Trip to Ghana - November 2008!

Well - I made it home from Ghana late Sunday night. The trip was amazing - very challenging and stressful but wonderful at the same time. The kids are just so sweet and we had so much fun together. I had a lot of time with them and this was really great. I spent time with David in the mornings when the girls were in school. Naomi finished school at 10:30 and then I would spend time with her and David until noon when AnnaMarie was finished. They would have lunch and then I would spend time with the girls while David took a nap. We drew pictures and played games and read books. On Tuesday, I went to the US Embassy and filed our paperwork. There were two things they wanted (a photocopy of Rick's passport and a copy of my I-171H approval) that I didn't have with me, so I had to go back on Wednesday to drop those off. I think they have everything they need now, so we just wait.

On Friday, I took AnnaMarie and Naomi along with 8 other Beacon House kids and one of the house moms (Asada) to the beach. We had so much fun although it was a little scary since the tide was pretty strong. The water is so warm, though. Really nice and it was a clean beach. I got a fruit platter for the kids with pineapple, papaya, coconut and oranges and they LOVED it. It was gone in about 3 minutes flat!

On Saturday, I took all three kids to a pool near the beach. It was at a nice hotel and they will let you pay to use the pool for the day. Naomi played in the water for two and a half hours and David had a bottle, watched all of the action, and took a nap. AnnaMarie wasn't feeling well - had a headache and a fever, so she just rested on the nice comfy lounge chairs in the shade. We had a nice day. After the pool, we went back to the guest house that I was staying in and had lunch and then played there for a while. The girls ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, fried rice, fruit and cookies. They loved it all! David had strained carrots and thought they were great! At 3:30 I took David back to Beacon House so that I could spend some time with the girls alone. We went back to the guest house and they listened to Rick sing on my I-Pod. They thought that was the coolest thing ever and that there Dad was pretty amazing. They also got to talk to Rick on the phone. AnnaMarie wanted him to play her a song over the phone, so he did. It was so cute to see her grooving to the beat!

I let the girls take baths in my shower and then we went back to Beacon House. I read to them for like two hours and Naomi fell asleep in my lap. I carried her up to her bed at around 10pm and tucked her in. She didn't wake up, so I told AnnaMarie to make sure to tell her that I loved her and that we would be back very soon. It was VERY hard to leave them! AnnaMarie wasn't feeling well and that made it even more heart wrenching. I can't wait until I can baby them when they are sick and tuck them into their own comfy beds.

So now we wait for the I-600 approval, which seems to be taking around 2-4 weeks right now, and then the Visas which is taking another two weeks or so. We just pray that we can have them home by Christmas! We know that God's timing is perfect and that they will be home when He wants them to be home. Please pray with us! We are walking in His will!