Hello to all of our friends out there. We are writing this from rainy and cold North Carolina! We made it home alright with very little excitement on all three flights. Perhaps the most excitement was in the last thirty minutes when Dinah spilled her apple juice all over her seat as we were not far from Charlotte!
Pray that we will get over our jetlag...Ruthie seems to be the worst...and maybe she just doesn't like America. :) The kids are doing great for the most part, though, and enjoying the time with grandparents.
Pray also that we will be able to get some things done for our adoption while we have a few free days when the grandparents can watch the kids. We have a lot to do. Thanks to John G at SP for giving us some insight in the I-600A.
We will definitely post some pictures and more details when we get internet at the house (right now we're at the SP hangar).
Love you all, and miss you!!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
He Didn't Disappoint
On Tuesday morning, I stopped by our homestudy agencies office to pay our remanining balance and pick up our homestudy. I didn't get a chance to look over it until Tuesday afternoon. And....it's all there! Everything looks great, and we have the four things that needed to be notarized! Praise the Lord! We will be able to carry it home with us tomorrow!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday Treats
Nathan has washed two loads of laundry today and hung them out. All without any prompting from me! Yay for a Hubby who helps with the housework!
He has been such a big help getting things ready to go. We've been working on things here so we don't have to do them while we are in the States...like our Christmas letter, a CD of African music to play at our markets, our prayer card, etc. He's such a huge help!
He's been out running errands today while I've been working on packing.
I love you, Babe! Thanks for all you do to help me!
He has been such a big help getting things ready to go. We've been working on things here so we don't have to do them while we are in the States...like our Christmas letter, a CD of African music to play at our markets, our prayer card, etc. He's such a huge help!
He's been out running errands today while I've been working on packing.
I love you, Babe! Thanks for all you do to help me!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Precious Friends
Last night we went over to spend the evening with Stanley, Sylvia, and Judi-Hannah before we leave. It's so precious to see their family with a little one. They are doing so well. We are certainly blessed by their friendship! And Dinah and John adore Judi-Hannah as you can see from the pictures. :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Prayer and Praise
Prayer~
We are trying to finalize everything we need to do before we leave Kenya. Packing, adoption papers, packing, passport stuff for Ruth, packing, prepping our house in case someone stays in it while we are gone, etc. :) Please pray we remember everything we need to do!
The kids, especially Dinah, are excited about going to America. But she has no idea what getting there involves. Please pray for strength and patience for us as we travel with our three young children.
Praise~
Nathan only has to work half a day tomorrow and then we are home free! We have about 5 more action packers to pack and our carryon bags and are hoping that will get done on Wednesday and Thursday!
I only have to cook one meal this week! Praise the Lord for friends and bosses who are covering the rest of the week!
There was rain in Lukenya last night! This is one of the areas in Kenya that hasn't recieved rain in many months. PTL! We are still recieving rain in Nairobi and it is such a relief. It rains part of the day or night and then we see the sun for several hours.
We are trying to finalize everything we need to do before we leave Kenya. Packing, adoption papers, packing, passport stuff for Ruth, packing, prepping our house in case someone stays in it while we are gone, etc. :) Please pray we remember everything we need to do!
The kids, especially Dinah, are excited about going to America. But she has no idea what getting there involves. Please pray for strength and patience for us as we travel with our three young children.
Praise~
Nathan only has to work half a day tomorrow and then we are home free! We have about 5 more action packers to pack and our carryon bags and are hoping that will get done on Wednesday and Thursday!
I only have to cook one meal this week! Praise the Lord for friends and bosses who are covering the rest of the week!
There was rain in Lukenya last night! This is one of the areas in Kenya that hasn't recieved rain in many months. PTL! We are still recieving rain in Nairobi and it is such a relief. It rains part of the day or night and then we see the sun for several hours.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Praise
I forgot last night when I posted about our adoption praise that Nathan had a praise from work, too.
The two 206s that he has been working on since we arrived finally recieved permission to fly in Kenya. They are US registered airplanes and AIM AIR had requested permission from the KCAA to fly them in Kenya. I'm not sure of all the reasons why they wanted to keep them US registered, but seem to think that was the best option. Yesterday they got the paperwork for them to fly in Kenya while being US registered. Praise the Lord! This means a lot of pressure to get a couple other planes inspected is much less now since there are two more planes that they can use.
