heard it through the grapevine

On the way home, Micah and Rebekah and Helen had a stopover in Rome and spent the night in London. They had to carry all their luggage (which was full of bags of coffee beans) AND a warmly wrapped Helen through a tunnel that was 6 minutes long with no heat. They spent the night in a hotel and we got to skype on New Years Day at midnight here when they were just about to go to breakfast. That was when I saw Helen in motion. And they just let me look at her for a while. On the plane, she had only a couple "meltdowns" and they weren't prolonged. Not bad for all that she had to go through in such a short time. She had wonderful moments, too. We put her debut video on youtube. Look up "Helen Tinsaae Rockin out"


The next day was very...methodical? Very calculated? Like walking underwater maybe? Every step, every thought seemed like I was choosing to breathe in and out. I was going to meet my forever daughter for the very first time and I didn't have any idea if she would even allow me to hold her. Kera and Shanni Latterell, some of my bestest friends, drove me to the airport. The plane had arrived early, so we had even less time to prepare ourselves. But, really, this adoption is more of an act of love to God than an attempt to meet our own needs. So whether she liked me or not, I would be her mommy and love her forever. And I will. But she does like me. She likes all of us, and we are thankful every day for how God prepared her tiny heart to love our family.



Nana and Papa met us at the airport to see their 12th out of 13 grandchildren (depending on how you count them) and they took us out to eat. We rushed home then to see my parents (Grandma and Grandpa Bud) and my grandmother (Mor Mor), who were waiting at our house.