Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone has a safe Halloween night.

This was one of Nerlande favorite things to do was to show me a scary face and take her Picture and then show it to her,then she would laugh and show Fabrice and Yonelson the picture . we love her so much:)

Last night we did our Family Carving time it was such a blast we where remembering how when Kaleb was little he would cry when we would carve the pumpkins I think he thought we where hurting them. so cute!
Here are some pictures of the kids fine art work.

Kolbies is the one that drank to many root beers.
Paytons is your typical girl pumpkin very cute. Gotta love the peace sign!
Kalebs is the one that ate the wrong thing in Haiti he has personally been there:) love ya Kaleb

sweet Nerlande learning about rocking

We where outside the Hallway watching the boys swim when Nerlande went over to check out the rocking chair. she sat down and then got really scared when it started to move so I sat down to show her that it was OK and fun to rock back and forth I can not wait to show her more things when we get here home.

Back Home in the US

We arrived home late last night. The trip went great the kids looked good Fabrice had a some skin condition that we had to get some medicine for but by the time we left it was looking alot better. Kaleb really enjoyed meeting the kids and getting a understanding of where the kids are coming from. on the ride home he said he wishes all kids especially his cousins could go there so maybe they wouldn't worry about all ways wanting the best things or new things because he says all the people in Haiti just want the simple things in life.

we are so proud of how you handled yourself and how you wanted to play and help with your brothers and sister.

We love you Kaleb remember all that you saw and did in Haiti!!

Play dates in Haiti

We where done with Breakfest Yesterday and the kids decided to have a play date in the hallway outside the breakfest area.

We can not wait to get the kids home and have this with their friends at home in the U.S.A!

They have decided since we are here to go sign the papers for the judge at the Parquet office.
I hope this goes smoothly.
so far the trip is going good,Kaleb did get a little sick but he seems to be getting better.
We have learned that the Orphanage will be moving to a bigger building so that should be good for the kids plus a change of scenery should be fun for them. I hope we will be able to see the new building when we come back.

Meet the new member of our family

What a great additon Fabrice will be to our Family! He has been so fun to get to know,He is such a sweet and great big Brother for Yonelson and Nerlande he jumps right in and helps them with cutting up there food or finding Yonelosn shoes.
When we first arrived he came right up and gave us a big hug!! We are so glad he is making the transtion very well we love him and we know how special he is:)
Just look at that smile....we love you so much Fabrice

3 days until we see your cute Faces

This was in January and we hope all the kids will be feeling good and none will be sick

We can not wait to get to know Fabrice our boys are so excited to get to know him :)
We can not wait to hug these sweet little souls!! see you guys in just a few more sleeps.......

This time next week we will be almost there.....

Yesterday we where able to go to the kids school to watch Kaleb launch off his rocket he made in his advance science class. It was very exciting to see all the kids so excited about how high there rockets went into the sky. our kids are very lucky to have these experiences since there class sizes are very small especially for a Jr.high. The most they have in a class is 20. It will be a great school for the kids when we finally get them home and being here for a year when they will be comfortable.
As I was standing there I was thinking how this time next week will be pretty much flying into the 3rd world country we are getting to know so well, who would have thought this a year ago.
Dave and I all ways knew we would adopt because we knew our family was not complete but some times it is so surreal. well ,we are all getting very excited yet sad because we know it will only be a visit and they can not come home yet. but we can all keep praying that something will speed up and all the kids will be where they need to be HOME.

The Billon Dollar Question when you tell people

SO why Doesn't there government do something to Hurry it along and get them taken care of ?
Well if we knew the answer we could also solve world Peace .


But for now we are 9 days away to being with are kids in Haiti:)

Our last double digit day

Kaleb came into the kitchen this morning and told me that this is our last double digit day then we will be leaving soon for Haiti. He is very excited about meeting his new Brother's and sister.

He did say he is a little scared about the airport in Haiti but he says it will be worth it.
Well only 10 more days and we head off to the Airport see you guys real soon:)

Look's like

So we decided last night that Kolbie will be going back to Haiti with us. so if anyone traveling alone needs any help especially at the crazy airport in Haiti or getting your luggage to your room just let him know. He would love to help! we just hope he does not come home sick this time.

We can not wait to see everyone with there kids:) only 11 more days and we will be on are way!!!

Hoping to bring Americans back to Haiti

MILOT, Haiti — Bill Clinton, slathered in sunscreen, urged Americans to explore the riches of Haitian tourism on Friday as he took a VIP trip to a mountain palace and a nearby beach where a cruise ship pier is being built.

The appeal to tourists is part of the former U.S. president's crusade to help the hemisphere's poorest nation emerge from a cycle of poverty and instability — problems that helped destroyed a once thriving tourism industry here.

But his trip wasn't one that many tourists can match.

Escorted by local officials, Clinton flew by helicopter to the Sans Souci palace of Haiti's 19th-century King Henri Christophe as U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police guarded against disturbances in the nearby city of Milot.

The few tourists who come this way for now — mostly locally based aid workers or missionaries — struggle through the city's traffic-jammed streets and negotiate serpentine, broken roads to reach the site, where they are accosted by desperate merchants selling souvenirs and mule rides to the nearby Citadelle Laferriere fortress.

Security officials cleared the vendors away for the visit by Clinton, who urged Haiti's government to make the trip to the fortress easier for all by rebuilding the roads.

"Think what a wonderful thing it would be if the transportation permitted every Haitian child to come here," he said. "They would learn about the greatness of the country's history."

The palace was built in the early 1800s as a residence for Christophe, a leader of Haiti's revolution who became president and then crowned himself king during a period when Haiti was split into two nations. He ordered the building of the soaring Citadelle nearby to protect against feared attempts by the French to retake the country.

Both the palace and the fortress — the Western Hemisphere's largest — are UNESCO World Heritage sites and among the Caribbean's most impressive landmarks.

Improved transportation and safety at the sites might prompt cruise lines to offer tours to them, said John Weis, private destinations director for Royal Caribbean International. Cruise visitors now only make daytime visits to the heavily guarded Labadee beach compound.

Clinton toured there later in the afternoon, buying artisan crafts including a wooden mask, bracelets and a bag made of coconut shell and leather from craftsmen who rent well maintained tin-roofed wooden stalls for $4 a day from the cruise company.

Royal Caribbean International is making $55 million in improvements to expand the compound, including a new cruise ship pier and a roller coaster, by early November. The enclosed beach currently brings in about 600,000 visitors a year, a figure the company believes it can double.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has launched a three-year, $19 million project to bolster the country's agriculture and tourism sectors.

Clinton repeated calls Friday for expanding the rudimentary Cap-Haitien airport to take in international flights so that visitors can avoid having to land in Port-au-Prince and crossing Haiti's difficult, mountainous interior to reach the north coast.

"What I would really like to do is offer people from the United States and elsewhere the opportunity to come to Haiti for a week," he said. "Start off with a day or two on the beach and go see the history and the culture and then have a way of going to Port-au-Prince or Gonaives and see how the country works."

He also called for further easing of the U.S. travel warning for Haiti, which was relaxed this year, to reflect improving security. Once a destination for cruise ships and movie stars, Haitian tourism cratered when the country was demonized during the early 1980's AIDS scare and was wiped out by unrest and a U.S. embargo following a 1991 coup.

Clinton returned to Port-au-Prince to tour a factory that makes work uniforms for Cincinnati, Ohio-based Cintas Corportation and visit a private port that will be used by a new free-trade zone. He was scheduled to depart Friday evening.