Cute Picture of Malot

This was the day we met him. We'd just returned to the hotel and bathed him and put him in clean clothes. He was so excited about his sandals. He told me they were beautiful.



He has his machins and a snack - what more could a boy want?

33 days...

Are the Kids OK?

No news is good news for parents adopting from Haiti. We know from experience that if the kids were in the hospital, they would call us.

A few data points that may help ease your minds a teensy bit. It's all I've got at this point.

The area where all the flooding is (Gonaives) is 65 miles north of where our kids are. The orphanage is in Carrefour.

Gonaives is also at an elevation of about 22 feet above sea level. Yes, 22 feet. Carrefour is a whopping 300 feet above sea level by comparison. We're up in the foothills a bit.

I made you a lousy map with two red circles to show the two areas. The kids are in the lower circle. The flooding is in the upper circle.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those struggling in Haiti right now and we pray they can get help soon.

And So It Goes...

I'd like to request a moment of silence in memory of my work laptop's hard drive. It died in its infancy - barely 4 months old, yet still with enough data to make losing it painful for me. Dell's sending me a new one, as well they should. NOw I just need to figure out how to work until THursday when that arrives....

I lost my wallet sometime in the last few days. No idea where on the planet it is. Tried to call and cancel my card today but it's a holiday so that was a less-effective option.

I also think I broke my toe. At least I have a completely awesome bruise on it if I didn't. Dang pipe that dropped on it!

In good news, our fund raiser was successful. We were able to raise enough money to get the food donation from Feed My Starving Children shipped to Utah so that we can distribute it among the people going on this October trip. This organization manufactures a food product that contains all the nutritional requirements the human body needs, including vitamins and minerals which the children in poor areas frequently lack. They ship this product in packets, with each packet containing enough product for 6 meals. They've agreed to GIVE us enough food for 8 months worth for our orphanage. We just have to get it shipped here and then carry it to Haiti.

It costs $3500/month to feed our orphanag and that's jsut rice and beans and a bit of chicken. Everything is so expensive for them. If we can get this food to them and ease some of that burden while also improving their nutrition, it will make it easier for Nadia to take care of their other needs.

Thanks to Nichole and her family for all their hard work on this fundraiser. We are really grateful we were able to spend time with them.

Nekkid!

Malot had scabies pretty bad. Well, ALL the kids at the O had scabies pretty bad. It's one of those "gifts that keep on giving".

By halfway through our stay, I could see that there were some that needed to be drained. There was one on his toe that was particularly bad. So I took him in the bathroom (the light was slightly less-bad in the bathroom) and sat him up on the bathroom counter so I could get a better look at the toe sore.

Yup... It needed more medicine. So Momma tells Malot to stay there (in Creole-glish) and I take literally 4 steps from the bathroom to where the medicine is and 4 steps back.

When I return, this is what I find:

in my short steps, Malot managed to strip himself down and decided to give himself a bath in the bathroom sink!SO CUTE!

Brochures

Nichole had some brochures printed up for distribution during the fundraiser this weekend. I thought you might like to see them. Yes, that is a picture of the Rosenlofs and there is also a picture of Jessica.

The text says:

Haiti Food Prices

1 50 kg bag of rice is $53

1 50 kg bag of beans is $79

1 bottle of cooking oil is $8

When providing care of 45 children this becomes very expensive. The food cost is $3500 each month. This makes three vitamin-rich meals a day impossible.

We currently hold a nonprofit status. Please call Wasatch Adoption Agency or visit our website at http://www.hopeforlittleangelsofhaiti.org/ to place a donation.

Hope for Little Angels of Haiti wants to make a difference in the lives of the children placed in their care. They provide medical care, stable housing and allow each child meals throughout the day. They are a safe haven for children but they are only a temporary one. These children need families and homes that provide the care and love they deserve.

Adoption

Most available children are under four, but there are also only children available. There are many sibling groups available as well. The children live in a family style home with a care ration 5:1.

