2009 in Review

It is almost 2010. I can’t believe how fast time seems to go. So much has happened in 2009!

In January, I had Lasik eye surgery, and said goodbye to my glasses and contacts that I’d worn (one or the other) for 25 years! Kaylen turned 6 years old in January, and we invited 10 of her friends and hosted a fun birthday party for her in our home.

In March, Jock and I took another trip (Jock’s 2nd, my 3rd) to Haiti to visit Elijah & Josephine and do some missions work at the orphanage.

In May, my little sister got married to her high school sweetheart. What a joyous occasion that was. Josephine turned 2 years old, and a week later I celebrated my birthday on Mother’s Day (actually Jock & Kaylen let me celebrate my birthday a day early so I would still get to celebrate both :). Kaylen played T-ball in May & June, and we visited Des Moines’ Blank Park Zoo with friends.

July was a very busy month. We spent a long weekend at my dad’s over Independence Day. Kaylen excelled in swimming lessons, after gaining experience in the pool at the once-a-week daycare field trips to our local aquatic center. Jock and I both were crew leaders and Kaylen attended VBS the last week of July.

August was also a busy month on weekends. One weekend we drove 9 hours to attend Optimist Club meetings in Davenport, a family reunion near my hometown, and then back home. The following weekend we helped welcome friends home to Des Moines after the adoption of their three children from Haiti was final. We attended the Iowa State Fair on Jock’s birthday. Kaylen started the 1st grade. We updated our home study for the third time since starting E & J’s adoption process.

In September, we spent a long weekend over Labor Day, with my family, and also held a surprise 60th birthday party for my dad. That was a fun weekend! Kaylen played in a fall soccer league in September and October. This was her first year of outdoor soccer, and she did great – and really enjoyed it.

Also in October, Jock and I and Kaylen, my two sisters, two of my nieces, and two of my nephews walked in Race for the Cure, in memory of my mom, who died from breast cancer 5 years ago this January.

November was a quieter month for us – finally! We stayed home for Thanksgiving this year, and then went ice skating for the first time of the season. Kaylen has a ways to go to catch Jock, but will soon be a better skater than me!

December is a typically busy month for us, with holiday preparations, shopping, and parties. We will close out 2009 and ring in the new year, visiting some friends in their new house for a couple days, before coming back home to celebrate with our church as we hold the first services in the newly-purchased and temporarily remodeled building. I am looking forward to a fun weekend!

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas, from our family to yours!
We are celebrating Jesus' birth with our family, but there are two that we are missing terribly, praying they will be home with us very soon, and that next year, all five of us will be in the same family photo.May you remember the true gift of Christmas, and cherish HIM in your heart today and always.
Love, Jock, Lisa, Kaylen, Elijah & Josephine

Year-End Giving Suggestions

I know many people look for year-end charitable giving options - either for tax purposes, or for Christmas gifts in honor of someone, or you're ahead of your budget for the year. I've thought I'd suggest a few:

• A friend is raising funds to bring their daughters from Haiti. They are VERY near the end of the process. (Can be tax-deductible, I believe.)
  
• Another friend is selling raffle tickets for a vacation package. Proceeds go towards their adoption expenses.
  
• Our orphanage sent out an update regarding a new law passed in Haiti, raising the minimum wage, in turn increasing the staffing expenses at the orphanage. More info here. (Tax-deductible.)

There are many, many others. I pray you'll consider blessing these families and/or our orphanage with a donation - or at least share these with others. The LORD will provide, and may all the glory go to HIM!

Super Saturday Shopping?

Nope! I'm not much of a shopper, especially when there are crowds, so that wasn't on my agenda this weekend. I actually got my shopping done Monday and Tuesday evenings this past week! My awesome husband picked up Kaylen from daycare both evenings while I finished my Christmas shopping. One night I stopped by home with just enough time to pick up my snacks for recipe night with some friends. We do that about once a month, and it's always fun to share food, recipes and chat with the ladies. This month's theme was "Party Foods - Appetizers & Sweet Treats". About half of us brought christmas treats and the other half appetizers. Everything was so good! I can't wait to try some of the recipes!

