Adventures in Chaos: Merry Christmas

An awesome Christmas Eve service...

New pj's for everyone...

Three little boys in bed...

A tree lit up with gifts piled under it...

A giddy Grandma arriving in 14 hours...

Christmas this year will be unlike anything Chuck and I have experienced before. My heart is so full I can barely breathe. God is good.

I pray that your family has a wonderful Christmas and that it is centered around Jesus instead of stuff. Because stuff fades away, but eternity does not.

Not a Surprise...

Chuck and I have noticed that most people make the assumption that Tristan was a surprise. You know, the idea of, "adopt a child and you'll end up pregnant." While that may be true for some, that is not the case for us. Believe it or not, Tristan was planned. At the time of his conception we were unsure our adoption would ever complete and we decided to stop putting our family on hold. God saw fit to bless us with Tristan, Noah and Samuel all at the same time! While the transition into parenthood was not easy for us, we trust that God knew what He was doing!

Our Timeline

May 2005 - God began speaking to us individually about adoption.

July 2005 - Decided to move forward with adopting from Haiti.

October 2005 - Applied to adopt through an orphanage.

November 8, 2005 - Approved to adopt through chosen orphanage.

January 19, 2006 - Committed to adopt the boys.

May 15, 2006 - Dossier arrived in Haiti.

July 14, 2006 - Dossier submitted to IBESR.

January 23, 2007 - Dossier exited IBESR.

September 21, 2007 - Exited Parquet.

October 2007 - Received Judgment Granted.

December 2007 - 2nd Legalization completed, which means Noah and Samuel's adoptions are complete. They are ours!!

March 2008 - Finally receive all needed documents from Archives.

March 13, 2008 - Birth parent interview completed.

Late March, 2008 - Submitted to MOI.

May 20, 2008 - Confirmed that our updated fingerprints have reached the USCIS office in Port au Prince.

May 20, 2008 - Received word that our MOI long form has been completed.

June 24, 2008 - Received MOI approval.

July 10, 2008 - Received word that Samuel's passport has been printed.

July 16, 2008 - Received word that Noah's passport has been printed.

July 25, 2008- Confirmed that our passports were presented to the USCIS office in Port au Prince and that out I-600 file has been approved.

July 26, 2008 - Emailed our request for the boys' visa appointment.

July 31, 2008 - Emailed 2nd request for boys' visa appointment.

August 4, 2008 - Spoke with the Embassy, awaiting email confirmation of visa appointment.

August 5, 2008 - Email confirmation of visa appointment received. Our appointment is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 12th.

August 12, 2008 - The visa appointment went well! Visas should be ready tomorrow.

August 13, 2008 - The visas are in hand and the boys CAN COME HOME!!

August 15, 2008 - Baby brother Tristan was born.

September 1, 2008 - Flew to Miami and spent the night.

September 2, 2008 - Woke very early only to learn that our flight to Haiti was cancelled due to Hurricane Hanna hitting Haiti. We spent the next few days visiting friends and family in Florida.

September 5, 2008 - The boys are HOME!! However, we are stuck in Miami for the night because Hurricane Hanna hit Virginia, too, and our flight home was cancelled. Hoping to get home tomorrow.

September 6, 2008 - We are FINALLY home. To God be all the glory!

Adventures in Chaos

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas

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