Pick Up Trip - Day 3 - 2/29/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 3

We really wore all the kids out yesterday so we decided today would be a day to just relax and be a family.  All of the kids, except for Mighty slept in until just after 8:00, which was a treat for us boys…Brandie wasn’t so thrilled!!

We packed all of the kids up and headed for First Junction to buy some breakfast and then head to the ‘circle beach’.  At the corner market I gave each of the kids a couple Cedis and told them to go buy something they liked.  It was funny to watch the exact different directions my vanilia kids ran from my chocolate kids.  BBT went for the fried dough (they call them doughnuts here…but I assure you – they’re NOTHING I’d call a doughnut!), apples and the tree ripened bananas.  MA ran for kankey, smoked fish that looked like they’ve been in the sun WAY too long, and something with blackeyed peas and cassava.  It was funny to watch both groups come back together and pick through what the other had gotten.  Talk about clash of the cultures!  Great times.

We all piled into a taxi and headed for the Ramada Beach Club.  It was a beautiful day to be at the pool…gentle breeze, not a soul in the pool, and of course the typical nearly unbearable Ghanaian heat.  All of us changed and immediately took possession of the whole pool – except for Tyson.  On the way to the pool he saw a lizard which kept him occupied for nearly 30 minutes chasing it through the hedges, sneaking around a tree like a ninja, or belly crawling through the grass trying to get the jump on the little sucker.  In the end the score was – lizard 1, Tyson 0.  I’m sure he’ll get him next time.

The pool was really fun.  I liked it because no one else was there.  It allowed us to continue to word as a family.  Agbesi and I worked on our trust together.  I put him on the edge of the deeper pool and coaxed him into jumping to me.  I consider myself a pretty good salesman – but I exhausted every trial close and sales trick in the book to get him to jump the first time.  The second time it was a little easier, the third easier yet, and by days end he was nearly jumping on my head when I wasn’t looking!  We made a great stride together today…although, I’m pretty sure I’m second on the list of favorite Oswald boys.  Agbesi has been attached to Brody’s back like a little monkey the whole week.  It’s been fun to watch Brody pack him around anywhere and everywhere he goes.

At the Ramada all of the food is really expensive.  The kids wanted to keep swimming but were getting really hungry.  Around noon I ordered three dishes we could share just to take the hunger pangs away.  My thought was we would finish up, head back to the hotel and change, and then go get another quick bite to hold us over until the evening meal.  That set Mighty off a little as she’s still trying to figure this whole “Daddy is an endless money stream but he doesn’t buy me things I want” thought of hers. We’ll get it figured out for her…just not the way she’ll like it to be!  This put her into a little bit of an emotional tailspin for the rest of the day with me.  She decided she was going to start her testing phase again (the first time this trip) where she could see how far her boundries with Dad are going to be.  I’ve learned as a parent it’s wise to pick the battles I want to win – so most of the time if she’s sulking and not talking to me I’ll just leave her alone for a while to blow off steam then at the right time I’ll move back in and remind her that I love her.  Today, with her being tired for the long day yesterday and then being tired from swimming today she was on her ‘session’ a lot longer than usual.

We returned to the hotel to pack for a couple of nights.  We decided because of the distance to City of Refuge we would go out and get a couple of rooms at Doryumu so we didn’t torture the kids with multiple two hour trips on days back to back.  The driver was to be at the hotel at 4:00 so we could leave.  At 4:30 he still wasn’t there.  The kids were really getting hungry – but I didn’t want them to eat too much as we’d been invited to eat with John and Stacey when we arrived.  By 5:00 the driver still hadn’t arrived.  Richard called and was told he was just around the corner.  By the time we loaded the van and were on the road it was nearly 5:30…right in the smack dab of rush hour.  The typical two hour trip to Doryumu took us nearly three and a half!!  The kids were exhausted and starving!  They’d eaten everything in Brandie’s purse and were giving me crazy looks like maybe they’d start chewing on my fingers or something!

