That’s right we are home!
We got home on Tuesday, April 10 to this amazing crew of support!
It was a wonderful way to be loved on and cared for!
The Fisher Five Forever
I did a
I promised, and I want to keep that promise, to share some of our journey for those of you who have prayed and supported us along the way. I’ve been documenting lots of milestones through pictures on Instagram and Facebook so if you don’t follow me there, it would be a good step to do if you’d like to see the progression of this journey now that she is home. I really am going to try to do a better job of blogging at least for the first year but I can’t promise much because when I go back to work all bets are off. ;)
So, here we go....
The trip began on Thursday April 5th. It started off with a bang as we slept through my alarm and were awoken to a knocking on our door at 5:18am (18 minutes past our planned leaving time). For those of you who know how important it is for me to be on time, you can imagine the chaos that ensued. Alas, our dear friend Nick delivered us to the airport on time and we safely made it out of RDU on our 7:05 flight! The Lord then graced us with the opportunity to fortuitously meet another family adopting from the same orphanage as us waiting for the fight to Haiti (thanks Facebook!). We landed in Haiti around 1pm knowing we would pick up our visa at the Embassy on Friday and then be off to pick up Lonise forever! (FYI autocorrect always changes her name to Louise 😂). We knew that was our one final night to relax so of course it took 1 1/2 hours to get the room safe batteries changed before we could go out and about. It was a true Haiti experience (it involved lots of screw drivers when all that was needed was an allen wrench! HA). Our hotel was just what we needed, we had a true Haitian dinner and enjoyed the view of the lands. Check out these incredible houses in the mountain side!
Friday April 6th - Gotcha Day!
We were up bright and early for breakfast and our awesome driver was there precisely at 7:45! The plan was to head to the US Embassy to pick up her Visa and all our paperwork, stop for a few things at the grocery store and then head to the orphanage for a likely quick pick up/farewells and head back to the hotel for the remaining days! We arrived to the Embassy around 8:50 and it was oddly empty. They had told me they had a modified schedule that day but to come between 8:30 and 11 and we would be good! We hoped out of the car (no electronics allowed or I would have pictures) and headed up to the first security check point. The guard looked at me the following conversation ensued:
Guard: Why are you here?
Me: To pick up our daughters Visa.
Guard: Well we aren't really working today
Me: Smiling - I am here to pick up our daughters Visa.
Guard: We aren't really working today, do you have an appointment?
Me: They said to come anytime between 8:30 and 11:00.
Guard: Reluctantly sent us through
Security Checkpoint # 2 (Different security guard):
Guard: Why are you here?
Me: To pick up our daughters Visa.
Guard: Well we aren't really working today
Me: Smiling - I am here to pick up our daughters Visa.
Guard: We aren't really working today, do you have an appointment?
Me: They said to come anytime between 8:30 and 11:00 so I am here to pick up her Visa.
Guard: Sighs, picks up the phone, speaks in Creole and then motions us through the metal detectors.
It appeared as if they were training workers that day because we passed an American giving a tour explaining a new mural designed to promote the stoppage of gender based violence in Haiti. We headed over to the assigned counter (#25) and waited for them to finish a group meeting. I hoped over to the restroom and they were ready for me when I got back. The US side of the adoptions process at the Embassy was THE kindest group of people in the process. They were truly amazing! 5 minutes later, she hands us all our paperwork and a lollipop and this mama had tears in my eyes!
We headed out, off to the store for water, bread and peanut butter (to not eat out so much) and a few other things. We then hoped in our car and had the quickest journey to our orphanage to date! We stepped out of the car and it was just like it was 16 months before, eerily similar! We walked in, were surrounded by lots and lots of Little's and then I began a fairly complex conversation with our translator and and orphanage worker about a mix up regarding the last piece of documentation we needed. I will save that story for another day but suffice it to say it caused our visit to the orphanage to be about 3 hours long of waiting, wondering and some undue stress!
While in the midst of discussing, Daniel was down with the kiddos and I hear "Jennie"... and then another little girl starts tapping my leg and she and Daniel are both saying "Lonise". Little bit had snuck into the middle of the chaos and was just standing there. I stopped talking, bent down, said Bonjou Baby, kissed her sweet cheek and picked her up.
It was NOTHING like we anticipated, but since when has this journey been? Here is our first picture together! I cropped out a dear blessing on this journey that we will share about one day!
I have so much more to share, but it's late... please stay tuned as I plan to blog more about these first two weeks soon!
