Home!

Our last day we spent time at the birth familes house to say out good byes- my heart broke watching Hazel's grandma say goodbye- she just loves her so much. I hugged her and told her we will keep in touch and take good care of her. She nodded and kissed Gretta and Hazel and was so calm about it all.

Gretta and Hazel's sister Crystal (wearing an outfit we brought her!)Note the rubberband loom jewelery on her..we started a new trend in RMI. I think when we go back and visit someday that they will be selling rubberband jewlery instead of the jewlery made out of palm leaves etc.

Last hug for Hazel from her birth mom.

Hazel with her brohter David, sister's Grace and Crystal and grandma. I wish you could see David's outfit- he is so Sheboygan- wearing a Sheboygan YMCA shirt and Milwaukee Brewers shorts!

Hazel with her aunt Queenie who also lived in the home with them along with her 3 sons. Queenie spoke english and would help us talk. She loves mascara and I told her I would mail her some :)

We left what is the US Thursday night, flew to Hawaii. By the time we cleared customers and immigration and go to our hotel it was 4:30am on Friday. Hazel became a US citizen!

We could not get a late check out from our hotel so we had to be out by noon. So Hazel was wide awake when we got to our hotel and not sleepy. So I opened our suitecase to get a blanket to swaddle her only to find that a can of infant formula exploded in out suitecase and EVERYTHING was gross. So I didn't go to sleep til about 6:30 due to having to wash clothers, souveniours and all our baby stuff in the tub at the hotel. So I got a couple hours of sleep and had to get up to shower, get the girls ready, pack everything up etc. The hotel kept our luggage and us girls went to lunch and shopping. We were about 2 blocks from where we stayed on the way to the Marshall Islands so it was nice that I new where eveything was.

We got pooped out about 2 and went back to the hotel and hung out on the lobby couches! Took a cab to the airport and caught a 7:30pm flight from Hononlulu to Chicago. It was nice that it was direct, we got lucky and got no one next to me on the flight home so we could stetch out. We landed about 8:30am on Sat.

Hazel slept pretty much all through the night. I thought she felt warm but thought maybe it was from being cuddled in a blanket. Sat night she still felt warm and had a 102 temp. I took her to the walk in on Sunday expecting an ear infection since she has a bit of cold and flew. Ears looked good, so they did a urinalysis to check for bladder infection but it looked good. Did blood test and her white blood cells were at 31,000 which is really high. Chest xray was clear so the doc thought maybe menengitis. They sent us to Childrens in Milwaukee. We got quaranteened due to just coming home from another country and the infectious disease team did a bunch of tests.

It was decided that she has a virus- the blood cultures came back with no bacteria. So it has been said she could have dengue fever or a strain of Hand Foot and Mouth that is prevalent in the Pacific Islands. She is at home- no meds just tylenol and still has a 102 fever today- stuffy nose, upset tummy and rash. Poor girl! So mom has not been able to really sleep at all yet and is pooped! As soon as she is better we will allow visitors!

She does act happy when awake thought- and she has a new best friend!

Last Night

Well it is us girls last night in the Marshall Islands. I can't wait to get home. It was neat to spend time in Hazel's birth country and to meet her birth family but good old Wisconsin is sounding pretty nice right about now.

Gretta and I decided these are the 1st things we want to do when we get home:
-Go to Target
-Eat Corn on the Cob & Watermelon
-Sit in our Hot Tub (Al that means if you are reading this and need to do the chemicals please do!)
-Cuddle with Kemper the wonderdog
-Sleep in our own bed!!!!!
-Driving- I miss driving!
-Show Hazel off to everyone

We also decided these are the things we will miss most:
-The other family here adopting their son- we have become good friends with them
-Seeing the beautiful ocean
-Listening to 70's and 80's music in Marshallese
-Friendly people- when was the last time a car stopped to let you cross the street in the middle of a block? or a waitress brought you a banana split for your kids just because. or a waitress asked to hold you child so you can eat not holding them. People are just nice here.

