Hard to believe we have been back so long. A lot has taken place since October of 2008. The boys just turned 5 and Macie is now 6 and Asia 10. The boys are fully established as the Hanson boys! While we have had our struggles with adapting to having 4 kids over night we have worked hard at and are truly blessed.
Looking back I think the biggest adjustment was simply going fro m2 kids to 4 overnight and everything that entails. Everything takes longer from getting everyone to bed to getting everybody lunch or dinner or whatever. Heidi and I are continuously trying to make sure that we give each child the time and attention that they need but there are times when we are just exhausted and it is a challenge. Asia Grace has definitely had to grow up quicker than we would have liked, she has really taken on the role of second mother at times and we sometimes forget that she is only 10. We try not to put too much on her as she needs to just be a child...She is incredible though in how she has adapted to have three siblings now. Thank you Lord for giving us Asia Grace!
Macie is doing great too! I call the three little guys the Three Amigos since they spend most of their time together. While Macie is a year and a half older than the boys they both weigh more than her now...She still has about an inch in height on them but that won't last long! :)
Luke and Ben are entirely different in their personalities. Ben is very outgoing and rambunctious while Luke is somewhat reserved and cautious about doing new thing. Ben picked up riding a bike within minutes and Luke took an extra year... Luke is much more of a mamas boy and loves to cuddle and snuggle while Ben is independent but he does engage and can be close if you make the attempt first.
Well that is it for now, I will add some pics so everyone can see what everyone looks like now. God bless and take care!
Pete
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, October 11, 2009
10-12-2009
Hi everyone,
Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 mos. since Pete or I have been on this Blog! My apologies to those looking for answers and support. We are back on and will do our best to check in more regularly. The boys are doing very well and adjusted quite nicely. Their language abilities continue to amaze us. It's incredible what young minds can absorb and the rate at which they are absorbed! Benny is our daredevil and will try ANYTHING he has seen done by ANYONE!, with little to no fear!!! Lukee likes to take things much more cautiously and he LOVES his Mama! They are both officially citizens now and have had their names legally changed. Louis has become "Luke Washington Hanson", (Lukee) and Benedict has become "Bennaiah Hurricane Hanson", (Benny). Their sisters have adjusted well also. Macie having the most difficult time with everything still admits that she loves them and spends her days playing, riding bikes, arguing, homeschooling and laughing with her brothers. Since she is only 17 mos. older it is like having triplets in the house! Asia Grace has always been kind and supportive of the boys, except of course on those rare occasions when she can't resist a little tormenting of her younger siblings:)
Well, off to bed it's quite late and mommy needs her rest in order to be a friendly mommy in the AM.
Bye for now,
Heidi
PS. I hope to add some recent pics. in the next day or two.
Hi everyone,
Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 mos. since Pete or I have been on this Blog! My apologies to those looking for answers and support. We are back on and will do our best to check in more regularly. The boys are doing very well and adjusted quite nicely. Their language abilities continue to amaze us. It's incredible what young minds can absorb and the rate at which they are absorbed! Benny is our daredevil and will try ANYTHING he has seen done by ANYONE!, with little to no fear!!! Lukee likes to take things much more cautiously and he LOVES his Mama! They are both officially citizens now and have had their names legally changed. Louis has become "Luke Washington Hanson", (Lukee) and Benedict has become "Bennaiah Hurricane Hanson", (Benny). Their sisters have adjusted well also. Macie having the most difficult time with everything still admits that she loves them and spends her days playing, riding bikes, arguing, homeschooling and laughing with her brothers. Since she is only 17 mos. older it is like having triplets in the house! Asia Grace has always been kind and supportive of the boys, except of course on those rare occasions when she can't resist a little tormenting of her younger siblings:)
Well, off to bed it's quite late and mommy needs her rest in order to be a friendly mommy in the AM.
Bye for now,
Heidi
PS. I hope to add some recent pics. in the next day or two.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
Merry Chistmas everyone and sorry to for not updating this earlier. Things have been very busy with the holidays and with us all trying to get back into a routine. The boys are settling in very nicely and we are communicating really well at this point. Both are quite talkative and energetic little boys! Needless to say our house is quite loud these days. Heidi has done a great job with getting into routine during the day and we have tried to do the same at night. We have found that the more structure we have the better things seem to go. The boys had a very stuctured life at the orphanage so they are used to it. I am sure it is comforting to them to have a similar level here with us.
The biggest thing that we have going on now is the "sharing issues" that Louie, Benny and Macie have from time to time. We have a million toys in the house yet they seem to want the same exact one from time to time which results in a lot of yelling and screaming between the three of them. We are working on that and they are getting better. Patience....
All in all we could not have hoped for a better initial transition. It has also been nice to have the holidays as it has meant that I have more time off from work to be home and settle in as a family. But, it has not all been a bed a roses as they say, we have definitely had some tough times both us adjsusting to having 4 kids now and for the boys adjusting to their new environment. We have to remember that they have come from a place where they basically had about 40 little friends with them everyday and now they have us as their daily companions. I sometimes wonder if they miss some of them from time to time. Most of our frustrations come from our struggles with communication but again that is getting better everyday as the boys pick up more and more english.
The boys are pretty much celebrities at our church since so many people were following us along and praying for us in our adoption process. So many people have come up to meet the boys. The boys don't seem to see why people are putting up such a big fuss!