We pulled into the hotel which was out of the town by a ways.  It was dark and late.  The hotel does have a small menu kitchen so we decided to ask if they had anything to eat.  The gal said she had two tilapias and banku she could put in the microwave for us.  At this point the kids were hungry enough I’m sure they would have eaten it raw.  Brinley, of course turned up her nose and didn’t want anything to do with the fish and banku.  Luckily for her John said they had some leftover jollof rice at the house and he would go and get it for her.  When he came back he had a great big bowl of rice and some egg sandwiches that Stacey had whipped up for us.  They are truly wonderful people.

As we went back into the room, we decided it would be best if we put M&A in the room with Brandie and me.  Shandi and Brinley would sleep together and then Brody, Tyson and Richard would share the other room.  It was a good solution.

Mighty was really kicked into high gear with her ‘hate on dad’ trip at this point.  The fact that she had to share dinner again – so shortly after sharing lunch – put her on high alert.  We had just gotten showers done and put them into bed when Brandie noticed that she’d broken both wrist bands that Brody had spent his money on getting for her.  She loved them, but was showing us she was mad.  Typically, I wouldn’t care – they were here things she liked and if she was going to spoil them, then that’s her bad luck.  However, she saw that wasn’t getting my goat so she went down onto the floor where Agbesi was having a little ‘moment’ and started talking Ewe in the tone where Brandie and I have learned only means one thing – she’s stirring up trouble.  I was typing the blog post and was listening intently to the tone and watching out of the corner of my eye to see if I could tell what was going on.  Agbesi suddenly slipped off his wristband Brody had bought for him and started chewing it in half.  I looked at Mighty and saw her looking at me with a huge smile on her face and a look in her eyes like “what are you going to do about THIS?”

I decided this was one of the battles I was going to choose.  I knew she was testing her bounds and as I thought through the whole situation I felt it was important for her to realize that although we’ll allow her to be angry we will not allow her to be disrespectful to us or to other members of the family.  I also felt like it was important to let her know that if she wanted to be angry at us, that’s fine, but she will not be allowed to use Agbesi and his respect for their culture (as her being the older sibling) to be used against us.  I elevated my voice and in no uncertain terms told her exactly what I was thinking about that and what I would not tolerate.  That was the very first time either of them had heard me raise my voice – I wasn’t yelling (I hardly ever do) but there was no question to anyone in the room that I meant business.  Clearly the look on both of their faces let me knew the message got across.

Agbesi recovered from the chewing quickly.  Within minutes he was back to his old playful self.  Mighty on the other hand, it pushed her over the edge.  She immediately jumped into bed with Brandie and shut us both out.  Brandie left her alone for a bit and then tried to talk with her.  She would have none of it.  She started crying vocally (making sure I knew she was crying) and rolled her face to the wall.  I let her be for quite a while.  Finally, I crawled over to her, kissed her on the cheek and told her I loved her.  Before I could get all of the words out she shoved my face off of her…she was in no mood for me!  I decided it would be best to leave her be and we could visit about it in the morning.  I’m not a good parent – I don’t have any training in psychology or the like…but one thing I know for sure is if someone pushes me away…they typically aren’t in the mood to talk!  We’ll let her sleep it off and we’ll deal with it in the morning.

Until tomorrow….

Pick Up Trip - Day 2 - 2/28/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 2

Just like the first trip we made today was the longest day EVER!  We went to bed at normal time (around 10:00) but since my internal clock was still set on Idaho time my eyes popped abruptly open at 2:00am.  My body thought it was merely Sunday naptime.  The hotel we’re staying at didn’t have our ‘big’ room available until tomorrow night so we had to take two small rooms which each had one double bed in them.  We decided it would be best if we divided into girls and boys room.  I took the boys and Brandie took Shandi and the girls.  The hotel doesn’t have any roll away beds or mats so we had to just make due by putting all four of us in one bed.  Maybe that was the real reason I was awake at 2:00!  Or maybe it had to do with the power being out since before dinner…and with no power that means no A/C…and I REALLY don’t do well trying to sleep in 88 degree weather when I’m sweating like a rotisserie pig!