New Programs

Immunizations and well child checkups
The cost to immunize a child in Haiti is $450. This includes all the immunizations from birth to five years of age. These immunizations would protect against measles, meningitis, and many other childhood illnesses that we do not experience here in the States.

AIDS Sponsorship Program
For children who test positive for HIV, they are unable to be placed in many orphanages. This is a death sentence to many. We would like to have a program that enables children to have parents in Haiti to provide for their medicine and daily care. This program would involve $50 a month for a 6 month commitment.

Education is necessary to make a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti. We currently have a teacher coming to the orphanage to teach the caregivers and children. There is always a need for funds to enhance education in the lives of these people.

Haiti is a beautiful island located in the Carribbean. It share an island with the Dominican Republic. It is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Contact information:
http://www.hopeforlittleangelsofhaiti.org/
http://www.wiaa.org/
ynicholehayden@yahoo.com

Help! I Need a Lawyer!

Well, actually, Nichole does. She needs to find someone to help her file all the necessary legal paperwork to get a non-profit org set up without fees that will exceed what hope to raise in funds.

Anyone know a good lawyer?

Updates and stuff we need.....

We had a bit of a scare there at first with the Mamba. The mamba mixture has to be mixed with water. Remember, this is only the most malnourished children in our orphanage that are getting this supplement.

Well, unfortunately, somewhere along the lines the children picked up a water parasite (they are in Haiti - these tings happen). So our sickest children were getting SICKER.

They got medical attention for them, and the doctor gave them the go ahead to start the Mamba again. We got word last week that they seem to be doing very well now with the Mamba. We're really hopeful that they'll have a little meat on their bones by the time we get down there in October. (49 days if anyone else wants to count with me)

We also are so excited about the teacher that will be coming in. We are thrilled to be able to do this for the kids at the O as well. There are a few of us parents that have school-aged children that will be covering the cost there. It means, though, that the aunties might have the opportunity to pick up a little English as well. This one little thing will benefit all of the people at the O - and all the children that are old enough to participate will be able to have lessons.

We're also in the process of trying to figure out how to set up a non-profit organization to "handle" the orphanage's needs. If you have any good contacts in Utah for someone that might be able to help us get that paperwork together, I'd love to hear from you.

We're going to St. George next weekend. Nichole, who is the coordinator for our O, is holding a fundraiser down there for the orphanage. If you'll be in St. George this next Friday or Saturday, come find us selling hot dogs in the Walmart parking lot.

I've got a "Christmas Jar" that I put all my change in all year long. It's meant to be given to someone in need at Christmas. I'm gonna take it down with me and add it to our little proceeds. I can't think of anyone more in need that the kids in Haiti.

We're trying to get enough money together to cover a shipment of food for the orphanage. That's the goal. Every little bit helps.

It's crazy how someone like US can be doing something to help kids in Haiti. I never expected this in my lifetime. I never imagined that our children were in Haiti. Now that I've met them, I can't imagine any other way.

Please, Heavenly Father, let us have these kids again this trip. Let them come home soon.

Conversions

We all understand that there are 16 tbs in a cup. You can grasp the volume of each unit of measure and it makes sense.

We also "get" inches in a foot, centimeters in a meter.... you see where I'm going....

WHO ON EARTH decided that the conversion rate between DOLLARS and SKY MILES should be like 2 jagillion sky miles to one dollar???

What is up with that?

Paper Moving On

We received word that the judge... THE JUDGE.... the judge that has had us in limbo since June... finally signed the necessary paperwork for Malot so we can move our paperwork to the next office.

They also told us that for some reason they are making EVERY dossier go through the Presidential approval step now (we shouldn't have to because we meet every requirement: 35 yrs of age, married 10 years and no biological children) but for some reason we now have the additional step and then it can go to IBESR where it will sit for another unending amount of time.

But at least the judge signed. One down...

Brent updated the info on the lower right to indicate the added Presidential approval step.

