7 months

Its hard to believe its been 7 months since I last hugged and kissed these beautiful kids of mine. 

It really doesn't get any easier... The waiting... The wondering.... Most days I try to push the pain to the back of my mind and not think about how long this journey has taken. I try not to think about the fact that Derline was 7 months old when we started and now she is 4. I try not to think about the fact that I thought Juvens would be starting kindergarten with Wesley and now we are almost halfway into 1st grade! I try not to think about the time Sophia screamed and cried when I gave her back to the orphanage director and we drove off in a car to catch our plane back to america! 

I try not to think.. But its all still there its real its raw and my heart hurts it literally hurts when I think about it. 

I never ever could of wrote this story myself. Only God! I would of skipped out long before now! But there is this faith we have in God believing in something we can not see. Believing that they will come home and believing that HIS plan is perfect! If this was my plan the story would of went oh so different. But that's the beauty in all this heartache its GODS plan and that's what makes it beautiful! I know he will make 

beauty from these ashes! 

I know I haven't updated everyone in a while so here it is. We exited IBESR on July 23rd after being stuck in that step for 14 months. Since exiting IBESR we have been in Parquet (which is court) we are being told our file is almost done (but almost does not have the same meaning in Haiti as it does here) So we need prayers for us to exit Parquet right now!! We are asking you to join in prayer with us for this specific prayer! 

Thank you sweet friends for standing by us and praying this prayer with us! It takes a Village! And we are thankful for all of you!! 

Love Karena & Zach 

280 days/ 40 weeks / 403,200 minutes

This was the last time we seen the kids. February 5, 2013 that was 280 days ago, 40 week ago, 403,200 minutes ago and it seems like forever. Can you imagine not seeing your 3 year old for that many days. Can you imagine not hearing about your 6 year old day at school or seeing all the new things there little brains are learning. Can you imagine not tucking them into bed not getting to tell them you love them everyday. Its painful my friends my heart aches to hold them to love them to let them know what its like to have a mom and dad. There is nothing in this world that can prepare you for something like this. This process has gone on way to long and these kids are just getting older everyday. There is so much injustice so much red tape and all these kids want is a family. We are that family. We love these kids with all our hearts. It amazes me everyday how much my 6 year old Wesley loves these 3 kids who he has never met. He tells me I miss them so much mom. He prays for them every night. Someday Wesley they will come home is all I can tell him..... 

We left Haiti that morning and I told myself that I was not going to wait another 270 days again and here I find myself 280 long days have gone by. We had planned to go in August but then came the pregnancy that resulted in a miscarriage and it wasn't safe for me to travel so we canceled that trip. We were suppose to be in Haiti right now but we had to cancel our trip yet again. It seems that the US Embassy isn't letting parents file there I-600 unless you meet the current Haitian law and that we do not. We have been told that the new law should be effective by December 1st and then we would be able to reschedule our I-600 appointment and finally go to Haiti to file and see our kids. 

We are thinking it will probably be January or February before that actually happens with the Holidays and just being busy and the uncertainty of things in Haiti.  We have everything we need to file our I-600 so we are ready when they will finally let us. Until then we just continue to wait for our paperwork to make it through the rest of the Haitian adoption process.  That paper that was missing we have been told was found. 

Everyone always wants to know when they will come home. It seems like with every new season I push back the date that I tell people by another 3 months or so. I know one of these times I am not going to have to push that date back anymore one of these times God is going to say alright its time y our babies are coming home! But until that day we ask that you please pray for our family. The Holidays are especially hard. This will be our 3rd Christmas celebrating without them. Its hard .... I am told by friends that have brought there kids home that the pain goes away and its like they have always been there.... I pray they are right. Until that day comes we are just going to keep on keeping on! 

Team Price Update

I know a lot of you are probably wondering how things are going. I don't have much of an update to give anyone but we have been very busy the past few months!! I will update you to the best of my ability on where things stand with the adoption and funds needed to for us to be fully funded! 