Friday night, we went out to eat at Chili's. We love that place. I'd had a very long week at work and didn't feel like cooking. When I picked Kaylen up at daycare she asked about going to her elementary school's "Spirit Night" at the high school basketball game. I told her I didn't really want to go, and asked her, "Wouldn't you rather go out to eat instead?" I think she just thought I'd asked her that because I didn't want to go to the game, so she kept asking me a few more times, "Are we really going out to eat?" Then she asked Jock when he got home. I'd already talked to him on the phone when I was leaving work, so she was excited when he didn't hesitate with his "Yes" answer - ha! This girl loves to go out to eat! Not sure why she was so surprised though, since it's not that odd of an occurrence. We try to keep it to a minimum but with us both working full-time, cooking is not always the priority.

Saturday morning Jock & Kaylen went shopping and then out for breakfast at the McDonald's Playland. So I had a very nice morning - a nice quiet house! When they got home, I set to work. I made one last (huge) batch of chex party mix, prepared beef stew and put it in the crock pot for supper, and then spent the afternoon and evening working on Josephine's blanket and pillowcase.

I'd planned on using a flannel print for the top and then a quilt-fabric for the backing. However, last-minute, I decided to scrap the idea of quilted-fabric backing and made a quick trip to the fabric store for another flannel piece. I am starting to feel better about my sewing skills - my stitches are getting straighter the more I practice. So, when I was doing the final stitching on the blanket, I decided to do a more fancy stitch - kind of a zig-zag - to finish the edges (you can see it if you click on the third picture to enlarge it). It turned out really nice ... if you don't look too closely at the corners, or the spot where my bobbin thread ran out - I didn't take a photo of those parts! :)

Tomorrow Jock and I are helping the pre-schoolers in Sunday school during the 1st service, and then will stay for the 2nd service. I anticipate spending the afternoon making fudge and wrapping presents. I have to get two presents ready to mail, and hope they make it to their destination on time if I mail them Monday.

This coming week (Mon-Weds) will be busy at work again, with evenings filled with laundry, printing photos, and food prep for Christmas - but not too busy to enjoy my family, dream of my two little ones being home next year, and focusing on the true meaning of the holiday - CHRIST!

Song re. Adoption Wait at Christmas

Kristi posted this on her blog today, and I cried like a baby! It's a song by Third Day, written by their guitarist when he and his wife were adopting from China.

Beautiful!!! There's another clip here that shows him telling the story of the song.

Lyrics:
Merry Christmas - Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
To prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I'm not planning to send Christmas cards/letters this year, but had fun creating this e-card instead. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Love, Jock, Lisa, Kaylen, Elijah, & Josephine

Busy weekend!

Saturday morning I got the aforementioned update on our adoption paperwork. I saw the email right away when I woke up and spent some time praying over that while Jock and Kaylen were downstairs. When I came downstairs we had a little family prayer meeting to pray for E & J's adoption. Then we got to work making some Christmas goodies. When we were finished dipping pretzels (and licking the spoons! :), Kaylen played a computer game, Jock got to work on clearing the remaining drift from the sidewalk and the last half of the snow the street plows piled at the end of our driveway. I got some laundry started... normal Saturday stuff.

After a quick lunch, Kaylen played and then folded her laundry, Jock played with Kaylen and on his computer after a brief nap, and I got to work putting together Elijah's blanket and pillowcase that I'd gotten for him for his birthday last year - just never put them together! I got the pillowcase sewn and the blanket sewn. It's a blanket with fringe ties, but I also sewed together the two fleece pieces in case the ties come undone - but didn't have time to finish the ties before we headed over to our friends' house for an awesome Christmas party with our Bible study group. Jock helped me cut the fringe and I tied, finishing half Saturday night and the rest Sunday. It turned out really cute!

