We are in love!

We are, right now, excited, overwhelmed, so happy, scared, nervous, expectant and so grateful to God!!!  We met with our two boys yesterday at the McWane Center in Birmingham.  We had the best time - we could not have scripted it better!  We did not want it to end.  They are so cute - not just in how they look but their personalities and everything - the whole package.

We met them in the Food Court and chatted a bit.  Then, we started going through the interactive science center (if you have kids and you have not been to the McWane Center, let me encourage you to do so - really cool, fun and educational).  One of the boys would look, play with the exhibit we were looking at and then move on to the next one while we were still there; I asked him to stay with us because there were so many people, and he soon stayed with us - that way, we were able to interact with him more.  The kids had a lot of fun - they LOVED the shark/manta ray pet tank!!!  (So did we.)  We went there two times and must have spend almost an hour there.  The boys were content to wait for the sharks (small - the largest was about 2 feet long) to swim by while they talked to us.  It all felt very natural - which is one thing for which we were praying.  Both kids smiled and laughed and played.  We ate lunch - pizza for all - and got to know each other more.  Then, we revisited some of the exhibits they liked the best.

At the end of our time, we asked the boys if they would like to spend the weekend with us - they boys said a very emphatic "yeah!" and gave us high tens.  We then went over to a kind of Rube Goldberg machine with golf-sized balls that ran through all sorts of tubes and obstacles.  We just watched and talked and really didn't want to leave them.  That is such a good sign!!!  We got hugs!

We walked them to their social worker's car, and we kept talking and laughing.  When they finally had to pull away, and after we waved until they were out of sight, Mike looked at Kerri and said, "I'm in love!"  We just were in awe!!!

We saw so many great things.  We noticed on the video of the boys we saw on Heart Gallery, the older boy didn't look at the camera or at anyone - and he looked us right in the eye!  He also came up behind Mike and just put his arms around him!  They both really took to Mike - which is great!!  The younger boy also seemed to warm up to us rather quickly - he is very happy where he is, so his transition will be harder.  We had given them a scrapbook with pictures and information about us two weeks ago, and Mike quizzed them on some things.  The younger boy not only knew all our cats' names but also how old each one was - that was cool.

They are spending this whole weekend with us - we will pick them up at 10:00 tomorrow!!!  We have so much to do - gotta clean up the house and grocery shop and pray and try to sleep tonight!

God has orchestrated all this for us.  He is so amazing - we have given him the boys and our relationship and this whole process.  Thank you to all who are praying for us - this cannot be done without the Lord and His guidance, wisdom and love.  He created these two boys, and He loves them.  We want them to know Him and to know His love.

We'll keep you all posted!