Bits and Pieces

The roads, crazy driving, first meeting, balcony play, toddler house and Fort Jacques... Snippets of it all.

Enjoy... the music and footage.

Haiti Video Snippets!

Turn the sound up! :-)

I did some very "unprofessional" editing of 2 videos, so that you could share some of our memories with us:

1) Our first meeting with Samuel Chancelet
2) Video of Port au Prince (when we first arrived)

Enjoy the amateur work! :-)

First Meeting Video



Port au Prince Video

GLA Adoptive Parents... Please Read

To all of our fellow GLA adoptive parents out there, please read Dixie’s latest adoption update: http://www.glahaiti.org/adoption_news

Let’s get moving on letters and pictures!

Reflection on Haiti

I think everyone should take a trip like this… You always hear these are “life changing experiences.” I have been to some rough places in Mexico & Brazil, but wasn’t as involved with the people as I was in Haiti (even in the short time I was there.) I am sure Joe will come back with so much more…

Some key learnings/thoughts from me:

• We are wasteful in the USA… I knew this, but it was just another reminder for me to not take things for granted.
• Mosquito’s don’t like me (I must have bad blood) – fine by me!
• I loved being around the people at GLA and the volunteers... being around other people who love God and have big, big hearts makes me a better person.
• I need to appreciate my hot showers whenever I take them…
• I didn’t get sick (knock on wood) though many others in the guest house did… I was taking chewable Pepto-Bismol 2 times a day, the whole time I was there, so maybe that helped? As one GLA parent stated: “not sure what bacteria can live in the pink stuff!” J
• I have made some good friends (other parents) through this whole process... that is an element I wasn't expecting when we started down this adoption path.
• Simplify: why do we need so much stuff? Why can’t we use items up until they break, before getting new things?
• I want to learn French and/or Creole… and I want SC to learn it too, so he can go back/give back to Haiti and know the language if he chooses.
• Go back to Haiti – volunteer in some capacity from here on out. I don’t have to move there to have an impact, I can help from where I am in Portland. I am always searching for that “life defining” choice… but I realize sometimes I can help more from the position I am in here. So that means give: financially, in prayer, volunteering, etc…
• I hate taking baths with wet wipes… Truth be told: I am not a “girly-girl,” I just wanted our “first” pictures to come out good and I felt greasy & ugly! :-)
• Prayer matters - and we are blessed to have family & friends surrounding us with prayer through this adoption. Thanks to each of you!
• I am now addicted to hand-sanitizer!
• I realized I didn’t care that Samuel had the sniffles, coughs and crud – I still kissed, touched and loved him! Does that make me a real mom?
• I have never experienced roads like those in the mountains of Haiti… there are no words to describe those trips!
• Haitian art is beautiful; I wanted to buy it all! Okay, maybe not the abstract naked pictures, but most everything else! J
• Fort Jacques is beautiful & quiet. We all need to figure out how to raise money to help enable Dixie to start building up there; the kids need to be raised there.
• Joe and I did well together as parents; we made a good team. So it was good to get a taste of that (some sort of reassurance there.) J
• I love my son… He is ours and we felt it that first moment we held him. He is a good kid and I can’t wait to watch him grow up.

Video Snippets!

The Toddler House (precious!)

Fun in the Swing!

Giggles with Dad!

Pictures of GLA/Haiti

Catching Up A Bit...

Here are a few additional pictures from my mega file of Samuel Chancelet photos... there are a lot of them from this trip! :-) Thought I would share a few more.

GLA is a good place for these kids in Haiti... The staff are so dedicated and they are truly in this for the right reasons. It was good to witness this in person, and we both feel really blessed to have had that opportunity. We were with some wonderful volunteers, which made it that much better as well.

But... I want this little guy home and I pray for each of us going through this process that Haiti starts to open up and move things along...

Joe will be doing a combination of volunteer activities: working on English with an older girl in the toddler house, working up at Fort Jaques and probably some painting. They definitely have plans for him! :-) I will keep you posted as I hear from him...

Love to all,

Jill

At the Airport

James just drove Joe and I to the airport, and it was wonderful as Joe was able to go part of the way into the terminal with me... We had some escorts who whisked us through the first checkpoint, so that was nice!

I am now waiting at the gate, feeling rather alone without "my family.". And it was hard as it is Joe's b-day. :-(

We said our good-byes to the family volunteers (Dan, Cindy, Todd and Margie.) Then Joyce was so nice as she came to the guest house at 7:45 this morning to get us so that we could have an hour to spend with SC before we had to leave. It was special time as it was just the 3 of us on the balcony (others were at Bible study.) We snuggled, played, video-taped and snapped pics... (I won't be able to get those posted until Joe returns, as he kept the camera.)

