We are part way there

Sheri and I spent the majority of the day travelling from Boise, ID to Washington, DC.  Pretty uneventful, but a somewhat relaxing day as a couple.  We did start by saying "We love you" to the kiddos and in-laws who graciously are taking care of each other over the next few weeks.  Sheri's Dad was very kind to fix our broken kitchen faucet which we discovered last night.

We have been working this whole week to verify all the little parts of our travel:  where are we staying in DC (Hyatt - Dulles Corner)?  Will our bags be over 50 lbs each and cost an arm and a leg (47.5 lbs each)?  On our second flight, would we actually be able to sit together or be separated by a row in middle seats (thanks to the very kind woman who took pity on us)?  The biggest question that we asked about was the carriage of Sheri's CPAP machine and distilled water.  We confirmed with Ethiopian Airlines that it does not count as a carry on, so long as Sheri had a note from her doctor.  We got that covered.  Now what to do about sterile, distilled water to take since we were not sure about a source in Rwanda.

Sheri found some this week, and put it all together in a bag to take with us to the airport (likely 100 lbs I estimate after carrying it).  As we were going through security, she was called out individually so they could talk about the water.  TSA (they were very nice and thorough) wanted to open each of the bottles and test each which would not allow Sheri to take them through security the next day.  After a little bit of explaining and pleading, an alternative solution was devised:  full-body pat down for Sheri.  What I can say is that Sonja was very kind and appreciative of Sheri's willingness to do what was necessary.  That being done we lugged everything to our gate and waited for our flight.

The next hurdle was that our plane was not at the gate by 15 minutes to departure time, and we were very concerned.  Fortunately, it got there and we left a few minutes late for the first leg to Denver, CO.  We made it the rest of the way with no problem.

We ate a leisurely dinner at 9pm in the lobby looking around to try and recognize anybody who might be travelling with us to Rwanda.  We cannot wait to see everyone and get to see who our best friends are going to be for the next few weeks.

Please pray for our family at home that everything will go well and that our children will not terrorize their caregivers.  Pray for my co-workers that they will have the fortitude and patience necessary to deal with what may come up.  Pray for safe travel, health and a smooth adoption process for all involved.  And as if you may not have enough on your plate, if you get a chance please pray that we will be a good witness in all that we do.

Very excited for the next 2/3 of our travel and arrival in Kigali.

Jeff

Off We Go

Unbelievable! After all these months, and months, of waiting we are about to head off.  We have 9 hours until we leave our house for the airport and our 4 flights to get to Kigali.  I keep reminding the kids that tomorrow morning is the day we say goodbye and Bailey (3yrs) just yells "Yes, to Africa to get our baby brother!"  So sweet.  We will miss them like crazy but so glad they are excited for their new brother and the fun they will have these few weeks.  We are so grateful for Nana and Auntie and cousin Peyton for staying with them.

Our luggage is waiting at the door, and I am of course concerned our scales are all way off and we will be over the limit, guess we will see soon enough.  We are super excited to get going.  Our dear friends left Wed to get over a bit early to be with their daughter, who was sick.  We are praying she is on the mend now and they had a sweet first meeting with her today.  So, we are a bit sad to not get to travel with them the next 3 days as planned but we will have so much time together these next 3 weeks and we will be traveling with many of the other families in our group out of DC on Sunday, so fun we can't wait to meet them in person. 

For our simplified itinerary.  We do want to post everyday but these first days are a lot of traveling so we will do our best, you will see where we may have a bit of trouble:

Sat, Apr 30   Boise to Denver
                     Denver to DC
                     In DC for the night
Sun, May 1   DC to Ethiopia
Mon, May 2 In Ethiopia
                    Ethiopia to Kigali
                    In Kigali in the afternoon

Hopefully we will be going right away to meet our new son!  We will share what we can as soon as we can.  Thank you so much for your support and love.  We are ready to get some sleep and then off we go!!!

