My first home cooked meal...by me!

Ok - so we have been so blessed since we have been home that I have not even had to make a meal yet. So often when we were away, I thought, "I just wish I was at home and could make whatever I wanted to eat...whenever I wanted it." I had thought that about other things too. I remember thinking that I would no longer complain about the constant squeal in the shower because I had a shower with hot water.
SO when we got home I realized that our upstairs sink was not draining any water. Now this is the only full bathroom that we have and so all morning and evening rituals and all bathing by everyone is done there...and the sink didn't drain. Oh, well...we made do...we just used the tub to wash and brush our teeth - it is what we did in Africa so no big deal. I really thought that I would buy some DrainO at the store and all would be well. It took me a few days to actually get the DrainO, then about 3 bottles and several days later I realized that this was a slightly bigger issue than I had originally thought! Once I do all that I can think of, I then ask Brian to look at it. He took the sink apart and found that yes, it was indeed really clogged! He went to Lowe's to get professional cleaner. Unfortunately, he ended up with some on his hand which required lots of flushing of water and jumping up and down...only to find that the professional stuff didn't work either...so then we call Ed.
Ed goes back a long way with us. Early in our marriage we learned that it was good to always have a plumber/electrican on hand because when you live in old houses, and things go wrong, there is usually a huge mess that follows. SO Ed is used to the call, "Hey, Ed, we started this project to fix (fill in the blank), but we hit a road block and need you to come!" So this time he came within the hour. And he was here for a while...only for him to tell us that he needs to get to the pipe from the kitchen ceiling. Nice.
So out goes everything from the pantry, again. Our pantry has been cleaned out twice a year since we moved in a couple of years ago...no need to say why! ANYWAY - we gathered the kids, formed an assembly line and emptied the pantry and cleared the way for the mess that will come tomorrow morning when Ed returns with another guy to fix the pipe that apparently rusted closed while we were away and the whole section needs to be replaced! SO long story short...NO home cooked meal tonight!
But you can see God's plan in all of this. Brian has to drop off the van to get looked at because the check engine light is on and we did have a way to get him back home because our other vehicle doesn't hold all of us. AND Ed come from the same side of town. So Ed is going to pick him up and bring him home when he comes to fix the pipes...see everything works our perfectly! Heehee :-)

Funny thing:
Last night Korpo came up to me and asked for a fish biscuit. Maybe I had heard her wrong so I asked her to repeat herself. Nope, she definately said fish biscuits. I nicely explained that we don't have fish biscuits in our house, and tried to contain my disgused...THEN it dawned on me...she wanted...any guesses? Goldfish crackers! Hahahahahaha :-)

My attempt at Kp's hair!

Kb and his new hair-do!

All the Ks

Ky and Kp

Kb and Kd

The kids are doing well...it is fun to watch their personalities blossom. Kp is very smart and catches on very quickly. It is still hard for us to understand everything that she says, but a combination of speaking slower and opening her mouth when she talks and putting the endings on the words, has really aided Brian and I in understanding her. She is also learning how to talk less with her eyes and facial expressions (any other fellow parents commiserate?) and actually tell us what is bothering her. Overall she has been such a blessing. She is a wonderful helper and has such a wonderful heart to serve. When we have clean up time, she is always willing to help. She actually cleaned all the toys out from under our couches...I guess she noticed the junk! When we came home from Walmart the other day, she helped me put away all the groceries and all the other kids followed what she did. I had all the groceries put away in 5 minutes! I actually washed and did her hair today - with my arsenal of hair products! And I found that not only does she have a white mama, but she has a right handed white mama, with a left handed little girl!

Kb is a lot of fun. He talks non-stop, and I am not joking or exaderating either! He must say Mummy about 50 times before breakfast alone. I has just become "background noise." And he can EAT! Even just tonight, he ate 3 servings of dinner! Guess we are just feeding the parasites! (Heehee - I don't know if he has any - it was just a joke!) He also had his first hair cut here and there was slight miscommunication between mommy and daddy and he ended up bald. Not what mommy wanted, but he still looks cute. By the way, while I am writing this he is sitting on my lap talking about and playing with a doll house toilet! He is quite fascinated by it! He is just messing with my concentration!

