Ta Comes to Haiti!

Whoops! I have tried to post at least once a month since the start of this blog but just totally missed the month of February! I meant to post this two days ago, but our full house won over my blogging intentions. One reason for the lack of blogging is that I've been spending that time with our many visitors. We have had several friends and family come to stay with us during January and February. 


Three members of the Bonacquisti family blessed our lives with their presence for two weeks in January. Jeremy and his wife Tamara were facebook friends and a fellow adoptive family that we connected with a year before our move to Haiti. They helped start and run a clinic in the countryside and have made many trips to Haiti (spending most of the last year here). They have quite the adoption testimony and we have bonded over the difficulties shared in the long journey to bring our kids home. Their 13 year old Haitian daughter Isemelda (who we affectionately call "Lala"...reminding me of my sweet baby niece Talia whose nickname is also Lala) was such a joy to have around the house. I felt like she was here just for me as it lessened the pain of not having our girls with us during this time (after getting used to them being around during the Christmas holidays). We were very encouraged by Lala's amazing fluency in English and to see how well she has bonded to her adoptive family. She also amazed us with her knowlege of Haiti geography as we could go anywhere with her and never get lost! Our boys really enjoyed having Christian to play with as well! We praise the Lord for word just yesterday that Lala has received her I-600 approval and that they should be able to take her home to Illinois sometime next week! We are so, so happy for them! 

We left the Bonacquisti's for our Quisqueya staff retreat weekend at the beach where we enjoyed time with our boys, Haiti missionary friends, and our retreat speakers who are missionaries in Quito, Equador. We returned after a full weekend to get ready for our next house guest arriving on Monday. 

We first met the Roberts family at an "If You Were Mine" adoption training seminar two years ago. They are from our neck of the woods in Texas and we were matched with our adoptive children (from the same orphanage) around the same time. Dean Roberts was with me on my very first trip to Haiti in April of 2010. Melissa was on my second trip (Eric's 1st) in June of 2010. This time Melissa came to Haiti with their 11 year old daughter Natalie and they were able to stay with us! Their adoptive children arrived on Tuesday morning and we had the most precious time with them all! Once again (aside from having the fellowship of my sweet friend) I felt this time was God's mercy in the grief of missing my girls. Melissa was overjoyed at having the chance to bond with her adoptive children in a home environment outside the orphanage and seeing another side to life in Haiti. Please pray for the Roberts family and their adoption process that has been held in IBESR with no progress for the past 10 months. This is extremely hard. There are other families like the Roberts both at our girls orphanage and adopting elsewhere in Haiti who share this same hardship. Once again, please pray. Pray for those processing adoptions and the officials who govern this system in Haiti as well. 

Next up was our long awaited visit from my mother Beverlee whom her grandkids lovingly call "Ta". The name "Ta" is short for "Safta" which is the Hebrew word for grandma. The story behind the name goes like this. When I was a little girl we lived in Jerusalem, Israel. I went to a Hebrew speaking pre-school and called my mom "Ima" and my dad "Abba" like all the other children. Skip ahead about 23 years and I'm near ready to present my parents with their first grandchild. I kept getting cards at my umpteen baby showers from my mother signed "Ima". I was like, "ok, so if you want your grandma name to be Hebrew, then what is the Hebrew word for grandma?" Mom wrinkled her nose up and said, "Safta". I said, "then Safta you shall be"! So my parents are Saba (meaning "grandpa") and Safta. But when our Ethan (1st grandchild) was learning to talk he couldn't say Saba and Safta so he just shortened the names to "Ba" and "Ta". The names stuck and every grandchild that has followed has called them Ba and Ta. These names seem so fitting and natural to our family now that we sometimes forget they aren't common grandparent names...until we have to explain why we call them that to their adopted grandaughters. We thought the reason our girls giggled whenever they called their grandparents "Ba" and "Ta" was simply that they were unusual and silly names. What we didn't know until a few months ago was that the words "ba" and "ta" are actual words with actual meanings in Creole. And the funny thing is that the meanings totally fit with the personalities of their grandparents who share those names! Ba in Creole is a form of the verb "bay" meaning "to give". If you know my dad, you know that he loves to give gifts to his children and grandchildren. Ta in Creole means...are you ready for this..."late". My mom will never live this one down as she is usually and notoriously late! However, on this long awaited day our dearest Ta was not late. Her plane was right on time and we were all very ready to have her with us. This was the girls first time meeting their Ta! It was also our school spring break (due to Mardi Gras otherwise known as Carnaval in Haiti) so we all had the week free to take Ta to our favorite spots in Haiti. Below are some pictures from our special time! 

The day Ta left we had more friends come to stay! The King family whom we knew from when we lived in Mexia, Texas four years ago (Chris, Tracy, and their two oldest kids Carter and Kynlee) had already been in Haiti for nearly a week and spent the last part of their trip with us...lucky us! We expect to see them again very soon...Lord willing! Please pray for provision as the Lord seems to be leading their family this direction! Whohoo! Whose next?

4 grandkids waiting outside the Port au Prince airport ready to catch sight of their Ta. 

Ta is here!

Long awaited hugs!

Ta brought lots of goodies!

The girls spent the next hour modeling their new outfits for us!

Elita Marguerite proudly showed Ta how well she is reading both in Creole and in English!

We took Ta to the beautiful land of Belot.
It was Elita and Esmée's first time to visit the mountaintop too!

We had a picnic lunch at the top of the mountain with the Oostland's whose family was visiting from Holland. 

We thank you Lord for the ability and freedom to run and breathe the clean mountain air...

...and spend time with our Ta!

After our time at the top of the mountain we ventured down to make a stop at the Baptist Mission.
We were blessed to spend time with Wallace and Eleanor Turnbull who founded the Baptist Mission. They have been missionaries in Haiti for 60 years and wrote the books we have been using to learn Creole.We discovered that the Turnbull's only live about a mile from my parents in Lynchburg, Virginia and work with Haitian students at Liberty University where my father is a professor! My mother was very excited to talk with them about this program and find that they share many of the same dear friends. We had a wonderful time visiting with the Turbull's and learning from their many years of wisdom in Haiti where they still spend much of their time.

Mom might not like me posting this photo, but I just had to record this! Our boys and girls took turns sleeping with Ta each night. The girls had a really special time bonding with their grandmother for the first time. 

And there is no better place to bond than the beach! 

We were invited by a new friend who lives beachside to come and hang out with her family. We much enjoyed spending time with Heather's family including her many, many children....which Ta loved getting her hands on!

We visited an orphanage nearby that our friend Heather started.
Ta loved holding the precious babies there too!

More fun in the sun...

...with those we love!

Mom said, "I think this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been". And if you happen to know my mother then you know she has been to A LOT of places! I have to agree. There are some places in Haiti that are the most beautiful I have ever been to too!

And the morning after we returned from the beach, this is what I found when I woke up. Ta hired these massage therapists who were desperate to earn a trip to the toy store.
(I'm sure she won't like this posting either...but I can't resist!)

Surely she won't mind me posting this one of my beautiful mother and my school bound boys!

Saying bittersweet goodbyes the morning Ta has to go.

Lord willing we will see Ta again very soon.
The girls seemed worried about the next time they will see their Ta and long for the day they will get on the big airplane as well. 

Please continue to pray with us for the day we can fly away together!

Remember, you can always come see us too!