Recent pictures of the kiddos
Friday, March 21, 2008
FW: Testing
This is a test… Is it working? We are planning to blog regularly on our trip and have been told that emailing the blog entry works well! Did it????
Thursday, March 20, 2008
This part is amazing
I slept REALLY well for the first time in weeks. It was lovely! I am not nearly as stressed as I thought I would be and can hardly believe that in a week we will be on our way! We are so excited to have PERFECT plane tickets in and out of Pasco. Our flights are about 24 hours in length but we are flying Lufthansa which has individual TV's and good leg room - this will help my zoo of people to survive! Danny, Lilly and Addy are all set to stay with Grandma and Grandpa and I am looking forward to hearing how they survive the week! :) I am sure that they will be fine and are getting excited about all the special "play dates" they get to have. Grandad is coming to take them to Horton Hears a Who and take their mind off of the fact that their parents are gone! You are all invited to meet us at the airport on Saturday, April 5th around 3:20! We also will be posting during our trip so you can "experience" Ethiopia with us!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Wooooo Hoooooo
We are leavin' on a jet plane... we will be home on April 5th... oh babe - I am so glad!!!
Can you hear me singing???? We have an Embassy Date of April 1st. We will be leaving on March 27th and can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh! MY! GOSH! We have so much to do! Thank you for your prayers!
Can you hear me singing???? We have an Embassy Date of April 1st. We will be leaving on March 27th and can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh! MY! GOSH! We have so much to do! Thank you for your prayers!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day
First of all... no news yet about our Embassy Date, so please keep praying that we will hear soon!
Now onto one of my favorite topics... St. Patrick's Day. 14 years ago today, I met the man of my dreams! Ben and I were both at Cal Lu and were out for St. Patty's Day. We were at the favorite dance club (yes, we were dancing) for us college kids and a few minor celebrities. Ben was wearing his Sonics sweatshirt (I eventually ruined it in the wash) and looked super cute. Our college was only about 2700 students so we knew that we both went to school together - but I didn't know his name. We started dancing together and talking a bit just before my friends were ready to leave for the night. Ben and I said goodnight (I gave him a kiss on the cheek) and I went home. Ben stayed for another hour or two - you will have to ask him about how he got home that night - it is one of his favorite stories! :) A few days later I made up a super lame excuse to stop by his room and found him reading on the couch. I thought "wow, he is cute AND he likes to read." He has told me since that it was the only book he read in college... and it was just on that night... :) He asked me out... well actually he didn't have a car so we rented a movie and watched it in my dorm room. It was a horrible movie but the date was fun. The rest is history... :) Most of my friends (and several of his) were so surprised that we fell in love. He was a hunter from Washington and I was a vegetarian from California... somehow it just works! I love that we bring out the best in each other and I am so glad he is mine!
Now onto one of my favorite topics... St. Patrick's Day. 14 years ago today, I met the man of my dreams! Ben and I were both at Cal Lu and were out for St. Patty's Day. We were at the favorite dance club (yes, we were dancing) for us college kids and a few minor celebrities. Ben was wearing his Sonics sweatshirt (I eventually ruined it in the wash) and looked super cute. Our college was only about 2700 students so we knew that we both went to school together - but I didn't know his name. We started dancing together and talking a bit just before my friends were ready to leave for the night. Ben and I said goodnight (I gave him a kiss on the cheek) and I went home. Ben stayed for another hour or two - you will have to ask him about how he got home that night - it is one of his favorite stories! :) A few days later I made up a super lame excuse to stop by his room and found him reading on the couch. I thought "wow, he is cute AND he likes to read." He has told me since that it was the only book he read in college... and it was just on that night... :) He asked me out... well actually he didn't have a car so we rented a movie and watched it in my dorm room. It was a horrible movie but the date was fun. The rest is history... :) Most of my friends (and several of his) were so surprised that we fell in love. He was a hunter from Washington and I was a vegetarian from California... somehow it just works! I love that we bring out the best in each other and I am so glad he is mine!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Correction
The total from the Yard Sale was $4507.00!!!! I think my sleepy brain couldn't add last night - and what fun it was to wake up and realize I had made a mistake - in our favor!!! WooHoo again! I LOVE this!!!! I am just amazed by all that has happened and all that will happen in the few weeks and I am thrilled with ALL that He has done! I am nearly speechless... nearly! :)
I have spent the past hour looking at our budget, totaling costs and have discovered that we are left with $2270 in debt from this adoption. How is that possible? How (when we used to live paycheck to paycheck) is is possible that this is all that is left? How? We are NEAELY debt free, still have a (small) savings account, are tithing more... how did this happen? We have scrimped a bit (OK, a lot) but we were still able to give. My friend Lisa gave me a fabulous spreadsheet to budget my money, and that helped. I started reading Total Money Makeover (I think that is the name) before we decided to adopt and kept thinking... "Dave Ramsey would not like what we are about to do." But, we knew God's leading - that was so clear. When we began this adventure we were sure that we would have to take out a loan for $10000 and now will only be left with 1/4 of that. Thanks to the "Economic Stimulus" thing-a-ma-jig we will get to pay that off too! How cool is that? This is probably more than any of you need to know about our budget... but I am just so very excited that God has (once again) taken care of EVERY NEED!
Thank you to all of you who have prayed, donated, laughed (with me, not at me), rejoiced, and traveled with us on this first part of our adventure! I cannot imagine what the next part will bring, but I know that God has the details, supplied the friends, and wants our newest children to come home!
