I had quite a few things planned for yesterday. The boys needed to finish their Father's Day present, we had a wedding gift (due this weekend) to buy, a box of clothes to drop off at a friend's, a pharmacy run, some pictures to pick up at Hobby Lobby, and all the usual chores- dishes, toy clean-up, etc. We wrapped up the first stage of the secret present making at around 9am, which also happened to mean that breakfast dishes were still stacked high in the sink, when I turned on the computer to check to see where this weekend's bride and groom had registered. While I was waiting for The Knot to load I clicked on Facebook, and the first thing in my news feed was the status of one of the moms we spent time with in Congo mentioning that she was going to have lunch with another mom from Congo. I commented that I was SO jealous because it's Facebook, and that is what you do. She immediately responded that maybe we should drive on down to where they were meeting and join them. I googled it and it actually wasn't that far (they thought it was farther for us because there was a miscommunication about our current location), so after a few minutes of furious messaging the boys and I scrambled to get ready. I'm a firm believer that on occasions like these one should drop everything and just go.
We made it to the rendezvous point, McDonald's (which was probably the nicest restaurant in this little town), just a minute or two late. As I parked I heard a familiar wail, a scream I would recognize anywhere, and turned to see our old roommates, Kelly and Elijah. It is rather appropriate that Elijah greeted us with a big old scream, because, well, that's what he does. Kristie, Joel, and Kaden drove up shortly after and we spent an hour reminiscing about our time in Congo: the good, the bad, and the Bon Soir Ladies. Many a scabies joke was made. Then we headed to the park, and spent a three hours watching the kids play and catching up.
With Tommy's adoption we traveled alone and spent most of the time in our guest house with just us and the guest house caregiver, Alfred. It was very different to have the experience of traveling with other families for Nic's adoption, and I loved having them to commiserate with, laugh with, and bond over the craziness that was our adoption experience. When we came home I missed them, and seeing a few of them again brought a great deal of joy to my Friday. Nicolas had fun seeing his old pals, and Tommy got a kick out of Nic's friends. On the way from McDonald's to the park he told me that he "loved his African friends," and on the drive home he announced he loved his "African Children's babies." For those of you who don't own the CD, I think he sort of had the kids confused with the African Children's Choir.
We did manage to fit in most of our errands after the trip, including that pick-up at Hobby Lobby, which completed our super Congo Friday. A few weeks ago when HL was doing their half-price framing sale we brought in some of the pictures we picked up at the craft market in Congo. They are now adorning the walls of our apartment. Check them out:
I sincerely regret that we did not spend more money on things from Uganda. It being our first adoption we were not quite used to the feeling of bleeding money and seeing our bank account drain in a one month period, so we were understandably a bit tight fisted when it came to souvenirs. We did bring some things home, but there were a few items that I thought "we'll get that when we come back" because I was convinced that we would adopt again from Uganda. We all know that hasn't happened. Thus, while we were in Congo I tried to be a little bit more spendy with Congolese items, and while there was comparably little to buy, we still managed to come home with a few things, and every time I hear Tommy say something like "That's from Africa, it's beautiful," I know they are worth every single penny.
We made it to the rendezvous point, McDonald's (which was probably the nicest restaurant in this little town), just a minute or two late. As I parked I heard a familiar wail, a scream I would recognize anywhere, and turned to see our old roommates, Kelly and Elijah. It is rather appropriate that Elijah greeted us with a big old scream, because, well, that's what he does. Kristie, Joel, and Kaden drove up shortly after and we spent an hour reminiscing about our time in Congo: the good, the bad, and the Bon Soir Ladies. Many a scabies joke was made. Then we headed to the park, and spent a three hours watching the kids play and catching up.
With Tommy's adoption we traveled alone and spent most of the time in our guest house with just us and the guest house caregiver, Alfred. It was very different to have the experience of traveling with other families for Nic's adoption, and I loved having them to commiserate with, laugh with, and bond over the craziness that was our adoption experience. When we came home I missed them, and seeing a few of them again brought a great deal of joy to my Friday. Nicolas had fun seeing his old pals, and Tommy got a kick out of Nic's friends. On the way from McDonald's to the park he told me that he "loved his African friends," and on the drive home he announced he loved his "African Children's babies." For those of you who don't own the CD, I think he sort of had the kids confused with the African Children's Choir.
We did manage to fit in most of our errands after the trip, including that pick-up at Hobby Lobby, which completed our super Congo Friday. A few weeks ago when HL was doing their half-price framing sale we brought in some of the pictures we picked up at the craft market in Congo. They are now adorning the walls of our apartment. Check them out:
I sincerely regret that we did not spend more money on things from Uganda. It being our first adoption we were not quite used to the feeling of bleeding money and seeing our bank account drain in a one month period, so we were understandably a bit tight fisted when it came to souvenirs. We did bring some things home, but there were a few items that I thought "we'll get that when we come back" because I was convinced that we would adopt again from Uganda. We all know that hasn't happened. Thus, while we were in Congo I tried to be a little bit more spendy with Congolese items, and while there was comparably little to buy, we still managed to come home with a few things, and every time I hear Tommy say something like "That's from Africa, it's beautiful," I know they are worth every single penny.
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Hello Amy and family. This is uncle David checking in. I was at Kaiser last week for an x-ray of my right shoulder that has, it turns out, some bursitis. The x-ray technician I spoke with had an African accent. I asked him what country he was from. He said Nigeria. I then related the story of your two adoptions. He was very moved by this. He went on to say he has a son and daughter. And that he is so glad they are not under Sharia law because it would put restraints especially on his daughter. I told him we are Christians. So, your story demonstrates God's love and brings glory to His Great Name. Blessings on you four. Uncle David
Those are some handsome boys!
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