One of the big things were worried about was at Church and how quickly we would be able to transition the boys into the jr. kids class that they have while the grown ups stay in main area to listen to the sermon. We decided to try on the second time back to church and surprisingly they didn't ahve any issues being away from us. In fact I think they enjoy it since it is probably an environment(all little kids) that they are very comforable with. Since the boys are pretty much potty trained as well (thank you to the sisters at the orphanage!) we haven't really had any issues with that when we go out.
Also since we have been back for about 6 weeks now we have had time to reflect on our time in Rwanda and Kenya and it all seems like so long ago. Like most things, while you are going through it, it can seem a lot worse than it actually was. In other words while we missed our girls terribly while we were away, now that we have been home for while it definitely makes us feel that this was so worth the effort and we are so grateful to GOD for laying this on our hearts and for picking out these two very special boys to join our family. We are truly blessed!
That is it for now... Have a great New Year everyone. Be safe and praise GOD.
The biggest thing that we have going on now is the "sharing issues" that Louie, Benny and Macie have from time to time. We have a million toys in the house yet they seem to want the same exact one from time to time which results in a lot of yelling and screaming between the three of them. We are working on that and they are getting better. Patience....
All in all we could not have hoped for a better initial transition. It has also been nice to have the holidays as it has meant that I have more time off from work to be home and settle in as a family. But, it has not all been a bed a roses as they say, we have definitely had some tough times both us adjsusting to having 4 kids now and for the boys adjusting to their new environment. We have to remember that they have come from a place where they basically had about 40 little friends with them everyday and now they have us as their daily companions. I sometimes wonder if they miss some of them from time to time. Most of our frustrations come from our struggles with communication but again that is getting better everyday as the boys pick up more and more english.
The boys are pretty much celebrities at our church since so many people were following us along and praying for us in our adoption process. So many people have come up to meet the boys. The boys don't seem to see why people are putting up such a big fuss!
One of the big things were worried about was at Church and how quickly we would be able to transition the boys into the jr. kids class that they have while the grown ups stay in main area to listen to the sermon. We decided to try on the second time back to church and surprisingly they didn't ahve any issues being away from us. In fact I think they enjoy it since it is probably an environment(all little kids) that they are very comforable with. Since the boys are pretty much potty trained as well (thank you to the sisters at the orphanage!) we haven't really had any issues with that when we go out.
Also since we have been back for about 6 weeks now we have had time to reflect on our time in Rwanda and Kenya and it all seems like so long ago. Like most things, while you are going through it, it can seem a lot worse than it actually was. In other words while we missed our girls terribly while we were away, now that we have been home for while it definitely makes us feel that this was so worth the effort and we are so grateful to GOD for laying this on our hearts and for picking out these two very special boys to join our family. We are truly blessed!
That is it for now... Have a great New Year everyone. Be safe and praise GOD.
Monday, November 17, 2008
WE'RE HOME!!!!
Nov. 17, 2008
Well, miracles DO happen! Our God IS a God of Miracles and one, or should I say several, happened for/ to us on this journey of a lifetime. We did indeed get our visas last Fri., though not without a glitch along the way. One of the boys' visas had him marked as a female! Luckily Pete caught it and we had to wait a couple more hours at the embassy while they ran the clearance again on this 2 1/2 yr. old and re-print the visa. Once we had it in hand we knew we were finally headed home. We caught a plane that night and arrived in Boston around 11 AM on Sat. the 15th. Not bad after all that, considering we were due in originally on Sat. the 22nd. It was incredibly emotional to see our girls all grown up waiting for us. What a release of emotions! What a wonderful feeling to have all 4 of our children together with us! We don't plan on leaving our home or our children in the next years to come. This trip truly made us appreciate the small things. The boys have settled in quite efficiently. I believe the transition has gone so well because they were already bonded and connected with Pete and I and because of our two amazing daughters who made them feel so welcomed. It snowed a little today and we were so excited! Can't wait to see how the boys react to snow. We thank everyone for the prayers and words of support. It was a painful experience being away from our girls so long and I would not recommend it to everyone, but it was truly life changing. We made some incredible friends along the way and I will write more later about them. Take care from now and Thank you's and Blessings from the Hanson Household in NH!
Heidi
Well, miracles DO happen! Our God IS a God of Miracles and one, or should I say several, happened for/ to us on this journey of a lifetime. We did indeed get our visas last Fri., though not without a glitch along the way. One of the boys' visas had him marked as a female! Luckily Pete caught it and we had to wait a couple more hours at the embassy while they ran the clearance again on this 2 1/2 yr. old and re-print the visa. Once we had it in hand we knew we were finally headed home. We caught a plane that night and arrived in Boston around 11 AM on Sat. the 15th. Not bad after all that, considering we were due in originally on Sat. the 22nd. It was incredibly emotional to see our girls all grown up waiting for us. What a release of emotions! What a wonderful feeling to have all 4 of our children together with us! We don't plan on leaving our home or our children in the next years to come. This trip truly made us appreciate the small things. The boys have settled in quite efficiently. I believe the transition has gone so well because they were already bonded and connected with Pete and I and because of our two amazing daughters who made them feel so welcomed. It snowed a little today and we were so excited! Can't wait to see how the boys react to snow. We thank everyone for the prayers and words of support. It was a painful experience being away from our girls so long and I would not recommend it to everyone, but it was truly life changing. We made some incredible friends along the way and I will write more later about them. Take care from now and Thank you's and Blessings from the Hanson Household in NH!
