Garage Sales

Very few words can describe the unique American experience where we take our unwanted stuff and sell it to others for dollars and cents. We hosted 2 garage sales while fundraising for Esther's adoption and it seemed the weather never wanted to cooperate. We had gale force winds that literally blew our tables over and drenched everything...yet the people still came and we were blessed financially toward her cause.

Matt's journey with garage sales was no different. We had literal torrential down pour rains this weekend like I have only experienced in the midwest. We moved indoors to our garage and with the help of a dear friend got everything set up in the wee hours. The rain came down and the flood came up (at least in our drive way). Yet, the Lord sent loads of people anyway who came looking for deals. They were blessed and so were we. We were able to help a family purchase many things following a fire in their own home a month ago. Many people when they saw Matt's pic decided not to dicker and others even threw in extra. By the time it was all said and done, our profits allow us to cover Matt's ticket home...a sweet blessing!

I say thank-you Lord for your mercy and strength and blessings...even in the midst of the storms!

We have a departure date!

I cannot believe it has been three weeks since I last blogged! I guess it has been as crazy as it feels around here:O) These are pictures from the care package we sent and Matt received most recently. Since then, we got our TA (travel authorization) and CA (consulate appointment) and finally, we have our flight plans arranged. We depart June 14! We were not able to depart out of our fair cities, as everything was booked all over due to Dragon Boat Festival (3rd biggest holiday event). We also could not get the new direct flight for the same reasons. So, tickets went up by about $800 per ticket and we have a longer flight...at this point we are just relieved to have our arrangements made and be on the countdown!!

In all things we know He is faithful and His timing is perfect. We will have a garage sale fundraiser over Memorial Weekend...so tomorrow I will get sign supplies and start painting. I even cracked open my suitcase today and threw a few things in. We have skyped with Matt about 3 times now...it has been a great experience for all of our hearts. We will be able to stay at New Day (Matt's place of preschool and other ministries) for several days and get to meet him on his turf before we fly to his birth province. We are hoping this will make it a much smoother transition for him. Plus, we are very excited to meet the people of New Day after reading their blog and emailing for some time now. There are so many details the Lord has so graciously put together and is blessing us with...it is truly amazing how He loves, cares, and provides for His "least of these". We so appreciate all your prayers as we prepare for this next great adventure:O)

Soccer Season Comes to a close...

Ruthie's first season of spring soccer came to a close this week. They lost only one game all season...these girls were terrific. This was Ru's first year playing big girl soccer with a net and she grew leaps and bounds during the season. We were very proud of her! Of course, she wants to play again next season. Coach Sergio and the girls after the last game...one girl missing.

A typical windy day for the spring soccer season...can you see Ruthie?

Ruthie and those fast feet fighting for the ball.

Ruthie was a fantastic goalie! We were impressed with her aggressive goal tending. She made the save on this one...way to go Ruthie!

Uncle Greg

We were blessed a couple weeks ago with a visit from Rob's brother. We had a wonderful week with him sharing lots of movies, events, and just hangin' time. He also spoiled us with getting us up to date in the world of technology! What an awesome guy! Below are a few highlights of his visit...we miss you all ready Uncle Greg!!!

Thought I would jot a few things down from my list we have had fun doing this past month or so...a couple of these are from Rob and my 20 year list too.

• Rob and I went on 2 fun date nights to local high school performances: Sound of Music and Grease...I am just amazed at our local high school talent. CJ is going to take Ruthie to see Grease this weekend, as it was so fun!



• We started a family project together: painting our hallway. If you remember, we wrote all over our walls earlier this year. Painting part One was hilarious as long as you don't mind imperfection or extra mess. Esther couldn't quite get the concept of wet paint on the wall...so she stuck to it a couple of time. The boys had roller wars and had competitions of who could paint/jump the highest without hitting the ceiling. Ruthie was focused! PTL we have one who can focus:O) So, we have a couple more paint nights to go as the writing was darker than we thought...but phase one was a success!



• I went to my district's retirement seminar. Felt a little underage...plus a little depressed...since my service time doesn't amount to much since I've almost always worked part time. But I feel more informed anyway.



• We've hosted one bon fire event...



• Taking Ru on a special date this Saturday...English Tea date with my daughter...can't wait!

We Skyped!

So tonight we were able to talk to Matt on skype! What a thrill! This is a picture of him we took from the skype camera while talking to him...too cool! He got to say "hi" to everyone. He was very excited to see Baba, Mama, JieJie (big sister Ruthie) and giggled at Esther. I think he was a little unsure with the boys or may have been running out of attention span by then. It was so precious...I was telling him to have fun at preschool and enjoy singing...and then I started singing "Twinkle Twinkle". He sang the whole song with me...with all the hand motions and everything...it was the sweetest ever!!! It was seven minutes that seemed timeless:O)

Matt's next care package arrives...

So, our second care package arrived for Matt last week. He has got his spring hair cut going on:O) My favorite pic is the last one where he has a bit of a happy-contemplative look as his teacher reads our photo album. As usual, I would give lots of pennies for his thoughts:O) We now await our TA which our agency anticipates will come by early May. We also get to skype with Matt next week. It was supposed to happen tonight (his Monday a.m.), but they had torrential rains that kept all the foster kids away from the preschool. It's a little different perspective when your transportation is a bike...so we will await next week.