So, here I sit... What a wonderful few days here in Haiti... It's so hard to leave but I can feel your prayers lifting me up - thank you so much!

Exhausting, emotional, wonderful and overwhelming...

Prayer Matters! Out of IBESR

I am overwhelmed with joy... These past couple of days have been right up there at the top of the list for "best life moments." And they just got better!

We were sitting on the sofa with Samuel Chancelet, visiting with some volunteers... when Stephanie walked up behind us and looked at Joe and I and said: "I have some good news for you two." She said she had just received 2 files in today, and one of them was ours; she then said:

"YOU ARE OUT OF IBESR"

I about had a heart attack... I jumped up and hugged her! Wow... I was estimating Oct/Nov time frame (as I am trying to be a pessimist.) We were in exactly 3 months!!! So it's now on to Parquet!

Thank you for your prayers... thank you so much.

Trip To Kenscoff

Here are a few more from the trip up to Kenscoff this afternoon. I can now understand better why this process is slow and not a priority. The picture of me and Samuel is at the judges house. He showed up, but then had to leave for the police station, so we sat in a room in his house with the "other judge" who took some pictures, and had us sign a blank piece of paper, with no other details around it?! Hmm... No idea how all of these steps/actions actually connect from one to the next, but as long as Haiti knows what they are doing, then we will trust in that!

It did feel strange though - just driving a baby to a house in the mountains, walking into a room with a desk, some un-organized papers and a manual type-writer. Oh and a motorcycle with auto parts... :-)

Afternoon Internet

The internet is sketchy at best, so I haven't been able to use it to send pictures... I will give this a try now that is seems to be up and running.

We have done so much in the time we have been here - it's amazing to think tomorrow is Friday and I have to leave (my heart is breaking right now...) But I am trying to focus on the positive and enjoy my time with Samuel as much as possible today.

We had lunch after we returned from the judges house and have been hanging out with the little guy since... He is such a good baby and we have been on some tough journey's to test that!

I am posting some shots of some children for my friends out there! Cathleen, I am on a hunt for Anri!!! He hasn't been on the balcony with us yet...

Love to all for your prayers and well-wishes. We are so thankful for each of you!

Looking thru the Book!

Another Roadtrip

We are headed into Kenscoff to see a judge. This judge has decided he wants to see the family with their baby, confirming they want it. The law doesn't necessarily require this, so Dixie is frustrated. But thought we may as well visit him while we are here. Fine by us, as Samuel gets to come with.

Heidi, I found Trey Amos and snapped a pic, Jaime I found one of the twins... Will work on some more this afternoon! :-).

More later after this crazy trip...! James is a good driver, but wild! :-). Samuel Chancelet just closed his eyes, so I guess he isn't bothered!

My Cow!

I had to give this cow some attention... cows are my favorite.

This was taken at Fort Jacques... the new orphanage site.

Trip to the Consulate

On my lap... For the wild ride!

Swinging on the Balcony!

Ft. Jaques - New GLA Site

Up at Fort Jaques - wow, this is impressive up here!! Beautiful!

Joe and His Son!

My Little Guy!

Oh how I love this cutie!

I-600 Interview - DONE!

We made it for our I-600 interview at the consulate... and all is now said and done (thankfully so, after all the angst of a couple weeks ago!)

And... the BEST PART was that we got to take Samuel Chancelet with us to Port au Prince!!! So we spent all day with him in our arms. Because he was an orphan, they were able to take care of his paperwork at the same time as ours (vs. having to do an interview later on with his birth parents.) So GLA decided to just have us take him to town with us. That was a true blessing as it was really special just to hang out with him.

He isn't fussy whatsoever and was so good the whole day (even when he got a bit sleepy.) He has a bit of a cough though, so he wasn't feeling great, but even with that, he was a perfect little baby. We haven't heard him cry yet. The road to Port au Prince is awful (scary, bumpy, crazy, etc...) so it was a long journey there and back.

The interview itself went fine; the line was short and it probably took us 30 minutes or so. They told us all the paperwork was good and there was enough evidence to declare him an orphan, with no parents. So that should help us with the US side at the very end of the adoption process.

It was odd to just have this baby handed to us and we were expected to "be parents" -- just like that! :-) I know that sounds funny, but I think most of you will understand what I mean.