Once awake I really couldn’t do anything other than just meditate and think about how the rest of he week would go. It was peaceful to sit and watch my three boys quietly sleeping together.  If only Gage were here it would be the culmination of nearly two years of waiting.  I was so pleased to see the three of them getting along so well together.  Watching them sleep was really a payday for a dad.

Today we rented a van and driver to take us out to meet our new friends Johnbul and Stacey.  This amazing couple has done some great things near Doryumu, which is about two hours to the west and north of Accra.  They’ve been working with Feeding the Orphans on some projects where they’ve built some orphan homes, a school, and other amenities to serve some of the poorer communities of the greater Accra area.  In just two years they’ve made HUGE strides.  I was talking with Johnbul today and he told me that just last year (just their second year of operation, mind you) they were able to feed 18,000 meals to hungry children.  We were introduced to them on our last trip, but were referred to them as someone Brody could talk with about his Eagle Scout project.  Brody had reached out and worked up a plan where he could use the money they’d earned in our garage sale toward feeding several hungry kids.  His plan involved two days of work.  The first day was going to the market and buying all the food, which would be cooked for the kids and then delivered and distributed.  I’ve been looking forward to this part of the trip for my American kid’s sake.  What a wonderful lesson to learn while you’re still young.  We really do take so much for granted where we live and being here puts that front and center in your face!  I’ve been praying ever since we knew the kids were coming with us that God would grant them the blessing of seeing ‘real life’ while we’re here.  I believe that has started to happen.

This market we went to was absolutely CRAZY!  I’ve never seen anything like it…including the other ones we’d been to on our first trip.  There were literally THOUSANDS of people running around buying and selling their stuff.  John mentioned this was the largest open-air market in all of West Africa – and I could see why.  If I had to guess I’d bet there were literally 100,000 people there.  You could by anything – and I mean ANYTHING you could imagine.  It was really an amazing site.  All of the gorgeous colors, the individual kiosks each of the farmers or merchants were selling was a work of pride.  They made sure that everything was just exactly as it needed to be in order to attract the most buyers.  It was so crazy we decided it would be best if only Brody and I went with Johnbul and his people into the market.  I didn’t feel it a good idea that Brandie and the other kids went in – not because anything bad would happen to them, but I was afraid I would lose someone.  There is no ample way I can explain what the motion and commotion of this market was like.

As we walked into the entrance of the market I could tell Brody was going to be a huge hit – tall, young, blue eyes, and as we entered he immediately started turning heads and attracting the ‘hissing’ sound made by Africans when they want your attention.  Brody must have noticed as well because when I turned around and looked at him his face was bright red and he had a huge sheepish grin.  At one point when we stopped some of the more bold women merchants behind us started yelling for him to come over.  As he walked over they started talking to him – it was no doubt a ploy to see his blue eyes and hear his accent.  He only understood about three words of what they said and started feeling silly so he turned around to come back to me.  As soon as he did that the cackling in the background really ramped up.  He didn’t know what to do but I could read in his face he wanted to evaporate into the air.  He hates being the center of attention…especially when it’s a whole gaggle of 40-year-old women!  The women of the market were like a bunch of hungry piranhas – working themselves into a blue-eyed flirting frenzy.  As soon as Brody got back with Johnbul and me another lady walked up and noticed Brody’s braces.  In her heavy accent she said she liked them and wanted to know if he could get some for her simultaneously giving a huge cheesy smile showing her jacked up teeth.  Now, I love a little self-incriminating humor – and I feel that being a middle aged, slightly overweight, bald guy I’m better than most at it – but that was flat funny!  I couldn’t help but laugh…Brody just continued to nervously smile and wish he was somewhere else.  It was a great laugh for me and something I’m sure Brody won’t soon forget!

I did have one of the more tender moments I’ve had in a long, long time.  One of the things I felt very strongly about the last time we came was that God wanted to make Himself very aware to us personally while we were here.  I get the feeling that he’s doing the exact same thing this time – maybe I didn’t learn everything I was supposed to on the first trip – or maybe He’s just being extra merciful to me…either way I’m grateful beyond words to be used by Him. 