Kd and Ky are both doing great with the transition. There is much applause the them on sharing their toys without much hesitation. We tried to get back into our routine as soon as we got back, so Ky was back to school and dance and Kd was back to...well, whatever it is that he does all day? Ky and Kp play very well together as long as one is ok with being bossed around by the other

Thanks:

-Bogars: can't remember if I mentioned before and forgot to check, but thanks for taking us to the airport and picking us up...for cleaning our terribly filthy van and filling it with gas...and for the gifts for the kids - they have slept with them every night - and I forgot to tell you the the boys room has monkeys in it and the girls room is the princess and the frog theme, so the frog was great!
-Gina: for another meal :-)

-Walls and Vicki - thanks for the great meal - Kb really enjoyed it!

It is hard to believe that we have been home for a week! Where does time fly to? Anyway I realized that I forgot to post why and how we were able to come home on Saturday. We were cleared on Tuesday for the kids to get their visas, but we didn't actually have the visas in hand. Unfortunately, we began to doubt many things...so we didn't believe that the kids really had visas until they were in our hands. We were told we would get them on Friday, and that we could leave on Friday if we wanted.
Cautiously optimistic we called my dad to have him see if we could get on Fridays flight AND how much it would cost us...we had heard from a few people that it could cost up to $500 a ticket to change...did we really want to spend $2000 to come home early??? Well, God showed his ultimate kindness to us in that we only paid a small fee to reissue tickets, but there was no additional cost per ticket AND we were on a straight flight back to Brussels (The ONE flight that goes 3 times a week, flies Europe to (Where we got off) then to the Ivory Coast and then back to Brussels - so when we depart, we would've had a stop before heading home - an additional 2 + hours on the plane!).
On Wednesday, we decided to get the tickets, but we still had no visas. We then called Kris to let her know we might be home early, but not to tell the kids because there was no guarantee we would be on the flight - or even if we got on the flight that it would actually leave the country...SIDENOTE: Talk about ALL my fears being exposed, everyone knows my fear of flying, right? When we left Dulles on the United flight, we all boarded the flight, got buckled in, ready for take off and "Sorry folks, this airplane is unsafe to fly, please disembark." Yes, so after that, I was supposed to get back on another "safe" airplane...OK...back to our departure: the flights leave Sunday, Wednesday and Friday - we were trying to leave Friday. The Wednesday before flight (the one Danielle was on) HIT a BIRD on the way in and everyone trying to leave had to sit on the runway for 3 hours while the "technicians" hoped to fix the problem to make the plane OK to fly again. THEN the one the Wednesday before that actually TOOK OFF and had to turn around and land because they encountered a serious problem...However, there are no other planes so that one had to be the one to take off in! Where do you find competent airplane technicians in a 3rd world country???? SOOOO, my fears grew and our confidence that we would really leave were small...we only knew we left once we got into Brussels.
So Wednesday, we booked the tickets and then Thursday the kids fell ill with very high fevers that evening/night - so high that the director immediately called a pediatrician to make a house call...were we going home Friday? That was the only time I "slightly" broke down, I wanted to be home where I could take my kids to get help...but God provided. A wonderful doctor came...calm as anything...gave them injections...wrote out a prescription and said we should be OK to travel the next day...so we planned on it. The next morning the kids fevers were controlled and we determined to get on that flight...but still no visas yet. We had to leave by 5 to get to the airport and the visas came at 4:30! Because of the uncertainty of our flight out, we didn't tell, nor did we have the time to tell anyone at home that we were on our way.
Once we arrived in Brussels, we did call immediate family to say we were OUT! They appreciated the call at 11:45 at night, but we thought it would be better then than at 4:30am when our next flight took off for the states! We only called our kids once we safely touched down in Dulles to say we were home! So although there was some suspense in a surprise return, that was not our intent, just the reality of the culture we were in! Thanks to all for the wonderful reception when we got home!!! Oh, and I was fine on the planes - I think I was exhausted and slept most of the first flight!

