Miracle of Miracles....

I have the "Miracle of Miracles" song from Fiddler on the Roof stuck in my head today. FOR A REASON! This morning I was feeling very frustrated about the lack of attention our adoption file for KJ seemed to be getting by *anyone* in Haiti. Because we are going out of town and before we know it.....it will be the middle of February - I just couldn't stand the idea of returning home to the same status of our file rotting in the Haitian Civil Court!

SO, I planned to do something about it! Of course, all I CAN do is SCREAM, throw rocks and tantrums and unleash my frustration on everyone around me....but today, my letter was addressed to Mike at Holt International. Here is the letter.....

Mike-
I need, and hope, to hear the attorney working for Holt has accomplished something towards getting our file out of civil court. It is becoming very discouraging. It has almost been a month since the Dec. 27 birth parent meeting that went south. My opinion is, a good attorney would be able to communicate the major blunder on the civil courts part and, tell them that Katiana is turning 13 and has been living as an orphan since she was four and then get her file the H#$% out of that court! (forgive my language) Having grown up with a father as an attorney I have an advantage - still, it is so past anything reasonable for our file to still be held in this court. Please tell me the attorney Holt has hired understands from Holt he should be pushing hard. Pushing hard, to me, would be the attorney making an effort each day to get this turned around. Between you and me, I feel like the adoption files the attorney is working on are not his priority. Just a hunch, but I'm feeling so frustrated that our family and Katiana have to live with daily anxiety about our future and currently the system won't even allow the orphanage directors to advocate for the files in the civil court. So now, Monsour's hands are tied not being able to talk directly with the people in charge at the court. I know you can call me back and tell me that the attorney is working hard - but it doesn't explain the weeks in between with no news and no progress. I need to hear he is doing more than picking up the phone once a week. I'm sure that isn't fair, but when I only hear vague and general details of his efforts it leaves me feeling it isn't his priority. I need to know he has heard from Holt that this file has to get moving and we need him to push hard.

Again, I understand we are dealing with a pretty backwards country with many problems. I still think if the attorney makes it HIS priority he could get our file moving. I also understand the court delayed for 3 months before they decided that they wanted birth parent interviews and the timing of this decision came close to the holidays. We are now approaching February and I just can not even imagine another week going by without any kind of progress.

Again, I think a good attorney would know these details and would present this "case" -pushing to have our file signed out. It shouldn't matter how backwards things are in Haiti - humans understand *reason* and I'm not getting a strong impression that the attorney is using any *reason* to persuade the civil court in signing our file.

I don't know the details of the other files but I hope they would be treated individually with appropriate pressure being used with the court, instead of looking at them as a group of 4 files. If all the files have been stuck as long as ours, than by all means, the attorney should be making the same case for all of us. I hope he isn't letting our file delay because the other 3 files have been in the court for a more "reasonable" timeframe.

Sorry to be so cheerful. :) We are doing all we can to prepare for her homecoming but to have our file SIT for 4 1/2 months, for what should have been a much shorter process, is just hard to deal with.

Thanks for any help you can give towards lighting a fire.

Natasha

p.s. Are we dealing with bribes too? I do wonder sometimes if our file is being held like it is because of that. I would never agree to a bribe and I know Holt wouldn't either. I just need very clear communication about what is going on. Thanks.

oh, and please know - I respect and appreciate you, Holt and Monsour immensely - and my pointed e-mail comes from the frustration that has been building from enduring a Haitian adoption. I'm certain these memories will quickly fade when we finally get Katiana home.

WELL.........I ran a spell check and fixed a couple of words and was about to push send when the PHONE RANG........it was Holt! It was Mike! and he said "How would you like some good news!" Yes! Our file came out of the (not so) Civil Court!!! So, today I experienced a wonderful little miracle and the bigger miracle.....the Lord's timing! It wasn't coincidence that the phone rang at that moment! No it wasn't coincidence at all!
love,
tash

a little news....

Below is an e-mail I received from Crystal who works for Foyer de Sion. She goes to Haiti every 3 months with a group of volunteers and adoptive parents. This is what she had to say about MV and R.

