These two are going to have SO MUCH FUN AS BROTHERS!!!!

Look at that mouth full of chompers, my little baby is all grown up and his little brother looks like he has some really important stuff to tell!!Sending kisses little boys over the seas and through the windows, hold them in your hearts until we can put them on your cheeks.

The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed on the same scales. Aesop

I recently joined a group of my friends online to give and take some healthy competition as we all strive for the same goal. The goal of losing inchs and pounds from our "physical persons". I had been doing really well.. and then my scale broke! In the blink of an eye my newer, more accurate scale shone a bright light on my true weight. OW!! NOW the scales are still going down.. I can see the difference in my self but it was hard to see those numbers and not get despondent.

Then I thought.. "What if the scale had told me I was lighter than I thought?" What then?

These thoughts brought me one rabbit hop to another, as we females often do, and I was thinking again of Haiti. Each time the scale or pendulum has swung in our adoption journey it has a positive or negative effect. The positives are quick highs that encourage you to stay in the process. The lows can almost knock you out of the ball park.. but they are all part of the same journey.. the journey to the goal.

Hippity hoppity to my next thought.. the shortbread cookies in the cupboard.. and then a quick re-route back to the thoughts in hand.  It is my job to run the race as the coach has trained me to run. To keep my eyes on the finish line, the goal.. the well done good and faithful servant goal first, the healthy temple goal, the blessed children goal.... but always the eternal well done good and faithful servant goal.

So this week I might be 9 pounds up, several signatures short and a bad attitude away from my goals.. BUT tomorrow is a new day, a new morning. God's mercies are new every morning and hopefully the scales will shift again.

As Aesop said.. The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed in the same scales. I need to make sure I do not fall into self pity, stress, frustration when "injured" or down.. and I need to make sure that I am swift to make sure the weight I give others is light and easy and not too heavy!

This post has been brought to you by the random wanderings of a Britmom mind :0)

Update on our adoption process...

I realise several folks pop by to see if there is any news.. and the answer is yes.. and no.. for those who have been with us in this journey all the way through that will come as no surprise :0)

Yes we have received several of the documents we desperately need to file the paper work here in the US. No not all of them had all the signatures they needed, and we haven't received ALL of the paper work yet.

The hardest part of last week was receiving Jesley's death certificate. I've had a hard, hard couple of weeks missing my littlest boys and grieving my sons death.

The best part of last week was receiving the final copy of our home study update and being able to send that in...again!

Meanwhile I will wait patiently for the amazing folks at NLL to gather the papers together and resend them and pray and rest in knowing that in God's time my little ones will be home to stay.

More good news.. there have been families from our on line support group who have been over to see their children recently.. that means PHOTOS!!! I'm learning to wait patiently for those as well. I KNOW how hard it is to readjust once you get back.. but at this stage just a glimpse is a gift!

The rains have hit Haiti.. tropical storms pounding the tent camps and causing mudslides in the hills. Also the cholera is back, this time teams are ready for it and are able to treat the victims. My heart hurts for a people and nation struggling to get back on their feet after so many natural and other disasters.

Blessing! Today at the BX I met a gentleman from Cap-Haitian!! I practiced my bad Creole on him. For a brief moment I felt closer to the boys.. a real blessing right here in Oklahoma!

Here is a summary of what we need for the next legal step: Green is done.. red we are waiting on..

a) I-600 (one for each child) We have filed this

b) AOF Petition (one for each child) and include the multi-page memo that goes with it We have filed this

c) Birth certificate of the children we need these

d) Consent to Adopt (one for each child) we still need these

e) Relinquishment of Parental Rights (one for each child) we have Peter's with a slight glitch on the translators signature section.. we need Wadley's

g) Copy of your I-171H : in process..again.. after updated home study

h) Cover letter written by you, explaining that you are opting into the Adjudicate Orphans First Program  Done

 Steve will be going in August. we are praying we can get all the above squared away before he goes.
Visiting in April I was made aware of how hard and tirelessly the folks at the office work to get these children home. We are so blessed to have a loving Cresche director who cares about our children and the folks who work with them and for them.

Please pray for Dr. Bernard's back as he needs surgery but can't see the way to having time to have it hapen.

And as always please pray for ALL our children to hear God's voice calling their names to Himself.

Love Wendy

Couldn't leave you wondering...

Yes we did get the mess cleared up.. and ready for a homestudy!!
Five short but busy days after the storm we passed our homestudy update and are approved to cotinue on bringing the boys home to this house!




Art is on the walls


Books on the shelves



racetrack on the carpet..

plastic on the table cloths!



Caroline's play area and the school area set up


Computer desk tidy!!



And we are ready!

Unpacking story cont.

Having left South Carolina a week prior, our furniture arrived in good shape and with a cheerful and helpful crew on Thursday 26th, May. We chose to put all the boxes in the double garage and just have our furniture put in the house. The plan being to make sure we knew where we wanted things before we started filling everything up.

