990, when the whole head perm with its accompanying severe damage, were popular. I guess I had a poor attempt at "Michael Hutchence Hair" except he was a rock star and I don't think I'll even try to explain who INXS was to my work friend.So as I'm enjoying watching Jessica's eyes as she studies my hair, she suddenly grabs my head and shoves it into her lap. Then she started picking at chunks of it, pretending she was braiding it, I suppose. Cause don't you know, that's what you do with the people that you love and care about - you shove their head in your lap and you fix their hair!

This is just one of the examples of how Jess likes to mimic things.

There was one day where Nathan was toddling around, being busy. I hadn't greased up his hair yet that morning, and I guess it was more apparent than I thought that his hair was dry. He was toddling by Jessica and stopped right in front of her. Jessica looks at his head, crinkles up her nose in disgust and starts shaking her her head in disapproval. She grabbed her sippy cup (which happened to have 7 UP in it at that point) and shook some of the contents into her hand. Then she rubbed her hands together like she was spreading out hair gel and started to work her "hair product" into Nathan's hair.

She's a funny kid and pretty smart too. We'll have our hands full for sure!

Crocodile Tears and Natural Bricks

I have fine hair and it's not fine with me.

My hair is so fine, that I actually have to gently comb conditioner through it while I'm in the shower or will never become untangled. As soon as it smells water it becomes this rat's nest - it's like a mess of thread all tangled together. The woman that does my hair explained that hair like mine is actually missing a layer which is what makes each strand so thin. It's' this missing layer that causes hair color to fade from it so quickly. I think this layer is where God intended a hair's personality to reside. My hair, therefore, is about as spunky as mayonnaise.

One of my dear friends has naturally curly hair - she calls it her curly fries. It looks like that, laying curled in perfect ringlets. My hair, on the other hand, is naturally brick straight. Yeah, it lays there as..... straight as a brick. And about that full of life.

My daughter's hair, on the other hand, has a lot of texture, a lot of curl and a lot of length. It also looks completely awesome when you take it out of the ponytail it's been in all day.

We thought it was so cute, all standing on end, that Brent carried Jess outside to show our friend, Chareyl, who always appreciates a good laugh. Little did we know that Chareyl had some Haitian friends with her, visiting her at the hotel and using the pool. Did I mention that our Haitian friends see not taking care of your hair as a poor reflection on how you feel about yourself? Let's just say that Chareyl's Haitian friends could tolerate about half a second of seeing Jess do an impersonation of the Bride of Frankenstein. They asked if they could "fix" her hair.

Jess was not so happy about this decision. I can't really blame her; they kinda tossed her around in a rag doll sort of way.

Can you see the streaks of tears all over her face??
She was terribly unhappy about the situation, so Mommy tried to hold her to make it a bit better. It seemed to help. At least she stopped crying.

I love the way you can just let her hair hold the pick so that both hands are free for braiding.

This child has a LOT of hair!!

She eventually resigned herself to her fate.

This is where you rest your finger while they're doing your hair, just in case you were wondering.

Some things are much better when they're OVER!

Police Improv

I know I promised part II of the Jess Hair Saga. First, though, I have to tell you about my commute to work yesterday. My friend, Jory says I attract weird people and things, because I always seem to have a story about something. (I, of course, take that opportunity to remind him that it must be true because, after all, I know him. :) )

So there I am, in the commuter lane, minding my own business. Suddenly, on the far right lane, a highway patrol officer flips on his lights and his siren. He's only 2 cars ahead of me, so I'm RIGHT THERE for the action. I watch to see who he's going to pull over (and no, it was not me).

To all of our surprise, he begins slaloming back and forth across all 7 lanes of traffic. It's a weird thing to watch. At first you wonder if he's OK. It seems like some sort of automotive seizure. Then you frantically try to remember your Driver's Education days to see if they told you what this means and you remember that they only went over what to do when the lights and sirens are behind you and that slaloming was definitely NOT covered. Meanwhile, he's still slaloming and everyone's slowing down and trying to "SLOW" since that's what we think it means.

Of course, there's a couple of idiots who think that the entire freeway has spontaneously decided to drive 5 miles per hour for no good reason that start trying to whip around cars and get back up to the open space they can see. Seriously, friend in the white sports car... Think for two seconds. What are the odds that everyone - EVERYONE - would drive that speed simultaneously without reason. I know based on what you see on TV and music videos, sometimes it seems that people regularly break out into synchronized dance moves, but that doesn't really happen. Maybe you should get out more. People just aren't that organized.

