We will update this thing with a proper blog post in a couple of days but for now, here are two blogs you can hop over to and view some homecoming photos! Check out The Fruitful Family and Babe of My Heart... thank you Joy and Andrea!

And here... oh, we are blessed. What an amazing night we had last night. We were greeted at the Atlanta airport by many friends and family, and even some people we've never met who read the blog -- they even set up a seperate Hannah & Joseph Cheering Section in the arrivals area. It was an absolute delight and so thrilling for all 7 of us. We were SO touched that so many people re-arrange their day and fight Atlanta traffic at rush hour to welcome home our new babies. Thank you!!! We are also so very sorry for the ones that did all of that but came later and missed us because the flight got in so much earlier than expected.

Hint: Hannah and Joseph are the ones holding the balloons

After the airport party, we squeezed everyone into our Volvo SUV -- oh my word, we seriously need a bigger car -- and headed home. We had a quick dinner, bathtime (what an event!!) and then bedtime.
Everyone slept great, except me - I was so certain that Hannah & Joseph would be up during the night that I stayed awake nearly the entire night listening for them. Oh well, naptime's in a few hours.

We'll post pictures and stories and thoughts on our first few days together later in the week, for now we just want to enjoy one another. Also, our friend Michael Lines (the director of SixtyFeet's film, Bereaved) was on the scene filming last night -- he even got permission to go back to the gate and meet Dan and the children with us. Stay tuned for an amazing adoption/gotcha day/homecoming video.

This evening as I was putting the two little ones down for bed, we went through our regular routine and then I tried to explain to them about how this time tomorrow we would be headed to the airport, getting on a plane and headed to America. They looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, which of course I was. We said our prayers and I started to put them in their bunks under their mosquito nets and Hannah says "Kampala. Goodbye".
 
That pretty much sums it up for us this week. We pick up the visas at the US Embassy tomorrow at Noon, pack, and head to the airport. There's a little bit more to it of course since we don't depart until 2:00 am, but we have to get to the airport several hours early. It will be interesting tomorrow night as we head to the airport late in the evening and wait at the gate until the wee hours. Please pray for a smooth transition from Guest House Living to World Travelers for the newest Owens babies.

We are excited for the next phase of our transition and the journey ahead. Thank you to everyone for the prayers and thoughts, words or encouragement and emails. We have lived off or it for weeks now. We will continue to do so once we return and as everyone gets settled, acclimated and used to one another.

If you are up for it and nearby, we arrive in Atlanta at 6:20 p.m. on Thursday. We would love to see you there, but if now we'll see you soon.

Hi, it's me Daddy Dan on a lovely day in Kampala. It's lovely for several reasons. First of all it's just gorgeous out with a cool breeze. But mostly because we went to the embassy this morning with no idea whether they would see us or even let us in. I was 50/50 as to whether they would let us in the gate or turn us away without an appointment. They did let us in, and with very few people waiting I was seen very quickly. After 10 minutes, we were on our way out with an appointment for the interview this afternoon and a promise of visas in our hand by Wednesday. Our flights are currently set for Wednesday night (actually very early morning Thursday) so we should not have any trouble getting everything we need prior to departure.

Thank you so much for your prayers for us here and for Shelly and the kids who are hoping to be able to leave NC in the morning if the snow and ice subside enough. Thanks to Judd for getting here last night and for your prayers for his safe arrival.

This is short and sweet as we now have to get some snacks for the kids, rest and play before a potentially long afternoon back at the embassy.

“But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name.” – I Peter 4:16 (NLT)


By comparison to many of my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, I am really not suffering this week. But by comparison to my usual nice, comfortable, predictable life, I am totally suffering this week. I wish I could tell y’all that I’m just walking around praising His name and thanking God for the privilege of participating in His work. But to be honest, I’m struggling here. I miss my husband terribly. My children miss their Daddy terribly. We’re all sick with colds and I’m running seriously low on patience.

Absolutely nothing about this week has panned out as I thought it would. Even today – I was planning to head back to Atlanta with the kids first thing this morning. We’ve been in North Carolina all week and it’s been wonderful to spend this time with my dear family – indeed, I don’t know what I would have done without them this week. But it’s time to get home. I have things to do, bills to pay, the usual stuff of life… But no, I’m not going home today. Because the stinkin’ snow storm of the century has overtaken Eastern North Carolina. And in case you’re wondering, I’m not feeling sorry for myself or anything.

And then it occurs to me... I'm stranded, just like Dan. Well, not "just like" Dan. His situation is a bit more intense than mine. I'm "stranded" in a large city in the good ol' USA with my Dad and three of my children. My sister and her family are right down the street. Despite the snow, we have power and phones and (obviously) internet access. We built a snowman, went sledding, now we're sitting by the fire eating lunch.

On the other hand... Dan is stranded (really stranded) in Africa right now. He spent Christmas on the other side of the world away from his friends and (almost) all of his family and has very limited access to internet, email or phone. He's caring for our two brand new children who he barely knows and who speak only a few words of English. He is washing their clothes (and his) in a bucket. He's sharing a bathroom, living room and kitchen with an entire group of people he just met last week.

And is Dan complaining? Is he wandering around like me asking God to hurry up and teach him this lesson so we can move on already? Nope. Dan is not having an easy time and he is suffering -- but he is praising God and he is thankful to participate in His work. He's taking time to learn what he can and what God wants to teach him from this experience. Take a look at the email I woke up to on Christmas morning, from Dan:

Subject: The Curse of Abundance

One of the families we are staying with at the guest house brought

bubbles for each of the kids for Christmas morning. They were so
excited at breakfast about blowing bubbles they didn't even want to
finish their food. That in itself is big.
After eating Hannah and Joseph went outside and I showed them how to blow bubbles
and they took to it immediately. Each bubble was valuable and had to
be pointed out to me. "Daddy, you see. Daddy, you see." Especially the
ones that landed in the grass and didn't pop right away.

Dan has had a restful and sweet weekend with our new little ones. Their Christmas was not full of toys and Santa Claus and everything we associate with Christmas here in the States. It was just about being with each other and with our Lord. May we all take time to learn these lessons and to get our priorities straight.

 Please pray for my dear, awesome husband as he pushes forward tomorrow and tries, once again, to secure a visa appointment with the American Embassy. Please pray that he will be granted this appointment and that they will all be on that flight late Wednesday night. Pray for our friend Judd (who has just arrived in Kampala!) to help Dan this week and for his wife and family at home in Atlanta.

Blessings to all and stay tuned. We'll keep you posted on anything that develops this week.