Three days and counting!

Three days until we leave for Ghana! Lots to do...

Early this morning, Erik and I got up and bundled the kids in the van to start their trip through the Smokies and on to a meeting point outside Nashville, TN. They were all happy and excited to be going to see their "cousins" in Arkansas. (Not real cousins, but very good friends!) I hear from Erik that they did great and the transfer to the cousins' car was uneventful...although E did get a little clingy towards the end. Erik should be home around 7 - in time to join me at Supper Club

Here's a peek at their stuff. On the far left is there box of school work and games. In the middle is the "goody box" - little gifts for all the kids to enjoy and some Valentine's Day gifts, too. And of course their three suitcases.











Today, I've enjoyed a very quiet house. Put away all the lovely shower gifts, finally, and straightened up the girls' room. Still have to hang a shelf, but Erik will help with that. :) Cleaned up the house a bit - hoping to get it all nice and neat before we leave. Made copies of all our important documents - 1 copy to leave here with friends, 1 copy for the checked baggage, and of course the originals will be in our carry on.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some photos of the girls' room:

So, you want to see what my impressive packing prowess? Look at our carry ons!

Here's what we managed to fit in here:

- an electric tea kettle (for boiling drinking water and water for bottles) - takes up half the smaller bag!
- a travel pillow
- a travel umbrella
- an extra pair of shoes a piece
- my sun hat, Erik's baseball hat
- all our "unmentionables" and socks
- laundry supplies (bungee cord line, sink stopper, small pack of detergent)
- 10 or so diapers (5 ea of two diff sizes)
- 1 bottle and some liners
- 1 bullet thermos (stuffed with tubes of powdered formula)
- small flashlight
- electric converter and plug adapters
- baby wrap (carrier)
- 5 or 6 baby outfits (couple diff sizes)
- a couple onesies (diff. sizes)
- few pairs of baby socks (diff. sizes)
- all of Erik's clothes for the trip (pants, shorts, 4-5 tops)
- most of my clothes (pants, capris, skirt, 4-5 tops)
- all our medications and such
- bibs, 2 receiving blankets (various uses)
- a very special bunny (Hi, Dear Neighbor!)
- probably some other stuff I'm forgetting!

We are also carrying on a backpack (with our ziplock baggies of liquids, books, camera, IDs and such, another travel pillow) and a laptop bag (with laptop, our file of adoption paperwork - well, not all of our paperwork - that would fill a suitcase).

Tomorrow we work on the checked baggage. While we aren't taking much more in the way of clothes, we do have lots of "stuff" to pack in there. I think we could whittle it down to 1 bag if we had to, but we really will need extra room to bring home gifts and momentos (and lots of Ghanaian clothes for the family!). There are many things we are taking over that will be left behind (gifts and such) or used up (formula, diapers)...so I think we'll do fine!