As the World Turns

I seem to remember my mom singing a line or two from a song  called Stop the World--I Wanna Get Off. Sometimes I feel this way. 

Not that I want to leave the earth--just slow down the rotations a bit. Do you feel this way too?

Time is flying by. 

So much has transpired since I last checked in with all of you here on my corner of the interwebs.

Two major events have happened in the last few weeks:

1. We have a new baby! Head over to our Facebook page to meet him!

2. Jasmine has flown the coop. She has taken a big step on the journey of her life. She is leaving my nest.  Any cliches I'm missing?

 Jasmine will turn 18 in September and is ready to get started on college. Of course there are many things to do between now and then--ID, job applications, placement tests, etc. etc.

Saying goodbye was hard for Jasmine. She has been in Africa since she was 6 years old. It is truly her home.

Our munchkins: Peter, Moriah, Denny and Nathan

She spent time hanging out with the kids and letting them know how much she loved them.

Henry took her leaving very hard. He has a sensitive soul, and he has been with us since he was 5 months old. Jasmine has been his big sister for 5 years. As we were leaving he sobbed his little heart out--which broke all of ours in two.

Jasmine with Catherine (L) and Majory (R)--nannies who have been with us for years

The orphanage will be very different without Jasmine helping with so many of the day to day details.

The biggest kids and Dorcas, Brenda and Peter saying goodbye to Jasmine

We do know though that she is on to bigger and better things. I can't wait to see what God has in store for her!

Before leaving Zambia, our family took a day to relax in Lusaka and build some more memories. More about that tomorrow. And then Jasmine and I flew out to a very exotic location on our way to Houston. More about that soon.