HOME...THE FIRST MONTH!

Thank you for all your prayers, love & support over the past 2 years.  We FINALLY made it HOME.  We are a family of 7 all living under one roof!  We could not imagine traveling this journey without our amazing family & friends...and all the new friends we made along the way!  We have been HOME for 5 weeks now...crazy how time flies!  The kids are adjusting well & we are slowly finding our new "normal" around here.  It's been a little slow getting into a routine because it's summer & that brings more free time & less routine, but we are getting there.

After the kids had been home 2 weeks, all 3 older kids left for a week for a mission trip to Indianapolis.  They were home for 5 days and the 2 oldest left again for a second mission trip (I love how God is using them all).  This time they traveled back to Haiti...staying at the Guest House, connected to our creche where our children lived for 2 years.  We tried to explain to the little ones where the girls had gone...they understood they went on an airplane to see Poppy, Pastor Brent & their zamis (friends).

Just a few pictures to show you how our time is being spent:

In Miami...boarding for HOME!

WE MADE IT HOME!

Our airport PARTY!

Our family of 7!

Bubbles thanks to Ms. Cindy ;)

Our first Sunday Home...heading to church!

Sisters

Mowing with Daddy

First trip to the zoo...check out those tigers!

Taking it all in...not too sure about the animals

Watching the Polar Bears swim was a hit

They both LOVE trains!

Chasing big brother Nick with squirt guns...2 against 1 :)

This is so cool!

Umm...I'm out of water!

Found a bottle of white paint!

Pile on Brittany :)

Undoing the braids

SIBLINGS!!

THEY ARE COMING HOME!!!

We received our final email on Friday (5/10) letting us know that their visa appointment is scheduled for Monday 5/20.  After the visa appointment, we have to wait one week before we can BRING THEM HOME!  Well, last night we finalized the trip & purchased our tickets!

OUR CHILDREN WILL ARRIVE AT CVG AT 11:45AM ON JUNE 4TH!!!!!  I can't believe after 26 months...they will be HOME....we will be a family of 7 all under one roof !  God is amazing!  However, one slight change has occurred over the past few months...their names...that's what happens when you have 3 teenage children at home who are part of the decision making process :)  Their new names will be- Jordan Claude Jensky Finch and Mia Mithe-Love Finch :) 

I think I'm in labor!!

Well, since my last post a few things have happened.  We entered the US Embassy on April 23rd...that alone was a shock since we had not heard that Mithe-Love's passport had been printed.  The US Embassy's job is to look over our dossier & give the approval for the adoption of the kids. Well, today the email came...we have our I600 approval!  I can't believe we are almost finished.  It seems like we "hurry up and wait" at each step of the journey (sometimes waiting longer than I had hoped for).   We are officially on our final "wait"...the end is drawing near!  We are waiting on one last email that will tell us our Visa Appointment Date.  Once we know the date of the appointment, then we know that ONE WEEK later the kids can come HOME!!  We will  book our tickets & prepare for takeoff!

This has been a LONG pregnancy (beginning April 3, 2011), but we are almost ready to deliver :)

Need to update more often!

I apologize for not updating sooner...I was waiting until I had more good news to share.  Well, since the good news hasn't arrived yet, I update you with what we have found out so far and what we have left to accomplish before they come HOME.

To recap...on January 8th, we received the email saying we had exited MOI (after 6 weeks).  Three weeks later we found out that only Claude had exited MOI...Mithe-Love's dossier was still in MOI and they were waiting on her birth certificate to come from the National Archives.  Claude's dossier continued to move forward & on Febuary 20th we received his passport!  However, he then had to wait until Mithe-Love's dossier caught up to his dossier.  Well, it took a lot longer than we had expected.  On March 22nd, we received word that FINALLY (after 17 weeks) Mithe-Love had exited MOI!!!  She was again on the move.  They applied for her passport on March 26th.  We know the passport printing time can vary from 1-6+ weeks (Claude's took 6 weeks to process).  Tuesday will mark 4 weeks of waiting for hers to be printed.  Praying we receive it before then (Monday would be great)!  Once we receive her passport we are FINISHED with the paperwork on the HAITI side of the adoption...it moves on to the US EMBASSY to finish everything up!