I actually found myself talking to Mr. White Sports Car from inside my car. As I was yelling something like, "Pay attention! There's a policeman slaloming ahead! STAY BACK!" I realized that while I know the universal sign for choking, and I know what sign indicates "This is a McGruff house and it's safe to ask for help", I actually don't know enough signs to say "Police Slalom Ahead!!!" I really should have studied more Sign Language.

Which also makes me wonder how the police train for these types of things. I think they should have an improv class. It would be like, "OK, Officer Jenkins, you're up next. The scene is: Large debris on the freeway and you need to slow down all the lanes of traffic by yourself. Go!" and then Officer Jenkins would be like, "What's my motivation again?" and the teacher would be like, "Give me "Panic" and he'd be like, "OK. I'm ready" and then he'd start flipping on the lights and sirens and slaloming all over the place. And then everyone would clap at his brilliance except for Mr. White Sports Car who shouldn't be there anyway because this class is just for policemen.

Mr. White Sports Car really is an idiot.

Give It to Me Straight...

So I was telling the guys I work with about the cool T-shirts Brent found for Nathan and showed them this picture.


One of the guys didn't know "what or who" Run-DMC is/was.

I'm not THAT old, right? Right?

I mean, I'm old enough to know that "it's tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme, that's right - on time, it's tricky" but does that make me OLD??

Seriously... give it to me straight....

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Just some random items in this post, so the title seemed appropriate.

First - fund raising update. Our friend and fellow adoptive mom, Michelle, wrote up a "Hope for Little Angels Haiti Newsletter" for us. A work friend of mine is going to a dog show this weekend and offered to put some flyers on the judges table for us. So I've printed up several copies of the news letter and added some of the flyers the Haydens (the orphanage coordinators) made up previously. Thank you, Andrea, for offering a unique audience for us to reach with the mess of the need for these beautiful kids. And thank you, Michelle, for writing up the newsletter.

I've adjusted a lot of the pricing on the Etsy store. Please stop back by and check it out if you haven't been over there for a bit (see link on the side bar). And please pass the word on to your friends about these opportunities to buy something (nice baby blanket for example) while helping out the kids at the same time.

And please let us get word out about the Obama Banana Leaf portraits made by our friends in Haiti. Again - al proceeds (either from the Etsy store or eBay) go the take care of things the orphanage needs. Right now our two highest priorities are getting another shipment of FMSC rice down there and getting them a generator. The list of possibilities and needs goes on and on, but we'll focus on those two. You can email me (find that on my profile) if you have questions.

And finally, this is what Jessica's hair looks like when you take it out of it's pony tail. She has so much texture to her hair, that it does amazing heights.


Stay tuned for part two of the hair story tomorrow!

And finally, Nathan didn't feel well for this trip. That's why there are a lot more pictures of Jessica than of him. But I love this one in his RUN DMC shirt that his Daddy picked out. You can see his poor tired eyes. He was doing better by the end of the week after we got some antibiotics into him. Love my kids!!!

Ebay Link for Obama Banana Leaf Portraits

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/rosenloflo_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ

Please help us get the word out about these little pictures made by our artisan friends in Haiti.

PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS - Itty Bitty Living Space

This, ladies and gentlemen, is THE filter. Brent's taken off the cover and he's showing the "guts" of the filter.
Very small, very compact and very easy to use. I'd seen things that looked similar before, but you won't believe the research they've done on this thing. The guts on this baby are state of the art and there's pretty much nothing that gets by it.

Can't wait until they get it hooked up (still haven't heard if they got a connecting piece or not).

Thanks, Chareyl, for snapping this pic of as at the O as we were trying to figure out how to work around the connection problem.

And thank you, again, to Seychelle Water Filtration and Dave O for all their work for our kids!

More for Suzanne's Girls...

I have a new internet friend who just brought her girls home from Haiti this last week. She said they just love watching the video we posted of Jessica.

Here's two more for your girls!

I Say "Etsy", You Say "Obama"!..."Etsy!"...."Etsy!"

Yeah, I didn't think they really went together either.

That's why I ventured out onto EBAY for the latest creations from our friends in Haiti. The designer that creates the banana leaf cards has made us some of these to sell to raise money for the orphanage.

Thanks, Misty for the reminder that this entry needs the link to eBay:

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/rosenloflo_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ


They're handmade from Banana Leaf adhered to chipboard and signed by the artist.

The people of Haiti are so excited for Barack Obama's presidency. I really hope that our foreign policies don't let them down.

