Harmony's 7th Birthday

Harmony's 7th Birthday was a blast!!! She went to school on her birthday, and thought that it was awesome. She picked ICarly as the theme for her party, becuase it's one of her favorite t.v. shows right now! It still blows my mind that she is 7. She is just amazing me more everyday. Over the last year she has lost her first baby teeth, improved drastically at gymnastics, made 1st grade seem easy, learned to ride her bike, and gotten so much taller!!! Seems like just yesterday she was following me around the house playing little mommy, and now she is off in her room with her friends rocking out to the latest tunes. I can't make any since of how we lose track of so much time. I love Harmony more than anything! She makes my life complete!

She told me she wanted, "Big girl 7 year old hair!"

(Look how long)

After.....

...it looked so pretty!!! She was very pleased!!

The Birthday Cake 

A far away shot.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.."

She asked for Build-A-Bear gift cards! YaY

Something she has been begging us for, of course, she got it!

Haiti Earthquake

On Jan. 12, 2010 the 7.0 Haiti Earthquake devastated thier country, and left our hearts here devastated as well. For those of you who didn't already know, our home church supports an all girls orphanage in Haiti in Coq Chante. This was the initial email of when we received word from Haiti.

It has been a very long and deadly night for our friends and family in Haiti. We have now spoken to the leaders at the Coq Chante Orphanage and this is what we know: - A large portion (up to 1/2 or more) of the building structure at Coq Chante collapsed during the quake.  
- ATANIE: the youngest of "our girls", did not make it out of the building. She was coming down the steps at the front of the orphanage when the front end of the building collapsed. They have now recovered her body.  
- ODETTE: the adoptive daughter of Andy and Allyson Coleman, is presently unaccounted for. Odette was not at Coq Chante at the time of the quake. She was in Port au Prince with her birth parents for medical tests yesterday. Eddy knows where her family was supposed to be staying last night in Port aP, and is currently on his way to try to find her. We have been unable to make contact with her or her family to this point.  
THE REST OF "OUR GIRLS" - The remaining 16 girls made it out with only some minor injuries. They are very frightened. The remaining structure is unsafe and they cannot go back inside at this point. The girls spent the night outside, in the courtyard of the orphanage. All the caregivers who presently live at the orphanage (Agathe, Edwin, Pastor and Madam Gaspard, Jean Luke and Magrela) are all safe and are caring for the girls.  
- RICOT LOUIS JUSTE AND FAMILY: Ricot (Pastor Nicolas' son), Mona (Pastor Nicolas' widow), and their immediate family are all safe. Their house in Delmas sustained major damage but they all managed to make it out. They spent the night in the courtyard outside their home. Ricot's wife, Christina, is here in Knoxville with us.  
- EDDY JEUNE AND FAMILY: Eddy, Nicole, and their children are all safe and their house came through the quake ok.  
- PASTOR MENES: He is safe and his house still standing, but his youngest daughter, Beremy, is unaccounted for. She was at school in the city at the time of the quake, and Pastor Menes is getting reports that the school building collapsed. He hasn't been able to make contact with her. We haven't been able to make contact with anyone else at this point, or confirm the condition of other facilities (ie, Camatin, Belloc). The epicenter of the quake was located in an area very close to the homes of many of our other friends (Hippolite, Estemine, Evelyne, Jabey, among others). We continue to try to make contact constantly. At first light this morning Ricot will be trying to make the journey to Coq Chante to try to get to the girls. Reports are that Port au Prince is virtually destroyed, and the road up the mountain sustained much damage -- so travel may prove impossible. WHITE STONE FAMILY: PLEASE PRAY! We will be monitoring the developments throughout the day - trying to formulate a plan on what our next-steps will be. 

As you can probably imagine this was a very trying time for our church. Our family went through a tremendous emotional roller coaster. The ups and downs from bad-news to good-news is so overwhelming. Trying to grieve but rejoice, so confusing to the heart. I have asked that God keep all of these feelings with me, even the bad, as they help keep me grounded in my walk with him. I am happy to report today that 6 of our precious friends who were in the adoption process were able to join their families here in the states. That included: BENITA, ODETTE, VALENCIA, DIEULA (JAYLA), ISLANDE, and WOUSAMMY. It was a very emotional service at churchwhen they were their live in person, what a blessing to have them here with us. The remaining 12 girls are safe in Haiti in temporary housing until we will know further where to go from here in the process of rebuilding. Please keep praying for all those in Haiti, because the devastation is still tremendous. It could take many years before they ever recover from this horrific event. Thank you to all people who supported our girls and our church during this trying time, and still continure to support this worthy cause. God can turn all things into good!!!
 

