The last wait

In the 3 weeks we had between our second and third trips, we have been so busy!!

We finished Tim's Father's day shirt... The caregivers at the Babyhome said Lael loved the paint on her hands... She sat squeezing her hands open and closed watching the paint ooze. Pretty special for us to have while we wait for her;)


Yeah!! We already have her baby swing set up and ready to go;) can't wait to see our children playing together on the play set!!


Eli and I spent some time at Babies R Us to finish getting some supplies we need. Are you ever truly prepared??? Found this neat travel bed... Should work for 2 years;)


We celebrated Lael's first birthday quietly, longing to have her home. We were so blessed by the cards and gifts she received from folks!! These were her first 2 cards... So special!!


The next evening a huge storm hit. We saw a picture on Facebook that showed a chunk of the northern mid eastern part of the country black due to lack of power.

The straight line winds came through and played violently with the trees. Watching as it came through, I guess my bigger surprise is how many trees are still standing. Made me realize how important being flexible is, and what can happen to those who aren't able to be relaxed and sway with the winds that blow.

Here is Eli in our front yard next to a limb that fell. We lost a few big limbs and a few trees from our neighbor's yard fell into our woods... But, thankfully, no other damage;)


It was a great time of community and family bonding. We were without power for 6 days, some in our area as long as 8 days.
How cool to see everyone sharing! Generators, power, food... The workers from our own electric coop as well as those from several other states worked tirelessly 16 or more hours a day to get the power up. The heat advisories were bad enough for us at home staying cool... How we prayed for those working on power lines and taking down trees. It is the way community should be... If only we could all always be like that!!

We left the next day for Kentucky, for my cousin's wedding. How nice to see family and spend time with loved ones we don't see very often! After a last minute scramble to find a hotel with power, we were off!

We saw a lot of storm damage all the way down to Ashland, KY. We were impressed that the power was back on in several places.
Here is the new couple!! Congrats Lauren & Wes!!


The next week, after arriving home, was full. Tim was busy with cleanup of trees and moving our portable generator around to the neighbors, trying to keep freezers frozen and fridges cooled and allow water to be drawn.

Finally, Wednesday evening, the house got very quiet. The generator shut down as the power came back on. It was hard to know what happened at first, then we yelled Yahoo for the hard work of the electric crews!! Thank you God!!

We left Friday to go to my Grandma's in Indiana for a family reunion. The visiting and seeing family was wonderful. The 108 temps for our outdoor shindig were beyond brutal. It was mostly miserable physically the whole day... But so nice emotionally to catch up with everyone.
We had a little party for my little sister... Congratulations!! We are soo happy for you!



Eli forgot his bear to sleep with and was so happy to snuggle with Grammalot's bear. So sweet!! Thank you for your generosity Grammalot!!


Tuesday afternoon we went to say goodbye to Eli's nurse practitioner. Oh, Miss Rose!! We will surely miss you!! How I was hoping you would be around for Lael:( we are excited for you, though, and wish you the best as you head to your new adventure!!


Family fun time!!! We went to kidsville as a surprise for Eli. He was soo excited!! I snuck his bike in the trunk the night before... His face was priceless.
"mommy, I wish I would have known so I could have brought my bike..."
"You mean the bike in the trunk?"
Here he is giving his Daddy a ride;)


Super Big Brother... The latest in a long line of Super Heroes... Waiting to protect and help his little sister...


We have also had a super abundant garden this year. We canned almost 30 pints of sweet pickles and 4 pints of pickled beets.

Here are the pole beans... They should be in full swing by the time we get home;) can't believe all the plants survived the incredible high winds!!


We couldn't find the tee shirts Eli wanted, so we made our own...can't wait to post a picture of both them together with their shirts on!! Eli was a great help, picking out his own colors and the font.


Saturday, Tim, along with his brother and Dad's tractor brought over a new-to-us fire-proof filing cabinet. It will be so nice to have this for our important information... Like all our children's important paperwork;)


Sunday was a great reunion day for us as we haven't seen our "church family" all summer, due to our travels. It was nice to catch up... Though it never seems there is time to catch up with everyone.

We drove to PA just after lunch. Eli had just mentioned he had to pee when the traffic came to almost a stand still. Poor little guy was twisting and turning, writhing in the back seat.

I told him our options... One of which was stopping and going In the weeds. He said that was not an appropriate choice. I love that my soon to be first grader is using big words "appropriately" ;)

We are now sitting at JFK waiting for our transatlantic flight to Moscow. Ahhhh.... My first chance to just sit and get caught up with what's happening;)

Thanking God for safe travels and praising Him that we will be legally her parents forever on Friday!!! Yeah, God!! Let the adventure begin!!
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