Monday, August 27, 2012
I had my first visit with Makayla today and she is an amazingly sweet girl. The director of the orphanage said that Makayla was shy of strangers and she wasn't sure how Makayla would react. Well the first moments went like this; a woman walked Makayla into the room I was waiting in. I squatted down, called out her name and took her hand. Makayla came right to me and just began hugging me. She immediately was attached to me. She sat on my lap, smiled and giggled. We had an instant, blessed by God, bond. Truly amazing.

We waited two years before we committed to the adoption of a child. We saw many children that touched our hearts and made them break but we never acted upon any of them. We just never felt moved by God. But in what seemed like an impossible jump, we saw Makayla and we committed...and God has blessed it all.

Praise, honor and glory to God.

I have also been blessed with a wonderful companion on this trip. Some of you may know her, she's the amazingly gentle lion, Adeye. She is adopting two children from this country. I am blessed to have the opportunity to share this time in our lives together. Please pray for Adeye and her children here. One of them I know is in very bad condition.

Please pray.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Susan made it to the hotel today. When we talked she was exhausted from jet lag. I knew she was not going to be able to rest on the plane. She is so excited about being able to see our daughter on Monday and is running on that excitement alone.
The flights and the airport were uneventful. We have been so grateful to God for his guidance and protection through this whole adoption process. The kids are handling dads care pretty well they are all still in one piece.
Amanda touched me last night before bed. She came to me asking for mom-mom. I told here she went to visit Makayla. She looked at me and stopped asking for her. She has been fine today. We were wondering if she would understand what was going on.
Keep Susan in your prayers. We were joking about what she was going to eat in country, the hotel was offering fried goose livers as the special of the day. She settled for the muffin she had saved from the plane.  Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. Thanks to God for the blessings he has poured out over and over again.
Thanks, Todd.
Monday, August 20, 2012
It's almost time to go and I'm nervous to say the least. I'm going alone and the only time I have ever been in an airplane was...once upon time, long ago, there was a little 15 year old girl who went to Florida with her dad.

I'm clueless. I fly from Pittsburg to Philly to Frankfuert (Germany) to S*fi* B*l*a*i*a. What on earth do I do? I am not airport savvy. My plan of action, walk into the airport and ask for help. :) I'm really confused by the boarding passes and check in issues...and what do I do with my luggage? Yes, anxiety is building but I will make it because my daughter is at the end of my flight.

Believe it or not, I'm already crying about having to leave her. We are getting close to the end though and we ask for your prayers.
Friday, August 3, 2012
I was told I got a good rate on my airfare...you wanna know why? Check out seat 46A. Yeah, you see that red seat all the way in the back of the plane? Yeah, it's red cause it's not a desirable seat. The yellow have problems, the green are excellent, the rest are just "whatever" seats. I might be squished and have limited recline. This is the seat I will have when I fly over the ocean...the longest part of my trip. LOL! Oh well, I get to see my girl!

Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 Vers. 3 (343) Seat Map
Thanks Seat Guru for giving me the heads up on my trip.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
I forgot to include my travel dates when I announced that I had them! So here they are...I will be flying off on August 24th and returning September 1st. This is going to be a bittersweet trip. I'm not sure if I want to smother her in love or hold back a little. I understand that I will be back for her, but, she doesn't.

Enter stage left: A woman appears and gives you the love you have been longing for.
Exit stage right: The woman leaves. You have no idea that she will be back so you are left with sadness until the day you have no knowledge of.

Is it fair? No. I honestly don't know what to do. I want to hold her until the day I leave but will she be left devastated when I leave? I don't want to cause her deep sadness. There will be sadness no matter what. But I want it to be a sadness she can handle.

This trip is bittersweet. Pray for our little girl. I pray that God will give her peace and the knowledge that we will be back for her.

I see someone has recently donated and it means so much to us. Each and everyone of you are a blessing to our family. Very soon we will be launching some sort of fundraiser. We are in desperate need of the money for our final flight. All other costs are covered. We just lack our airfare for the final trip. That's going to cost us around $4000.

Thank you everyone who has donated kind words, prayers and money. 
Contact me privately at:

susanandfamily25@gmail.com


We're your average family. No fame or riches. We have our ups and downs. When it rains it pours but we always view the glass as half full. We go where our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ leads. We aren't perfect but we always try to do our best.

Annabelle. The one born in our hearts.

Kandice. Our artistic one.

Amanda. Our helpful one.

Keegan. Our curious one.

Jacob. Our sensitive one.

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