This may seem slightly out of character for the Crazy Family, but I have treasured the first birthday parties of each of my babies. I know that a 12-month old has no idea what's going on or what all the fuss is even about -- but a first birthday is such a milestone. Such a sweet celebration of the amazing work the Lord has done in your family over the last year... bringing a tiny, beautiful person into your home and then giving you the privlege of watching him/her grow. I mean, wow!!

So all of the 1st birthdays are precious and special to me. But I think I'm going to have to say that Baby Charlotte's party (held just today!) will have to go down on the books as my favorite.

Dan and I originally planned to celebrate Charlotte's (who we call CiCi) birthday on December 4. We sent out really cute invitations -- the whole family was coming and many of our friends. But then I had to leave for Uganda and I refused to miss my baby's party, so we moved the date to December 18. But then Dan had to leave for Uganda. And we just decided that poor Cici had to finally have her party, even without Daddy. So sad.

December 18 is, as y'all know, the Saturday before Christmas. Possibly the busiest, craziest day of the year. Unfortunately, none of our family (most of them are out of town) could make it. I thought maybe a few friends could join us... on faith, I went ahead and ordered two little sandwich rings and a princess cake from Publix. Hoping that maybe someone, anyone would show up.

And today... we ended up with a HOUSE FULL of people. My little house was bursting at the seams. I know people must have had other stuff to do on this busy, crazy day... and all of these people  made time to be there for Charlotte (for me). I was so touched. So touched!

Dan prays for each of our children on their first birthdays. For him, it's an opportunity to publicly thank the Lord for each of our babies and pray blessings over their lives. It's a big deal to us and it's so sweet. Dan couldn't be there for this one -- so in his absence one his best friends offered to do it for him. Our friend Judd (who also happens to be a SixtyFeet board member and spent time in Uganda last month with Hannah and Joseph), put his arm around me, put his hands on Baby Charlotte and prayed over that little girl like she was his own.

And then looked what happened...


That fabulous guy next to CiCi is our family pediatrician, our dear friend and our fellow SixtyFeet board member, Dr. David (who also spent time with Hannah and Joseph in Uganda last month). Before we sang Happy Birthday, David went to great trouble to get ahold of Dan on Skype and held the laptop so Dan could be "with us" while we sang and he even got to watch Baby C eat her cake. It was priceless! I think every adult and every child at the party talked to Dan before he had to go. Doing the Skype thing may not be the same as having Daddy home, but not many children can tell such a great story about their first birthday party!



Madeline (dressed as a princess), Davis (dressed in his African outfit I bought him at the market in Kampala, UG) and our birthday princess, Baby C.



C's baby friend, Kate. Kate's Daddy, Scott, is headed over to UG as we speak to be with Dan. Please pray for travel mercies for Scott as he is going through Amsterdam and headed into a full-on snow storm.

My own awesome Daddy is flying into Atlanta in the morning will drive with the kids and me to North Carolina on Monday morning. I am planning to stay in N.C. with my family until Christmas Eve (or possibly longer if Dan doesn't make it back... but let's not think that way).

Thank you so much for praying for our family. It will take a miracle and so many details will have to fall into place but we are hopeful that Dan, Hannah, Joseph and our friend Scott will all be together on that 2:20pm flight into Hartsfield on Christmas Eve. Please pray for a miracle because right now we're needing one.

Much love to all of you!!

The next scene takes place in Dan's hotel room in Uganda. It's not very exciting. He spends the day sitting and waiting and checking his phone every few minutes to see if he somehow missed that all important phone call -- the call from our attorney's office to letting us know that the written ruling is signed.

We talk on the phone about 11am Uganda time (4am here) -- it's not looking good. The ruling is still not signed and the US Embassy closes at 12:30 on Fridays. Dan walks outside for a breath of fresh air the phone rings -- it our attorney's office!! She has the order! Can Dan meet her at the Embassy? It's closing in 10 minutes but maybe he can make it!!!

