Dec 25th

Arrived in Manilla late... like 2 hours late, but still feeling total peace.
A friend from our church in Okinawa, here on a mission trip, met me at the airport and drove me straight to Gentle Hands.

I walked in and was met in the hallway by Ate Jordan, who whisked away my bags, ushered me upstairs, into a room where my girls were waiting....

Merry Christmas!  
I am finally with my girls!

(Hoping to have a picture soon :)

Traveling to the Philippines

We thought for sure the girls would be home before Christmas, and possibly even by their birthdays. When their birthdays came and went, I knew I could not let another holiday go by without their family being with them.... And that is how I decided to visit my girls for Christmas.

The plan was to arrive on Christmas morning and surprise them.

Fast forward to December 23rd.  

I said goodbye to my family in Texas will minimal tears.  Made it to my flight, going from Houston to LA, with enough time to have a nice lunch with Wade.  As my plane starts to board, I get an e-mail saying my flight from LA to the Philippines has been cancelled!  I tried to back out of my flight leavingTexas, so i could have one more day with family, but was told my bags were already loaded on the plane to California... So to California I go.

Upon arriving, I read e-mails from my awesome husband, giving me instruction on what to do and where to go. I would spend the night in a hotel and fly out the next morning.  

Christmas Eve morning, I woke up, alone in a LA hotel room... 

Not gonna lie... That was rough!

Boarded my flight  at 10:50 am for my 14 hour voyage to Manilla.

My Christmas morning surprise, was now a Christmas evening surprise!

EIGHT!!

Today, I started washing the girls clothes and was GIDDY to have 8 piles of laundry.

I don't know how long that feeling's gonna last, but for the coming days, when I say... "Ugh, does the laundry ever end?!!", this post will serve as a reminder that we prayed HARD for those piles, and they truly are a blessing!

Adoption Sunday

We had the pleasure of visiting our Lithia church home, Fishhawk Fellowship, for Orphan Sunday this week, and were honored to stand up for those families "in waiting".

Adoption is a long process, and to make it manageable in our own heads, we tend to focus on the next form stamp; the next milestone; the "what happens when we FINALLY get them home".
Oh, but it was SO good for my heart to be reminded of why we started this journey in the first place.

God, the creator of heaven and earth, loves me.
He took me in, sins and all, and made me a part of His family!

We love, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:12

God called us to adopt, in His name... How could we say no?!?!

We forgot to take a picture Sunday, but I wanted to get a picture of all of us with our "Philippines" sign... thank goodness for camera timers!

Esme and Hope... we'll save the sign and take another picture when you get home!