Today is Dec. 2 and our hopes and dreams of having the kids here by Christmas are seeming slim to none.  Renee' is in Haiti as i write and got to spend the day and night with the kids yesterday. She was at the American Embassy Monday morning to try to stir the waters on our papers and found out that they were not there to be stirred. After a phone call to our orphanage and our Haitian lawyer we found out that we had been given wrong information. Our stuff was dropped several weeks ago at Haitian immigration not US immigration. That was a real disappointment to say the least. THe short story is that we hope to have them at USICS by end of next week of the beginning of the following. We hope that is the case. It can still take many weeks (according to some, 60-75 days) once on there.  We are hoping for less but know it could be more.

This I do know: - It will happen eventually, the kids are in a good place in the meantime, God is in charge, I'm not crazy about His timing but have total trust in Him in this, waiting is hard, we are all ready to have these 2 little ones in our home.

Longing for the near future and the forever...

It has been quite some time since we have updated.  We have had lots of things going on in our world.

Today I am thankful for our hope in Christ for our future life...
As many of you know, my mom went home to be with the Father recently and we all miss her soo much!  She has left such a loving legacy in our family.  It does break my heart to know that our children from Haiti will never know Grandma Ann.  She was a Godly, Kind, Thoughtful Grandma!
We are so excited to announce that our 8 year old daughter's name is:  Kahler Ann Giflore Moldrup
We named her Kahler to honor our friends, Glenn and Nancy Kahler and well...it just fits with Kylie and Kelsey nicely.  The Ann is in honor of my mom and my sister Rita Ann who got to meet the Father first!
(and we do live in the South where you really should have a double name:)

The passports are final, the passports are final!  Yea!  Yippee!  Its about time!!
We are so thrilled that the kids Haitian passports have been issued and now all of their paperwork has been deposited at the US Embassy for final approval and visas.  We are in the home stretch now but know that it could still be a while.  Weeks?  Months?  We really don't know.  Please pray for our kiddos to get approval quickly and be able to be home soon.

Every time I go to visit, they have grown an inch!  Every time I go, I hope it will be the last time that I have to leave without them.

We are all trying to be patient but it is so hard.  Please pray for our friends, the Hogues who are bringing Wilby home to Kansas City.  Their paperwork got hung up in immigrations and they have not received his passport yet, even though it was submitted before ours.  We want Wilby home as much as our own!
 
I will post some pictures soon from Steve and I's last trip in September.  It was a very short visit but I was so thankful that Steve got to connect with the kids again.

Thank you for your prayers, we greatly covet them. We are so thankful for all of your encouraging words and prayers, they are helping to hold us up!  We know that these children are HIS and we are thankful that HE has them in His hands on this journey and always!

Renee' (A longing mama)

More Baby Steps...

Our papers continue to move forward little by little.  We have had quite a few steps taken since our last posting.(sorry it has been so long)    I(Renee') had an appointment at the US Embassy at the beginning of August to file our official papers there.  Everything went very well and was approved by the officials.

All of our papers have been through the legal systems now and are being translated into English so that they can all be taken to the US Embassy for the parental interview.  It is set for late September.
We will then apply for their Haitian passports and then wait for final approval from US and Visa to travel.  Not too many more baby steps and we will have our children home!

We are confident in God's timing but of course would love for it to be speedy.  All that to say, even though we don't have too many more steps...they all take time.

Great News!!

We received the e-mail that we have been waiting for from the orphanage director today...our papers are out of the first major step, IBESR and have moved on to the judicial courts in Haiti.  We are so thankful for this news and for steps forward to bringing those sweet kiddos home!  I will be seeing the kids for a day in August and can't wait to wrap my arms around them again.  Someday, it will be each night as they go to bed that we all get to wrap them in our arms.  I'll end with that hopeful thought! 
Thank you for your continued prayers, we need and appreciate them more than we can say!

MOVEMENT!

We just received an e-mail from the orphanage director today that said, "Our papers should be approved and out of IBESR(Haitian Social Services) soon and on to the Judicial Courts."  I hope that soon isn't too long!
We are not really dependent on a "time-line" at all, we are just so happy for movement.
Please pray with us that the process could possibly be swift from here on out!  Our adoption advocate and the orphanage directors have been amazing about keeping things headed in the right direction.
Yeah God!  We are resting in his peace today...
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

To LOVE Deeply is to Hurt Deeply

I know that I can do this for as long as it takes to get our sweet kiddos home but...it is breaking my heart.  Each time that I go to visit, there are always tearful goodbyes, I leave a piece of myself across the ocean in that small town with the two children that live way too far away from us.  We are all aching for them to be home with us but...it is a long journey.
Today, I am thankful for and humbled by a Lord that has chosen us to be parents to seven wonderful children!  Today I am so deeply saddened that we are not all in one place-yet.  Today I am believing that one day we will be.  Today I am wondering just how long it might take.  Today I am thankful that we have a God that holds each one of us, no matter where we live and loves us in a mighty way.
May you love deeply and embrace the love of our Father deeply today.

The Moldrup family - all 9 of us together

We had the great privilege 2 weeks ago, on our spring break, of taking our whole family to Haiti.  We cashed in all our frequent flyer miles and got creative but were able to all be there together.  It was Cooper's first time in a plane and the boys first time in another country.  More importantly it was their first time to meet Kiki and Giflore. We stayed and worked at The Apparent Project - one of our favorite ministries there in Haiti. Check them out at http://www.apparentproject.org/. I won't bore you with the details but I will give you some highlights for me (Steve).

About 2 weeks before the trip Kylie posted on her Facebook page that she couldn't wait to have all the Moldrups together for the first time - all 9 of us!  That was really the first time that it hit me - all 9 of us together! What a joy.

We got to have the kids with us for the entire week from Sunday to Friday. On Monday we figured out that Giflore had chicken pox. She had them all 5 days but for 2 days she was miserable and wanted to crawl out of her skin.  We felt so sad and helpless. Highlight? Kylie loved that little girl so well - scratching, holding, calamining, bathing, sleeping with, reading to this poor little girl for 5 days.  It was a really sweet picture of her love for G motivated out of her love for Jesus. Rich!

Brady is a kid magnet - always has been.  He is so good with little kids and they absolutely love him.  Kiki was no different.  Brady was so excited to meet him for the first time. I explained in my broken Creole that this was "fre" - brother. Brady and Kiki connected. Another Brady image in my mind was in a neighborhood that we were in to help create and attach gutters on a church and some houses that AP has built for some of their artisans. At one point I looked at Brady with 7 little Haitian kids climbing all over him and him wrestling with them all with such love. Beautiful!  Brady was broken and weeping as we dropped the kids back at the orphanage on Friday. Very sweet and makes a dad very proud. He came back and, on his own, has set up his room for Kiki -bed and all.  I think that is one of the coolest prayers to the Father to make this happen quickly.

Kelsey Belle was excited to have her first overnights with the kiddos.  She is so natural and loving with all children!  Her highlight with the kids was getting to know their personalities over the few days that we were together.
Watching Cooper and Colby engage with and love their new sister and brother was really cool too.  They were both so sweet and kind.  They are genuinely excited about our growing family and pray with more depth for this process to happen quickly. I'm thrilled because at some level I somehow think that God listens to their prayers more closely than mine.

We got to celebrate Giflore's 8th birthday with a cake and a little party.(her first ever) Picture below.

As we left Children of Hope we took a Moldrup family photo (posted above) It's a great pic and hope to be taking one in Knoxville soon!

We just got word tonight that our papers are on their way to the government offices. Such good news. We have no real clue how long it will take but we are thrilled for the movement. Will keep you posted.

Steve