Sunday after church we were lazy for a bit, went to a brief meeting at our new church building, and then started working on Josephine's blanket & pillowcase but didn't get very far. Jock's aunt stopped by for a bit and we had a nice visit. Then dinner, Kaylen's reading and bedtime, and my usual Sunday walk.

Up this week: I would like to finish Josephine's blanket and pillowcase and then will post pictures. I hope to get most of my Christmas shopping done during my lunch breaks and maybe a couple evenings. I have a recipe night with some friends that will be fun! We HAVE to go get our fingerprints redone on Wednesday (they only day they do them in Iowa) for our USCIS adoption paperwork - they expire Wednesday! Our Bible study group meets at our house Thursday. Next weekend, I'm sure, will be more holiday preparations - probably wrapping the Christmas gifts, some usual weekend chores, and also some usual weekend laziness. I can't believe Christmas is at the end of next week already! Where does the time go?!?

Adoption Post-Dec09-Update Update

I heard back from Kiki (our lawyer in Haiti) about the questions we had on our adoption paperwork...

• The long forms for MOI have been filled out for both children. :) If everything goes well, they should be out of MOI by the end of the month. BUT I was reminded that during the holiday season not much will be done, so he'll update us when he hears anything.
• On the DNA for Josephine and her father, it looks like USCIS will start issuing DNA letters this coming week.
• For Elijah's BP interview, Kiki has sent Fifi (our orphanage's birth parent contact) back to the place where Elijah's mother used to live to see if we can track her down one more time.

For those of you unfamiliar with the process, I'll remind of what we have left: Once our children's paperwork is out of MOI, their passports will be printed (a few weeks?), then all that remains is the USCIS stuff: birth parent interviews & DNA (which can be going on now), then visa medical and final appointment followed by the visa being printed afterwards. When they have their visas they can come home.

We are praying fervently for Fifi to locate Elijah's birth mom and bring her back to the city. For the Lord to guide FIfi's steps and make her path straight to Elijah's birth mom. For Elijah's birth mom to be healthy and willing and able to travel back to Port-au-Prince for her interview. For Kiki to be able to make the interview appointment at USCIS for perfect timing for Elijah's mom's return. For no DNA to be requested of her. It means so much to have many of you joining us in praying this. It is our biggest concern at this point, but we praise our God for HIS perfect timing, and know that he can and will accomplish these things for us if we agree in prayer and if it his will that our children come home very soon.

Life for Women & Mothers in Haiti

I've been reading this blog for a while now. It gives some insight into what life is like for people - especially women and moms in Haiti. It helps me to think about the stark realities of life in Haiti - how life might have been for my children's birth families. It's hard to imagine some of these stories, but it helps me to learn and open my heart to pray for my children's birth families and for others in Haiti.

I've added a link to this blog and a few other Haiti mission websites in my list on my right sidebar (scroll down a bit), for a few American missionaries who live and work with the people of Haiti.

Adoption Update Dec'09

Let's see, as of last update:

• Our dossier was ready to have the long forms filled out - this is the last part of MOI.
  
• Our orphanage staff was still searching for E's birth mother.
  
• Our lawyer had requested an appointment from USCIS for J's father's birth parent interview.
  
• Because J's mother is deceased, our lawyer knew that DNA would be requested of J and her father to prove paternity - however, the DNA testing is closed because USCIS is now requiring it all to be done at the embassy instead of at private labs - but there is no process yet to do it.

Updates:

• We heard this week that J's birth father had his interview - it was on Tuesday 12/8/09. DNA was ordered, as expected.
  
• We've contacted our US Senators and our US House Representative for assistance because of the DNA testing being closed. It is being checked into, and we've heard through the grapevine that it may be opening up in January.
  
• Still haven't found E's birth mom.
  
• No news on the long forms.

Prayer requests:

• For the long forms to be completed in MOI.
  
