Meet Give1Save1's new "Featured Family"...oh wait...That's us!

Exciting news...We were selected to be the "Featured Family" on the website Give1Save1 for this week.  Never heard of Give1Save1...check them out and check out our video on their page as well!  The purpose to the website is to help adoptive families raise money to bring their children HOME!  It does just what it says...Give 1 ($1, $5, $10 or however much you feel led to give)... it will Save 1 child (in our case 2 children) from growing up without a Forever Family!  It's that easy! The is a catch...the catch is we only have ONE WEEK as the "Featured Family" and that is it!  All money that is donated during THIS week will be given to us to help with our final payment & travel expenses to bring our kids HOME!   Would you be willing to help bring two children HOME to their forever family? It's very easy...click on "donate" on the left...type in "Finch Family" for the purpose & chose the amount you would like to donate...now that's easy!

We would also like to say Thank You to everyone who purchased t-shirts during our first fundraiser!  We sold 15 t-shirts and had one cash donation!  We can not express our appreciate enough for your support & prayers as we venture down the path of adoption!

As far as the adoption goes...we haven't heard anything new.  We entered MOI (Ministry of Interior) on November 26th.  We have heard the time frame for MOI is expected to be 2 to 12 weeks.  Well, the family before us entered & exited in only 2 weeks...that is what we had hoped for.  We entered the same time as other families (from different orphanages) and they also exited in just 2 weeks.  There are 5 families from our orphanage who entered the same day as us...and we are all STILL WAITING!!!  I'm so ready to move forward...as of today it has been 5 weeks!!  Once we exit MOI then the average time frame is 6 to 8 weeks until we travel to pick them up.  We are getting so close, yet feel so far away!  I'll post as soon as we hear good news!  In the meantime...don't forget to check out our second and FINAL fundraiser :)

http://give1save1caribbean.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your support!!!!!

WE ARE IN MOI!!!

We received "THAT" email yesterday saying we have entered into MOI!!!  This is a huge step forward toward bringing our children home!  We have waited 9 weeks for this email to arrive and yesterday it came!  So you ask what this means?  Well, MOI (Ministry of the Interior) is the department in Haiti that will review our paperwork and give us the "go-ahead" for issuing the kids  passports.  Once they give us that authorization, then the passports will be printed.  Then our paperwork (dossier) will move to the US Embassy where the children will receive their medical exams and finally their visas...then HOME!! 

So there are still a few steps left...they can move quickly or they may take months to finish...it's Haiti, so only time will tell how long it takes.  We were hoping they would be home by Christmas, but that will not be the case.  We have set a new goal...home by Claude's 6th birthday, which is January 13th.  Not sure if that will be the case, but that is our new goal!  We will keep you posted as we move forward!

Oh...don't forget about our T-shirt fundraiser.  You can be a part of bringing home two children to their forever families!!!  Visit our site at http://www.adoptionbug.com/finchfamily/index.htm  and remember in order for us to received credit- you must order on our page (which the link should take you there), but just in case we are the "THE FINCH FAMILY OF 7".   Thank you for your support!!!!

Our first fundraiser!

Check out our first ever fundraiser...with the help of Adoptionbug.com...we will be selling t-shirts to help offset the cost of our adoption.  With each t-shirt sold, they are donating the proceeds back to us to pay our final set of fees (visas for the kids and also travel expenses for Dwight, myself, Claude & Mithe-Love). 

If you have already checked out Adoptionbug.com website...THANK YOU!  If not, I encourage you to check it out and consider supporting our fundraiser.  We appreciate your help.  If you are not ready to support us by purchasing a t-shirt, will you support us through prayer?  Pray as we begin to prepare to bring our children home.  It will be a huge transition for all of us!  Also, you could help by "spreading the word".  Share with your friends & family how they could help us out. 

Just a reminder- in order for us to get credit for each shirt sold- you must order on THE FINCH FAMILY OF 7 page (or follow the link below).  Again, THANK YOU!

http://www.adoptionbug.com/finchfamily

Waiting and wondering...

