Homecoming

All four kids together at last!

Big sister moment...

Cam is just a little excited to be a big brother!

Can you tell Brayden loves kids?!

The end..and the beginning!

Hello everyone, well it is 2:30 in the afternoon here and we have finished packing all our stuff! The flight doesn’t leave till 11:30 tomorrow night but we will check out of here at 10:00am tomorrow morning and go to Mary’s for the day until around 7:00pm. I just didn’t want to be scrambling around tomorrow morning so we got it done early. JP was so good…for a whole hour and a half he just played on the floor with toys and then he found the trash can and that kept him happy for quite a while…I think he was pretending to drive a car with it…he just held on to the rim and kept spinning it back and forth. We just spoke to the kids and now the next time I hear their voices it will be in person! I know I will be crying before I even make it off the plane. Sounds like we go back to our busy lives of watching our kids play sports! Brayden has 2 hockey games already this weekend! Believe me it will be a welcome change to the monotony we have endured while gone! I’m sorry…I need to stop complaining…good things have happened while here…the bonding…the milestones JP has achieved, and the neat people we have met. The best part of all though has been seeing God do what many have said would be impossible! That was so cool to be a part of. I just found out this morning that my friend who is also adopting from Rwanda just received her approval letter from the minister! YIPPEE! One more orphan about to get a family! Yes, there are millions of them but one child at a time is all we can do, right!
Here’s a blast from the past…the old TV show, ”Different Strokes” just came on. The other day, The Jeffersons came on and Brock and I started singing along to the theme song, then we laughed at how pathetic we were! Anyway…this may be my last email as we will be away from wireless internet as of tomorrow morning. So let me say now how grateful I am to have such a wonderful family of special people that care enough to share in this journey with us. You have all helped us through this past year by your prayers, your hugs, your financial support and all the encouraging emails and phone calls. I love you all and pray that you would know how much you are loved by us and by the ONE who burdened out hearts to begin this amazing adventure. Even though this feels like an ending, we know that it is only just the beginning….

Homeward bound...soon!

Hello everyone…just wanted to let you all know that after waiting an hour and a half at the embassy they finally called us to the window to receive JP’s visa. So we now have everything we need to come home…praise God we are so excited. We will spend tomorrow getting all our stuff organized and packed up so that after breakfast on Thursday morning we will be ready to go to Mary’s house. JP has now learned how to give a high five and today he started pushing himself backwards when on all fours so I think my estimation of him crawling the first week we are home might actually be pretty accurate. Brock made me laugh today by saying that he felt like Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day”. It is so true…same exact routine…different day. Oh my…how different my days will be once I get home…I think I won’t be bored for years to come! See you all soon…YIPPEE!!!

Just another day!

Well here we are another day in Kenya counting the days till we come home! Brock is studying and JP is napping. The TV is on but I’m not really watching…there is some made for tv movie…a murder mystery I think…I’m so sick of TV but yesterday was damp and cool, today is rainy so going outside isn’t an option. At least tomorrow we have to go get the visa at the embassy so that will get us out of here for a while and then one more day of life in a hotel room and on Thrusday we will check out in the morning and go to Mary’s house for the day. She lives right across the street from a place called Amani Ya Ju. It is a place that houses refugee woman from many African countries. The women are taught how to make purses, and quilts. There is a little shop that sells the items made by the woman and the proceeds go to the women and their families. We went to the shop and looked around the other day we were at Mary’s house, but we didn’t take the tour. I think we will do that on Thursday afternoon. They also serve a great lunch according to Mary and she says that an American woman runs the kitchen so all the food is cleaned appropriately so that we can actually eat the salad and any of the fruits and veggies! That will be a treat if we decide to have lunch there too!
JP is doing great. Just yesterday Brock went outside to study and I was in the room with JP…he was napping and after he woke up we just played in the room until Brock got back and when Brock walked in the room JP started laughing and saying “dada” and was flailing his arms and kicking his feet…he couldn’t wait for Brock to come and hold him. It was so cute. He is a really easy baby…lots of people here have commented on how placid and peaceful he is. So the bonding and adjustment process has completely surpassed my expectations. It couldn’t have been more easy and natural. He gets stronger everyday…he is already pulling himself up to his knees and just needs a little help to get to a standing position, but once there he can hold it for longer periods of time each day. We are working on teaching him how to be gentle! He gets excited and just grabs your hair or your face! Poor Cam is in for some serious manhandling. He also will go to kiss you and then end up biting…so there’s one more thing we need to work on but already it is getting less frequent. He used to try to bite every time but now it only happens maybe once a day, so we have made some progress!

Almost done!

Well, for the next 3 days we will be hanging out at the guest house.. It costs about $30 to go anywhere and we need to reserve our remaining funds! So you may be hearing from me often as I might get a little bored and stir crazy. Fortunately for us we do have TV and a pool here at the Methodist. Our friends are staying at another guest house that has really NO amenities at all. So we are very grateful to have ended up here! This morning at breakfast another woman came up to Brock and told him that she was so grateful to see us adopting. She herself had adopted a baby girl 19 years ago and said that it has always been one of her greatest blessings. She kept saying, “God bless you, God Bless you.” She was so sweet. And then we ran into her again about an hour later and she wanted to meet up at dinner so that she could give us her contact info…she wants to keep in touch. JP is napping now and hopefully he will be down for a while. Oh my goodness, I just looked over at him and he fell asleep as if he was sitting up and then just collapsed forward…he is very flexible!!! I’d better re-position him…I don’t imagine he will stay asleep too long like that.We invited our friends Melissa and Dave to come here and hang out with us today by the pool, but I have no idea if they will actually come or not, we’ll see. I cannot wait to eat good food again. We have been eating potatoes at EVERY meal and all the meat served is pretty dry and tough compared to what we are used to. They even serve goat meat pretty regularly. Even though the food is not the best…I would stay here again without question. The staff is soooo nice and the place is very clean. We were supposed to go to church with Mary (the woman we met at the embassy last week) however we just can’t afford to spend $30 to go to church. It would probably be right when JP gets tired and grumpy anyway. Mary has offered to let us stay at her home on Thursday so that we can check out Thursday morning even though our flight doesn’t leave until 11:25 pm. Well I guess that is all for now.