Team Price Shirts are still available and all the funds goes towards our adoption fund
3 Less Orphans = 3 More Prices
Derline ~ Juvens ~ Sophia
Loved ~ Chosen ~ Wanted
Shirts are $12 Each and are available in youth - adult sizes 

As many of you may know we were blessed by family and friends with an adoption benefit family fun night! What an amazing event this was! It was held on September 7th at the Wolcott School. We had a pulled pork meal, lots of yummy desserts, bounce house and face painting for the kids and a cruise in car show. We had some awesome things donated to our silent auction and we sold Haitian Coffee, Haitian Jewelry and Christmas Items along with some handmade scarves and bags! All and all the night was a huge success and we were very blessed by the event! To be able to talk about adoption with people from our community was a wonderful thing! We currently find ourselves being very close to fully funded!! What an amazing feeling that is! We have about $8,000 left to go of the $55,000 that was needed to fully fund the adoption! 

Woo Hoo!! We want to say thank you to each and everyone of you who have supported us along this journey who have prayed for us and helped us make this all possible! We will continue to sale scarves and t-shirts and the Haitian jewlery and chirstmas items to help raise some of the needed funds. We will also be keeping the account open at the bank so if you would still like to donate towards our adoption fund you can do so by sending checks to the Bank Of Wolcott P.O. Box 339 Wolcott, IN 47995 Please makes checks payable to Price Family Adoption Fund

Where does our paperwork stand and how are things moving along with that you ask.... Well I wish I could tell you they are moving along quickly but I just can't right now. The last update we received was our file is still in IBESR. They are working on it but still not done with it. We have been very encouraged with the movement we are seeing in IBESR lately so we are hopeful that our file will be out of IBESR before the end of this year if not sooner!! 

We will be making a trip to Haiti in November to file our I600 and give our orphan all of our final process papers so they have them when they are ready for them. We are currently awaiting our appointment with USCIS and then we will be booking our flight!! On this trip we will get to spend several days with the kids! Its been over 8 months since we have seen them. WE are very excited to get to love on them for a few days. It is our hope that this will be our last trip to Haiti for a visit. We plan for our next trip to be bringing them home with us!! Oh what a wonderful day that will be! 

How can you pray?? We need your prayers for our file and that it would move out of IBESR by the end of this year if not sooner!!  WE need your prayers that the new law for adoptions would be signed by the president of Haiti and we could skip our file going to his desk. We need your prayers that we will be fully funded soon and have one less stress off our list when it comes to the adoption. And lastly pray for our children the 3 that are in Haiti pray that they would feel that they are loved and pray that they will yet again understand that mamma and papa are here to visit but they aren't coming home with us. Pray for Juvens especially as he has seen many of his friends going home and I know he has to be confused. Pray for our boys here at home that they would just be patient with this wait and know that someday there brother and sisters will be home. 

Thank you friends your love support and prayers mean the world to us! It takes a village!! We are sure happy to have you along with us on this ride! 

Handmade Infinity Scarves

Adoption Funds 

Handmade Infinity Scarves 

Click Here To View Current Selection Of Scarves 

Scarves are $15 Each 

Shipping is $3 Per Scarf 

Great for Gift Giving!! 

Turns any outfit from plain and boring

 to hip and sassy! 

Below you will see some examples please click on the link to view the album of all scarves 

on my facebook page

Price Family Adoption Fund T-Shirt Fundraiser

Price Family Adoption Fund 

T-Shirt Fundraiser

To buy please email me with your order at krp1021@gmail.com  

Team Price T-Shirts 
Available in all sizes 
$12.00
Gildan 50/50 Blend 
Derline ~ Juvens ~ Sophia 

Loved ~ Chosen ~ Wanted 
3 Less Orphans = 3 More Prices

By Grace T-Shirt inspired by Ephesians 2:8 ~ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 
Available in all sizes 
Shirt color is Chocolate 
$15.00 
Gildan 50/50 Blend

Love Wins T-Shirt inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:7 
~ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Available in all sizes 
Shirt Color is Orchid (light purple)
$15.00
Gildan 50/50 Blend

Life Is T-Shirt inspired by Life Is quote from Mother Teresa. 

Available in all sizes 

Shirt color is called Kiwi 

$18.00

Gildan 50/50 Blend

Comment Sold if you would like to Buy! 

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.”

― Mother Teresa

These 3 kids just got IBESR #'s

 

 

Surrender  all your thoughts and troubles to the lord for if it is his will he will make a way… God’s timing is perfect it’s something we can’t explain but his timing and plans are right and good! ~ KRP

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 46:10

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

So we found out last night that our 3 precious kid’s files were finally accepted into IBESR and they all received a number!!! This is a huge step! We still have plenty of other steps but this is a big one this has been the hold up and we are finally moving!! 747 days after our first referral of Derline we are officially submitted and moving on the Haitian side of things!!!  

