I'm leaving on a jet plane!

Well the time has come to pick up our 4 beautiful children from Ethiopia. Now they are ours and we are theirs. It's 4:00 am (still packing and weighing suitcases)and we leave in a few hours to fly off to a place called adoption. I'm not scared, just really tired and am looking forward to the big snooze on the plane. Please pray for us as we set out on this journey and pray for my family at home, we all will be adjusting in the next 10 days. We come back the day before Easter, interesting isn't it, how our new life will began on Easter. Kidan, Gerima, Mizan and Abenezer here we come, and yes, we know when will be back again!!!
In His Arms of Love, Cindy

It's gettin' close folks!

Yep, it's all most time to go!!!! We are frantically getting everything ready to leave on March 24th. Hoping and praying for our cheaper tickets to come through,as we are on a waiting list. At the same time I'm tending to the basic needs of the home front. This is when I began to feel my age, ouch!! Making room for more beds, trying to rid ourselves from the junk that we call our prized possessions, and sorting through old clothes. I did buy some new clothes,for our "new children", but the old clothes will do just great too :)

We live out in the country so the raggier the better for play. We have been discussing with the children what some of the changes may be, but then again no one really knows for sure what will happen. We are all living in wonder and excitement as to how this all will unfold. I'm enclosing some pictures as to what it looks like around home just to give you a more realistic view of the work involved.

Packing is a huge endeavor; let's see now...how many shoes, socks, underwear, shirts, pants, coats, food items, hygiene items, medicine items, things to do in hotel since they won't let us take them out, flea collars for bed bugs, lice med., ring worm and scabies med.,camera and recorder, photo albums for mom(s) if we get to meet them??? I hope and pray it will be so. Let's see...I also need to get some things ready here at home so the big kid's can make it without me.
On the home front: we have had 7 of our chickens killed by a critter and finally Jeff got him, but now we have only 4 chickens left. That means less eggs and Aliza (my chicken whisper) was so upset, it was so disheartening! We had water coming up through the basement floor because the sump pump was unplugged (duh??),then the main water pipe broke, Jeff had to fix the "new" bed we just bought?!, door knob broke on bathroom door (see new knob?, what a hoot!) leaving Addison locked in (briefly) and in tears, drivers seat belt broke in the old car, trash is heaped up like Mt. Rainer in the corn crib as we awaited for snow to thaw, oldest son at home needs to find job and direction in life--but through each of these trials of life we live and learn. It's not a picture-perfect family doing a picture-perfect life. We are ALL learning and growing through each step of this life together,as a family. Sometimes it's really fun!!! and sometimes it's ... well, lets just say... Not so fun. We all have our moments when we feel like 'I just can't take another thing', and then... the other thing happens. What are you gonna do??

Well, I say Pray and pray fast. I mean it!! Call out to God, HELP!!! I'm drowning!! I neeeeed you. He always comes through--

No, it's not all solved, and the mess is still there after the prayer, but somehow it feels like you can deal with it, the dark cloud over you has let in a little sun. It's not as overwhelming , and now you know that either way you're gonna make it, and after all tomorrow is another day

...and Yes! the sun does come out tomorrow, thank goodness!!!