TRAVEL CALL!!!!!!!!!!

We received our travel call yesterday (July 21, 2010)! And, in keeping with my tradition of missing important calls, I missed it! LOL! But not by much.

Here's the story ...

It's been a very busy week here (again--I know I sound like a scratched record). I have been very intentional about doing fun things with Kate every day because I know her days as an only child in the house are numbered. And I wanted to make the most of this time and ensure that we did some of her favorite activities now, before Isaac comes home and going out may be more challenging for a while.

So yesterday we drove up to Canton. My friend Amy (a fellow adoptive parent in the same program as us) had invited us up to go to her neighborhood pool (and what a pool it is--but more on that later). We went up yesterday morning and spent a few hours visiting, enjoying the water, having lunch, etc. In fact, a couple of pictures we took jokingly are cracking me up even more now. Let me show you:


This is me, at the pool, checking my phone for a travel call (a call from our agency telling us when Isaac is coming home).


And here's Amy, checking hers for a referral call. (Amy and her husband, Sam, are waiting for their referral from Korea.)

LOL! As fellow adoptive parents, we can talk, vent, joke and laugh about many parts of the process. And yesterday, we were joking about constantly checking for messages or adoption news. At one point, I picked up my phone and she asked me if I was looking for my travel call--which I knew was possible, but I wasn't truly expecting it until at least next week. Anyway, we took some photos of ourselves checking for travel and referral calls, respectively. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.

Little did I know ...

After lunch, we splashed around with Kate in the fountain area and visited some more before going back to Amy's house to change and clean up a bit. We went inside, and I put my phone in my purse. Kate had scraped her knee, and so we went upstairs so Amy could get her a bandage, etc. We think that's where we were when our social worker called. (Amy and Sam have the same social worker we do.) Kate and I said our goodbyes and left soon afterward.

As I was getting ready to pull out of Amy's neighborhood, I remembered that my friend Kristi had called while we were at the pool, and I thought it'd be a good time to call her back. When I pulled out my phone and saw that I'd missed a call from Bethany Christian Services, I couldn't believe it! BCS doesn't really call just to chit-chat--if there is a call and a voice mail, then whoever is calling certainly has something important to say.

I quickly listened to the voice mail as I looked for a place to park. It was Laura, our social worker, who said she wanted to give us an important date that she thought we might be interested in. :o) I pulled into a school parking lot and parked before calling her back. We exchanged pleasantries and then she asked me what we were doing next week.

NEXT WEEK!

Isaac is traveling home next Wednesday! That's less than a week from today, people!

We are so excited and surprised and excited and nervous and excited!

Did I mention that we are excited?

We are really surprised that our travel call came so quickly--and that Isaac will be traveling so soon. But we aren't complaining! We are ecstatic!

After my conversation with Laura--we discussed some logistics and details--I called Tanna at work to tell him, and Laura sent me an e-mail with Isaac's travel information. As I made the drive back down to Atlanta, I called some family members to share our exciting news. We are so thankful.



Tanna, Kate and I went out for ice cream yesterday evening to celebrate. We still have some preparations to take care of, but I think everything will fall into place. We've really gotten a lot done in the last week, and we are grateful.


Big sister!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. --Psalm 107:1