{Count Down}

Here I thought buying the tickets would be the easy part!

Boy, was I wrong!

We have been talking to two different agencies, one here locally and one that I found on the net that specializes in adoption flights. I'm hoping that we get all of this ironed out today. I WANT TICKETS!! That somehow, in my mind, makes it official! Looks like we will actually be leaving on the 20th to fly to D.C. then leave the 21st, refuel in Rome, head on to Ethiopia then to Kigali. 3 days of travel, but worth every second.

On the way home we have an 8 hr layover in Ethiopia and I think we might take a cab around the city. Might as well make the most of our International travel! I love seeing new places and can't wait to see Italy, even if it is just from my plane window! (I'd better get a window!!)

Some very sweet friends are throwing me a baby shower tomorrow and I'm so excited! And that reminds me I need to charge up my camera!

Off to make more list of things that need to be done before we leave!

{Date to Remember}

We have a date! The judge is going to allow Jana to stand in for us at the court date on the 10th. We are talking to travel agents right now and plan on leaving the 21st to go get our sweet baby!

I've never seen Dave do such a funky happy dance in our 10 years of marriage!

Please keep praying for Ethan, the officials in charge of our paperwork and for the babies left behind (here and in Rwanda).

Much love to you all!

A reason to update!

The email below came from a member of our church who is in Rwanda right now. She picked up E today to take him to the Dr.

Dave and Melissa,

Jane and I went to the orphanage this morning and picked up Ethan to
take him to the hospital for his PCR test. We got there at 7:30 AM,
but had to wait about 10-15 minutes for him to come to us (they left
us at the front gate). He was still asleep when we got there, so
they had had to wake him and dress him! He was in good spirits and
wide-eyed. I tried to get him to have something to do with me, but
he wouldn't have any of it! After we got to the hospital, Jane had
to talk to the lady at the admitting window to let her know why we
were there and where did we need to go to get the test done. I tried
to hold him but he kept looking intently at me, then puckered up and
started crying! Jane would take him then and he would quieten down.
I decided that he didn't know what white skin looked like and was
afraid of me.

I have decided that if you want to get something done in this town,
you had better have Jane by your side! It seems that she knows most
of the people in this town. I bet there were 10 people that walked
through where we would be waiting that knew her! One of the men that
she saw early on took us the back way to the emergency room, because
that was the quickest way to be seen. They checked him in there,
then someone else that knew her took us directly to the lab, where we
waited maybe 15 minutes to get in.

The two nurses were very impressed with him and how alert he is. I
was concerned that they would have trouble finding his little vein in
his arm, but she didn't have any trouble at all. She put the needle
in without the syringe attached and just let his blood drip into the
test tube. That little stinker didn't cry AT ALL while this was
being done! He reacted to the needle going in, but by that time, I
was around behind the nurse and distracting him. He visibly relaxed
and really enjoyed being the center of attention, then. The nurses
went on and on about him and how happy they were that he would have
such wonderful opportunities in America. They also wished that all
the orphans could have such a chance. I showed them you all's
pictures and they just went on and on about you guys, then. They
were disappointed that he couldn't or wouldn't put any weight on his
legs. They also were concerned about his head being flat on the back
from lying in his crib so much. This will correct itself quickly,
I'm sure, once you guys get him.

I checked on the size clothes he had on and they were 12 months
size. They were pretty large on him, but they fit him better than 9
months would have, probably. The outfit they had him in was pretty
cute, as you will see in the pictures. I thought they were going to
weigh him at one point in the emergency room, but they ended up
aborting most of what they usually do in that process. The doctor
circumvented a lot of it for us, since he wasn't really sick.

The test results will be back next Friday, from what I understood.
This is sooner than what they had first told us, which was 2 weeks.
The nurse said that she thought it was a very good idea to get this
particular test done, and thought that all the orphans should get it
just to be sure.

I hope you enjoy the pictures I took. I took one of his little feet
(I love baby feet!). He has the longest toes!! Even the nurses
commented about them. He came out of the orphanage with little socks
on, but one immediately came off, so Jane just took the other one off
so we wouldn't have to keep up with them.

I showed the nun your pictures that you wanted put in his crib, and
she was delighted with the idea! She took them and the toys and said
that all of it would be put in his crib. I just hope that that is
what truly happens. He really enjoyed the stimulus of being out and
about this morning, so he will probably really benefit from the
pictures and toys being where he can see them. He was reaching and
trying to grab anything that came close to his hands. He also was
sticking his tongue out every time we came near his mouth before Jane
fed him his bottle!

I hope I haven't given you too much detail, but I would have
appreciated more information about our adopted kids lives before we
got them 37 and 34 years ago, so I gave you what I wish I had been
given then!!

All the best to you guys! We are sending the pictures in a separate
email, so hope it works!
Sue

No news

The only update is that there is no update.

We are still here, E is still in Rwanda. Let the crying continue.

{Another First}

Big Dog lost his first tooth! He's been working on it for a while and daddy tried to wiggle it with a napkin and it fell out. The tooth fairy brought him a dollar. Funny story: Big D called me while I was scrapbooking with the girls to tell me that the tooth had come out and that D was already asleep. He also told me that he took a dollar out of P's purse to put under D's pillow! I thought that was hilarious! Poor little girl! Anyhow, I told Big D that I had left some dollars on top of the fridge so he could pay her back. Funny Funny...

{First Day of School}

Yesterday was the first day of school around here. Baby girl started Pre-K and loves it! She is in school from 8:20-11am. Just enough time for me to hit Wal-Mart and do a load of laundry!


Check out my big First Grader! It is so weird not to have him around the house during the day! I keep looking for him or expecting him to ask me for something to eat. He is really enjoying it, but I can tell that he is a little overwhelmed. It will take him a little bit to get use to the new schedule, but he has always loved school, so I'm not worried about him.

{Baby boy}

Here is the first picture of Ethan Matthew. He is about 7 months old and weighs 13lbs. We think he is the sweetest thing and our hearts are full!

More later!

Closer

Thank you, Lord for another day to be your servant and to worship you with our lives. Thank you, Lord for my beautiful children that I get to squeeze everyday. And Lord, thank you for letting us adopt Ethan. Our hearts are full of love for him.

Today we heard that our approval letter is in Jana's hands. We will talk to her later today and try to nail down some travel plans.

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!