Tomorrow

Tomorrow Ben's cousin John leaves for Ethiopia. Actually, he will go to Uganda first where he has begun organizing and working to build a school. He is taking lots of important things like

• flashlights
• a globe
• abc posters
• sticky notes
• books
• so much more

After he spends a week in Uganda, he will go to Ethiopia to pick up their son A. A is a gorgeous 15 year old who will be reunited with his biological brother and sister in the US. What an adventure that will be! While they are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia they will go to the care center where our kids are.... they will meet them, spend time with them, answer their questions, and measure their feet. Most importantly (not really) John will clarify for the kids that we do not live in Washington DC. I hope they are not disapointed. Some children who just came home from Ethiopia kept telling their mom that our kids were going to DC... we want to clarify quickly that we live in plain-old WA state...

I just read that kids who have families enjoy a certain "celebrity" status in the orphanages and care centers. All the other kids know who they are AND where they will live. I suppose they walk just a bit taller and smile A LOT more when they know that the care center is only temporary. When things fall through... the disapointment must be so incredibly visible. I don't even really want to think about it.

Today, I did some shopping. All the sudden I realized that I am going to need to pack for myself, Ben (I always help him pack) and 3 kids I have never met! EEEKKKK! I need pj's, underwear, socks, toothbrushes, shampoo, toothpaste, toys, shoes, airplane snacks, orphanange donations.... So today I bought 2 t-shirts for A (Erika picked out the "coolest" ones) and a pair of sleeping pants. I bought E a pair of nylon sweat pants because I have NO idea what size he is... Our plan for now is to take a large collection of sizes and then leave whatever doesn't fit. I also bought 2 pairs of Adidas last week, one for M and one for A, I spent a total of $25 for both pairs and figure if they are the wrong size, someone eventually will fit them. It is a bit overwhelming to shop like this, I have this giant pile starting and it is only going to grow...