The last few days

Yesterday we got up at about 4:00 to be out of our room ready to go by 5:00. Kerwin woke up a little drowsy as usual but as soon as we told him we were going to the plane he perked right up and got ready in record time. The birth parents were going to meet us in the courtyard at 5:00. The driver was there to get us and all the interns were up to see us off but at 5:00 there were no parents. I went down to their room and they were still asleep. I knocked on the door and then they got up and started getting ready. We didn't get into the tap-tap to go until around 5:30. The tap-tap ride was bumpy as usual and I didn't really have a good place to sit so. There were three seats. The parents sat in two and Mike and Kerwin sat in another. I tried to get as comfortable as possible on the wheel. I ended up with bruises all over me. Half way to Port-de-Paix the tap-tap started making an awful noise and bumping even worse. I was just sure the tire was blown. However, I think it was just that something on the bottom of the truck had broken and was hanging down. So, we went on with it scraping along the bottom every time we bounced at all. When we got to the airport, the tap-tap driver helped us get checked in. We got our tickets and began to wait. By the time we got there we had already missed the first flight of the morning. However, we had also been to late to get put on the second flight which left shortly after we sat down. That meant that we had to wait for the first one to get all the way to Port-au-Prince pick up another load of people and come back. We ended up waiting for about 2 1/2 hours before we got on the plane. The flight was uneventful. Kerwin got to go up and sit with the pilot when we landed. He watched the pilot the whole time. He liked looking out the window but had a hard time seeing out. I had to keep picking him up to see things. When we reached Port-au-Prince I called Barb immediately. She said she would send her guy over to get us. The Evelyn (Kerwin's birth mom) had arranged to meet a relative at the airport. There was one older woman and a younger girl. The girl looked just like Evelyn. They could be sisters. I never found out because we can't communicate with them. They seem very nice and are kind to Kerwin. He doesn't really show any interest in them.

Barb's man, Johnny, arrived and took us to Barb's village. It consists of one lane, with concrete houses on either side (all the structures here are built of concrete) and a big fence surrounding the whole place. She has about 10 houses for women and children, a clinic building, her home, two storage facilities and an outhouse and shower. The houses are for street women and their children. She also has children that come to live in her village while they are waiting to be adopted. There are lots of kids running around everywhere. They are really cute. She has several Americans in right now doing some work around the place and helping watch some of the babies. We helped Barb around the village some yesterday and asked her some questions about our paperwork process. I helped her get some of our documents ready for our appointments this week.

Then she took us to a supermarket, it really was like a small American grocery store, so we could get some drinks for the room and things. Then we checked into our hotel. The hotel we are staying in is really nice. It's clean and modern and has good food. Our room has air conditioning and a TV. Barb and some of the other Americans stayed and had dinner with us and then they left. So yesterday Kerwin rode in an airplane for the second time, went to a supermarket for the first time, and went to a restaurant for the first time. He did great. He was very excited about the restaurant. He is behaving very well and is so happy every night. He seems very well adjusted to being a family.

Today we took the day off. Being the 4th of July (happy 4th everybody) we celebrated by sleeping in and swimming this morning. While we were at the pool, Barb showed up and offered to take us up the mountain to the Baptist mission for lunch. We changed and headed up with her. It was about a 45 minute drive from the hotel. We got to see a lot of the town. The Baptist mission has several businesses that help support it. There is a cafe, gift shop, bakery, museum and little zoo. We ate lunch which was delicious. I bought cookies and bread at the bakery and Kerwin and Mike went down to see the zoo. Barb did some business while we were up there with one of the orphanage directors. She also provides water purifiers to orphanages here in Haiti. Anyway, while we were eating, a group of American's arrived from another orphanage and low and behold two families that we know from Kentucky that are adopting were with the group. So we got to sit and talk with them for a while. It is so nice to be here. I feel like just being here we are going to accomplish more and we are meeting other families who are adopting. There are several families staying at the hotel from Canada who are adopting. It's been nice to swap stories with them. Okay back to this afternoon. On the way down the mountain, we picked up a baby that Barb is working on adopting out. Her adoptive mother is coming in this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, Mike's dad is coming down on Sunday. We are thrilled we have been here so long now, we are so ready for a piece of home. We are so thankful that he is coming down to provide moral and any other support he can.

That's all for today. We hung out this afternoon in the room. We ate dinner at the restaurant and I sat and talked with one of the adoptive moms from Canada.

Tomorrow the business starts. Tomorrow we go to the USCIS (formerly INS). We don't actually do much we just have to be there. The birth parents are really the ones that they interview. Please pray for this part. Before the USCIS we will be going to see a doctor for Kerwins physical. That's all I know of for tomorrow. Friday we will begin trying to get Kerwin's passport. We and another couple are going to go with a lawyer to the government office and just try to get them to sign our documents. I have no idea how this will turn out. We are planning to do this everyday until something happens. Again, prayers please.

Other than that we are all doing well. We all slept better last night than we have in a long time. I only woke up a few times and Kerwin didn't fall out of bed all night. I don't know if I'll sleep as well tonight. I'll try to update tomorrow after the appointment. Also, we've gotten a few pictures and I'll try to get them up tomorrow as well.