Things we will not miss:
-Cockroaches
-Feeling that itchy paranoia that you have nits/lice/fleas or whatever!
-Not knowing what people are saying! I find Marshallese a hard language to learn
-The litter- it is sooo sad to see people throw their garbage in the ocean and the damage it has done to the ecosystem here
-Going out to eat all the time- we miss home cooked meals

But we think it was all worth it- just look at this little face! The below pics are outside today- it was windy and the wind was blowing that hair around. We spent today at some Missionaries (from Missouri) house in Laura beach hanging out in their gazebo, swimming and kayaking. Nice last day. Before we went Hazel's sister Crystal and brother David stopped by so we took them for breakfast and then hung out for a couple hours. After our Laura beach trip we came back to the hotel and napped for an hour. Then we went with the other family here for our last dinner together at Monica's- our favorite restaurant here for Chinese food. Below is also a pic of Hazel and her friend that is also being adopted. It is impossible to get a pic of those 2 together where they are both looking at the camera. We all leave tomorrow on the same flight.

Funny Pics

Today Gretta, Hazel and I did a morning of walking around shopping and taking pics. Here are my favorites.

Payless Supermarket had Johnsonville Brats on Sale. I can't help but wonder how the heck they get our product since as far as I know we have no distibutor here....

3 Packs of Diapers. Yes- 3 diapers. I would have to go to the store 3 times a day to buy diapers.

In highschool I worked at the Sheboygan KFC, here I would have worked at the KLG. For the life of me I can not figure out what KLG stands for..Kentucky Licking Good? But my favorite part is the chicken- you can't really tell from my pic but according to the tie on him he is not the "Colonel" like in the US- it says "Marshall". LMAO

The child defecating seat I spoke about in a prior post...in the shape of a goose....with handles to hold onto..it's like the child is on a ride while they bare down...I giggle every time I think about it! And I love the two babies on the label. I can't decide if one is telling the other "good job" for using the defecation seat or consoling because the other is scared of it.

And...our little chunkie- we are fattening this girl up- she has cheeks now :)

So we shopped and napped and ate today. After dinner sat down by the ocean a bit. Gretta has her friend Makenna over tonight for a Wizard of Oz movie night. Two more days!!

I rented a car for tomorrow- this girl hasn't driven since June 30th and wants to! We have made friends with a missionary family from Indiana who runs a summer camp for kids here amongst other things. Gretta and myself along with the other adopting mom her and her daughter and Hazel are driving to their house to picnic by them and relax, do some kayaking etc. Should be a nice final outing for us since Friday will be packing and getting ready to leave and a last meeting with Hazel's birth family.

We have a Visa!

We got a call today that Hazel's visa was here. It actually got here yesterday but it took a day for DHL here to get it to the US Embassy. So Gretta, Hazel and I took a taxi to the Embassy and Hazel is all set to go. I got back and tried to get on the Wed flight- but wouldn't you know it- internet is down. The only time since we have been here that it was completely down. Then when it came back up a few hours later United said that I could fly on Wed for $2500 more plus the $500 change fee since there is only 1st class left or on Friday for the same price and only pay the change fee. So we are booked on the Friday flight. We leave here at 8pm Friday (remember we are a day ahead of you all), land in Hawaii at 2:30 am on Friday....so we go back in time! Then we have a hotel to check into since our flight from Hawaii to Chicago doesn't leave til 7:30pm. We can sleep, shower and relax a bit. Al and the boys did that and he said it worked nice. Speaking of them they should be arriving in Chicago in about 3 hours! So us girls will land in Chicago about 8:30am on Sat. This is MUCH sooner than the norm- I was told this is a new record on how fast a Visa was received. We just had court July 8th which was only 2 weeks ago. They tell you to expect 3-4 weeks from court for your visa. Anyone who knows us knows we always fall in the long end of everything so this was a nice change of pace!

I am ready to come home. The hotel is nice, food is good. Nothing really major to complain about but being away from home so long can get old. Plus now that the boys are gone it seems a little lonely.

Our friends that are also adopting here are on our Friday flight so Gretta still has their daughter to play with.

Today us girls walkd to a restaurant called DAR which we had never eaten at for breakfast. Awesome food and CLEAN! Wish we had tried earlier- it will prob be our breakfast place the rest of this week. We had a real sweet waitress who sat and talked with us during breakfast since no one else was in there and held Hazel while we ate :) Then we did a little shopping and came back and napped.

We then went to the birth family for a visit and went and got the kids school uniforms & school supplies. We then watched a few riviting episods of Gretta's favorite show Cat from Hell with this cat whisperer guy. If I never see another episode it will be ok! We then ran to the Embassy, went out to Monica's for a Chinese dinner and went for like an hour walk since it cooled down and the weather was nice. Nothing too exicting.

Hazel is doing really good- I notice when we are with her birth family that she watches me now and when upset she wants me. Guess she knows who feeds her!!

