The Big Day!

Cannot express enough how well this day went! Thank you for all your prayers! We left this morning about 9:00 and headed 2 hours away from Addis in a van, on bumpy roads, dodging cars, monkeys, cows,and it was hot and dirty... BUT guess what? This girl never felt even a smidgen sick!! (that alone is a miracle in itself)  We arrived at the orphanage and they took us all to a back nursey room where "little man Cheatham" was waiting! He was shy and a little timid at first but didn't cry or get upset at all when Heather picked him up! The whole family took turns holding him and he went to all of them- so precious! Then we took him out into the courtyard to sit with him and talk and love on him- he warmed up quickly! but after about 30 minutes you could just tell he was getting SO tired! One of the nannies said it was his nap time but that he could stay with us. So Heather just put in him in her lap and in about 5 minutes he was out! It was the most precious thing! We got to play with him for hours and it was just such an amazing time! We won't post any pictures of him until they pass court but I did get some shots of our drive out there and then some precious ones of his hands and parts of the orphanage- I took 878 pictures just while we were there so rest assured as soon as we can you will see LOTS of little man!....
                             These were all the gifts that were donated for the orphans and widows!

Finally at the orphanage and walking in to see Little Man! Aimee and I took our jobs seriously!!:)

This next picture is one of my favorites- I'm not trying to brag but I had some mad skilzz today!

We got the grand tour of the whole orphanage and it was really nicely run. All of the nannies and widows were so so kind and welcoming. When we were taken to the directors office this was the first thing that caught my eye....

When he went down for a nap, Aimee and I took the girls to go meet and love on the widows. It really is the coolest thing-orphans and widows together, they both benefit from being around each other and those ladies were just so precious and thankful! We brought them nail polish, lotion and bracelets and had such a fun time giving each woman her gift! This next picture is one of my favorites too! She was just absolutely beautiful and was so happy all the time!

This precious lady didn't know what lotion was or what it was for so I just told her I would show her. Well after getting her hands and arms rubbed she pulled up her skirt for me to do her legs as well! It was an honor to me- she was so greatful for something so simple and I was the one who was blessed.

It really was just the perfect day! We were all so tired on the way home but stopped for dinner and then headed to the hotel- which is where we are now and I should go to bed!:)

I am so thankful to be here! Little man is a perfect fit for the Cheatham family and I just can't wait for him to come home with his forever family!  Hopefully Heather will be able to post actual pictures of him soon! They appear at court tomorrow at 1:30 so keep the prayers coming!

Officially the Cheatham 6!!!

The Cheathams passed court today!!! Praise the Lord! They were bumped from a 9am court time to a 1:30 so we were all anxious the whole morning! Derek and Heather left the hotel around 12:40 and Aimee and I stayed with the kids at the hotel- (we are excellent babysitters, didn't let them have junk food or stunt in the pool or anything like that at all;))This hotel is honestly a little embarassing how nice it is, I mean like even REALLY nice. But since we had points and you have to stay in a guest house on the second trip we just enjoyed it!   So, while they were off doing court....

We were doing some of this....

and a little of this....

And a LOT of Stunting Ellison in the pool:) had some awesome video footage of that but it won't upload:( I know you are all very sad

It was a tough gig but Aimee and I were up to the challenge!
Then, tonight we went to an authentic Ethiopian restuarant- it was quite the experience!

Then it came time to eat:/   Yall know I have the taste buds of a 4 year old, so yeah, I was a little nervous! At the beginning of the buffet line we washed our hands, then sweet Abey went down the line with us and told us what everything was!:)

Here is my plate- adventurous, I know.... I was hoping I wouldn't have an "Along Came Polly" episode:) But all was well and we all managed to find something on our plate that we liked (or at least could eat!)  Jeff would have loved this place:)

Then the REAL entertainment started- I have wished for my family to be here with me many times this week- this was NOT one of those times:) they would have been so HUMILIATED!!! Abey said the dancers wanted a tip- so I went up and put a tip in the jar...BUT the dancers pulled me up on stage to dance with them!!!! So, naturally, I went!:)

haha- I know yall are dying of embarrasment right now!!!  Then Aimee got picked to come up!! If Heather had any doubts of us coming along with them, this TOTALLY made up for it because she didn't have to do it!

We were quite entertaining!

We did a little more shopping today- we may or may not have gone a tad overboard with the beads but I'm not sure...

So obviously this day was a STARK contrast to yesterday but any one of us would tell you we would have MUCH rather been back seeing Little Man again!! But only one day was allowed so we made the most of getting as much Ethiopian culture cramed into our minds as possible! We are all so sad to be leaving tomorrow but so excited to be seeing our family and friends! This place is just wonderful and I hope this is not my last time here!!!

We Are Blessed!