School Daze

We have word that they've found a school teacher to come in and teach preschool at our O. AND he speaks fluent English! We're so excited!

You can't imagine how boring it is to be one of 50 kids in an orphanage with no room to run around.

The school season in Haiti starts in September, so our teacher will start then as well. That means that by the time we go down (Oct 12th) Malot will have had a few weeks of preschool under his belt. It was apparent from our first trip that he hasn't had a lot of opportunity to use crayons or pencils. He really didn't know how to use them. It was like watching my 2 year old neighbor color.

I'm so happy that Malot will have something to think about and learn!

Two points for the Lord!

Hurricane

We've had several people ask us if our kids are OK after the hurricane.

This is one of those situations where we have to expect that "no news is good news". We don't get word out of Haiti on a normal basis, and if there really were an issue (kids were in the hospital or something) they would let us know.

We just have to assume that all is well because we haven't heard that all is NOT well.

Ignorance is hell, but that's where we are.

Thanks for your prayers, thoughts and concern for our kids. I can hardly wait for Malot and Jessi to meet all the people that already love and care for them.

Pictures I Haven't Shared

I really like both of these. Isn't Malot handsome in red? I need to find him another red T-shirt, I think...

We only get one shot at "childhood pictures", so we have to try to make them good!

Goin' Back to Haiti and We're Gonna Hug our Kids....

October 12th we'll be leaving on a jet plane. Another blessed week with our babies. I'm hoping Jessi will be able to play with us this time. Maybe do a little bit of "chase" with Daddy. Some ball toss with Malot. Lots of tickling. A chance for Momma to stretch her limited Creole vocabulary. A chance for Daddy to take his basketball shoes to Haiti and be SCHOOLED in the game by our fine waiter, Vladimir.

A week of baths and playing in the pool and feeding them all they can eat and snuggling for naps, and dressing them and doing their hair and lovinglovinglovingloving them.

Malot, I wonder if you'll be excited to see us or if you'll be stressed and nervous since you know now that we leave at the end of the fabulous week. I wonder if they'll tell you that we're coming. And if you ll be as anxious as we are. I wonder if you think of us and wonder where Momma is. Do you wonder if we're coming back?

Will you recognize us? I wonder if i said, 'Bay-bee" in that special way I reserved for you if you would know my voice.

Are you happy and healthy? Are you sleeping well.

We're getting a teacher for you soon, baby! She's going to start in September. Then you'll be able to have something to do during the day and you can learn and grow.

I wonder if you know how much we love you and Jessi. Please, baby, come home soon.

Transition Stories

I have to share some of Melissa's stories after bringing home Luc and Lyvi this month. These two, in particular, crack me up!

You need to know that Coltyn is her oldest child, age 7. Seth is her husband.

Story one:

Tonight Seth took the all 3 kids to play mini golf and ride the bumper
boats at a nearby place. There was a snotty little boy who had no adult
supervision and kept coming onto the course that Seth and the kids were on. The
kid whacked Coltyn with his putter and all hell broke loose. Luc and Lyvi
FREAKED out!!! They started yelling in their native tongue at this little boy
and waved their putters at him. At one point Seth said he actually had to hold
Lucio back. Seth and Coltyn were shocked and didn't have any idea what Lucio and
Lyvi were saying to this little kid that picked on the wrong big brother. They
did get something about "brother" and "Coltyn" and that was about all they could
understand. Coltyn thanked them for scaring away that kid for him :-). Coltyn is
a whole head taller than Luc and Lyvi.

For the rest of the evening, every time Lucio or Lyvi saw that little
boy, they yelled stuff at him. Seth said it was hilarious. It was a good bonding
moment for Coltyn and the kids as well to see them stick up for him like
that.

And story two:

The other day Luc and Lyvi "exchanged words" and then Luc kicked her and
made her cry. When I asked what happened, Coltyn was all distraught and told me that Luc kicked Lyvi. I asked him why and he got all frustrated and said, "I
don't know, I don't speak Chinese" and looked at me like I was some kind of
idiot.