Love, Mel

 

 This is Coq Chante Orphanage Before

 Here is After :-(

This is the sweetheart Atanie who went on to be with the Lord.

Harmony's First Sleepover

Anxiety is what I was feeling in the days leading up to Harmony's first sleepover. Yes, you heard me right, her first sleepover at almost 7 years old. She has never been overnight anywhere unless it was with us. It's not that we never let her, it just seems that the opportunity never presented itself. So here we were, she was finally invited to stay overnight somewhere, and for the first time ever actually wanted to go. Of course it was her best friend Lexie, as she was celebrating her 7th birthday. I didn't have anxiety about where she was going, or even how she would make it through it. My anxiety was coming from my fear of how I would handle it. I know I know; swallow a big girl pill, right?? It's just that after having your precious little baby being safe in her bed, tucking her in every night, giving "lovies" (thats what Harmony calls it) for 7 straight years....it's different. There sits her empty bed, no t.v. running (as it has every night since she was 6 months old), no sounds of tossing and turning, no checking in that last time before you go off to sleep, well it's enough to just rip a mother's heart out. Needless to say, Harmony had a fantastic time at Lexie's. She made it through the whole sleepover, only calling once to say goodnight. I stayed in her room for about 4 hours (till 2 a.m.) cleaning and organizing all of her Christmas toys. I think it was a way to feel close to her. I managed to never cry, for the first time ever, at one of Harmony's milestones. I don't know if I just overcame it, or the pain was so great that my mind convinced itself she was sleeping somewhere else in the house. Either way, I will count it a success!!! I told Brenda that I didn't cry and she said, "Aww, mommy's growing up!"

Love, Mel

Happy 7th Birthday Lexie

Working on their sleepover pillowcases.
Harmony's pillowcase
The girl's finished product. I love these!

First Snow Day of 2010

We were so excited watching the temperatures drop down below freezing, and the chances of snow getting higher. It could only be the perfect combination for a SNOW DAY! On the morning of Jan. 7 we woke up to temperatures around 15 -18 degrees, and I had already seen an early morning flurry before we left for school. They were saying it was a 70 percent chance that it would snow in the afternoon, and that was exciting. I bundled Harmony up like the poor kid in "The Christmas Story" (well her arms didn't stick up).. When I dropped her off I said, "Don't be surprised if school is called off early." As I'm sitting in my living room just hanging out I notice that the snow has started falling, and is starting to stick pretty quickly. I got a phone call from my sister saying that Alcoa was letting out early, and that I needed to check the news for Knox. As soon as I turned it on it said that Knox Co. would be releasing 1 hour early.I was so excited. It stuck really good to all of the concrete surfaces, and not as good on the grassy ones. It snowed enough overnight to cover the roads leaving them too hazardess to drive. So, they also got out on Friday...yAy! We played outside until Harmony's face looked frost-bitten.. We sled down our tiny hills on garbage bags and garbage can lids. Then, Harmony rode her bike and scooter. Tony made Harmony a pull sled out of the garbage can lid for us to pull her in, and it was very COOL! She also got to ride on our nieghbors four-wheeler that he let Tony borrow. It was a long fun cold day! I miss the snow!!!

Harmony and I

Look, its a turtle!! 

 

Harmony & Tony 4 wheelin in the snow!!

 

Harmony loved riding her bike in the snow!!!

New Years 2010

We rang in the New Year here at home like always. Harmony loves New Year mainly because of all of the noise makers. I always feel nostalgic. It is so hard for me each time to move onto the new and leave the old behind. Time seems to keep moving faster, and Harmony is growing up more quickly than I had ever dreamed she would. I wish I could just stop the clock, and live in every moment without losing a second of our time. Just not possible though, so here comes another year! I hope that everyone's 2010 has been filled with blessings so far!

Love, Mel

Tehehe...Crazy Shades!!