"The Call" and A Few More Pics...

I had just thought to myself, "I should change the ring for the agency, so when they call I will know right away!" Then just minutes later, the phone rang at 3:40pm, Eastern Time, on Monday and I didn't recognize the number. That was all I needed. I was already out of breath from finishing a workout, along with my anticipation did not help my ability to talk at all. As the woman from the agency introduced herself, I quickly looked for a pen and paper in the hotel room. The older kids were playing loudly, and I gestured for them to calm down. The woman began to give details of Ellie, but I was struggling to hear her over the noise of the kids. I put the lock out to keep the door from closing and sat outside the room. As I was listening and writing, Austin followed me out and shut the door behind him. I thought that we would be fine, because Hannah was still inside to let us in. Unfortunately, Hannah decided to come out as well, and there we were stuck outside without a key, Noah sleeping alone inside, two kids still running around and being loud, and me in tears, trying to stay composed for the rest of the phone call!

When the call was over, I headed down to the lobby to ask for a key. The poor woman at the desk must have thought I was panicked with worry over locking myself out of the room, because she walked me down to the room to let me in herself!
Daniel and I had planned to open the emails of the first pictures we saw of her together, so I had to wait the long hour until he returned to the room from class. (Southern is a large campus, and I had no idea where he was meeting because it was the first day of class...or else I would have been waiting outside the door!) The kids were on "Daddy Watch" at the windows and I was able to sprint outside to tell him the news. We immediately headed to the lobby of the hotel, where we met this precious little girl that we had been praying for so long!
Over the last three months while we were on the waiting list, on days when I was a little antsy for adoption news, I would go to the children's home website and pray for the kids pictured in their photo gallery. Little did I know then, that I had been looking at Ellie and praying for her to go home to her family soon every time!

Another cool tidbit, and credit to the sovereignty of God, is that Ellie came to the children's home on our filing date with the INS!