After being told of more wait and delays, today, on Christmas Eve, we got our Christmas Miracle. We had been told it would be at least six weeks for a visa (the last thing needed to bring Leika home). In as little as three weeks Leika's visa was issued and we got the email this morning. We now wait for a visa appointment - which should be about three weeks - then we go and bring our girl home!

This means we hope to be traveling to Haiti around January 10th, which is Rome's birthday, so it looks like he will get a sister for his 12th birthday.

Got the news today that Leïka's passport is printed! One more step and we can go get her. The U.S. Embassy needs to issue a passport and we are off. This should take around three weeks. Great news for this Thanksgiving and it looks like the best Christmas gift ever!

Keep praying for this to continue to go smoothly and as planned. It isn't over until it's over and she is here at home with us. And the it's not really over, but just beginning!

We got news that Leïka's passport was issued and was off to be printed. This should take a couple weeks and then it is up to the U.S. To give her a visa. We are getting close. So close!

As we near the point in time when we get to bring our daughter home, we have one last fundraiser to help with the cost of travel to get our girl, and this is a fundraiser I am excited about! We are selling bracelets made by Haitian artisans who work to keep their own families intact - eliminating the need for them to give their own children up for adoption. This is through an organization, The Apparent Project.

This last leg of our journey to bring Leika home will cost around $3500 - $4000 depending on flights at the time. If it is around Christmas, it will likely be more. Bracelets are $10 each and include a bio of the artisan who crafted them. We can even ship them to you. You can pay through PayPal here on our blog, write us a check, or old fashioned cash works too. 

Think of Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers, something for yourself just because. Or just think about helping families stay together and our family come together.

Email us with your order and we will get your bracelets to you: dallasmwilliams@gmail.com

I encourage you to watch the video from the Apparent Project and engage.

Who ever thought I would say that there has been many thing happening? With so much of the last couple of years spent waiting for... anything, it feels like we are actually adopting.

Between our visit in July and October, Leika legally became a Williams. According to Haiti, she is ours! When another family was at the orphanage for their visit, they said Leika told them proudly, "I am a Williams".

In October, on the second attempt since our visit, Leika's grandmother was found and escorted to a meeting at the U.S. embassy to insure she is legally adoptable, an orphan, and not being sold (and whatever else they determine speaking with both grandma and Leika).

Last week, October 28th, we got an email which said Leika had entered MOI. This means that she is getting her Haitian passport. This has been taking less then a month recently when earlier this year families were waiting up to three months. This is the home stretch! Once her passport is issued, then the U.S. will issue her a visa, then we bring her home. The visas have been taking about four weeks. So three weeks plus four weeks equals seven weeks. That is an optimistic time frame to get news to travel, but we can hope.

We are at the final push hoping that these last steps go smoothly without bumps and hurtles like so much our journey has encountered.

We are back from our five day Haitian excursion to meet our beautiful girl. It was a whirlwind trip but absolutely fantastic. We left Saturday night out of Seattle and got into Port au Prince a little after noon on Sunday. A bumpy ride out to GLA, set our stuff down, and then, "are you ready to meet her?" YES!

It was awesome. She grabbed on and held each of us so tight.

We got to spend a couple hours in the morning and and couple hours in the afternoon each day with her, aside from visits to the US Embassy and the Haitian courts. Each new encounter with Leika slowly and gradually connected us more and more to her... right up 'til we had to say goodbye on Thursday morning. At times it was weird, a little strange, for all of us, at times it was so much fun. She is so full of life - she will definitely keep up with her brothers (if not bowl them over). She is a perfect match for our family. Thank you God!

From here we wait (which we are used to doing) for the two governments (Haiti and the U.S.) to do paperwork. This includes making her legally ours, issuing her a passport, and making her a U.S. citizen. This should take six to nine months. We are hoping for Christmas, but we have learned not to hold our breath.

After so long of a time just waiting, it seems weird that we have to do something. And do it in a hurry. We got the confirmation today for our travel dates and appointments. We leave in four days. Squeezed between camping for the 4th of July and a family trip to Eastern WA, we will find time to head to Haiti and meet Leïka! Here we come...