I wish I could post some more pics, but can only do so with low resolution from the Blackberry, so will post a couple here and there.

Our First Family Picture!

A Few Thoughts

I have been trying to post a couple of pics via the Blackberry, but it doesn't seem to want to cooperate, so at a minimum I wanted to write... (I will keep trying on the pics though!)

Thanks to each of you who has sent comments and well-wishes! They are getting us through and we can feel the love and prayers!

I didn't sleep great last night - just thinking about everything and just being in a different bed/place, etc. was tough. We sat out on the guest house balcony until around 10pm last night talking with 2 other couples who are volunteering (they have both adopted from GLA in the past.). Nice to chat with them.

Our I-600 appt is today in Port au Prince at 11am. So we will see how that goes. It takes awhile to get down the mountain.

We enjoyed dinner with the group last night - huge group here right now! I think around 30. Then we played with Samuel Chancelet for awhile until heading back to the guest house. He is just so precious! We also enjoyed talking with the volunteers on the balcony yesterday afternoon - nice group of people for sure... Mostly college age who have really enjoyed this experience at GLA.

We are showering "baby-wipe" style today (fun times!). :-). I hear coffee/breakfast being made right now, so will head out there soon, and then go down to the main house to get our paperwork ready to go.

Please say prayers for our I-600 meeting today, that we don't get sick and that this adoption process speeds up (we need him home!)

Wow...

We have met our son! We were able to spend about 3 hours with him, just hanging out with the other volunteers... Wow, he is the best!!! He cuddles, plays and is just the cutest little guy! He is so special!!! I am one happy mom right now! :-)

Jaime (his last volunteer) left us the nicest letter about him and we are looking forward to keeping in touch as she lives in Portland too.

Trying to send a pic, but its not going through. :-(

I am the happiest person right now!

More later,
Jill

Landed in Haiti...

Trying to get off the plane - a slow process. They made us check our bags, which was frustrating. :-(

But we are here! My stomach is doing flip-flops...

Made it to Miami...

And it's time for another coffee! We slept a bit on the short jump down, but we are still a bit tired. Also this is the last STBX for awhile (especially for Joe!)

More later...

Tampa - Arrived.

We made it to the Tampa airport, got the car turned in, printed boarding passes and went through security with pretty much no hang-ups thus far... That's a good sign in my travel book.

AND there was even a Starbucks waiting for us on near our gate, which, as most of you know - made our morning! :-)

So, consider things good!
Jill

And They're Off!

We are headed to the airport; off to start our Florida/Haiti adventure! Follow us on our travel blog until we get to Haiti (when we then have adoption relevant material):

http://wilkinstravels.blogspot.com/


Cheers!
Jill (and Joe)

Haiti Trip... Emotions Evoked

I am anxious about this trip.

This however is not driven out of worry regarding safety, weather, getting sick or other things one should probably be concerned about when traveling to Haiti. I actually look forward to the travel itself, as I love to travel. I love to experience new places and expand upon my exposure to the world. I don’t get apprehensive about travel; I have traveled a lot (mostly for work) and I have always been extremely grateful for my experiences.

This trip though – it is different, and I am nervous (maybe even a little scared.)

I am meeting my son for the first time. I don’t know what that feels like. I am afraid of his reaction; afraid of my reaction. I don’t know how to reconcile my feelings on this subject, but the closer the date comes, I have noticed my fears coming to the forefront of my mind. I have played that “first meeting scene” over and over in my mind. I have data points via videos and descriptions of what it is like, so I have pieced together my own scenario. All the adoptive parents I correspond with have nothing but good things to say about this experience, so I should be looking at this as being all upside. I know this.

I am afraid of leaving Haiti. That day is going to be so hard for me emotionally. I normally keep my feelings well-hidden, but I know on this day I am going to be in complete disarray. I am going back without my son (the one I just met.) The thought makes me sad and I don’t look forward to it.

And then… we wait at home for another 6 months, 12 months, 18 months… however long it will take until this adoption is finalized. Waiting… This next year is going to be so hard. We are missing so important moments and interactions in his life and sometimes I get weighed down thinking about it. The red tape of all this makes no sense when it is keeping families apart, and keeping the orphanages from taking in new little ones.

However, I don’t take this opportunity to meet Samuel Chancelet for granted. I would not trade it for the world and I know I should be rejoicing in the fact that I get to meet my son! I am just anxious. This whole process is just crazy - when I think of how long I haven’t had a kid (or been able to) and now all of a sudden we are about to meet our 1-year old son in Haiti...

