Our Time "In Real Life"

There is an appointed time for everything. 

And there is a time for every event under heaven-- 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

 Our time finally came! We had originally planned to go surprise the girls at their orphanage on Saturday September 10th. But then we found out that our school had a family day scheduled for the same day and our presence was requested as new faculty. We couldn't figure out how to get back and forth to the orphanage around the times of this event on our campus which we knew would take up the majority of the day we had planned to spend with the girls. And the fact that we didn't want to have a short visit was the main reason we had not yet gone to see them. So we prayed that somehow all this would work out and that our orphanage director would be understanding and gracious in the situation. Our prayers (and yours) were answered in the best way possible! The girls were brought to us on Friday around 1pm and stayed with us all weekend! God even granted us an extra day and night with them (since they were supposed to be picked up on Sunday) and Elisabeth got to take them back to the orphanage and spend much of Monday with them and the other beloved children there as well! We didn't know that the girls would be able to come to us until Friday morning right before Eric and the boys left for their classes. We told Ethan he would finally get to meet his sisters when he got home from school and he ran out the door shouting..."Today is the day I get to meet my sisters IN REAL LIFE!" Ethan and Evan have seen hundreds of pics and have been able to Skype with the girls several times over the past year and 1/2, but had never seen them in the flesh....in real life! We are excited for all our friends and family to meet our precious girls in real life too! Until then, here are the pics from our fabulous weekend!

A time for running around the house to get everything ready!

A time to meet sisters "in real life"!

and size them up and figure out you are the same size (at least in height).
Ethan's got her beat in the weight dept.! And Esmée is 2 years older than Ethan!

A time to swing

and show sisters your where you go to school

and visit Dad's class and say hi to his students.

and wait for brother Ethan to return from school.

A time for ti manje (a snack)...

while waiting for cookies to be made.

A time for new clothes

and for little brothers to bug sisters to play instead of priss.

A time to discover

the world of beyblades

and bond with brothers

by introducing them to Justin Beiber 

and when that was nipped in the bud...this was the healthy alternative!

A time for Dad to come home and play

beyblades of course
(for those of you who aren't familiar with beyblades it is basically the top reinvented with a rip stick)

which Esmée learned to battle with the best of them

And when the usual afternoon rain had stopped...there was time for hanging around outdoors.

And playing tetherball!

A time for our first meal as a family

and for mom to refrain from cooking and sit down.

A time for games

And a time for sleep in a nice soft bed.

A time for pancake breakfast

and more silly face pictures (no Justin Beiber!)

A time for war

And a time of peace

A time for family

and a time when mom didn't have to cook a meal in Haiti

So all four just had to choose hot dogs because mom hates hot dogs.

A time for snow cones

and sharing snow cones

A time for displaying on your face that you are the superest little brother ever!

A time to ask parents 15 times for money to buy cotton candy.

A time when they said, "yes".

So everyone else had to ask too.

A time when enough sugar has been consumed and these two were told they would have to share.

A time to wish you had made a better choice (when sisters got a hold of you to scrub this scariness off)

And a time to feel pretty and free like a butterfly

A time to visit new friends...

and their pets

and eat their pizza and cinnamon rolls and ride their bikes

and return home, take showers and play Sat. night cards

and decide to sleep in your brothers room

because it is more fun

to all be together.

A time to go to church

and embrace

and worship together.

A time for ice cream (which cost us $15 for one 1/2 gallon in Haiti)...so this really was a special time!

and "balanse"

More time for nerf guns

until dad busted out the big gun!

 A time to read "The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies" and talk and charade about how we will never be happy if we always want more and more and whine when we don't get it
(which happened ealier this day at the supermarket).

A time for dad to disrupt our rest and profitable discussion (at least mom would like to hope it was)

A time to build up

and a time to fall down

A time when mom looked out the other kitchen window and saw this

and when dad showed them who's the soccer boss

and time for the kids to gang up on him!

Time to watch a basketball game

and leave when you are sure your team will win!

A time for tucking in...and riling her up

A time to go to sleep...eventually

...and get up for school the next morning

and helping little brothers get dressed...little brothers who are not very happy sisters have to leave...

and for beds to be made...

and for our girls to return to 15 Laboule
and for us to be thankful for the time we had...
and to look forward to the next time we are all together again "in real life"!

To be continued...