And the traveling continues....

The whole crew left from the Port Au Prince airport around 5:50 this evening and landed successfully in Miami around 8:30.

All went well and they made it through customs and are now headed to the hotel to try and get some rest for a busy day of traveling tomorrow. They leave for Knoxville via Dallas (this makes a lot of sense AA!) at 10 am and will arrive in Knoxville a little before 6 pm tomorrow night!

Wow. Cant believe it is really and truly happening! I mean, I really can't.

Thanks for all your support and prayer!
Keep it comin!!

Kylie

Fini!

I am thrilled to announce that everything is officially finished (or fini in Creole)!!!! It's hard to believe, but I think I'll believe it in full when they are both here in their forever home at last (IN 4 DAYSSSS)!

They got the Visas in hand yesterday shortly after I posted and I just got a call from Mom saying that they had the exit (travel) papers in hand now!

We can all let out a sigh of relief! Thank you Jesus!

Since they don't fly into Miami until friday they get to rest and enjoy time with friends in Haiti for the next few days. They will be staying with a friend of ours, Megan Boudreax, who runs Respire Haiti in nearby Gressier (I highly recommend her blog blessedwithaburden.wordpress.com- its literally the only blog I follow). We love Megan and they are excited to have this down time with no worries for a few days before traveling.

While we are so thankful that the journey is virtually over, there is still the hassle of traveling and all that comes with it.

Please pray for a restful few days leading up to Friday. Pray for safe travels on Friday and Saturday. Pray for ease at the airport especially when going through customs! Also please pray for the many transitional aspects we are all about to experience (I listed a lot of them in "Joy in the Journey", an earlier post).

Thanks again, and I'll keep the updates coming in the next few days as I get them!

Also, if you are able we would love to have your support at the Knoxville airport Saturday at 5:30 pm (flight arrives at 5:50)!

Kylie

Safe and Sound

Lots of people have asked over the weekend about Mom, Dad, Kahler and Kiki's safety in the midst of the tropical storm.
They are completely fine! Just got hit with a lot of rain.
However, Haiti itself isn't quite so fine. The tent cities were hit hard. Lots of loss for those living in these communities due to flooding, etc.
Mom and Dad visited one yesterday and were able to help provide diapers and other immediate needs to a group of mothers with young children.

On the adoption front, everything should be wrapping up this week. We are hoping to have the visas in hand today and if not today should have them tomorrow. Then we wait for the travel papers which should only take a day or 2. And then (FINALLY- Mom and Dad are experiencing the longest 12 days of their lives!) they will all hop on a plane to Miami for the night on friday and head back to Knoxville Saturday (arrival time 5:50 pm).
Pray that all goes well this week and comes together quickly!

The kids left their home of the last 4 years, Children of Hope, yesterday for good! It was a bittersweet moment. The orphanage director was very sad to see them go, understandably so as she has loved and cared for them every day of the last 4 years. Kahler Ann was sad leaving her best friends behind. And Kiki just seemed happy to be with Mommy and Poppy (who knows how much he really understands the situation).

They are all in Port Au Prince now awaiting retrieval of the visas.
We (Brady, Colby and I) got to FaceTime with them last night and it was such a treat to see their faces (and their curiosity of the whole face-to-face chatting thing!).
Cant wait to finally be with them face-to-face!!!

Thanks for all your continued prayer and support! We couldn't do this without it! I have been overwhelmed by the continuous support and offers of help I have received since my parents left! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

5 DAYS TO GO!!!

Kylie

Approved!

Well, 1 step down. 1 to go!

This morning Mom and Dad took the kids to their Visa appointment at the embassy. All went well and they were approved! Praise God!

Now we wait to get the visas in hand and take them to get travel papers made. This should all happen at some point next week.

If all goes well (fingers crossed, praying hard!) they will ALL hop on a plane to Miami on Friday, August 31st. They will spend the night there and head back to the great state of TENNESSEE (Go Vols!) the next day (arrival time 5:50)!

Please pray for a speedy process with the visas and travel papers. Also, as you most likely know, Tropical Storm Isaac is headed directly to them in the next day or two. Luckily all that is expected is 20" of rain. Man that's a lot! So pray for safety amidst that storm as well!

Thanks for your support and I'll keep the updates coming as I get them!

So Close!

Well... It's really happening!

Mom and Dad left at 6:00am Haiti-bound this morning! They have arrived safely and are spending the night at the orphanage with the kids and some friends who are returning home with their son in just a few days.