• For E's birth mother to be found/come back to the city for her interview , and for USCIS to grant an appointment with no delay and no DNA request.
  
• For the DNA office to open and J and her father's test to be drawn.
  
• For all of this to be accomplished ASAP so they can come home!

...and a few photos to pray over (from a friend who traveled to visit her twins recently - Thanks Kathy!!!):

Above: Elijah is in the middle with the green and blue shirt. The nannies are getting ready to pass out suckers, so they're all getting into begging mode. :)

Josephine loves that thumb. And look how long her hair's getting!

More snow news

Around 8am - Kaylen cleared (a path to) our front porch), and Jock snowblowed the driveway and part of the street "in case we had an emergency and needed to get out."
The nice drift in the back corner of our yard - that fence is 5 feet tall! This was mid-morning, and the section reaching the top is now much wider.

Snow between the screen and the window in our dining room windows.

Two of the the three vehicles that got stuck in the huge drift in front of our house. Jock tried to get the red truck out while the two guys in it stayed inside their truck - maybe they didn't have the appropriate weather gear - donno. Blowing around him didn't help and they eventually were pulled out by another truck that came to help. The guys didn't even thank him for trying. The guy in the black truck is a part-time city firefighter who I used to work with. He lives up the street. Apparently this was the second or third route he tried to take to get home. With Jock's snowblower and him shoveling got him out but he had to go back the way he came and try yet another route home. He did thank Jock for his help. I didn't get a good picture of the SUV that got stuck later - a little further up the street probably from the other trucks' tracks. I think another neighbor helped him, but didn't see if he got through or if he turned around.


We stayed home all day, and watched news this morning of sections of interstates being closed, plows being called off the roads, and tow bans. The National Guard was out with their hum-vees rescuing people from the ditches and abandoned cars. One hum-vee even drove past our house - interesting - assumed they'd just be out on the country highways.

Our street was plowed late this afternoon, but schools are closed again tomorrow - ugh! Jock is being allowed to work from home again tomorrow. If things are looking better, I'll likely take Kaylen to daycare on my way to work. Will see what the news and weather reports are saying tonight before I decide for sure though. Hope you all stayed safe and warm today!

Thankful for my warm home!

Well, we're in for our "first major winter storm" of the season. We got about 2 inches on Sunday night, and starting late last night thru tomorrow night, we're supposed to get 10-14 inches of snow. We had a winter storm warning. Now we're in a blizzard warning. Tomorrow's high temp is supposed to be 11, coupled with 40-50 mph wind gusts (25-35 sustained) makes it in the -10 to -20 for wind chill. Kaylen's school let out 90 minutes early today. Jock left work at 2 and picked her up from daycare. The shoveled off the first 6 or so inches off the driveway so I could get in. I left work at 3 and headed straight home on the nasty roads - the trip that usually would take me 20-25 minutes on dry roads and no traffic took me an hour, but then some might call me a slippery-roads wimp who drives overly cautiously slow.

Tonight, we warmed up an odd mix of comfort foods for dinner: left-over fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, pizza, turnips/greens, green beans and slaw. Then we played a computer game together. Kaylen went up to read and get ready for bed at her normal time, and is now ready to be tucked in for the night. I'm ready for a cup of hot cocoa later and some more online reading/chatting.

I just got an email alert that Kaylen has no school tomorrow. I'll be staying home - whether the office closes or not. Jock is supposed to be working from home tomorrow - whether his office closes or not. We're hoping we don't lose power or internet service with the nasty winds tonight/tomorrow - we'd be really bored then! We'll probably be doing a mix of movies, Wii, computer stuff, along with reading books, laundry, online shopping, paying bills, listening to music, playing with Barbies & Polly Pockets & Littlest Pet Shops.

Hope you all are having a great week - and that it's warmer where you are than it is here (or you're able to stay in from the cold). Speaking of warm, need a vacation?

Vacation Getaway

Check out this vacation getaway and help a family bring home their little boy at the same time!