Awana 2011/2012

The kids had their AWANA awards a couple weeks ago.

Elijah and Josephine have finished their second year of Cubbies, and will move up to Sparks when they start kindergarten in the fall.

The "Cubbies Song"

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"
Elijah's shoe fell off as they were walking back on stage, so that's what's going on with him. :)

This was Kaylen's first year of T&T. She found it to be a bit harder than Sparks had been last year. But she did an awesome job, and finished the first book in the year! She was so proud of herself that she got picked to say a verse at the awards program. Then that day she got really nervous, and was afraid she'd forget the verse.

When she was practicing it, she kept going too fast and we couldn't understand the words, so we had her practice it super slow! She did it perfectly at the program! The verses her group was saying basically went through the entire purpose of T&T (Truth & Training). Each kid in front of her said a short verse, and then Kaylen's long verse summarized the whole thing. We congratulated Kaylen on the way home, for saying it perfectly, and that her teachers probably chose her to say the long verse because they knew she'd be able to memorize it and say it well in front of an audience. Kaylen's teacher has told us all along how insightful her comments and questions during discussions! She sure keeps us on her toes! :)

Kaylen saying her verse:

All three with their awards:

(Kaylen lost her dog-dish pin that had her little dog-bone awards on them, which is why she has nothing on her shirt.)

Easter 2012

We got together with Jock's family to color Easter eggs on Friday evening. It's always a fun time - for both the adults and the children.

If we stay in town over Easter weekend, our neighborhood does a "Bunny Walk". Had a few people ask me what that was. Basically, one family hosts it in their garage, and lines up a bunny to come visit. They have coffee, cocoa, juice, and donuts, and a few families bring other breakfast snacks to share. They pass out balloons to the kids, then the bunny leads us on a walk around the neighborhood. When we get back, there is an Easter egg hunt in their front yard and an empty lot across the street from them. This year, we postponed about a half-hour until the rain quit. It was still cool and rainy, but it was still fun, and nice to converse with the neighbors for a bit.

My Dad & Stepmom came Saturday evening to spend Easter with us. They'd been with the East coast contingent of our family since just before Christmas, so the kids were SUPER EXCITED to see them - as were we! So fun chatting and the kids playing and talking and showing Grandma and Grandpa things, that we didn't even take any photos. :)

Kaylen's Baptism

We're so proud of Kaylen for making the decision to get Baptized yesterday!

James

The orphanage where James lives does an awesome job providing updates on the children, to the adoptive families. Each month we get a themed photo, and a little write-up, which includes a little about James' activities and development. The update coordinator does a wonderful job, and it really shows how much love she puts into the updates each month. We're so thankful for this!

April's update was no different. Here was our written update, and a couple of photos of our precious little boy. We can't wait to meet him!

Happy Easter from God’s Littlest Angels, Jack and Lisa!

Here at GLA, we are praying each of our adoptive families had a blessed and fun Easter this past month! There has been much activity happening around here. We have had a new team in each week since the end of March. Each of them has been a blessing. Some worked on building/maintenance projects while others did ministry in our community and with our kids. Our Easter holiday here in Haiti was a true blessing. The kids at the Toddler House enjoyed dying Easter eggs, having a special meal, and learning about how Jesus died for their sins while the babies at the main house received a special treat and spent time with their nannies and volunteers.

All of the bigger babies in our nursery had their chance to try a marshmallow peep for the first time. Some thought it was the best thing they have tasted and ate it before we knew it. Other’s just looked at it curiously and gave it back to us. We recognize that the babies at the main house do not fully comprehend the sacrifice that was made on the cross for them, but we pray that each one will come to an understanding of this as they grow up. This month I will share with you how your child is doing developmentally and what they have learned and experienced in the past month.

James has had a fantastic month. He has enjoyed many hours on the balcony with his volunteers and nannies. James loves it best when the swimming pool is out and he gets to go in. He also enjoys riding in the toy cars or pushing his friends around in them. He is very good at concentrating for a little while to put a puzzle together with assistance.

James really comes alive in the evening. He loves to be bathed and ready for bed. He will run around the nursery with a HUGE smile on his face. The other night while waiting for his bath, he was sitting on the floor in only his diaper with a toy piano, just plunking away. He seemed very pleased with himself and enjoyed all the attention that he received. He looked like he was making music for all the kids and nannies as they went about their nightly ritual of getting ready for bed.

James was one of the kids who ate the marshmallow peep that he got on Easter. He thought it was a delightful treat and asked for more when he was done with the one he was given.

James is healthy and growing: Height: 79.5 cm Weight: 23 lb 10 oz

I understand that the adoption process you are currently working though is long and often painful. I pray over each of these updates as I write them. I pray that your patience with the process will be multiplied, as you trust that God’s timing is supreme. I pray that as you wait, you draw closer to the Lord and that the child that is about to be yours forever will fit perfectly into every aspect of your life when he comes home. I pray that the updates you receive at the end of each month are a blessing to you.

Happy Birthday Josephine!!!

I can't believe my baby girl is 5 years old today!

She's come a long ways from this tiny baby we first saw in this photo in July 2007:

...to this first trip to visit her in Port-au-Prince in Feb/Mar 2008:

...to this second trip to visit her in July 2008:

...to this third trip to visit her in March 2009:

... to finally having her in our arms in Sanford, FL, ready to come home to Iowa, in January 2010:

... to her 3rd birthday:

...to her 4th birthday:

...to last night, "helping me" by cleaning the frosting off the silverware when I was done frosting her cupcakes:

We can't imagine our lives without our beautiful, funny, silly, smart, sweet little girl - who is growing up SO FAST!!!