Funny thing:
We call the littlest one "pipsqueak," but Kd can't remember and calls him "squeak toy"-totally different!

Blessings:
None of us got any intestinal things while traveling...and Brian ate everything, even things off the streets of the market!

Secret from travel:
The chimp, Trouble, that is usually kept in a cage, got out and ended up biting Isaac, one of the guests! Luckily for him, we had rubber gloves and every type of medical supplies necessary and taped him right up! - He was fine by the way :-) and we stayed in until she was recaged about a day or so later!

Thanks:
-Susan for the dinner (and for the extra effort for the ethnic foods) and getting to know you better
-Gina for the wonderful chicken soup - the kids loved it!
-I know I am missing things, just give me time and I will get everyone...my brain is still working a little behind :-)

Back in the groove!

Life is slightly different with two more running around the house, but it feels like they were always here! So far, everyone is doing great...our little one is even making it through the night until about 6/6:30am before needing food! They are eating great and they pretty much try anything that we give them, and like it too! Our littlest, who is 3, is just over 20 pounds, and he eats more than me! He has already made significant progress in gaining weight - but has a long way to go! Our daughter seems to be a healthier weight, and actually turns food away when she is full - I take this as a good sign that she trusts us and the availability of food. Our other two are adjusting well to the new ones. Everyone has their moments, but overall there is a genuine love for one another - which is great to see. We have resumed homeschooling and will start the newest one as soon as her books come in...I can't wait to see what she knows and how quickly she will learn. She said she was in school which would make sense because she can hold a pencil and knows various random things, BUT then again she answers all my questions with a "yes!"

Ever see these commercials?
...Bottle of neck pimple ointment (for scabes) $2, going to the "pharmacy" to buy antibiotics with a "prescription" $25, bottles of water $2, walking to the end of the street for a coke - $0.50, going to a restaurant for an "American" meal $25, a run to Total for Pringles, Ramen Noodles and Coke - $10, a room with a bed, running hot water and a tub w/o holes (hahahahaha), a/c at night (again-hahahaha???) 3 wonderful meals a day - $100, an eventful stroll/speedwalk to the market to buy fabric - $20, spending the 2 weeks in the country bonding with our new kiddos - priceless! I would've NEVER have chosen to stay the 2 weeks unless I was made to, but I now see the benefits of this experience that I would have never understood unless I walked this path. God made me face every fear/phobia that I had on this journey...and I mean every ONE. God is a humorous God and when we say "no," He replies, "oh-yes." God met me in so many wonderful ways. If I would not have accepted His will for me to go, I would've missed out on so many of His wonderful blessings for me!

Funny thing:

Our oldest from Africa came to tell me that my youngest (born in the States) was picking his nose and eating it! Okay, if someone born and raised in the bush knows not to pick her nose and eat it, why, then, can I not get my son to stop that nasty habit?

Secret from the country we were in...things we didn't post while we were there:

The "bottled" water that we drank and was supposed to be "safe"...was actually bottled in that same country! I am not sure, but the last I checked, they weren't real into drinking water safety standards...oh, well...I never had anything floating in my water...and we aren't sick?

Blessing:

Our flights home were absolutely uneventful...no sick kids, no screaming kids, no turbulance (because on the flight going we had about 2 straight hours of it!)...a perfect day to fly!
My one prayer was that God would work in the hearts of the adopted kids and in our hearts so that we would "know" each other before we met and that bonding would occur quickly...He has more than answered our prayers. They took to us quickly (only a few days) and it feels like we know them and that they have always been here. Only God can do that!



I wanted to add some thanks ('cause quite frankly, I am not sure I will ever get to thank-yous!):
-McCrackens and Versace's - thanks for the pre trip information and guidance
-Mom and Dad Parks for the meals and helping keep everything together while we were away!
-Kris and Jim - well, without you guys we wouldn't have been able to go and experience Liberia or have been able to have a special time to bond with the kids (and for food, too)
-Mom and Dad Hegland for the meal and help with the kids and for the gifts :-) AND for getting us on that Friday flight
-the Cables - thanks for the gifts the kids love them!
-Cramers - thanks for the meal - that Buffalo Chicken soooooo hit the spot! Thanks for caring for me and prayers for me while away
-Kims for the wonderful meal; the kids devoured the rice:-)
-McCrackens - for the wonderful birthday meal that I didn't have to cook and for my favorite dessert (even though I doubt you knew it was my birthday - I really appreciated not having to cook on my bday!)
-Walls for all the help watching the kids while we were away - they seemed to have a great time at your house
-SAV managers - for keeping things going
-ALL who prayed for us, we needed it and felt it while away!

