Have you ever . . .

Been woke up at 11:45 pm by a male voice? I can now say that I have. Steve surprised me and came home a day early for the weekend. I had just fallen asleep at 11:30. At first, I thought "What is my Dad doing here?"

Of course, I was so excited then that I couldn't get back to sleep until almost 1 am, but I am glad we have three days with him instead of two. The best part is that he isn't going to be doing hardly any school work this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

The package is in the air

Two cardboard boxes full of art supplies (not children) are on their way to China. We collected art supplies for Lily's orphanage in honor of her birthday and I finally had everything ready to go on Thursday (translations, packing, pictures, etc). Please pray that they both arrive and the children received the packages soon! Hearing back from them is a bonus, but I am not going to count on it.

Happy 9th Anniversary!

We pulled into the driveway just after lunch and my eyes started welling up when I found this :) Lily asked me what was wrong. I told her that I was happy and pointed to the porch. "Our flowers!" I didn't have the heart to tell her Daddy sent them for me.

Thanks Stephen so much! You even remembered that I like cut flowers that will last a decent amount of time. You surprised me and it MADE my (really our) day!

Father's Day

I know this is delayed. If you read the previous post, you probably will understand why. I have also been trying to get the link to a photo book that I made for Steve for Father's Day. Well, you "share" the book via e-mail with the link showing up in the e-mail. I have "shared" it several times and the e-mail isn't showing up. If it shows up, I'll post it here.

Thanks Steve for being a great dad. You are very thoughtful and helpful. I cannot wait until we can live in the same city for more than two days at a time. Lily misses you and we eagerly await your next visit!

Flying with a 3 year old

Lily may not be a tornado or a lightning storm, but we surely felt the effects of summer storms Friday. Kim dropped Lily and I at the airport at around 9:45 am. The flight had been pushed back due to weather in our connecting city - Chicago. We were running just a few minutes behind, so we weren't worried about a 30 min delay. Maybe we should have been . . .

We arrived at my parent's house about 16 hours later. Yes, that means it was 2:45 am. The original flight kept getting pushed back. I almost didn't get on the plane because I didn't want to get stuck in Chicago. To make a long story a little shorter, here is the bare bones time line:

9:45 am arrive at airport for 10:30 flight

11:00 begin boarding

12:30 find out that we are "de-planing" (Lily slept 1 hr of the tarmac time)

1:00 get connecting flight changed

4:00 begin our second chance at boarding

6ish arrive in Chicago

6:15 last flight out of Chicago to home is cancelled (start bawling about being stuck in O-Hare with a 3 year old and missing a wedding the next day)

6:45 get put on 9 pm flight to NC (closest to get home that night)

7 pm Lily is feverish and won't eat dinner proceeds to fall asleep

7:30 automatic exterior doors blow open and they announce ground stop

8 pm our NC flight has been moved back to the gate we started out at

8:30 pack up sleeping Lily, car seat, two back packs and fumble my way up escalator

8:45 begin boarding with sleeping child and previously mentioned stuff

10:45 finally wheels up!

12:00 am wheels down in NC!

12:15 find out out my suspicions were correct - checked luggage didn't make it

2:45 arrive at parent's house and put Lily to bed

3:45 arrive back to L-burg to pack for wedding. I intended to go straight to meet Steve from my parent's house, but alas the luggage issue . . .

4:30 drift off to sleep thankful that I had sent our computer back earlier in the week with my parents

My dear parents drove all the way to G-boro to get us. Thank you. We were assisted by many people, most of which I didn't even get their names! That's why it's helpful having a cute toddler by your side. The cuteness wasn't always helpful, but we did meet lots of interesting people. Thank you to those of you who prayed us through.

There is so MUCH more drama I could add, but I am exhausted. If you want the rest of the story, ask. I could write a book about the day. I am convinced that I could fill pages about the ups and downs. Lily was a trooper considering.

BTW, my luggage showed up at my parents house (not my house) tonight. That is yet another story, but I must go get some rest! I will try and post pics of the trip when I recoup from the loss of sleep. Did I mention that I spent 11 hours in the car to get to and from the wedding in the 36 hours following my 4:30 am bedtime Saturday morning. I am really leaving before I get sucked into making this post any longer than it is already. I am pooped!

Family

Lily and I are enjoying spending time with family that we don't get to se often enough. It has been two years since I have seen my brother. Lily is getting used to playing with siblings. I am noticing that her control issues are coming out more here. I think it is partly because she is sharing toys and sharing her mommy with three cousins.

Thanks Chris and Kim for being so laid back and opening your home to us. I have taken a couple pics, but I have relied heavily on others for the picture taking. We are a picture heavy family if you know what I mean. I need to have Chris put the pics on my computer (which I brought to be seen by "Dr." Chris).

This morning the three eldest (Luke- 3 years 8 mths, Lily - 3 years 2 mths, Hannah- 2 years 4 mths) were playing restaurant. Yesterday, Grandma made them menus.

Lily: "Whacha want?" holding her "menu"
Grandma: "How about some blueberry pancakes?"
Lily: "Don't have any those." looking down a her menu
Grandma: "What about some eggs?"
Lily: "Yes, be right back."

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