A quick glimpse at our time in Haiti

We were met at the airport at 10 AM Monday morning after having left home in Salem at 3 AM on Sunday and did not stop until 9 PM that night!!!! To say we were exhausted would be the worlds largest understatement! BUT when we saw the car our driver was driving out peeked a little head from the back seat and there was our LOVELY!! She had been brought by a nanny to spend the day with us and we were thrilled! It took about 2 minutes on my lap with me loving on her for her to warm back us to us and it only got better from there. We spent 4 hours at the NLL office which is our Orphanages office in the city, about 28 miles from the Orphanage but about a 2 hr car ride! As soon as we walked in the Nanny with us pointed to a couple sitting in the "waiting area" of the office and said "Papa,Mama" and we realized Lovely's Birth Parents were there waiting for us! They had not seen her since they brought her to the Crech (Orpahnage) 15 months ago! It was so good to meet them and I was so thankful for my Linguistic husband who had already learned so much Creole and allowed us to be able to talk a bit with them. Such sweet, loving, Godly people only wanting their daughter to have a chance at a life they could not offer her-----the greatest sacrifice there is! While there the court clerk came and we and the birth parents signed his book,(we signed, they gave their fingerprints being unable to read or write) then we waited while the clerk and a worker from the office returned to the court to wait for the judge to also sign the book..............4 long,hot hours later the paper had been signed and we were rushed out the door after saying our goodbyes to the parents on now to the Higher court. This was a much more official building then the NLL Office was that we later found out used to be the USA Embassy bldg until the area it was in became too dangerous! We were ushered into a very tiny,very already full, VERY hot waiting area and there we spent the next 5 hours!!!! You have not heard me mention lunch, or water, or anything have you----thank goodness I filled up our water bottles before we got off our plane and had a few snacks in my backpack! Lovely did amazing!!! We had a book we had made her of photos of her and us and also a photo album of the whole family to show the judge and Lovely latched on to those and looked at them and talked with us about them and showed them to everyone in the waiting room! Then she and Jim both collapsed in the heat and exhaustion and napped! Somewhere around 4 PM I asked the worker from our Orphanage who was with us how long the judge would see people that day and she said until 5 PM! I said another prayer that "please let us be seen today and not have to do this ALL over tomorrow!!!" We waited,and waited, and watched the clock.........and at 4:45 PM our names were called!! We were quickly rushed to the judges office all by ourselves with Lovely! The judge was very stern and did not smile at us at all while asking us question after question, then she wanted to see the pictures we brought and saw that we already have just a "touch" of experience at being a mixed race family! And Jim told her that he had learned or was learning Creole to be able to talk with Lovely and to keep her Haitian culture alive for her and the judge spoke to him in Creole---Praise God Jim understood her and they talked back and forth for a minute, then she scribbled on the papers in several places,looked up and said "Fini" (finished) "Go, and take care of her!" And broke into a big smile, and with that, Lovely legally became our daughter! After a 2 hour car ride half of in the dark that I really can not even try to explain to you here you just have to do it to know what I mean...We collapsed into sleep that night when we finally got to the Creche with Lovely in between us both......it was Heaven!

Tuesday was a blur of just getting to know Lovely better and playing and meeting her friends, what fun that was! Then Wed we got up at 4 AM to leave at 6 AM and get to yet another appt in the city at 7 AM regarding our request to not have to start over with all our work for a visa for Lovely. We were late---the road conditions and traffic are something I never want to deal with again except to return to bring her home!!!! Again we sat and waited for our names to be called. This time we only waited 2 hours! We were then questioned again about many things about our lives and family then told to sit down and we would be interviewed in a few minutes. That interview took about 10 minutes and at the end we were told on
Oct 12th the birth parents will be interviewed and as long as they still give their consent for Lovely to leave the country and after a few more signatures,her visa will be granted! After that, we will have to wait for a Passport to be issued.....all these things we have been told can take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months, and of course we are praying fervently for the 3 months!!!! Then, we will get the email or the call that it is "TIME TO TRAVEL" AND WE WILL RETURN TO HAITI THIS TIME WITH 3 PLANE TICKETS, AND LOVELY WILL COME HOME WITH US!!! Christmas time would be just perfect huh?!

We had a wonderful rest of the week with Lovely and I am thrilled that God answered our prayer that she would be comfortable and at peace with us! She is a delightful, happy, funny little girl and I can not wait for you to meet her!!!!

Thanks so much for loving us,praying for us, and supporting us all along the way! We love you all too so much~Shell and fam