Greetings from Scotland!

Yes, we are here! The moment we have been waiting for since God called Don has finally come to pass. The journey that began 5 years ago has led us to this - home.  Five years ago God called Don to Scotland. Two years ago we began our deputation travels and now here we are.
We began this week with our last Sunday service at our home church. Pastor preached a special service and afterwards he and the officers of the church prayed over Don. He then read the passage from Acts 13. One verse he particularly emphasized, verse 3 "...and laid their hands on them, they sent them away" After the service we had a dinner. Don preached the evening message.
Monday was hectic. Packing was quite a chore. We bought one new suitcase that was bigger, but I had to send Don out to get another one. I packed those bags to nearly bursting. I was afraid they were over the weight limit which they were. We did get everything packed and by the end of the day I was very tired. Don did a great job of keeping the kids out of the way.
Tuesday I was up early and we literally shoved in the remaining last minute items. Pastor Martin and a few people from church came by and we prayed together. Then off we went at about 10:30.
Let me say now, it is very difficult to travel as far as we did with 3 little ones!!! :) Our first stop was Chicago. I'm glad we had changed our flight and had 3 hours there, because we needed it. We had to go through security again and then make it all the way to Terminal 5 before our gate closed. It was nice that on the long flight they let families go first. One thing that was hard with ours being so small is that Don and I carried all the carry-on luggage. We didn't have much, but what little we did have made it quite a chore. :) They did do very well though. Kathy had a short crying spell when we arrived in Dublin because we had  to wake her up so she could walk off the plane. As soon as she was in her stroller again she was fine. Tip: if you're traveling with an infant and toddler, take a baby carrier/sling and an umbrella stroller. By putting Audrey in the carrier, my hands were free to push Kathy in the stroller. There were a few stressful moments, but all in all it went pretty well. Much better than the disaster I was expecting.
And now we are here!  The kids napped on the back from the airport. They went to bed early and didn't wake til 10:30 and 11 am!! I think as far as time we're doing good on recovery.
Today we went to Arbroath along the North Sea for some fish and chips. They were the best!!! 
Tomorrow we head up to Tain. After we have lunch with the Cashners we will go to our house! Please pray as we hunt for furniture. We want to be able to find some quality items that will last, but for a decent price.
Sometimes it seems like we're just visiting. I think it'll take a few weeks being in our own home to really sink in.  I'm looking forward to settling in and getting acquainted with the shops and people. I've already been trying to tell Harry and Kathy some of the different words to use. They find it fun.
Tonight Harry prayed: "And Lord help us to bless the people that they all get saved!" Amen!

The last days...

A lot of things have happened since I last blogged. With minor delays and much frustration we completed the paperwork for our visas and sent them off. Within a few days we heard from them that we had not sent our marriage certificate. Now this at first seemed to be somewhat of a problem., since our license was on it's way across the Atlantic on a big boat.  Then I remembered that I could request a certified copy by mail. We sent out the request overnight and received that within a few days. That had to be sent overnight to New York. They received that this past Monday and a week before our departure we received our passports with our visas. We have seen God's hand throughout this process.  It's amazing how quickly everything came together. Sometimes it seemed that with every paper or process we completed we were met with another obstacle, but in the end we simply needed to trust God to bring it all about on time. These past two months of getting everything together to apply we have definitely been tested and learned patience again and again.
Now the wait is almost over. In two days we board a plane to the place God desires us to be. I don't know what lies ahead for us, but I pray that whatever we do, wherever God leads us that we do all to glorify Him.
Today is Sunday, our last Sunday in our home church for a while.  We leave loved ones behind and we will miss them! We had a special commissioning service with a dinner afterwards.
We've been granted a 3 year visa which is the longest time frame they give. The kids are excited about going. I don't think they understand the time frame we will be gone. They know it will be a long time,  but I wonder when they will begin to ask if they can visit nana and papa, or Oma and Opa.
I'm ready to get into my house and buy furniture. Don can't wait to just finally be there.
"And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, THEY SENT THEM AWAY." Acts 13:3 KJB

Look who's 1 month old

New Title

So, the time has come to make a change. I don't know if I'll remain with the title, but for now I've renamed the blog mwinscotland.blogspot.com. In case you're wondering, mw stands for missionary wife. In about 3 weeks we embark on a new adventure. Our 'first term' as missionaries in Scotland will begin. While I will miss our family and church people, I am looking forward to the move and what God has for us over there!

She's home!

