Here We Go!

Alrighty.  The time is finally here!  I gotta say, this doesn't feel real yet.  We'll probably get home from the trip, look at each other, and say "did that all really just happen?"  I hope to be able to update the blog while we're gone, but I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to.  

I'm stealing an idea from my friend, Lori, to ask for specific prayers for every day we're gone.

Day 1 - November 19:  Safe travel as we drive to Clovis and a fun evening with my family celebrating my sister-in-law's birthday.

Day 2 - November 20:  We get up to drive to Amarillo at three in the morning.  So, prayers for safety for that part of the trip and also for our air travel, which is all day and all night.  Peace for the kiddos as the reality of us being gone sets in.

Day 3 - November 21:  Arrive in Paris.  Prayers for us to be able to navigate the metro and not be too terribly jet lagged.  Prayers for our kids' hearts to be full and for Maci, especially, to be content.  Always a hard date.  We had our first miscarriage nine years ago. 

Day 4 - November 22:  Sightseeing all day - Louve, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe.  Prayers for us to relax and enjoy each other.  Prayers for the grandparents in Clovis juggling the fab four and their schoolwork.

Day 5 - November 23:  Sightseeing all day - Versailles, Eiffel Tower.  Prayers for our kids to cooperate as they do their school and to be a blessing for the shut-ins they're delivering meals-on-wheels to.  Prayers for Maci to be able to fall asleep at night without me there.

Day 6 - November 24:  Travel all day - Paris, Frankfurt, Ethiopia!  Prayers for travel safety, for flights to be on time, to get our visa with no problems, and to pass through customs with no issues with all of our donations.  Prayers for the kids.  They're probably really starting to miss us now.  Trip is halfway over.

Day 7 - November 25:  Happy Thanksgiving!  Orientation with Holt, meeting with Little E's pediatrician, and finally MEETING LITTLE E!!!  Please pray for it to be a blessed time and for him to not be confused by the whole thing.   Pray for us to have peace that this child is part of God's plan for our lives.  Evening - we're meeting several other couples for dinner.  Praise that we're able to connect with others who are on similar journeys.  Prayers for our families and kids as we're apart on this holiday.  I've never even spent a major holiday away from my parents, so this day is monumental in so many ways.

Day 8 - November 25:  Court hearing.  Pray for us to hear the words that he is our child and for all of the necessary paperwork to be in place.  Pray for our hearts and Little E's as we say goodbye.  Our prayer is for him to not realize that anything out of the ordinary is going on.  We don't want him to have any more trauma in his little life.  We fly out in the evening, so travel mercies.

Day 9 - November 26:  Fly all Friday night and all day Saturday.  Addis, Frankfurt, Houston, Amarillo.  36 hours total, I think.  Prayer for our hearts as we continue to deal with having children on opposite sides of the world.  Travel safety.  Praise that Tio and Chyanne are able to meet us at the airport so we can see our kids two hours sooner and to help drive us to Clovis, if necessary because we're so tired.  Prayers for the kids to not drive Tio and Chyanne a bit crazy with their excitement.  Praise - we get to see our kids!

Day 10 - November 27:  We're very worried about driving the four hours back to Rio Rancho with the jet lag we'll be feeling.  Please pray for us to be alert and clear headed while we drive.  Praise - we're home!!!

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Thankful for Friends

As the time for us to leave quickly approaches, I'm struck with overwhelming gratitude for everyone who has supported us during the past year.  Today, I'm especially thinking of our friends here in Rio Rancho.  Seriously, we have such an amazing group of friends!  Eleven months ago, they dropped everything to take our kids when we started to lose our baby.  They supported us and grieved with us when it was over.  Then when we felt led to adopt, they jumped on board and backed us 100%.  I'm so touched by all of their prayers and emotional and financial support.  Every single bit of it means so much to us. 