Village Market

Today we went to the Village market which is like an outdoor flea market of crafts and then a large indoor mall. We ran into our friends at the market and had lunch with them. Then we just came back to our room to give JP a nap except now he is just crying instead of sleeping. Brock went outside for a while to study for his real estate exam. And I am pretty much just bored so I thought I’d write a few more things I’ve noticed about JP this past week. When we first got him he could not carry his weight on his feet. He didn’t have much leg strength at all and this morning he was trying to pull himself up in his crib so I just helped him up a little and he stood there all by himself holding on to the rails! It is amazing how quickly they catch up. He also goes from sitting to crawl position easily and tries to move forward but usually just pushes himself backward. Just yesterday I was trying to teach him how to clap hands and today in the taxi he started doing it so I kept saying “clap hands” and he would do it on command…I know…he’s a genius!!! He’s getting better at giving kisses on demand, but not always! He’s finally asleep…sucking his fingers! I’m going to enjoy the quiet.

Flights changed!

After going to the embassy yesterday and learning that the visa will most likely be ready on Tuesday or Thursday the latest, I emailed Anne and asked her to call British Airways to find out how much it would cost to change our flights. When we received her email that said it was only $100 each to change our tickets we immediately called the taxi driver we have been using and asked him to come get us right away…we need to get to the airport to change our flights! We were able to change our flights to Thursday the 11th at 11:25 pm which will be great…hopefully JP will sleep the whole way to London! We only have a 5 hour layover in London and we will arrive home at 1:00 pm in Boston on Friday, in time to spend the weekend with the kids…YIPPEE!!! We are so excited and amazed at God’s hand upon us every step of the way. Our friends we met from a church in Tennessee found us this morning to say goodbye and pray for us again before they left. What a sweet and tender God we serve to bring such loving people along side us. It seems like God himself has orchestrated every detail of this trip down to the staff here at the guest house and the taxi drivers! Seems like such minor details but He cares about the minor details as much as He cares about the major ones! We are getting ready to go to the Village Market which is like an outdoor flea market of crafts hand made by the Masai tribe. I’ll tell you all about it later tonight.

Embassy Interview

What a morning! We had to wake up JP to get to the embassy for our 8:00 appointment. We went to the “restaurant” for breakfast to feed JP and these 2 very nice gentlemen asked to join us so that we could eat while they fed JP! They are from a church in Tennessee here doing work in some orphanages. As we quickly ate they inquired of our story and we shared it with them. They offered to keep us in prayer as we told them about the embassy situation. While we were packing up a few more people from their group came in and before I knew it we were in a circle of prayer on our behalf. How cool is that. God keeps putting people in our lives to encourage and uplift us. We thanked them and got in the taxi to head to the embassy. About ¾ of the way there we ran out of gas! The driver called his partner to come get us. Thankfully we still made it to the embassy on time. We were sitting and waiting a few minutes before 8:00 and we sat there until around 10:00 when they finally called our name. The other couple adopting from Rwanda told us that they have had a few senators from back home sending emails to put pressure on the embassy to get the visas processed ASAP. The visa interviewer said that he was 98% sure that the visas would be ready to pick up at 3:00 on Tuesday!!!!!!! The problem is we do not have flexible tickets and he was certainly not guaranteeing that the visa would be ready when expected so to be safe he recommended that we try to get flights for Thursday. (The only other day the embassy is open next week). He did sound pretty confident that if it wasn’t ready Tuesday, it WOULD be ready Thursday. We are looking into what the cost would be to come home early, but Praise God …the worst case scenario is that we come back on schedule. The hard part is over now we just wait and pray that everything goes smoothly and the visa is processed without any problems. JP is quite the celebrity around here. There is a gentleman who works here in the restaurant and everytime we come in he takes JP and walks him around and introduces him to all the people in the restaurant. It is so funny and quite nice to be able to eat without him grabbing at everything on our plates.

By the way… I just heard that my friend Peter in Rwanda had a baby girl!

Mr. Grabby Pants!

Today we brought JP back to the doctor for some immunizations and to pick up his lab results for the embassy. We already knew this, but he tested negative for HIV again. My pediatrician at home told me that if a person tests negative twice, then there is no chance of fearing a “false” negative result.
After the doctor’s appointment we walked around the mall for a while and had lunch at the food court. JP is getting stronger when on all fours and we expect him to be crawling the first week we are home and we can set him on the floor. Everything here is tile so we have him practice on the bed. He has been very talkative, saying mama, dada, and mimics us when we make a kissing sound. He tries to grab at everything, my glasses, my fork, my drink,…everything. We are praying that Cam will have enough patience for Mr. Grabby Pants!!! We have been praying the past 2 days that the embassy tomorrow will have mercy and push the visa through in 24 hours. If so, we can try to get on the next flight home!!!! If not, we may be here 10 more days or longer. We would appreciate your prayers in this, we are sooooo homesick.

Kenya

We arrived in Kenya last night and checked into the guest house...the only annoying part was that they brought us directly to a "bishop suite" which is twice as big as the standard room and we did not request it so it took a few minutes to get them to find us a standard room and thankfully they were able to because about an hour later Brock had gone down to the receptionist and there were a bunch of people trying to get a room and there weren't any...! We left here this morning at 7:15 to arrive at the Embassy at 8:00. We had to wait about an hour to speak with an immigration officer. When we sat down in the waiting area we were seated right next to the only other white person in the room. We began chatting and found out that she has been living in Kenya for 9 months with her 4 children waiting for her adoption (of her 5th child) to be finalized. She is adopting from Kenya and they require a 9 month residency. I thought 3 weeks was bad and this poor woman has been doing this for 9 months! Anyway she was a believer and was sooooo helpful. After we got our medical packet she said that we could use her cell phone to make an appointment. Then she invited us back to her house to wait for the doctors appointment because she lived right near the medical offices. We went and met her children who were all precious!
So today we got much accomplished. We got all the paperwork needed for the Embassy and had our medical appointment and also got his blood drawn for the HIV test (yes, he already had one but the embassy requires another by their "trusted" physicians). We need to go back on Wed. morning for JP to get a few more immunizations and to pick up the bloodwork results. Then we have our visa interview scheduled for Thursday morning at 8:00am. Soooo...it was a very productive day.
Here's the kicker though.....you knew it couldn't be that easy..right!!!
Well,the Embassy is closed 3 days next week for holidays! Another couple who is adopting was told this morning that they would probably not be able to pick up the visa until the week of the 15th. They are at the exact same place in the process as us and we found this out when we ran into them at the medical office. We are just going to have to pray that we can persuade them on Thursday to have it ready for us on Friday or at least one of the days they will be open next week. The website says that the visas are ready for pick up 24 hours after your interview but they are saying that it takes 3-4 working days. So I am going to print off the website page that says they are ready 24 hours later and just pray that God will go before us and work it all out in a way that doesn't have us sitting here for a week just waiting for a piece of paper. JP is doing great...and we are doing just fine too!

