Our Cramazing May, Episode III

On Friday, May 13, we picked Neil up from school, said our goodbyes to Rex who would stay with a friend that night, and left for our friends' house, where Neil would stay for our first week+ gone.  We met John and Melanie through our first adoption process, and although we don't see them too often, we have a deep and special connection that comes from knowing that our sons spent some of their early days in the same orphanage.  We were in the same travel group in Ethiopia with Melanie, and all these years later, our boys are friends...it's wonderful.

About a year before, Melanie had told me that whenever we were able to go to India, we could feel free to leave Neil with them....so glad that we took them up on the offer, as he ended up having an amazing 9 days there.  He loved her cooking, and he loved riding "his" bike up and down their street! 

On our way, we stopped at a car dealership and looked at a 12-passenger van, which, yes, is going to be our next vehicle.  We loved it and are now kicking ourselves for not putting a down payment on it then, as it was the best deal we've found.  Oh well.  Anyway, it was fun to sit in this big van, imagining the reality that our family was growing and would soon be closer to actually filling up a van like that!  One more week, and we'd be meeting our Tom!

We got to their house, and Melanie had made (of course--she's a great cook!) a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and then had whipped up some equally delicious dessert.  She does all things kitchen so effortlessly...just one of the things I appreciate about my friend.  I want to be like her when I grow up!

Here are the boys...Mel's sons--S, D, and O--and our Neil, fitting right in! (with dads in the background)  The boys also have 2 sisters, T (pictured further down) and K.  It was a full house, and Neil loved it!

 And the silly face pose....why is it that boys always want the silly face pose?!

It was beautiful to see that God had prepared Neil for this whole thing...Mama and Daddy were leaving for over 2 weeks, and he accepted it with such grace.  He was ready--excited, even--for us to go.  He kept asking, "When is it time to go to O's house?!"  Well, finally it was time, and to see him sitting there, interacting so easily with his "brothers for a week", was a blessing to my heart, as I knew that he was going to do great while we were gone!

After dinner, the kids ran downstairs and played to their hearts' contents while the adults visited--for a little bit, but not too long...we still had lots of packing to do and needed to get home to do it!  But Neil made leaving our friends' house easy for us, as he was having such a good time with his friends!  In fact, I cried, but he didn't!  It took a whole bunch of effort on Melanie's part to even get him out to the porch to wave goodbye as we were driving away!  We knew that Neil was in wonderful hands, and we left with peace in our hearts. 

THANK YOU, John and Melanie, for letting God use you in this way.  Our son loved spending time at your house, and we are so grateful that he was safe and well-loved while we were gone!