Let The Count Down Begin......

more days until we leave for ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!

Don't know if I can explain here how excited I really am. (insert crazy giggles here) Andy has been working on plane tickets for the last couple of days. (side note - if you plan on traveling by plane anytime this year - book now. It's amazing how much prices have been affected by the whole oil thing.) But, his planning & research has paid off. We leave EARLY on a Saturday morning & get to Washington DC by about lunch time. We have the rest of that entire day to do some sight seeing. YIPPEEE. I have never been to the capital. I hope HG can keep up, I know she, uh I mean we, will be so tired. (I guess that will help us sleep on the long flight the next day.) The Smithsonian is free & doesn't close until 5. We just now have to narrow down which section we want to go visit. Any thoughts? Then we will probably try to see some of the major memorials at night - should be some great pics with them all lit up!!!!! Then we head to bed (I'm sure I won't sleep much in fear of not waking up the next day.) Then we leave DC around lunch to ride on a plane for the next 12 or so hours of our lives. We will arrive in Addis around breakfast time on Monday. So, we'll hit the ground running. I usually like to get to my destination later so I can immediately go to sleep but that isn't an option this time. Maybe it's finally time to go talk to a Dr. about some help with sleeping on a plane. ;0) Not sure, but we think we'll get to meet Ebaby that day - I'm sure the adrenaline will keep me awake.

We are still looking at stuff we want to do (we are only allowed to see Ebaby for 2 hours a day - this helps keep them from being disturbed too much. You know preschoolers like their schedules & consistencies!!!) We will do the stuff that our agency is offering, but I am looking into adding a few things that we personally want to do. We'll keep you posted.

Then another cool aspect is we will get to go to church on Easter Sunday while there!!! I am really pumped about that. The other family that is traveling with us has friends there & they plan on attending with them. I don't know where that is. We have some friends at our church with connections there due to Indegineous Outreach Ministries. He knew I wanted to go to church, so he was asking what kind of service I was looking for (duh - I want to worship Jesus!) He asked do I want a more traditional service in English or a typical Ethiopian service. Well, for me that was a no brainer. I want a typical NON-English speaking Ethiopian church service. So, he's getting us the contact info. If we don't go with our travel mates, we'll drive about 30 minutes outside of Addis Ababa to a tent like structure to worship our Lord & Savior who LIVES on Easter Sunday 2011!!!!!! Did I mention that I am kind of excited about this? All I can think about is the worship service I had the honor & priviledge of attending in Thailand. There were people there speaking Thai, English, Dutch, French, & some African dilalect just to name a few. It was AWESOME. I can't wait...... okay, I'll stop.... for now.

Then we will travel home the next day (via a 17 hour plane ride - Lord Jesus help me show your strength & not my weakness!) to be reunited with the boys. We will be leaving part of our family behind & I know that is going to be one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. But, I must remember that it's part of the plan. I can't change it. It isn't forever. And somehow God will be glorified during it all.

So, there you have it. 46 more days. The countdown is on.