I am not sure what all to post, so if any of you all are wondering anything just ask, and I'll try to answer!

We are HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God has moved huge mountains and we are home! A quick update...the kids are doing well. They are eating almost everything that we give them (with, of course, the exception of veggies), and we do have one that has woken us up the past two mornings (at 4am), with the "I'm hungry!" But we are so happy to be home, especially since we were planning on 4 week stay, God has been good to us! We are working on a longer post, but just wanted to get it out to everyone that we are home...updates to come!

Almost Home

Just want to give a brief recap of some significant events that have occurred over the past couple days. A woman who has been here for over a month to adopt an 11 year old girl was just able to go home yesterday. We are very excited for them, but will miss them very much. I was asked to preach at their midweek meeting, which was last night - what an amazing experience. E had skirts made for both of the girls by a local taylor - they will look beautiful. K had her hair platted today and she looks beautiful, E is learning a whole new set of tasks. I helped some of the guys build a basket ball hoop today and it is being painted like their national flag. They are really excited about playing American Basketball, and it was a lot of fun working with them.

Please pray for us - particularly in the next 24 hours as we have a lot going on and would greatly desire your prayer. We sat down for an hour or so tonight to speak with the birth mother, and will meet with their family tomorrow morning, then take a car out to meet the father who is ill. This is a very awkward time for us, but she is very excited about the new life they will have that she acknowledges she cannot provide. Specifically pray also that the visas will be delivered to us from the embassy early tomorrow.

Ahhhh...God is good to us! We just got back from enjoying a wonderful meal at a local restaraunt to celebrate with one of us who is going home tomorrow night who has been here 4+weeks. Eating at this restaurant just made everything seem "normal" again. It was refreshing! We bought a drum for W and he has been singing the national anthem for the past few hours at the top of his lungs...so cute, but he only knows the first two lines and I think everyone has had enough!
We hope to be home soon! We miss everyone so much...however, we heard you all had some snow, so we will wait til that all melts before coming back. I don't care about the heat here...no matter how hot it is I will NEVER miss the snow!
-E

Answer to Prayer

We had our appointment at the Embassy this morning, and praise God it appears that it could not have gone better. When we began to explain to K&W about the meeting and what might be expected, they both responded with joy "We coming to America!".
In order for the visa to be processed, we needed to meet with her, have the medical information delivered from the doctor, and have the birth mother come for the the appointment as well. After a brief wait, we were called in to meet with the Consolar herself (which is not typical). She was kind, wonderful and very thorough and indicated that the paperwork is in order - we just needed the medical information from the doctor and the mother was not yet here. We returned to sit in the waiting room praying for about an hour, when the doctor arrived to deliver the medical paperwork (Thank God - one more to go). We waited for the mother for an hour or so, when we were told that we should leave and maybe come back in the afternoon. This was very disappointing, as we were so close to have everything done in one visit (again, very atypical). We left the embassy and were preparing to cross the street, when the birth mother came running across the street oward us, greeted the social worker and the children and introduced herself to us. She was very kind but this felt quite awkward. She and the social worker went back into the embassy to meet with the consolur, and we understand that meeting went very well. We are now just waiting for the visas to be processed and delivered to us. God has been so good to us, and demonstrated His provision and Sovereignty through this, our biggest step to date. Your prayers are felt - please keep praying!