Sheri

Following Along

As we await the time to head to the airport, 1 more day!, we are just taking advantage of spending more time with the big kids we will soon have to leave at home, though they are super excited to be staying behind so that helps.  We have nothing left to do so it is very relaxing and exciting to look forward to our departure. We get lots of opportunities to pray for all the children in Rwanda, for health and preparation to meet their new parents, for the families traveling over this week for safety and preparation for our hearts to experience this awesome journey.  We are really looking forward to meeting all the families in our group, we will meet some at the airport in DC and some when we arrive in Rwanda, so exciting!

We wanted to let you know that we will post every day if we can and let you know how we are, exciting news of meeting our son and what we are up to.  If we have any difficulties in posting or just for a different perspective we wanted to share the blogs of many others who will be with us.  We have added a list of their blogs on the side labeled "Fellow Travelers", please check out their blogs as well. 

We can't wait to share all the journey with you, like I said 1 more day!! Thanks for all your support and prayers.

Sheri

Thanksgiving

As we move away from Easter and the celebration of Jesus resurrected, we are readying to travel in two more days.  I am thankful for a number of things:

• A wife who is so organized that this week has been relaxed (somewhat)
• Friends and family who are so willing to pray in support of travel and our families at home
• Wonderful coworkers who are supportive (thanks, and I owe you all)
• A family who has been wonderful to us in every situation
• A God who takes care of us even when we doubt
• A country where we still have the chance to pray, praise and worship as we see fit

I know that somewhere over the Atlantic on our 14 hour flight to Kigali we will be in contemplation of what lays ahead of us (as if the last 25 months have not given us enough time).  We hope to continue posting regularly on our travels.  This will be the best place to get up to date news.  We will also work to get photos/videos on here as soon as we are able to do so.  We ask that you will keep the families traveling this week in prayer for safety and health for them and their new children.  Please also pray for the children who won't be traveling to Rwanda with their families.

God bless,

Jeff

Busy Day and 2 Things to Go

Until Sat I think today will be our last busy day.  We had a few obligations: school, work, cub scouts, doctor appointment and a couple errands: last trip to Walmart (I hope!) and the trip to the bank. It is crazy that the thing I am most obsessing about now is the cash.  How do I know if the money is crisp enough?  We drove our teller crazy refusing bills because they were too old or too worn looking, he was very helpful though and got us through. Soon we will see if we did a good enough job choosing our currency so the Rwandan officials know it is real and not our own creation.  What a stressful part this is :) 

I was finished with all this, home after a long day and checking these things off the To Do List and found that we have 2 remaining.  We need to pay for our accomodations/travel package to our agency and we need to pass over the Childcare Manual for our kiddos.  Yes!!  So excited to be almost done.  Usually before travel the list just grows and grows as the days pass by and the last day is awful.  I am thankful that we stayed on schedule and have these last days to spend with the big kids before we go.  Who would have thought we could have done so much in 12 days, not me.  I will have the extra time to devote to praying for my fellow travelers who maybe have more things to do this week yet. 

I will also be praying for my own mental health fearing the long flight!  It is such a long time, we will leave Sat morning and not actually arrive in Rwanda until Mon afternoon, unbelievable.  I so often just wish we could have the Star Trek transporter and immediately arrive, but I was reminded today in my bible study about how God has a plan in the travel not just the destination. My small group is working through Beth Moore's "To Live is Christ", about the Apostle Paul.  We are in his 3rd missionary journey and how he knew he needed to get to Jerusalem and maybe he was switching ships because of the frequent stops the first was making.  He ended up on a new ship which stopped for 7 days in 1 port.  But God had a plan in this stop and Paul met with many of the other believers and it was a meaningful 7 days.  I want to look for the blessings in the travel not just focus on our destination. God will be with us all the 3 days it takes to get to Rwanda, He isn't meeting me there to go to Home of Hope.  I will be blessed, I know, by the fellowship of our friends, and meeting new friends in our group. It will be a good time and I don't want to let my fear of flying deprive me of His plans in the journey.

We are so excited and after all these months of waiting it is hard to believe we are about to leave :)  Only 3 days to go!!

Sheri