A Look Back... And A Look Ahead...

Sorry… again… it’s been too long since our last post. So here’s a look back.

A look back…

The day came for us to say goodbye to Sammie and Ellie. And it was sad as to be expected. After Heather and the kids said goodbye to Sammie and Ellie in our apartment I walked them down to the taxi. The organization we foster through sent a couple workers to help with the move. So they all climbed into the taxi together and pulled away. As they did Ellie stood up in the back seat and looked out the back window at me. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t cry.

A few days after that we were down again at the street saying goodbye to our family the Faillas. They loaded their stuff up and we hugged and cried and said our goodbyes. I’m so grateful for this family and all that they have done for Heather, our kids and I. It was sad to see them go.

On a brighter note. That weekend we went to a nearby park to hang out and have some family time. At the same time we were there, a class of Chinese kids that were studying English showed up. It was a pretty big group. Anyways, they setup this game were the kids walked blindfolded through a course and had to listen to the kids shouting instructions to them in English. If they made it to the end they would win. Well after a little while they convinced Sydney to play and she did. Then they asked Aubrey to play. As soon as they told Aubrey to go she just walked through the course without any hesitations and without walking where she shouldn’t. The rest of us stood there speechless. She walked through it as if she had memorized it. It took me a moment, but then I realized that the blindfold sat on her face in a way that she could look out the bottom and see the course perfectly. I laughed pretty hard. Aubrey always delivers the laughs.

A look ahead…

So I need catch you up on some more stuff. So here it goes. A while back Heather’s dad decided he was going to come visit us; besides me, we were all excited (just kidding.) Well a couple months ago Heather and I chatted about instead of her dad coming here; maybe she could go visit her family. We wanted to wait until the fall when we knew that Sammie and Ellie would be in another foster home before Heather would go on her trip. Once Sammie and Ellie had another family to care for them and because Caleb turns two next month (which means he can fly REALLY cheap still) we decided that we would try and move Heather’s trip up and get Caleb to go to.

Soooooo Heather and Caleb are flying back to the States tomorrow! I know. I know. I know. I should have communicated this earlier.

Then when Heather gets back we will head out to Xining to check out the facilities where Heather will be delivering. We have a handful of friends in Xining and it will be a good family time together. (In fact, if you remember we went last year and the kids still talk about that trip. We’re glad to give them some more memories to talk about!)

So that’s our life right now. Thank you to everyone for your love and prayers during this tough transition. We are deeply grateful for all of you!