Hi Mommy, Daddy, K, and W- I'm missing you -from K

This is K, and I just wanted to tell you how much I miss you- mommy and daddy, K & W. Aunt K is helping me write to you. She thought it might help me to miss you a little less. We have been reading the updates, and looking at all of the pictures, and I just can't wait to meet K & W. The girls and I have been playing with our American Girl dolls a lot this week, pretending that K is playing with us. We are going to show her all about the "Hey Girl's Club," and it will be so much fun when she is here playing dolls with us. We are going to have so much fun. Aunt K is going to take me to get K a doll with hair that she can brush, because you said she loves to brush hair. I'm going to find her a really pretty doll of her own. I laughed a lot when I read that W named his monkey, K. That was so funny. I had a really good time at Friday classes. We made musical intruments. I am going to have lunch with M,M, & B at school tomorrow. I also get to go to school with Aunt K on Thursday, and then go to M,M, & B's Valentine's party in the afternoon. K-boo is being a good boy, and having fun with B. WE REALLY do miss you all, and can't wait to give you the biggest hugs ever. I love you so much- K

(WE ALL LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! & MISS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

The Cutest Kids

Tonight instead of an overview of a day, I just wanted to share some of the cutests things we have experienced with K and W to please share with K and K at home. First of all, they call us momma and dadda or pa pa with the tiniest little voices. K named the monkey we gave him Kaeden. They love hygiene and anything that has to do with being clean - brushing their teeth, washing their hands, using chapstick and the burn of antibacterial hand sanitizer (well supplied of course by E). The love to dance - any time music begins, or i do my silly chants or they sing spontaneously, they dance their little bums around. Even though it is 100 degrees, K is wearing a little yarn hat that E made on the airplane just to keep herself occupied. I played checkers with K and although I think it was the first time she had played she caught on very quickly. W appears to be very bright, being able to count to 50, sing his ABCs and do many things that make us believe he must be older or just very small. By the way to the kids at home, they sing their ABCs to "auld lang sine" (sp?) so if you want to learn that, they would love singing that with you. K was helping W again this morning with something and he said in his little voice "She take good care a me". They have some French aspects to their speaking such as "La" instead of "the", "fini" instead of "finished" and a biscuit means a cracker, a muffin or a cookie. When we have taken walks with K, she instinctively carries things on her head like she has seen so many others do here. When they need to use the restroom, they say "pay pay" and "pu' pu'" said very fast. right now, E is platting K's hair for the first time, and W is watching Curious George. K and K, we really love K and W and know you will too. We miss you very much and cant wait until we can all be together.

Day #5 Thursday - Misc experience and Prayer request

Today was a relaxing morning, just playing with the kids after breakfast. This is so wonderful, however we are now learning that they are, in fact, children and beginning to show the normal tendancies of children as it relates to obedience, bickering about toys etc. This is the start of a new chapter in our parenting with them - though nothing major, they have had to hear "no" for the first times from us, and this will likely begin the testing of boundaries.

I met with one of the Social Workers this morning to hear what the next steps are for the adoption. We have an appointment next Tuesday (Feb 12), by which time we need the results of the blood work (taken today) and the birth mom to come and state that she has decided she is unable to care for the children. This is a very sad situation, but by no means uncommon - some of the stories we have seen just break your heart.

Later in the morning, the ladies went to the market to shop for cloth that they hope to be made into cloths for E, K and K, and a few of us went to the ocean to cool off in the afternoon. It is unbelievable to us who see the ocean as a prime vacation spot that these people live on it, yet never go in the water, can’t swim, and are afraid of the ocean waves. It is apparent that K and W had never been in the ocean, and they very quickly overcame their fears and chased the waves in and out from the beach.

We returned to hear the choir practice for Sunday. On this night, they learned a song called “The Joy of the Lord is your strength” which has burned itself into my memory and has served me well as I have repeated it over and over mind through a couple trying times since.

After practice, we hung out with three of the boys, for a while and played some contemporary Christian songs and praise and worship. They were amazed. The highlight for me was when one of the boys asked about the song “Here I am to worship”. When I played it for him, he began singing with his amazing lead voice and I joined in singing tenor. What an incredible experience.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT:
1. Our appointment will happen as scheduled on Tuesday
2. That the results of the blood work will be there in time for the appointment
3. That the birth mother will make it to the appointment
4. That all of the paperwork is complete and accurate

He that has begun this good work will complete it until the end.

