Full Weekend~ Mid Atlantic Get Together

Hello All~
We had a very full weekend that I waited 2 whole days to blog about (see Stacklers and Crowells, I'm not completely addicted!) On Friday we hung out at home as a family and watched Kung Foo Panda, or as Devon calls it "Poo Poo Panda" (I tend to agree with him). It was a really nice night as a threesome.

On Saturday Chad and I dropped off little man at my parents and went walking around a philly mall for a while. Chad continually reminded me of how bad our economy is doing as evident by all of the mega sales. We looked for baby necessities (carrier, bottles, etc.) and bought a car charger for my phone (I know, random!)

We then went down and met with Amy and William Stackler and Steve and Megan Crowell for dinner at an ET coffee house. We had REALLY good coffee before they arrived (we were first), perhaps a preview of what we will get next month. We decided the coffee house wasn't the best location for dinner and proceeded to an ET restaurant for dinner. While the atmosphere left a little to be desired, the food was great (aside from William's snack Gyro ;) and the company wonderful.

We had a really nice time with the S's and C's! They are both wonderfully Godly couples with a sense of humor, both attributes we LOVE to see in friends! It was really nice to discuss adoption with people who actually know what we are talking about when we say "DTE" and "referral." I've posted a few pictures above. I took them from my blackberry so don't get your hopes up. Coincidentally I am not in any of them! (Blonde moment...)

Most of all, Chad and I realized how much the bumps and hardships of having a child in Africa that we can't see or touch has dampened our excitement for this process. We left feeling a bit rebuked (in a GOOD way) and much renewed! It's amazing how a few months can really change your perspective on the process.

While they are still waiting to meet their children via referral, we are on the front lines waiting to hold Micah David and bring him home. This is the harder, more taxing of the waits and I in particular have let it get me down. I'm not saying I'm all smiles and songs today as we missed Micah David's 6 month birthday recently, but I do feel a renewed sense of anticipation at what GOD is doing in us, for Micah David, and in Ethiopia through this process. I think we've gotten so blinded by the face of our son that we were unable to see the larger impact in the way we did before his referral.

So, thanks Stacklers and Crowells for helping us to see the beauty in the pain of this wait and for pointing us to God's faithfulness. It's always nice to be reminded of what you should already know but have momentarily forgotten.

Kim