As I waited on the side of one of the major passageways at a market cross street Johnbul and I noticed a little girl – maybe 8 years old – selling her items.  To me, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with her being there, but Johnbul’s first thought was, “why is this child not in school?”  As he spoke with her I looked down and noticed the young girl only had on one flip-flop.  I could hear some of the questions Johnbul was asking her and could tell by her nervous demeanor that she was there selling because she HAD to be there.  She’d mentioned to him that the reason she only had on one shoe was because that was all she found on the road.  My heart broke and I said a silent prayer asking Father to help this young one.  As I finished I felt the need to turn around and look behind me.  I was astonished – although I shouldn’t have been – there, standing less than 5 feet from me was a shoe vendor with a basket of flip-flops on her head.  I immediately grabbed some change out of my pocket and asked Richard to see if she had the girl’s size.  The vendor reached up over her head and put a pair of shoes on the ground.  It was the girl’s exact size!  To some, these two ‘insignificant’ things (the vendor being in that very moment and time and then without looking pulling the exact size of child’s shoe from her basket without seeing) would be nothing but mere happenstance.  But to me – this was just another testimony to me that NOTHING escapes the Father’s eye.  He knew this little girl had needs and for whatever reason he chose us to be the ones He’d use to help her.  I’m so grateful to Him for using us because while the little girl got a pair of $1.50 flip-flops out of the deal…I got a feeling in my heart and memory in my mind that I’ll never forget.

At the end our the trip to the market we purchased just over $700 worth of food which was: 150 kilos of rice, three flats of tomato paste, some vegetables and meat for stew, 44 crates of eggs (30 eggs per crate), some spices, and some little take home boxes.  It filled the back of Johnbul’s SUV. 

We left the market and went back to Teshie.  We decided it would be fun to head to Next Door to eat for the night.  This is the fun place down by the Oceanside.  We decided it would be fun to take the kids early enough where they could play near the water for an hour or so before eating.  We had a great time chasing crabs, scavengering for items, and just playing with each other.  It was so fun to watch the kids be kids and play like they’ve been siblings their whole life.  Big Richard has been with us and fits into the family just like any of the other kids.  We love him dearly and hope to have him in our home soon as well.  He’s been a huge blessing to us having him around.

In summary, today was by far the best day we’ve had in country.  Both A and M behaved amazingly and B, B, and T were simply better than we could have imagined.  It was a great day with a great ending.  We all shared a great meal listening to the ocean break in the background while I soaked it all in and tried replaying the whole day back in my head minute by minute.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us tomorrow!!

Until then…

Pick Up Trip - Day 1

Pick Up Trip – Day 1

I’m not exactly sure how to even start.  Ever since we’d left Ghana six months ago I’ve been dreading the last 24 hours almost as much as I’ve been looking forward to the last 24 hours.  The thought of making that arduous flight over here with three kids was a fairly discouraging thought.  But that thought was always quickly erased by the thought of us arriving once again at the home to see bright smiling faces and the familiar sound of “Mommy” and “Daddy” by several dozen loving kids.

We left Boise around 10:00am Saturday morning and were met at the airport by Shandi and her dad, Shaun (which I’m very glad he came to see his daughter off since we required a little bit of his redneck engineering on a bag that we were told was ‘too big’ for the flight – nothing a little elbow grease and duct tape can fix!!).  You should have seen some of the looks from the other travelers and United workers when we started the assembly line of exactly-weighed bags from the Suburban to the check-in counter.  Twelve 50-pound bags littered the front of the line as we waited for the nervous old lady behind the counter to check us in, weigh our bags, and issue our tickets.  I’m pretty sure after she was done with us she needed a couple of smoke breaks!!

We went through security surprisingly quick.  It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that some of that efficiency was surly caused by the security boss looking at us with our pack train of kids in tote and had sympathetic soul. 

