Needless to say we spent a great deal of Saturday and really the weekend distracted, excited, and also tearful. I can't really describe what it is like to know that they have seen us and learned a little bit about our family and I really can't explain why it is such a huge deal for us, but it is. It really makes us feel so much more connected to them and just makes things feel so much more certain.
I am going to copy some of the letter from the orphanage, not all of it as some of it should remain a little private for Judith and Kerby's sake. I will also post what we think are some of the most gorgeous pictures ever !!! :) The family book is a scrapbook that Molli jo made for them. They each got a present from us. Judith's is the black and pink outfit, locket necklace, and more necklace beads. Kerby got the green and navy outfit and a pack of legos.
Here is the letter :
Hello Rori & Ryan,
So Judith anticipated her birthday all week long…. She even painted a picture of what she wanted her cake to look like, originally bright orange . But then when it came down to it and she told me what she wanted it was different. Purple cake and pink frosting. Joyce got her a special sparkler candle to go on the top which freaked her out, she thought it was going to light the table on fire!
Judith’s birthday party celebration involved the oldest kids at the GLA Toddler House who also happen to be the kids in her morning English class, so the whole class got the morning off in honor of her day (also in trying to keep it on par with Kerby’s birthday just the week before and they had gotten the morning off due to the teams) At 11am we started her party. Joyce and I met with Judith and Kerby before the planned celebration.
We told them of you, something like this: “You do have a new family. The two of you together. Your family is very excited to take you home with them and teach you all the things that their family does and how they do it, to love you, to call you brother, sister, son, and daughter. Your family has had to do a lot of paperwork, and talk to a lot of people, and wait a long time already. Now all their papers are here in Haiti and we have to wait for your papers to be done. It will take a lot lot longer before your family can come and get you, but they wanted very badly for you to have photos of them like they have photos of you. So you can begin to love them from afar like they love you.” The whole time they are just silent. No questions just starting at Joyce and I, Kerby grinning, Judith smiling timidly. (That right there gives you a little window into their personalities.)
And then we let them open their photo album. Judith grabbed it up and you could tell she didn’t want to be the second one to notice anything about the photos. Kerby just took it in. I won’t go into more detail because we filmed it and I will email it through YouSendIt.com right after I send this out. They would have poured over it forever… but then we told them the gifts were from you as well and they pounced.
They were so thrilled with your pkgs, and the clothes fit them very well. Great job on the sizes. They changed into them right away. Kerby wore his for the day and then carefully put it away for special times. He wears the shorts off and on, but usually pulls out the shirt just for days he really wants to look nice. Judith wears her outfit as often as it is clean. And considering we do laundry every day she wears it almost that often.
They posed for photos, just radiating joy. Then when Joyce asked if they were ready yet for the kids and the party, they both agreed, and Judith ran out and called Eunise, Edelyne, Johanne, Montesuqieu, Rilinxe, and Endy to come. The first thing they wanted to do was show YOU off of course. They showed their album to the kids they are closest too, and just briefly explained who was in the photos. It was really much quieter time than I expected, everyone was happy for them, real photos of a real family, it was really happening! They are the first in their peer group to have an album and faces to put with their new family. I think they would have just looked and looked but we steered them back to the table and the rest of the party continued though it was definitely nothing special after the news and items that preceded it. Judith opened her presents. Happy and grateful for each thing as she unwrapped them. She asked Kerby to stay and sit with her and would have even let him open gifts for her if we had let her. They really needed to be next to each other, and even later that day when they usually would have been playing apart they stuck closer together. Then we had cake. Joyce lit the special candle she had gotten her and Judith jumped back. She told her that the cake was going to light on fire with such a big flame and then laughed unsurely at herself and how close she was getting to it. We sang, and sang, and let sparkler burn down till it was almost out and then she blew. She served the first piece and then let me take over. The kids had cake and by this time it was after lunch so they all ran down, got their plates and then settled in to watch “The Princess and the Frog”. It was the first time they seen it, and we had to monitor it because of the “magic” that every child is surrounded by people believing in in Haiti we have to be very careful about what pretend magic we show in movies. Judith liked the movie, but with the amount I had to fast forward in it, I am not sure they all understood it exactly. Its magic is too close to the evil magic they have all heard about so I’ve passed the movie on and we won’t be watching it again. The kids like to stick with the Air Bud movies for now.
Thanks for your patience! Hope that this gives you a little window into what happened, and I hope the video will send to you without much difficulty. It should be fairly small in file size, it is 2.5 minutes long.
Photos are attached.
Blessings to you on this Easter weekend….
Molly