He races to the Embassy and... they have literally just locked the doors. We will not be filing the papers today. Or tomorrow. Or Sunday. We'll give it another try on Monday morning and see if we can get any closer to the climactic conclusion of "Bring Dan Home for Christmas."

Here are Dan's thoughts from his day...

I was talking to my good friend in Uganda this evening about the events of the past 29 hours and suddenly realized it sounded like I was complaining. I was telling him about the positive outcome of the meeting with the judge yesterday and about getting the judge's signature on all the necessary documents today (which in itself was a miracle akin to my luggage arriving nearly on it's own 2 wheels). I then told him about how we just missed getting to the embassy on time before they closed and how we will have to wait to try again on Monday. I didn't get into all the details with him about my frantic ride to the US embassy on the back of a Boda and my just missing the embassy's closing right before lunch (yes, that's right, I said before).

This is considered very light traffic. If you aren't touching someone else's rear-view mirror with each elbow, you've got it made.

So I was telling my friend all this and he interrupted to say "Hey, at least you are moving forward. It's slow and deliberate, like a steam roller, but it's in the right direction." I then realized how much I had been focusing on the negative of the day and not rejoicing in the fact that we now have a signed and sealed court order declaring these two children as not only legally under our care, but also the fact that they are free to travel with us to the US. That is huge. And it only seems like a long time coming to us. Any of our friends out there that have been languishing for months waiting for these events will likely scoff and declare us ungrateful. We are not ungrateful. Really, we are full of grate. Hmmm, it doesn't work the other way 'round does it? But seriously, we are beyond grateful. We are just so eager to have our two little ones with us at home.

Next step is to get to the embassy to beg an appointment so they will review our case and begin their own orphan search. Hopefully the lawyer's exhaustive documentation in this area will reduce the amount of time they require and we will be granted visas soon.

I have to say though, riding on the back of one of those bodas is a little addicting. I took a couple of more trips this afternoon to run some errands and take care of some Sixty Feet business. It really is the only way to travel around town in traffic. I'm thinking of starting something similar back in Atlanta with my own scooter. Maybe it will catch on.

Hi friends! Let me just start by saying this...  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Hannah and Joseph are officially ours. Well actually, they are His. They always have been and always will be His but for a time, He is entrusting them to Dan and me. We are in shock, we are thrilled, we are truly, truly blessed.

Dan wasn't actually seen in court until about 3pm (Uganda time) today. The judge gave his verbal ruling but we're still waiting for the written ruling... that beautiful little piece of paper that will allow us to go to the US Embassy in Kampala, apply for Hannah and Joseph's visas and HEAD HOME! Someone from our attorney's office is heading over to the courthouse first thing tomorrow morning (which is just a few hours from now) to wait on this ruling. Once we have it in hand, Dan will go directly to the US Embassy and try to schedule an appointment.

If (and this is still a big IF) everything falls into place, Dan, Hannah and Joseph will be coming home... ON CHRISTMAS EVE on the 2:20pm flight!!! Already your prayers have carried us so far! Will y'all please pray for this one to happen? I know this is probably starting to sound like a bad made-for-TV-movie... "Bring Dan Home for Christmas" or something... but seriously!!! This is crazy!

In other exciting news, our dear, awesome, crazy friend Scott is planning to fly over to Uganda on Saturday -- at GREAT expense to himself (those last minute tickets to Africa are not cheap) -- to help Dan with H & J and especially to help him with the 24 hour flight home with 2 small children. Do we have great friends or what? Scott and his wife Joy just had a pipe burst and flood the upstairs of their home, yesterday. They have four little girls of their own. They have plans for the week of Christmas. And yet they've put it all aside just to go serve some crazy friends.

Anyways, that's all for tonight. And that's a lot. I think my brain is about to explode. My face hurts from smiling so much today. I'm so happy! I'm so blessed by what the Lord has done and also by the many people He's called to stand with us during this time. We are TREASURING every email, text, comment, phone call... y'all know how to make a family feel loved!!

