Packing Up

As I write this we’re finishing packing and getting ready to leave in the morning. It’s a little hard to believe that in about 48 hours we’ll get to hug our little boy for the first time. Unfortunately we still have half a world to travel – and so it will be back to the suitcases after a brief coffee break.

For those who helped us with donations, loans, house sitting, moral support, kind words and prayers we say a heart-felt thank you. We know that we are Joshua’s dad and mom, but we also know that life is best lived in love and community and we know that our community of friends and neighbors is a very necessary part of our lives. We appreciate each of you and we don’t say thank you nearly often enough.

OK, shutting down now – and packing up. Tomorrow we fly across the world.

Traveling Light

We booked our tickets to Taiwan (1 point for the assist, Ma, thanks!) and we’ll be on our way July 3 and returning July 11. Flying through LA can be an adventure, so we’re sure to have lots of fun along the way. Of course, prayers are always welcome!

The anticipation is building and we all can’t wait until Joshua is home.

More soon!

Day 16 Thirty Seven Hours of Friday

Well, we made it home and thanks to the peculiarities of times zones and the International Date Line, this Friday was 37 hours long. We traveled for 23 of those and finally made it home. Mmmmm – a shower and our own beds!

Sarah is, of course, afraid of everything. She’s never seen dogs or cats up close, never had this much room to roam in, etc. Throw that on top of two plane flights, riding in a car seat, not enough sleep and all of the trauma of the trip and you can see why. When she first came to us, she was scared for days before she started to relax, and even after 10 days she would still grind her teeth when she felt stressed. At least with this change, she has calmed down and is drinking a bottle an hour after we got home. She’s smiling and talking, now that we’ve put the animals up. I think we’ll introduce her to changes a bit at a time, but I know that in time she’ll be fine.

God has really blessed us with our daughter, just like he did with each of our sons. Wonderful!

Total distance traveled … 18,239 mi
Total time … 375 hours
Which, for all you math nerds out there is:
Average speed (relative to the earth’s surface) … 48.6 MPH

T minus 10 and Counting

We finalized the last of our schedule today with a conference call and a cashier’s check. “Gotcha Day” (the day we actually get Sarah) will be Monday the 15th around 10 or 11 AM. That’s t-minus-10-days and counting as NASA says.

The conference call was very educational as we got to hear all about what to expect, the costs, the physical and emotional toll, and a lot more. We’re really excited about being this close to going, and we can’t wait to get on the plane!

By the way, we’re flying back the 26th – with most of the time in between spent waiting for various governments to process the paperwork. WHOOPEE!

It’s Official

We’ve got our official dates – we’ll be flying out on Jan 11 and back on the 25th or 26th (depending on airfares). That probably means that “gotcha day” is the 15th or 16th – we should know more next week as they finalize all the in-China travel plans.