I have some funny store pics from today but am really tired. I will post tomorrow.

The boys last day!

Catching up a bit on a few pics- Here are few more from our last trip to Eneko island.

The kids on the front of the boat. We got to see an old WWII plane sunk in the water near Enemanit island on the way back. We were told it was moved from it's original location for tourists...which made it a little less exciting for me!

The kids with Pandanas Fruit. They are in the palm tree family and all over here. The fruit is huge!

Nolan our tree climber.

Shovel full of crabs. They were all given fancy names by the kids.

This morning we asked the other family we are here with if they wanted to walk to the courthouse to get pics in front of it since the boys were leaving. Court day was hectic, we had our court rooms changed and had to leave our room right away due to a hearing, our birth mom couldn't walk well and it started pouring out so we got no pics at the court house. We went back and recreated the moment for Hazel's scrapbook.

On our way back to the hotel we passed my my favorite store- FUN STORE. The names of stores here are hilarious- the names are never really true. FUN STORE is barely a store much less fun. A better name would be PLASTIC CRAP MART. There is FAIR PRICE II. The prices there are not fair and as far as I can see there is no FAIR PRICE I. Most stores are dark and dingy and I try to figure out what is new vs used. Prices are only marked on somethings, if not marked I think we get the gringo price which is double any Marshallese person :). You have to watch expiration dates on any food items. They take items that would normally be sold in a pack and sell them individually here since people do not have the money to buy a whole pack of items. Diapers, soda and other items are bought individually. Tomorrow Gretta and I are hitting more stores for entertainment. It was hard to shop with Emmitt here since he wants it all and tires easier. So we are putting Hazel in her baby carrier tomorrow and seeing what we can all get good pics of. Another thing to mention is that translations are not always clear as to what is being sold- for example at Island Pride which is a big grocery/Walmart type store here I saw toddler potty seats advertised as "child defecation chairs". I did not have my camera but may go back tomorrow for a pic.

Anyhoo- I made everyone act like they were having fun outside fun store. We got a lot of looks while posting for this pic!

Al and the kids finally went on their Outrigger Canoe ride. It was raining but we figured may as well go- you get wet anyways and it was the boys last day. The had a good time!

I will leave you all with Hazel at bed time- she may be tired after a long day but her hair is still going strong.

The boys left tonight on a flight to Honolulu and will land about 2:30 am and grab a hotel since their flight to Chicago is not til 7:30 tomorrow night. So they can sleep, swim and relax before their final flight. The boys are pumped to see our Kemper.

Us girls were a little teary watching them go since we wish we could all leave together. But then I felt guilty feeling bad since we will all be together hopefully with in a week... Hazel's birth family will be saying good bye to her will be harder. We plan on bringing her back here but it will be quite a few years- so her family will really have the hard goodbye :(

Sunday with the Birth Family

So we made the move to our new hotel. Here are pics of our room. Beautiful view of a garden out our window. The room is SMALL compared to what we had but a good set up for us girls once the boys leave tomorrow.

We had the birth family over for pizza for lunch- about 15 people came. It was great to spend time with them to try to get to know them but a bit hard talking since our adoption coordinator ended up not being able to come last minute. So we were lucky a few spoke a little english. Joanne keep your eyes peeled for your jewlery in these pics :)

Emmitt with Annie- she is the sweetest girl- she is a neighbor and maybe cousin (we are not 100% sure) who helped take care of Hazel. Hazel's sister Crystal is peeking in the back.

A bunch of the kids eating lunch together and giggling.

Buddies- 2 of Hazel's sisters hanging out- Gretta & Crystal.

Hazel and her mom. Lanin is coming out of her shell more when we see her and is holding Hazel and talking to her now more. We think she was super shy at first and embarassed a bit of the situation. I think she is feeling more comfortable with us.

Since the boys are leaving tomorrow the women (mom, grandma, anties, cousins and sisters) all sang a Marshallese song to the boys. It was soo neat to see- I video taped it...they sang it in Marshallese and then the couple that spoke english sang it in English. It basically said today we celebrate and sing and are happy, tomorrow you will be far away and we will miss you and cry- but we will all be family. I was a basket case.

