Hello,

It is almost 2 months since I wrote last - with the good news that Chania was out of IBESR. I really thought the next letter I would write you all would be with info on tickets bought. NOT SO! 

I'm in Haiti. What more needs to be said?????

Chania's papers took longer to be finalized than expected. After the St Marc courts approved the adoption, it had to be sent to Northern Haiti since that's where she was born, for the adoption decree to be made there. But we got that done, and at that time I was still hopeful to be on the plane this month. 

Then the news: the Immigration officer got fired, and with the new one, new staff brought in. Now my lawyer lost all her inside contacts to speed things up. She told me this could take as long as end of July or August to get the passports. Not news that I wanted to hear. I really feel my time is up here. Money's running low, and I'm starting to worry. But I believe God has a plan, and I'm still in it!  

The passport stage means: first the adoption papers have to be taken to the Ministry of the Interior to get legalized. Then to the Ministry of the Exterior. After that to the immigration. Caleb's is through both Ministries and ready for Immigration. Chania's is through the Interior already and in the Exterior right now. Hopefully that won't take too long!!! Caleb's took a couple months for both. Which should not be necessary.

So not sure how long the Immigration will take with it's new people. I called the Canadian Embassy for help, and they said things are back to normal, so hopefully it will be in decent time. Please pray that this will get finished before end of July. I really don't have the money to pay another month's rent here, and I'm good till July 23. :) Surely that's enough time!! It's starting to feel like an unreal dream to think I can go to Canada with my babies. So many setbacks! And here mine was suppose to be a fast, easy adoption! But it seems every high official of a department got fired during my adoption time. First, the Judge for Caleb (He was through IBESR in September already, originally). Then the President (of the country) changed (that sets everything back). Then the IBESR director got fired. And now the Immigration director. Makes me wonder if there's a reason God is trying to keep me here. Or if I'm doing such a great thing is adopting these kids that the devil is hindering it all he can. Or maybe it's just 'HAITI'.

My little energetic climber!!!

Chania is almost a year. Getting more interested in the world around her.
 


Ready to go to Canada!

Heather threw me an Adoption Celebration party, and took time to bless me and my family as we start this family together.

Meanwhile these last 6 weeks or so I've been busy. I mentioned in my last letter that I was taking in 2 babies. For those who don't keep up on Facebook, Andrew did excellently. The scrawny 4 month old is a chunky 5 month old now. Not fat, but heavy and solid. Still struggles with Bronchiolitis a lot, but he is such a HAPPY baby; he grabs everyone's hearts when he smiles. He's still waiting to find a family for adoption.

















Daniel, the little one year old has had a struggle but is doing very well right now. We had to urgently admit him with an intestinal blockage, though it didn't seem like a big problem at the hospital. I am wondering if they gave me the correct child report. He was so sick when we took him in, and then they brought him home with a 104.8 F fever, which went up to 105.1 later. I could not believe they'd send him home like that. I called the hospital next day, and they said he hadn't been sick at all in the hospital. Hard to understand hospitals here!!! He did get better next day, but had a random day of fever several days later, so am thinking there might still be something wrong with him. But now he seems to be doing good. We got him on a special formula for malnourished babies that can't eat the Mamba/plumpy nut. He did well on that, and has gained more than a kilo since I got him, which is good, considering he weighed less than 6 lbs.  Last weight a couple weeks ago he was already 8.5 lbs. Little by little. 

Then 3 weeks ago, Heather added another baby girl to my household - almost 3 month old that was found abandoned in the worse section of Port au Prince. Apparently a woman recognized the baby and reported her to the police/IBESR. When she got here, Heather called me to check her, saying she was dying. She did look bad. She was extremely dehydrated. By morning she was much better and the next day was brought to me. She has thrived on regular feedings, her skin has pretty well healed, and she has become a beautiful baby.

Rosemita, the evening she arrived

Thursday morning all three babies were moved up to another apartment on the 3rd floor. Since my plan had been to do this temporarily, and planning to leave soon, Heather made other arrangements, before she leaves for the summer. She is developing a little foster care system, with a little more one on one for some of the babies. They do well with that. (by the way, if anyone wants to come take care of a child for at least 3 months, get in touch. There will probably always be openings :)

So today felt quite empty. Kind of nice though, I'll admit. Since I still didn't sleep well last night with the babies, I had hoped to get a nap in, but .... I still have two little ones. :) Caleb kind of misses them. I'm glad they're close so we can go visit.

Most of my friends here have gone home for the summer too, so it feels kind of empty. But there's always more people to meet and get to know, and there still are some friends here.

So this is where we are right now, STILL WAITING! Please pray for patience for me, as that is getting harder and harder, the closer it gets. And pray that God would have his way with me during this time, that I can use it to grow more in HIM!

Haiti 2012

Greetings from Haiti!

Yes, I'm still here. I noticed I haven't written on here since around New Years. Since many of you have followed my Kornelsen Adoption Saga emails, I guess there hasn't been that much else to say here.