Good times, good times!


I love that Luc and Lyvi were immediately protective of their new adoptive brother (I think the golfing incident was on their 2nd or 3rd day in America). And I love that Chinese and Haitian are equally unintelligible to Coltyn!

I agree, Coltyn! It's all Greek to me, as well!!

We Have Updates - Who Could Ask for Anything More!

We received an update today on our kids and it included PICTURES!!! This is a huge deal for us! I don't know if we've ever had an update with pictures before.


The update said that the judge verbally said he would sign and release our paperwork this Friday so our kids' files should be in IBESR by middle of next week. FINALLY. We've basically been waiting since we got back from our trip for this judge to do just that.


The rest of the update says. "Harry said that Jessica is a cutie and she is doing well. Malot too is good."


That just pleases me to no end. If I had buttons, they might burst with my pride right now. Sometimes, it's the little things.


Here are the pictures:

HE LOOKS SO GROWN UP!! It's only been 8 weeks, and he looks so mature.

She's standing. She was wobbly on her feet in June. She's drinking from a cup (at least I think that's what it is). And she's not screaming. These are all pluses for Mommy.

Sometimes, it's the little things.

Thanks, Aunt Lynnae

My dear, sweet Aunt sent me a birthday card this week with a check inside and a note that she hoped it would be able to help one of our little Haitian Angels feel better.

Thank you so much for caring about our kids and about our orphanage.

I'm hoping that I hear back on the Mamba soon and I hope that they find it to be helpful and beneficial.

Thank you, Lynnae!

This is what Jessica sounds like - all the time.

Sorry the video is sideways, but you get the general gist I think. She had a hard time and screamed and screamed and screamed. When she wore out her screamer, she'd switch over to some hollering, and then some cries and then finally, a bit more screaming.

LOVE HER!

Time Keeps on Slipping.....

I turned 35 this week.

I really thought we'd have children by now.

But I do feel confident that we know who our children are this time. :) Malot and Jessica are waiting for us - so they can vini avec Mama. Mama's waiting for that as well.

In honor of their waiting, I give you this beautiful picture of my daughter, Jessica. I call it "Beginnings of a Stink Eye".


Got info today on our October trip so we should be able to book that very soon.

Welcome Home, Luc and Lyvi

After 28 months of waiting, paperwork, more waiting, more paperwork, anxiety, tears, separation, more paperwork and did I mention waiting....

Luc and Lyvi are finally home with their forever family today. Their mom is a friend of ours and a wonderful woman. I know how excited they are to finally have them home.





Welcome home, kids. We're so glad you're here!

Medika Mamba

We've had the privilege of getting involved with the folks at http://www.medsandfoodforkids.org/ and have been able to purchase Medika Mamba for the sickest children at our orphanage.

Medika Mamba (which means "Peanut Butter Medicine" in Creole) is a Ready-To-Use-Theraputic Food (RUTF) - which means it's specially formulated to treat severely malnourished children. It is an energy dense peanut butter, with supplements and vitamins built in so that it's really complete nutrition in one product. For children that have never had enough to eat, their bodies can't recover from illness or fight off bugs like a healthy person.

A couple of other fabulous items about this product and the organization that makes it for us - Their little plant is in Haiti, so they're adding to the Haitian economy, which is so desperately needed. The formula can be given to the children right in the orphanage, so it's not something that needs medical supervision. And in 6 to 8 weeks, the children that get the full treatment on this product RECOVER from malnutrition. That means they have a fighting chance at life again.

In Dr. Wolff's words: "We see the proof daily: Six to eight weeks after they start treatment
with Medika Mamba, these children are transformed. They are normal for weight for height. Their sparse, reddish hair grows in thick and black. They look healthy and energetic. Their eyes are bright and clear."

It works out to be about $60 per child for the full 6-8 week treatment. And it saves their lives. It gives them a chance at life.