The women then one at time came forward, shook Al's hand and gave him handmades gifts- fans, Christmas ornaments in the shapes of stars and fish. It was very sweet. Then one who spoke English thanked God for helping us all come together for what was best for Hazel. They said they will keep in touch with her via letters and pictures and hope we do the same. As I was crying aunt Emily told me not to cry now- that I should save it for when they sing to me when I leave. Great :)

Hazel and her brother David. He is very shy and hard to get in a picture!

Little Noka- Hazel's youngest brother. Always smiling- he doesn't stop to hold her but just runs by and gives her a kiss now and then. Such a happy sweet boy.

Jimmy her 2nd oldest brohter was there but is shy since he is 14 and is not in pics. I have one pic of him so far and have to try to get one more for her.

Well we are heading out for Chinese at Monicas with our friends for the boys last dinner. Tomorrow we go school supply shopping here, outrigger canoe riding and the boys plane leaves at 8pm. I will try not to be a cry baby when they leave!

Moving Day

Last night we walked to Monica's Chinese Restaurant to try something new. Sweet Mother of Pearl they had Coke Zero there. As my friend Jessica from work knows I am Coke Zero's #1 fan. It has been 14 days since I have had one. They had awesome food and it was so CLEAN in there. I am sorry we didn't try it sooner. The kids loved eating with chop sticks and my picky eater Nolan even loved their Sweet and Sour Chicken and their wontons. Al already made plans to go there again Sunday night for his last dinner on the island. I even took a Code Zero roady. The owner was so sweet- she came out as we finished dinner and gave the kids a banana split to share- never had that happen to us before anywhere!

Well today we moved form Marshall Islands Resort to Robert Reimers- we stayed at MIR as long as we could but they have a conference coming up and are booked solid and we could not stay the whole time...but maybe that is good thing since Al and the boys leave in 2 days and our friends are here at RRE.

So we packed up all our stuff last night. RRE said they would pick us up at 9. We hauled all our stuff down from the 3rd floor to the lobby and they did not show. So when Al called they told him that their shuttle was at the aiport and the person who said they would get us at 9 was wrong, it would be 11:30. Sooo....we hauled everything back up to our room since we didnt want to hang out in the lobby for a few hours. Then at 10:15 our phone rang and we were told they were on their way. Whatever :)

I am kinda sad about checking out of MIR. It was like camping inside- not all the ameneties you are used to but not as bad as I thought it would be either. Only 3 cockroaches in 14 days...not to shabby! The water for the showers were always warm, we would giggle at night trying to figure out what songs the Marshallese bands were playing, the pool was never open even once for the kids to swim in and the toilets only flushed several hours a day....but it was home :) I am sad since this means that our boys are leaving in 2 days and while I understand the process can take a little bit yet I am sooo sad about being away from Nolan and Emmitt for anywhere from 1-2 weeks. I am keeping my fingers crossed it is on the shorter end.

RRE is nicer though. There is no way we could have stayed here the whole time with 6 people though. The rooms are too small and they do not have any joining rooms. We are like sardines for the 2 nights we are here. Nolan in a twin bed. Al, me and Emmitt all in a full sized bed (it sucks) and Gretta on a small wicker love seat. Hazel in her pack and play. Once the boys are gone there will be plenty of room. If I was coming to adopt and only had one child or no kids left this would be the perfect place. It has a beautiful garden and restaurant is great. But there is no beach area here...so that was the nice thing about MIR-we had a small beach and we spent a lot of time there!

I feel like I am back in a dorm in a way- some kind of dorm for children the way our kids and the other families kids are running back and forth from room to room. Kinda fun- plus when the boys leave Gretta will have a friend.

It rained a lot today so we moved, napped, played games and watched movies. It cleared up around dinner time to we walked to Chit Chat with the other family here. We at pizza overlooking the ocean and the kids danced to music. Came back and went down to the water front for the kids to play.

I feel like we are at a real comfort level here. We know where to go to get things, how things are run here and just have a sense of ease now. The taxi drivers have been laughing at Emmitt- he will give them directions and then tell them if the place we are going is "lagoon side" or "ocean side". He thinks he knows the lay of the land :)

Tomorrow we invited Hazel's birth famiy over for lunch. There is a small picnic area out side. We are going to treat them to some pizza and soda and spend a few hours hanging out. Hazel's grandpa just arrived from Ailinglaplap and he has never met her. So this will be a great opportunity to meet him and get pics of Hazel with him. I am not sure if I mentioned earlier- in talking with Hazel's grandma I found out Hazel was named after her Great Great Grandma Lynn.

I will post pics tomorrow of our lunch and RRE.