We love you, Josephine! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Signs of Life

Love it when I come across little reminders some days. Reminders of what Life is really about.

It's not just the traffic jam. It's not just hitting every red light when I'm running late. It's not about the little struggles I face throughout the day - at home, at work, in between.

It's about life everlasting. I'm thankful for these reminders I see every now and then, that bring me back to reality - real Life!

3rd Grade Field Trip

I joined Kaylen's 3rd grade field trip last week. It's the first time I've gone on one of her field trips, so it was a new experience for me. This trip was to the Science Center of Iowa, in downtown Des Moines. I was surprised by how many chaperones there were, and it worked out great. I was paired with another mom, and there were 4 kids in our group. We all had schedules for which section we were supposed to be in when, what time lunch was, etc. It was a very well-oiled machine! :)

We first went into the Lost Egypt exhibit. They had a camel to climb on, info on how they built the pyramids, and a few mummies and info about them, including the beliefs about the objects they were buried with and why. They also had a great big replica of the Rosetta stone. Kaylen and a friend on the camel:

Then we went upstairs for the hands-on section (lego car racing, paper rocket-building, Egg dropper, keystone-bridge building, etc. Got a cute photo of Kaylen and some friends setting up the keystone bridge:

It turned out to be a nice (even hot!) day, so the kids had lunch outside on the grassy lawn. Then we went back upstairs to explore the rest of the upstairs basically the reptile room. But this room also has a weather room for one of the local TV stations. Since it was 12:30-1, they weren't on the noon news, but they did the weather-now segment while Kaylen and her friends were there. They posted it online that afternoon, here. Kaylen's on the far right, kneeling in the front row, with a reddish shirt. Notice what she's doing when the camera comes back on them after the weather maps - goofball!

We finished off the trip with the entire 3rd grade in the star theater. They've been learning about the moon, stars, and planets in their science classes recently, so it was kind of neat hearing them in unison answering the SCI staff's questions as she presented. It was also neat seeing the diagrams of the moon and stars, planets, constellations, etc. At the end of the star presentation, they had a show on the screen that seemed like you were riding down a water slide. She warned us before she started us that if you start getting dizzy, to just close your eyes or look down. Yup, I couldn't handle it - started getting my motion-sick headache, so had to look down. Then all the kids started an "Again" chant, so had to do it again. Ahhhh... the kids all love it! :)

After the star theater, we helped the kids get lined up with their class, and back on the buses, and that was it. A fun time was had by all!

Perfect Entertainment!

For when we need some peace and quiet, and/or the kids are bored:

The TV, of course, was the top priority. The furniture (seating, anyway) is ordered, but the bean bags work perfectly for the kids!

Dance Photos

Well, we've survived dance photos - the first real test! Not much time to write today, but here are a few photos from the morning.

Hair & Make-up done, ready to head to the studio:

Both girls ready:

Couldn't get Josephine to stand still, she was so excited! This is her ballet costume. Tap is the same, except caramel tights instead of pink, and a hair ribbon instead of the chicky hat.

Kaylen's tap costume:

Kaylen's ballet costume:

Kaylen's jazz costume - her favorite of the three costumes:

Adoption Update 4/18/12

In my last post about our adoption process, we found out that our time in IBESR could be as short as 2 months.

I will admit I was a little skeptical, after having been in IBESR for 10 1/2 months with Elijah & Josephine's adoption. Even so, when the two months came and went a week and a half ago, I was a little disappointed. You try hard to not get your hopes up, but you do. But then when the thoughts of disappointment come, the very next thought is, duh!, it's probably not likely - we've been through this before - we have no idea how long it'll be. Then back to All in God's timing. The back-and-forth thoughts are endless!

I tried to use the time praying, instead of dwelling on the process itself. I printed the list of kids in process, and prayed over each one, for their families, the GLA staff caring for them, their waiting families, and the offices that dossiers go through waiting for signatures or other action.

So a week and a half after our 2 months passed, I had gotten busy and gotten beyond that disappointment. Much to my surprise, I had an email today around lunchtime that we had a message from our adoption agency on our portal page on their website. From my phone I could only see part the subject line: "New Message from Bethany: Ou...". Turning my phone sideways revealed the remainder of that subject: "...t of IBESR!" I couldn't believe my eyes. I immediately logged in to our portal page to read the rest of the email. I think I had to read that email three times because I was so excited!

Then I called Jock. I asked him if he was at work or at home. He was working at home. I asked him if he was sitting down or standing up. He was sitting. I asked him if he was ready to start screaming. He said, "News about our adoption?" Um, yup - we're out of IBESR!!!

So here's the details... We were one of several families adopting from GLA, whose dossier exited IBESR at the same time. GLA is going to coordinate travel schedules between all the families, and probably prioritize which families travel first based on when they entered IBESR - a couple of these families have been waiting since last summer because they needed dispensation. But even so, we anticipate we'll travel "within the next three weeks or so". Yup, very specific. We were asked to let our agency know which week(s) would work better for us, so we're officially working on travel plans!

We can't wait to travel to Haiti again, and to meet our youngest son!