Well, it's been 7 weeks since we exited Parquet...and we are waiting to move forward.  We were really thinking we would have entered MOI by now, but it still hasn't happened.  As with every other step, there really isn't any rhyme or reason when it comes to timelines.  We've heard from other adoptive families of entering into MOI within a couple of weeks or taking a couple of months to enter.  We are simply waiting and wondering when THAT email will arrive in our inbox.

We did get some exciting news a few days ago...they emailed us a copy of our Adoption Decree.  We had heard on October 2nd (the day after my last post) that they did have a copy of our Adoption Decree.  They said they would send us a copy after it was translated from French into English.  Well, we received it.   It was crazy to read the decree and to know that the kids have our last name now!! 

Everyone keeps asking "when will they be home" or "what's taking so long"?  We don't know the answer to those questions.  We were told from the beginning to expect a wait of about 18 months from the date of our referral.  We met Claude & Mithe-Love on August 1st, 2011.  If it actually takes 18 months...that would be February 1st, 2013.  We aren't there yet.  We are/were hoping to have them home before Christmas. Things were moving quickly for a while...quickly in Haiti terms.  However, since it has taken 7 weeks now to enter MOI (and we still aren't in yet), it doesn't look like they will be home before Christmas.  Don't get me wrong...with God all things are possible!  We aren't giving up hope on a Christmas homecoming, but rather looking ahead.  Claude's birthday is in the middle of January...maybe they will be home by then??  God already knows when they will be home...I'm not sure why we worry about it...it will happen when HE says it's time! 

Thanks for following our journey & I'll keep you posted when THAT email arrives :)

We are getting closer...

We received an email last Thursday (9/20) saying that our dossier exited Parquet!!  We are another step closer to bringing our children HOME!!  Sometimes I feel like it is one baby step at a time down this journey, but we can see the finish line up ahead.  Now that we have exited Parquet we will be getting our adoption decree...the kids will have our last name...they will be legally OURS in Haiti.  We have not seen the adoption decree so we wait again...once THAT email comes it will feel more real.  Hope it comes soon- like TODAY- because even after all this time I'm still not good at waiting.

Then we will begin the waiting of the next stage, which is MOI (Ministry of Interior)...here are the steps that will take place in this stage:

MOI (Ministry of Interior)- copied from All Blessing International:
All international adoption cases are reviewed by the Ministry of Interior. In order to obtain authorization to request a passport, the following documents must be submitted for each child:

1. Four passport sized pictures
2. Birth Certificate
3. Attestation for the Birth Certificate
4. Extract from the National Archives for the Birth Certificate
5. Relinquishment
6. Process Verbal of adoption
7. Adoption approval judgement
8. Adoption Decree
9. Attestation of the Adoption Decree
10. Power of Attorney for creche director and/or attorney
11. Stamp from DGI
12. Notary letter for the passport
13. Identification card of facilitator and/or attorney on the case
14. Biological parents' identification cards
15. Adoptive parents' MOI form, identification, and passport photo

The Ministry of Interior will grant authorization to submit the dossier to Haitian Immigrations for a passport.


Then the final three steps:
  1.  Obtaining passports for the kids
  2.  Obtaining visas for the kids.
  3.  Bring them HOME!!
 

What are your three words?

I can't believe the summer is about to end and the school year is gearing up.  We've already started with all of the school activities...show choir camps have already begun and soccer (x2) has been in full force for a couple of weeks now.  I'm always on the run, sometimes I think I'm going crazy,  but I must admit that I absolutely love watching my kids enjoy what they do in each of their activities!  With school starting...that means I also head back to work... with mixed emotions.  Don't get me wrong, I do love my job..all the incredible kids that I get to work with and the amazing staff too.  However I'll miss the slow pace of summertime and getting to spend more time with my children :)

Our first task of the school year (taken off the TV show Good Morning America) was to come up with "My Three Words".  Three words that describe me...my feelings...my attitude...everything about me.  Anyone who is around me long enough knows the one thing I always say..."It's All Good".  Could those be my three words?  It's sounds like me, my feelings & my attitude.  Then after thinking about it...I decided those are three good words, but there's more to me.  Then it came to me... "Blessed Beyond Belief"... that really sums it up so much more!  To start with I am so truly blessed with such an amazing family...my parents, my brother, my husband of almost 17 years and our 5 children.  Not to mention my extended family... my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and everyone else.  What about my friends...my best friend of 28 years (yes, we met our freshman year of high school). So many friends to mention...those I see often and those I haven't seen in years...each and every one of them are a blessing to me!  Most importantly, I am blessed to know, love and worship the one true God. I know God has a plan for our family.  He has lead our family down a path called adoption...it is a long journey with lots of waiting and wondering.  We know it will all happen in His timing and at the end of the journey we will be blessed to call Michael & Madison our children.  So, yes... Blessed Beyond Belief are my three words!

