I failed to thank...

...a few people on our journey down here. Thank you so much Tony and Claudia Meyer for your generous gift in connecting us with Jeff Timmons. You don't know how much that meant. And Jeff, thank you for your generosity in the Buddy Passes...words can't describe how thankful we are. And Todd and Jerry, thank you for all that you did to help get us down here. I'm not kidding you, the SECOND best moment of my life(outside of walking down the aisle with Lee Anne) was climbing aboard our flight to Guatemala from Atlanta in seats 1A and 1B! THAT's RIGHT FOLKS, seats 1A and 1B! For those of you who don't know, that's FIRST CLASS! We have never flown first class before and now we were in 1A and 1B flying down to get our son in just a few hours!

Well that WAS the second best moment of my life, now it's the third. I didn't mention(in the previous blog) on day one what was the second best moment. When we finally went downstairs to see if Erick and his foster family had left(they went out of view from where we were looking down from the ninth floor), the elevator doors opened and there he was, sound asleep in his foster mother's arms. She looked up at me and recognized me from November 9th(when we first met Erick in Guatemala) and smiled a big smile and handed him to me. OK, I will never hear the end of this from the guys(calling me sappy, Mr. Kleenex, etc.), but man I couldn't hold back the tears when that kid was put into my arms. Unbelievable feeling. Indescribable. Thank you God for such a wonderful gift.

OK, now, enough sap for now. Knowing me you'll probably get a little more later. But guys, come on, you gotta admit, I bet you all got choked when your son or daughter was born. Plus, I don't want to have to tell this story over and over a thousand times when I get home because it will be hard enough as it is.

Well, we've had a great start to Erick's birthday today! We went to town and ate brunch at one of the best cafes in town, Cafe Condesa. Then we went and bought some wall pics to put on Erick's walls in his bedroom in KC. Then we went and got him birthday balloons and cake for his party at three. I'll get pics of his party to you tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot, thank you Sara and Katie for spending time with Lee Anne on preparing us for her trip here and life here. Sara and Katie and their families have both gone on this same journey and now have their children home. If you would like to see a VERY well written account of life here in Antigua(with pics) you can visit http://www.katiemohr.blogspot.com/. Katie and her son Elliot lived here in the same house that Lee Anne and Erick are in. Sorry Sara, I'm not sure whether you had a blog or not...I'll have to check that out. Oh, and thanks DJ Lee for connecting us with Katie and Russ. Reading their blog was a huge blessing to us prior to coming here.

Gotta run now, but thank you to everyone for your prayers and all that you have done to be a part of our journey. I know we're forgetting to single out others we need to thank but know that we are very appreciative to everyone. Take care, gotta get ready for my son's one year birthday party!