If you know anyone that is interested in politics and interested in helping the children of Haiti, please direct them to look for these on eBay. Our next goal for the orphanage (besides the constant of "get them food") is to get a generator. Once we have a generator we can install ceiling fans to keep the bugs down and move the tropical air around a bit.

Some miracles take time - and Haitian adoption is one of those miracles!

Fun with Funds

I don't think I told you some of the things that your donations have helped us do.

We had enough money that Harry and Chareyl could go to the pharmacy and buy out pretty much every bottle of antibiotics they had. (it's weird that you don't need a prescription like we do here.) She got Pediasure to help those that are the weakest to get a bit more meat on their bones.

When they get the part for the water filter, they won't have to purchase bottled water (which is still of questionable origin and cleanliness) for the children and the children will have access to get clean water any time they want. We took down more rice, which has helped a great deal. They all looked more 'round-cheeked" since the rice arrived. That's something we hope to keep up for sometime to come. God Bless the angels at Feed My Starving Children for the work they are doing for those that cannot help themselves!.

We are so grateful to everyone who bought items on our little store, who told someone else about the store, or who made the orphanage their families' Christmas project. There's no way to describe in words the difference that it makes. It will help to keep children alive so that we don't have to lose more babies before their time. It will help them to have access to medicines. It will help them to THRIVE.

And really, what more could we ask for, given the circumstances?

Thank you for your continued efforts to help us spread the word about these babies that need our help to survive in Haiti. Little by little, it does make a difference!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

For someone who normally doesn't remember her dreams, it's been an interesting weekend.

Last night, I dreamt that Scott, Michelle, Brent and I went to the O on another trip. When we arrived, there was a grassy field the size of a football field that all the children were playing in. (In reality, the Orphanage has about 20 ft of grass and I've often wished the kids had a place to play.) Michelle and I were busy trying to take care of some tomato and pepper plants we'd brought to the orphanage. We were planting them in shallow metal trays and rearranging the trays to get the best light and water. We were commenting on how we hoped it would help the children to have fresh vegetables.

As Michelle and I are busy shifting trays around, Gracie appeared. In English, she yelled, "Daddy!" and ran into Scott's arms. Scott was shocked and said, 'I can't believe you remembered me!" and then, looking down at the little girl in his arms, he said, 'I didn't tell you to remember me!" Michelle said, "How could she not? You're her daddy!"

And then I woke up.

I miss Gracie. I miss my kids. I miss the feeling of being together with our little family. I pray that we complete this process soon and all our kids will be home in a place where you can tuck them in and know they ate and that the water they have is clean and there's actually grass for running.

All My Family

The arrival at the orphanage was much different than on previous trips. The oldest children whose parents were on this trip came running out the door of the orphanage as soon as we stepped on the property. Mare mentions that she was shocked when her daughter (about 7) came running to her arms and said, "I love you, Mama!" in English. Then she asked "Where is Papa?" (her dad came on the last trip but couldn't make this one. It was amazing to see that they had already picked up some English and that they were so excited to see us.

Jessica was NOT happy to be thrust into my arms. She screamed and screamed. Someone put Nathan in my arms as well and he was also screaming. I can't even begin to describe to you how chaotic those moments are. All sorts of people and children screaming and everyone talking at once. I put Jessica down while I was hunting for Brent and she ran over to one of the aunties and was quite content. Brent appeared and I handed Nathan to him (which quieted Nathan down... I'm not sure if he REMEMBERS Brent, but he's always been very content and comforted in his arms). Since both kids were safe and content at the moment and Harry was occupied, I decided to see if I could dig out the water filters from our bags and try to hook them up.

Remember, the orphanage is just a regular home, and there were kids running around and we'd brought a large group of adults and.... anyway, things were confusing. I could see pretty quickly that the filters weren't going to connect to the faucets as they were and that we'd need another piece. So, I'm running around, trying to find someone to translate so I can explain to Abel what is needed to connect them correctly, etc, etc. I notice that the auntie that Jessica ran to has followed me into the kitchen and that she's standing there, staring at me, while I'm doing this running around. I stop for a minute and try to get Jessica (who is in this auntie's arms) to smile at me or play peek-a-boo and then I'm off again.

Come back with Harry and Abel and explain the filter and how it works and what piece they need to get in order for the filters to attached to these faucets. All through that discussion, I'm aware that the auntie holding Jessica is still staring at me. We finally get a game plan together on how to find the needed part.