"I prayed for this child and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him."
-- 1 Samuel 1:27

If you're anything like me, when you have been flying for 24 hours, the shirt off your back is actually no great prize. In fact, the first thing I like to do after an all-day ordeal in the air is to get that shirt off to the laundry and take a shower. And yet it is considered an act of great kindness and a compliment to say that a person would give you the shirt off their back, regardless of perspiration or odor.
So I arrived a few hours ago in Kampala after a variety of false starts, looming delays and other obstacles that threatened to keep me from arriving in time for this morning's court appearance (3 hours from now). When I finally did arrive, on time, in Kampala I felt no small sense of victory and satisfaction. That quickly depleted as one by one my fellow passengers collected their bags and departed. I shouldn't have been surprised. I should have known better too having something similar happen earlier this year on one of our trips. I should have checked nineteen different bags, each containing only one small item that I needed. No doubt if I had done that I would be writing to you of the great travesty of all nineteen bags being somehow lost at the same time.
I reluctantly left the airport to meet Godfrey outside. He is alway cheerful and encouraged me that we would work something out. Even though it was already approaching 11 p.m. he said nonchalantly, "we'll just swing by my place and see which of my suits might fit you best". And so that's what we did. He woke up his wife and rummaged through his closet while I waited in the living room. He pulled out several different suits and laid them on the couch, along with a brand new shirt still in the box, cuff links a tie and shoes. I tried on jackets and remarkably, things seemed to work out very well despite some size differences here and there. As long as I take it easy at breakfast, I should be able to fasten the waist button.
It is truly humbling. I prefer to be the one on the giving end and don't like receiving very well. I don't know why that is. Godfrey so freely gave what he had - the best of what he had. He could have easily taken off his own shirt and I would have gladly taken it as mine is currently better used as a mosquito deterrent. Instead, he gave me a brand new shirt still in the box. Probably a gift that he was saving for a special occasion. I pray I can be as giving and loving as that one day.

You may have already heard, Dan made it to Uganda! But not without a little excitement...

I need to back up a few days and explain... So I told y'all on my last post that Dan was leaving for Uganda following an urgent message we received from our attorney. What I failed to mention was this... our Ugandan attorney had been urgently emailing us for days asking us to come. We never received one of those messages. None of them came through! On Monday morning I decided to email her one last time, knowing that this was our very last chance to make it to UG in time for the ruling. She replied immediately and that one did come through. Had I not sent that last message on Monday, I doubt that Dan would be in Uganda right now.

Over the last 30 hours while Dan traveled to Uganda, he experienced numerous and very random delays and literally had to run to his gate in Amsterdam in order to make the flight to Entebbe.

Upon arriving at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda, Dan learned that his luggage didn't make it -- none of it. Including his suit and dress shoes for court tomorrow. Ugandan courts are very formal (when I appeared last month I had to wear a long, conservative dress and closed toe shoes) and men do not appear in court in khaki pants, a polo shirt and keens.

All this to say.. do you think someone perhaps doesn't want Dan to be in that courtroom tomorrow? Friends, if you're reading this post tonight, please cover us in prayer.

In case you're wondering, Dan was able to round up some clothes for court. Our amazing Ugandan driver, Godfrey, (yep, same guy that drove for the Levy Family last year) who is pretty much one of the coolest, nicest and most generous people I have ever met -- loaned Dan a suit. And a shirt. And a pair of dress shoes. And Godfrey insisted that Dan let him shine the shoes before he wears them tomorrow. So you know, he'll just come by early to pick up Dan (who is wearing all of his best clothes) and hand over his best shoes which he has just shined for a guy he barely knows. And that is Uganda at it's finest.

I seriously hope someone, somehow snags a picture of Dan tomorrow. Godfrey is a good bit taller than Dan and is thin as a rail..I hope Ugandan courts aren't too picky about whether or not your suit actually fits you... just that you're wearing one is hopefully good enough?

Thank you all for everything, especially for praying tonight as I know many of you are doing. Our ruling will come around 2:30am EST. We'll update the blog as soon we're able. To God be all the glory!