What a wonderful day we had here at the Polk house! We are delighted to announce that Chandler made the most important decision of her life today and gave her life to Christ! Jeff had the honor of baptizing her today and it was so special for all of us!

She and her BFF HalleCaroline have been talking about it for a while now, and last night they just decided to quit talking about it and just do it!

So, of course, they decide to do this at 8:00pm last night,  so we called all the family to tell them- not expecting them to show up at the last minute!! But so many came! So so sweet and just humbling and awesome to know just how many people are supporting her and this decision she has made!

There were SO many people there- didn't get half the pictures I wanted to:(   Jeff and Derek did an amazing job of first of all, leading these precious girls to this decision and 2nd, just being able to speak and do a great job in front of all those people:)

 This next picture just proves that we absolutely CANNOT have a set of pics without some cheer facials:)

We are so thankful that these girls are friends and that they both have felt convicted to give their life over to God and to surrender everything to Him. This is the most important decision in their lives and they get that even at 13! SO excited to see what He does in their lives! God is so good!
I am overwhelmed tonight by his goodness- this day started out with my daughter getting baptized and is ending with me packing for ETHIOPIA!!! I am leaving tomorrow afternoon and absolutely cannot wait!! Sweet little man is going to get to meet his whole family THIS WEEK!!! I will hopefully be updating the blog often from there!!!

We're going back!!!

Ok so I have been meaning to post this for about a month now and haven't gotten around to it- so now there are a FEW changes--all good though!:)
We are all SO excited! We are going back to............................

SOOOO excited!!! Cannot even tell you how excited!! I totally want to start packing RIGHT NOW!! (but we have like 4 months:()!! A while back I hinted at a little presentation the kids had done for us- we have all wanted to go back since the moment we landed here (well maybe it was right after we had Mi Cocina and a hot shower) BUT anyway SOON after we were home we wanted to go back but we just needed to pray about when/where/why/how etc!

 The kids wouldn't let up begging asking to go! So one day they put together a little "persuasion presentation"! Jeff and I were not "allowed" to go into the living room for quite a while one afternoon. Then, when we were called in there, we enter to the sound of Toto singing Africa. EVERY SINGLE African artifact we have was placed all around the room. They had their savings, pictures, props, and speeches all lined up for us:)

 This was Parker's sign- he made an excellent speech- ending with "please let us go to Africa and give the gift that doesn't cost a thing- love"   Um how do you say no to that???

 All 3 gave eloquent speeches, persuading us with every tactic possible. Here is Patton, after his prayer, reminding us of each and every Peace House boy by name. And then the "safari" they put on the table. They had a wonderful idea that we could take all the boys with us on a safari field trip!

An African cross and the kids Jesus Calling book?  These kids are smart:)

They brought down a tub of things they were willing to sell to raise $$! Chandler had typed up EVERYTHING you can imagine from costs to flights to "details" page. They had thought of everything!

We thought maybe over Christmas but it just wasn't the right time, then we thought about going for like 8 weeks this summer but half of our missionaries will be HERE this summer SO that would not be the best time to get to work with them:( But I just kept feeling like the Lord had something planned for us to do there this summer. But after the missionaries told us of their furloughs I just kinda put it out of mind and thought, well, maybe next year. 
About a month later we got to spend a little time with one of the missionary families while they were here finalizing the adoption of their daughter from China!! Then he mentioned that we may be the ones who could put a group together to come THIS SUMMER  and put together a VBS and worship times for missionaries from all over Africa!! They meet in Kumbya (west Rwanda) on Lake Kivu each summer for fellowship, renewal, and a refreshing time with the Lord! SOOO we said yes!!! There will be about 14 adults and about 14 kids traveling to Rwanda in July and we couldn't be more excited!! We are so thankful to the Lord for providing another opportunity to go back! We can't wait to see and love on those boys!!! We are praying about our work there, the people who come to the retreat and for our hearts to be prepared! We've had several meetings with a team we think is going to be AMAZING! And we've been brainstorming ways to fund raise. We struggled with asking for money the first time but did it after several wise people told us it would be a blessing. They were SO  right! We were blown away and constantly reminded of God's provision when you are in His will! My kids got to see first hand just how generous our friends, family, and even total strangers are! And it was so inspiring for us! So, we will humbly ask again. We will most likely be selling tshirts (super cute ones!!) and doing other things like garage sales etc. I'll let you know!!
 And here is the CRAZY part.... the ONLY thing bad about the trip to Rwanda was that it is 4 months away. BUT I get to go to Ethiopia in 28 days!!! I am SOOO excited to be traveling with Aimee and the Cheatham family to FINALLY go see little man Cheatham!! I CANNOT wait! And I am SO thankful to them that they are sweet enough to let Aimee and I tag along! We've been praying this sweet one home for over 2 years now and I can't wait to see him in his family's arms!  Thank you Lord! So now I feel like I really CAN start packing!!! Yay!!