The End of our Great Journey...Beginning of Another

At some point, I need to really reflect on all that took place this summer. We feel so blessed to have visited friends and family from so many different spheres of life. And most of the time, we felt unworthy of the love and prayers we received from those we love. It is hard to know how to say thank you to the many friends who opened their homes to us across the country. We only stayed in a hotel one night. Incredible gift. Just this week, after celebrating my brother's wedding, we traveled to Boston and stayed with our dear friends, Eric and Beth Mollenhauer. It is so refreshing to be with friends who've known you for close to 20 years. We then traveled to Rhode Island to stay with other dear friends, Kurt and Mary Jamiel, and to celebrate our friend Amy Macera's wedding with my annual reunion gang.

Kurt and Mary completely surprised us with an incredible gift. Kurt was a sponsor of the Providence Rotary Club Street Festival fundraiser. He wanted to show us the chalk art done by various artists. As we were walking on the path, we came to one entitled, "Love is Patient" and there was an incredible portrait of our girls. Kurt had hired a local artist friend to creat the beautiful picture you see here. Dano and I did not know what to say.

It seems we've been speechless most of this trip. We are blessed with incredible friends and family members who inspire us with their generosity, humility, good works, and faith. So thank you to everyone who made this "Great American Journey" possible. Now we set off for another tomorrow morning...one we know is already changing our lives forever.

Dossier off to State Dept and Rwandan Embassy

Six weeks ago, we began the process to adopt a son from Rwanda. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. We are doing the process independently, so I was a bit nervous regarding the administrative challenges of getting this all done without any problems. However, here we are six weeks later and our dossier is complete and being reviewed by the State Department and will be delivered to the Rwandan Embassy tomorrow supposedly. Hoping and praying that we did not forget anything. I am still in shock by how fast we got this done. We are so thankful to be in Vermont for this process. In Seattle, it took me close to nine months before our dossier was ready to send to China.

Today, Anna said, "Thank you mommy for getting me a little brother. I SoOOOO excited!"

And Lian is already making her list of names for him.

We feel very blessed.

12 days left till we move to Rwanda...in that time we will attend my brother's wedding, drive to Boston, see some Revolutionary War sites, visit our good friends the Mollenhauers, drive to Warren, RI to stay with our dear friends, the Jamiels, and then attend Amy Macera's wedding, which will be my annual reunion with my college roommates, and then finally drive to NJ on the 27th to stay with the Peixotos, before their daughter, Caroline, joins us on the flight to Rwanda on the 28th. Whew....my emotions are starting to run a little high by this reality.