I have spent the past hour looking at our budget, totaling costs and have discovered that we are left with $2270 in debt from this adoption. How is that possible? How (when we used to live paycheck to paycheck) is is possible that this is all that is left? How? We are NEAELY debt free, still have a (small) savings account, are tithing more... how did this happen? We have scrimped a bit (OK, a lot) but we were still able to give. My friend Lisa gave me a fabulous spreadsheet to budget my money, and that helped. I started reading Total Money Makeover (I think that is the name) before we decided to adopt and kept thinking... "Dave Ramsey would not like what we are about to do." But, we knew God's leading - that was so clear. When we began this adventure we were sure that we would have to take out a loan for $10000 and now will only be left with 1/4 of that. Thanks to the "Economic Stimulus" thing-a-ma-jig we will get to pay that off too! How cool is that? This is probably more than any of you need to know about our budget... but I am just so very excited that God has (once again) taken care of EVERY NEED!
Thank you to all of you who have prayed, donated, laughed (with me, not at me), rejoiced, and traveled with us on this first part of our adventure! I cannot imagine what the next part will bring, but I know that God has the details, supplied the friends, and wants our newest children to come home!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Yard Sale
What a day! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine today being so perfect. It was cold, breezy and started hailing 45 minutes before the end of the yard sale. And STILL we made $2500! Can you believe it???? We were also given a $1600 matching grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans so our grand total is $4100. WOW! I feel like my head could fall off from all the times I catch myself thinking, "I can't believe it" while shaking my head back and forth. It is just crazy! We were blessed so many times today and are so thankful. Jan and I both had favorite moments today, when we were able to bless others with the items for the yard sale. At one point, later in the day a woman came with her tiny baby and asked about a car seat. I said $20 and then walked away when she said no. Soon she came to find me and asked if I would take $6. Normally, I would have said, "no" because it was practically brand new and gorgeous... but I said yes took the money and walked away. A few minutes later I happened to look in her direction and she was puting the baby into the carseat... she didn't have one before that moment. The baby had been laying on the seat without a car seat as they traveled around town. Now I know that many grandma's out there would say, "that's how we did it with you, and you turned out fine!" But I know that today things are different. We were able to bless that family today with a couple "baby essentials" that made that woman's day... and kept her baby safe. That was the highlight for me. Other highlights include the amazing help we had, the delicious lasagna, muffins and coffee that were delivered for the workers and the friends who, once again, amazed me with their willingness to give up precious family time to help us... WOW! I turned to one friend early in the day and ecxitedly told her that I thought we might make $1000 today - I love being wrong!!!! So, for all of you who donated items, came to price treasures, brought us snacks, and came to shop - THANK YOU!!!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Thanks!
Thank you Todd for pointing out that Addis is not at the same elevation as Mars...
I meant...
7,726 FEET above sea level - not MILES! :)
I meant...
7,726 FEET above sea level - not MILES! :)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Yard Sale
Please pray for wonderful weather on Saturday. We have a ton of stuff... and I mean a TON!!! I really hope someone comes to buy it! We are running out of room in the HUGE 3 car garage at my in-law's house so it would be super helpful to be able to take some stuff outside too! Danny and Lilly are so excited that they get to sell donuts... they have been asking for 2 years to be able to do that and cannot wait for Saturday. Their (big) friends H and O are coming to help count money and make sure Danny and Lilly use napkins and don't lick their fingers.
Pray for sun!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Packing
This packing thing is amazing... just when you think you can handle it - a wrench is thrown in. I haven't actually started packing but I keep thinking it should be OK. And then today I TRIED to start. I was thrown for a loop when I remembered that I HAVE NO IDEA what size my kids wear (how weird is that).
On top of that, I can't figure out how much dark chocolate I need to take. Somehow this has taken precedence over EVERYTHING else... Dark chocolate is supposed to combat Altitude sickness issues. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is 7,726 miles above sea level and we were told to bring dark chocolate... so how much? A bar, 2 bars, 200... my family knows well that when I get stressed out I often buy very strange things. Like the time I had to stay up all night for a brain scan test (I was fainting) and spent 2 hours at WalMart from 2am-4am... I bought THE UGLIEST pair of shoes anyone has ever seen. I think the lady on Mama's Family might have worn them with pride, but NO ONE ELSE WOULD BE CAUGHT DEAD in them... well except for me at 4am. I actually wore them for about 2 days until I caught back up on my sleep and realized how hideous they were. So now, if you see me walking out of Fred Meyer with more than 3 bars of dark chocolate - kindly call my husband and DON'T let me drive myself home!
On top of that, I can't figure out how much dark chocolate I need to take. Somehow this has taken precedence over EVERYTHING else... Dark chocolate is supposed to combat Altitude sickness issues. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is 7,726 miles above sea level and we were told to bring dark chocolate... so how much? A bar, 2 bars, 200... my family knows well that when I get stressed out I often buy very strange things. Like the time I had to stay up all night for a brain scan test (I was fainting) and spent 2 hours at WalMart from 2am-4am... I bought THE UGLIEST pair of shoes anyone has ever seen. I think the lady on Mama's Family might have worn them with pride, but NO ONE ELSE WOULD BE CAUGHT DEAD in them... well except for me at 4am. I actually wore them for about 2 days until I caught back up on my sleep and realized how hideous they were. So now, if you see me walking out of Fred Meyer with more than 3 bars of dark chocolate - kindly call my husband and DON'T let me drive myself home!
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