Our dog, Rocky

Our beautiful dog, Rocky.   He is a malamute husky. Can handle his own in any situation, especially with other dogs.  Very protective of our children and a gentle loving fellow.

Sarah, now

And here she is again at age 6 !  Almost two years after her arrival from Haiti.  Sarah was one of the 24 orphans who were flown out of Haiti to Canada on January 23, 2010 after the earthquake.   She is now a Permanent Resident of Canada !

Sarah in Haiti, 2007

This was my first meeting with Sarah at the Mercy & Sharing Orphange in Haiti.  She was two years old at that time and was in the therapy room to be taught how to walk.  She was sitting so prim and proper and those beautiful eyes  . . . well I was enchanted.

A few days later when I returned to the orphange I sought Sarah out and took this photo before taking her out of her crib and keeping her with me for the remainder of the afternoon.

Whitney's 1st Riding Lesson

Thursday, September 15th was Whitney's first Therapeutic Riding lesson at NOTRA. She totally enjoyed it, and was very comfortable on her pony, Rosie.

Whitney & Dani

Whitney with instructor, Dani, at NOTRA (North Okanagan Therapeutic Riding Association). At the end of Whitney's first riding lesson.

Canada Day July 1, 2011

Whitney and Sarah on Canada Day!

Whitney & Sarah Ballet Recital 2010

This is a rehearsal photo.  The young lady in the green was not in the Recital.  Whitney is sitting second from the right and Sarah is standing.

Whitney & Sarah's Ballet Recital 2010

Whitney & Sarah's Ballet Recital 2010

Whitney with Chelsey.

Whitney & Sarah's Ballet Recital 2010

Whitney is standing in front of Chelsey and sister Sarah is the second girl to her right.

Whitney & Sarah's Ballet Recital 2010

Whitney is sitting on Chelsey's lap and Sarah is two girls to the right.

Whitney in makeup for Ballet Recital

Sarah in makeup for Ballet Recital

Our girls arrived into Canada from Haiti !

I know it's taken me too long already to update my blog with this news. My son and I flew to Ottawa in the early morning hours of Jan. 24th to pick up Jessie (age 9) & Sarah(age 4) from the airport. They were amoung the first 24 orphans evacuated out of Haiti to Canada. There is a write up on the Mercy & Sharing website about their homecoming www.haitichildren.com

We are all doing well but really busy with getting the girls settled in and used to totally new surroundings and new ways of doing things. I'll post a photo of them before too much longer.

Adoptive family needed soon for Ivanna !

"Ivanna (Orphanage # 13, Ukraine)

Girl, Born November 26, 2005

Ivanna is already 4 years old and facing imminent institutionalization! She is a precious little girl, with medium brown hair and blue eyes. She is a happy little girl, but so desperately needs a loving family to help her be all she can be. Ivanna has an ASD (atrial septal defect). It is more significant than Alyona's, and she is not walking yet. She will definitely need to be seen by a cardiologist when she gets home, but she need a family quickly so proper attention can be provided for her heart condition.

Ivanna has very low tone and is not walking yet. She is much lower functioning than Alyona, but also one who will regress quickly and waste away to nothing if she is sent to an institution.

Ivanna is one of those kids who will truly blossom in a family setting with love and encouragement!

Both Ivanna and Alyona are in the same orphanage and can be adopted together.

Ivanna REALLY needs a family, and will truly blossom once home. Please give her the chance to reach her full potential!"

Contact Andrea Roberts: bamaroberts@comcast.net
and visit www.reecesrainbow.org for more information
Rosalie's email: rosaliewagner@telus.net

2nd legal is completed !

We were advised yesterday that our daughters dossiers finally cleared 2nd legalization in Haiti. Now the dossiers are in MOI (Ministry of the Interior), which is the final long awaited step to the girls finally being able to leave Haiti and come to Canada. As soon as MOI is done, which could be a few months or much longer, it's off to the Canadian Embassy to obtain travel authorization !!

New website launched Nov. 3rd, 2009

Our new website for "the BC Down Syndrome Centre" was made public on November 3, 2009. There is lots of really great information for parents, caregivers of children and adults with Down syndrome along with information for professionals who work with children and adults with Down syndrome.

We have a lot more content planned for the site which will take quite a bit of time. As a result I do not plan to be updating this blog for quite awhile.

The new website address is: www.bcdsc.org and my email address is: rosalie@bcdsc.org . Please feel free to email me and let me know what you think of the new website and any suggestions you may have for additional content or improvements.

Regards,
Rosalie

Our website not quite ready yet

We are still working on putting together our new website for "the BC Down Syndrome Centre". We are finalizing the programming etc. We have alot of really great content for the site, however, we are still working on trying to obtain A LOT more and it's coming in really slowly. Everyone we are asking for information and articles seem to be too busy right now. Those that have given us some great information already have been wonderfully supportive and fantastic to work with.

Will post again once we have the new website ready to go public. Let's hope it's not too much longer.