Haitian pasta:

The children LOVE LOVE LOVE this when we visit Haiti. I have been trying to replicate it for a while now.. last night I think I nailed it :0). This gives me great joy as it means I have at least ONE meal the boys will find familiar when they get home..

Haitian Spaghetti: enough to feed 16 people

1 1/2 sweet yellow onions chopped 

2 tsp Garlic crushed

3 peppers (one yellow, one gree, one red) Peppers chopped

about 4 tsp. fresh finely chopped thyme

4 TBSP Tomato base and ½ cup ketchup ( I used the Goya Sofrito tomato cooking base)

6 beef hot dogs cubed

salt and pepper to taste

Spaghetti: broken in half and cooked in boiling water for about 9 mins. Al dente..still firm)

Directions

1.       Break up spaghetti and boil al dente

2.       Fry onions, garlic, peppers, thyme, add hot dogs, slat and pepper to taste (remember hot dogs have their own saltiness) ..

3.       Add tomato base and ketchup (get over putting ketchup in pasta.. it tastes awesome)

4.       Drain spaghetti add spaghetti to base fry for few minutes until well coated.. it should be on the dryish side but don't brown!

Serve.. to friends with love and prayer!

One Step Closer

We are one step closer to bringing the boys home!!!
We recieved our adoption decrees today along with updated photos :0)

We will be awaiting the news on passports and visas in the New Year. And we are thanking God and the dedicated work of the folks in Haiti for this wonderful Christmas gift!

Making a Difference

This smile makes a difference, it warms my heart, brings me a joy I can not describe and this little boy has brought a dynamic energy to our lives that we can never put into words.

Haiti has made a difference! There are so many surprising things to discover in this land full of rich and powerful history. I'm glad I only had a chance to meet this spiky fellow in the mueseum though!

 We did get to come "face to face with a dead triantula.. who was HUGE!!" when I saw the size of this scorpion though I started to get a little freaked out about the size of the insects in Haiti! I pays to keep your eyes open! I'm glad I had a chance to see more than just the rubble this trip though, it confirmed again that every time I come I return blessed, eyes opened and different!

Beauty, beauty, beauty!!Haiti has intense contrasts.. looking at the landscape and realising what this terrain means for the people who live and work in this area changes my perspectives on what hard really means.  Look closely adn you see teh fields are litterally being farmed off the cliff!

This littlest son of mine was a little freaked out by the large number of folks who had just walked in, he squeezed on to my finger and turned back to me.. to get his safety back. That moment made a difference in our bonding, he has changed me forever. Love has a way of continually doing that.

And let me tell you! That french fry? It made a huge difference!.. to the state of my clothes.. he was sucking them of the grease and then wadding them down into the baby sling :0) Yep.. I smelt like a french fry for the rest of the day, and I wouldn't change a thing!

I am profoundly thankful for the difference that is being made in this adoption.. the difference is in me! Waiting, hopfully, prayerfully, longing for moment by moment continued changes to great me every morning in the eyes and antics, experiences and growth of my little sons.

Soon baby boys.. please God soon!

22 update

My initial 22 weeks are up at the end of January. I have some work to do to get to all my goals before then but I have managed to complete a few!

1. Lose 22 pounds in 22 weeks (12 down)
2. Pick up 22 things a day and decided to keep, give or throw away (22 down )
3. read 22 books (7 down War and Peace is really getting in the way of volume of books read here)
4. learn 22 verses (22 down first chapter of james and some of the second down)
5. write 22 blog posts (22 down )
6. walk 22 miles (starting over cause I lost track)
7. bike 22 hours (starting over cause I lost track)
8. cook 22 new recipes (11 down )
9. give 22 loaves of bread to 22 neighbors (8 down )
10. save 22 dollars a week (price of  Emmas ticket to Haiti by November)
11. write 22 letters
12. buy 22 Christmas gifts, bought, wrapped and sent NEED TO GET ON THIS!!
13. make 22 scrapbook pages
14. pray for 22 children to reunited with their forever families..while we have prayed they are still to be reunited so continuing in prayer until they are all home.
15. learn 22 hours of French (22 down )
16. learn 22 Kreyole phrases
17. read 22 books to my four year old (22 down)
18. knit 22 new stitch patterns
19. visit 22 place in OK
20. have 22 dates with my husband (4 down)
21. plant 22 flowers in my yard
22. spend 22 weeks praying, studying and preparing for my sons.

22 Children update

Several months ago I started to pray for these (more than) 22 children to come out of IBESR
Thought I'd update my blog :0) with prayers answered and the newest members of our adoption group waiting to pass through this process and to bring their children home.

As it looks like I will have more than 22 weeks to journey before the boys come home it will be such a joy to see some of these prayers coming to fruition in the next coming weeks.