Passport, guesthouse, contractions....

OK...so a few things have happened since my last update! On Friday we went souvenir shopping all morning and then came back for a quick lunch before heading to the Immigration Office for the passport. We ran into Pastor Augustine in morning and he called the Director and he apologized for the passport not being ready on Thursday and assured us that it would be ready today. Praise God...we went in the office and it was ready and waiting for us! We were so excited...one more thing done and now just lodging to find (in 2 days!). When we were in the immigration office Brock was holding JP and a Rwandan man came up to us and said, "Your baby???" (with a puzzled look). We said, "yes, he is our boy!" The man started giggling and patting Brock on the shoulder and said, "Strange, very strange!" It was so funny...he could barely speak english, but he knew enough to make us laugh!!!
After getting the passport we continued the hunt for lodging in Kenya...it was not looking good and I am so thankful that Robin kinda took over the search for me using the internet and making the phone calls... We were starting to get a little nervous and yet I knew it would all work out eventually. We called a few places and there was no room for us anywhere. YIKES! At about 5:00 that evening we finally got through to a Methodist Guest House in Nairobi and they had room and the receptionist said that they are only 2-3 miles from the US Embassy. We were so relieved for God's provision of a place to stay. You can check it out online to see pictures...it looks really nice; a pool and a business center so I should have wireless internet so that I can try out the phone program on the laptop and hopefully talk to the kids soon. http://www.methodistguesthouseke.com/ Then today Robin was talking to a friend of hers telling her about it and her friend had actually stayed there before and said it was very nice. Praise God AGAIN!!!
Today JP was being kinda fussy..he has cut 2 teeth this week!!! So we left him here with Robin thinking he would take a good long nap while we went to the orphanage to pick up JP's immunization records. When we returned much later she said he only slept 20 minutes! Little goober!! She said he ate non-stop all day! I might need to get a part time job to cover the new grocery bill!
At the orphanage we asked how all the babies were doing and the sister said that they were all doing much better. It turns out it was NOT meningitis after all. The docotrs came to run the tests and it was something else entirely...some virus. A few babies went to the hospital but it sounded like it was more to prevent the spread to other kids.
After the orphanage we went to run a few errands and then we were going to visit Peter and Ruth at their home. When we got there we learned that Ruth had begun having contractions. She said they started earlier that day and that her water had dripped a little. I started timing her contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long. I told her that we should go pack her bag because it was almost time to go to the hospital.. By the time we got in the car to bring her to the hospital her contractions were about 2 minutes apart. You would not believe the condition of the roads we had to travel on to get to the hospital....I don't know how she handled all the bumps so well. She was quite a trooper. Just another evidence of God's perfect timing...if we did not visit her when we did she may not have had a ride to the hopspital. She had no idea she was ready to go to the hospital...we had to explain the timing of contractions and what it all meant. She is adorable with the most beautiful smile. I think instead of catching a church service we may go to the hospital to see the baby before our flight to Kenya.
We didn't get back home until 5:00 so poor Robin had JP all day with no nap! It's hard to believe we have only been gone a week...it feels much longer.

Passport problems...oh dear!

Hello everyone. Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day. We just hung out here at the house for most of the day until it was time to go pick up the passport. Pastor Augustine stopped by in the morning and he called the director of immigration to make sure that the passport was ready. He said is WAS! However, when we got there to pick it up they said it was not ready. GO FIGURE... We had dinner at Pastor Augustine's house last night and when I told him what happened he said he would take care of it today. So we are praying that the passport really will be ready today so that we don't have to change our flights! Also the guest house that told us yesterday morning that they had rooms and would hold one for us emailed last night to say that they had guests that wanted to extend their stay so they could not accomodate us after all. So we are back on the hunt for a place to stay in Kenya with 2 days to figure it out! I'm sure it will all fall into place and we will be exactly where God wants us to be. I think today we will go to the Genocide Memorial and of course to Immigration to get the passport and maybe there will be time for a little shopping. We will see. I guess that is all for now.

The latest...

Yesterday we left at 8:30 in the morning to go on a safari. It took 2 hours to get there and then it was a 4 hour loop through the game park. It was really cool. We saw water buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, baboon, velvet monkeys...etc. The giraffes were my favorite. JP was so good all day in the car. We didn't get home until after 7:00pm.
Today is the day we pick up JP's passport and we might go to the Genocide Memorial too.
A few things we have noticed about JP.....
He wants to be held 24/7
When he is tired he rubs and scratches his head
He is really smart...I will make a noise or a face and he will stare at me for a minute as I repeat a few times and then he does it.
He is tough too...he just whacked his head on the table and doesn't even cry...by the way daddy was in charge at that moment not me....
His feet are so small compared to his chubby body
He can sit up by himself but no crawling or standing yet, but I think he'll be crawling very soon.
He sucks on his pointer and middle finger when he is tired.
For those of you who might be concerned about the meningitis outbreak at the orphanage...let me try to set your mind at ease...They had viral meningitis which is usually not life threatening if treated properly. Yes, it is contagious however we have had JP for 5 days now and he continues to be the picture of health. The symptoms for viral meningitis in babies are...
fever and chills
NO interest in eating
lathargic
vomitting and diarehea
fussy when handled
JP is the polar opposite of ALL of these symptoms. The incubation period is usually a few days so if he was going to get sick...he should have started with at least one syptom by now. Also...Rich and Robin have over 30 years experience in nursing and they have commented more than once at how healthy he is...not even a diaper rash..his biggest problem is a little constipation! I hope that helps and that you can be assured that he is doing great and being monitored!
We just made our Kenya arrangements this morning. We will be staying at the Heart Lodge with the couple we met the other day. They gave us the brochure and when we called they still had room! YIPPEE!