We unpacked a few boxes over the weekend and celebrated master B's birthday. Steve went to work on Monday and the children and I slowly unpacked and put away box after box.

Tuesday 31st May we woke to thunderstorm warnings, that quickly turned to tornado watches. With the threat of hail looming we hauled the boxes into the house. We ratched up the unpacking pace until we had to take shelter in the tornado shelter for an hour. We emerged with no damage and the house still over our heads. We were thankful as we had seen the damage a twister could do and were taking all warnings and sirens seriously.

The inside of our house looked like a disaster zone but I was confident we could get a head on it the next day.

Wednesday dawned bright and cheery with no storms on the horizon. we alternated between unpacking 20 boxes and playing a round of rummy (a card game). Mid afternoon we stopped work in the house to clear out the garage and shed so we could store boxes we knew we were not going to need soon. This would turn out to be the wrong choice later on!

A few minutes away from completing the shed and garage tidy Steve comes home. Followed swiftly by a group of about 20 people all walking up the road with food and drinks in their hands. We became the focus of a good old traditional roof stomping. 20 strangers, neighbors and co-workers piled into our home, put food on our tables and started to have a party! After getting over the shock I had a great time, met some lovely people and was able to ALMOST get over the fact my house was in such huge disarry!

Seriously.. I took pictures... see below! It looked like something out of one of those "clean up your house" shows!

Thankfully this was not the END of the STORY... it does get better!!!!

We are OUT of IBESR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praise God and thank-you everyone who works to ensure the safe and careful adoption of each of our children!!!!
We got news this evening that our dossier has passed through IBESR!!!!!
One step closer to bringing the boys home!! Still a ways to go but what a relief to know we are on the home straight!

wildens Charles.. a special boy!!

:0)

For my friends who blessed us with the gift of taking a gift for a special boy..their son!

New House..

Our time line.. We left South Carolina on a Thursday.. camped our way to Oklahoma and arrived at our new destination the following Monday.
That Thursday (so a week after we left SC) the moving vans arrived with all our belongings! We were racing against the storm clouds to get everything unloaded!



Our room.. most of us camped in the house the night before.


The children have a double sink and then a separate bathroom area!


Bedrooms are smaller than we would like but adequate!





The essential tornado shelter in the garage! Opportunity for close family tie building!



Garage before the trucks arrived..

Laundry room



Kitchen

Dinning room and school room, bigger than we had imagined!



Looking towards the back garden.


Sitting room


One of many trucks arrive..


and still they come..they would unpack and go get more!

Master B happy to have his things arriving!



Lunch break!


mattresses and clock on the grass... don't rain!!!!


Garage starting to fill up.. we had all the boxes in the garage so we could unpack slowly and orderly!



TBC

We love our walking trail!!

Getting ready to go ..sometimes it can take a while but we are finally all ready!



Jack Dog is dog tired already!



But not too tired to make sure he stops at the fire hydrant! What IS it with dogs and hydrants?
We are soon out of construction and looking across "Prairie" .. wait is that a Bison I see?.nope..

 Huge Golf Ball building ahead!


Entering the Green Belt!

And we are OFF! With Gusto!

Ahh.. ye olde watering hole..and a great place to fish!



Stopping for a water break.. good job we brought the stroller to carry the water!
Waiting for Mum to catch up!

No one is going to miss Miss E today!

The first bridge.. no trolls today!

You'll have to take my word for how hard the wind is blowing..my shutter speed was too fast to catch the blur!



We saw a skunk here the last time we walked this way.. not too sad to miss him today!
The Lake by the Fam Camp.. the midway part!

Jack goes for a swim he LOVES the water!!

Katie just submerges herself and looks like she is sticking her tongue out at us!



Hannah takes her water from a cleaner source!
A quick towel off on the grass!

We are walking the trail backwards.. so this is how far we still have to go!  We have been about 2 miles to this point!

Where have the children gone? Mum picks up the pace.

AHA! Me thinks he is between a rock and a hard place!



NO! HE is between a rock and a hard place!

the not so little Little Miss Muffet!


And we are off again.. note the shadows!

 Mum guesses the time spot on..12.15 pmMad dogs and Englishmen as they say!



Hard work being pushed in this stroller.. must drink Mummy's water
The Golf Ball tower behind us in the distance now.

We are watching!


 A beautiful cool stream with tiny little birds flitting around!

Oh..right.. good idea!

Looks like they are serious!


Detouring!



back on the trail.. a safe distance from danger!







Fluffy soft seed of some sort!~


makes the grass look like it has a beard!



Beautiful wild flowers!





The fluff tree!

The last bridge home



Labs and water.. it is imposable to just walk by!


The start..or end!!


Quick victory rest!


This is the park we walk to sometimes..

while the children play I can walk the trail.


 Heading back to our housing area..


 she is really growing up and LOVES the sister's scooter!



last 100 yards... Home is in view!!