Day #4 (Wednesday) "He Touched Me"

After breakfast together, I took the kids out into the yard and discovered the joy of lizard hunting. Lizards are everywhere so in a small yard of red dirt and rocks that chickens mill about and lizards roam freely, we took some hand-made slingshots that we bought at the market and went lizard hunting. For those of you animal lovers, the lizards were very safe, because we didn't come close to hitting one, but it served to pass the time. K and W were great at picking up stones and pointing out the lizards and birds they had a great time. During this excursion, I also discovered the red fire ants. Very painful.
For the rest of the morning we just played together with the other families in the dining room of the compound. W played well with S (another adopted boy at the compound) and sat on the floor pushing a truck back and forth for quite a while. K made bracelets and necklaces.
This afternoon, I had my first "date" with K when a few of us walked down to the market which was about half a mile away. The market is just packed by by thousands of people lining the streets selling anything they can get their hands on like different roots, pineapple, bags of water, palm oil, ice, candy, nuts and cloth you name it. It truly is another world here. It was surreal to walk down the streets. “I am on the other side of the world” This is how these people live, this is what they do. Again, we didn't blend in so much - we tend to attract a crowd, but while the people are very curious, they are so friendly and the kids follow us like paparazzi. After dinner we went to the bible study. It is an amazing thing to be on the other side of the world, in a little chapel and hear a message preached about the same God, the same Savior, and the see His Spirit at work. Wow! Why can’t we sing like that? One of the other parents is a pastor who gave a wonderful message and then told his testimony. He told of how God saved him from a terrible life of drugs and alcohol, which if that wasn’t enough to bring tears to your eyes, one of the local pastors stood up and sang the first verse of “He Touched Me” and at the chorus everyone joined in with the most beautiful singing I had ever heard in my life. I only was able to sing about 3 notes. I can’t wait to hear the singing in heaven.
He touched me, Oh He touched me.
And Oh the joy that fills my soul.
Something happened and now I know.
He touched me and made me whole.

Day #3 (Tuesday) Our first full day

Day # 3 (Tuesday)
What a great feeling to wake up next to two beautiful children. We had our first breakfast together, and played with the children in the dining room.

Later in the morning, we were able to take the children and go with a couple other people an hour or so away into the bush country. Along the way, we moved from the devastated city, through endless markets and thousands of peole lining the streets and out to villages comprised of only bamboo and grass huts. We arrived at our final destination which was a village that looked like it was straight out of National Geographic. It appeared to have about 50-70 people who lived in beautifully hand-made bamboo and grass huts packed with mud. As we walked through the village 20+ children followed behind touching us, asking us to take their pictures and laughing joyfully when they could see themselves in the digital camera. We walked past a woman cooking berries in a large kettle over an open fire, a man sitting in the dirt weaving a basket with strips of bamboo he had shaved. One teenage boy was cutting the hair of a man by squeezing a straight razor blade anda comb together. Two men were making beautiful chairs and benches from bamboo stalks they had just cut down. There was a naked little baby sitting on the ground between two huts who began to cry inconsolably when we passed by, most likely because we had been the first white people that he had ever seen. we spoke with the people from the tribe who were very friendly, and very curious about us. E and another girl sat down at the end surrounded by this time by over 20 children and I asked the children if they knew any songs. This began about 20 minutes of some of the most beautiful praise songs i have ever heard - it was just incredibly touching. My heart broke as I saw seated amongst these children - dirty, wearing a few scraps of dirty old clothes - my two children washed, dressed in new clothing and with full bellies singing along with them. We will never forget this experience for the rest of our lives - we wished we could adopt them all.

After we returned home and had supper, we walked a couple blocks away to the corner to purchase some fresh pineapple, sugar cane and roots from some street venders. We are having a difficult time blending in : ). We sure can draw a crowd wherever we go, everyone we have encountered is pleasant, and they are very kind, waving as we pass, always trying to sell something and wanting to make sure we know the national handshake (which we practiced and now know quite well). W rode on my shoulders for the first time as we took this trip. it was great as he giggled and shook around. He is about 1/2 the weight that I am used to. E and K walked ahead holding hands with some of the other ladies. It already feels like we have been doing this for years.