 

So let’s run through the past few days leading up to this point... First we have a new attorney and he has been working on our file for a few weeks making sure it was ready when IBESR opened their doors to these old dossiers that were stuck in crèches, orphanages and lawyers hands that still needed in. IBESR had been saying for a month or better they were going to have this special time to submit. So we have kind of been on the edge of our seat just waiting… Then it happened IBESR officially posted that they were going to be open Friday, Monday and Tuesday… So the stage is set we are ready for Friday… Friday comes and our Dossier doesn’t get accepted… But our attorney has a plan ….. But still it took everything I had to get through Friday and the weekend it was just another really low time a enough is enough please please lord begging for him to just let us in. Begging for him to soften hearts and remove these mountains. A lot of crying like on the verge of I’m having a mental breakdown crying! Then we get to Monday and we have a few snags and we are told Tuesday is the day…

So as Tuesday starts we hear from our attorney that morning and then again around noon things are still being done still have hope… But as Tuesday afternoon starts to fade away so does my hope I start to get more nervous more anxious… I had plans to go to Lafayette with a good friend for dinner we were going to get pedicures and then dinner… It was almost 5’oclock and I knew IBESR had to be closed and I hadn’t heard anything from the attorney… So I made the decision to just surrender completely give it all to God. I logged out of facebook and my email and I turned my phone off. Yes you heard me! I came home stuck my turned off phone on the charger and left it home! I got ready and then left with my friend!! I was completely unplugged!!! Surrendered it all to him realizing there was nothing I could do anymore I had done my part I had helped it get to where it is and all I could do was pray… Checking that silly phone all night was going to do no good! Plus I wanted to be with Zach when we got whatever news we were going to get!  

I had an amazing night good conversation we laughed caught up I won’t say good food because what I got was too spicy and I could barely eat it!! Ha! That will teach me to order Cajun pasta again!! Honestly I didn’t think much about my phone or what was going to be waiting for me until we were driving home… I joked with my friend saying I wonder how many messages I am going to have and figured my phone would be blowing up when I turned it on! Got home around 10 did a few things and then Zach and I turned on my phone…. What happened next was amazing!!! I had lots of messages but I knew exactly which ones to look at…. And there it was a picture of the receipt from IBESR with all 3 kids’ names on it and their numbers!!  Shock, Tears, Excitement, Shaking, Smiling, Crying, all things that started happening!! Words just can’t express how we were feeling!! Amazing!! I wanted to simply hug my kids who are 2,000 miles away and tell them that we are committed to them and failure is not an option that we love them so so much and we are one step closer to bringing them home!

Just thinking about all of what happened the past few days I am reminded of the sermon we heard on mother’s day… It was about Surrender about walking through the valley… there are struggles in the valley and the enemy is in the valley battles are fought in the valley!  We are on through this valley and on top of a mountain right now but we know there is another valley coming, another battle that will probably need fought to get them home!

This all reminds me of the 23^rd Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (or through the darkest valley),

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

So we have IBESR numbers we are moving again…. Whats next well we now have to be approved to adopt the children that is what IBESR will do I am not sure how long this will actually take and I am not even going to guess!!! After that we will then have court making the adoption legal and giving the kids our last name! Once we are thru court we will then start the passport and then visa/USCIS side of things. So we still have a long road ahead of us. But right now we are one step closer!! And that is something to smile about!!

Thank you everyone that has been praying for us!! Please continue to hold our family in your prayers so we can get these kiddos home!! Your prayers mean the world to us!! Thank you Thank you!!

 

Adoption Benefit Garage Sale Take 1

We held our first garage sale of the summer in an attempt to raise some of the needed funds for the adoption! We had been saving and collecting stuff for over a year in our storage building! We held this event on the day our town has there town wide sale and we had great success!!! We are currently in need of raising the remaining money for the adoption so with that being said we need to raise around $27,000 more dollars!  We decided to open the sale on Friday night for a few hours and we were very busy I think we brought in around $500 on Friday night being open from 4-8 we were very surprised!! The next day we were open from 7-3 and we sold lots! We had people coming and going the whole time!! It was a blessing to see that many people coming and taking a look at our junk! Kaden and a friend sold hot dogs  popcorn, pop and water and that was also a hit!! At the end of the sale we raised just over $1,600 to put towards the adoption! We were very pleased!! We are very lucky to have a garage to keep the stuff in and set up and we are planning our next garage sale for Memorial Day weekend Friday and Saturday! We are in need of more donations of stuff so if you have anything you would like to donate to our next sale we would gladly take it!! It can be anything from kitchen items, decorative items, clothing, toys, accessories, books, crafts, larger items we will take pretty much anything! So if you have some stuff you would like to get rid of please keep us in mind! We will come and pick it up!! 

