This week has been quite an emotional roller coaster!
On Monday we experienced great relief when we emailed drafts of our final two chapters to our mentor. On Tuesday we were elated when we received the call informing us that our baby was ready for travel.
Wednesday through Friday, though, were spent tying up loose ends before going on parental leave next week and trying to make travel arrangements.
We both hit bottom, emotionally, Friday evening when we seemed to hit a wall with the travel plans – a ticket agent at Northwest made life miserable for Joleen. Fortunately, the second person she worked with was extremely helpful! Many thanks to Cindy, our caseworker at Adoption Horizons, who provided the info and the help we needed at just the right time (in between calls to Northwest).
Even as we look ahead, we are filled with mixed emotions. Mostly, we’re excited about meeting and receiving Ethan. But it will be several days before we meet him, due to the holidays in Korea.
It will also take us a long time to get there – about 25 hours including two layovers. We are grateful the return trip will be much shorter, since baby Ethan will be in tow! It is scheduled to take about 18 hours (mainly due to much shorter layovers). And we have no idea what that trip will be like! 😯
All of that said, visiting and experiencing the Korean culture, then meeting (and later receiving) our baby, will make the long trip worth it!
Thanks for your prayers, past, present, and future!