OFF WE GO!!!!

Today is the day!!! At 9am we are headed for the Nashville airport. From there we will fly to Detroit, have a 3 hr layover, then fly to Amsterdam, have a 3 hr layover, then fly to ETHIOPIA! We land in Addis, the capital of Ethiopia, late on Saturday night. It's going to be a looooooong trip there, but we are SO ready. And speaking of being prepared, take a look at all the medications we are taking with us.

Now, isn't that just ridiculous? But if you know Jason and I, we are BOTH germ-a-phobes. So if there is ANY medication we can take to avoid getting sick, we are going to take it! (And after having a baaaaad case of food poisoning last week, I am determined NOT to get sick!) But seriously, we ask that you pray for our health while we are gone. After we arrive in Addis we still have an 8 hr van ride to Macy's orphanage. And that wouldn't be enjoyable AT ALL if we were ill. Plus, we want to be able to concentrate completely on our sweet little girl, with no distractions.

Now - check out this line of luggage!

No - we aren't super-diva-travelers. Actually, only two of those bags contain our clothes, supplies, and gifts for Macy. The others all contain AWESOME donations that many of you have donated for her orphanage! We are taking medical supplies, formula, clothes, shoes, school supplies - ALL KINDS OF STUFF! Thanks to YOU! And we are able to pay the ridiculous fee of $200 per extra bag (erghhh...Delta Airlines) THANKS TO YOUR FINANCIAL DONATIONS!
Wowzers! We DO hope that the scale at the airport is forgiving, because we have weighed and weighed these bags on two different scales, and still aren't really sure how many of them are under the 50lb weight requirement. Keeping our fingers crossed on that one!

Many of you have asked if I will be able to update the blog while we are gone. The answer is YES - I am gonna try my darndest to get online from an internet cafe in Addis. I am not sure how often I will be able to do it, but stay tuned to this blog to see how our meeting with Macy, visit with birthmom, and court go.

For those of you wanting to pray for specifics, here's our itinerary"

Friday: Fly away!

Saturday: Fly some more! Arrive in Addis LATE.

Sunday: Our "free" day to roam aimlessly around Addis. And hopefully do some shoppin'.

Monday: Travel to the town of Awassa, where Macy's orphanage is. This is a 8 hr drive.

Tuesday: MEET MACY!!!! Spend lots of time with our sweet girl.

Wednesday: Visit Macy again. Leave her (BOOO!) and travel back to Addis.

Thursday: Court hearing. We will be in court with her birthmom (!!!). After court, if she is willing, we go across the street to a coffee shop to spend time with her. (And I ask her a bazillion questions about Macy.) Late Thursday night we board a plane and leave Ethiopia.

Friday: Arrive home around 1pm.

Many of you have also asked what we need prayer for:

1. Our health and safety.

2. For our travels to go smoothly, with no delays.

3. For us to pass court.

4. For Macy to be comfortable around us.

(I am going to try to not be a crying blubbering mess, so I don't scare her. We will see how I do with that.)

5. For a sense of peace and understanding between Macy's birthmom and me.

6. For my Mom and sister, Sandi, who will be caring for these 3 little monsters, um, I mean, blessings.....

7. And for those three, precious blessings to be safe, happy, and healthy while their Maaaammmmaa and Daddy are on the other side of the world meeting their sister.

THANK YOU so much to each and every one of you who have been with us on this journey! Jason and I value all of your friendships, and can feel the prayers going with us to meet our baby girl! Next time I post, it will be from Ethiopia!

Now off to bed....as if I could sleep.

Amanda

One Week

We will board a plane in one week to fly to Ethiopia. One week. Seriously. I prayed for this month to fly by, and BOY did it ever! And now with one week to go, I have a variety of crazy emotions.

I am SO excited! Just the THOUGHT of me seeing and holding Macy gets me choked up. This is my DAUGHTER. In the many years ahead of us I will watch her grow, learn, go to school, go to prom, get married - the list goes on and on. We have many years of Mommy/Daughter stuff ahead of us. But before any of this happens I am going to meet her in an orphanage on the other side of the world. It's really hard to fathom.

The other major emotion I am feeling is fear. And anxiety. And stress. Okay, so I know that is technically three emotions. But right now I can't really distinguish one from another. I am a basketcase thinking of leaving Aidan, Hannah, and Houston. The "what-ifs" come creeping in on me, and I panic. WHAT IF the plane crashes? WHAT IF something happens to one of them and I am not here? WHAT IF? And yes, they are going to be in PERFECTLY good hands. My mom is the brave soul keeping them, and other than Jason and I, there is no one on Earth who knows them as well as she does. She visits nearly everyday, and knows all of their funny little quirks. And she's sooooo overprotective - so I am not at all worried about their safety. Seriously - she's that kind of grandma that would totally beat the crap out of anyone who looked at her grandbabies wrong. It's US I am worried about. It's flying across the ocean to a region of the world that isn't exactly super-safe right now. (And it doesn't help that my crazy husband keeps talking about terrorist attempts.) Yes, I know my kids are going to be fine. Yes, I know God is in control of it all anyway. I just need some prayer to rest MY soul. I want to be cool, calm, and collected (yeah, right!) when I meet our Macy for the first time.

But what it boils down to is that it doesn't matter how nervous, stressed and anxious I am - in seven days I am going to get on that plane (and then another plane...and then another plane) to fly across the ocean to meet our girl. It just has to be done - it's part of the process. I am counting on God to ease my spirit and calm my fears - because there's no way I can do this without Him.

But isn't that how it's SUPPOSED to be?

One week folks. One week!