Introducing....

Ellie Tsion Wade

Court Hours

Well, we are in the final day, no hours, before our court appointment! I cannot believe we have made it this far. We've had many people asking what time our appointment is at; we do not have a specific time, only the window of midnight to 3 a.m. (our time).

Our social worker e-mailed us today to say she'll call just as soon as she hears something in the morning. Getting a phone line in and out of Africa can be tricky, so we're gearing up to be patient if need be. We'll be sure to call, post, e-mail, update Facebook, etc after we know more.

Jill-Metric System Says....

(This is the countdown chart Garrett and I made back in December....I wrote the words and numbers and he "decorated". We, obviously, made a new number chart at the end of January.)

THREE DAYS UNTIL COURT DAY!

And, in case you need clarification on how there are only three days left, this is my theory: today doesn't count because I've already woken up (and once I wake up, the day has been accounted for) and the actual day of court (Friday) doesn't count because when we wake up that morning, court will be over, said and done with in Africa. That will be the day we wait for our phone call. So, all that's left are three more mornings of waking up before court takes place.

Please mark your calendar NOW - get up, go write it down - and join us in praying for a successful court date. Court will actually take place during the middle of the night on Thursday. So, before going to bed Thursday night, please pray for a few things on behalf of our family:

*that the judge will show up (sometimes they don't, no reason, we've heard it happen frequently)
*that the electricity will be on and stay on through our court appointment
*that the other parties that must attend court for a successful court appointment will show up
*that the judge will look at our case and find just what he/she wants to see
*that the judge will say "yes" or whatever it is that judges say and finalize our adoption on Friday

Thank you in advance for lifting up our family in prayer!

No Words

I truly do not have any words to summarize my trip. I kept thinking that if only the jet lag wore off, I'd find the words to sum up my trip to Africa. If only this dern kidney stone would go away, I'd find the words. If only, the stomach bug would leave us alone. If only, if only, if only.

Three weeks later, I still have no words.

I ran into a friend at church that I had not seen in a long time. She grew up in Africa. She asked how my trip was and I told her I had no words. I was shocked when she replied, "You aren't supposed to; you were in Africa."

I was relieved. I've been walking around for three weeks trying to find a nice, neat little way to package up my thoughts from this unexpected, most amazing trip. To Africa.

On the one hand, it was full of joy....I met my daughter. MY daughter.

On the other hand, I saw things I had, up until this point, only read about. I think I know more than the average American does about this particular country in Africa and so I thought I was prepared. I wasn't.

My heart was broken on this trip. Not because I had to say "see you soon" to my daughter....believe me, that hurt. But my heart hurt even more for the people of her home land. And I didn't even see the worst of it.

I have been trying to process what this all means....for them, for me. And I still don't know. I only know that I will never be the same. Oh, how I pray I will never be the same.




PS - I was NOT in Rwanda as in this video. Just wanted to clarify!

Cat in the Hat

I am super far behind in blogging but wanted to quickly share this cute picture from today....Garrett and I went to meet the Cat in the Hat! We had planned to meet up with some friends but ended up running into our neighbor and a few other people, too. Apparently, all of north Dallas got the memo that The Cat was going to be in town. Fun, fun times!

Celebrating One

Today a sweet little girl, half-way around the world, turns one year old. I have no doubt she is being loved and kissed on, is scoot-crawling to and from her friends, bouncing to the sound of her care taker's songs and so much more.

We celebrate your life today, Ellie T, even in your absence from our arms. We know your life will never be short of love as is has proved so even in the past 365 days ... your birth mother loved/s you, your care givers love you and so do we.

In your honor, we'll blow out one candle and make a wish for a speedy journey to your new home and continued love, health and blessings. We love you, sweet girl. You light up our life already.

Don't mind me, I'm just recovering from a bit of jet lag.

You know, from going to see my daughter in Africa!

Where do I begin? Well, about a week and a half ago we received the news that our court date for our daughter's adoption finalization in Africa had been moved to February 27th. Which meant that the earliest we'd travel to bring her home would be the end of March or early April. Earliest. I was crushed (and so was Kenny). We've known about our sweet girl since the middle of September and waiting for her has been so hard - and that's putting it mildly.

By the end of that day things began to turn around. Our friend Luke (of this sweet family) was planning to leave for Africa on that Friday - just 2 1/2 days later. I e-mailed and spoke to him and found out he had a spot open within the group he was going with to do some non-profit work. It was a long shot but we thought it was worth pursuing. I checked on airfare - it was reasonable. I checked with the agency and orphanage director - both cheered me on to go. I had one last immunization to get and wasn't sure if it would take effect in time to travel - the nurse said it was okay, to go. All lights were green and I was good to go.

Doing something spur of the moment like this is SO not my character. I am a planner. I like to think things through a million times and then re-analyze it from every possible angle. But being on such a quick time table I didn't have the chance - I just picked myself up out of the pity party I was having and packed my bags for Africa.

Last Friday afternoon Kenny and Garrett took me to the airport and I began the 1 1/2-ish day journey to meet our daughter.

On Sunday (Saturday evening US time) I fell in love for the third time (first Kenny, then Garrett) with the most beautiful, precious and amazing little girl. I am having trouble putting into words what it was like to meet and spend four days with my daughter. MY daughter. OUR daughter. HIS sister. All I can say is that my time with her was a blessing.

I will write more later after I have slept some more and processed all that I have seen. Just wanted to let you all know that I am home safe and my heart is resting easier having seen with my own eyes that sweet Ellie T is loved and safe until she's home, too.