Day #2 (Monday) We met K and W

(I hope to be able to get you all caught up in posting updates from each day with some more detail. We still have not found a way to get the pictures posted, but for now, we will try to describe a bit more of this amazing experience)

We had our first local breakfast which was really pretty good, and we were told that the children would be arriving soon. We all went outside to pace anxiously around the courtyard. This was a very strange feeling. We are standing out in the middle of this secure courtyard on the other side of the world waiting to meet our two children. What would we say? What would we do? What will they think? How in the world will these two children be anything but petrified? How can we show them in our first impression that we have loved them for months and they don’t even know us?
All of a sudden, the large main gates of the compound opened up and two old vehicles pulled in. The drivers got out and opened the doors and out came 5 beautiful little children. They were tiny, scared, shy and very, very quiet. We recognized K right away, and Erica and I came down to greet her and were just so amazed at how blessed we are to see her standing right there in front of us. She looked even more beautiful than her picture and stood there like a little princess even though she wore an old blue dress which was 2-3 sizes too big. W was wearing blue jean overalls with a bright yellow shirt on underneath – again 2-4 sizes too big. He looked like the littlest gentleman. They were both so shy and so very, very quiet. We said “hello” and introduced ourselves as “Mommy” and “Daddy” although that felt very odd. We just kind of asked a few questions to which they both gave a very short head nod. It felt very awkward out in the public courtyard with the drivers, social workers, other guests and other united families standing there so we went inside with them. Erica held K's hand and I picked W up to carry him up the stairs. He was such a very little boy, but I couldn’t believe how cute he was.
We sat down with them in the living room (which was about 100 degrees) and showed them some of the things we had gotten for them. We took our first pictures with them and although we were sweating so badly, they loved to see pictures of themselves. We went back to our bedroom to spend some time together. We laid a couple outfits out on the bed that we brought for K, and she picked one out she really liked (a green linen skirt and tank top). It was so hot that W needed to get out of the overalls and into something much more comfortable. It was odd helping two little children who we just met to get changed, but they didn’t hesitate to change.
They were both so quiet until W saw something in one of the suitcase that he thought was candy. He pointed and said his first words to us with the tiniest little voice "candy”. We gave them both lollipops and they both smiled for the first time. This was also the first time we saw how kind K is to her little brother because when she saw that he finished his first, she bit off some from hers and gave the rest of it to him. We began to show them the photo books we brought of our other children K&K, our house, Golden Girl and the rest of our life. One picture had Kaiya’s laying on a couch with her baby which she named "blue baby" and when we told K, she repeated it, so her first word to us was “Blue Baby”.
We gave W two toys which he has not put down which is a toy cell phone, and a big rubber ball. When we gave K a little doll we had brought for her, one of the first things she did was take the hair and braid it. They began, very slowly, to open up a little bit
We got to have lunch with them and supper, and they eat every single bite of food, and the scraps that we didn't eat. They use utensils very well and the food that dropped off of W's spoon, he used his tiny little hands to make sure it was eaten. In between, we just played with them, tried to get them to speak some and tried to get them to open up. They were the most mild mannered children you could imagine. They said very little throughout the day, and when asked any question gave a short nod of the head. they are both so very cute. What a blessing from God. We gave them their first shower that night, and it was obvious they had never seen running water in a shower before - they squealed with joy as they showered for the first time. After they were cleaned up, we put them down to bed and prayed with them. It brought me to tears to pray with our new children for the very first time. I can't believe we are here, with them, and could kiss them goodnight.