A Glimpse

Glimpse / glimps/ 

Noun : A momentary or partial view: 

This is what we currently have of our kids life right now. A glimpse a momentary partial view. Watching them grow up in pictures. Wishing we could be there to watch them grow, love them and care for them. Getting new pictures of the kids from friends that traveled for a court date or a missionary team that traveled to work at the orphanage and love on the kids is priceless. It makes you happy and sad all at the same time. Seeing other people love on your kids brings a smile to your face and tears to your eyes all at the same time. Adoption is hard there is nothing easy about it. Its not for everyone and I completely understand that.  I will be honest with you some days I wonder if its really for me... But then I remember that god called us to adopt he called us to take care of his children and when I remember those things I know that if god called us to do this he will see us through it.  Through the good the bad the ugly and all of the hard time but he will also see us through the beautiful times. 

Friends we have 14 days left for our file to be submitted into IBESR. We missed the last cut off back in September but god graciously allowed for another deadline. This deadline is November 3rd. Our file needs to be accepted into IBESR before this date. We had a paper that we had to update here in the states and then send to Haiti . That paper is now in Haiti and we are ready to be submitted.  So we are asking you to please pray for our adoption. Pray that they will accept us even though we don't meet the current Haitian age adoption law and we can move forward with the adoption process. Pray that this happens so we can hopefully very soon stop living our lives with a glimpse of these 3 precious children

Amazingly enough I have remained pretty calm these past few weeks since we didn't make the Sept 15th cut off. I have been at peace with all of this even when we weren't sure if the extension would be granted. I keep thinking of one of my favorite verses.... Psalm 46:10 be still and know that I am god

I always find comfort in this verse. We know this is his plan and we continue to trust him. 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you declares the lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

God love us and he loves our kids.... Please keep believing and agreeing with us! 

We want so much more than just a glimpse of these 3 precious kiddos life's!  

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support. It really means the world to us! 

We are just along for the ride

 

We are just along for the ride....... Sometimes we go up and sometimes we go down down down... When one door closes another door opens.....

Jeremiah 26:14 As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right.

 

 

Pretty much for the past month and a half we have felt stuck in this elevator. Stuck, claustrophobic, trapped, not able to breath... One minute we are going up and the next we are heading back down. Truthfully we are ready to get off I am not a huge fan of elevators we are ready to be on some solid ground where we know more what is going on....

 

Adoption

~that is exactly what I am talking about... As many of you know we have been trying to get our dossier along with the kids dossier submitted before a deadline set by the Haitian Govt. That deadline was September 15th

 

~We found out on Friday Sept 14th that our attorney had our kids paperwork but we also found out on Friday that we did not get submitted with the September 15th Deadline.

 

~We then found out on Saturday Sept 15th  that an extension had been granted and our attorney would have 2 more weeks to submit dossiers

 

~ We found out on Monday Sept 17th that IBESR was not taking new dossiers and there was no extension

 

~ We found out Tuesday Sept 18th  that there was an extension

 

~ We found out Wednesday Sept 19th that there was no extension then that there was an extension and then there was no extension...

 

~ And Today Sept 20th we have been given the official word that there is NO extension IBESR is currently closed and they will not be taking new dossiers.

 

So now you might understand why we feel as we are stuck in an elevator and we just keep going up and down. Emotions are high but we will not be shaken. It is our understanding that it is possible that IBESR will start accepting dossiers on October 1st for a short grace period. It is also our understanding that next week, there is a meeting (Tuesday 25th) about the new procedures with IBESR. Hopefully after this meeting it will be clear as to what process will be in place for depositing dossiers on October 1st. 

 

Our heart hurts but we are also at peace and have a since of calmness... We know that HE alone is able and we are going to rest in that. This afternoon when I was thinking about all of this I heard a whisper saying to me Be still my child and know that I am GOD... We know god has already moved so many mountains for this adoptions and we are certain that he isn't done!

