Plane Tickets!

We have plane tickets! And we think we found an apartment to rent for a very good price that has most of the things we were looking for. We heard from Daina that we will drive from Riga to Rauna on the 10th to get the girls with a person from the court, Daina, and a driver. Then we will go to First Court that evening. I hope we are not rushed at the Foster Home, as I think it will be an emotional and difficult thing for the girls to say good-bye. We were hoping to go see their school, too, but do not know if there will be time for that. It's hard to imagine our "Gotcha" moment with them, very different from a nanny handing Reagan to us for the first time! It seems like so long ago that I held their sweet faces in my hands and promised I would come to Latvia to see them again. I could not tell them that we were adopting them at the time, but I did reassure them that we would come to their house. I am so excited to fulfill that promise!

I have been trying to have some heart to heart talks with Ryleigh about being brave and good while we are gone. I am praying that she will be extra nice to Reagan and that she will not be upset when we are gone. She is emotional, just like I am, and I know this is going to be hard on her. Reagan keeps asking why we have to be gone so long, it breaks my heart. I know they will have so much fun with my mom and she will take such good care of them, but the guilt of being away from them for so long is bothering me. I am planning on making a calendar and list of things for my mom today to keep track of all the girls' activities.

We had a tragedy in Lebanon yesterday. A mom and 11 year old son were murdered in their home. An 8 year old was found unharmed and all day they were looking for the dad. He was found, dead, in his truck that had been crashed down into a quarry. There are not answers yet if he was also a victim or if it was suicide. Everyone that knows this family says there is no way he could have done it. It's so sad. I am praying for this little boy who has lost his entire family and for wisdom for the police to solve this crime. Ryleigh's school was locked down all day, along with the other schools. We have several kids at our church that are in 5th grade, so they will need lots of prayer to deal with this horrible thing that has happened to their classmate.