Thank you for your prayers.  Many of you heard the news that we have been a little worried about the amount of time it was taking to process Caleb’s social security number.  We found out this morning that he had been enumerated, and quickly made our way to the Social Security Administration office here in Massachusetts to get the number.  From there, Dave, Caleb, and I went into Boston to apply in person for his passport.  What an efficient office they have in Boston!  We are pleased to report that it will be ready tomorrow.  We didn’t even have to wait very long.

Tomorrow we are overnighting the passport to the Nigerien embassy so that they can process his visa.  We will really be glad when this whole process is over.

Meanwhile, we have been having a great time visiting our family and friends in Texas and Massachusetts.

Dave and I agree that this was one the best visits we’ve ever had in Texas. I was able to catch up with some friends that I hadn’t seen in years.  It is so wonderful to catch up with them on their joys and sorrows and just to see their faces and really embrace them in person.  I also found it amazing to bring Sam and Nathaniel to places that I loved as a child.

We spent some very sweet time visiting with my Great Aunt Nita in Livingston (East TX).  Her house was a place my family visited several times a year when Laura and I were little.  Being there made me feel a little desperate to see my third cousins that I spent hours playing with in Livingston.  Dave promised Aunt Nita that next time we will stay long enough to visit longer.  I plan to make sure we keep that promise. My Aunt is an amazing woman who has lived through a lot, and I was so happy to be able to sit a while and talk about the people we love and the life that she and we have been living these past two years.  Much has occurred in both of our lives, and we were able to celebrate God’s faithfulness through the good times and the hard times.

From there we traveled to the Egliht family home just a few miles from where I grew up.  All the Eglihts (with the exception of 2 cousins and my sister who I really love and miss) were able to make it to Grandpa’s house for 2.5 days of family fun.  The kids even swam in Grandpa’s pool even though the water was 68 degrees.  This was my first time back to visit since we lost my Grandma in October of 2008.  I missed her voice and her presence the most as I sat in her chair and nursed sweet Caleb.  Since Grandma died, my Grandpa has started attending the Methodist church in his neighborhood.  On Sunday eleven of us went with him to church and filled the row.  I think this will become a family tradition as the kids discovered that donuts and lemonade are offered after church in the fellowship hall.

And now we are here, at Dave’s parents home in Massachusetts.  What a joy it is to be with his family.  The cousins have been playing and we’re all excited about Dave’s younger brother and his family who arrive tomorrow night.

I hope to take a moment and post some pictures over the next few days of our Johansson fun, but I wanted to get the word out that Caleb’s paperwork is moving along.  We are now very hopeful that we will all be able to travel together to Niger on April 17th as planned.

Happy Easter week!  Spring is coming, and we are so excited about all that God is doing.