To catch everyone up, here is a glimpse of how our school year ended, how our summer went and how our school year begins again:

FHS Pure Elegance at The Grand Ole Opry

One Girl Revelotion

Show Choir Nationals Grand Champions!

Haley's Last Band Concert

Pep Talk before game time (Freshman Team)

First High School Soccer Game

Nick- playing drums in 6th grade band

Soccer Tournament- on the field

Division Champions!

Haley ran the Jenny Evans 5K

They took pictures of themselves :)

We hung out at Myrtle Beach

We went to the Reds Game...yes every picture is of Zack Cozart

We played Putt-Putt

We went to visit the kids in Haiti

The kids already have him dressed in Red's attire

Took them pictures of the family waiting at home for them

We simply enjoyed our time together

We've been Published!!

We've crossed another hurdle!  Wanted to give you a little background of what we've accomplished lately and what the next step is for us :)

With the outdated 1974 law in Haiti, there are 3 requirements that you must meet in order to be permitted to adopt from Haiti:  1- Must not have biological children  2- Must be at least 35 years old  3- Must be married for 10 years.   If you don't meet these 3 requirements then the Haitian President must 'sign off' on our adoption file in order to continue.  Without his signature, then we can't adopt from Haiti...period.  Well, as you know we have 3 children...who are anxiously waiting for their brother & sister to come home... so we fall into the category of needing "Presidential Dispensation".   Well...we exited IBESR (the Haitian Court) on May 28th with Presidential Dispensation!!  However, before we could move forward the Dispensation had to be published in the Haitian Legal Newspaper.  On July 27th (Nick's Birthday) we found out that it was published!!  It's been approved and printed...so we can move forward!  It took two months, but it's another step forward...another hurdle crossed :)

Where do we go from here...our next step is to enter 'Parquet'.  Below is a list of steps that occur while in Parquet (copied from All Blessing International Adoption Agency).

Parquet Court
The 'step' we refer to as Parquet court is actually a very complex series of steps and processes involving multiple offices and repeated trips between them.

1. Attorney addresses a Request for Judgment to the Chief Justice of Parquet Court
2. Birth parents are interviewed in Parquet Court
3. Parquet Court signs off on "approval judgement for adoption
4. Facilitator takes approval to DGI for stamp of authorization
5. Back to Parquet for enforcement of the approval judgement
6. Authorization and redaction from the Civil Registrar Officer for legal Adoption Decree
7. Verification in parquet of the adoption documents by the Civil Registrar before signing the adoption decree
8. First Legalization of the Adoption Decree, in Parquet Court
9. Second Legalization of the Adoption Decree, at the Ministry of Justice
10. Third Legalization of the Adoption Decree, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
11. Obtain attestation of Adoption Decree from the National Archives

We have heard this step can take anywhere from one to four months.  We haven't heard if we have "entered" Parquet yet or not.  It has been 2 weeks since we received word that we had been published and that we could move forward.  We hope we have entered & they just haven't emailed us to let us know...that does happen...several families were not notified that they had entered until they received the email saying they had exited.  I would love for that surprise!  So, at the end of this stage (as we understand it) we will have an adoption decree...which means the adoption is legal in Haiti!  The kids will have our last name...they will be OURS!!!

