Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times...

Hi everyone. Happy New Year!
We had a wonderful Christmas. Just too hectic. Our daughter was home, my Wyoming brother came out of the mountains and my two sisters were all here. So Grammie got to have her kids all in one place and all grand kids as well.
We have had some crazy events but to summarize, we will be leaving next week for Kazakhstan. Yes, I wrote next week!
The judge that is hearing our case will need to attend to some personal issues and is cleaning out her court dates. We cannot go later, it is now or nyet!
A lot of scrambling with excellent direction and assistance from our agency and we will be leaving next Wed. or Thurs.
We are excited of course to think this could all be completed sooner than we'd thought.
Another sign this is meant to be:
A woman at our church sees a posting on a web site from a woman that has a lot of candles to donate to someone for fundraising. The woman from our church sends in a letter about Dias. Her letter was picked from hundreds of letters. She tells the church and people start buying the candles left and right. We did not know about any of this.... We were just presented with a very sizable donation from these church members. Then others start saying they want to help. An artist offers a painting for auction and others are offering other items. We don't even hardly ever go to church, and are not good members. But that was not the point for all those lovely people. They want to help this boy get a family. They are a small church with building fund needs etc., but they chose to do this.
We are continually blessed by the miracle of adoption. Of course, Shawn blesses us everyday just by being himself. But to see this kind of out-pouring is so touching.
And even in our unhappiness when things fell apart last summer, we have been blessed because that time in space allowed us to be in touch with a family that had lost hope about their child in Kazakhstan and we were given the blessing of opening the door a little for them via our adoption of Dias.
My stomach is in knots but I can't beleive I will get to hug that love bug and hear "privyet" in about a week.
Many wishes for all you want, need and hope for in 2009.
We are so hopeful for ourselves, other families and the children.
Hugs,
Susan