Heidi
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Interview, US Embassy Nairobi
Nov. 12, 2008
We are headed to our interview for the boys' visas tomorrow, Thurs. Nov. 13th. It has been a long road to get here and have learned a lot of what to and not to do, unfortunately after wasted time and money. Oh, well, we are safe and getting closer to the light, (NH and our girls!!!). Our prayer today is that the interview would go well, that they would receive paperwork still missing on Pete from NH immigration and that they would miraculously have the visas ready on Fri. so we may fly out and not have to wait and pay for another weekend here is Nairobi. The boys are doing quite well and learning what many words and phrases mean. They are particularly familiar with "NO, NO, NO!" and, "Do you need to go sit?!" They are doing well with "Please Mama", "Thank you Mama" and "Potty Please". Overall they are adjusting quite well and settling in with the comfort that we are here each time they wake up. They are incredibly busy and quite a joy to watch and to listen to. We look forward to introducing them to the rest of the family and settling them into their new home in NH. We are finally getting to the end of this long arduous trip. It truly is the experience of a lifetime and would not willing go through it again. It's not incredibly terrible, but there is some serious waiting in an area of the world that we are not real comfortable going out for a walk or anything like that to pass the time. So... this lovely guesthouse has truly been a safe haven and though there is a pool we are here in the wet season and it truly has been rainy, dark and cold with the exception of today. Pete was actually able to take the boys in the pool and they loved it! Well I am off for now, the internet costs by the min. here! Thank you all for prayers and support. We will be sure to add in more details upon returning to NH when we can use the internet freely.
Take care and God Bless from the Hansons in Nairobi
We are headed to our interview for the boys' visas tomorrow, Thurs. Nov. 13th. It has been a long road to get here and have learned a lot of what to and not to do, unfortunately after wasted time and money. Oh, well, we are safe and getting closer to the light, (NH and our girls!!!). Our prayer today is that the interview would go well, that they would receive paperwork still missing on Pete from NH immigration and that they would miraculously have the visas ready on Fri. so we may fly out and not have to wait and pay for another weekend here is Nairobi. The boys are doing quite well and learning what many words and phrases mean. They are particularly familiar with "NO, NO, NO!" and, "Do you need to go sit?!" They are doing well with "Please Mama", "Thank you Mama" and "Potty Please". Overall they are adjusting quite well and settling in with the comfort that we are here each time they wake up. They are incredibly busy and quite a joy to watch and to listen to. We look forward to introducing them to the rest of the family and settling them into their new home in NH. We are finally getting to the end of this long arduous trip. It truly is the experience of a lifetime and would not willing go through it again. It's not incredibly terrible, but there is some serious waiting in an area of the world that we are not real comfortable going out for a walk or anything like that to pass the time. So... this lovely guesthouse has truly been a safe haven and though there is a pool we are here in the wet season and it truly has been rainy, dark and cold with the exception of today. Pete was actually able to take the boys in the pool and they loved it! Well I am off for now, the internet costs by the min. here! Thank you all for prayers and support. We will be sure to add in more details upon returning to NH when we can use the internet freely.
Take care and God Bless from the Hansons in Nairobi
Monday, November 3, 2008
Farewell to Rwanda soon....
November 3, 2008
We hope to have the boys' passports by this afternoon! We'll see.... Everything is so incredibly different here in Rwanda, such as a price is not really the price, on ANYTHING! You must always barter back and forth and have a general idea of what the item is worth or you could end up paying way too much. It's good to be living with our missionary friends who have been here almost 3 years now. It's quite an experience even to make a photocopy. Today I needed a black and white copy and the machine was broken. For black and white copy it costs 150 francs, but since the machine was broken they charged me 500 francs to make the copy on the color copy machine! Ok, the catch is my copy was done in black in white since that is what I asked for, it just had to be done on the color machine and therefore they said I had to pay 500 francs. What an experience to learn how other people live. We took the boys to the orphanage to say "Good Bye" today. That went well and we learned a little more about our boys. I do have more pictures to put on the BLog and I will do my best to add them bigger at the bottom of the blog, but those will come later. Power and internet tend to go out several times a day here. We will be heading out to Nairobi on Wed. to start the visa process on Thurs. Any and all who would like to e-mail their local senator's office to ask them to e-mail U.S. Embassy in Nairobi to ask them to expedite our boys' visa process would be greatly appreciated. We miss our girls terribly and want to get home as soon as we can. We are enjoying seeing a different country and new cultures, but would prefer at this time to get home to be with our beautiful daughters.
Asia Grace and friends, how was storybook character day? Maybe you could reply to our comment section and let us know what characters you were since we missed the big day?
We have not booked a guesthouse yet for Nairobi, but hope to by the end of the day.
Bye for now,
Heidi
We hope to have the boys' passports by this afternoon! We'll see.... Everything is so incredibly different here in Rwanda, such as a price is not really the price, on ANYTHING! You must always barter back and forth and have a general idea of what the item is worth or you could end up paying way too much. It's good to be living with our missionary friends who have been here almost 3 years now. It's quite an experience even to make a photocopy. Today I needed a black and white copy and the machine was broken. For black and white copy it costs 150 francs, but since the machine was broken they charged me 500 francs to make the copy on the color copy machine! Ok, the catch is my copy was done in black in white since that is what I asked for, it just had to be done on the color machine and therefore they said I had to pay 500 francs. What an experience to learn how other people live. We took the boys to the orphanage to say "Good Bye" today. That went well and we learned a little more about our boys. I do have more pictures to put on the BLog and I will do my best to add them bigger at the bottom of the blog, but those will come later. Power and internet tend to go out several times a day here. We will be heading out to Nairobi on Wed. to start the visa process on Thurs. Any and all who would like to e-mail their local senator's office to ask them to e-mail U.S. Embassy in Nairobi to ask them to expedite our boys' visa process would be greatly appreciated. We miss our girls terribly and want to get home as soon as we can. We are enjoying seeing a different country and new cultures, but would prefer at this time to get home to be with our beautiful daughters.