We have a large group now at various stages waiting for adoption decrees or for passports. So exciting to be so close, yet still such along way to go.
Lovely Roseline OUT and ready for passports
Miana OUT and passports printed waiting for visa
Daphcar and Bervalie OUT and waiting for passports
Ruth OUT and waiting for passports and visas
Monique, Jnr and Franz OUT and waiting for passports and visas
Daphcar and Bervalie OUT and waiting for passports and visas
Wildens Charles OUT and waiting for adoption decree and MOI
Vensley OUT waiting for adoption decree
Wadley and Peter OUT and waiting for adoption decree and MOI

Children to come out of IBESR

Yphterline & Ben
Carline Still waiting to pass out of IBESR
Jovanika and James waiting to pass out of IBESR
Rose Bendy Isma waiting to pass ot of IBESR
Stephania & Peterson waiting to pass out of IBESR
Brandalene
Claude & Mithe-Love
Stephania,Lorvens & Janelson Waiting to pass out of IBESR
Wensley Still in IBESR
Loudjina Still in IBESR

Moise & Fredly
Wilguens & Vertilus
Thurstan & Tatum
Babala (Lulu) & Virgile

Children waiting for news on adoption laws in Haiti.
Benji Love & John Dearson
M & L
Betson
Wilnes, Wendy, Woody
Guerry


and my friend Dell's adoption. my friend Maddy's adoption.

Monday's and Tuesday's

The first two days of the working week are always a little more intense for us adoptive Mom's and Dad's. Typically these are the days we hear about progress of our dossiers.. or we don't.

Last week  there was a flurry of activity and we were able to rejoice that several people made huge steps forward. We weren't one of them but this gives me the chance to reflect once again on patience and the depth God requires from me... or more aptly.. desires FOR me.

It is SO hard these final steps, when you are so very, very close yet tso far away too. I really do have to stop and marvel that we are any place at all and the miracle of adoptive birth is as strong in my heart, mind and soul as physical birth.

So, if you are reading this today please pray for all of us Monday/Tuesday Mom's who will be sitting and hitting send and recieve like demented woodpeckers feeding from a key board.

And if you see me around today or tomorrow give me a hug.. I'm going to need one.

Gaze..

When our daughter came to us at four months old she was nearly 14 months old before she held my gaze. I had to wear her in her sling and worked hard with her to dispel the walls she had put up in her early life.

Wadley was a little freaked out finding himself in the arms of this funny looking, funny speaking woman who kept telling him she "renmen ou"d him. loved him.

This photo was taken on Wednesday, he was gazing intently at my face by then, with such an intensity that it was hard to meet his eyes. To look into them and know that in a few days I was going to have to remove myself from his gaze...
I take such comfort in this photo though because it is hopeful. I believe if we can get them home soon it will not be almost a year before he feels that connection and security again.

The photo on the right is day one.. the one on the left day three.

On the whole the boys were very mellow for the week we had them. The one exception to that rule was the afternoon after we had visited the zoo. To say they were a little over stimulated by that trip would be like saying I am a little bit British!

This cheeky grin belies the  fact that a little boy's world went from four walls to goats, monkeys, rabbits, trees and french fries! and it freaked him out!
 There was none of the pointing, babble and animal noise imitations on this trip.. just a lot of stillness and looking. (can you imagine what he is going to do when we show him his first gorilla or elephant!

 Not sure who was more interested in who in this photo...

Starting to express true displeasure despite being held close..

 But the calm went way when we got home and my exhausted boys were not going to lie down and sleep. Wadley had a little meltdown and even my placid Peter fussed. I ended up holding them both and patting backs for them to fall asleep. Wadley briefly went back to hitting his head rhythmically .. something he hadn't done the whole week.

While I was kicking myself for putting the boys into an over stimulating situation I was glad to get the confirmation of what makes them feel insecure... basically anything bigger than a room!
So once these little guys get home we will be working on a LOT of eye contact, we will need to hold them close and not share them around for a while, we will need to take the stimulation out of our environment (not so easy with a five year old who is VERY full on!) and let them process little by little...and THEN.. I'm taking them to the zoo!

A thought..

This is a view of Port Au Prince from high on one of the hillsides surrounding the town.
We head up to this over look every time we are in Haiti because the overlook also has artisits and vendors who will sell you their wares for whatever price you can finally get them to agree on. Too much you lose their respect..too little you lose respect for yourself!

It never ceases to amaze me when I look out over this view. When you are down in the twon you can see the effects of the earthquake..and they are devastating and continue to be a source of suffering for the people of Port Au Prince. But when I am up on the hill top looking down at the sea reaching to the flat sandy shores of the bay.. and then I look at the flat heavily populated area that is Port Au Prince.. I can only stop and thank God from the bottom of my heart that the earthquake that shock this country to it's core, didn't produce a tidal wave!

I've been several times up to this point, the thought never leaves, I always come away feeling thankful... and with at least one or two painted, metal lizards!