I am still playing the waiting game. I'm thinking I must have a major lesson in patience and trusting God to learn here! The letters that we finally were able to apply for in January, after the Embassy "learned" how to do the procedures are still sitting in BC, waiting to be sent - 3 months later!!!! The only consolation I have is that I know they have been written. The frustration is in, why aren't they sending them, since it takes 3-4 weeks? I know why, but it still is frustrating, because someone didn't do their job!!! They had a confusion on Chania's name, and were putting everything on hold till it was confirmed. The problem was, nobody knew they were waiting on that. But I wrote a confirmation this weekend, to be sent tomorrow, so hopefully that will clear up the issue. And HOPEFULLY they will send a copy electronically, so I don't have to wait the full 3-4 weeks. I think Chania's adoption is waiting only for this.

Chania, 8 months old.

For those of you who didn't know, Caleb's adoption got signed Feb 6 and less than a week later I got all the paperwork. I still need to make him a Haitian KORNELSEN passport, but I'm kinda waiting for Chania's to do them together.

I took both of them into Port a few weeks ago and got a medical done that had to be done by a specific doctor since it was for the Canadian immigration. These forms get sent to Canada to be reviewed by a doctor there, and they told me it takes 6 weeks. Sadly, at the rate we're going, that shouldn't be a problem getting them back on time.

Caleb, 24 months

The weather's been getting warmer, and we've started going into the pool more this week. For awhile, believe it or not, the water was just too cool. I haven't taken Chania in for a long time, because she was having so much trouble with Bronchiolitis. But thankfully after hitting her 6 month mark, she hasn't had a bad episode. Before that, she seemed to have it every month. They say they outgrow it but can keep getting it up to 2 years. I've also been more diligent in suctioning her if she is too stuffed, and that has helped tons!!!!

Yesterday, The Canadian Embassy put on a 'meet and greet' here at the bar at Club Indigo. They've put "wardens" in each area and this was so those of our area could get to know each other betther. So basically a 60 km range maybe of Canadians were invited and some of the Embassy staff of course. The Ambassador and his wife were there too. Had never met him before; I was always dealing with the Vice-Consular. It was fun. First drink was on the Embassy.

Caleb had fun playing with his friend Olivia Rolling, but Chania on the other hand wouldn't go to any stranger, except for Ed Cashman (Vice Consul). We've met several times, and he knows my kids. :)

Canadian Ambassador Henri-Paul Normandin

On Wednesday, the President here signed a new law, initiating Daylight Savings time and yesterday (Sat) he announced it to the country, affective TODAY!!!! Talk about quick work!! I personally can't see why. The light doesn't change THAT much. I guarantee a lot of people had no idea about it. Apparently Haiti has tried it before in differnet administrations, but it's never been very successful. I'd be surprised if it were now. But I suppose it's more useful in the city than here in the country, where people rise with the light and go to bed when it gets dark, since few people have electricity. I don't think this will change those people's lifestyle much. :)

Another thing that has happened here in the last couple months is an English Christian church was born. They've named it Montrouis International Fellowship. I do believe there was a need for this, because there are so many English speaking people in this area. Even if you're involved in your ministry, it's just good for missionaries and anyone to go get an English message and worship once in awhile. I'm hoping it will cut down on so many missionary problems. Watching all the other missions around here, I've been amazed how Satan attacks everyone! And usually it is in relationships, often if not usually with other missionaries. Instead of binding together, the opposite so often happens. That is definitely something to pray about when you pray for "missionaries".

I've been really enjoying going to these. Didn't know how much I missed it. And God has been speaking to me a lot through this.

The Red Cross has been setting up these huge tents in the (my) backyard. (I can't see the sunsets now :( ha!) They've even 'built' a couple small buildings/lean-tos. I expect this week they'll be having a huge seminar or something. Can't believe they would have so many people working for over a week setting up, just for a 4 day seminar, so maybe there's information I'm not privy to. I do kind of hope these tents won't be here for very long.

The Reeves family (my neighbors) moved away from here last week. They found a house in St Marc. It's so empty without them. Poor Caleb has been missing them SO MUCH! Every day, often after climbing in my bed in the mornings, waking me up, he'll turn up his hands and shrug and say "where Justice?". Justice is his age, and they played together SO MUCH. He's trying to compute why people he knows aren't around. He'll to that with other friends lately too. One being Naomi, who's teaching at Canaan. She comes and spends the night almost every other week, so she's a "regular" here, especially when she leaves a towel or something that Caleb recognizes as hers. "Where Yaomie?" Then he'll answer is own question "Yaomi bye bye", or whoever he's talking about. It's kind of sad :( He's definitely feeling it, not having playmates around. Still, he's able to play by himself too and that's good. I just have to spend more time outside with him. Before, the Reeves' nanny would watch him sometimes too, so I could do things inside.

As you can tell, my babies are my life right now, so that's what I write about (lol). They are growing so much, and I'm really blessed to be able to spend my time with them now. Caleb is picking up on a lot of words; my he's gonna be a jabber box! Chania at 8 months, is finally learning to roll from belly to back!!! Took her awhile. She sits well though, and now that she's learned she can move herself, she's picking up fast. Sitting, she'll lunge toward what she wants. Not so safe on the bed/couch anymore! I love watching Caleb's reaction when she reaches out for him; he turns all gentle and lets her do whatever she wants. Even laughs when she grabs his hair. She loves to eat, and gets so impatient when the spoon isn't right at her mouth the minute she's swallowed!