Asia Grace and friends, how was storybook character day? Maybe you could reply to our comment section and let us know what characters you were since we missed the big day?
We have not booked a guesthouse yet for Nairobi, but hope to by the end of the day.
Bye for now,
Heidi
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
We are in AFRICA! Safe and sound and being amazed at everything. Met our boys yesterday the 29th and took them out for yogurt drinks. They are adorable and friendly. We are waiting on the minister's office to sign the "Travel Doc." we need to start the rest of our paperwork.
Hi Girls, we miss you and love you soooo.... much! Our meeting with the boys was just as I dreamed. We waited in an upstairs room and as the boys approached I crouched down to their level and spread my arms wide open. Benedict was first, of course, and walked right to me and right BY ME! He went straight to Pete and snuggled right in on him and held onto Pete's arm. It was so cute and quite funny. Louis (pronounced, Louie) was a little more timid, though he did snuggle in on me and let me pick him up. We learned an important phrase called, "short call" which is to use the bathroom facilities, since, YES, they are potty trained for the most part. They enjoyed riding in the "auto car" and eating chips and having yogurt drinks. I even got a giggle and a few smiles by the time we brought them back to the orphanage. Louis held on tight and raised his legs as high as he could when I went to set him down. The nuns laughed and said it was obvious he wanted to stay with us. They were happy about this. WE are unable to keep them overnight until we receive our "Travel Doc." from the Minister's office, which we are finding is going to be quite a difficult task! We actually met Veronique on the street yesterday Tina, though, so far that was not too helpful. We will try again today with the boys and a big back of chocolates. We plan to have the boys with us for the day today. They are such a joy! Prayers to help the Minister see that we need to get moving on this to get back home are much appreciated at this time. Our travel was mostly uneventful, thank the Lord. This is such a beautiful country and only wish you could all experience it at least once in your lifetime.
We HAVE been trying to communicate with e-mail, text, blog for the past day and a half! I guess we just got lucky at this very moment with this one. All our love, especially to our two beautiful girls! Asia Grace, How are Edward and Lilly? Oh, ya, and Bill and Judy too! ha ha Hi to the CCC from Rwanda.
Love,
Heidi
Hi Girls, we miss you and love you soooo.... much! Our meeting with the boys was just as I dreamed. We waited in an upstairs room and as the boys approached I crouched down to their level and spread my arms wide open. Benedict was first, of course, and walked right to me and right BY ME! He went straight to Pete and snuggled right in on him and held onto Pete's arm. It was so cute and quite funny. Louis (pronounced, Louie) was a little more timid, though he did snuggle in on me and let me pick him up. We learned an important phrase called, "short call" which is to use the bathroom facilities, since, YES, they are potty trained for the most part. They enjoyed riding in the "auto car" and eating chips and having yogurt drinks. I even got a giggle and a few smiles by the time we brought them back to the orphanage. Louis held on tight and raised his legs as high as he could when I went to set him down. The nuns laughed and said it was obvious he wanted to stay with us. They were happy about this. WE are unable to keep them overnight until we receive our "Travel Doc." from the Minister's office, which we are finding is going to be quite a difficult task! We actually met Veronique on the street yesterday Tina, though, so far that was not too helpful. We will try again today with the boys and a big back of chocolates. We plan to have the boys with us for the day today. They are such a joy! Prayers to help the Minister see that we need to get moving on this to get back home are much appreciated at this time. Our travel was mostly uneventful, thank the Lord. This is such a beautiful country and only wish you could all experience it at least once in your lifetime.
We HAVE been trying to communicate with e-mail, text, blog for the past day and a half! I guess we just got lucky at this very moment with this one. All our love, especially to our two beautiful girls! Asia Grace, How are Edward and Lilly? Oh, ya, and Bill and Judy too! ha ha Hi to the CCC from Rwanda.
Love,
Heidi
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The adoption is OFFICIAL!!!
The adoption took place this AM and we are now the proud parents of FOUR children!!! Praise the Lord! The boys now need their Rwandan passports to leave their country and visas to enter the US. Both of those items need to be done by Pete and I when we arrive next week. We are so incredibly excited right now! Asia Grace just informed me tonight that though she will miss us, she is the oldest (of her and Macie) and that she is getting older so it won't be so bad while we're gone. "The only thing is", she said, "that we won't be here for her actual birthday as she turns 8 yrs. old", "But", she said, "you will be bringing home my birhtday presents, my two brothers" and then she smiled and hugged me. What an amazing moment to be a mommy! I love my girls, they are just, well, the BEST! They are going to be great big sisters and we are so proud of them. Asia's teachers, Bill and Judy, have been absolutely wonderful as well. Offering to support Asia Grace and all who are tending to her while we are gone. It is so reassuring to know so many people, who mean so much to our girls, have been offering help in tremendous ways. God continues to overwhelm us with his plan and many blessings each day.
We are getting to the last few details of packing and planning and have begun restless nights of sleep as we get closer to our departure date. Asia Grace even informed me she is beginning to dream about the boys, something that started for me this last week as well. We thank the "Insider" for getting the word out for us last week as well.
