More purses..

For Tara

For ??

For ME!

While I wait....

While I wait..I sew...I scrapbook..this year my friends have gotten home made purses from me for their birthdays! Here are a few..



For Lizzie

?? Just because

For Rocio

For Keli

April Update

We got our monthly update. It is bitter sweet..makes me miss them so much more, especially after hearing that Solomon graduated to the toddler room! He was 4 months old when we met him. I am sure praying that this is our last update!
We are praying for a miracle..VISAS!! Things seem to have calmed down in Haiti and the riots have seemed to stop for now. Praying that means the Consulate can get moved and we can get our Visa appt. Our file has been at the Consulate since Nov. so I am hoping that once they have our passports and original paperwork they will want the file out!! I love my boys sooo much!!

Pray for Haiti

A demonstrator smashes the windows of an airline office in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April, 8, 2008. Hungry Haitians stormed the presidential palace Tuesday, throwing rocks and demanding the resignation of President Rene Preval over soaring food prices. Overwhelmed guards struggled to hold back the crowd until U.N. peacekeepers came to their rescue, firing rubber bullets and tear gas.(AP Photo/Jack Tierney)Haitians run through the streets during demonstrations April 8 in Port-au-Prince against the cost of living in Haiti. Blue-helmet UN peacekeepers were called in Tuesday to protect Haiti's presidential palace after violent demonstrations against high food and fuel prices broke out in the capital.(AFP/Thony Belizaire)By JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Writer PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Hungry Haitians stormed the presidential palace Tuesday to demand the resignation of President Rene Preval over soaring food prices and U.N. peacekeepers battled rioters with rubber bullets and tear gas.Rioters were chased away from the presidential palace but by late afternoon had left trails of destruction across Port-au-Prince. Concrete barricades and burned-out cars blocked streets, while windows were smashed and buildings set on fire from the capital's center up through its densely populated hills.Outnumbered U.N. peacekeepers watched as people looted businesses near the presidential palace, not budging from the building's perimeter. Nearby, but out of sight of authorities, another group swarmed a slow-moving car and tried to drag its female driver out the window."We are hungry! He must go!" protesters shouted as they tried to break into the presidential palace by charging its chained gates with a rolling dumpster. Moments later, Brazilian soldiers in blue U.N. helmets arrived on jeeps and assault vehicles, firing rubber bullets and tear gas canisters and forcing protesters away from the gates.Food prices, which have risen 40 percent on average since mid-2007, are causing unrest around the world. But nowhere do they pose a greater threat to democracy than in Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries where in the best of times most people struggle to fill their bellies."I think we have made progress in stabilizing the country, but that progress is extremely fragile, highly reversible, and made even more fragile by the current socio-economic environment," U.N. envoy Hedi Annabi said Tuesday after briefing the Security Council.For months, Haitians have compared their hunger pains to "eating Clorox" because of the burning feeling in their stomachs. The most desperate have come to depend on a traditional hunger palliative of cookies made of dirt, vegetable oil and salt.Riots broke out in the normally placid southern port of Les Cayes last week, quickly escalating as protesters tried to burn down a U.N. compound and leaving five people dead. The protests spread to other cities, and on Monday tens of thousands took to the streets of Port-au-Prince.The U.S. Embassy in Haiti warned American citizens in the chaotic capital to avoid crowds and roadblocks and to remain vigilant. Embassy buildings were pelted with rocks on Tuesday but there have been no reports of injuries to U.S. citizens.Preval, a soft-spoken leader backed by Washington, was at work in the palace during the protests, aides said. He has made no public statements since the riots began."I compare this situation to having a bucket full of gasoline and having some people around with a box of matches," said Preval adviser Patrick Elie. "As long as the two have a possibility to meet, you're going to have trouble."The protesters also are demanding the departure of the 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers, whom they blame in part for rising food prices. The peacekeepers came to Haiti in 2004 to quell the chaos that followed the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.They helped usher in a democratic transition, but critics say both Preval and the international community have focused too much on political stability without helping to alleviate poverty. That could spell trouble not only for Preval, but for Haiti's fragile democracy as well."We voted Preval for a change. Nothing happened," said Joel Elie, 31, who like many Haitians is unemployed. "We're tired of it and we can't wait anymore."While the peacekeepers spend more than US$500 million (euro320 million) a year in Haiti, the World Food Program has collected less than 15 percent of the US$96 million (euro61 million) it says Haiti needs in donations this year. The WFP issued an emergency appeal Monday for more.Meanwhile, new customs procedures aimed at collecting revenues and stopping the flow of drugs has left tons of food rotting in ports, especially in the country's north. In a country where almost all food is imported, cargo traffic from Miami ground nearly to a halt, though shippers say intervention by Preval last month has improved the situation somewhat.Government officials say the riots are being manipulated by outside forces, specifically drug smugglers who can operate more easily amid chaos and supporters of Guy Philippe, a fugitive rebel leader wanted in U.S. federal court in connection with a drug indictment.Annabi, the U.N. envoy, said "people with political motivations" were exploiting the demonstrations, but didn't say who he was referring to.Many in the crowds are demanding the return of the exiled Aristide, and thousands showed up Monday for a rally by a key Aristide ally, the Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, in the oceanside slum of Cite Soleil.___Associated Press writer Evens Sanon contributed to this report.

OUR SONS HAVE PASSPORTS!!!

Oh how we wish we could go to Haiti to celebrate with the boys!!