God's perfect timing!

It is now Wed morning and we are going to go on safari today since we have no adoption paperwork to do. I’m so excited!!! JP is such a good baby. He sleeps through the night and is very happy and playful. He is so funny…he can be laughing one minute and then turn very serious the next.

One other thing I forgot to mention was how God’s timing was so perfect. When we met up with the other couple at immigration yesterday they told us that the babies at the orphanage were suffering from an outbreak of meningitis. It seemed like such a quick decision at the time to only have 3 days to get ready to travel but now we know why. It is very possible that if we had not left when we did…JP could have become VERY sick. Just another example of how God’s timing is PERFECT!!!

A Whirlwind of activity!

Well here we are only 5 days from flying to Kenya and we still do not know where we will be staying....a little stressful...yeah! We are looking into a guest house that we heard about from another couple that is here adopting a baby boy. Actually we leave on the same flight to Kenya on Sunday. I met her at the immigration office this afternoon. The funny thing is that I had been in contact with her before through an adoption chat room and here we are in Africa at the same time and maybe we will spend 2 weeks together in Kenya if this particular guest house has room. I wish I could tell you everything that has happened in the past 24 hours but I’m sure I would bore you to tears so I will just say that we spent ALL day driving from one office to another trying to fulfill each demand of the minister and immigration. It was not looking good last night and I think I prayed most of the night instead of sleeping. There were some loose ends that needed tying up and it seemed there was noone willing to do any tying. There are only 2 notaries to certify documents in ALL of Rwanda and one of them was sick and the other has been on maternity leave for the last month or so and they were not expecting her back at all this week!!! As Brock and Robin were talking to the receptionist who was unsympathetic at the time…he began to pray…within minutes this woman not only became sympathetic but she made a way for us to have the documents taken care of the next day! There are so many other stories and I hope that over the next few days I can journal them all to remember all the amazing things God has done in these past 24 hours. As it stands we have everything complete! We were told this afternoon by the director of immigration to come back on Thursday to pick up JP’s passport. We then will have a few days rest and then it is off to Kenya to see what craziness awaits there!

A belly laugh and some more hurdles to jump!

We had a great day with JP yesterday and we had decided to tell the sister that we were concerned about the sickness of the other babies and would prefer to bring him home with us to sleep. When we got there...you could hear the babies wailing! Brock and Rich went down to where the babies are and two of the sisters had babies out in the hall and were putting IVs in them. Apparently many of the babies had a virus or something that is causing vomitting and diarhea and were in danger of dehydration. Praise God we got JP out of there before he got sick too. He slept all night long sucking 2 of his fingers! We even got him smiling a little yesterday. Today I was able to get giggles and 1 big belly laugh! We had a very busy morning going to all the offices to try to complete paperwork. We ran into a few problems where God intervened within minutes and now we have run into another issue with immigration (concerning the passport). They are back to saying they need the paperwork from the minister before they will start processing it. We are fervently praying that the minister's office will be able to give us the document tomorrow so that the passport will be done in time for our flight this weekend. We have tried to call a few times and will continue to try throughout the day. I heard that Rich was able to send a picture to the pastors at church and that they showed it on the big screen on Sunday! He thought that my picture went through the day before. So Rich apologizes to friends and family who do not attend Grace Capital and have not seen a picture yet. We wil try again to send a few more pictures. JP says DA DA DA. We just heard from the woman at the minister's office and there is hope...but I have an hour to be the vessel for God to work another miracle...I'll let you know how it goes.

Day 2 with JP!

Hello all...it is about 1:00pm here in Rwanda and we went this morning to the orphanage to spend some time with JP. We waited about 10 minutes and finally the guard went to go find a nun. Within minutes a nun came up the stairs with JP. She handed him to me and he didn't cry!!! We decided to take him back to Rich and Robin's house because apparently a bunch aof the babies are sick and we didn't want him getting sick. He snuggled me the entire ride back to the house. We fed him a bottle and he inhaled it in about a minute...seriously!!! He continued to snuggle for quite a while on the couch and he seemed tired so we tried to put him to bed but he wanted no part of that. I wanted to change his clothes as they seemed too small for him and they were flowery girls pants and a yellow flowered shirt with a girly collar. =) So he cried a little while I changed his clothes and put on a disposble diaper. We were able to distract him with some toys for a while. He seemed to be itchy so we gave him a bath and he LOVED it. After his tubby we rubbed lotion all over him and he played with a little toy and began to coo and really come alive a little bit. He even smiled a few times. What a great day and what an easy baby. I cannot get over how chubby he is. The sister asked us to return around 5:30 so that they could get him settled back in before their time of prayer, but Brock and I decided to tell them that since we had such a successful day of bonding with him we would feel more comfortable keeping him with us so that he does not get exposed to any sickness. We are praying that they don't have a problem with that. He is beautiful as everyone has said. So far he doesnt smile easily but when he does it's adorable. Take care...I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon. Oh...by the way when we got to London I got an email from Peter saying that he went back AGAIN to the immigration office and this time they let him submit the paperwork!!!!! Praise God. We head tomorrow morning to all the different offices to get all paperwork completed.

Heading back to see JP...

Today is Sunday and we are getting ready to go back to the orphanage in time to feed JP and spend a few hours...if things go well we may bring him back to Rich and Robin's later this afternoon for a few hours. I think I will have him sleep another night or two at the orphanage before we take him for good. The orphanage is very willing to let us go at any pace that is comfortable to us and JP. So we are praying like crazy that today he gets a little more comfortable with us and can relax and be at peace. It's hard to know when to back off and when to try to be the one to comfort him. It's a good thing we have a week here to get aquainted before we take off. I will write more later to let you know how things went today with JP.

Greetings from Rwanda!