We will be in touch hopefully at least one more time before we take off for Africa and then as often as technology, time and logistics allow for those of you who are interested in following our progress. Thank you again for the prayers everyone!
Heidi
We are getting to the last few details of packing and planning and have begun restless nights of sleep as we get closer to our departure date. Asia Grace even informed me she is beginning to dream about the boys, something that started for me this last week as well. We thank the "Insider" for getting the word out for us last week as well.
We will be in touch hopefully at least one more time before we take off for Africa and then as often as technology, time and logistics allow for those of you who are interested in following our progress. Thank you again for the prayers everyone!
Heidi
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Oct. 14, 2008
To those of you who read our article in the Concord Monitor Insider today and are wondering how to send anything to "Global Benefit". You may send it to our address at #358 Lower Ridge Rd., Loudon, NH o3307 and we will get it to Global Benefit or you may mail it directly to "Global Benefit" at #40 Willow Grass lane, Gilmanton IW, NH 03837 or visit them at www.globalbenefit.org We are thrilled to bring awareness to Global Benefit and all that they are doing to fight poverty in the world, currently focused on Rwanda.
Thank you in advance for all you support in our mission.
We hope to be posting the adoption date of our boys soon!
Good night and God Bless!
Heidi
To those of you who read our article in the Concord Monitor Insider today and are wondering how to send anything to "Global Benefit". You may send it to our address at #358 Lower Ridge Rd., Loudon, NH o3307 and we will get it to Global Benefit or you may mail it directly to "Global Benefit" at #40 Willow Grass lane, Gilmanton IW, NH 03837 or visit them at www.globalbenefit.org We are thrilled to bring awareness to Global Benefit and all that they are doing to fight poverty in the world, currently focused on Rwanda.
Thank you in advance for all you support in our mission.
We hope to be posting the adoption date of our boys soon!
Good night and God Bless!
Heidi
Thursday, October 9, 2008
It's OFFICIAL, we are out of here!!!
10-09-2008
We are officially out of here on Mon. the 27th! We are off to meet our new sons. We will arrive in Kigali, Rwanda on Wed. the 29th. We have now hit warp speed in this process! So much to complete, organize and plan for and so little time! It will all work out just fine, but when thinking of the big picture it can take our breath away! One piece at a time and remembering to trust God completely for all things will be our saving grace as we get closer to the finish line.
We thank you all for the continued prayers. We are so incredibly Blessed!
We will try our best to keep you updated as we begin our physical journey, though we are not so sure about internet connection along the way. We have high hopes of being able to upload pictures of the boys and the countryside and such, but we'll have to see what our options are when we get there.
Heidi
We are officially out of here on Mon. the 27th! We are off to meet our new sons. We will arrive in Kigali, Rwanda on Wed. the 29th. We have now hit warp speed in this process! So much to complete, organize and plan for and so little time! It will all work out just fine, but when thinking of the big picture it can take our breath away! One piece at a time and remembering to trust God completely for all things will be our saving grace as we get closer to the finish line.
We thank you all for the continued prayers. We are so incredibly Blessed!
We will try our best to keep you updated as we begin our physical journey, though we are not so sure about internet connection along the way. We have high hopes of being able to upload pictures of the boys and the countryside and such, but we'll have to see what our options are when we get there.
Heidi
Thursday, October 2, 2008
They are good to GO or should I say COME?
Oct. 2, 2008
Our boys have tested negative on the health screening and are good to travel home. We now have to get their police record to get their specific birthdates and correct full name spellings for their passports. We will be ordering our tickets to fly very, very soon! We are so thrilled to think we will be meeting our new sons in just about 3 weeks!!! Thank you all for the continued prayer and support in many ways. We will keep you posted.
Heidi
Our boys have tested negative on the health screening and are good to travel home. We now have to get their police record to get their specific birthdates and correct full name spellings for their passports. We will be ordering our tickets to fly very, very soon! We are so thrilled to think we will be meeting our new sons in just about 3 weeks!!! Thank you all for the continued prayer and support in many ways. We will keep you posted.
Heidi
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Here they are!
We are so incredibly blessed! The picture to the left is of our boys ( special thanks to Rich and Peter for getting the picture to us so quickly)!!! The nuns at the orphanage (Home of Hope) prayed over the weekend and picked these two little guys for us. Their names are Benedict on the left and Louis on the the right. As our friend Jo predicted one of them is named after the Pope. Heidi and I are going to most likely make their first names their middle names and will give them new first names when we adopt. We will let you all know when we make our final decision. We don't have all the specifics yet but they are both roughly 2 1/2 years old and we don't think they are brothers based on their different facial features. According to our friend Rich, Benedict is a little more outgoing than Louis. We just can't get over how GOD just continues to answer prayers and bless our family. Of course the girls are as excited as us now since seeing this picture brings a little more reality to everything. They both want to have them here now as do we. We definitely have a lot more to do as we need to have some tests done and then need to have the official adoption date set up but it looks like if things keep going at this pace we may be heading over to Rwanda in late October. We want to thank everyone who has been praying on our behalf, Heidi and I could not be humbled more by the power of prayer and GOD. Thank you everyone for the prayers we truly appreciate and are in awe of the outpouring from friends and family!
More info to come as we get it! Stay tuned and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi.
Scroll to bottom for an additional picture of the boys!
More info to come as we get it! Stay tuned and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi.
