6 months ago

It's been six months since the earthquake in Haiti. My heart is heavy for the many people still there struggling just to survive day by day.

I was thinking back and remembering the roughly 2 hours we waited to hear whether our kids were ok, the email from our agency telling us that our wait could now be much longer than the 18-24 months we were expecting so we were free to back out if that was too long for our family to wait and us knowing that Saraphina and Olivier were the children God had chosen for our family - how crazy that we would end up getting our kids just 11 days later!

We are so thankful for the blessing of Saraphina and Olivier joining our family early that we received out of this tragedy. We also continue to be touched by the amazing stories of people and organizations making a difference in Haiti. Please continue to remember Haiti in your prayers.

Here is a picture of the kids today.

Celebration for Saraphina and Olivier!

Please join us as we celebrate the addition of Saraphina and Olivier to our family!

On July 25 we will be dedicating the kids at Grace Church in Eden Prairie at the 10:30am service then heading down the street to Starring Lake Park from noon - 3:30pm. We will have an open house with food and drinks for everyone.

Please consider joining us to celebrate and pass this along to anyone that may be interested! Please no gifts.

Blessings,

John, Jennifer, Jacob, Saraphina and Olivier Bettin

Grace Church Starring Lake Park
9301 Eden Prairie Road 14800 Pioneer Trail
Eden Prairie, MN 55347 Eden Prairie, MN 55347
www.atgrace.com

surgery and leaving the kids

Jacob is being put under for some dental surgery today at 12:15pm - the other two kids are officially being left with someone else for the first time today - big day for our family so any prayers would be so appreciated.

too cute

I just went upstairs to see what was taking John so long putting Olivier down for a nap (it was his first time rocking him and putting him down) and they are both sound asleep in the rocking chair. I would take a picture but would wake them up. It really is so cute.

One month!

It's been one month since we got Saraphina and Olivier - what a month it's been. I was hoping to have time to write a great blog entry but I have limited computer access still and spent most of the evening folding numerous loads of clothes. I will try to post a bit more in the coming days and download the pictures we have been taking so I can share some with you. Thanks to everyone who has been keeping us in your prayers - we are so grateful!

a weekend of firsts

we had a pretty fun weekend with a few first time activities for us as a family of 5:
we went to McD's playland and ate lunch with friends on Friday - all in all it went well although I now know that a just turned 3 year old should not drink the chocolate milk there with an open top and straw, my more experienced mom of 3 friend Kim got a cup and cover and assured me it happened to her too
we went out to Jason's Deli to celebrate Saraphina's birthday with some friends and the kids all did pretty well - I did feel a little bad that we left pretty quickly after we finished, I think I was just happy it went as well as it did and wanted to leave while we were ahead
we took the kids to the MN Zoo on Saturday morning - we only stayed for about an hour and a half but everyone seemed to like it, except for the MN trail which was just a little too cold that morning
we went to church again on Sunday (our 2nd time) - this time we told Jacob he needed to go to Sunday School, he was upset and we had a hard time getting him into his room since we wanted to stay with everyone else and go to "big" church (we tried that last week and it didn't work too well) although Saraphina ran right into his room and started playing, she was not too amused about sitting through "big" church - I am not sure who is more excited about her being able to go to Sunday School, her or me - only a couple more months until they can be in Sunday School
All in all not too bad of a weekend :-)

a month ago today & Happy Birthday

It's hard to believe that a month ago today was the earthquake in Haiti which certainly changed our lives forever and brought us our kids 18 months sooner than expected.

Also, just over a month ago I was sitting here thinking about how we were going to celebrate Saraphina's birthday without even having met her yet. Today we get to celebrate her 3 year birthday with her - what an unexpected blessing!

Happy Birthday Saraphina!

two weeks (and a couple of days)

Well I had grand plans of a blog entry summarizing our first week together, then one when we hit two weeks, somehow we are on day 17 today. We have basically been in survival mode the last couple of weeks trying to figure out how to do the very basics of life and adjust to each other all in the midst of sickness and serious sleep deprivation. There has been a lot of steps forward with a few steps backwards(which is to be expected). Health wise we seem to be getting on track - Saraphina and Olivier had gotten over their congestion although Olivier's cough seems to have come back a little and his nose is still pretty yucky although he is teething all of his 1-year molars - Jacob got strep throat last Monday and then his illness induced asthma kicked in but we seem to be over all of that now. I (Jen) have finally gotten 3 nights of decent sleep and feel much better, it's amazing how much some sleep can help. All that being said we still have a lot of adjustment and bonding ahead but feel a bit more ready to tackle it.

I will try to write more as I get a chance but want to thank everyone for their prayers. We have really been carried through on those prayers the last couple of weeks and are more thankful for them than we can put into words!

one week - family pictures

Here are a couple of pictures we took on Saturday - one week from when we picked up the kids

meals

a few people have asked about providing meals for us so I am attaching the link and info for the care calendar that was set up for us:
http://www.carecalendar.org/
CareCalendar ID# 31381
Security Code# 1412

family pictures

Here is a picture of us just after picking up the kids and another of our family on our first night home.

We are still ear deep in adjusting to our new family but figuring it out as we go and covering it in prayer.

Kids are still coughing but hopeful for a better nights sleep tonight.