We arrived Saturday morning at 8:30 and after getting settled at Rich and Robin's we couldn't wait any longer and hopped in the car to go see our boy! When we arrived at the orphanage Sister Gracias was out front and we told her that we were here to see JP. At first she said..."John Paul???? He is adopted." Talk about slight panic....but I realized that we hadn't introduced ourselves so I said I am his mom. She just laughed and said,"Oh, yes I remember you.!" PHEW!!! She asked us to wait in a small room while she went to get him. It was probably only 10 minutes but it felt like an hour! I think she was putting nice clothes on him and getting him cleaned up. We finally saw her approaching and JP was clinging to her. His face was buried in her neck so we could barely see him. She came right to me and said, "John Paul...Here is your mommy." And of course I got all teary as she handed him to me and he snuggled right onto me gripping my shirt with one hand and my hair with the other. Even his feet were clinging to me as he wrapped himself around my waist. Robin got a picture of us. After about 5 minutes of snuggling he began to cry and he seemed a little scared so I gave him back to Sister Gracias and he snuggled onto her and was asleep in no time. We left and came home for a nap and some lunch. As much as I wanted to bring him back with us I also didn't want him to be afraid. I have to remind myself that I am a stranger to him. It's hard to pull back after waiting so long to hold him and kiss his sweet cheeks.

Travel accomodations...or lack there of!

So we arrived at Nairobi Airport in the evening in time to have a leisurely dinner in the airport and try to get comfy for the night (or so we thought!). We gathered all our luggage and the huge box with a TV as a gift for Peter and then proceeded to the counter to hopefully check our bags for the flight in the morning so that we would not have to lug them around the aiport with us. We decided to not get a hotel for the night as we were too afraid that something would happen to prevent us from making the early flight to Kigali in the morning. So we planned to sleep (sort of) in the airport! Well, the gentleman at the ticket counter advised us to not check our bags as they would be "unattended" all evening. OK...bumor #1...so we agree to keep all the bags, crib and tv with us. He then says that we cannot check in this early, we would have to wait until morning..I think to myself...OK whatever....bumor #2!
Then I ask him to tell me the quickest way to The Java House, which is a "restaurant" in Nairobi airport that is known for their great sandwiches and milkshakes! YUM...we are really hungry! Bumor #3 comin up...He informs us that we cannot go into the terminal without our tickets and we can't get our tickets until morning! Brock and I just looked at each other both of us thinking the same thing...."This is going to be a VERY long night." So fortunately I had packed a box of 6 energy bars! So we each had 2 peanut butter energy bars with no drink for dinner! Not quite the dinner I was hoping for but I was already thinking that this would make a great story to tell everyone back home! We found some very hard plastic chairs to get cozy on. My cousin, Amy made us pack 2 small pillows in our bag when she heard that we would be sleeping at the airport. Thank goodness we did...they came in handy as I sat and leaned forward on top of the big TV box to lay my head. Brock and I would sort of take turns sleeping... At one point brock woke up and nudged my arm and pointed to the ground next to him. I laughed out loud when I saw an African man laying on the floor using Brock's pillow! Brock must have dropped it and this guy took the opportunity to put it to good use! Well after a pretty sleepless night, we did get our boarding passes and checked our bags and finally made our way to the Jave House for some coffee and pastries while we waited for the flight to Kigali to start boarding.

London!

We arrive in London and meet up with my cousin Amy and her boyfriend Matty. They drive us about 2 hours to their house outside of London. What fun to get to hang out with my Amy Lynn for the night before we head to Nairobi in the morning! Of Course they would not allow us to visit England even for 1 night and not experieince a real English pub. So to the pub we went! After our visit at the pub we went back to Amy's and had a bite to eat before getting some sleep. We called the kids from the laptop and it worked great...what a cool feature. And what a blessing to be able to call the kids from so far away and it's free!!! Thanks Bob!

Rwanda, here we come!

Oh my goodness...ok, so after about a week of Peter going back and forth from the minister's office to immigration we have come to the conclusion that we need to get there to receive the travel document. The immigration office will not start the passport without the travel document and the only way to get the travel document is to get it ourselves. So...after a bit of a crazy morning trying to schedule flights we are set to leave on Thursday! I have 3 days to get organized, packed and get my kids schedules all made up for my in-laws who will be taking care of them while we are gone, with the help of some dear friends who will assist with rides to and from school and of course all their sports, etc. I can hardly believe it...in just a few days I will meet my JP and get to kiss him all over!

So confusing!

OK...I will try to help you understand what has been happening although I'm not sure I understand it myself. I should start by saying that Peter was told the other day (I guess) from someone in the immigration office that it would be OK to start the passport process without the final letter from the minister's office. This final letter is called the travel document or the "To Whom it May Concern..." letter. So Peter went to immigration today and they looked at all the documents that we had and they said that we are only missing one...the travel document! They told him that they need that document before they will even begin the passport process! He immediately took JP to the minister's office. Unfortunately, the woman he has been dealing with was not there, she was attending a meeting. He called her and she said again that she will not give him the final paper until the adoptive parents arrive. She said for him to call her again tomorrow as she was going to check again with the other people who work with her regarding this policy. So tomorrow we will hopefully have a definitive answer and we pray that they will give the travel letter to Peter so that we can start the passport process before we arrive so that we don't have to be away from home for such a long time. It could be a month or longer if we have to wait 2 weeks for a passport in Rwanda and 2 weeks for the visa in Kenya! I'm praying for peace!

Passport pictures!

Ok...I'm not sure if you enjoy Peter's words as much as I do but here is what I received today...I cling to every word he shares about how JP reacts and responds to people and his surroundings. I stare at his picture and imagine how it will feel to finally have him in my arms!

"JP is doing well. He seems to be joyful these days! Today I took him for passport photos, you know I had wanted to take express photos. As we were in th studio, he refuse to show his face so that a cameraman to take photos. He feared the big lamps which I think he not very much used to. As I was deciding to take him back and find someone with a cameraman so that to take picture at home, I sat a while with him watching cars as they were passing by, behold the baby was very excited about that and I called a cameraman to come and he took photos but not the express ones. Because these always take some time waiting for them, I was not able to go to immigration today since they only receive documents in the morning hours. But I have paid the money for passport and I have a receipt with me. Tomorrow I will be taking JP directly to the immigration. I also called the minister's office and was told that they cannot allow me to receive the final paper from their office. In order to get the final paper, you will be the one to come and receive the papers. She said that this will not take more than two days."