We also have wonderful family, don't get me wrong!  We're so very blessed in our lives!  But today, I have been thinking about how several of my friends are stepping forward to take the fab four and juggle their schedules and their own large broods of kiddos so that I can have all day Thursday to finish getting ready leave.  You guys know who you are.  Thank you!  You totally rock.  

Today's picture is some of us moms when we took the kids sledding earlier this year.  I laugh when I look at this because I have about three layers of everything on and was still freezing a wee bit chilly.  Everyone else seemed to be very comfortable and I was appalled when they started taking off coats and gloves because they were too hot.  ;-)  That's me, third from the left.  Michelle is missing from this picture, having just rushed off with an injured child.  Sandy is also missing, having just adopted her sweet little boy.

Thanks for your love and support, ladies!

Three days!!!!!!!!  We're coming Little E!


And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Colossians 3:15

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S-T-R-E-S-S

Well, I think the overwhelming stress excitement of getting ready for our trip might just do me in!  Our bedroom seems to have spontaneously combusted.  There are suitcases, clothes, and donations on just about every surface.  I can't seem to find enough hours in the day to get it all done.  I think we may have a couple of weeks coming up where our homeschooling is made up of 'life experience'.  I also agreed to be part of a Christmas Extravaganza that some women from church are putting together.  It's going to be a really fun event, but I need to sew a lot of stuff and I haven't even been able to think about that yet.  Unfortunately, it's the weekend after we get back.  My table will probably be pretty lame-o.  That's the least of my worries right now, though.

I have recently become obsessively fixated been thinking a lot about our Maci.  She's never been away from me for one night.  The longest we've ever been apart in her 3 1/2 years is probably five or six hours when I was at a couple of quick births.  I'm trying to prep the older two on how to deal with all of the emotions Maci is going to express while we're gone.  I would really appreciated prayers specifically for her.

I have to say, though, it will be interesting to see what it feels like to be myself, separate from my many appendages.  I have recently been able to start leaving a couple of kids at home while I go shopping and I love it!  I feel so normal and anonymous.  It's lovely!  No one is looking at me like I'm crazy as I try to manage my three ring circus up and down the aisles.  No one asks if it's a school holiday and then says oh or hmmm when I say we homeschool.  Not one asking if they're all mine, which inevitably leads to the adoption when all of the kids chime in that there's actually another one on the way.  

But still, eight days without the fabulous four is going to be about all I can handle.  I adore my kiddos.  


So, nine days until we head to the grandparents.  That's another freak out I'm having.  A couple of days ago I realized, DUH!  I have to pack all of the kids, their schoolwork, and the dog to be away from home for ten days.  I've been focused on getting me and Justin ready.  But no, there's so much more to it!  I have a little song that's stuck in my head for the past few days.  Do you know it?  We used to sing it as kids... I am slowly going crazy, 1,2,3,4,5,6 switch.  Crazy going slowly am I 6,5,4,3,2,1 switch.


I really don't want to leave off with this being a whiny post.  We are incredibly blessed to be able to have a mini vacay in Paris and to be able to bring another child into our home from halfway around the world.  Yes, the logistics are mind boggling.  But, this is what life is about.  These moments where I think I might actually be going crazy, the school days made up of looking at maps of Paris and researching the climate in Ethiopia, the love we already have for a child we have never met.  It's a wild ride, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  


One quick funny... Maci talks about Little E all the time.  The other day, the doorbell rang and she yelled, "E is here!  E is here!"  She hangs out in his bed and plays with his toys.  Yesterday, she started telling me that Ethiopia is going to be her brother, too.  Now, first of all it's super cute to hear the word Ethiopia come out of a three year old's mouth.  Seriously.  I love how she says it.  Secondly, it's also been impossible to convince her that Ethiopia is a place and not a person.  Poor girl is trying to wrap her mind around everything she's seeing and hearing.  So, if you hear that we're getting a child named Ethiopia, that rumor is false.  For now.  ;)


Nine days until we leave for Clovis!!!  Ten days until we get on the plane!!!  Two weeks from tomorrow we meet Little E!!!