I miss their SMILES!! :)

We are super excited that the boys got their passports last week! :) This is definatly a praise! But...of course...the Visa office and USCIS is closed this month!!! Our I-600 was signed in Aug. and the birth parent interview was done in Nov. We have an approved I-600 (pending getting the original paperwork from MOI and the passports and medical letter). We were told our file had to go back to the USCIS then sent onto the Embassy where it would be reviewed and then we can try to get a Visa appt. which I hear is no easy feat!! It was only 2 months ago that getting a visa was pretty much a non issue--within a week of getting the passports you got the visa and they went home. Of course now this seems to be SLOW~! OF COURSE!! I still so thankful for where we are at, and feel so sad for so many others STUCK in other offices. Please be in prayer for the whole adoption process in Haiti...for the waiting children..for the waiting families...also, for the birth moms who soon will no longer be able to stop by the O to visit their children. Oh my heart aches for my boys, my heart aches for their birth Moms.

Love to you all!

Renee

Watercooler Wednesday

I am new to the Watercooler. Hi! I am here at the request of my husband. Here is my contribution for this week. We are in the midst of adopting Markenely(4) and Solomon(2) from Haiti. It's been a long journey, but we they are almost home. Praise God! Here is the Fam.


Go here to check out the other entries. Maybe you can win an iPod. Good luck!
http://randyelrod.typepad.com/ethos/2008/04/watercooler-wed.html

Prayers...Pretty Please!!

There is this amazing couple who's blog I have been reading for a while. They are Tricia and Nate. http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/
Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis and is waiting to get a double lung transplant. This may happen tomorrow. They also have the cutest baby who's was born very early...amazing...please check out their blog and pray for a miracle that we know God can do. My heart is also breaking for the family who just lost a love one who's lung Tricia may receive. I am reminded of the song..Blessed be your name, the verse that says "he gives and takes away".
Love to all,
Renee

Praising GOD!!

We are out of MOI!!!! Officially! We just got the E-mail.

Now we are just waiting for Passports and Visas. We are so very close. Our
boys are coming soon. Please continue to pray for a quick process. But this
is awesome news! Thank you for all of your support! Blessings!

Solomon's Christmas Gift

Solomon finally got our Christmas gift we sent to him. Oh how our hearts ache for our boys! :(

 

prayer request

We would like to ask for prayer for the files sitting in MOI waiting to be signed by the director and sent to immigration! Ours is one of them, along with some other good friends files. We are also praying for the next steps to move quickly..passports and visas!! :) Our boys have been waiting for so long...our family has been on this adoption journey for more than 3 years and we are weary, we are ready for them to be HOME, in our arms, being loved by US!!! We are anxious to hold them, read to them, tell them how treasured they are by us and by GOD. We know that each child that comes home is only by the GRACE and MERCY and STRENGTH of GOD. I am praising God for gift of these amazingly sweet boys. I look forward to the MIRACULOUS day when the boys will be here with us. What a day of rejoicing.

love you all...
Renee :)

My hubby's blog..

http://loverofr.blogspot.com/

TjTv

So, ya...tj borrowed our video camera and this is what he did...by the way, turbo jam is really a good workout and beachbody.com is where i have gotten a lot of my workout videos..he is so funny! You never know what he will come up with!!
And...he doesn't play football on the Milpitas Knights, although he is dying for me to say yes to him playing football, not sure if that's going to happen!!

blessed...

I have been feeling in a funk lately...the adoption waiting funk...in my time of reflecting I have to share how blessed I am. I am married to the sweetest, kindest, handsomest :) man. He loves me, loves our children and loves God with his whole heart and life.
He lets me be in my moods...tries to help me climb out of them...helps me see the good in life. I am so thankful to our Lord for allowing me to marry this amazing man. I love him so much. Sometimes i am too focused on my little world..i hate that about myself. I believe God is working on me in that area.
I love you honey, more than you know.
You are the bestest!!
XOXO

UGGGHHHHHHHHHH

I am soooo irritated...today i really DISLIKE a certain HIGH SCHOOL BOY!!!! This is one that my sweet daughter likes...he should feel blessed that she likes him and she keeps giving him chances and he keeps breaking her heart. She says he just doesn't know how to treat a girl and this is all making her stronger. She called me from school today and I only had a minute to talk to her but now I am mad and sad and UGGHHH. I know that I will have 3 high school boys and my goal is to teach them to 'not break girls hearts!!'

BOYS!!!

new pics of our sons!

Thank you to Heather and Kristi for these cute pics of our boys!!:)

 

 

Jessica singing WHY

This is one of my favorite songs, and it is even better with my beautiful daughter Jessica singing it and my hubby playing piano!

TAYLOR

Compassionate, Caring and SPUNKY
Taylor is growing up! This past week she kept her room clean all week..because now it is her office! She is an Event Coordinator. She made a posterboard with wedding ideas, birthday party ideas etc. It is adorable. She got her first event to plan...i 'hired' her to help plan Solomon's 2nd birthday party. His party is on June 22...so, he better be home!
I really have seen signs of maturity and self control. She still has her innocent side, she played all weekend with the neighbor girls..they played house and dolls. We are proud of our Tay Tay.

AWESOME VIDEO!!

I found this video on another blog...amazing & inspiring.

MY GIRLS!

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow...

SHANAY AND JESSICA WILL BOTH HAVE THEIR BRACES OFF...THESE ARE A FEW OF THE LAST SMILES OF MY TWO TEENS WITH THEIR BEAUTIFUL BRACES..JESS GOT HERS OFF LAST WEEK..I WILL POST PICS OF THE BOTH THE GIRLS TOMORROW WITH THEIR BRACE-LESS TEETH. THIS HAS BEEN VERY EMOTIONAL FOR ME...MY BABIES...SOON TO BE WOMEN! UGGHHH..THEY ARE WONDERFUL YOUNG LADIES WHO LOVE GOD WITH THEIR WHOLE HEARTS...THEY ARE ALSO STARTING WITH THE 'CRUSH ON BOYS' STAGE! I LOVE MY GIRLS SOOO MUCH!