OK, by now you're probably thinking making it up for not writing for so long by writing a long one isn't worth it :) so I'll let you go. Ha!

Thanks for reading, and please say a prayer for Chania's adoption to be finished quickly and for me to have patience!!! Thank you!

Elsie Kornelsen

2011/2012

Hello, everyone!

Here's hoping everybody spent happy holidays, and is ready to face a new year! I personally can say I'm excited to see what this new year will bring. Yes, I have several plans. But continue to remember that God directs our lives and I want to walk in that plan.

Some of the things I hope to see happen this year are 1) finish my two children's adoptions 2) move to Canada 3) visit Costa Rica at some point with my babies. 3) find a place to live 4) find a way to support myself and kiddos

I think that's a lot of changes for a year, and though some of them a bit scary, they're also exciting.

I find a look at a new year very different than I used to. Now, my thoughts go to "I wonder if anything drastic, any 'act of God' will happen this year". I always remember 2010, and how shortly into the year, with the earthquake, all of a sudden my life looked SO different. So many changes happened in less than a minute, that affected so many people. Could something like that happen again? Praying nothing so fatal, but it is exciting to think life couldchange in an instant, or over the year,in a good way just as well.It is so wonderful to know our livesour in God's hands and and He has a plan. But I also remember, if I want something tohappen, I may have to be the one to take a step of faith. 4 years ago I did that, and it definitely changed my life drastically over the long term. To the point that now I am a motherand responsible for two precious little souls!

Looking back over the last year, it's hard to believe it really is a year. So many things happened, especially emotionally for me. As a quick recap, I went from living at Canaan with a 10 month old last January, relating to a group of missionaries as well as kids and Haitian staff, to a trip home in May, to moving to my apartment in June, to starting Caleb's adoption in July, to getting newborn-size 7 week old Chania in August, to having relatives (my mom and a cousin) come visit in Sept, to patiently and impatiently waiting for the adoptions to go through to where I am now. A great year!

One thing that stands out to me that God was teaching me this last year is RELATIONSHIPS! A lot of drama and testing in that area!!! I did learn a lot, and hopefully I can go on and apply that to my life in the coming years.

Using a ticket somebody had given me, I was able to join friends for a meal at Club Indigo for Christmas eve. It was lovely! They had the candlelight tables set up by the pool. Being close, I was able to put tired Caleb to bed after he ate and return to finish dinner.

Loves her little doll. It's soft, and also like a little rattle.

Caleb has learned matching. He can now match a puzzle like this of animals. Hasn't quite learned how to make them fit.

LOVES swings.

Christmas day we went over to the Creshe. I enjoyed their little service, and all the kids got a nice gift. They were so excited. That's an awesome place! After an early lunch there, Kris and I went over to other friends of ours, where those of us missionaries that meet regular that stayed here for the holidays got together for a wonderful Christmas dinner. Awesoeme!

Both babies were sick the week after Christmas. Caleb got sick with fever on Christmas day. Monday he was fine again, and Tuesday and Wed. fever again. Chania had been coughing again for quite awhile. So I found my way to the clinic, where a Doctor friend of mine was visiting for a week. Caleb had an ear infection - easy to get rid of, and it happened to take away his runny nose as well. What a relief! He was like a faucet. Chania's problem may be a little longer lasting. Bronchiolitis. Doctor said she could be getting this very frequently till she's two or more. Don't like that! She is so congested and can't get rid of it. I've been trying to Nebulize her, but don't think it really makes a huge difference. She got worse but today her choking coughing episodes were a little less I think, so maybe she's getting better.

Kris juggling feeding Clare and Cole at the same time.

Yesterday, My friend Kris came over to spend the weekend with her two kids (1 year old twins) she's adopting. Caleb loved having company, but doesn't quite know how to treat them. Kris brought food for soup and salad and we invited another couple over for supper last night. Man, she's a good cook! That baked potato soup was amazing!!!! Then this morning she made breakfast. I don't mind having someone else cook in my kitchen :), if it can be called that! I keep the food simple. The day went fast! Our friend Heather joined us before lunch and afterwards we did a movie and had great chats. Since we're all adopting, we have a lot in common!!! It was great to spend the weekend with friends.

Oh, and last night, at midnight, I saw a new thing (probably common to a lot of you, but a first for me). Club Indigo put on a HUGE party, and gave everyone what I call a burning paper air balloon. I'm sure they have an official name but I don't know what it is. It's like a 3 ft or more paper? balloon, open at the bottom, connect to something that they lighted. That fire propelled the balloon into the air, all lighted up. They had hundreds of them, so they sky filled with floating, bright lights. SO beautiful!!!! Of course, I always enjoy the fireworks as well. Not so much their extremely loud music till 3 a.m. Didn't seem to mind the kiddos. All 4 slept right through it!!!

Excited for the coming 2012 year!!!

God bless and guide and protect you all!!!!

Elsie, Caleb, & Chania