My Husband's Blog

If you haven't checked out Chris' post on Passion, go check it out!

here's the link
http://tentstakes.blogspot.com

The Peterson's boys

We got an email this week.

It said, "The Peterson's boys know that they have a family."

The Peterson's boys... just wanted to say it one more time!

I love this photo of them. Aren't they beautiful!!

Hotel in Haiti

I'm missing this room.

It's the hotel room we stayed at in Haiti. Chris and I met and loved and cared for 2 precious girls there. Vanessa and D'Jounela. We learned what malnutrition looks like and we tried desperately to make up for it.

Hopefully in June, we'll see this room again.
This time, we'll meet our boys. We'll spend another week getting as much food in them as we can, giving them as much love as we can, and lingering in the moment until we see them again.

She makes me laugh

Cool trick Lilah!

Happy Birthday

Today is Vanessa's birthday. She turned 5.

Happy Birthday precious girl!

We love you and miss you!

I hope one day we'll meet again.

Will you pray for her and her family?

No nap

So, I tried to stretch Noah yesterday and not give him a nap, in hopes of him sleeping better.

I gave him permission to stay downstairs with the big girls while I put the rest of the kids to bed.

But, when I came back down, here's what I found.

Isn't he sweet.

Yes, that's a bottle in his mouth, yes I caved, yes I know he's four years old.

I'm working on it.

Another photo

This was taken shortly after they arrived at the O. I love this photo of them, but it also breaks my heart. Their eyes are filled with uncertainty.

We wanted the boys to know that we wanted to be their parents as soon as possible.

We had heard that Changlais really wanted a family.

He and his brother have been there a while and have watched a lot of their friends get Mommies and Daddies.

I wonder if they know...

Look what I found

I found this picture Chris took at the orphanage. It was taken when we were there in October.

That's me to the right with the light purple shirt.

Look at the little boy who is only 2 feet away from me.

That's Changlais!

I'm falling in love... again

Chareyl's the best! She's our voice at the agency. By the way if you're looking for a great agency to work with, please look at Wasatch International Adoptions.

Anyway, she went through all of her past photos to find photos of Changlais and Schneider for us.

Thanks Chareyl!

I'm falling in love! Though my heart is still heavy and I still find myself sighing throughout the day when I think of Vanessa and D'Jounela. But, ... here we go again.

I'm looking forward to the next parent trip and praying hard for the Lord to move this adoption along with his speed.

Awww, look at him.

Hi Changlais.

I've also found myself whispering words of comfort to Changlais and Schnieder.

Much Needed

We had some much need together time this past weekend.

After such a long wait for the news from Haiti and then the loss of the girls, the timing of our weekend in the mountains was perfect.

There's a hotel that we like to stay at in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, about a 45 minute drive from our home. We've stayed there once before about a year and a half ago.

The room is a large double room with 4 double beds, 1 and 1/2 baths, a sofa area and a small dinning area. With 6 kids and 2 adults it's a great room!

The reason we like going there is the indoor pool. It's a real treat in the middle of winter!

Yes, we put the life vest on before we even leave the room. We learned to do that after Noah tried walking on water a couple a times.

Sorry about the pink vest buddy!

Hello sweet Lilah!

Great dive Lona!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails?

Just so there's no confusion, Vanessa and D'Jounela's birthparents do have the girls and want to try and care for them. Vanessa is very content and D'Jounela is not well and in the hospital again. The birthparents have suffered through pain, loss and guilt and they need our prayers for healing and for provision to care for the girls. Haiti is just hard and decisions for those who live there are hard as well. Parents who bring their children to the orphanage are looking for help, not because they don't love the children, but because they are unable to provide. Sometimes that's only for a time and sometimes, it's the final decision.

As, for Chris and I, we know the Lord has led us here and we will continue to follow. We don't have all the answers. But neither did Abraham when the Lord told him to leave his home and follow him. That's where faith comes in.
We are privileged to have been a part of the girl's life for whatever reason the Lord chose. And, we are privileged to continue to follow his voice as he speaks to us about orphans, about people in need, about adoption, and about family.