"MV... Ah, what a beauty you have! She is so sweet. She sat by me for part of Sacrament meeting. She tried to get in the van with us after church and we literally had to pry her fingers off the door of the van. :~( Made me sad.....
On the other hand....she was SO thrilled and excited to get your gift! Her face broke into smiles and she just didn't stop. She had trouble opening the bag, so Richard helped her with that. She was happy to see your photos and she seemed SO relieved when I gave her a gift....as though she was judging whether or not she really had a family.... I am SO glad that you sent the gifts!

The scale at the orphanage was broken so we were only able to get heights this time....M was 42.25 inches tall and R was 36.75 inches tall.

R...shy as always...sat on the end of the bench at church, but....he made eye contact and would smile shyly before turning his head away or quickly ducking. And...look at the photos!!! He SMILED!!!! Made my day!!!"


Yes, they are cute and they seem pretty happy. What a strange world we live in! That thought will have to wait for another day......Au Revoir, Bon Nuit!
tash

Happy Pictures...

Foyer de Sion had a parent trip last week which sadly we missed. We did get some new pictures of MV and R with a little update about how they are doing. The pictures speak for themselves. Take a look :)

I will cut and paste the e-mail about them into the next post.
love! tash

We Can Do It! Family

Here we are! This was taken in the "brrrrr--cold" beautiful outdoors of December 2006. We have a wonderful neighbor who came over to snap a few shots for us....and she suggested this photo on the stairs. I love it!

Because she did such a good job, we hope she will continue this tradition in snapping our photo each year *just in time* for Christmas cards. Good neighbors are a blessing -- and we have many!

tash

Another photo.....

This is the latest photo we have of MV and R in Haiti.

MV has decided to smile at the camera since we met her last May.

R on the other hand, is more like his grandpa--he doesn't like the camera *AND* I think he is annoyed that Charlemagne has his hand on his head! I can just hear him now.....quietly whining "ki tem" (translated--go away leave me alone) hee, hee, hee
Bon nuit.....
tash

Hallelujah......I did it!

Well, maybe I'm turning a bit nerdy. did I just say that? I actually figured out how to drop a photo into my blog! This photo was taken last September of KJ in Haiti. I love her school uniform. She is beautiful!

Good night.
tash

A Photo.....maybe

Testing to see if I know how to drop a photo in.......

Full Circle

Well, it is 1:35 in the morning, so this could be a very interesting post. It will probably be full of spelling and grammar errors and a few incomplete sentences! To top it off...my head is pounding with a head-ache! But I felt a need to preserve this interesting day.....

Our adoption. We began when we found KJ in Haiti in June of 2005. Not one day has gone by without some time spent thinking about her and the future of our family. Anxiety of the unknown has been a constant companion. Anxiety is defined as -- a disturbance of mind regarding some uncertain event. I would add, we are excited! We met KJ, MV and R last May. Yep, we are adopting three amazing kids from Haiti!

HAITI! Somedays that is a bad word in our house! Like today. We got *another* phone call from our agency. Every time I see their number on my caller ID, I hope it is FINALLY some good news. Well, for four months now......it has only been bad news. Today, another call, more bad news. This time, it appears evil forces are in motion. At least, after the call, I looked over at Mark, smiled a smug one and said "I just know the rewards will be sweet when she finally makes it home!" I should have been upset.....the call was to tell me the Civil Court had been vandalized and therefore it was closed. So, after four months our file is still being held hostage by the court, which by the way, before we entered was taking 3 to 4 weeks. The previous bad news call, was to tell me that the orphanage director had an appointment with the court for KJ's birth parents (because they finally decided after three months they wanted to interview the birth parents before they would release our file) to meet with the assistant Director at the court. This was on Wednesday, December 27. WELL, the RAT (asst. dir.) decided to go on vacation instead of keeping his appointment! UGH!

Full Circle.......because, TODAY for the first time.......I felt peace (after unleashing my frustration to Mike at Holt) THAT she really would come home and it really didn't matter when (to some degree). I just came full circle back to the beginning of this process, when it was so clear to me that she belonged with our family and it didn't matter WHAT problems we would encounter or HOW LONG it would take! SO, Lucifer, the dragon and slimy snake he is......can stir things up all day long, and in the end......it doesn't matter - my kids from Haiti will come home at just the right time......and all the anxiety we are all feeling, will be to our benefit in the end! YES, we will win this war! And YES, the effort in enduring will come with sweet rewards. I know this!

Now I need to go take a pill and go to bed.......my head is still pounding!

Au Revoir, Bon Nuit.
tash