Missing them...

This is the latest picture we received of the girls.  Someone who is a photographer from the US went to visit the orphanage to use his talents to bless the people there.  He took this picture of our girls.  I so appreciated getting it but at the same time, it is hard to get a picture but not really know what has been going on and how they are really doing.  Still no word on any progress with our file.

Kloe Shelda Archuleta

DOB: April 23, 2008

Kinna Sheldine Archuleta, 

DOB: April 23, 2008

Holding you for the first time...

It was January 21st, 2014 and it was dark.  Kelly, Koen, Kace and I had just landed in Port au Prince Haiti (Kiel was holding down the fort with Nana and Bumpy this time around)!  We got into a jeep and started driving along very bumpy roads, dodging people, animals and vehicles.  We had been waiting for this day since 2008 when we started taking steps towards our dream of adoption.  The heat was…..well….. heavy.  My heart was…..well……beating fast.  The 45 minute drive felt like forever, and it felt surreal.  We pulled up to a gate and a kind young man (with some form of disability) opened it for us.  A large white concrete building stood there, and we knew that inside, were our daughters, Kinna Sheldine and Kloe Shelda.  There were kids running around in the dirt kicking a ball even though it was pitch black.  some goats were wandering around.  As we walked through the front doors there were two girls sitting quietly in a long hallway on little plastic chairs.  All we could see at first was their silhouettes. As we got closer I recognized their sweet faces from the pictures we had received.  I knelt down in front of them and Kelly did the same.  The boys leaned over trying to get as close as they could behind us.  Five feet away was a room filled with kids who were all trying to be quiet but were pushing to try to look out at us and see what was going on.  I reached out my hand and touched Kinna's hand.  The next moments all blended together as we each brought them close to us and held them.  Holding them tightly in my arms I rocked back and forth as the tears started streaming down my face.  I longed for my embrace to wash away every lonely day, every unjust event they had endured, every hunger pang that went unsatisfied- and yet I knew that it wouldn't- not yet, anyways.  They were very shy and looked at the floor a lot.  The boys were placing their hands on the girls arms and holding them up for "high fives".  Kelly was pointing to his nose and then touching their nose, pointing to his mouth and touching their mouth.  They cracked a smile for a brief moment.  Kloe put her little fingers on my fingers and played with my nails.  I snuggled my nose right into her ear and whispered, "Mwen renmen ou", (I  love you)- and I knew I really did!      

Learning their names....!!!!

We told the boys that we had a special family date night planned with a very special surprise!  It started out as every good date night should- with suckers :)

Then we climbed to the top of crescent hill....

where the boys would open their presents...

what happened next was so precious...

they saw their sisters for the first time!!!!   their instantaneous and absolute excitement blessed their parents hearts more than they will ever know!  For a split second these girls were strangers, and then the next second they were sisters- so beautiful!  

The questions and comments started flowing out...one after the other, with energy and anticipation...they were so excited to teach the girls english, and to learn words in their native language (Creole).  They talked about all the things they wanted to do with them, where they might sleep, what toys they might like to play with, all the things the boys wanted to show them and experience with them.  When can we bring them home to live with us?  I wonder what their personalities are like?  We shared with them what we had been told- that Kinna is outgoing and very active and Kloe is quieter and shy.  The dialogue continued, and then Koen reminded me about his prayer, when he was 3 years old: "We were driving in the van to visit Nana and I asked you if I could have a sister.  You said I would have to ask God.  So I did."  I heard him in the back of the van, having a conversation with God.  There was a long silence, but it wasn't just silence.  I knew that something was happening.  Then out of the blue, and very matter-of-factly, Koen said, "Mom, He said I could (have a sister that is)- but I didnt know I would get two!!"  

We tried to capture these moments with a family picture- this is what we got (although Kelly is very skilled with his one-handed backwards aim and shoot, his participants were anything but cooperative or focused on the task at hand):

So we got a passerby to snap one for us:

We trekked back down the hill and headed to Eau Claire market.  The boys didn't put their pictures down, vibrating with the fulfillment of a long awaited dream.  We decided that what better way to celebrate than, you said it, ICECREAM!

Then we shared with the boys, the meaning and significance of the girls names:

The names that the girls were given when they were born were Sheldine and Shelda.  We looked up the meaning, and the root of their names means "sheltered".  How cool- God is their Shelter!  It felt like reassurance from the Lord that we have been praying for these girls since before they were born and He has known who they are all along.  It is very significant and important for us to honor and maintain as much of their heritage as we can.  But it is also important for us that they know and feel like they belong in our family and in their new culture as well.  So we wanted to also give them names, to signify the new chapter in their lives and their identities as Archuleta's.  The names that we chose for the girls have very special meanings as well.  Kinna means "knowing".  She is intimately known by her Father and we trust she also will know Him deeply in her journey ahead.  Kloe means "blossoming".  We are believing that she will blossom into everything she was created to be in the shelter of her King, and she will radiate with the beauty of Christ.  So, while they are at the orphanage, they will be called Sheldine Kinna and Shelda Kloe.  When we bring them to Canada and they are familiar with their new names, we will move their current first names to become their middle names and just call them Kinna and Kloe.

Such precious girls!  We couldn't imagine greater gifts!  And now the wait really begins...waiting to hold them in our arms and cuddle them and smooch them to pieces.  