While I was sitting in the waiting area for boarding I looked at our tickets to make sure we were sitting somewhat close to one another.  I wanted to make sure that at least Tyson and Brinley were next to Brandie and me for the fact that neither of them have flown before and were both a little apprehensive.  Imagine my surprise when I started checking the tickets – Jason Oswald 13D, Brandie Oswald 12D, Jason Oswald 13D, Shandi Gneiting 12C, Brody Oswald 13A, and Jason Oswald 13D…wait a minute – something’s off here.  Suddenly I was COMPLETELY convinced that the ‘sympathy’ of the TSA agent was more fear of the pack train than sympathy! 

We managed to board our plane and head to Denver from there catch our connecting flight to Chicago for a two-hour layover.  Brandie had talked with our dear friends the Livingstons who live in Chicago and mentioned to them our layover.  We were super thrilled when we landed to receive a text that Monica, Nestine, and Grace were at the airport waiting to see us.  We had a great visit with them for a little bit, but by this time the kids were starting their “I’m hungry” game so I took them all back through security while Brandie and Monica visited.

Out next stop was DC where we again had short one-hour layover.  We were pleasantly surprised when we saw our friend Kristi O’Leary and her kids sitting in the terminal.  Her flight on Delta had been canceled earlier that morning.  She was able to make a couple of changes and found herself on the same flight as us.  We were glad to see them and grateful for the chance to personally thank her for all the help she’s been to Brody on planning his Eagle Project.

As we landed in Accra and got off the plane I couldn’t help but to laugh out loud as I watched Brody, Shandi, Tyson, and Brinley – almost in exact order and time – contort their faces and breathe out an exasperated breath as the first wave of humid African heat slapped them in the face.  You can tell a person about this feeling, but it really doesn’t mean anything until they experience it for themselves.  Brody looked at me and said, “Oh my GOSH!”

We were grateful that all 12 of our bags arrived safely to Ghana and that we had no issues getting through immigration and customs.  We were even more grateful as we turned the last corner to see Pastor John and his army of young men waiting for us with smiling faces and open arms.  What a happy reunion we had with some dear friends.  I was so glad John was there and had taken care to arrange three cars to get us and all of our crap back to Teshie.  It would have been nearly a perfect trip if Kristi’s bags had arrived as safely as ours.  Luckily she’s a seasoned African traveler so the only thing they were really missing was some snacks for the kids.

It was interesting to see the immediate bond between big Richard and Tyson.  We waited outside in front of the airport for Kristi to figure out what was going on with her bags.  As we waited Tyson and Richard sat on the chairs and struck up a great conversation.  As we all went with the boys to try and arrange all the bags into the cars I had a little panic as we couldn’t find Tyson.  He’s our adventurous one so I was sure he’d walked over to check something out and we’d walked off without him.  Not so, I turned to see him and Richard walking across the street hand in hand.  Richard was guarding him like a hawk.  After we loaded all the cars we made seating arrangements but Tyson had already walked off with the boys.  He was going with them.  He – by himself – jumped into the third car alone with Richard, Job, and Marvin.  I was more than a little shocked.  Here we are in a new country around new people he had never met other than through a computer screen and yet he was immediately adopted as ‘little brother’.

We checked into our hotel and started the walk to the home to see the children.  I had thought through this moment a thousand times over the last couple of weeks.  Who would be the first one through the gate and who would be waiting?  How would the ‘white kids’ react to what they were seeing and the onrush of swarming children?  Would my timid Brinley freak out and hide?  Would all of the younger kids tackle the ever-kid-famous Brody to the ground and wrestle with him?  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – I had my thoughts how it would play out, but just didn’t know.  I was almost giddy with anticipation for these new siblings to finally be able to see into the eyes of each other and reach the long awaited pinnacle of their nearly two years of waiting, praying, and hoping.