In the meantime, you know what we are doing...waiting!!!  We wait for the next email that tells us we have moved forward again.  There seems to be a lot of movement in the adoptions of friends we have made during this journey, so we hope to hear good news soon. Thanks for staying with us along this long journey...we will keep you posted when we hear that we've crossed another hurdle :)

Michael and Madison

As a family we debated on what we should do about our kids names.  Should we keep their names the same...should we give them American names?   Claude is a name you hear (not often, but it's not that unusual).  However, Mithe-Love is a different story.  She has a name that when you look at it, you can't figure out how to pronounce it.  I had always said that I would name my children something people can pronounce...believe me, I've had my name mispronounced a 1000 times.  We decided to give them new American first names and their Haitian names would stay as their middle names...it's the best of both worlds. Well, let me tell you that it was much easier naming our first 3 children.  Why?  Because we didn't have other children putting in their "two cents worth".  MANY names were tossed around... MANY names were tossed out!  Then it happened...we agreed on a name... Michael Claude Jensky Finch.  We had narrowed Mithe-Love's name down to 3 possibilities.  However, when I went to the US Embassy to file our I600 in Haiti, I found out that I needed to put their new names on one of the forms.  I couldn't text Dwight for his opinion since my phone was in the car (you can't take phones into the Embassy), so it was up to me to decide.  Her name is Madison Mithe-Love Finch :)

Another step closer...

Claude with his backpack ready to go!

Haley and I arrived in Haiti on Saturday afternoon having no major problems getting to the guest house.  As many of you know, getting through the airport, finding our luggage and then finding our driver was my biggest fear of the whole trip.  Thankfully we had no problems!!  We made it up to the guest house about 2:30 and headed straight to the Creche.  Claude was at the bottom of the stairs (on the playground) when we arrived and he looked at us and just smiled!  He stayed with us for just a few minutes and then took my hand and was leading back inside the creche.  I thought he was going to find Mithe-Love for us, but he ran through the main room, through the tv room and headed up the stairs.  About that time, Wilnes (an amazing little boy, who is so very sweet and who speaks English) grabbed my hand and said "Mithe-Love is in there".  I turned and followed Wilnes and he was correct, Mithe-Love was in her room.  A few minutes later, Claude returned , with a backpack full of clothes ready to head to our room for the week!  Amazing to think that he knew we were coming to visit & he grabbed his bag and was ready to go!

On our way to the see the Judge

We were able to complete another two steps of our adoption process while we were in Haiti.  First, on Monday, we headed to the Court House to appear before the Judge.  Our appointment was scheduled for 10am.  Well, we left for the court at 8:45am, stopped by the NLL office and arrived at the court at 11:15.  Of course we were late getting there, but no one seemed to mind, so I guess that was ok.    We got inside and there were no seats in the "waiting room" so we stood in the hallway for about an hour or so. It was miserably HOT!  We had one small battery operated fan to cool all of us.  Eventually we did get a seat.  It still wasn't any cooler, but at least we got to sit down.  We were finally called into the waiting room where we would see the Judge. What a relief to find out there was a fan in this room (not cool, but the so much better than nothing).  Anyway after a total of 2 hours waiting, a gentleman came out an asked for my passport (along with two other ladies waiting to see the judge).  He took our passports, went into the room where the judge.  He returned about 10 minutes later saying we were "Fini"- finished!  We did not even see the Judge, but he signed off on our dossier and we really were finished!!

Then on Tuesday, I went to the US Embassy to file our I600 form.  Haley decided to stay at the Guest House and not go with me...remembering the LONG, HOT day we had the day before.   I took the kids down to the Creche so Haley could have some time to herself (she was still sleeping when I left).   Of course as soon as she woke up, she went down and to the creche to get the kids.  She had some one on one time with them while I was gone...priceless!  :)  Since you never know what kind of traffic you may hit in Port-au-Prince, so we left at 6:15am for our 8:00 appointment.  They only let people in at 8am and again at 10 am, so if you miss the doors open at 8 you have to wait until 10am to even get inside.    We arrived at 7am because there was no traffic this morning...we waited in the car until 8am when Smith came to meet me.  We headed inside (YEAH...it has air conditioning).  After waiting for an hour or so, the lady called me up and went over my forms.  When it was all correct, she had me sit back down and wait for my "interview".  We waited, and waited and waited (I should be really good at waiting by now, but I'm not). Finally, after a total of 4 hours, a different lady called me back up.  She asked questions about the kids, how we met them, what they like to do and how we have bonded.  She asked a few question about my kids at home and our jobs, then she had me sign the forms and she gave me the date of July 18th (the birth parent interview).  This is the day when Claude & Mithe-Love and their birth parents have to travel to the US Embassy to answer questions regarding the adoption. Please keep the kids and their birth parents in your prayers on this day!  I can't imagine how hard this will be for them.

