Christian aid worker held in Haitian prison without charge since October

When reading this, keep in mind that this is the government we had been working with for over two years when we were trying to get our kids home. From The Awl:

"I am amazed that I could spend four months in prison with no charge and the embassy does nothing," said Danny Pye. "It's just weird." But so far, Pye is lucky. He's only had malaria, several bouts of gastroenteritis and some kind of fungal infection—but not cholera. Many of the other 20-odd men that share his small room have not been as lucky.

Pye, an American, has been in prison in Jacmel since Oct. 13, 2010. He has not been charged with any crime. The only people who seem to know this are a few friends in Haiti, the country's Ministry of Justice, newly elected Haitian senator (and former Jacmel mayor) Edo Zenny, the judge that refuses to sign his release, the NGOs with which he's been affiliated, his wife, Leann, the 22 Haitian children whose only home is the orphanage that he and his wife built—and the U.S. Embassy.

Read the full story here.

In case you missed it...

Here is our interview with WCCO TV that aired last night.

One Year Ago Today...

In some ways it feels like forever, and in others it seems like a second, but it was one year ago today that our lives changed forever. We are so grateful that our big kids survived the earthquake and were able to come home. I am feeling strange today, though. I can't describe it, but the best words are how my friend Beth described it when we met Olivia: joy and sadness colliding. So grateful our kids are home, but so sad that their homeland is still in such ruins. So sad that so many people are living on the streets, that so many kids don't have a mom and dad to tuck them in at night. We have friends on their way to Haiti right now to meet their daughter, and I am excited for them. We pray for more to adopt. We pray for Haiti. For change. Improvements. For people to know the hope and peace that faith in Christ can bring. For those of us with so much to remember and appreciate what we have.

The kids would like to share some things about that day. When the quake hit, they didn't even know what was happening. They didn't know the word earthquake in English or Creole until after it happened. They didn't know why the ground was shaking. Patricia was really scared and was crying. Philippe says he doesn't remember how he felt. They were inside and then ran downstairs to help get the babies out of the building. They only ate two times a day after the earthquake and didn't have much water. Philippe said he knows that they had water at the orphanage, but that other people didn't have water. Philippe said that some of the kids were crying and saying that they wished they were in America.

Patricia says that she would like to go back to Haiti and help people there some day, and she also would like to see God bless Haiti. Her prayer is that more people would help Haiti. If you know of any groups traveling to Haiti or another country that would benefit, please let us know and we can send you shoes to take along. It isn't much, but we are happy that we can give back in this way, and we appreciate all the shoe donations enabling us to do this. Please look for the Flip Flop Fleet on Facebook, and help spread the word about our family ministry.

Our Orphanage on National News

The creche where Philippe and Patricia are staying, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, was just featured on FoxNews.com:

Our TV Interviews!

Two of the local news stations expressed interest in our adoption story. Dawn was interviewed first by KSTP TV. It aired at 5:00 pm today.



Both of us were later interviewed by WCCO TV. It aired at 10:00 pm.



Please pray with us that our kids may come home soon!

A Look at the Devastation in Haiti

This is the presidential palace in Haiti before the quake...



And after...



For some updated pictures, click here. (WARNING: some of the images are disturbing.)

7.0 Earthquake in Haiti

You may have seen on the news that Haiti was just hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. We're watching the news and awaiting updates.


Please keep Philippe and Patricia in your prayers.

Haiti, Last Day with the Kids

Oh, this is a hard day to blog about...our last day with our kids. I think that is why it has taken me so long to post it. You will see in it in their eyes throughout the day. Sometimes they are smiling and happy and perhaps forget for a moment, then others, you know that they fully realize that this is our last day together.

We were told long-sleeved jammies were good because the kids aren't used to air conditioning (oooh, wait until the Minnesota winters!) But the jammies were sometimes a challenge for them to get off...hee hee hee! (and how did she get the dress on??)

"No - don't play with the camera!"

Patricia and I spent our last bit of time at the hotel doing our nails

I had only planned on doing hers...

But when I finished she immediately started on mine

As I thought, "we should get a picture of our toes" she picked up the camera and got a picture

Hugging my boy!

Daddy's girl!

Ugh. In the van to go back to the orphanage. When some of the babies went back to the orphanage the night before, Patricia looked at me and said, "No fini, Mama" and I said, "You don't have to go back this time" but today she knew she did. We were the last ones in the van. She was standing outside the van pulling on my arm saying, "No Mama, No. I don't want it to be finished. Please. No." Ouch. And they asked us not to let them see us cry. Whew.

This small building is across from the hotel entrance (our hotel was protected by an armed guard). Lee said he was trying to figure out what the shed was for and then we realized that this is a home.On our way back...

At the orphanage the boys called me "Mama Philippe" and Lee "Papa Philippe"

And the girls called us "Mama Patricia" and "Papa Patricia"
They had to eat on their own because the other kids had already had dinner. You can see her face here...she wouldn't even look at me.

But then she went to Daddy.And then she came up behind me and played with my hair. Lee said that when this little girl came up, she went to touch my hair and Patricia put her hand up and said a firm, "NO!" (as though to say, "she's MY Mama!")

Time for Philippe to eat...he seemed to like that I was just sitting there, watching him eat.He moved over closer so that he was sitting right across from me

Back on the porch...knowing that time is coming to an end...

Hugging goodbye

He probably tickled her!Me hugging Patricia goodbye...

Hugging sweet Philippe goodbye. Oh, his face shows what we all were feeling! Lee took this and then he said, "Ohhh...that was a sad one"

He looked sad mixed with betrayed when we left and Patricia cried. I did ok with the not letting them see me cry but the second the van door shut...just ask my fellow travelers...it wasn't pretty.

We miss them so much and feel fortunate that we have these pictures. We wish that they had photos, too, since it seems unfair that we get to re-live these precious days in pictures. We hope to get some to them soon. Thank you, everyone, for all your prayers and support. This has been an exciting journey but it has not been without tears. The Lord has brought these Haitians and these Minnesotans together and we are so grateful for it. And they WILL be home someday.

Haiti, Day Four

I asked Lee to put some aloe vera on my back and within seconds Patricia hopped up and gently rubbed it on my back. If you look at my hand, it is holding Philippe's hand.And here is the rest of him. Doesn't that look like a face of a boy who needs a mama?

View of the mountains from our hotel

We brought a ice cream bucket and a kit to make a stone cast of their handprints
Swimming with the kids

Here is this picture but focused on the kids. They are both smiling big smiles at their Papa!

We got some cute pictures

A little personality from Philippe...

We enjoyed spending time with a new-found friend, Sandy. And our kids love playing together.

Here are Angelo and Angela again
We had an extra cake from Patricia's birthday so we had fun sharing it with other families and staff at the hotel

We have decided that their homecoming presents will be those kid-friendly digital cameras! It will be neat to see America from their perspective. It was cool to find pictures on the camera that neither Lee nor I took...even though they were told NOT to touch the camera :)

More to come!