As we made our way around the final corner I was so tickled to see two of the older boys standing on the second story balcony.  They were like well-trained hawks looking for prey.  When they saw us make our way around the corner they started yelling to notify the troops of our arrival.  So much for making a sneak attack!  Brandie and Brinley took off running for the gate to hid in wait for the first kids through the gate.  I was trailing in the back – trying to wrestle with my bag that was NOT wanting to give me my camera…in the end I won, but not without the sacrifice of seeing Brandie and Brinley engulfed in the crowd.  I wish I had been able to catch that on film.  I made it though the gate just in time to see Brinley run toward Agbesi and scoop him off the ground in a great big bear hug.  I spun around to see Tyson hugging Mighty and Brody being lovingly groped by several of the other little kids.  My heart nearly jumped through my throat as I witnessed yet another reason why the Savior has commanded us to be like little children…unconditional love.

Brinley and Mighty were instantaneously joined at the hip…giggling, holding hands, chasing each other around the courtyard, and sharing Brin’s iPod to see pictures she’d taken and listen to her music.  Tyson, with his ‘not scared’ attitude was an instant hit.  He took off playing and making friends with all the boys.  At one point of the afternoon I turned around to see just him and Peter sitting under the tree talking quietly about something – the jump up and chase each other around giggling.  My heart swelled with emotion as I watched these three kids (B, B, and T) immerse themselves in the moment.  No judgment, no fear, no pre-conceived ideas – just jump in and start loving.  Honestly, I’ve never been more proud as a father than for the couple hours watching these kids just be kids and love other kids.  I was taught sermon after sermon as I sat and watched the closest glimpse of heaven I’ve ever seen personally.

At one point Agbesi brought me a neatly folded note.  I asked him if he’d written it for me – he said, “No, Peter did.”  I opened the note to the opening, “Daddy Jason, I love you.  I’m glad you came back.”  All of the same feelings and love I’d had for this special boy on the first trip came charging back to me.  I folded the letter up and safely placed it in my pocket.  I looked over my shoulder to see Peter sheepishly looking at the ground and then at me from the corner of his eye.  As I smiled he came running over.  My next mission in life is to find this sweet boy a home!!  He only wants a family and fully deserves one.

At the start of the day I had in my mind that Brody would be the biggest hit at the home.  He’s always been a favorite of little kids and has no problems getting down on their level to play with them.  It’s one of the things I admire most about him – that even though he’s now a big ‘tough’ teenager – he hasn’t lost his love for making kids smile.  After the first day I was completely wrong.  Brody was more of the wall flower – I think because he didn’t sleep much on the flight since his daddy-long-legs were jammed into the back of the guy in front of him the whole flight!  It was Brin and Tyson who were the most involved.  I was shocked at Brin as she walked from kid to kid asking their name and wanting to learn something about them. 

As the kids played I found myself thinking about a different thought than I ever have before.  I thought about how difficult for Mighty and Agbesi it will be to leave these friends.  I thought about some of the new kids in the home who still don’t understand English and walk around with a lost look in their eyes.  I’m sure trying to still reconcile in their minds, why?  Why they’re in this place and not with their familiar family.

Next, we had to get something to eat.  I couldn’t wait for this!  I was finally going to have a little bit of morbid fun watching some of the kids with the new cuisine…but no, of course, 7 of the 9 people of the tame ordered “chicken and fried rice” – the safe ‘scaredy-cat route”.  Richard and I ordered banku with tilapia.  Oh my, was it tasty!  Tyson was sitting next to his new favorite friend Richard and in usual Tyson form was peppering poor Richard with a litany of rapid-fire questions.  Do you eat the bones?  What about pepe – is it really hot?  Do you like it?  Does it burn?  Do you even eat the eyeballs?  What is that water in the bowl for?  Honestly, despite giggling a little – I really did feel bad for Richard…but he took it all in stride.

At the end of the meal I had eaten to nearly overflowing.  All that remained on my plate was the fish head and bones.  Tyson kept asking – Dad, you gonna eat the eye? – to which I kept answering – No.  I finally said, “Why don’t you eat it Tyson?”  Imagine my shock when he said, “OK, I’ll try it.”  WHAT??  This is the kid that I can’t get to eat mushrooms or onions and he’s going to eat a flipping fish eyeball?  No way…I couldn’t believe it…but I wasn’t about to be the one to deflate his ego, so I dug out the eye and handed it to him.  I will never, EVER forget the look on his face as he chewed up the slimy little sucker and worked like a rented mule to coax it down his throat.  In the end, the little turkey ate it and I’ll forever have something to replay and have a good giggle.  I call that a win-win!