In other news...
Ruth is walking. She's such a cutie! She's taking more and more steps and is standing up on her own. I have noticed a big difference in just one week in her balance. She will now stand up from sitting and just stand there. She's also able to climb up in the kid's small chairs and she can climb the stairs as well. Fun! :)
I woke up this morning not feeling quite 100%. Please pray I can fight off whatever this is...seems like a cold and that no one else gets it.
I'm also feeling quite stressed with getting things ready to go. I've been trying to get some things done this morning and the kids are right there wanting to see everything I'm doing. I guess this is going to be a night time job when they are in bed.
The two 206s that he has been working on since we arrived finally recieved permission to fly in Kenya. They are US registered airplanes and AIM AIR had requested permission from the KCAA to fly them in Kenya. I'm not sure of all the reasons why they wanted to keep them US registered, but seem to think that was the best option. Yesterday they got the paperwork for them to fly in Kenya while being US registered. Praise the Lord! This means a lot of pressure to get a couple other planes inspected is much less now since there are two more planes that they can use.
In other news...
Ruth is walking. She's such a cutie! She's taking more and more steps and is standing up on her own. I have noticed a big difference in just one week in her balance. She will now stand up from sitting and just stand there. She's also able to climb up in the kid's small chairs and she can climb the stairs as well. Fun! :)
I woke up this morning not feeling quite 100%. Please pray I can fight off whatever this is...seems like a cold and that no one else gets it.
I'm also feeling quite stressed with getting things ready to go. I've been trying to get some things done this morning and the kids are right there wanting to see everything I'm doing. I guess this is going to be a night time job when they are in bed.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Just Can't Wait
I know tomorrow is supposed to be about the adoption, but I just can't wait to share our good news...
Yesterday, Rebeca, our Ethiopian babysitter, came to stay with the kids while I went to do some more shopping. I was gone for quite a while, but on the way back, I came home a different way than I normally do. I was going to be going right by our home study agency's office so I thought I would drop by and pay them a visit since I had a few minutes before Rebeca had to leave. I had called our social worker yesterday morning before I left. He was in a meeting so I asked for him to return my call. By 3:30pm I still hadn't heard from him. So, I arrived at the office, waited about 10 minutes, and then he came out to get me.
We went into the little room where they do interviews and he told me that because we are doing the I-600 we have to have 3 references instead of just 2. I told him that we have 3 references and so he went to get all our paperwork and found our third reference...not in the right place. :) He then tells me that his supervisor is going to take over, but after talking to her, she apparently wanted him to finish the meeting. He knows we are rushed for time because we leave next week so he mentioned something about CWA reviewing the report and getting it back to them quickly. I told him if he could get it to them yesterday afternoon, he would most likely have it back by today. He then mentioned that he was busy working on several other things. So I reiterated that it would have to be emailed yesterday afternoon in order to get it back today. So, he said he would prioritize and get it done. He then told me he wasn't going to disappoint me several times. I hoped he was right.
I left and came home to happy children. Rebeca is just great with them! We played and read some books then they helped me work on dinner. They really like peeling garlic and breaking up lettuce for salad. In the middle of preparation, I got a phone call from our social worker's supervisor saying she needed the email address for CWA. I was surprised since it was already about 5:30pm. I hoped it was going to be sent out, but didn't set my hopes too high. Then after dinner, I checked email and we had one in our junk mail. It was from his supervisor and it was our home study report!! She had gotten it sent to CWA and copied us in on it!!! I just about fell out of my chair!
I then talked to our social worker at CWA and he said he would look at it yesterday before he left. Whoo hoo!! We woke up this morning to an email from CWA that said it looked good with one minor correction. PTL! We were a little worried about whether or not it was okay.
So this afternoon I got several calls from Steve. The first time he couldn't find a document I had given him before so I emailed it to him. Then he called to say they had the documents ready and were going to get them notarized tomorrow. Then he called back to tell me we still have a balance and I could pick the documents up at the office tomorrow afternoon. Yes! Wow!! I think I will actually pick them up on Friday just to give them an extra day, but WOW! Praise the Lord! We were really hoping and praying we would be able to take it all back with us knowing it was all done and be able to mail it to CWA from there. Thank you to all who have been praying with us about this!