 

No worrying here... Its not aloud!

Philippians 4:6-7  Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

 

How can you help.....

~Continue to pray for our adoption

~Pray for Juvens, Sophia and Derline

~Pray for the meeting on the 25th or meeting next week its Haiti and things seem to change at the drop of a hat!

~Pray for those that have the power to make the final decision on this grace period pray that there hearts would be softened and they would allow this to happen

~Pray that IBESR does reopen October 1st for a grace period and we will then get in

~ Pray for our hearts as we are stuck in this elevator a little longer!

 

We believe in the power of prayer the bible tells us in Matthew 18:19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

 

We are thankful for each and every one of you that are praying for our adoption and our family. Words can not express how thankful we are! Keep praying because I can honestly say we know its working!!

 

This is the week.....

Its really going to be a long week my friends....

This is the week….. Our file must enter IBESR by the 

15th we are asking that everyone please pray with us. 

If our file does not enter we are not sure what will 

happen.. IBESR is closing and we aren't sure when 

they will reopen and when they do it will be with all 

new regulations as they are switching to Hague.Pray 

that the last documents will be received for the 

children’s part of the dossier pray that the file will be 

turned over to the attorney and she can then prepare 

it for IBESR and pray that we get accepted into 

IBESR this week. We do not meet the current age 

law for Haitian Adoptions however we do have a 

letter from our doctor saying it is not safe to have 

more children. God is so much bigger than this my 

friends and we ask that you 

please join us in prayer. 

We have already seen him move so many mountains 

during this adoption. We know this mountain is 

nothing to God! Believing Mark11: 23 Truly I tell you, 

whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and 

thrown into the sea! And does not doubt at all in his 

heart but believes that what he says will take place, it 

will be done for him.

We know what god has spoke to our hearts.... We 

know that these 3 children came into our lives at 3 

different times and only god could do that... You see 

if you would have said in the beginning how about 

you adopt these 3 kids I would have said no.. I am 

not adopting 3 kids... But God knew... We believe 

that these children our meant to be in our family and 

we believe that god will bring them home! 

Please pray with us this week!! 

Checkmate....Not So Fast... The King Has Another Move!

The King Has Another Move!

What a wonderful church service we had today.... We needed to hear this exact thing! I love when god does that!! Gives us just what we need..... Go God!! So I came home and searched forr the story and this is what I have found... I wanted to share it because I really thought it was powerful!

So I have found this story has been told by Christian speakers for a long time..... and here I find myself sharing it with all of you tonight...

Two men are standing in front of a painting called Checkmate in an art gallery. In the painting, a man is playing chess with the devil. The devil is grinning ear-to-ear because he has the man cornered. The title of the painting, Checkmate, indicates that the game is over. The devilhas won. His opponent has no more moves.

The first man looking at the painting wants to move on to other paintings in the gallery. But the second man, an international chesschampion, wants to look at the painting longer, so he waves his friend on and tells him he will catch up later. The chess champion stares and stares at the chess board, then suddenly he steps back, flabbergasted."It's wrong!" he exclaims. "There's one more move." He runs to his friend and together they look at the painting. "We have to contact the painter," the chess champion says. "It's not checkmate. The king has one more move."

When you look at Scripture, you will see that all through history, the devil has had God's people in what seemed like "checkmate." But God had another move.

In Exodus 14, with the Egyptians relentlessly chasing them, the Israelites, finally released to journey to the Promised Land, came to the shores of the Red Sea. They could see the dust from approaching Egyptian chariots on the horizon and hear the war cries of their pursuers. They had nowhere to turn. Their families would be killed;their possessions would be taken. Checkmate, right?

The King had another move. God says to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground" (Exodus 14:15-16). We know the rest of the story. The Israelites get to the other side; the Egyptians drown when God closes the water alley.

In 1 Samuel 17, the Israelites and their leader, Saul, were terrified.The nine-foot-tall Philistine giant, Goliath, was taunting them and making fun of their God. The Israelites were in checkmate.

But the King had one more move. An insignificant little boy too small to fit into Saul's armor knocked off Goliath and delivered the Israelites. David, who knew a thing or two about being in checkmate,shows his deep faith when he says, "The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear with will rescue me from this Philistine!" (1 Samuel 17:37).

