We Leave in the Morning! Gotcha Day in ONE WEEK!

Two weeks ago we were packed and ready to fly to Ethiopia. Then the call came. The birth certificate was not ready and our travel was delayed. God is so smart! He knew we had more preparations to take care of. He knew I was going to get sick and Libby was going to get sick and Gracie was going to get sick. He knew that I needed to go through PMS before travel (LOL!). He knew that Student Life would find another band. He knew how to take care of everything in His perfect timing. So what have we been doing? Well, for one - we did NOT unpack! Everything stayed in the luggage except for a few items from our carry-ons. And now, we have more formula to pack, so we'll be packing a 6th. checked bag tonight.

Some of the projects we took on in the last two weeks include ordering 15 cubic yards of mulch that was dumped on our driveway so that we could break our backs shoveling it and moving it to the backyard. It got done and our yard (which was previously a jungle of weeds) is now looking super! We sold our old home and we able to be at the closing. We had to clean out the garage at the old house -which means it ended up in the garage of our new house. But we got that cleaned up too. We moved all the furniture around in the living room. Hung new curtains up in the dining. Read up in the "What to Expect in the Baby's First Year" and feel much more prepared to take on a tiny 4 month old. We had house church, pool time, Chuck E Cheese time. We've had extra time with friends and a movie or two to watch. Billy got to watch WAY too much basketball and he finished a book. He wrote a fabulous new song and he even got our new EP off to print - it will be ready for release by the time we return home! (It's called "Wonder Working One" so look for it on itunes in about 1 month or so). I battled an oncoming sinus infection and won before it took me over. Libby has had a fever and the croup, but seems better today. Gracie has chicken pox, but hopefully she will be at the end of that by the time we get to her. I have rethought medicines to take and have more of that to pack now. My house will be clean by this evening - baseboard and blinds dusted too! Ooo la la!

Libby has blossomed in the last 2 weeks and is better prepared for the trip now than she was 2 weeks ago. I will look back, in the years to come, with much gratitude for the extra time I've had with her these last 2 weeks. We watched Cinderella last night together and the more I laughed or commented on the movie, the more she did too. If I laughed and didn't look back at her to laugh with her she would take her hand to my chin and gently move my face to look at hers so we could smile and laugh together. I will never forget the look in her eye as she smiled contently with my full attention at her fingertips.

Here are some pictures of our yard work:

After Libby helped daddy in the yard, she helped mommy cook (kinda). Here is her happy cookin' self:

This is her peanut butter lovin' self (see spoon):

These last 2 are really funny. When people ask, "Are you excited about going to Ethiopia?" I'm often without words to express our excitement. But these silly pictures of Libby are the perfect picture of excitement~ This is how excited we are...........

Lastly, there are 7 other families traveling to Ethiopia in our travel group. We all leave on different days this week. We are the first to head out. Of the seven families traveling with us, I have a few or their blog links so you can follow their journeys too. Here is the list:

Cole Family: - adopting Alexander Mason – leaving for ET on June 4:   http://www.colefamilyadventure.blogspot.com/

 

Egly Family – adopting Ansley Berhane and Karis Bifee: - leaving for ET on 6/5/09 http://abeautifultapestry.blogspot.com/

 

Sweeney Family – adopting Gavin Dawit: http://www.gavinquest.blogspot.com

 

Jaegar Family  - adopting Anna Mihiret – leaving for ET on 6/4/09 http://www.jaeger-family.blogspot.com/

 

Nicholson Family – from NC, adopting a 4 year old girl

Hanson Family - from KY, adopting a 4 year old boy

Byrom Family - from West Virginia, adopting a sibling group ages 6, 4, and 2

We are headed out early in the morning! While we will have internet access in ET, it may be very slow. I hope to post everyday and even post some pictures, but I can make no promises. 

Thank you for your prayers and for following our journey!

I'm off to become mommy to Gracie Lu!

Love,

Cindy