Nathan's First Christmas

Dear Sweetness,
It was so fun to see you enjoy your first Christmas.

On Christmas Eve morning, I was snuggling with you on the floor in front of the tree and I said, "Today is Christmas Eve.  What does that mean?" and you said, "1 more sleeps 'til Santa comes with toys for Nathan".

Christmas Eve afternoon, Aunt Titi and Collin came by.  You got out some of your favorite toys and shared with Collin (although it did require some coaxing to get you to "take turns" with Collin).  Mama told you that you were a good boy to share.

You've been a bit sick and so you're out of sorts if Mama doesn't stay right on top of your Tylenol.  Around bedtime, you were completely beside yourself - kicking and biting and yelling, "I not go bed".

In an exasperated, not so good Mommy moment I resorted to threats and said, "Well, if you're not asleep then Santa can't come.  Maybe he'll have to take your toys somewhere else."

Your eyes got hugely wide and you said, "But Mama... I take-a-turns wit Tollin!"

Good point... that must count for SOMETHING.

First thing the next morning, before your eyes were fully awake you said to me, "Mama, I take-a-turns wit Tollin, huh?"  You wanted to be sure that was going to outweigh the complete hissy-fit you'd had.  You sweet, sweet little boy.

Sure enough, there were presents under the tree.  We took our time and let you enjoy.  (You're not smiling in the pictures but trust me, you had a blast!)

You would have been happy with one present.  You were pretty overwhelmed with more than one present.  But Mama and Daddy have some missed Christmases to make up for, so you got more than one present.

I love you, Sweetness.

Thank you for making all merry and bright.
Mama

Happy Christmas... War Is Over Now

Merry First Christmas to Nathan and the ~1,100 other Haitian children that came home after the earthquake this January!

We know now, from one of the older children, that the kids (at least at our orphanage) were told that "Santa doesn't like Haitians".  That's how they explained why there was never a Christmas to the older children.  These children never left the orphanage themselves but they are SMART kids and I'm sure picked up from the conversations of the adults that it was Christmas outside that concrete wall that blocked them from the rest of the world.  I'm sure they asked what this "Christmas" was and what it meant for them.  And, just as adults here in America use the story of Santa to add mystery and magic to the season, the adults in Haiti use the story of Santa to explain why there is no magic and mystery for them or their children.   These kids were essentially told that because of who they were, things could never be wonderful or magical for them.

I know, I know - it's a horrible thing to say to a child, but at the same time, I don't know how one explains to a child why everything in their life was difficult.  I'm also sure that many, many times they feel that God, Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the government, and their own parents hate them.  I don't know how else you reconcile the extreme "have nots" in daily life when you're dealing with THAT level of poverty.

Since our first trip to Haiti nearly 3 years ago I've wondered many times exactly how it is that I was born in America and have anything, can be anything, can buy anything, can dream and do anything I want while my brothers and sisters in Haiti and elsewhere in the world have to fight for every crust of bread.

Can you really have dreams for tomorrow when every day seem the same as the one before?

So for these children I say, as the song does, "Happy Christmas.... war is over now".

God bless America, families, and water you don't have to boil.

Christmas Giving

People have asked me what they can do to help things in Haiti or with our orphanage or make a difference in general.

I'll throw out two options from our experience with two non-profits that work in Haiti. Contributions to either are tax deductible as well.

First, there is a non-profit organization that supports the orphanage where our children live. Both the orphanage and the non-profit are called "Hope for Little Angels of Haiti". There are no administrative expenses with this non-profit so 100% of the donation goes directly to supporting the orphanage by paying for the facility, the workers, food for the children, etc.

The website is being redone with the help of some nice designers and developers who are donating their expertise.

You can find that on Facebook here:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/187192/38726751?m=71bb3202

and become a Facebook Fan here:

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=hope+for+little+angels+of+haiti&init=quick#/pages/Hope-for-Little-Angels-of-Haiti/223557492064


Another organization that we believe in is HaitianRoots.com. The only way to break the cycle in Haiti is with education. You need to teach people that there are options... that there is another way to live and interact with the world.

HaitianRoots helps the children of Haiti get an education by matching individual children to sponsors. It costs $250 a year to send a child in Haiti to school. That is an astronomical figure for most families in Haiti. Here in America... come on... who hasn't something like that during a trip to Costco!

We know the people who run this non-profit and know that they also use their funds for the children and we know they work very hard at what they do. They are making a difference, one child at a time.

Brent and I have personal experience with HaitianRoots. We support a little boy named Mackenson through them. This is him
Our measly $250 sends him to school for a year. He's learning English and math and he's getting information to help him see how to make his world better.

This last trip, we brought a few little things down for Makenson, hoping he and his family would be able to come to the hotel to meet us while we were there.

It turned out Makenson was sick, but his father made the trip alone. He wanted to thank us for helping his little boy get an education. This is Brent and me with Makenson's dad.
There are so many wonderful people in Haiti. Good people who want the best for their children. They just don't have the means to help them even get an education.

You can choose to make a difference - even if it's a dollar at a time.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Stuff

We had our family part with my siblings this weekend. My older brother and his wife have hosted it the last few years. It's getting harder and harder to find a space where everyone can fit. They pulled it off yet again and it was a good time.

The food was great. It was fun to watch baby Abbie open her presents. For gift exchanges between my siblings, we changed the rules up a bit this year and said the gifts had to be made or had to be a form of service.

My sister and her husband drew our names and they made us 3 beautiful ornaments with pictures of Nathan, Jessica and Malot on them. I'll post pictures as soon as I figure out the best way to capture them. I was quite touched by them - literally speechless to see Malot's little smiling face on that ornament. Thank you, Z and Aaron. That was the perfect gift for us.

Brent and I don't do much around our own house for Christmas over the last two years. We both love Christmas, don't get me wrong. But lately our Christmas to each other is "the next Haiti trip". Not gonna buy a tree when that money could go to a Haiti trip. Neither of us really need anything, but what we both want is a Haiti trip. You get the idea.

We're just saving and focusing everything on that. I'm sure some of the neighbors wonder if we've changed religions as we don't have a tree up or anything. It's not that, it's just that our hearts are in Haiti and we want to really enjoy our next tree - and have kids home with us to join in the fun.

We ran an errand to Cabella's last night. For those of you that may not be familiar with it, Cabella's is an enormous hunting and fishing store. We have a ginormous store not to far from us. Inside it's practically a wildlife museum with all the different stuffed and mounted animals from all over the world.

When we're at Cabella's I normally think about our kids because I try to imagine what their reactions will be when we get them home and they can see this or that. But this last trip was different for us because we ran into two other families that had adopted black children. And watching the children run around and be so excited and the brief bit we spoke to one of the parents.... It was just a different reminder that sometime this will end and we'll be done and they'll be ours.
Next year.... please let it end soon....