I pray God will give us strength to learn & grow - and that this experience will give us strength to get through the next year + of waiting.

Haiti Appointment Scheduled!

I was running my staff meeting when I saw this email from our Bethany rep pop into my inbox... I breathed a loud sigh of relief! Now we can go to Haiti feeling like things are lined up...

Joe and Jill,

GREAT news for you! GLA has received notice from USCIS in Haiti that an appointment has been scheduled for next week for you to file their I-600. The paperwork is all in order!

Have a fabulous trip!

Relevant

• And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. (Matthew 18:5)
• Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. (Isaiah 1:17)
• Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. (Proverbs 31:8-9)
• Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families. (Psalms 68:5-6)
• You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. (Psalms 10:14,17-18)

Webcam Session #3 - Worth the Wait and Paperwork Red Tape

We just had our 3rd web cam session with the kiddo. This one is worth watching, as he was so animated and chatty!

He had a great volunteer with him (who has been with him the past 3 weeks.) AND the best part was that she is from Portland! So she will be able to see him again... she was really excited about that. She was showing Samuel Chancelet the book my mom had made, where is showed a picture of Portland "your new home" and she said "hey... they live where I live!" :-)

Key Information:

• We found out that he isn't a "handful" (my worry lately by that "sparkle" in his eyes!) but instead the volunteers all love him. She said every extra minute she has, she wants to spend it with him, so that just made my heart melt!
• She has been giving him a bath every day, and he loves them.
• She was been working on his walking - he has taken 4 steps now.
• They have been giving him extra snacks to help him gain some weight!

Enjoy... We certainly feel like the luckiest parents in the world right now! And we get to meet him in just 10 days!

The Video Snippet

A Few Screenshots

Just In... Good News (make that Great News!)

We just received this email from the senator’s office; my blood pressure is now officially starting to work its way down!

Hello Jill and Joe,

Good news! I have received confirmed with the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince that they have your I-171H there. At this point they are waiting for you to file your I-600 to complete the process. This can be done at the USCIS office in Port-au-Prince or at the USCIS field office in Yakima, WA that processes adoption petitions for our area. Please see the information below from the Port-au-Prince Embassy’s website that has some recommendations about I-600s.

I believe things should be taken care of at this point, but please let me know if there are still problems or if you have any additional questions.

Take care,

Constituent Services Representative, Office
of U.S. Senator

Thankful for Sound Advice

A fellow adoptive parent (who is also the only other one I know from Oregon, adopting from Haiti/GLA too) just sent me the soundest advice. She just went through the exact same paperwork issue we did (maybe it’s just an Oregon thing?!) At any rate, here are her words:

My advice (if you’re interested) is to assume it's been done - get excited, pack, pray, and live in that place. Worse case scenario, you get there and don't have an appointment. You've still met him for visa purposes, got to hold, love on, and bond with him, and gosh darn it- you'll just have to go again for the I-600. Or file it the 'old fashioned way'. But more than likely - you'll get to file the I-600.

I'm so excited for you - trust me that the moment you hold him- all of this stress will fade away, and you'd do it all again without a second thought just to be there with him.

Thanks Anita… I am listening! J I think God was using you to have a little “chill” session with me!

Thanks also to all of you who have sent the kindest thoughts and who are praying alongside of us right now. I have no new information today, so I guess we are just going to have to roll-with-it for now…

A Bit Of Sunshine!

I really needed a distraction from my frustrations… and look what I got?!

I just got an email from Cathleen (GLA adoptive parent who is quickly turning into my beloved sounding board.) She shared with me that there were some newly posted pictures of Samuel Chancelet! So, while it doesn’t solve all the paperwork woes, it gave me something to smile about today… :-)

"AUTO RESPONSE"

To those of you who are tracking our situation and saying prayers for us (thank you!) Here is what has transpired thus far today:

• The NVS won’t help us without a case number (Cathleen helped me realize this seems to be our missing link.) We have called and emailed (the email doesn't work - see the automated war & peace novel response below.) Nice, huh?
• Our senator’s office wrote back and said they would be happy to contact the embassy in Haiti to see if they have our I-171H. They said they would email when they got any news.
• Our Bethany Rep just emailed and said:
  “Dixie just tried to call to USCIS in Haiti, and found out the lady who she needs to speak to is out of the office until Monday. This is the only employee who handles the USCIS orphan investigations, and so unfortunately, no one else will give Dixie this information. Dixie is feeling quite confident, though, that if NVC says they sent the approval on to Haiti, that it will be there. She has had the same thing happen with a couple of other families, recently, and the approvals were sent. So, Dixie is not too concerned.”
  
