An African Adventure....

This adventure started about two years ago, when Brother Blake and Liss felt that they were being called to adopt a little boy from Africa. They went through all the proper channels, found and fell in love with a little boy 6 weeks old. They thought that they would be able to get him last fall but the Lord had different plans and almost a year later they found themselves all finalized and ready to travel. We were soooo excited...baby Grady was finally going to be coming home. The first leg of their journey found them (Blake, Lissa, Taylor, Ellen & Guela) in Dallas with an unexpected 12 hour layover...but they stayed strong, focused and excited. They finally did get to Ethiopia via London at 5am...they were undecided if they would get up and go to church the next day but finally felt lead that God was calling them there. They arrived at church to be greeted by their new son holding a flower for them....what a miracle!! They were immediately able to take him with them and the bonding began...they were able to spend the rest of the week there....learning about Grady, his culture and meeting tons of wonderful people!! But now it was time to go home. They were ready and we ready to see them!! They boarded the plane and headed out...unfortunately they had to make a quick stop in Sudan to drop off a few passengers...this is where the trouble began...Guela (Shane's mom) fainted on the plane and the flight officials said that she could not continue until she had a doctors clearance....in a short amount of time big decisions were having to be made...who stays? How is this going to work? Well after a few minutes it was decided that Guela would get off the plane accompanied by Ellen (nana, Melissa's mom.) The Grandma's were now stuck in Sudan (not one of the safest countries in the world). Blake, Melissa, Taylor and Grady continued home and arrived without further incident. Guela was taken to a clinic and Ellen to a Hotel. They were only able to see each other one time, but Ellen took charge of the situation and was able to make some calls. After a day, Guela was cleared to leave, but it took a 2am phone call to wire some money to have her released. They were able to get on a flight that took them to Cairo, then to Amsterdam, then to Minnesota, then home. They really felt God at work on each and every leg....he kept them safe in a hostile and foreign land...and he bonded them in a way only he could do! We are so happy that they are all home, that they are all safe and now we all have a Great story on how our God works miracles in mysterious ways!! Here are a couple of pictures of our gathering at Guela's House awaiting her and Ellen's return. Truman, Bryce and Chelsea, hanging out!
Guela's home!! Kali sure missed her and was one of the first one's to give her a hug!!

Crying, laughing and praising God!!

The reason for the Trip!! Grady Asamanew VanDalen!!

Poor Grady...he was still jet lagging...but we had no problem snuggling with him!!!