Here are the last few steps we have left to complete after we receive Mithe-Love's passport:

1.  Dossier taken to the US Embassy- usually takes 1-3 day after receiving passports.
2.  US Embassy will look over dossiers & approval our I600 form- takes usually 1-2 weeks
3.  US Embassy will then transfer us to the Consulate Department for Visas & we will receive an email from them with our "Visa Appointment"- takes anywhere from 1 day to 1 week to receive email.  The appointment date also varies- could be scheduled for the next week or could be 2 or 3 weeks out.
4.  Day of appointment- the kids will be escorted to the US Embassy to be interviewed & for their medical exam. When all goes well, their visas will be picked up TWO DAYS LATER!
5.  Exit letter from IBESR will be issued two days later & the kids are ready to travel HOME!!!


Please continue to pray with us that we will have the children HOME at the end of May!  That date is possible, but we need her passport this week to make that probable.  However, we know it is Haiti & we've hit bumps in the road along the way...but we hope the road is smooth from here on out!  WE ARE READY TO BRING OUR CHILDREN HOME!!!!


Oh...and to make you smile...here are our most current pictures of them :)

We're on the move...well, not so fast!

Our last email on Tuesday, Jan 8th was exactly what we wanted to hear..."Your dossier is out of MOI".  We were so excited to know we had moved forward.  It was time for passports...our last step of the journey in Haiti.  Getting ready to move our paperwork to the US Embassy!!!  Well, hold on...not so fast.  It had been three weeks since we had received that email and I was curious if there was any update as to when they expected our passports would be finished...so I emailed Smith (our fantastic orphanage case worker) to find out.  Our email back was not what I had expected...in summary:  "In our last email saying you a had exited MOI...it was only Claude's file that exited.  We have applied for his passport, but we are waiting for Mithe-Love as she is still in MOI".  Oh no...could this really happen?  We had waited for 6 weeks to exit MOI (others have exited in as short as 2 weeks).  Now Mithe-Love has been in MOI for 10 weeks...how much longer?

I wasn't sure what I should say, think or feel after reading those words.  Sad, disappointed, discouraged, frustrated...that would probably sum it up.   That night I immediately started asking questions to our support group (families who are all on the same journey - they are all adopting from Haiti as well).  I found out that dossier do get split up...not very often, but it does happen.  In fact there is another family in the exact same situation as us.   As I was expressing my worries and concerns, this special mom returned with this AMAZING statement:  "I know that these kids will be home at the exact time that God wants them to be home...not a minute sooner...not a minute later..No person, president, earthquake, or government can do one thing to stop that!"  I SO needed to hear this!!!!  I know that they will join our family exactly when God intends for them to join our family.  That day is already circled on HIS calendar, but I was caught up in my "what if's".  Thank you Martha for reminding me that God is in control of our situation.  I'm not sure what I would do without such an amazing group of encouraging families!!!  So what are we going to do?  We will wait...wait to exit MOI for the second time...wait for passports to be printed...wait to enter the US Embassy... and wait for our children to come HOME when He says it's time!

WooHoo...we're on the move!

It is always such a great feeling when you open your email, click on your "inbox" and see and email from Smith at New Life Link.  Last Tuesday (Jan 8th) there it was...a new email in our inbox...WE ARE OUT OF MOI!!!  Another hurdle crossed- another step forward!

We still aren't finished, yet, but we are getting so close.  Now that we have the "go ahead" with passports, they will be printed.  How long does that take?  Well, IF the passport machine continues to work (we heard it was broke last week) then it could be any day now or it may take a couple of weeks.  We would LOVE to have passports by the end of this week  (earlier would be great, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high).  After that we are finished on the Haiti side of the adoption.  Our paperwork will then go to the US Embassy where they will give it one last look & approve our I600 (approval to adopt these 2 specific children) and finally they will schedule our visa appointment and issue the kids visas.  How long does the remainder of the process take?  We are praying (and guessing) that it will be about 6-8 weeks.  Hope to travel to get them in early March!  It is getting so close....I have so much to get done....we are going to be a family of 7....we are going to have 5 children....life it about to get crazy for a little while...with all that said...I CAN'T WAIT :)