Scroll to bottom for an additional picture of the boys!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sept. 21st, 2008
WE just got word that "Peter" our contact in Rwanda was able to drop off our letter at the orphanage on Fri. and that the nuns we very happy and would be praying over it this weekend. They hope to have our boys chosen on Mon.!!!! Yahoo! Peter will call them to confirm Mon. evening and go to see them on Tues.
Asia Grace, and possibly Macie, will be on another TV show which will actually air before our HGTV Gig. It begins on Sat., Oct. 11th @ 8pm on Animal Planet. It is a series about dogs. They were asked to play with a friends new litter of puppies while being filmed. Macie wasn't too into it since I mentioned we were going to Cooper and Eliza's (her cousins) afterward. She just kept asking when we were leaving to go see her cousins, so...I am not sure if she actually held a puppy long enough to be filmed. Oh, well. Asia Grace really enjoyed her time with the puppies though.
Pete and I just came back from a day and a half in the Manhattan area for an intimately, wonderful wedding of a couple friends. What a great time we had! (no kids, that won't happen again for a long time! ha ha ha) Our friends just happen to be going to Africa on safari for the honeymoon. Maybe they can give us some travel tips when they return.
It is officially the last day of summer and what a beautiful one indeed! We are just taking a lazy day hanging out in the sunshine with our girls. We are so truly blessed and grateful for our health, happiness and the weather, does it get any better than this?!!
We will update as soon as we have details about our boys. Till then, "Happy Fall".
Heidi
WE just got word that "Peter" our contact in Rwanda was able to drop off our letter at the orphanage on Fri. and that the nuns we very happy and would be praying over it this weekend. They hope to have our boys chosen on Mon.!!!! Yahoo! Peter will call them to confirm Mon. evening and go to see them on Tues.
Asia Grace, and possibly Macie, will be on another TV show which will actually air before our HGTV Gig. It begins on Sat., Oct. 11th @ 8pm on Animal Planet. It is a series about dogs. They were asked to play with a friends new litter of puppies while being filmed. Macie wasn't too into it since I mentioned we were going to Cooper and Eliza's (her cousins) afterward. She just kept asking when we were leaving to go see her cousins, so...I am not sure if she actually held a puppy long enough to be filmed. Oh, well. Asia Grace really enjoyed her time with the puppies though.
Pete and I just came back from a day and a half in the Manhattan area for an intimately, wonderful wedding of a couple friends. What a great time we had! (no kids, that won't happen again for a long time! ha ha ha) Our friends just happen to be going to Africa on safari for the honeymoon. Maybe they can give us some travel tips when they return.
It is officially the last day of summer and what a beautiful one indeed! We are just taking a lazy day hanging out in the sunshine with our girls. We are so truly blessed and grateful for our health, happiness and the weather, does it get any better than this?!!
We will update as soon as we have details about our boys. Till then, "Happy Fall".
Heidi
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sept. 17, 2008
YAHOO, YAHOO!!!! WE have officially been approved! We found out yesterday and got a copy of the approval e-mailed to us. We also found out we were actually approved on Sept. 3rd and there was some sort of glitch in the e-mailing process where the Rwandan Gov. thought we received it and we did not and had no idea so I kept calling every chance I had attempting to get a hold of someone and get some answers. It had been 6 weeks since any communication when I got a hold of our contact last Fri. the 12th. She seemed confused about my phonecall and explained that we had been e-mailed a letter a while ago. They attempted several more times to send it and then left for the weekend. She never was able to confirm if the letter was indeed an approval. Mon. came and went with no communication though I called and e-mailed several times. Mon. night I wrote an e-mail to both offices I have been attempting to communicate with to explain I still had not received any e-mail with a letter attached concerning our adoption and begged and pleaded with them to try it another way. Upon arising Tues. AM I checked e-mail just before showering to find a couple e-mails and one had the actual approval letter attached! It was truly a miracle! I wrote back thanking them for their perserverance! Then the next miracle came when my cell phone rang its restricted ring about 4:20 pm the same day. I assumed it was someone from DCYF since Jakee is no longer with us and I thought the case worker may have a follow up question for me or news about him and how he was doing. NO, the call was from RWANDA!!!!!!!! One of the women, the one who wrote the approval letter, was calling to make sure I had indeed received it!!! HOLY COW!!! Not only was it a miracle that THEY were calling ME, but that they were doing it at 10:20 PM their time! So much unlike all our lack of communication over the past couple of months. We are truly thankful and feel that this is so meant to be, we just keep having answers to impossible questions fall into our laps!
We hope to know who our new sons are in a week or two. We will find out their ages, current names, height and weight. We have a few names we have been throwing around as a family, but will wait and see their ages and their names and decide then if we feel it is appropriate to change their names completely.
It looks like we may travel as soon as the begining of Nov. or as late as mid Nov. Either way, it looks like we should all be home as a family by Christmas!!! The girls are quite excited as well at this point.
Asia Grace was asking last week if she could have 10 girls sleep over for her birthday in Nov. and of course we said NO!!! Then she said maybe just 6 or 7? and we said NO. Then she heard about our approval and was asking details about when we would be going. I mentioned to her that we may very well be gone over her birthday and she squealed with excitement! She said, "Does this mean if I have an Auntie or an Uncle watching me that THEY get to decide how many girls I can have for my sleep over and I replied, "SURE!" She is so thrilled to think we will be gone over her birthday, a response, I must admit, I would have never thought of , but am quite pleased by her perception of the situation. Macie on the other hand is going to miss her "Mama". Since Asia Grace left us for 2nd grade and Jakee left us about the same time, Macie and I have had a lot of one on one time doing projects, household chores together and even a little "Homeschooling" which she loves.