I almost forgot - we experienced our first blackout as we were on our way to the resturant.  It’s one of the most eerie feelings in the world to be in complete darkness in a busy metro area.

I have so, so much more I could write about.  I sit here and can almost play step by step the day through my mind.  So many neat things happened, so many prayers of gratitude flowed through my mind, and in the end – it was another amazing day in this journey that our Father in heaven has chosen us for.  However, since it’s exactly 4:09am (I’ve been typing and pondering for over an hour) and I can feel the onset of carpal tunnel setting in – I’m going to call it a night…wait, morning….whatever!  All in all – we arrived safely, had no major injuries, and no emotional meltdowns (until just before bed) so I’m chalking it up to a good day.

Oh, and by the way – I’m usually never at a lack of words when typing…but as I sit here in the dimly lit room (boys only – the girls are in the next room) I can not conjure up the words to describe what I’m thinking, feeling, and seeing as I sit here watching these three boys sleeping next to each other.  God really does have a tender way of sharing His love at the most unexpected times.

Until tomorrow…

It's going to happen this time!!

Ya know - after 780 days of waiting you'd think we were 100% prepared to leave tomorrow - but funny how things pop up at the last minute. Our flight leaves tomorrow (Saturday, February 25th) at 10am from Boise, Idaho and we'll arrive on Sunday at 2:00pm. 

I really don't know which I'm more excited about - seeing the kids again, watching Brody, Brinley, and Tyson with their first international experience, helping Brody with his Eagle Project while we're there, or seeing all my Ghanaian friends again.  This really could be/should be the greatest trip we've ever had.

Stay tuned...I can't wait to share it with you.

Until Sunday night....

Just like the Jeffersons - We Movin' on Up!!

Ahhh yeaahhh!  Some people say that 7 or 13 are lucky numbers - and maybe for them they are - but for us, on this day lucky number 115 is our number!  What?  Never heard of lucky number 115?  Yeah, well, that's because there's no such thing as a lucky number 115!

On an I600 process that was supposed to no more than 60 days (as written on the USCIS' own website) - we finally received an approval on DAY 115...and THAT is why there is now a lucky 115!

It was actually quite funny.  On day 114 I'd written a little post on FaceBook to the USCIS telling them how bad they suck.  It was mostly frustration that had been penned up for too long just rearing it's ugly head - there may have been a little tiny part of me that actually did think they sucked - but I'm pretty sure it was mostly just frustration.  No matter - apparently a little forceful 'tough talk' is the ticket for getting things done around there!  **Smile**

On day 115 in the early morning Brandie and I awoke to the following email:

Dear Jason & Brandie: 

This is to inform you that the I-600 petitions filed for Reiker Agbesi and Mahti Chloe OSWALD have been reviewed and approved.  

This office has forwarded your approved petitions to our Consular Section at post.  You will be contacted by the Consular Section on the procedure to be followed, to enable you proceed with subsequent steps.  You may also follow up with that section via e-mail at the below e-mail address.

Accraadoption@state.gov

This concludes all action by USCIS, Accra on these petitions.

Thank you

USCIS, Accra.

It was a great morning.  Brandie bawled, I just felt a rush of relief - and all of the sudden there was a slap of reality to the face.  We really ARE going to get these kids home...it's really going to happen!  We've known all along, but now with this part of the process behind us - now we're only a few short weeks from having our kids home with the rest of the family.  

Then, to top it all off - our friend sent us this video she took of the kids while she was at the home on Monday.  What a great day.

The next steps:

Now we're on to the visa portion - the last leg of this long, long marathon.  We've been told this phase should take up to 7 weeks - but once this part is done we're bringing kids home!!!

