HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO from Haiti!!!!

Well….WE MADE IT!!! We were wondering what other surprises God had planned for us as we started out on the journey. At the Air Canada counter in Prince a lady informed us of a tropical storm that was brewing. She said chances were good that we would get to Montreal and no further because the flight was pending cancellation. She said Air Canada would fly us home or put us up till we could go. The guy in Vancouver was pretty grim …and not as strong in the PR departement. He said he had ‘officially’ warned us about the flight status and so if we ended up in Montreal with no plane going to Haiti we were on our own!

Praise be to God we are here, safe and sound and Kira didn’t even make anyone angry on all the airplane rides!! I have to admit I was nervous about how she would do and it was pretty exciting for her on the first jaunt from PG to Vancouver. The long one to Toronto she slept. To Montreal she did fairly well…she found that playing with the button was kind of fun and that they turned the lights on and off! We were careful to keep her from pressing the one to call the stewardess too many timesJ.

After all was said and done we got through immagration, picked up our luggage and out the door where Pasto Henri was waiting for us as promised. We had to fight off all the guys that just wanted to put their hand on your suitcase so they can say they helped you and get paid for it….what a crazy place the airport is!! We ended up giving them way more then normal but…”c’est la vie” – they were nice guys.

So we loaded all the stuff and people onto a big flat deck truck (Kira and I in the truck) and drove to a gas station where there was another vehicle waiting. We tarped the luggage down (it was pretty wet and still threatening to rain) and piled in the two truck and drove about 2 hours to Cannan. It is 80km north of PAP by a village called Montrouis. (MOWEE)

The time is two hours ahead until you guys go back. Time here will stay the same so you will then be 3 hours behind us. Pastor Henri has been AMAZINGLY warm and friendly and so helpful…..did I say that my suitcase was the only one we don’t have? Hehe…thanks for those gatcho pants, Mini!! They are my new best friend!! Thankfully I shoved em in my carry on!! PLEASE pray we do get my suitcase yet! It would be so nice to have! I felt like God was trying to remind me that just because we have made it this far and all these things I was a little nervous about are over, I STILL need to trust him! So…I am having a GREAT attitude about handwashing my ONLY pair of underwear!!!

I have talked with Marlaine and we are going to go see our girls in Jacmel when we can arrange the details. We are still getting by a day at a time and trusting God to bring the details together. We were sad yesterday to not have the big birthday party we planned for our Lauren Cassandra but we wait patiently to see the girls soon. Dawson and Jordan keep asking when we are going to the ‘real’ Haiti. They want to go where their sisters are.

Today is Kira’s birthday! My little one is 2 years old already! She has had a bit of a time adjusting and I think the heat makes it worse. We actually have had it pretty good so far. We haven’t yet seen the sun and so it’s only been high twenties I’ll bet. God’s climatizing us gradually! The kids are doing well…..running and playing and making friends with all the kids here. I think there is around 100! There is a precious baby girl here with her mom for a short time. She is 7 months old and Kira loves her! I think because she is smaller than Kira. Otherwise Kira has been a pain…she has been rude to the girls who all think she is so cute and try to say hi to her and help her. She screams at them! I try to tell them that she will hopefully be better in a couple days….yikes! I sure hope so! I realized that maybe she is overwhelmed by all the people who look different than she’s used to. Also by the attention of the big crowds. She has been napping more and I wonder if it’s the heat or just catching up from the travel. She is so cranky that Sheldon and I are feeling pretty frustrated at times. Like now…I am sitting in our room writing this as she naps. It’s only 8:30 in the morning but she had been so cranky the last hour that we could not endure it so up to bed she goes! We are up around 6am so maybe that’s not too bad after all. It’s very dark here early on so we’ve been going to bed earlier than usual but it’s good.

We had a tour of Canaan yesterday (our first full day here). It is really neat. There is a couple new building where they have just opened a clinic/pharmacy because a new law is at a place with over a certain amount of kids you HAVE to have a medical facility. This is very cool because I can see Sheldon and I helping out there if God wills it. The other big focus here is the Christian school. They are teaching the English ACE curriculum and already our team has been helping out wherever they need a hand. We have kids read paragraphs to us and then initial that they have done it, do flashcards for math, answer grammatical questions etc….

There is a boys dorm, a girls dorm, a kitchen, dining hall, playground, and bathrooms throughout with running water! Praise God!! J I will try upload some pictures with this. Two new friends (some older girls) came to our door and gave Kira some birthday presents!!! I was touched and blessed by these people who have nothing but give so freely. Kira did give them a kiss so perhaps she is warming up a bit.

We are staying in a two room place above the girls dorm. It has bunkbeds in one room for Dawson and Jordan, and a couch. Then a room with a double bed for us and we have Kira in a playpen there too. A bathroom as well.

Melissa, Jaimee and Steph are with Bonnie, a gal from Oregon who comes down often. She leaves tomorrow and already I am so sad for her and her ‘son’, Carter, who has adopted her. They are inseperable! That will be a VERY hard goodbye! These girls are in a room with two bunkbeds. It is crowded all around but we aren’t in our room much anyway.

Carl is in a huge room by himself that has three bunkbeds…go figure. Hehe.. There are three guys here from the states close to around his age. Wes, Danny and Brad. They are helping out wherever…mostly with school although Wes is apre-med student and is at the clinic a lot.

Gladys, the ‘mom’ is coming back from the states on Sat. We will then make plans with her to go see our girls. I just phoned our lawyer, Jean, who said he will be depositing our dossiers into IBESR on Mon or Tues. and figures that is taking about two and a half months. After that the paperwork goes back to Jacmel to Parquet and courts and then Immagration, visas, passports and home!! Jean thinks it is possible by the time we go but we will see. I am afraid to hope.

Jordy and Dawson did some homeschool today…6 pages in their books. This is good to get them into a routine. Dawson’s doing fine but Jordan is struggling a little. She had a bit of a meltdown saying that we took her away from her friends and now she has to eat this yucky food and she is NOT going to school etc…. We are dealing well with her trying to se sensitive but I think the best thing was the ‘attitude adjustment’ daddy gave her this morning. If I didn’t mention yet, the food is AWESOME!!! So much etter than I expected! We have had rice and beans of course, but also chicken and bread, fried plantains, sweet tea… so good! And it is all done for us, which is a blessing I never planned on! SO GREAT!!

I think I have rambled enough for one day! I wait to see about my suitcase with baited breath! Thanks for you love and prayers! Yes, we are all drinking lots of water (to the moms out thereJ). Talk soon!

Kim and Sheldon

Dawson, Jordy and Kira (little miss grumpy pantsL)