ITS OFFICIAL, WE HAVE OUR TICKETS!!!

We are leaving on May 21st at 1:00pm!!! We are so very excited and can't believe that we have finally gotten here!

We recieved our new Letter of Invitation on April 22nd. When I got it, I burst into tears. I don't think I had let myself really get excited about being told that we were going to go in May. It's a little later than we had hoped for, but we're still going. I had just been holding my breath for that LOI because they could have sent it a week before we were to go. When my social workers called to tell me that they had it, I just melted. I was so overwhelmed. My friend Traci had flown in to visit me for three days and was sitting across from me when I got the call. She watched me sit up straight and she said my face just dropped. I was scared, I was waiting for something bad to happen. When my social workers call and they are both on the line it usually means it's a really good thing, but I was not about to let my heart go there. I was preparing myself for a blow. When they said that they had my LOI and confirmation numbers to go with it, along with my travel dates to be there, I was just so blown away. It was a good blow to my heart, and I just started crying. God is so incredibly good, and now I can't wait to get going!!!

I've started the packing and re-packing process again because I can't remember what all I had packed back in February. Now, all I can do is start crying. I get overwhelmed at the thought that, "I'm going to meet my daughter." Then I get really sad because I have to leave my boys. Warren will be gone from the 21st of May until around the 23rd of June. I will be gone until the 23rd of July. Two months is just insane!

I wasn't planning on being able to stay for the entire trip because we couldn't afford it, but there is another family from our agency who will be traveling within a week of us and they offerred to let me stay with them after Warren has to leave. How awesome is that!!!! We will just split the expenses and that makes it do-able for our family. Now I don't have to leave Alea in the baby house without being able to see her and give her love every day.

We were able to find plane tickets two days ago and we booked them. Our social worker had to pull major strings in order to confirm with Kaz that we could come in two days early. Most tickets we were being quoted were over $24oo a piece. The tickets we found were just under $2000 but they arrived two days earlier than we were supposed to. Our social worker had to call Kaz in the middle of the night over there to get the go ahead. We found the ticket on Wed, and had to book the ticket on Wed. They couldn't give us a few days to confirm like normal. I about threw up when I booked the tickets. I was a nervous wreck!! Now that they are done, I feel much better:O)

My mom will arrive on Wed the 21st at 10:30am and we leave out at 1:00pm. We are going to give her the keys to the car in the airport and kisses and hugs all around and then off we go. It's not ideal to have to do it this way, but we couldn't change her ticket. Please pray for her as she stays with the boys, and pray for them to be good:O)

Well, I want to leave you with this video that I saw on youtube. This family is telling their children that they are going to adopt. These parents have done something right. It brings tears to my eyes as I watch it. This is how I feel about leaving to meet our daughter. I can't wait. Oh to be a child again with no worries of how you act when you are excited. I hope you enjoy it! The video is at the top of this page. I'm still pretty computer illiterate and couldn't figure out how to get it on this post. I'm going to have to have someone help me figure it out before I leave. The link below will also take you to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv9Rbthi0Po