These final steps are a little confusing and we are just trying to do whatever these offices tell us to do. It is quite difficult as we do not have anything to guide us as we are going about this on our own, but God has been so good and we have seen His hand on this journey even though we feel as though we are "flying blind" at times, He is our light and we trust Him to lead us!

The next phase

Peter has gotten the papers from the court today! He paid for 2 originals, one for immigration to begin the passport process and one for the minister's office. Now he needs to take the papers from the court to the notary and he will do it on Monday. Then he will need to have JP's birth certificate translated into English. He is planning to go to immigration on Monday to inquire about the passport process.

Praise God!

Again, you need to read Peter's words for yourself...they are precious...
"It is amazing to see how God is doing things on his own! Today we went to the court and they were able to sit as a council for our case. It is now OK. The president ordered that we get the paper we needed by tomorrow! Oh, what a wonderful God we serve! I will go and pick the letter tomorrow! Also, my lawyer friend suggested that I take him to see JP. He just wants to see him! You know he was very thankful to the Lord for His plan for JP to receive a family."

I am so humbled by the generosity of these men who are giving of their time and resources to help our family. The body of Christ is an amazing thing to behold! I am amazed at how the Lord can bond people together when they have never even met! I am now connected to my brothers and sisters in Africa, what a mighty God we serve!

A message from the courts!

Today Peter received a message from his lawyer friend that they were needed at the court. They went there immediately. There were "some papers which they could not see as they were examining our documents." These were Peter's words and I'm not quite sure what that means but they were told to come back tomorrow!

The meeting at the court...

Well actually there wasn't much of a meeting at all. Peter and the lawyer went to their scheduled appointment yesterday but the president of the court was not there and they connot make any decision without him since he is the chairman of the council, so they told Peter to come back on Monday because it it the only day they meet for that kind of case. UGH...MORE WAITING!

Peter's update

Here is the message we received from Peter today:
"Yesterday we received a message from the court that we needed to first go and pay money we were supposed to pay before we take the papers, unknowingly, we had not paid it. I did pay the money and it is now all right but they gave us appointment of next Monday and hopefully, we will get the paper (Act of Adoption).
I went to the orphanage and JP is doing well, I just entered in their rooms and I found him with about 50 kids, the same age in their small beds, joking with toys. As I picked him greeting him, he did not want to let me go, he just hold on me, amazing!"

I read Peter's words and rejoice that JP seems to have bonded with Peter which makes me relieved to think that he will be able to bond with us too, and at the same time I tear up with a longing to hold my boy. I am so grateful for Peter to show love and affection to JP until we can be there in person to snuggle him ourselves. One of the sisters informed Peter that after we receive the court documents we will be able to begin the passport process.

File submitted!

Our file was accepted at the courts today and Peter was told to come back Friday.

Court update

Today Peter and the lawyer went to the courts but it did not go as hoped. The man who receives documents was involved in a meeting and it took a long time. They waited for him but he did not come because the meeting was being held in "upcountry". They will try again tomorrow and see if he will be there. They were not able to leave the file with anyone else, only this one person is able to receive the documents! They also found out that they must first get the adoption papers from the courts before the passport can be done. They were told to expect 3 weeks from when the court papers are completed.

To the courts!

Peter went to the courts only to find out that he can not stand in for us even though he has power of attorney. They require that either we be there ourselves or we hire a lawyer. Peter immediately called one of his friends from church who is a lawyer and asked him to help...he said YES!! They will go on Monday to the courts to submit the adoptions papers. Peter was told that it will take 3-4 days to get the papers back and then he needs to bring them to the Minister's office to obtain a travel document for JP which he said would take another 3-4 days. I can't believe how close we are to getting our little man. Somewhere along the way we need to get JP a passport so that he can leave Rwanda...and I have no idea how long that will take but I am believing that God is paving the way for that to happen quickly too!

TB...negative!

Wow, Peter told us that he had to wait about 6 hours at the hospital where they could do the TB test. There is only one person qualified to run this test at the hospital and that person was, of course, out in the field and they were not sure when she would be back! Peter decided he would wait! He said, "JP was doing well. It was not difficult for me to keep him for such a long period you know he is very kind, he did not shout or cry, you know the sisters had given me a bag in which there was milk for JP so I could just give him, people were just wondering how JP is so kind!"

The test came back negative so JP is the picture of health! We also were surprised to hear how God has gone before us today! Peter learned that he needed to get some papers notarized before they would be accepted at the courts. He also heard that the office requires you to show up very early in the morning...by 7:00. He was unable to get there that early as he had to stop somewhere else to pay a tax on the documents...anyway...he arrived at the office to get the documents notarized and the receptionist said that he would need to come back next week....that the papers need to be dropped off on Monday morning ...early...and then it would take 7 days for them to be signed and ready. He asked the woman if she would please accept them today and not only did she say yes, but she brought them over to the notary who was signing the documents dropped off last Monday and she put it in the pile! So not only did she accept them but she got it signed the same day!!!! This just doesn't happen in Rwanda! This is a miracle! So Peter will go to the courts tomorrow to make an appointemnt to make the adoption complete and legal. This probably saved us weeks! YIPPEE...travel in September is looking more promising!

To the Sector!

Yeah...we are moving along to the next phase of the adoption process. Peter went yesterday to make an appointment at the sector. They gave him a form to fill out and he brought it back today and set the appointment for Thursday. Upon signing some papers there he was able to receive the police report regarding J.P. In an effort to protect his privacy I will share only that he was accepted at the Home of Hope orphanage on September 12, 2006 and at the time looked to be about 1 month old. He will fit right in with our family since we are loaded with August birthdays! So he is about 1 year old. To be honest there is not much more to be told, there will be many questions without answers for my little man as he learns about his first months before he was with us. Peter is hoping to be able to take J.P. for the tuberculosis test tomorrow.

