Just a little something to tide you over...

The Boyds are home!

Hi all, Amber here. We are back from Addis and so totally exhausted. Ayana is absolutely amazing. Our lives are changed forever by Ayana and the people of Ethiopia.

After I get some rest I will blog and post pictures. I am not making a lot of sense right now.

Thank you all for your prayers and support! Mostly, thank you to Lindsay for taking care of literally everything while we were gone. I appreciate you so much!

Countdown to Landing!

Sorry I didn't do a post last night after Savvy and I called them again but they were have asleep during our short conversation so there wasn't much to report. They were just about out of minutes on their cell phone so we didn't have much time to talk. Right now they are just getting off of a plane in Dubai after a four hour flight. They landed at 12:35 on Friday and it's just after 1 AM their time now. they will leave Dubai at 9:0%am and be on a plane for 17 hours...yeah, 17 hours...and then land in Houston on Friday at 4pm our time. Then they get on their last plane in Houston and they will be home late Friday! Savvy and I will be anxiously waiting their arrival with camcorders and cameras in hand and ready to embrace the newest member of the Boyd Family in hugs and kisses!

Finally an update!

When I got home from work yesterday, Savvy and I called Amber and Rick but we woke them up because it was about 2 AM over there. Opps! We didnt talk so we let them go back to sleep. I just got off the phone with them this morning to get an update because everyone is calling, sending text messages and emailing asking me how they are doing. Anyway, I called and Rick answered. You could hear Amber and Ayana playing. Rick said they were trying to get their airlime tickets upgraded because the airlines lost the two donation bins. The airlines called them and said they found the bins but when Amber & Rick got to the airport to get the donations to take to the orphanage, they only thing left of the bins were the two lids! Amber & Rick are very upset about the whole ordeal especially since there were some important donations that the orphanage really needed. They visited the orphanage again today and Amber said that the kids there still have chicken pox. They have had an outbreak of them for a while now but they are still surprised that chicken pox is still a problem. Another reason the donations were needed!

Ayana still has a cold and a runny nose and she now has an ear infection. Amber said that she is otherwise a very happy baby. They put her on the phone and she was cooing and making other noises. It was precious!


They both said they are ready to come home. They have Ayana'a visa, medical records and all other needed documentation. They are just waiting to get on a plane. They will stay one more night and then start heading back Thursday afternoon and be back home on Friday night. When Savannah gets home from school, Amber said to call them even though we will wake them up so I will update the blog again tonight after we talk to them. That's all for now!

Greetings from Ethiopia!

As soon as I was getting out of bed and coming downstairs to eat some cereal, the phone rang and it was Amber!!! I was getting worried because I haven't heard from them yet. Anyway, we were talking and after 2 minutes we got disconnected. I called her back and the connection was still bad but were we able to talk. There is like a 3second delay so it's hard to have a conversation! They were able to get Ayana on Saturday after some manuevering and they said she is wonderful. Amber said she is so small and that all of the clothes they brought are too big for her. She is nine months old but is wearing six month clothing. She is a healthy weight but just small. She has a chest cold and a snotty nose and Amber thinks she may have scabies but other than that, she is super! Amber and Rick said they are already crazy about her and they sounded so giddy over the phone. Amber was happy to tell me that Rick changed the first poopy diaper and they have had no 'blow outs' to report of. :) Right now it is 9pm on Sunday in Addis and they have their embassy appointment in the morning. Yay!!!!

Birthday Pictures

I haven't heard from them yet but they will be in Addis in the morning! Here's a slideshow of pictures from her birthday last month...

And they're off!

Hello Bloggers! I'm Lindsay and I will be keeping you guys updated on the Boyds while they are in Ethiopia. I dropped them off at the airport this morning and they were grinning from ear to ear with excitement and anticipation! Their flight left at 12:55pm and they just landed in Houston. They have a 4 hour layover in Houston so I'm sure they will catch a nap and relax as they were both running around the house this morning like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get everything in order. Then they will be on a plane for 15 hours until they land in Dubai! Yeah, Amber is going to be driving Rick crazy for the duration of that long flight...That's why they invented Xanax and Ambien! After staying the night in Dubai, they will get back on a plane for 4 hours and they will be in Addis! I'm so excited for them that I could pee my pants! Hang on Ayana, your mommy and daddy are coming to get you as fast as those airplanes will fly!