  -----Original Message-----
  From: NVC Inquiry
  Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 1:19 PM
  To: Wilkins, Jill
  Subject: AUTO RESPONSE
  
  PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION
  
  Please be advised that, as of April 4th, 2008, we are now required to verify case specific information each time we receive an inquiry.
  
  According to U.S. law, the National Visa Center is only permitted to discuss details of a visa case with authorized representatives and when provided with all of the following information:
  
  * NVC case number or CIS receipt number
  * Petitioner's name and date of birth
  * Beneficiary's name and date of birth
  * Your full name
  
  Please do not respond to this inquiry.
  
  Thank you, National Visa Center
  

So Frustrated...

Okay... trying to take some deep breaths. Trying to move from cynicism to allowing God to take over. I struggle in times like this because if we don't actively work the issues, God isn't going to swoop down and do it for us. There are things that we have to take on and search out in order to problem solve. And we have been hit with problems today.

So as you may have guessed, I had a rough day. Joe and I went on a walk when I got home from work so that I could just blow off some steam (the treadmill would have been better but I didn't have that much energy left in me.) I told him I didn't know how on earth I was supposed to get through another year+ of this adoption drama. And he felt it too today being on the phone with case workers, doctors, senator assistants, etc... It just always seems like we are missing puzzle pieces and things turn out to be 11th hour nightmares (things that easily could have been avoided had we had more info.)

And again - it doesn't do any good to point fingers... water under the bridge. All I care about right now is hearing the words "the embassy in Haiti has your I-171H paperwork and you are good to go."

And now we find out that we have to fork over $500 for immunization's on Thursday (again, 11th hour nightmare.) The insurance covers Hep A & Tetanus, but not Hep B or Typhoid, and the doctor tells us that we will have to file the insurance claim ourselves... I ask: "why can't they handle it like every other doctor visit and bill them for us?" I can see the storm this creates down the road with convincing the insurance that they should pay this bill. So now we are now both wondering if it's worth the hassle.

We have tried so hard to follow every guideline, process and tip. Where did we mess up here?

And as I type, Joe is watching some Discovery Channel program about finger-printing technology. Don't even get me started! I am again, so frustrated by the process and red tape we are going through. Again, the whole "criminals have it easy" applies right now. We are good people, with good intentions. We just want a family... We are tired of being just "Joe and Jill." We are tired of being dubbed "selfish" when people don't know our story. I am tired of having "unexplained infertility." We just want to bring our son home from Haiti.

I am not a drama queen... but today, I feel like one.

Some Prayer Needed

Apparently we still don't have confirmation that our I-171H paperwork is at the embassy in Haiti. To be honest, I still don't know what we missed here - I have been looking back and don't know who is responsible for getting the paperwork from the NVS to the Haiti Embassy?

Also, we completley missed reading about the immunizations we "should" have taken care of before heading on the trip (thanks to Cathleen for making me aware, and Anita for verifying!)

We are now down to 7 days to go before our trip to Florida (then onto Haiti from there) and dealing with this stuff. I have a big customer crisis going on at work today so I was already stressed out by that... and then we got hit with this.

Here is what I just got from our Bethany rep:

I understand your frustrations and I am working with the Haiti Team to try and get a quick confirmation from GLA. Dixie has emailed the USCIS in Haiti and is waiting on them. The Haiti Team sent a message to Dixie again just to check to see if she had heard yet. USCIS usually responds to her right away when she sends something their way.

Appreciate your prayers that this gets resolved. :-(
I am trying to give this one to God.

The Outfit

I was enjoying a roam through some GLA pictures on-line yesterday and had to giggle. It seems this cheery little outfit has been worn by many GLA cuties!

I guess the thing that stands out to me is that Chancelet actually wore this outfit for both the January Update & the June Update! He is so little (he has been in the 14-15 lb range for months... He will be 14 months in a couple of days.)

Seattle Escape

We had a nice "escape" weekend to Seattle: http://wilkinstravels.blogspot.com/

Birthday Tree

We had intended to get this Magnolia tree planted on Chancelet's actual birthday... but better late than never.

So here is his "First Year Birthday Tree." We figured since we weren't able to celebrate it with him, we would plant a tree for him and they both can grow up together. :-)