We lost 3 little ones at our orphanage earlier this year. When they come in so malnourished and then another infection of some sort sweeps through Haiti, they just can't fight it off.

And some of our dear ones are just too little. Our little "niece", Gracie, is one of those that will be treated this first round. We plead, hope, pray, beg, that this beautiful little girl has some more meat on her bones when we go down in October. That's trip is in 11 weeks, and that should give us just enough time to get her to a healthy weight.

We're so grateful that we have found our children in Haiti. We're struggling with the delays and the process, but we're grateful we can do some good somewhere while we wait.

Who wooda thunk it!

First off, the literary locquasciousness of Lori is not going to be present in this blog. My humble apologies!

Lori has been asking me for the past several months when I would contribute to the blog, but I felt it would be much better served if I played the behind the scenes support system. That being said, I had something that happened today that just made me think - who wooda thunk it!

I spent the morning driving with one our best friends to Cokeville, Wy. as his company was bidding on a construction project there. We figured it would be a fun ride and he could use the company (and I could look for cops). It was a great ride as the scenery was beautiful because everything is still green. We spotted a huge 4 point deer (right in Lehi), a multitude of antelope, and a couple of hawks.

We arrived early to Cokeville so we sat and watched for the competition to show up before finalizing the bid and had it ready precisely on time even after we had to resort to using my cell phone (ATT) because neither his Verizon cell phone nor his Nextel cell had coverage. That was the first bit of good luck we experienced today. It appears certain that they will win the bid so it was a good thing he had me come along!

After finishing the bid meeting we headed to the Flying J Gas Station to fill up the drinks and grab a bite to eat. (Note for all readers - DO NOT get the deliciosly smelling sausage wrapped in dough - you will start regretting it about 15 minutes later.) While we were in queue to pay I saw a peace officer walk in and had to do a double take as I could have sworn it was my MTC companion. He walked to the back with a kid from the area to go get a pop and I realized I had to find out. (Please note that I am not exactly what most people would consider a "people person".) So I approached him with a quizzical look on my face and said "Jackman?" He looked up and I started to laugh because I could then read his name tag and there was no mistaking who he was after that. As I started laughing, he immediately remembered who I was and a very "manly" hug pursued. Really, what are the chances of the two of us running into each other in little old Cokeville, Wyoming after 16 years?

It was a great time getting to spend a few minutes with someone who was such a great friend for a few years. We were companions in the Missionary Training Center, spent our first five months in the Philippines in the same apartments and quite a bit our mission in the same zones. We survived an appendix nearly bursting, an earthquake, a volcano, a near crippling foot infection, some sort of denghe fever, a batchmate going crazy and running off the end of the peir into the South China Sea, and several other more mildly looney companions. As Dickens stated, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,..." I only wish we would have had a more time to spend visiting, but he was on patrol and we were expected back in Utah. We do have his cell number and he has invited us to come up and spend some time so we will definitely be in touch!

To top off the day we just needed a break just as we were leaving Evanston so we thought we should stop. We just "happened" to stop; low and behold, in front of the Black Cat fireworks shop when we remembered that the 24th celebration is less than 2 weeks away. So naturally we felt it appropriate to contribute to the revenues of the city of Evanston by purchasing completely legal (in Wyoming) fireworks solely to celebrate the Days of '47.Though it does seem that a few happened to go off pre-maturely tonight:)

The Other Children

If you missed the ABC News Nightline story last night on child slavery in Haiti, please, please take a few minutes and go to the link below and watch the video. There are 4 parts - you can navigate between them at the bottom of the article.

A reporter decides to see how long it will take him to buy a child in Haiti. The results are truly shocking. You can see good images of what Haiti looks like - how beautiful the people are, how lovely the mountains are, how desperate the country is.