I turn back to the woman with Jessica and move to take her from this auntie. The auntie is still staring at me, and I step back and really look at her eyes. It's like we connect immediately. I'm staring at her as well and it hits me: This is Jessica's birth mom! Her eyes look exactly like Jessica's half sister. This is her. I've wanted to meet her. I've wanted to talk to her. I've wanted to know what her thoughts are about giving up beautiful Jessica and giving her to us. Where is my translator when I need him? So many things that I want to say and hear from her.

I point at Jessica, in her arms, and then I point at the young woman herself and I say, "You her mother?" And her eyes brighten as she knows that I've caught what she was trying to tell me with her eyes while I was running around about water filters. She nods and says, "Oui." My eyes teared up and I started to ask her if she was really OK with giving Jessica to me - as best as I could without knowing Creole. Just then, however, Nadia (the orphanage director) came from across the room. She'd apparently been watching this and said, "No, Lori. YOU Jessica's Mom." And suddenly we were surrounded by other women - Nadia's mother, and Pascal (Harry's wife). At least Pascal spoke some English. I found out that her name was Darlynn. I tried to communicate how much we loved Jessica and how grateful we were for her. I don't know how well things were translated but I think she got what I meant.

We rounded up Brent and had a picture taken of ALL of Jessica's family:
I have so many questions for Darlynn. I want to know about her own family growing up - how many siblings does she have. Is Jessica's father living? What does she love most about Jessica's personality? All these things and I'd like to be able to tell Jessica someday.

In the meantime, Darlynn is working at the O, so Jessica will have comfort and a mommy looking out for her when I can't be there. I hope she'll take Nathan under her wing as well.

Please, Heavenly Father, watch over my babies. Help them to have the food they need to be healthy and happy and to be able to play and grow. Please, please, help us to get them home soon.

The Ancient Art of Icelandic Prophetic Cheese Painting

Let's just say that sometimes I have odd dreams, shall we?

And, for the record, that involves painting WITH the cheese, not ON the cheese. And it's "prophetic" because they use the pattern made by the melted cheese to help predict the future. Kind of like reading tea leaves, but with cheese and canvas.

(I won't tell you about how the rest of the dream involved the young Icelandic princess who was betrothed to the current King of Hungary and how we were attending the wedding because obviously Brent is the princess's closest kin. Fortunately for all y'all I don't normally use the words "betrothed" and "kin" and thankfully not normally in the same sentence, although there was that nurse who thought we were adopting a boy and a girl in hopes of marrying them to each other someday, but that's a different story.)

Usually I dream about Haiti and the kids. Dreams that involve doors and paperwork and mazes and freeways and travel and panic and disorder and "where are my kids??". So, I guess it's nice for the occasional Icelandic cheese dream to mix it up a bit.

Seems like I should give you a picture of the kids for putting up with reading all that.

You're welcome.

Hair'em Scare'em

Nathan's hair was a bit out of control when we got there. The ends were a bit orange (sign of poor nutrition) and it was really uneven. It was a bit out of control.

Brent says this one looks like a mini-Don King was running behind the bed.

When we arrived at the orphanage it was pulled back in this little topknot.

Even Nathan thought it looked kind of funny.

So Mommy trimmed it and cleaned it up a bit.

Di-Di-Da

Jessica is such a sweet little girl. She's very clever. She loves to mimic your actions (more on that in a different post). She generally likes to share. She loves to hand things to you and say "Meh!" (I have no idea what that means to her, but that's what she says.) She grins and gets bashful when you say "Merci beaucoup" after she hands you something.

She's a happy little bug. She can keep herself quite happy by marching back and forth in the room. She stomps her feet as she marches and claps her hands in time with her feet and just makes random noises while she does this.

She realized pretty quickly that Nathan was smaller than her and so she likes to "mother" him. (I know, they're only a couple of months apart and neither of them have reached the age of two, but that's what she does.) She likes to make sure he has a cup of water. She tries to "fix" his hair. (Yeah, that went over well.) Of course she takes away his toys and hits him when she's annoyed. They're siblings and toddlers so we wouldn't expect anything less.

She had "Papa" figured out pretty early in the trip. She could tell you who Papa was when you pointed to her. "Mama" was harder for her to say, so I was "Papa" most of the time as well.

If you can endure the first part of the video (I know it's not particularly fun to watch someone else's kid play with an empty container) the way she tries to say her name at the 1:35 point makes me giggle. This is what is going to get me through the time between now and our next trip. I had to go to a doctor's appointment today and I found myself saying it in my head.

All together now, "Di-Di-Da!"

Prepare to Fall in Love

We made it home safely. It was a wonderful trip. Our kids are amazing and we traveled with some fabulous people. Until I can actually write a decent entry, I present to you Mr. Handsome and Princess Goofball.