We are really behind on returning calls and email so please be patient and one of these days we will find a couple of free moments to catch up :-)

we are home

we are so happy to be back home - thank you all for covering us in prayer and we hope you will continue to as we all adjust and bond

the kids got along well last night and saraphina even said Jacob's name which is great since she doesn't choose to talk too much

our house is a complete disaster after only a few hours yesterday evening but hopefully that will get better as time goes on - we have realized we need to be a lot more organized with three kids

we took the kids into the doctor's this morning for their congestion and cough and overall they look pretty good - hopefully a little medicine and we can get healthy and sleep

we are going to try to get baths and showers for all of us and clean clothes - I am sure we will all feel better after that

well my time is up as there is a child crying for me - will post more later

Update from Florida on Saraphina and Olivier!

Greetings,

(My name is Kim and I'm friends with the Bettin family -- I just talked to Jennifer and she asked that I post on her blog and Facebook.)

John and Jen's flight got into Florida on Saturday morning and at about 12:30 Florida time, they were waiting for the Red Cross van to pick them up to take them to another airport in Orlando where Saraphina and Olivier were!! Jennifer said she knows a lot of people were praying for them as she was very calm when they first met the kids! (Thanks for praying!!)

Both Saraphina and Olivier (as well as all the kids from the orphanage) are quite congested as the air quality they had been breathing since the earthquake has not been the best. Saraphina and Olivier coughed a lot during the night, so no one really go much sleep. Olivier is taking a prescription to help his congestion.

Jennifer and John are REALLY looking forward to coming home and being united with Jacob (and being in their own home, not a hotel). Please pray that their flight back to MN would go well -- they plan to arrive back to MN on Monday sometime after 3:00pm.

Please also be in prayer for one of the boys from the orphanage that has been hospitalized with pneumonia (because of all the congestion) .... and for his adoptive parents.

I'm sure Jen will post again here just as soon as she can; at this time, she doesn't have access to be able to.

Thanks for caring for the Bettin Crew of FIVE!

Praise Him,
Kim

they are coming

we just got word that they have all the travel papers and will be traveling soon - we are going to try to catch the last direct flight out in a couple of hours otherwise will leave early in the morning - please cover our family and the other families in your prayers - will try to post if possible

how you can help

We have been so touched with all the offers for help and supplies - many people have asked how they can help and asked us to post something so very humbly here goes:

The thing we are most in need of right now would be girl toys - we only have a couple of things here, we are pretty much all boy around here. Saraphina will be 3 in February.

Once we can verify what size the kids are we will have a better idea of what we need for clothes, shoes, coats, etc...

A care calendar will be set up once we are back where people can sign up to bring us a meal and any other needs we will have at that point.

Most of all we need continued prayer for Saraphina and Olivier to get over here, our travels to get them, for Jacob while we are away and for the transition he has ahead, for all of our adjustment, attachment and bonding.

Thank you all for the many gracious offers over the past week and a half.

still waiting but hopefully yet today

Our people are still at the Embassy in Port-au-Prince waiting for the rest of the papers. They did find out last night that there are flights leaving every hour so they are still hopefully that they will be on one of those today.

The plan - please pray

As most of you have realized things in Haiti are in a constant state of flux right now so although this is the plan things may change. They currently have the travel documents needed for most of the kids at Maranatha. They have an appointment at 9am tomorrow morning and hope to have the remaining papers by noon to have the kids on a 3pm flight to arrive in the US (most likely Orlando) by 6pm. They are still waiting to find out if they will be able to get on a flight tomorrow. The people down in Haiti working on this have been at the Embassy every day and feel they have the "bumps" worked out so are hopeful for all to go well tomorrow.

Please join us in covering this situation in prayer.
We are trusting in God's perfect plan and perfect timing.

We will post something one we know more.

good news

The US will be granting Humanitarian Parole wavers to everyone that is in process with an adoption in Haiti. So it will definitely happen we are just waiting to find out when our kids get their papers and when they will be able to get here. It could happen very quickly so we are working feverishly to prepare as best we can. Would love to type more but have a lot to do! Please be in continued prayer that our kids get their papers quickly and for their continued safety. Thank you!

update on our kids

Sorry it's been a while since an update - it's been quite a crazy few days with a number of developments and set backs. I am going to try not to be too detailed here (very difficult for an extremely detail-oriented person).
The parents of our orphanage (Maranatha Orphanage run by Heartline Ministries) have been working as a group with another orphange to obtain Humanitarian Parole wavers to get the kids over here. To clear up a misconception some of you know about, we are not connected with the BRESMA orphanage that has been on the news, there is another orphanage in PAP (Port-au-Prince) with 150 orphans and this is the group we are working with together.
Yesterday we had been told that we had the Humanitarian wavers and they were working on the logistics of flying the kids out. That now seems a bit more uncertain as the government is trying to figure out a "policy" to deal with this situation and that seems to change hour by hour. Ultimately, it still sounds like they are committed to getting any kids out that have a referral to a family even if there paperwork wasn't in Haiti yet (which is us since our paperwork is all pulled together and at the translator) but priority may be given to those further in the process.
We know that God has a perfect plan and his timing is perfect as well. Please join us in praying for:
The people of Haiti in general - there is so much loss and suffering but also hope and help.
For Saraphina, Olivier, the rest of the Maranatha children and all the other orphans - for safety/security and provision or food/water until they can come home.
For the process of getting them here safely and hopefully soon.
For Heartline Ministries as they open their women's center as a medical clinic and reach out to those around them in great need.
Thank you all for your prayers and offers of assistance - we are so grateful!