Yesterday, Rebeca, our Ethiopian babysitter, came to stay with the kids while I went to do some more shopping. I was gone for quite a while, but on the way back, I came home a different way than I normally do. I was going to be going right by our home study agency's office so I thought I would drop by and pay them a visit since I had a few minutes before Rebeca had to leave. I had called our social worker yesterday morning before I left. He was in a meeting so I asked for him to return my call. By 3:30pm I still hadn't heard from him. So, I arrived at the office, waited about 10 minutes, and then he came out to get me.
We went into the little room where they do interviews and he told me that because we are doing the I-600 we have to have 3 references instead of just 2. I told him that we have 3 references and so he went to get all our paperwork and found our third reference...not in the right place. :) He then tells me that his supervisor is going to take over, but after talking to her, she apparently wanted him to finish the meeting. He knows we are rushed for time because we leave next week so he mentioned something about CWA reviewing the report and getting it back to them quickly. I told him if he could get it to them yesterday afternoon, he would most likely have it back by today. He then mentioned that he was busy working on several other things. So I reiterated that it would have to be emailed yesterday afternoon in order to get it back today. So, he said he would prioritize and get it done. He then told me he wasn't going to disappoint me several times. I hoped he was right.
I left and came home to happy children. Rebeca is just great with them! We played and read some books then they helped me work on dinner. They really like peeling garlic and breaking up lettuce for salad. In the middle of preparation, I got a phone call from our social worker's supervisor saying she needed the email address for CWA. I was surprised since it was already about 5:30pm. I hoped it was going to be sent out, but didn't set my hopes too high. Then after dinner, I checked email and we had one in our junk mail. It was from his supervisor and it was our home study report!! She had gotten it sent to CWA and copied us in on it!!! I just about fell out of my chair!
I then talked to our social worker at CWA and he said he would look at it yesterday before he left. Whoo hoo!! We woke up this morning to an email from CWA that said it looked good with one minor correction. PTL! We were a little worried about whether or not it was okay.
So this afternoon I got several calls from Steve. The first time he couldn't find a document I had given him before so I emailed it to him. Then he called to say they had the documents ready and were going to get them notarized tomorrow. Then he called back to tell me we still have a balance and I could pick the documents up at the office tomorrow afternoon. Yes! Wow!! I think I will actually pick them up on Friday just to give them an extra day, but WOW! Praise the Lord! We were really hoping and praying we would be able to take it all back with us knowing it was all done and be able to mail it to CWA from there. Thank you to all who have been praying with us about this!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday Treats
In addition to washing the dishes on the weekend, Nathan has now started washing them after dinner during the week. I clear the table and he starts washing the dishes. I am one spoiled mama!
He took me over to the Masai Market on Sunday. He walked through and found things for me to look at, carried my bags, and kept me replenished with shillings. He's such a wonderful Hubby!
Several times in the past few weeks, it seems like we've read each other's minds. We can start saying something and the other can finish it or know exactly what the other was thinking or going to say.
I love you, Honey! You are the best!
He took me over to the Masai Market on Sunday. He walked through and found things for me to look at, carried my bags, and kept me replenished with shillings. He's such a wonderful Hubby!
Several times in the past few weeks, it seems like we've read each other's minds. We can start saying something and the other can finish it or know exactly what the other was thinking or going to say.
I love you, Honey! You are the best!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Prayer and Praise
Prayer~
Nathan's aunt, Cathy Roberts, passed away last week. The Celebration of Life service is today. Please pray that all goes well.
We are getting down to the last few days before we travel. Please pray for us to be diligent in our packing and not to forget anything that's important.
Please join us in praying for our flights home. All the details surrounding each one, the kids sleeping and behaving, our luggage arriving with our flights, and anything else you can think of. We will leave Nairobi around 11:30pm Nairobi time (4:30pm your time), fly to London, have about a 2 or 3 hour layover in London, fly to NY, have about a 2 hour layover, and then fly to Charlotte arriving 3:30pm your time.
Praise~
This is Nathan's last full week of work! Woohoo!
The stock pile for our African Markets is growing. It's been fun making friends with the vendors although I'm sure they prob cringe when they see me coming. If they've seen me (or Lindy) around, they know we don't pay the tourist prices. We are looking forward to seeing lots of friends and sharing what God is doing in our hearts with our adoption.