My Soul Grows Weary

I’m hoping the dream I had last night was just that, a dream – and not a premonition of this never ending endurance called an adoption process.

Last night I was frustrated and knew that Mighty and Agbesi were feeling the same.  The last time we talked with them it was painfully apparent they were losing patience – and maybe even a little hope that “Mommy and Daddy” were really coming back to get them.  The two months Agbesi so eagerly reminded me about while holding up his two little fingers are nothing more than a dusty page in our history book at this point. 

I decided since there was nothing I could do from a bureaucratic or political standpoint to speed up our process – I was going to get on an airplane and go be with our kids in Ghana.  I don’t remember the long flight (maybe this part of the dream I really do hope is true!), but I do vividly remember arriving at the orphanage.  I wanted to surprise the kids with my arrival.  I obviously had not told anyone I was coming.

As I sneaked around the dusty corner and crept into the courtyard Agbesi came running toward me and jumped into my arms with an excited “Daddy!” like he’d done so many times while we were actually in country.  He looked the same – except his two front teeth were completely grown in.  I loved hugging my little boy again and reliving all of the same feelings I’d had the first time we were there with him.

Next I remember heading up the stairs and through the hallway to the girl/s room.  As I rounded the landing on the stairway a group of girls were passing me.  I noticed one of them was Mighty.  As she came closer I was shocked to notice she was six to eight inches taller and looked much more mature than when we’d left her.  Immediately I had a feeling of sadness (and maybe even a little despair) flood over me and I tried desperately to remember how long it had been since we’d last been with them.  I was sad thinking about all we’d missed over the months (years?) we’d been away and how we’d only get to keep our little girl for a couple more years once we finally got her home.  All we’d missed, each precious experience, and the memories we could have had are nothing more than blank pages in our family history.  

I started feeling irritated….and then I woke up and realized just like in the dream, I really am irritated…and tired…and my soul is weary.

Still Waiting - The Tension Grows

We're officially on day 88 today of waiting on the USCIS since we submitted everything on September 19th.

 

This Tuesday we found out that all of the corrected paperwork was completed and our attorney in Accra had an appointment with the US Embassy.  Wednesday came quickly and drug on and on as we waited to hear something from Ghana or Anita.  By 1:00 I couldn't take the suspense any longer and shot her off an email asking if she'd heard anything.  She had just gotten off the phone with our attorney in country.  Anita explained that the Embassy representative reacted positively about the document but told our attorney she needed to bring in all of the other documentation and attach it to the new paperwork.  The attorney told the representative they already had all of the documentation - to which she was told "Yes, but we want it all again attached to this new paperwork...come back tomorrow with all the documents again."

I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason why they'd want all of the documents again - but this is exactly the type of stuff that absolutely drives me crazy about the inefficiencies of the government!  But that's a WHOLE different blog post!!!!  :-)

Wednesday our attorney returned to the Embassy with all of the requested documentation.  Brandie and I waited with bated breath by the phone - hoping to hear the good news we'd been waiting nearly three months for.  My heart was telling me that any moment we'd get a call from Anita or an email telling us they had approved the I600...but my mind was tempering my heart by reminding it that nearly every stage of this adoption has been riddled with delays, extensions, and problems.  There has to a good reason why the adversary does not want these two little kids to come home...but we can't see it yet and it makes it very frustrating.

By 5:00 Thursday evening we still hadn't heard anything from anyone so I shot Anita another email asking for an update.  There was some confusion on my part - she explained the Embassy wouldn't have told our attorney anything - they would just simply communicate directly with us regarding their decision.  Greeeaaaat....more waiting.  I was really hoping they'd look at the document, see that things were in order, and submit and approval.  I guess that's the optimist in me - not the realist.

So, here we are Friday - and still nothing.  My guess is that since next week is a national holiday we'll either hear Monday or Tuesday OR we won't hear until after the first of the year...that's just what my gut is telling me.  I hope my gut is right with the Monday or Tuesday...and not the first of the year.

We'll keep you all updated if things change...