Well we are making our final plans to head on out to get our boys across the world very soon and hope to keep you posted along our journey!
Thanks to all who are following our story and thank you even more for any prayers said on our behalf!
Good night for now.
Heidi
YAHOO, YAHOO!!!! WE have officially been approved! We found out yesterday and got a copy of the approval e-mailed to us. We also found out we were actually approved on Sept. 3rd and there was some sort of glitch in the e-mailing process where the Rwandan Gov. thought we received it and we did not and had no idea so I kept calling every chance I had attempting to get a hold of someone and get some answers. It had been 6 weeks since any communication when I got a hold of our contact last Fri. the 12th. She seemed confused about my phonecall and explained that we had been e-mailed a letter a while ago. They attempted several more times to send it and then left for the weekend. She never was able to confirm if the letter was indeed an approval. Mon. came and went with no communication though I called and e-mailed several times. Mon. night I wrote an e-mail to both offices I have been attempting to communicate with to explain I still had not received any e-mail with a letter attached concerning our adoption and begged and pleaded with them to try it another way. Upon arising Tues. AM I checked e-mail just before showering to find a couple e-mails and one had the actual approval letter attached! It was truly a miracle! I wrote back thanking them for their perserverance! Then the next miracle came when my cell phone rang its restricted ring about 4:20 pm the same day. I assumed it was someone from DCYF since Jakee is no longer with us and I thought the case worker may have a follow up question for me or news about him and how he was doing. NO, the call was from RWANDA!!!!!!!! One of the women, the one who wrote the approval letter, was calling to make sure I had indeed received it!!! HOLY COW!!! Not only was it a miracle that THEY were calling ME, but that they were doing it at 10:20 PM their time! So much unlike all our lack of communication over the past couple of months. We are truly thankful and feel that this is so meant to be, we just keep having answers to impossible questions fall into our laps!
We hope to know who our new sons are in a week or two. We will find out their ages, current names, height and weight. We have a few names we have been throwing around as a family, but will wait and see their ages and their names and decide then if we feel it is appropriate to change their names completely.
It looks like we may travel as soon as the begining of Nov. or as late as mid Nov. Either way, it looks like we should all be home as a family by Christmas!!! The girls are quite excited as well at this point.
Asia Grace was asking last week if she could have 10 girls sleep over for her birthday in Nov. and of course we said NO!!! Then she said maybe just 6 or 7? and we said NO. Then she heard about our approval and was asking details about when we would be going. I mentioned to her that we may very well be gone over her birthday and she squealed with excitement! She said, "Does this mean if I have an Auntie or an Uncle watching me that THEY get to decide how many girls I can have for my sleep over and I replied, "SURE!" She is so thrilled to think we will be gone over her birthday, a response, I must admit, I would have never thought of , but am quite pleased by her perception of the situation. Macie on the other hand is going to miss her "Mama". Since Asia Grace left us for 2nd grade and Jakee left us about the same time, Macie and I have had a lot of one on one time doing projects, household chores together and even a little "Homeschooling" which she loves.
Well we are making our final plans to head on out to get our boys across the world very soon and hope to keep you posted along our journey!
Thanks to all who are following our story and thank you even more for any prayers said on our behalf!
Good night for now.
Heidi
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Nothing yet.....
It has been a month since we last updated the blog and for good reason... We have not heard anything from Rwanda since our last post. While this is discouraging we do have faith that this will happen in GOD's time. We still have our little foster boy who is now 7 1/2 months old. He is doing great and we are enjoying our time with him.
It is Labor Day weekend and we hope that everyone has a safe and fun weekend! Be careful and God Bless.
Pete
It is Labor Day weekend and we hope that everyone has a safe and fun weekend! Be careful and God Bless.
Pete
Friday, July 25, 2008
July 25, 2008
HALELUJIA!!! I actually got through to Rwandan Gov. and spoke to the person I have been trying to communicate with for over two weeks. Many wee hour calls to no avail, but then a miracle today! I was very nervous when she said to give her 5 min. to look for our paperwork and to call back. I asked if I could just be on hold because it is so difficult to get a call to go through and she said "No", "you should call back in 5 min., OK?" I reluctantly said "OK" and hung up. I waited about 7 min. and called back and she answered on the first ring by saying, "I found it, I have your paperwork right here!" I almost passed out! I did tell her that I loved her which I think she found rather amusing. We proceeded to have a wonderful conversation and she said to call back next Fri. same time , as she will be going over our paperwork next week to see if anything is missing. Just last night Pete and I had decided not to do any more wee hour calls, calls to Rwanda between 2 AM and 5 AM, and to let God work out the details. I am getting much too tired trying to call during the so called "best hours to call" and still raise the three children we have in the home currently and run my practice and run the house and few other things, but enough about "poor me" ha ha ha anyway, we just let go and let God as of about 9 pm last night. This AM around 9:30 I was going to make a call in my office and saw the Rwanda numbers and decided to try one for kicks and it went directly through to our contact person! It was truly a miracle after the many many hours of hitting redial and not even getting through to the country over the past couple of weeks! Hopefully we will experience the same kind of miraculous connection next Fri. We'll see....
Thank you all for the continued prayers and financial and emotional support through this process, we truly appreciate it all!
For now may God Bless you and have a wonderful weekend as I know we will!
