More waiting. . .

Well, I hardly know where to start this entry! It's been almost 3 weeks since I last posted and while a lot has happened, not much has changed! We arrived in SC on June 8 and had a great week together with Marcus. Bryant went back to Kansas on June 12. He reported to Fort Leavenworth on June 15 and officially checked in. He then started a LONG "honey do" list around the house. Turns out that the case worker in Kansas keeps coming up with things we have to do (or re-do in some cases since we have done some of these things multiple times in multiple states!) We had to have a fence installed in the backyard, a gate put on the stairs off the deck, cabinet locks, etc. etc. So Bryant has been a busy bee taking care of all of that. Today, the case worker came back to the house and gave her "OK" on that, but then proceeded to give us MORE paperwork to do. The most frustrating part is that on June 5 when she first visited, she said she had never seen a family so "ready" and that there wouldn't be a lot of paperwork to do. UGH!! Does anyone out there know anyone in Kansas that may have a clue about how we can move things forward? The folks in S. C. are ready to send Marcus home with us once Kansas gives the "OK".

In the meantime, I have been enjoying my time in Clinton with my family. I currently have no return date to KS! Since we are so close to getting permission to bring Marcus with us, I am staying until we get the approval. I am not leaving without him this time! We need lots of prayers that the folks in Kansas can get their act together and move things forward! I have been able to spend a lot of time with Marcus thanks to his wonderful foster parents! Even went on a little weekend trip to Charleston with him! He got to meet our dear friends James, Barbara, and Rebecca Bowers one night. Then he met my best friend Valerie Glessner, her husband Dave, daughter Ashleigh and her parents Donna and Ed the next day. Marcus loved playing with his new "cousin" Ashleigh (my god-daughter). We even were able to have dinner with my dear friend Mary Aquino. Marcus was perfect and such a good traveler. It was a fun trip! This past week, Marcus and I joined my sister Lauren and her girls at Vacation Bible School at 1st Presbyterian Church in Laurens, SC. What fun! Marcus had a great time and talked about "bible cool" every day.

So now we are waiting. . . again. I could go on and on about my frustrations, but I want to keep this positive! We are trying to jump through all these hoops, but each time we think we are done, a new batch is thrown at us!

Bryant will take all the relevant paperwork to the case worker in KS on Monday morning. Hopefully she will actually do something timely and get her report in ASAP. In the meantime, I'm missing Bryant but enjoying time with Marcus and my family!

Waffle House and Sweet Tea -- we are almost 'home'

Bryant and I left this morning for Clinton, SC. We are driving! Not quite 1000 miles from door to door. We had a great drive today -- made it to Lebanon, TN (over 600 miles down!) It was fun to drive through Missouri (saw the Arch in St. Louis from the road), then Illinois, Kentucky and into Tennessee. Amazing to see this beautiful country! Of course, Bryant's favorite part of the day was stopping for dinner in Clarksville, TN at a Waffle House! I would have bought a gallon of their sweet tea if I could have -- yummy!

The main purpose of this trip is to spend time with Marcus. We can't wait to see him. Here's a quick update on the adoption process: On Tuesday, June 2, we received a call from Ruth at Child and Family Services in Leavenworth. We were thrilled since we didn't think we would hear from anyone until later this month or even July. Ruth will be our case worker in KS. She was wonderful! She is the first person in this whole process to say "Marcus needs to be placed with you ASAP so he can start attaching and adjusting to his new family and new life". That was music to our ears! As soon as all the legal proceedings/rulings are completed in SC, he can come home with us. Still not 100% sure when that will be, but we are starting to see the faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. We are so excited that we even put Marcus' new car seat in my car for this trip to Clinton! We figured he can try it out and get used to riding in it -- and I guess I have to admit that we have a slight hope that we may be able to bring him home to Kansas by the end of this visit. We'll see!

Bryant will fly back to KS on Friday. He has a fishing invitation for the weekend, and he has to report to Fort Leavenworth on Monday the 15th. I am staying in Clinton until the end of June. My Mom may make the drive back to KS with me.

Stay tuned for highlights of our trip! We look forward to seeing friends and family and hopefully introducing Marcus to some of you during this trip.