Long Layover!

Brent and Elliana have just arrived in Frankfurt, Germany minutes ago. They now have a 6 hour layover before boarding the flight to bring them to Philadelphia. Once there, they will have a 2 hour layover and then make their way to Phoenix!!!

Getting closer!!! Can't even handle the excitement!!!

It's Travel Day!!!

It is a very close race between my obsessive email checking the past couple days/nights while Brent has been in Ethiopia than when we were waiting to hear from Embassy. The past couple nights, I will admit I haven't got much sleep because 1) I'm staying upast midnight which I never do! and 2) I'm checking my email every time I wake up in the night, which happens to be a lot these days!
I got an email this morning about 4:30 am with this beautiful picture in it:

I just can't believe Brent is there with Elliana and this is all happening!

Now it is 11pm here and it's 9am in Ethiopia. Brent just sent an email saying he was up eating breakfast and then in an hour he would go to the transition home. He will spend the day there then head out for the airport!!!! Today is the day! Well, tomorrow is THE day, but today in Ethiopia is when it all starts!
Brent will fly out about 9am our time on July 3rd.

A few other things...power keeps going out so he had to unpack and shower by candle light. He is at a new guest house this time though and he said its like Embassy Suites compared to a Motel 6, so that is nice. He has been going, going, going, as he says. I have a feeling he is going to be quite exhausted when he lands in America!!

Brent said Elliana can roll over both ways! And she sits in her bumbo and just laughs and laughs. Sounds like she will fit in so well with her siblings and our crazy home! I told Brent just the other day, our house is going to be a sensory overload for her! A dog, a loud and spinning sister, a beast of a brother, and a very squirrelly daddy! She'll get used to us eventually though:)

New News

Since the adoption of Elliana is coming to an end, I thought it would be fun to keep up with the blog (haha, a lofty goal!) and just post about our everyday, crazy, busy, fun filled life!
I also will be posting what we do in tot school because I have already learned how forgetful I am as I try to remember back just a couple weeks what I was teaching Raelynn. So how am I supposed to remember it when that time rolls around for the other kiddos?!
And I know how blessed I am to see other bloggers ideas to help build upon and create my own (or sometimes just straight up copy!!) so if I can even help one person, then hey, that's a bonus!

I don't know the proper way to give credit where it is due, and sometimes I don't even know! But if I can, I will. This is honestly what has stopped me from posting about projects or activities we do! On other blogs they always link it back to the source...well, that probably won't happen here. So hopefully I don't go to jail. But most likely I didn't come up with the idea on my own and I can help you track it down if you'd like! :) (most likely it was Pinterest!)

I am also going to do a "project 52" starting Friday July 5, 2013. I got the idea from my friend's blog (see, I should insert one of those links now to take you to her blog) and I knew that when Elliana was home I wanted to start it. Even if it is the only post of the week, every Friday I will post one photo of each child. It will be fun to look back through the posts as the year(s) passes.

So, our first non-adoption related posting is this:
It's a boy!!!
Due November 29, 2013.....yep, just two weeks after Elliana will turn one:)

So sweet!

How cute are these? And don't they just look delish?! Kyle, Ashley, Jackson, and Harper--affectionately known as The Frazey Four--are all enjoying vacation in California over the 4th of July. So they sent us these cookies in the mail since they won't be here to welcome home Elliana. How cute! I hope I can save some for Brent!

Go get her!

Brent left on Sunday morning, June 30 to go get Elliana!! It is so surreal and just so hard to believe we are actually at this place in our journey.
His flight took him from Phoenix to Dallas, then to Frankfurt, then Khartoum to refuel, and finally to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!
He was supposed to arrive at 8:45pm but did not arrive until 2:30am. He didnt take a phone this time but I was tracking him online. I kinda felt like I was a kid again tracking Santa on Christmas Eve! He emailed me when he arrived at the guest house. Said he didn't sleep at all on the flight and was really exhausted. He was extremely hungry, so the driver (who he was familiar with because he was our driver last trip) took him to a pizza place. Oh boy....an Ethiopian pizza place at 3:30 in the morning? I sure hope he doesn't get sick!
So as I write this, it is about 9am on July 2nd in Ethiopia. He will get to see Elliana today then they will drive him to his Embassy appointment at 1pm.

He will spend the rest of the day at the transition home with Elliana then go back to the guest house to sleep. (On our last trip, we stayed on the same site as the transition home and could literally look out the window of our room and see her room. Policies changed and now they stay at a new guest house which takes over an hour to drive to!)

Then on Wednesday, Brent will go back to the transition home to be with Elliana and take her to the airport. The flight leaves at 10pm.

I am hoping he can upload a photo to me today:)

For Elliana...



 



 



 

 My sweet and mighty talented sister, Andrea, made a beautiful quilt for Elliana! It is the perfect size for her to just snuggle up with and the bright colors will be great for her while she does tummy time.  Andrea is so thoughtful and carefully chose each color and pattern for the quilt.  Elliana is going to love it. Her inspiration was the 'African sunset' :)

 

 

 



Another sweet woman that I have never even met had this blanket made for Elliana! A woman that goes to my parent's church had her daughter sew it.  It is so well done and a perfect choice of colors! Love the giraffe too! And it's nice and big! Great for blanket time as she starts moving around and even for her bed as she is bigger.  Such a thoughtful gift.