An unexpected blessing!

Peter explained to us that when he went to pay for the medical tests he was told that the price would be $136 since they could not do the tuberculosis test. As he was about to pay, the owner of the lab came and in Peter's words, "behold he is my friend!" He was one of Peter's best customers 5 years ago when he used to sell clothing. They had not seen each other for many years. The man looked at the receipt and ordered that Peter should only pay 1/3 of the money and that he would personally cover the rest! He told his workers, " I like this man, he has been giving me nice clothes for several years, let him pay 1/3." Wow...God sure works in mysterious ways on our behalf to keep the costs down on this adoption!

Peter's email...a MUST read!

You really have to read Peter's words to appreciate how blessed we are
Peter writes:
"JP is doing well. The sister ordered that they give him to me while I was taking him for tests. I went alone just with him and the driver. They had given me a bag that had milk in it and some biscuits. the sisters were telling me I will be giving him anytime he would want it. but J.P. was very quiet and did not cry while on the way going and even when they were taking blood he cried once and kept silence. He is such a person who does not want to shout according to how I saw him. Amazingly, he could smile with me and none of the people who saw me did not think that the child was mine! They all just wondered where we had left his mom. When I told my wife that she was very sorry that she had not gone with me! The first time I saw him, he was not as happy as he was today. Again, he is like becoming a muzungu(whiteman). He is very brown and if you look at him, he seems to be blessed! I mean, he has annointing of God on his face and many people admired him."

Testing...done...almost!

Peter went to the orphanage yesterday but was not able to talk to the Mother Superior, but he was able to get J.P. and take him for the medical tests. They did all the tests onthe list except for one because the machine for that test was broken so he will have to bring JP somewhere else to test for tuberculosis. He also was able to receive the original approval letter from the minister and brought it to the orphanage and asked when he should plan to go to the Sector. the nuns told him that first they would need copies of our file. So Peter had to go back to the minister's office to get our file to make copies for himself, the orphanage and all the other offices! Peter will go tomorrow to leave a copy for the sister and hopefully next week she will write a letter of recommendation to bring to the other offices for completing the adoption. In the meantime Peter will try to find a place that can test for tuberculosis.

Happy Birthday to ME!

The best present I got today was an email from Peter that said he has the power of attorney letter in his hands and he will go to the orphanage tomorrow morning!

Yup...more of the "D" word...DELAY

I have been waiting to hear from Peter that he has received my power of attorney letter that I mailed a while ago because he cannot take J.P. from the orphanage for the medical tests until he has that paper in his hands to show the Mother Superior. He just informed me that the Pastor of his church who has the key to the PO Box is on vacation and forgot to leave the key with Peter. So the power of attorney letter is probably sitting in the PO Box but Peter will not be able to get it until the pastor returns home which should be on August 6th!

Progress...sort of

OK, so Peter was able to go to the clinic and showed them the list of tests we wanted done (Hep. A,B,C, syphilis, tuberculosis, rickets, ). He was told that they do test every single one. Peter was reassured that they never reuse needles and he felt it was a clean safe place. It will cost $150 and the results are received after 6 hours.

Medical testing madness!

today Peter went to the other place where he was told that they can do the medical tests but their machines were not working properly so He went to another one and they can test for all of them, except for 2.
He then went to yet another place where they do ALL the tests, unfortunately the doctor had gone for the day so he will have to go back there tomorrow to see if the y really can do ALL the tests.

Medical testing

We have asked Peter to bring JP to a clinic for some other medical testing in additon to the HIV that was already done. He went to one place today, but they could only to one of the tests we wished to have done. They recommended he go to another place that could do all or most of the tests we wanted. Peter said he would check on it tomorrow.

PICTURES!!!

My son J.P. is so beautiful.

It's a BOY!!!

Peter emailed us today with the news. We will have another son! His name is John Paul Mugisha. Mugisha means blessing in Kinyarwanda! He said...."the sister brought out a very handsome boy. He is also loveable!" I think we will keep John Paul as his first name and call him JP and Mugisha will be his middle name. We will get all other details concerning him when Peter receives our power of attorney letter which I hope will be next week if I get it in the mail today....however, I can't do that until I get it back from the embassy with the official stamp! As for pictures...Peter's friend will not have time to upload them until Monday...more waiting =0)

OH...the waiting!

The further into the process we get the harder it is for me to be patient! Today Peter was able to meet with the Mother Superior...he had been calling the phone number but noone would pick up and yesterday he went to the orphanage to see her but she was not there. He tried again this morning and was able to meet with her. He found out that she would have a decision by tomorrow, but she had to take him or her for the HIV test tomorrow, so Peter was told to come back Friday to find out the name and other info on our child. Oh...the waiting!!!

To the Orphanage

Today Peter went to the orphanage to bring our "request letter" to the Mother Superior and also to show her the copy of the Approval Letter we received from the minister's office. She informed Peter that we would need to send him a power of attorney letter if we wanted him to continue following up the process at all the other offices and court, etc. So we need to get that typed up and sent our ASAP!!! In the meantime the Mother Superior will be praying about which child will be ours.

Letter SIGNED!!

Well after a few weeks of waiting....we finally got the approval letter signed and it is in Peter's hands right now. He will bring it to the orphanage on Monday. FINALLY!!!!

More delays

Peter was told to go to the office on Friday to pick up the approval letter so he did and they asked him to come back on Monday. He went today and they told him that they have been too busy to give the minister the letter to sign. They told him to come back on Thursday. I don't quite understand...I thought it was signed and ready for pick up! I really hope this is not another 2 months of waiting. I am humbled by Peter's determination to willingly take on this burden for us. We are truly resting in the indescribable peace of knowing that God is in control of every detail and things will happen in His perfect timing.

Approved...YIPPEE!!