So, back to "what boys are made of."

I've been waiting to post about the boys because I was kind of waiting on this feeling of loss to pass. It's much better, but still lingering.


So, I think sharing the news will help.

Meet Changlais and Schneider, our boys.

We are moving forward with our referral. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Many Blessings and may you dive deeper into Christ's endless love.

Love and Sorrow

Yesterday, I got these beautiful roses from my Husband. It had been a tough week waiting for news from Haiti and he wanted to cheer me up.
Let me back up now.
We received the news we'd been waiting for by email and I had just called Chris to share it with him. While I was talking with him, the flowers arrived.
God's timing is tender.
We lost the girls.
Love and sorrow meet when we follow Jesus. He's never left us and never left us with just sorrow.
We are sad and grieving, yet were are still positive we are where he wants us and doing what he called us to.
We'll grieve and we'll move forward. Love and sorrow again.
The report we got of Vanessa was very good considering the overall circumstances, however D'Jounela is in the hospital again. Please pray for her, for her birthparents and for Vanessa. Love and sorrow.
Would you pray for us as we grieve, as our children grieve also? Would you also pray for our moving forward? We've been given several sibling referrals and will be praying over them.
Yesterday was hard, today still is.
Thanks for all your prayers.

Before Noah

Well, I finally made it downstairs before Noah woke up.

I like to go downstairs and read my bible, drink coffee :), and then read some articles I'm interested in at the time. I love reading about homeschooling, raising children, adoption issues, inspirational family stories, and my newest interest, gardening.

So, my goal was to get up with Chris at 5:00 (I know, uugh). He likes to be up and have his quiet time before work. He prefers to get his own breakfast and just have some time to read his bible alone. So, it's a great time for me to do the same.

Any way, I usually trail behind Chris in going downstairs, Noah wakes up and I miss getting a little time to myself. But, today, I walked down with Chris.

I'm pretty sure I heard Noah's little feet going to our room as soon as I had gotten downstairs, so I gave it a few minutes thinking he would come looking for me, but, he didn't... he went back to his bed.

Hmm, I wonder if my new strategy will work again tomorrow? I hope so, this is great!
I've already had my coffee, read several articles, and blogged too! Now, I need to go read my bible.

Just so you're not left wondering, we haven't heard anything yet about Vanessa and D'Jounela.

Sorry, just haven't heard anything yet from Haiti. Our coordinator will be back this week from the parent trip that was in Haiti and might be able to update us. The next parent trip is not until June.

Of course, I've gone over a lot of scenarios in my mind about this situation, the birthmom, the girls, their health, their hearts. Some of the things I wonder are, will we be on that parent trip in June? Will we get to see Vanessa and D'Jounela then? How are they doing right now? How's the birthmom? I know she is so grieving the loss of her twin. Is she filled with so much fear that she doesn't know what to do? Is she hungry? How often does she have to go without food? Does she have any help from anyone? The girls, do they have enough to eat? I think about Vanessa a lot. She's 5 and she knows the separation that happened when she came to the orphanage. I can see it in her eyes, they have such a sadness about them. Can she take it again, if birthmom brings them back. D'Jounela? She was down to thirteen pounds, what about now. I don't think she could make it if she had to go too long without food. Will she make it through this? I love her and Vanessa and it's hard knowing what they've been through and thinking about them going through it again and yet I long to hold them again too. These thoughts and more I have brought to the Lord. Asking him how I should pray about this. What's best for the girls. It's been tough. But... I have to trust and believe in his best for the girls, birthmom, and us.

A couple of people have asked if we would want to change countries for an adoption. And I can say without a doubt, no. We know Haiti is where we're supposed to be. Such a thrill and joy wells up in my heart when I say that. Only the Lord could do that. He is awesome isn't he?!

We'd so appreciate your continued prayers over the girls, the birthmom and us.

Thanks for coming by

I will continue recording our journey here.

Still no news from Haiti. We're not sure if the meeting took place with the birthmother today, but please keep praying for her and the girls, for their safety and provision of food.