11/26/2006
We are home! Now that the secret is out, I can tell you that we actually went to Mississippi for Thanksgiving. We left last Tuesday afternoon after school. We drove to Conway and spent the night. We thought we would try putting all three kids in one big hotel bed. Big mistake. We won't do that again. :) It was not the best night of sleep for any of us. Maria did get a little frantic at the hotel when it was time for bed. Of course, the only other times we have done that with her were when we were in Guatemala. So I could understand her confusion. But she settled down quickly and probably was the best sleeper of the three THAT night. :)
The next day we headed to Mississippi. We stopped in Little Rock at the main office of the company Mark works for. We were able to introduce Maria to some people there. Then we did the drive to Mississippi. It was long and at times a little tiring. Maria isn't really into watching movies and only does activities like books or coloring for very short periods of time. So it wasn't necessarily an easy trip for her, but she did pretty well for her first major road trip. :)
We enjoyed our time in Mississippi with LOTS of good food and wonderful time with our family. Maria handled all of the new faces much better. Now if people ask to hold her, she just shakes her head no rather than yelling the "ugly" no she used to. :) And by the end of our visit, she would go to Meme and Papaw for hugs, "horse" rides", and some rocking time. Overall, we were very pleased to see how she handled the change in environment. Oh and she loved all of the good food of course! (We all did...and it shows on my thighs) I will be posting some more pictures in the next few days of our visit. By the way, the Misssissippi weather was BEAUTIFUL. It was in the 70's I believe every day. The children enjoyed being outside!
This morning we left right after breakfast and headed a different way than we usually come home. We headed toward Memphis. You see, about a month or more ago, my husband said, "Wouldn't it be neat to stop and meet Cole?" Now, if you read my website, you know that Cole and his family are wonderful friends I have met via Internet. One night when I was checking in on some of my "kids" that I pray for, one precious family mentioned a new St. Jude patient named Cole. I visited his site and was immediately drawn to this precious boy and his family. I continued to visit daily and have developed what I consider a friendship with them. Before long, Cole and his family were visiting THIS website and offering encouragement to me during the adoption process. Anyway, I digress (as usual :). So the wheels started turning, I contacted some of Cole's friends (one being Miss Penny who also signs Maria's guestbook). We planned a little "surprise" visit. That is what we did today...
What a wonderful experience to meet Cole and his family (and friends!). It was just overwhelming to finally hug their necks in person rather than send a hug over the Internet. What a joy to see the precious face of a little boy who is a hero to me...fighting leukemia with all he has while maintaining high grades and incredible reading skills at school. (He also insists upon praying in front of the nurses and doctors of St. Jude...such an incredible faith for such a young man!) And what a delight to spend some time with his parents who have been so very kind to us too this past year. As you can kind of see, it was a happy moment and a day I will not forget. |