I'm so grateful that our little ones are safe in an orphanage. I am so eternally thankful that their mothers were able to put them in an orphanage so that they could have a better chance. We don't realize how lucky we are.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=5326508

Hanging With My Dad

He's happy, too. I love his little soft smile, almost to himself. That's our boy.

Peas in a Pod

I love this picture.

It was taken the day we brought Jessica to the hotel with us. They've been together just a few hours. We've bathed Jessi and put her in one of Malot's extra T-shirts for PJs (since we didn't have clothing for the poor child since she was kind of a surprise.)

Malot was so excited about her. I'll have to post those pictures another day (spread out the joy).

But in this little picture, they're playing together with the remote control and you can see he's grinning and she's got a little smile on her face.

We miss you, babies. Come home soon.

How Handsome Is Our Little Guy???

Faces

There's nothing quite as heartwarming as seeing the little Haitian children walking together to school. They dress in matching uniforms and each little school wears slightly different colors. They're lucky to be able to go to school and I think they know it.


When our truck broke down on the highway the second time, we ended up on the side of the road. A bunch of little school girls walked by soon. They were involved in chatting with each other at first, but then one of them noticed Katie's white skin and piercing blue eyes peeking out at them through the steel on the side of the tap-tap. She gasped and pointed and all her friends looked where she was directing. They all gasped. And then they hurried away.


I could see they all stopped about 5 feet in front of the truck. They were excitedly talking about what they'd just seen. And then they decided they wanted to walk by again. I could tell that they were involved in the universal school-girl debate: "No - YOU go first. I'll go if you go!" - all wanted to come back by to look at the white people with the blue eyes, but none of them wanted to be first.


Eventually, they linked arms and pretended to be super casual as they strolled back passed us again. They weren't prepared for what happened next.


We stopped them.

We asked them if they wanted a sucker.


I know - every alarm should have been going off in their heads. Not only were they taking candy, but they were definitely taking it from total strangers.

And they were thrilled.


They walked back to their school, suckers in hand. I didn't have my camera out fast enough to get a better shot than this one.

Their school was behind the blue door you can see on the left.

Soon, all the rest of the children were poking their heads out, and trying to confirm the fabulous story they'd just been told about the white people sitting on the side of the road giving out suckers.


In little groups of two or three, they came up to see if they would be so lucky. Fortunately, Nichole had brought a LOT of suckers!

Little Son

So we were quietly sitting at home tonight and Brent said, "I miss Jessica." The puppies were curled up with him and Daddy would rather be snuggling with his little girl than the dogs.

Momma wonders how long it will be until they're home with us and we never again sit quietly at home. Instead we'll be chasing kids back to bed and reading bedtime stories and hope that they pass out from exhaustion just like we want to.

I wonder if Malot and Jessica are thinking of us.

I spent a lot of time snuggling with Malot and talking to him. He says this little "Mmhmm" at little intervals while you're talking to him. It's just adorable because it SOUNDS like he is agreeing with you but he really no idea what you're saying. I guess the tone of ones voice is pretty universal, though.

Bedtime with Malot was my favorite time. Momma and Malot slept in one bed. We'd snuggle close, face-to-face in soft light of the bedside lamp. I'd stroke his cheek and smile at him. He'd stroke my cheek back. I would tell him over and over that Momma and Poppa loved him (renmen Malot) that we were so excited to be able to be a family with him. I'd stroke his cheek and whisper to him about how wonderful we think he is. I'd say, 'I'm your Momma and you are my pitit gason." Over and over, we'd share these little whispers as he settled down for sleep.

One night, he was ill in the middle of the night. I got up and helped him to the bathroom. When we got him cleaned up, I tucked him back into bed next to me again and started again on our little snuggly whisper bed time routine: "Mama renmen Malot. Malot is Mama's pitit gason."
His eyes started to get a bit heavy, so I turned off the lights and rolled over to prepare to go back to sleep myself.

Imagine my heart when I hear this sweet little child, exhale this contended....deep....sigh and say

"mmm...pitit gason...."

