What a week....

I had hoped to be able to blog everyday but I think I overestimated myself. I have never been a mom to six and so my time is a little more limited (and computer access even more limited) than I thought.
This week has been a week full of crazy emotions. This time last week is when Garrett fell and broke his arm. Thankfully he is healing very well and the only thing that bothers him is the itching under the cast. He will just look at me and say, "Mom, Open please!" It breaks my heart not to be able to open the cast and scratch his arm. Only a few more weeks and the cast will be gone forever and we will have no more itching!
On Monday David and I took the twins to have their health check-up and shots to allow them to travel home. They both had to have a few shots and neither of them liked that very much. In fact Garrett got sick in the van (yes, broken arm one day and throwing up 2 days later). Poor guy.....a new family, broken arm, shots, throwing up and all of this in a couple of days. Tizita had a very sore hip and leg from her shots and limped around for a day or two. They both have fully recovered and as a mom I hope and pray that our medical visits here in Addis are over!
The rest of the week has been full of playing at the guest house (www.ethiopianguesthome.com), visiting with Trent and Carmen, gathering passports, and making sure our paperwork is in order for our Embassy date later this month. It has been a full week but a week that we have missed home. We really missed enjoying the Harriburg festivities on the 4th and we all long to have some time with friends. We will always be more thankful for our community after being away from it for so long.
Tomorrow David, Trent, Nicco, and our driver Eziekel will leave early in the moring to travel 3 hours south of here to Lake Ziway. They will take a 2 1/2 hour boat ride out to the island where Tia and Garrett are from. They will visit the small hut where our children were born and spend time loving on their family. Please pray for safe travel as they go. The van ride is not easy and I have heard the boat ride is even better.....There are hippo's in the lake and so it should be an adventure. David is going on a scouting trip to see if we can return with the entire family in the next couple of weeks. I pray that we can all go and see where our sweet kids are from. I know that going there will forever change all 8 of our lives as we can share in where Tia and Garrett lived their first four years. we have heard that it is one of the poorest places in all of Ethiopia. Only about 1500 people live on the island and they speak their own language. They are the Zay people and they are an unreached people group. If you know us you know that they will not remain unreached! As a family we know that we have been called to love these people with a love that they have never known. Pray that this begins tomorrow when David and Trent step off of the boat onto that island.
Looking forward to this next week knowing that each new day brings opportunity to care and love on those who need it. Thankful for all 6 precious blessings and can't believe that God chose me to get to do this.......Forever Thankful!