Is it Christmas?

Rick got an unexpected gift today...I lost my voice. Ha ha!

I can barely talk and I am very congested. I thought I wouldn't feel like this until after I traveled. I went to the doctor 2 days ago but am going to try to get in tomorrow because I have gotten progressively worse. Please pray for Rick and I to be completely healthy so we can travel.

I also got a gift today in the mail. I got a cute notebook to journal in while in Ethiopia and an awesome pair of leopard print shoes for Ayana from Rickey and Jess! I love both! I agree jess, a girl can never have too many shoes. Thank you so much. We love you!

We spent the whole night getting together last minute documents for our embassy apt. and I am going to go to bed now and try to get some sleep before I start a day full of packing.

Only one more day before we leave! Wow! I'm coming sweet Pea!

OMG...

So much to do, so little time! Also, I just remembered that Ayana turned 9 months today!

The Countdown

Travel Dates!

Hi all,
We are excited to announce that we will be traveling next Thursday, Feb. 19th to pick up Ayana. Whoo hoo!!!

We haven't even started to pack yet. We used Susan Parr for travel. They were AMAZING and very FAST!

Thanks Mona for the great travel packet, just in time.

On Feb 16th, Ayana turned 9 months. We look forward to getting to know our sweet pea.

Donations Update

First of all, Savannah is doing much better. She is healing fast! Thanks for all of your prayers!

We have been crazy busy at work and I am trying to prepare donations for our trip to Ethiopia. We haven’t received a travel date yet. I can’t wait to get our sweet pea!

Update on donations:
The orphanage stated that they needed Diaper rash ointment. I will be taking 100 bottles of Resinol Medicated Ointment . This ointment cream is AMAZING! If you haven't tried it, you must! It's hard to find so I would order it online.

INDICATIONS:
• Resinol Medicated Ointment Jar Helps prevent and temporarily protects chafed, chapped, or cracked skin.
• Temporarily relieves pain and itching associated with:
• Minor Burns.
• Sunburn
• Minor Cuts.
• Scrapes.
• Insect Bites
• Minor Skin Irritations.

It obviously does a lot but it also is AWESOME with diaper rash. It clears it up so fast! This will be perfect because they can use it as diaper rash and for other things too!

People in our community have been so great to help with donations.
We will be taking 480 waterproof diaper covers in all different sizes. It seems they have been using some form of plastic bags to cover their cloth diapers. I have seen pictures and it looked like it was painful and hot.

We already sent $1,000 cash donation to the orphanage. It was donated through the executives of Keller Williams Realty. What great guys!

We also got cute little bears (stuffed animals) for all the older kids. They were supposed to be Christmas presents but better late than never. I thought they could use something to cuddle with at night.

We are also taking a few baby carriers and some misc baby stuff like baby wash and powders.

I am not sure how we will get all this stuff on the plane without paying a fortune. As soon as we get our tickets booked, I will call the airline to see what restrictions they have.

That's all for now! I pray we get a travel date soon! Have a great week!

Update on Steve's family

If you have read my blog for a while, you know about Steve. Some time ago, I asked all of you to please pray for him. Steve passed away and is now with our heavenly Father.

I wanted to share with you an amazing story about his family. Go to my other blog to read the story: www.rockwallcares.com

Poor baby...

Savannah was in a cheer competition yesterday and today. I don't know what genius planned the competition on Superbowl Sunday but that is besides the point. My poor baby pulled/tore one of her hamstring muscle. She was doing a toe touch as seen in the photo below and felt a tear. She decided she was well enough to perform on the second day which turned out to be a bad idea. She didn't want to disappoint her teammates. She is a flyer and if she didn't perform, they probably would not be able to go on.
She is a trooper. She performed with great facial expressions and all the while in pain. She did her first tumbling pass and wasn't able to do the rest of the flips at the end because by this time tears were rolling down her face but she was still smiling.
The whole team did amazing but I am so proud of Savannah. At the end of the routine, she went off stage and was crying and in a lot of pain. The medic took care of her. She probably made it worse by performing on it. When they brought her to me, she was very hot. I think she has a fever. She was sad thinking that she let her team mates down. I told her she did awesome and I am so proud.
I took her home. We are icing it every 20 minutes and she is going to try to get some sleep.





These photos were from a month ago but they did the same routine today.