This morning I got an email from a friend that that encouraged me to stay patient as I waited for some news and she said to look up Psalm 25:25...It reads..."Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." I clung to that scripture all day and couldn't help myself but to try to contact Peter to see if he had any "good news from a distant land." The email immediately returned with a fatal error...so I decided to call him instead. He said he had checked on the paperwork this morning and was told that the minster was going to sign it today and to call back at 4:00 to find the status. When I called Peter it was 3:45 so he said he would hang up with me and call the office and then email me the news. I just came in from playing outside with the boys and checked and there were 2 messages in my inbox...one from Peter and one from the woman at the embassy. I read Peter's first and he said that she DID sign the approval letter and that he could pick it up tomorrow. PRAISE GOD!!!!! We are finally moving on to the next phase. He will bring the copy of the letter to the orphanage on Monday and get the ball rolloing there. The email from the embassy said the same thing...she too checked on our paperwork for us and was told it was ready for pick up. YAHOO!

Cool Stuff!

I called Rwanda today to see if the papers arrived and they did! Our helper, Peter, called the minister's office when they arrived on Wednesday and they told him to come on Monday so he said that he will email me on Monday and let me know how it goes.

I got an email today from the woman at the embassy who has been stamping all our documents and helping us through all the confusion....she was just checking to see how things were going. I was so touched by that...she remembered us and cared...she also said that she was going to be calling the minister's office soon and she would check on my paperwork for us while she had her on the phone.

Then I got an email from a man who works for an adoption agency in Virginia and said he got my name from the woman at the embassy. He has a client who is adopting from Rwanda and he needed help gathering information...like what paperwork was needed...etc. so that was fun to gather all my notes and be able to help another couple avoid all the bumps and delays we have had. The adoptive mother later emailed me herself, so we got to share stories a little bit.
So fun!!!

Harriman=Rwandese

I am at the ticket counter in Kigali checking in and the gentleman behind the counter asks me with a curious smile, "Your name is Harriman?"
I respond somewhat puzzled, "Yes."
He just laughs at me.
I assume he is laughing at my name because it is strange to him.
He finally says, "You know Harriman is Rwandese."
I said, "What?"
He says again, "Harriman is Rwandese."
I wanted to be sure I understood so I asked, "Do you mean that the word Harriman when translated means 'Rwandese'?"
He says, "Yes" with a big smile!

My Rwandese baby will have a very appropriate surname!

Leaving Home of Hope

It was my last day to volunteer and spend time with the babies at Home of Hope. One of these babies will hopefully join my family some day very soon. I was feeding one of the babies when my friend arrived to pick me up. I layed down the little girl I had been feeding and cried all the way down the hall, up the stairs and to the car. I sobbed for about a minute and I all could do was tell myself that, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me....even really hard things!"

Dossier update

We stopped by the minister's office today and her assistant said that she just received it this morning. She insisted that it was impossible to get it done before I leave. So I left there feeling a bit discouraged. All in His time!

Dossier is in

Today I dropped off our dossier to the minister's office. We will call tomorrow to confirm that the minister has personally received it and maybe find out when we might expect a response.

First trip to Home of Hope

I will try to describe my experience so that you can feel as though you are there....You beep your car horn for the gate keeper to open the gate and when you pull in you see a statue of Mary in a small garden. There is a larger garden behind the smaller one. To the right is an office, to the left is the building where all the children are. As you turn around…to the right of the gate are the stairs that lead you down to the rooms of children. The first section seems to be classrooms of some sort…I saw older children in those…then as you continue down the stairs you begin to hear more baby sounds. There is a door that opens to a long dark hallway. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. Then you go to the second door on the right and walk into a blue room with about 50 blue, meta,l basinet sized cribs all lined up in the center of the room. There are windows on only one wall of the room so it is dimly lit. There is a long changing table set up on the window wall. To the left of the changing table are about 4 or 5 larger cribs with older/toddlers. The back wall is where there are 2 or 3 super sized cribs where all the older infants go to play while their bedding gets changed…they also are fed their solid food while sitting against the rails with their legs dangling through the bars. The wall opposite the window also has about 6 larger cribs. And the wall opposite the super-sized cribs in a wall full of closets and storage of baby clothes and blankets, etc. I would say that there were about 5 women that helped take care of all the babies. I saw those babies get bathed and fed and rubbed with lotion every morning. They got clean sheets and blankets every day. Some workers were playful and loving, others were more reserved and less affectionate. But I did feel that the children received decent care and most babies were thriving and responded to my voice and made eye contact and smiled and played with their toys. Each crib has a toy tied across the top.
It is my understanding that many of the nuns on staff are registered nurses so they do get good medical care. They do get some immunizations at the orphanage and they seemed to have a good supply at the time of antibiotics, Tylenol, advil, etc. The biggest issue that I could see was DIAPERS!!! They used torn bed sheets that absorbed nothing!

I'm here!

Wow...I'm here in Rwanda and I am surprised how green and beautiful Rwanda is compared to Ethiopia. There are some HUGE homes here too. It really is the Land of a Thousand Hills...so breathtaking!

Rwanda or bust!

I fly to Rwanda to serve with missionary friends and turn in my dossier. I am praying that they can review my paperwork and give us the approval letter during my stay in the country so that I can identify a child while I'm here. I can't wait to go help out at the orphanage!

Getting Started...the Home Study

With joyful anticipation we wrote the check to Child and Family Services to begin the home study process. We sent the check on a Tuesday and on Friday we received a response that gave us the name of our social worker and the letter said that she would contact us later in the week. I doubted that this would actually happen because it was the week before Christmas. However, I should have known that God has been pretty faithful in encouraging me and proving me wrong lately! The social worker DID call on January 5th and set up our first meeting for January 11th. I had been thinking about joining our pastor and Mike on a mission trip to Rwanda. The trip was scheduled for February 5th and I was hoping to bring my dossier with me to submit to the Rwandan government, however I knew that I was dreaming because our first meeting for the home study was the 11th of January and I would be leaving a few short weeks later. Well, we met with the social worker on January 11th and I asked her what she thought the time frame would be until we could expect the final report. She said she thought it could be done the first week of February! Brock and I looked at each other in amazement because everyone tells you that the home study takes about 3 months. She noticed our shock and we then told her that I was going to Rwanda the first week of February and if I really could get the paperwork by then, that there might be a chance of the authorities releasing info on the children at the orphanage so that I could identify a child during this trip. When she heard this she said she would try to get it done by the end of January. That is only 3 weeks compared to the 3 months we were expecting. Isn't God GREAT!!!