Wednesday, February 6th, 2007

I spoke with B just a few minutes ago, and he asked me to give everyone a quick update. Today was another wonderful day for B,E,K, & W. He said it was as if they had been K & W's parents for all of their little lives. W raises his arms up, asking B to hold him all the time. He also said how much K ejoyed getting piggy-back rides in and from their visit into the villages. They sat through their first church worship service, and it was the most amazing experience ever. One local man shared his testimony, and little W sat on B's lap for the entire service, while K rested her head on B's shoulder. They were able to go in the village to do some shopping, site seeing, etc. B said that the people from the village wanted to see thier own face/picture on the window of their digital camera. With letting K & K here, talk with B, I was only able to speak with him for maybe 10 minutes. However, in that time, our conversation was filled with what I mentioned above, and just how wonderful God has been throughout their experience thus far. It has brought them to tears many times, just feeling the Lord's presence with them throughout each step of the way. -posted by B's sister

Side Note

Hey everyone,
As Brian mentioned, all names of the kids and the place where they are at, have been removed from this site. I am helping my sister by locating these references. In doing so, I had to delete some of the comments that mentioned those things. Don't worry though, all the comments are sent to their e-mail, so they have a copy of it. I just wanted to let you know that if you don't see a comment you wrote it was because I had to delete it due to the names. Sorry.

Update (from where we are)

Hello everyone! I first wanted to say, just in case any of you noticed...all references to where we are and the names of the kids have been removed. This is for the safety of all other future adoptions. Organizations like UNICEF are searching for blogs and taking excerpts out of context to stop international adoptions, so from here on out...even when commenting us back, please refrain from using children's names or the country we are in (thanks :-))

Now to the good stuff which will be so hard to summarize in a short posting tonight - as we will summarize the pages and pages in Erica's journal and i have typed several pages, and taken hundreds of pictures. As i write this, they are both laying asleep in the bed beside me.

We had the most amazing experience of meeting the kids yesterday morning, and they are absolutely wonderful! It was a calm and beautiful meeting, - they were very shy and SO quiet, but over the past 24 hours, it has come to feel like they have been part of our family for years. One of the comments we have heard from so many of you who have seen their pictures was that you noticed how sad they looked in their pictures....well, that has changed as they both have the most beautiful smiles that light up their entire faces. K is a princess and W is the tiniest little boy with the biggest and cutest giggle. We have eaten all meals together and they eat every single piece of rice. We have played UNO, watched movies, colored, and sang. Oh their singing they have been singing praise songs they learned in the orphanage and it is incredible - it just brings you to tears. it is an unbelievable privilege to be able to sing "Yes Jesu loves me" with my children from the other side of the world. W will not put down a rubber ball and toy cell phone we gave him. They both speak very well and with the most beautiful accents. While their sizes seem to be smaller for their ages, their demeanor and speaking ability is beyond what we expected. K totally takes care of W in all ways, especially with regards to sharing her food....it would break your heart!

They are the most beautiful children you could imagine - God is SO good.

Today we had an amazing experience. We had an unusual privilege of traveling with an envoy out 45 miles into the bush to spend some time amongst a tribal village who live in grass and bamboo huts and live completely off of the land - we have some unbelievable pictures, and were followed around as we walked through the village by 20+children who were so intrigued by the funny white people. The abject poverty in this country is beyond words, and even the pictures we have to show what we have seen. This experience has already changed us, and shown us that we are so incredibly blessed by God for everything he has given to us.

We took the kids to the beach last night and walked in the waves. although we are only a few hundred yards from the ocean, they had never been here. What a joy to watch them react in fear and excitement as the water came up to their feet. We are able to walk down to a market to by fresh pineapple, Casaba root, and other local fresh fruits which are wonderful. There is so much to say, but our time with the computer is up.

K&K we miss you both so much and cant wait until you get to meet your new brother and sister. I know you will all over each other very much. We will try to post more tomorrow night. Love you all - thanks for caring for our kids and please keep praying.

Safe and Sound

We made it! What a story...can't wait to share it all. And Tony, you were right! We HAVE been so blessed along the way. Please keep praying for us, only one family was able to leave within the 3 week time with all the kids they came for..God has brought us this far and will keep us along the way. We (especially me who hasn't slept since Saturday at 6) are very tired, and can't get any of our technology things to work. We are borrowing a computer...so, keep praying...we are here and in need of prayers! Tomorrow (Monday) we meet the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Adventure Begins...

As an update: The first plane was delayed, so we are now taking off later than planned, but we hope to make the next flight. Keep us in your prayers.