Mad Libs for fun

Since I was a kid, I've enjoyed Mad Libs and making my own.  So, I figured for fun on this blog I'd give you all a short one to do.  For this post, you'll comment with your words (be creative and have fun!), then the next post I'll plug my favorite one into the mad libs story.  I know, it's a bit cheesy, but among the busy-ness of these days a little comic relief is appreciated :-)  So, here goes:

1. mode of transportation
2. place
3. number
4. adverb (if you're a bit rusty, these are words that describe a verb and usually end in -ly, ex: slowly)
5. occupation
6. adjective
7. color
8. adjective
9. emotion

"We have so much time, so little to do....

...........strike that, reverse it." - Willy Wonka

Such are these days!!   We just had a wonderful visit with some friends of ours from California this weekend and it was so great to see them. The Armes Family spends their summers at a camp in PA and they made an East Coast trip road trip to visit family and friends before heading back.  They are a family from our old church where Joel was the associate pastor in Burbank.  Sam and their son Brayden were best friends since they were about 3 and picked up where they left off.  Here's a pic taken of the kids taken this morning in age order (kinda hard to tell them apart, huh?):

Well, now it's time to really get things going and I've got to take care of all the little stuff.  I cannot believe we are almost there!! What God laid on our hearts last year ago is coming to fruition!!  Yesterday and next week, Joel is teaching in Sunday school on the topic of adoption and redemption.  What a timely doctrine to be learning.  Our church is called "Redemption OPC" as we are adopted as children of God!  I believe Darya's adoption is a beautiful picture of God's redeeming us and calling us His own.  :-)

Tickets bought!

Wow.  We are really going!  We will be flying out of our regional airport (10 minutes from our house!) on Saturday, September 4.  Even though the layovers are less than ideal (two 3-hour layovers on the way there, and one that's 5 hours on the return flight), the convenience of flying in/out of our local airport and how the ticket prices were significantly cheaper than Jacksonville will hopefully be worth it!  I'm pretty sure most RR families use Golden Rule, and Eldon seems to be the "agent of choice" and he's been great so far :-)   I priced the exact same flights online and they were about $200 more elsewhere!

I'm not so nervous to fly (though I hate the take-offs, turbulence, and flying over vast areas of water like any normal person), I am nervous to be away from my boys for so long and so far away.  This is so out of my comfort zone!  I am taking them to the opposite coast of the country which means they'll be that much farther away from me!!  I know God is in control and I know that we are in His hands, but I still let that human nature get the best of me at times.  I know they'll be totally fine and have a great time, so I'm not really worried about them, I'm worried how I'll do without my daily doses of snuggles and "I love yous" from my boys!  But I remind myself that Darya has been away from her family for over 2 years!  I cannot wait to hold my baby girl!! **sigh**

The Boys

We still have not booked our flights, but just need to review some that Golden Rule emailed us. The nice thing is that it's significantly cheaper to fly in/out of our regional airport that's only 10 minutes from our house.  But the bad thing is that there are like 3 connections with some decent (3+ hour) layovers.  We just need to sit down and look them over one more time before booking them.

But today I did book the boys' flights to California!  I'll be flying out with them and they'll be staying with Joel's parents.  Joel's dad will fly back with them on their return flight.  The boys are soooo excited!  I have been working on a last minute surprise for them, too! My sister and I are planning to take our kids to Disneyland for a day (our friend from high school works there and she may be able to score free tickets for all of us!)  It will be a nice last excursion with the boys before I leave them to travel across the world for over a month!!  The Franciscos are planning to meet up with us, too, but this is all a surprise!  I'm so thankful that this little trip is falling into place, especially since I'll be gone for Sam's 9th birthday.  I'll just tell him this is a special early-birthday trip.  :-)

Yay!!!  I'm so excited (and terrified at the same time)!!

September 7!!!

In three weeks from today we will be in Kiev, Ukraine at the State Department of Adoptions getting our referral for Darya! Then on Thursday September 9 is probably when we'll get to meet her at her orphanage in Odessa!!!  To say we are excited is an understatement!

11 years ago today...

....I married the man I so don't deserve.  I love you Joel!!