Blessed Beyond Measure

Our Give1, Save1 time just ended and we have received $826!!!! I am amazed at how many people gave and shared the link on their FB pages. God is so good! One thing we have talked about multiple times this week is that you can really tell who is guided by The Holy Spirit. Our church family and other Christians in our circle of friends, relatives, and even strangers really stepped up and not only gave financially, but continue to pray for us, as well. It is so humbling to know so many people give of their time and resources to help bring Ethan home! Blessed is the only word I can think of to express how I am feeling. I pray that someday Ethan will be able to understand how many people were a part of his adoption. It has been awesome to be able to talk with Isabella, Becca, and Reagan about their adoption stories so they can start to comprehend how big our God is! We are "nesting" just a little bit at this point! I went on a mission in the kitchen to clean everything. You just don't realize how gross things get! We decluttered and organized all the cabinets, drawers, and countertops. It's a bummer we already had the garage sale because I found quite a bit of stuff that I have now decided I can live without! Oh well! Ethan's room is cleaned up and organized, except for the crib, which is now full of stuff to pack! We have been trying to collect things, like medicine, snacks, etc. over the last few weeks so we don't have to get it all at once. I am so ready to just pack once and for all and get on the plane. I am nervous about leaving Isabella and Becca. I know that they will be fine and we will survive, but I really prefer us all together. I am excited to see how this trip will change Ryleigh and Reagan's lives. I remember how it affected Ryleigh when we adopted Reagan and I just think it is going to be neat to experience it again with both of them. It was such a hard decision to make to spend the extra money for them to go, but I feel so at peace about our final decision. I know that it opens us up for criticism, but no matter what we do there's that potential. People can get over it if they have a problem because really at the end of the day, we know what is best for our family! God knows the right timing and the best way and I trust in His plan. We are really hoping we hear about our TA early this week so we can be on track to leave on August 17th. I know that I shouldn't have my heart set on it, but I really would love for Tim and the girls to have a couple of days of school and I really, really, really, I mean, really do not want to miss Isabella's 16th birthday on September 5th. I know we could celebrate before or after, but it's not the same. She never had a real birthday in Latvia, so she has only had 2 special days in her whole life. She wants to go bowling this year and get her ears pierced. Very thankful that we are not worrying about driving yet. Coming from a background of barely ever riding in a car for most of her life, she just isnt' ready to learn that yet. I think she will be very nervous to start learning. We have been watching the Olympics and the girls really like it! I love watching all the countries come together. Kinda cool to think we have 3 countries represented in our house! And several more in our church family! I love it! Coming from a girl who never cared much about geography, I am pretty fascinated by it now! Reagan is super excited about the "girl's gymnastics" she was not so impressed with the "boys" because "they don't even get to wear pretty outfits". She didn't even realize there was such a thing as boys doing gymnastics. So cute! She also doesn't understand how the volleyball players and divers can have wedgies without wanting to pick them. She is constantly picking wedgies out of her behind! Funny girl! Hopefully we will be posting our travel dates SOON!