His happy thought. My heart nearly burst as I realized that he's been waiting for his whole life for a mommy that just wants to be with him and tuck him in and tell him that he's her little son.

We need them as much as they need us.
Come home soon, my pitit gason.

What the Haitians Saw....

I mentioned that our tap-tap broke down a few times on the way to the Orphanage on our first day there. We were stuck on the Haitian equivalent of the 'freeway', which means we were in the middle of a 2-lane road being used as an 4+ -lane road and traffic was swerving around us. It's very possible that one could get carbon monoxide poisoning from just sitting by Haitian traffic. I don't think there are regulations about vehicle emissions in Haiti. It was quite a thing!


Brent and I are both professional people-watchers. We love to observe people. Airports are a particular favorite. We like to go to the mall on Christmas Eve and grab and Orange Julius and then sit on the benches in the hallways and watch all the craziness around us. It's fun to watch people in their "natural" habitat being... people.


So, from that aspect, I imagined to myself that we were, at that moment in Haiti, a bit like a special exhibit at a "people zoo".

LIMITED TIME ONLY!!

WATCH THE AMERICANS DEAL WITH CAR PROBLEMS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY

This is what we looked like in the back of the tap-tap.

Along similar lines, there are a lot of UN soldiers in Haiti. You see UN vehicles all over the place. This vehicle drove behind us for miles.

The soldiers in this vehicle were from Brazil. They saw that I was trying to take a picture of their vehicle from the back of our taptap, so at the next stop, they posed for me:

A big thumbs up from the Brazilian soldiers!

So at the end of the week, when we were loaded up and heading back to the airport, this UN vehicle of Filipino soldiers was behind us.

As a testiment to what a strange site the "Americans in Tap-tap" exhibit was in Haiti, I saw that the soldiers were taking a picture of US!

So I flashed them a peace sign.

Their faces lit up and they tried to line up again to take a picture again:

I guess I'm not the only one that likes watching people....

Giving Thanks

I didn't properly thank all the people that helped us in the last little while.



We're grateful to Amanda and Michelle and their respective families for taking care of our puppies while we flew off to far-flung places to meet our children.

We're so thankful to the dear friends who gave us money to give to the Orphanage. They were able to buy medication they wouldn't have had otherwise.

Without Trudi and Garrett, we might not have been able to make this last trip and there's no doubt in my mind that we wouldn't be adopting Jessica as well if we hadn't gone when we did. They gave us their skymiles and bought a ticket to Haiti for us. We will be eternally grateful - as a family - for that.

Michelle - who clothed our daughter and had diapers and medicine when we suddenly had 2 children on Thursday. Thank you, friend. We wouldn't have felt like we could bring her back to the hotel with us without you and your generosity. We're so grateful we had that opportunity to see them play together and make Jessica part of our family.

And the prayers - we can't say enough about what prayer can do. Sometimes you have to pray that the next appropriate person in this long line of processing will have the DESIRE to ACT on your paperwork today. Help us get them home. Thank you for including us in your prayers and thoughts.

Live the Dream

As I entered the city today, I found myself behind a Yellow Cab with a thought provoking bumper sticker. There, emblazoned on that adhesive paper were these profound words:

Become a Cab Driver.
Live The Dream.

Why haven't I realized that this must be what my life is missing! I tried to get a picture of this with my camera phone (while stopped at the stop light, of course. Safety first, people!) but I don't have a zoom on my camera.

I also had to giggle at the thought that there probably is not a more boring metro area in which to drive a cab than Salt Lake City.

Don't get me wrong. I love Salt Lake. It's a beautiful city. Utah's a pretty great state. This is the place, and all.

But there isn't a buzz here, or nightlife, or foot traffic, or a large number of PEOPLE....

"Its thoughts like these that catch my troubled head when you're away and I am missing you to death."

Pics from Day 1

This is the picture I took of Malot and I right when we met him. When I showed him this image on the screen of our digital camera, he snatched the camera out of my hands and STARED at the picture. His face got all scrunchy as he studied it. Then he leaned down and kissed the screen.