Well, the rest of the week was bonding, playing and having a great time with all the children at the creche. If all goes well, the next visit to Haiti will to bring the kids home.  When will that be?  Not sure.  We pray that they will be home by Christmas!  We know that Dr. Bernard & Smith are working very hard to get all of the kids at the Creche home to their forever families...but it is Haiti...so we will continue to wait and will keep you all updated!!        

So happy to see each other again!

Not too sure about a playdoh bracelet

   

Hanging out together

Quiet time- coloring

Back from Church

I love my kitty

 

          One last cracker before we leave        

King Claude (VBS props)

SISTERS!!

 

We're going to visit again...

As you know we received our email on Monday (Memorial Day) saying we are OUT of IBESR.  We emailed the US Embassy to schedule our appointment to file our I600, which they said could take 7 days for a response.  Well, we sent the email on Monday night & we received the email with our appointment on Thursday.  Our appointment is on Tuesday, June 19th at 8am.  We are also appearing in Higher Court while there (not sure which day, but hope to hear on Monday for sure).  Now that everything has a day & time, it's time to book our flight...and we did just that!!!

Haley (our 14 year old daughter) & I will be traveling down together this trip.  This will be my third visit to Haiti and Haley's second visit.  She wanted to go back this summer, so I excited she is able to go with me.   Brittany (our 15 year old daughter) wants to go again soon too, so I think she will be going with us when we bring the kids home.

We leave on Friday, June 15th and arrive in Port-au-Prince at noon on Saturday, June 16th.  We will get to hold our little ones for 5 days :)  We will be traveling home on Thursday, June 21st.  The next trip down after this one will hopefully be to bring-em-home!!!

OUT OF IBESR!!!

TODAY IT HAPPENED...we received an email this morning saying we are OUT of IBESR!!!  When I saw the memo line of the email that said "out of ibesr"...I yelled for everyone in the house. Luckily, everyone was home- we opened and read these amazing words: 

Dear Finch Family,
Your dossier came out of IBESR today.  Now, either of you may come for the Higher court process.  Let us know when you decide to do so.
Best regards,
Smith

WOW!!!  It has been 8 months and 20 days (not that we are counting or anything), what a Memorial Day!  So the next step is to appear in Higher Court and to file our I600 in Haiti.  I have emailed the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince to schedule our filing date.  As soon as I hear from them (which says it could take up to 7 days for a response), then we will contact Smith, who will schedule our court appearance & then book our flights back to Haiti. 

It will still be several months down the road before the kids get to come home, but this is a GIANT leap forward!!!  I'll keep you posted as soon as we hear from the Embassy with a date!!!

Update...not much has changed

It's been a long time since I've updated you on our adoption journey...well, that's because we haven't had much progress.  Hopefully soon we will be able to tell you more, but for now this is what we know.  The new IBESR director took over last October- she wasn't able to sign off on dossiers until she had been in office two months.  To say the least that created a huge backlog of dossiers.  Well, as of May 7th, the IBESR office closed their doors and are not accepting any new dossiers until July 31st. Their goal is to clear out the dossiers that are waiting to be approved before they re-open.  On one hand that is good for us since we are one of those dossiers in the backlog.  And on the other hand, in a crazy way, it is also good for the other families too that are currently not able to enter into IBESR because once they start accepting new dossiers, the path will be clear for them to move quickly through.

We continue to receive our monthly updates on the kids.  Below are their most recent update (end of April):  

 The email said they were both happy and doing well!

Claude is 44 inches tall and weighs 41 pounds.

Mithe-Love is 36 inches tall and weighs 30 pounds.











 I LOVE receiving our monthly updates, but I'm so ready for them to come home now!!!  Hopefully we will have news that we are out of IBESR soon, so we can move on to the next step.  I've had so many friends mention to me, just out of the blue,  in the last two weeks that they have dreamed about our kids...I just feel that good news has to be coming soon!