In Daniel 6:1-28, King Darius threw Daniel into a lions' den because Daniel ignored t he new law to pray to King Darius and instead prayed toGod. In imagery reminiscent of the tomb of Jesus, a stone was rolled over the mouth of the lions' den and Daniel was left to be torn apart.You can't get much more "checkmate" than that situation!

But the King had another move. He sends an angel to close the lions'mouths. When King Darius finds Daniel safe, he says: "I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end" (Daniel7:26).

Perhaps you feel like you are in checkmate in your life. You are indebt. You've lost your job. Your marriage is in trouble. Someone you love is dying. You have an addiction that is eating you with shame.

Whatever your situation, you have to remember that God always has another move in your life. He can get you out of whatever you're in. He raised his own Son from death! Pray to Him. His love for you is unconditional, and he never turns his back on you. You have another move.

Even if your pain keeps you from finding the words to pray, the Holy Spirit will pray for you. Paul says in Romans 8:26: "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."

When it seems as if you can't move and your mountain you are facing is just to big and everything hurts and  you feel like giving up.....REMEMBER
 The King always has another move!

That's What I Heard

You've got this Karena…..

You can do this….

It is time

Those words… That’s exactly what I heard. On Friday morning July 13^th 2012 I was in my car and I was headed to Indianapolis to visit the secretary of state’s office. You see I had ordered the wrong birth certificates for our dossier. I didn’t realize they were wrong until I was putting everything together… A few weeks before vacation we learned that our dossier needed to be in Haiti by July 15^th that was the deadline being set by our agency. I thought to myself I can do that no problem… Most of our stuff had been translated already and I just had a few things to finish up… Well not exactly I needed to make some more changes to our home study I needed to rewrite out IBESR letter and I needed to get a letter from my OBGYN stating the pregnancy complications I had with both the boys. So I got started on things right away. The person we were going to use for translations ended up not able to help us so I was searching for someone. I luckily found a wonderful lady on o desk and she did all my translations. I sent her everything and found out the translations that had been done by the agency in Texas weren’t that great and needed a little help! So she translated everything for us!! She was super-fast and did our entire dossier the week I was in Florida. While in Florida I learned that our birth certificates were wrong! At this point I thought there was no way we would make the deadline we needed to make. I went ahead and ordered our new state birth certificates from Vital Check.com and paid the extra for faster delivery. At this point there really wasn’t anything left I could do.. So we tried to have a good time but in the back of my mind was the thought of not making the deadline! We can home and I had to verify identification with vital check and wait wait wait for our birth certificates… We got everything else finished up and were just waiting on these birth certificates. The birth certificates arrived on Thursday afternoon! Thankfully the UPS guy knows us and he took them to my mom’s next door because they required a signature! So I immediately called down to Indy and found out the Secretary of State opened at 9am and if I was there first thing they could have them done in about 5 minutes so ok… We then called the consulate in Chicago and made an appointment with them at 1:30pm eastern time. So this means I needed to leave my house by 7am to get to Indy which is 90 miles south of my house get my authentications then head back home pick up Zach and head 90 north of my house to Chicago… from the point when I got to Indy I had about 4 hours left to get my authentications and then drive the 3+ hours to Chicago… Not leaving much time for error!

As I set off on my early morning trip to Indy I really wasn’t sure if this was all going to happen.. There was so much that could go wrong I honestly just didn’t know but we were going to give it a chance! I had just gone through Lebanon through all the road construction and then I heard these 11 words… It was like nothing I had ever experienced.

You’ve got this Karena

You can do this

It is time

It took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on… I truly feel it was god speaking to me. A huge since of relief came over me and I said to myself yes I can do this! I remember smiling thinking YES It Is Time!

Well I made it to Indy, couldn’t find a place to park got lost in the huge State building but remained calm. Found the secretary of state’s office got my authentications and then I was on my way! I made it home by 11 and we had 2.5 hours to make it to Chicago… not just Chicago but down town Chicago… Well we made that to with about 20 minutes to spare!! Traffic was crazy and we made it to Chicago right in the middle of the taste of Chicago! I honestly didn’t think our Expedition EL was going to fit in the parking garage but quickly learned that our vehicle is not an oversized vehicle!! Miss BeauBouff at the Haitian Consulate was wonderful! I love Haitian people!! She was truly a breath of fresh air! She told us she would do it quick for us so we just waited.. Took about 30 minutes and she was done!! Done our dossier was finally ready to go to Haiti. We drove home made copies and I was then ready to hand deliver it on Saturday morning the 14^th of July!