   

The Beginnings of our Adoption Journey- The Dream

So here I am, back in blogging action- inspired by exciting steps in our journey towards expanding our family, and desiring to capture some of it in writing (and share it with whoever will listen :)!  Let's take a brief step back in time...

October 2008- We felt united in our call as a family to pursue the dream of adoption and Kelly and I took the International Adoption course right around Thanksgiving weekend here in Calgary.

January 2009- Filled out application forms to begin the process in Canada.

July 2009- Embarked on an exciting opportunity as a family as we boarded a plane to experience life in another part of the world (the Cayman Islands).

October 2009- Began the process of applying to adopt from the Cayman Islands.

May 2010- Kelly and I went on a life-changing trip with our church (in Cayman) to Haiti.

July 2010- Returned to Calgary as we prepared for the arrival of our 3rd son.

February 2011- Kiel Asher Archuleta entered the world. He won the hearts of his brother's at first sight, and continues to keep us all enthralled with his every move!

September 2011- Began application process for international adoption again :)

January 2012- Completed our home study and made a new friend (our Social worker is so fantastic)!

April 2012- We received approval from the Alberta government to adopt from Haiti.

May 2012- Connected with another family in Alberta who were at the same stage of the adoption process as we were and began an amazing journey with them- it is such a blessing to have another family to walk with!

Summer 2012- Our dossier (a huge stack of very important papers that include police checks, medical checks, intervention checks, lab work, psychological evaluations, reference letters, financial stuff, home study document, pictures,  (and many more things as well) was completed- authenticated and legalized in Ottawa.

July and August- Spent the months trying to find an orphanage that fit the requirements of Alberta, our lawyer, and who would accept our application.  Came up against one road block after another.  We continued to pray and trust the Lord with what He had in store for us and our children (who we love to pieces even though we don't know who they are yet!)  Also during the summer month we learned that Haiti was in the process of re-structuring their whole adoption process and the county was closed to any new applications for the month of July.  After re-opening in August they were planning to close down again at the end of the month.  We weren't sure if we would be able to make the deadline.   

September 2012- Lots of phone calls, e-mails and research went into the last few months and all we came across were closed doors.  Then... we learned that Haiti had extended their deadline (not once, or twice, but 3 times).  We connected with a lady who was working with an orphanage in Haiti called Foyer de Sion and within a week, our dossier was on a plane to Haiti (Sept 27th)- hooray!!!

The orphanage that we are adopting from is Foyer de Sion  http://foyerdesion.org

Guesno and Majorie Mardy are the Haitian couple who started the orphanage 13 years ago and they have such an amazing story.  Little parts of it are on the website under "History".  They are the people who are going through our dossier and matching us with who they think is a good fit for our family.

This brings us up to date and now I will try to keep up with any new developments as we wait and pray for what the Lord has in store...

                         Awaiting our child/children across the seas

Haiti

Our team

I have been waiting for a week to try to bring some clarity and words to our experience but I am still having a hard time... so here are some of the pictures we took and a few of our experiences...

arriving at the airport to faces of desperation..not waiting for anyone in particular but for anyone who can give them anything...

a street in Port-au-Prince

the streets are lined with people selling stuff but no one is buying anything...

signs of the earthquake and devastation are everywhere

tent cities fill the city and provide shelter for some of those who lost their homes

we arrived at the orphanage where 70 beautiful children live

the older ones take care of the younger ones

Kelly connected with Berson, a young man (21 years old) who became a believer in February. Now he has started a Bible Club (he has gathered many of the kids in the area) and they meet every week. Kelly went and spoke to them and had a really encouraging time.

the house where all the girls live

the house where all the boys live

Jean-Mark was looking intently at the ground so i went over to see what he was looking at. I eventually realized that he had planted some seeds in the ground. i started helping him clear the rocks out of the way and make a little "bed" for the seeds (look closely at the bottom left corner of the picture). He took a picture that day and then a few days later he took another picture...

we met every day to water them and take care of them. He was very proud of his little plants and I was very proud of him!!!

the boys were thrilled to have a picture taken in the bus

this is a school house. we arrived to all of the kids clearing out of it so we could set up our medical clinic for the afternoon.

Here is Doctor Jefferson and Kelly, his right hand man! These two were quite the pair- it was really neat to watch them work together!

some of the kids from the school

Kelly playing soccer at the orphanage
this is where we all slept (the rooster's and dogs were quite the symphony throughout the night..)

kids we saw while driving around

this was the 3rd medical clinic we put on at a nearby church. we ended up seeing about 500 people who received treatment and got medications. We also had a dentist doing extractions and fillings.

we drove through Port-au-Prince and this is the government building (Palace) where the President used to live.
looking down a main street (most of the streets were much narrower and busier).
we walked past this man (who was blind) and his son. he was singing about the earthquake and how Haiti would never forget.
The priest of this catholic church died in the earthquake.
this man was chipping away at the rubble of what used to be his home. many people are still looking for loved ones.

I got to know Michaelange throughout the week and she is such a loving person. She was cooking for us all week and I learned lots from her!
here are some of the kids when they got home from school
we played "keep away" games and the girls did lots of braids in my hair but they never stayed in because we didn't have elastics!

our team spent half a day measuring and bagging rice and beans. 200 people from the surrounding communities came on the second last day that we were there to receive some food and water.

...lining up for food

The people we met were so resilient, strong, talented, loving, positive, and faith-filled despite their circumstances- we are so thankful to have shared a bit of their lives!