We had more rain last night! PTL! Our church went to do another famine relief trip on Saturday to the Ukambani region and they brought back reports of rain. This is an area that was in desperate need. Everything is so dry. PTL!
Nathan's aunt, Cathy Roberts, passed away last week. The Celebration of Life service is today. Please pray that all goes well.
We are getting down to the last few days before we travel. Please pray for us to be diligent in our packing and not to forget anything that's important.
Please join us in praying for our flights home. All the details surrounding each one, the kids sleeping and behaving, our luggage arriving with our flights, and anything else you can think of. We will leave Nairobi around 11:30pm Nairobi time (4:30pm your time), fly to London, have about a 2 or 3 hour layover in London, fly to NY, have about a 2 hour layover, and then fly to Charlotte arriving 3:30pm your time.
Praise~
This is Nathan's last full week of work! Woohoo!
The stock pile for our African Markets is growing. It's been fun making friends with the vendors although I'm sure they prob cringe when they see me coming. If they've seen me (or Lindy) around, they know we don't pay the tourist prices. We are looking forward to seeing lots of friends and sharing what God is doing in our hearts with our adoption.
We had more rain last night! PTL! Our church went to do another famine relief trip on Saturday to the Ukambani region and they brought back reports of rain. This is an area that was in desperate need. Everything is so dry. PTL!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Excited
Soon after we arrived in Kenya, we started talking about things we missed and things we wanted to do when we are back in the US. As the time has gotten closer and closer, we've talked about it more and more. So I thought I'd share a few things we are excited about...
Papa John's
Mexican food
Japanese food
shopping in Wal-Mart and Target
the kids being able to run free
using coupons
shopping the day after Thanksgiving sales
driving on smooth roads
fish other than tilapia
not constantly being cut off by matatus
having a real Christmas tree
Cheez-its
having to wear a sweater and a jacket
our kids enjoying their grandparents and aunt and uncles
Chinese buffets
possibly seeing snow
Milton's in Wake Forest
seeing our kids response and reactions to life in America
Dr. Pepper
speaking in churches
good ice cream
not being bitten by mosquitoes in the night
getting to walk through Home Depot
and last but not least seeing all our wonderful friends and family!
Papa John's
Mexican food
Japanese food
shopping in Wal-Mart and Target
the kids being able to run free
using coupons
shopping the day after Thanksgiving sales
driving on smooth roads
fish other than tilapia
not constantly being cut off by matatus
having a real Christmas tree
Cheez-its
having to wear a sweater and a jacket
our kids enjoying their grandparents and aunt and uncles
Chinese buffets
possibly seeing snow
Milton's in Wake Forest
seeing our kids response and reactions to life in America
Dr. Pepper
speaking in churches
good ice cream
not being bitten by mosquitoes in the night
getting to walk through Home Depot
and last but not least seeing all our wonderful friends and family!
Friday, October 23, 2009
New Hair Do's
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Kiddos
Ruth Amelia Mueni~
She is only taking one bottle a day now just before bed.
She is eating a lot of table food. She likes black beans, rice, pasta, veggie dogs, french fries, naan, bhajias, bananas, apples, strawberries, pineapple, melon, zuchini, potatoes, carrots, raisins, crackers, smoothies, and much more I can't think of right now.
She will walk along holding one of my hands. She's almost there!
She can push the bus backwards.
John Culver~
He's riding his tricycle like a pro now. It's so cute to watch him!
He does a great job saying please and thank you. We're evening teaching him in Swahili and he's picking it up. We're also teaching both him and Dinah to count in Swahili and they are doing great!
Dinah and John both talk about their brown baby brother. It will be fun to see their reactions when we finally bring him home.
He is such loving little guy. He loves to give hugs and will share just about anything most of the time.
Dinah Belle~
She is becoming quite the little mommy. She like to dress her babies in Ruth's clothes and feed them and take care of them.
She talks about going to America every day. The other day she was looking at the maps in the back of my Bible and telling John this is the way to Mimi and Papa's house..."you go down the hill, around the round-about, and turn right." It was adorable!
She talks to her babies about all sorts of things. Mostly conversations she's heard between me and Nathan.
She's also pretending more and more. It's fun to watch her imagination becoming more and more active.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