Momma melted into a pile of goo at that moment and I knew that somehow, this would work out.


This grainy photo shows Malot with the can of formula he picked up and carried around so he could "save it for his friend, Jessica". I took a picture because I thought it was sweet and kinda sad that he was so excited about a can of formula. Yes, he knew what it was, and yes, I had someone translate what he was saying from Creole so we're positive that's what he was doing.

Who Needs Walmart When You've Got Haiti??

The Appliance Center

Clothing Stores...

Furniture Department...

Quaint Boutiques...

And... The Pottery Barn... or Wall...

Strings and Things

My son loves string.


I’ve already posted about his delight at finding a loose string on the hotel comforter that was long enough to use. He was so excited to get a string that he could tie it to his machin and use to pull that around. It only took one look at my pajamas for him to figure out that the ribbons threaded through the neck and leg openings were long enough for him to use. By the end of the week, they’d all been removed and fashioned into one delightful string for pulling his machin.

You can see from these pictures that you can do all sorts of fun things once your machin has a string:

Unfortunately, Malot doesn’t yet know that not all string-like things are created equally.

He was fascinated by our laptop. The Creole phrase he uses to describe the computer means “the machine that sings”. When he wanted to look at the laptop again, he’d ask if he could play with "the machine that sings to him".

I thought it would be fun for him to see what headphones do. I knew he’d never seen such at thing in his short life:

You can see the wonder on his face. He was completely enthralled with them.






For about 2 minutes.



That’s about how long it took for Malot to realize that headphones look remarkably like string. Very awesome string!

He realized that headphones are essentially three strings. Or at least they would be if only he could convince Momma to cut them for him. People wonder how we knew what he was saying since he only speaks Creole and we only speak English and I can’t really explain it. You just know some things. We learned to recognize at lot of things. I couldn’t repeat them to you so I guess that means I understand more Creole than I speak.

He carefully explained to Momma that if I would just “cut it” "RIGHT HERE" (and he’d show me the junction where the earpieces branched off from the plug) then he would have MORE strings. What could be better than having more string?? He even showed me another machin that he’d be able to play with if only he had more string!!


“See, Momma. Just right here. Cut it, Momma, cut it. Right here.”

Momma gently kept repeating that if we did that it would break and that it wasn’t a “string” like he thought it was. He unfortunately does NOT recognize several words that Momma uses. He was just convinced I wasn’t listening or didn’t understand. So he took matters into his own hands.



Or teeth rather.



He did succeed in biting through them. He was quite pleased with himself. And then, of course, he put the earbuds back in his ears and waited expectantly for the music to start.

Funny how you can also tell when your son is telling you to “fix it, Momma, fix it.”

A Sneek Peak At Malot's High School Dance Pictures

My son is short.

He can't help it - he's malnourished and he has bugs in his gut.

But there's something about these shots with our friend, Destina, that just makes me chuckle.

I spent my life as "the tall girl". My son will have a very different experience.

In The End, You Get What You Desire

I Love My Sister

Maybe I Should Have Hugged Her and Rubbed a Bit of Haiti All Over Her...

The only time this last week that I wanted to put a child over my knee and beat them occurred on the last leg of my trip home. Our plane in Denver had some delays and we sat on the plane for a bit while those were resolved. Directly behind me were two of the most spoiled, self-centered, teenage girls I've ever seen. I won't tell you all the reasons they should be grounded for life, because this one ought to sum it up quite nicely.

They were watching the airport crew load the bags and things to prepare the plane. They made all sorts of comments, but the one that was the clincher was when the 13 year old said the following about one of the women on the ground crew for our plane. (picture the disdain in her voice)

"Oh... My... Word.... LOOK at that girl. She looks POOR!"

I can think of worse things than being poor, child. And she, at least, has the ability to work - an art that I'm sure has been lost on you.