You see up until this point Friday the 13th of July 2012 something has always happened with our dossier / beginning process and we haven't be able to complete it! This was a huge victory for us! We have had to change home study agencies, change adoption agencies, rewrite our home study, make changes to things in our dossier, and get everything translated again… You name it there has been hurdle after hurdle to jump honestly I could probably start jumping them with my eyes closed! But the true joy has been the outcome of all those hurdles. Sure it felt like the end of the world when bad things happened but our god has never let us down. The outcome of these hurdles has always been better than we could ever imagine! I remember asking for prayer after we had learned of a really high hurdle we needed to jump... I ask for prayer on facebook didn't give a lot of details still won't give a lot of details.... I was simply asking for doors to be opened.. We had decided we were going to knock and knock and knock until the right door opened! Well friends I didn't even know this verse existed and the very next morning I got this email from a blog I follow and here was this verse! Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."  Matthew 7:7-8 ~ Go God what a verse to restore my faith!! The truth is doors had already started to open that very night that I ask for prayers for doors to be opened I heard back from 3 different people all with a different door for us to knock on!! Wow Baby as Pastor Ted would say!! 

He has “truly” made everything beautiful in HIS time ~ Ecclesiastes3:11

Our HOPE is in HIM ~ we fully 100% trust in the lord and what his plans are for us.. Sure sometimes crazy talk gets to us but we just have to remind ourselves that our hope is in him! People are always asking us when the kids are coming home and it stinks when they ask us that question! In fact most times I want to scream when I know something you will know something! But I bite my tongue and smile and say no we don't know anything! Our hope is in him and we TRUST that HIS timing is perfect just like us finishing our dossier it was perfect and god made it beautiful in HIS time!

Currently our dossier is in Haiti it went on Monday July 15^th with our agency. It going through Pre IBESR steps now and then will be ready to meet up with the kids dossiers and start the rest of the process. We still have a long ways to go and we have no idea how long it will take.

Right now we are just celebrating the huge victory of getting our dossier to Haiti!!

 Praise be to god!!

For now the real waiting begins.. We now don’t have any “busy” work to do our dossier is complete and in a since we are now officially in the second stage of this pregnancy the "waiting stage" before our dossier was done we were "paper pregnant" we have now delivered the dossier so now we move to "waiting stage" and begin to wait on the process in Haiti. I will be honest with you it stinks we know who our kids are we have seen their faces, we have held them and kissed them and we LOVE them! We love them just as much as we love our biological boys but they just aren’t currently living with us in our home! They live in our hearts!! We can not wait for the "delivery" Their bedrooms are ready and we are ready for them. But we also know that god doesn't think we are ready just yet! Some days I would love to argue with him but I know my arguing won’t do me any good! We know in gods time he will make all of this beautiful.. He has already made so much beauty come out of this… More than we could have ever imagined! If you knew me a year ago you would of known that we had never flown or left the country.. Well over the course of this year we have been on 16 flights and to Haiti 4 times! Wow I would have never guesses that! We also went to Haiti a year ago to meet our one daughter and we now have two daughters in Haiti and one son in Haiti! The way they each individually came into our life was a total god thing! I would have never imagined it that way or planned it that way.. But it was perfect! A year ago we weren't regular church goers... We were lucky to go once a month I really hate to admitt that now! But now through adoption we have needed god so much we have wanted to seek him and we have found ourselves in a new wonderful church! It honestly feels like we have been there for ever!  We couldn't be happier and when we miss a sunday we really do miss a sunday we feel it in our hearts we see the difference our week has with church or with out church... You see I like plans I like things to go a certain way. Boy oh boy god is teaching me something with all of this! We have made new friends no not just friends we have made new family members all of the other adoptive parents  and children we have come to love! We have seen the beauty of a country that is broken and we have conquered fears! We are excited to see what else god has in store for us on this wild adoption roller coaster ride and we will continue to trust and follow him.



I just want to close with a favorite saying in our house “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit” that’s in the bible you know.. it is one of my kids favorite verses! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us  Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

So we will continue down this adoption road and we will take whatever comes our way and we aren't going to throw a fit! For we know this is god's will for us in Christ Jesus..

Everyday Holds The Possibility Of A Miracle 

Dossier all Stamped and ready to go to Haiti 

3 amazing kiddos waiting on us in Haiti!