I spoke with Mom tonight and she said that the kids were glued to their sides (in a good, not annoying way!). They were able to sit down and (FINALLY!) explain to the Kahler Ann and Kiki that they will never have to leave them again and that they will be going home with them this time! Unreal. They told them, via translator, about their new school, their teachers, etc. They seem very excited although they really have no idea what to expect.

The visa appointment at the embassy is Thursday (the 23rd) morning. Please be praying that all goes well and smoothly there.
Next comes several (2-5) days of waiting for the visas and travel papers. Again, please pray that there are no issues with getting them! This is literally the last step aside from getting them on the airplane home!

The boys and I are holding down the fort here at home. Preparing rooms, cleaning, trying to imagine what the next several weeks will look like.

We are so close! Please continue to be in prayer with us through this last week and a half of the actual adoption process as well as in the months to come adjusting to the incredible change in our family!

Their flight lands in Knoxville at 5:50 pm on Sept. 1st (which just so happens to be my 20th birthday...greatest gift ever!).
We would love for anyone and everyone who is available to join us in celebrating their homecoming at the Knoxville Airport that night! What a sweet picture it could be of the community these precious children are entering into!

I'll continue to post updates as I get them!
Thanks again for all of yall's support! We love and appreciate you!

Kylie

Joy In The Journey

It is truly unbelievable to think how close we are after feeling so far away for so long!

Mom and all three boys went and spent a week at the orphanage early/mid july. This was sweet time for the boys to spend with Kahler Ann and Kiki bonding before they come home. During this trip Mom was able to pick up the newly printed passport for Kiki and help to clarify which paper was still needed. This brought us one step closer!

Dad and Mom both spent about a week and a half in Haiti the last week of July. Dad had brought his summer interns to Gressier to work with a friend at Respire Haiti and Mom was there on business with Haiti Serve. Thankfully, during this time she was able to obtain the last paper needed and turn it in to the embassy. Meanwhile, stateside, Kelsey and I scrambled to get the last few things done. Since Kelsey turned 18 in June we had to have our home study updated and she had to get her fingerprints done in Nashville. Thanks to Bob Corker and his colleagues, the print appointment was expedited by about a week! The same day (friday) that she had her appointment, I got the final draft of our home study and fedexed it to its final destination! This meant that EVERYTHING was out of our hands and all there was to do was wait.

That brings us to today, August 2nd. This morning my mom got the following email:

This means that all we are waiting on now is our Visa date. We should be getting the date in about a week. Once we have the date, Mom and Dad will buy tickets to PAP, go to the Visa appointment, wait for the Visa and travel papers to be printed and hop on a plane to bring our family together under 1 roof!! 

It is so hard to wrap our minds around the fact that after 2 1/2 years of ups and downs and joys and sorrows it is finally happening! There is truly Joy in the Journey!

While the past couple years have seemed like an eternity it has also been such a sweet opportunity to invite you all into our journey. We are so thankful for your prayers, donations and support!

This being said, I want to invite you all into prayer with us in the weeks leading up to their homecoming and the years to follow! Below is a list of requests we have specifically for the coming weeks and years:

• Kahler Ann and Kiki's transition from third world to first world, from Creole to English, from being with tons of friends all day to having a forever family and making new friends, and all the other trillion details that will take getting used to in this new world!
• The adjustment for us from family of 7 to family of 9. That we would love them well, out of Christ's love for us. 
• That they would feel the comfort of Christ as they are in a new, unfamiliar world away from their "family" at the orphanage (the only one they've known for the past 4 years of their lives).
• That the Lord would bless us with wisdom and understanding to relate to where they are at as best as possible.
• That they would feel immediately at home and make friends quickly.
• Their transition into American school, in a different language and probably at a higher level than they're used to.

Again, Thank you! We can't wait to bring them home and share our lives here with them. We also can't wait for the hundreds of people who have been praying for them all along to meet the kids we have fallen in love with!

There have been so many bumps in the road of this adoption. So many that it seems that they highlight the path more than the triumphs do but I am so expectant for the day when we see the fruit of every hiccup; when we see just exactly why God had it planned to happen in such a seemingly difficult way! Because, I know, there is a reason for every single high and low of the journey we have been on. Some have been revealed already, some will be days, weeks, even years down the road and some never will be. But regardless, the journey has been purposeful. Every last bit of it. 

Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
Matthew 18:19
>>>Thank you for coming alongside us to pray for the Father to bring them home!

For He will rescue the poor who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalm 72:12-14

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Psalm 82:3

-Kylie