Heidi
HALELUJIA!!! I actually got through to Rwandan Gov. and spoke to the person I have been trying to communicate with for over two weeks. Many wee hour calls to no avail, but then a miracle today! I was very nervous when she said to give her 5 min. to look for our paperwork and to call back. I asked if I could just be on hold because it is so difficult to get a call to go through and she said "No", "you should call back in 5 min., OK?" I reluctantly said "OK" and hung up. I waited about 7 min. and called back and she answered on the first ring by saying, "I found it, I have your paperwork right here!" I almost passed out! I did tell her that I loved her which I think she found rather amusing. We proceeded to have a wonderful conversation and she said to call back next Fri. same time , as she will be going over our paperwork next week to see if anything is missing. Just last night Pete and I had decided not to do any more wee hour calls, calls to Rwanda between 2 AM and 5 AM, and to let God work out the details. I am getting much too tired trying to call during the so called "best hours to call" and still raise the three children we have in the home currently and run my practice and run the house and few other things, but enough about "poor me" ha ha ha anyway, we just let go and let God as of about 9 pm last night. This AM around 9:30 I was going to make a call in my office and saw the Rwanda numbers and decided to try one for kicks and it went directly through to our contact person! It was truly a miracle after the many many hours of hitting redial and not even getting through to the country over the past couple of weeks! Hopefully we will experience the same kind of miraculous connection next Fri. We'll see....
Thank you all for the continued prayers and financial and emotional support through this process, we truly appreciate it all!
For now may God Bless you and have a wonderful weekend as I know we will!
Heidi
Monday, July 7, 2008
July 7th, 2008
Hi everyone, so sorry for the delay in posting new info.!
Ok, our fundraiser was a success and thanks to all who participated and/or worked, performed etc....!!!! We greatly appreciate all your efforts in helping make it such a successful event. A special "Thank You" to Shelley for organizing us and keeping track of all the items and the money!
"Thank you" to Dave and Bruce for the spectacular Magic show!!! Check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ for info. on a big show in Sunappee on July 18th and 19th.
"Thank You" to Jim Reidy for MC'ing our event, you did a fabulous job and I believe you are a natural! Thanks for the Fisher Cat's donation as well!!
Ok, we made over $4,000 at this fundraiser! We think we broke $4,400, but are still trying to square up with a few people.
We got our approval from the US Gov. to bring home to unknown orphans and our paperwork has been sent to the US Consulate in Nairobi, Kenya for the boys' visas.
We are now waiting on approval from the Rwandan Gov. which could be in a few days or a few months, it is really kind of quirky the way their system works.
We met Rich and Robin, the missionaries from Rwanda, yesterday at church. They reiterated that we were welcome at their home any time, that Kenya is quite safe and gave us advice on the best way to fly there. They also mentioned that there are currently so many babies in Kigali right now that the nuns have begun to ship them out to other areas of the country!
We do have a new foster placement, who is 6 mos. old today, and his name is Jacob (Jakee). He has been with us for 3 weeks now. Yes, a little crazy, we hadn't had a placement in 2 1/2 yrs.! He is so adorable, lovable and so cute! The girls really enjoy him and he them. I am just trying to get used to getting up a few times a night for feedings! I suppose this is God's way of breaking us in gently to the baby stage with one at a time instead of two at a time.
Well, we are done with the HGTV shoot for "My house is worth what?" and that should be airing sometime this fall, we'll let you know.
We are done with our camping trip of the summer and now we can chill out a little and begin planning for two more children. Thank you again for all the support in so many ways. Pete and I and the kids really appreciate it!
Heidi
Hi everyone, so sorry for the delay in posting new info.!
Ok, our fundraiser was a success and thanks to all who participated and/or worked, performed etc....!!!! We greatly appreciate all your efforts in helping make it such a successful event. A special "Thank You" to Shelley for organizing us and keeping track of all the items and the money!
"Thank you" to Dave and Bruce for the spectacular Magic show!!! Check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ for info. on a big show in Sunappee on July 18th and 19th.
"Thank You" to Jim Reidy for MC'ing our event, you did a fabulous job and I believe you are a natural! Thanks for the Fisher Cat's donation as well!!
Ok, we made over $4,000 at this fundraiser! We think we broke $4,400, but are still trying to square up with a few people.
We got our approval from the US Gov. to bring home to unknown orphans and our paperwork has been sent to the US Consulate in Nairobi, Kenya for the boys' visas.
We are now waiting on approval from the Rwandan Gov. which could be in a few days or a few months, it is really kind of quirky the way their system works.
We met Rich and Robin, the missionaries from Rwanda, yesterday at church. They reiterated that we were welcome at their home any time, that Kenya is quite safe and gave us advice on the best way to fly there. They also mentioned that there are currently so many babies in Kigali right now that the nuns have begun to ship them out to other areas of the country!
We do have a new foster placement, who is 6 mos. old today, and his name is Jacob (Jakee). He has been with us for 3 weeks now. Yes, a little crazy, we hadn't had a placement in 2 1/2 yrs.! He is so adorable, lovable and so cute! The girls really enjoy him and he them. I am just trying to get used to getting up a few times a night for feedings! I suppose this is God's way of breaking us in gently to the baby stage with one at a time instead of two at a time.
Well, we are done with the HGTV shoot for "My house is worth what?" and that should be airing sometime this fall, we'll let you know.
We are done with our camping trip of the summer and now we can chill out a little and begin planning for two more children. Thank you again for all the support in so many ways. Pete and I and the kids really appreciate it!
Heidi
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