Made by Brittany...a big sister waiting to bring them home!

Together for the first time

What an amazing trip to Haiti...Dwight & Nicholas met the kids for the first time!  We arrived in Haiti at 9:30am (yes, we had to get up at 3:45am for our early morning flight).  We made it through the customs without any problem and as we were looking for our luggage a man approached and asked if we were traveling to New Life Link.  He helped us find our luggage, escorted us out and found our driver.  We ask our driver for ID (which he did have), so we got in the car.  We drove just outside the airport and our driver pulled over, got out and another driver (who did not have ID) got into the car!!??  I was a little worried, but then he called and let me talk to Dr. Bernard...now I feel better knowing we are with a NLL driver, so off to the Guest House we go!

We arrived around 11am at the Guest House.  We took our luggage to our room & went straight down the the Creche' to see our kids.  Nick could NOT wait to get there, he was SO excited!!!!  We went to the playground and didn't see them...we asked one of the boys where was Claude and he pointed to the top of the stairs behind us. One of the Nannies had them ready and was bringing them to us. 

Here are pictures from that first meeting:

Dwight & Mithe-Love together

Dwight & Claude Jensky

Claude & Nick together for 1st time

Nick & his little sister Mithe-Love

The rest of the day was just hanging out together... bonding...getting to know them, letting them get to know us. Remember, this was the first time they meet daddy & big brother and they hadn't seem me since August.  The afternoon was very smooth and we all had a great time. We found lots of things to do during the week...the boys went swimming (the girls sat on the side and watched because the water was FREEZING), we played basketball, we colored, we played with balloons and we painted hand prints (something I can keep from when they were little), we played with cars and the baby doll.  We had a lot of time on our hands to find things to do.  During the week we were also able to go shopping and sight seeing with the kids.  We ate lunch at the Baptist Mission...well, we ate...Mithe-Love ony licked the ketchup off her french fries and Claude took a couple of bites of his french fries (and licked his ketchup off the rest).  We also celebrated Claude's 5th birthday!!!  How exciting to be able to be there for his birthday!!

Nick made some new friends while there as well.  There were 7 other adoptive families visiting the same time we were there, so there were lots of kids in the Guest House.  I don't think I mentioned this before, but when we visit the Guest House the children are able to stay with us 24/7.  The Creche' is in the building behind the Guest House (only separated by the basketball court, eating area and swimming pool).  In the picture the Creche is the pink/coral colored building and the Guest House is the coral/white (taller building).  So, since there were 7 other families visiting, there were lots of kids with us.  Nick played a lot of basketball with Josh, Junior and Wilnes.  It was so great to watch them all together!  Not to mention, Dwight & I made lots of new friends this week too...all of the other adoptive parents are so supportive.  They are already planning a "Haiti Reunion" for all of the children who are home this summer.  Our kids may not be home yet (PRAYING THAT THEY ARE HOME THEN), but just the thought that we can get all of the kids together is so exciting!  Here is a sneak peek at our week with the kids :)

We were able to move another step forward in the adoption process while we were there as well.  We went to "lower court" which only took a couple of minutes.  We each signed our name twice on a blank piece of paper and that was it!  We had been told that we may be able to meet our children's birth parents at court, but unfortunately that was not the case.  We had come up with a few questions we would have liked to ask them, so that as Claude & Mithe-Love grow we could have information to share with them.  We were told that the birth parents lived quite a distance away and it would have been too hard for them to make it to the court, but that maybe toward the end of the adoption process we may be able to meet them.  Praying that will happen..we would love to have that opportunity!

THEN IT HAPPENED.....WE HAD TO SAY GOODBYE!!!  That was the worst part of the trip!  It's so hard to leave them behind, we pray that we will be able to bring them home soon.  We are still in IBESR, so we have no idea how much longer it will be.  Once we "get out" of IBESR and go to "upper court" it is still about 6 months or so until they will be able to come home. However, we don't know when we will get the email saying we are "out", so we wait and pray it will be soon!  In the meantime, we do know that the children are safe and loved at the Creche'.  Many families travel down and love on our children while we aren't there...for that we say Thank you to them!

These are a few more pictures of the sights around Haiti, in and near the capitol, Port-au-Prince: