Sorting flip flops with one week to go...

We've collected 350 pairs of flip flops to take along with us to Sierra Leone... we will bring about 150 along with us to hand out to the kids that live on-site at the Children's Village, and then send the rest of them over to the COTN offices to be shipped in the next large shipping container they send.

It's been so fun to see all the different styles people bought... from great big black ones with stripes to teeny tiny pink ones with glitter-y straps... I think there will be a lot of smiling faces as we pass them out.

So, the flip flops have been sorted... today we got a lot of errands and purchases on my list taken care of... things like bigger memory cards for the cameras to journals for the kids to be able to document the trip to a few books and games to take along for all the hours we'll be sitting in airports and on planes...

We all started taking our anti-malarial meds today.

It's really going to happen, this crazy adventure... one week from today we'll be somewhere over Greenland on our way to Paris...

We're starting the packing process - making sure we stop wearing the things we'll be taking along so I won't be doing laundry Thursday night before our six a.m. flights Friday morning...

Crazy week ahead... Asia's in a wedding in Bellingham tomorrow (he flew over yesterday and will be back Sunday afternoon) a long day volunteering on Sunday at the Couer D'Alene Ironman and then heading straight to the finish line to watch for our friend Wade's finish. Monday is our 19th anniversary, Wednesday is Asia's birthday and we leave Friday. Asia and I are both working too, gearing up for a nearly four week absence.

Phew!

So excited... so appreciative of the opportunity... SO eager to see Tejan and hold his hand again as we talk about his life... his dreams... his future... how did I get to be so lucky to know this amazing boy/man across the world - and be able to call him my son?

Less than three weeks...

My to do list is quite long these days, as I'm sure you can imagine...
June is always a crazy month, with graduations and end of school events... but add a 25 day trip with a family of five and I've got quite a bit on my mind.

All the major details are taken care of. Passports. Visas. Plane reservations. House sitter. Apartment rental in Paris. Accomodations on the Africa Mercy Ship. Project guidelines.

Next up: finish collecting flip flops (we're hoping to take along 1000 pairs to pass out to the school kids and villagers!) and packing.

It's so hard to believe we're leaving so soon. After three years of planning and hoping and praying it's actually happening.

I'll be posting our itinerary and a prayer calendar soon... I'm really excited to have a team of people praying each day for specific requests while we're gone. Knowing there is a unified voice of intercession going up on our behalf will be an incredible blessing.

I do not plan to blog much on the trip. I am not even taking my computer. I hope to be able to post occasional Facebook updates... and perhaps a short blog post when I have access to a computer... but frankly, my priority while we're there is to drink in every moment. I'll journal by hand (still my favorite way to record life) and then blog the trip for you on our return... last time I went it was a great way for me to process my trip and slowly work through the many feelings and thoughts that arose after such a life changing experience.

Thank you so much for your continued interest and support...

We're down to the final countdown!