Nothing compares to this day!

What a day it was! When I got up this morning I felt like it was going to be a great day. It has been a long time coming and after a year and a half I was getting to finally see Esther and hold her in my arms. The trip was an hour and we spent it having fun conversations with Robert, Joie and Yvonne. We practiced some Kinyarwanda slang and laughed at how funny my African accent was. Robert said his favorite funny slang word in America was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It was hilarious hearing it come out of his mouth. It was nice to keep my mind off of the anxiousness of seeing Esther soon.

When we pulled into the driveway of the school I will admit, I felt nauseous and thought maybe I was going to get sick. I guess I always thought the next time I was seeing her would be a happy moment and I knew that although this was going to be a fun day, it was also going to be heartbreaking. I seen her come up the drive and instantly felt a sigh of relief and remembered how much I love her. Of course we hugged super tight and did not let go for a few minutes. I could feel her heart beating and truly felt like her mommy. She of course went to Oma and gave her a big hug. She loves her Oma so much and you could definitely see the bond they have formed in the times that they have been together. Going through what they have together has truly bonded them and the same with her Opa. She then turned to me in her sweet little voice and said in her good English "where is Glacier?" She loves Glacier so much and longs to see her. She then asked about the rest of the family and wanted to know if the twins are getting bigger. We talked to all the kids and Esther showed me her room with her sweet friend Christine. She got her photos out that we gave her and they both pointed to Rich and said in unison "We all love him very much." I responded with " We do too!" Then as they continued they got to the picture we gave her of our family with my cousin Taylor. Christine pointed to her and said " We also love her very much". I think they could tell that she is a sweet soul and they longed to have her as a friend. I was a very proud cousin as I too know what a great person she is. We spent the afternoon teaching them to double dutch and it was fun to see them trying something new. It was hard for them, but some of them we bound and determined to get it. Esther spent the day attached to my hip and I think we held hands the whole time. Many times in the day my heart felt sadness knowing she was not coming home with me, but again I tried to be strong for her and kept reminding her to be patient and keep praying. She broke down a few times, but I know she will be okay. She introduced me to her best friend Sara (who is the girl in the picture) and I instantly fell in love with her. She is so sweet, speaks great English and acts as a big sister for Esther. We ended the day and took Esther and Barbara with us. Barbara (in the picture by herself) is our dear friend Devota and Violets niece and she will stay with us also. It was such a heartfelt day and I am so excited to get to spend more time with Esther this week. Tomorrow off to the Esther home and we will show Esther it for the first time. She is so proud and can not wait to meet the girls. We showed all the kids at the school the picture of Glacier's third grade class and they were all so interested in what kids their age in America look like. Many recognized Glacier and asked me to bring her back. She is someone they all fell in love with and I missed not having her with us.

So, I hope you are all doing well and I miss everyone so much. Please keep us in your prayers and especially Esther as she is hurting and she needs the strength. Lots of Love!