Home again

Hi to all
We made it home late last night. The remainder of our trip was wonderful...everything I hoped for. We continued to form a strong bond with both the boys. It was so good to just love them, play with them and feed them a lot. It was very hard to say good bye...I've had just an empty feeling - I told my sisters that I feel like you do when you forget something you really need - or something really important gets left behind - X 1Million! Because the something is my 2 sons. The orphanage was really hard to visit. I came away thinking that they are doing the best they can - but that best is still somewhere I would never want to leave my children. We visited Lily's O in China, but that was when she would never go back there - so it was a little easier. The nannies in Haiti were so sweet...and it was obvious to us that they really loved both boys. There were good things to both Silas and Titus' O situations. Titus' crib is right at the entry of the baby room in his O. I counted 30-40 babies in there, but he is in the location that gets constant visibility by the nannies. He also gets a breeze from the front entry which is good because it was very hot in the building. Silas' orphanage is in the country side of Haiti. There are many older children and he obviously gets a lot of attention from them. He is loved and has a little more open room to play in. On Tuesday he returned to the O - he went with some volunteers who were going to be there most of the evening. We chose to stay at the hotel with Titus because he had a little bit of fever from his immunizations he had received at the Dr . We also felt it may be easier for Silas to transition back without us being there for several hours - kind of confusing when you are almost 2, I am sure. He went with a couple that came as volunteers - they are parents of one of the adopting families - he had his snack and strawberry juice and was holding on to one of his dinasours. We smiled and waved goodbye and promptly completely broke down when the van was out of site. It was a hard day. Leaving Titus yesterday was also difficult, but I fed him at the orphanage and put him to bed in his crib and he was content. They both really made it easy on us. Another family watched the boys for us on Tuesday morning when we went to an INS appt to sign papers as no children were allowed. The Mom told me Silas said momma a lot while we were gone which was music to my ears. We know he understands that we love him and we pray they will be able to come home soon. We are so thankful for our sons. They are so right for our family - of course God knows what he is doing. We were thrilled to see Lily last night when we arrived home and had lots of fun looking at pictures and watching the video with her. Lisa was so kind to bring her home and stay all night with her kiddos. Coming home to the sweet sounds of children was great. Thank you ALL for praying for us while we were united with Silas and Titus. We couldn't ask for more - except of course the ability to fly them home with us last night:) For now we will be counting the days til we see them again and fervently praying for God to give favor to the adoption process in Haiti. May He be glorified!!! The O is going to allow a parent trip in October so we are considering what is best for the boys. They need volunteers! If anyone would consider the life changing experience of ministering to these sweet children for 5 days let me know. May God bless each of you today.
ALL our Love,
lori
Noel, Lily, Silas and Titus