In order for Audrey to come home she had to meet some goals. These four goals were: Don and I take a CPR class, pass her Echo, PA/Lat x-ray, and car seat trial. I was able to schedule a CPR class for Friday the 17th. Wednesday morning her nurse, Kim, calls me and says she was able to reschedule our class since Audrey would most likely be released on Thursday. So we took our  class Wednesday afternoon. By that evening she had her car seat trial and Echo.  The next morning early she had her x-ray and by 11 they said we could come get her.  We still waited around the hospital another 1 1/2, but eventually we were on our way home.
We are so glad to have our little bundle finally with us.The kids love having her home.  They're always wanting to touch her , hold her or look at her. Occasionally Kathy will get upset if she can't constantly be looking at her.
She's been home a week now and is doing great. Since she was constantly sleeping on an incline at the hospital we have found this is the way she sleeps best.
She had a follow-up appointment on Thursday and they said she looks really good. We'll be seeing them once more before we leave for Scotland. At that visit they will give us a copy of her medical history along with a DVD of her Echo. Then when we get to Scotland we can have a family doctor refer us to a cardiologist to continue her care. For the first year she'll need to be seen every few months and then just once a year after that.
Our paperwork is falling into place. Everything is taking place much quicker than anticipated. I know we were a little concerned with the time frame to get her birth certificate, sscard, passport and then apply for our visas. But God knew that and has supplied everything speedily.
To begin with I thought I'd have to apply for her certificate by mail and then it would take a few days to receive it. When I went to the courthouse to get it notarized they told me I could get it right there. Audrey's sscard came in a lot sooner than we expected. Then we just had to get her passport. At the courthouse they told us they didn't take infant photos there. We had to go to Sears. When we came back there was a different lady waiting on us and she explained that they can only expedite it in 2-3 weeks time. But if we went up to the cities we'd have it in 3-5 days. That was what we wanted. We waited til the next day to go. We got that taken care of very quickly and were told it would be in by Saturday or Monday at the latest. We received it Friday!! 
With all of her things now taken care of we sent the last of the paperwork to our sponsor. Soon we will get our sponsor number and next week we will be able to begin the visa process. Within a week or two we could have our visas!!  And in 4 weeks we leave for Scotland!!!!
Don also called the airline and added Audrey to our tickets. What's nice is that Kathy and I will be sitting behind the bulkhead. I'll have use of a bassinet for Audrey during the longer flight.
We've accomplished much this past week.  We're just counting down the days til we get home. :)

Finally!!

no breathing tube!!

Sunday morning at 7:45 AM we received a call from the hospital. They were going to remove the breathing tube!!  We were able to go up and visit shortly before 1 o'clock. Sure enough she was breathing tube-free!!  It had been 5 hours since the removal, so it was time to begin her feedings.  She was very hungry. They told me it was okay to go ahead and nurse her right away.  Audrey did so well!!! And mommy was certainly thrilled. :) I was half afraid she wouldn't take to it so quickly. We took the kids up last night. They hadn't seen her since Wednesday. We didn't really want to take them up while she still had the breathing tube in. Harry looked at Audrey a little bit and then began circling the room and asking about everything. You'd hear him say things like, 'What does this do?,' 'Look a computer!,' 'Why are you doing that?'  Kathy was content to look at Audrey. We didn't stay very long and when we left Kathy, again, was not very happy. She wanted to keep looking at her baby sister. It'd be nice if she always has such an affection for Audrey. :) They told me today she ate  pretty good through the night and she's been having good diapers. Today she nursed really well again.  All in all the weekend has been very nice. Tomorrow or the next day they hope to see the chest tubes and some of the other IVs come out. Then she'd only have one IV left that checks her blood pressure and allows them to draw blood without sticking her foot every time. Some of the goals before she goes home are: CPR class for Don and I, chest front and side x-ray, echo, and car seat trial. We may have our baby girl home by this weekend!

Update on Audrey

Well, we are hoping today is the day they remove the breathing tube. She is doing well, but there are a few things that have taken place that have prevented the removal of the breathing tube.  They aren't really setbacks because they are things that can be expected to happen sometimes because of surgery. The second day she was still a little puffy so it was delayed then. Today one of her lungs deflated a little so they are doing some therapy. This afternoon they will do another chest ultrasound and possibly move forward with the removal later this afternoon. These delays keep pushing off her ability to begin feedings again which also pushes off her return home. She's had the surgery so all we want now is for her to be able to come back home with us. But we don't want her coming home before she's ready. Other than these little happenings they say all looks positive. She's mainly sleeping, but with just enough sedation to allow her to still move around a little. Day by day she is losing the tubes and IVs. It's nice to go in to see her and find something else removed. Yesterday she turned a week old.

1 week old, the day after surgery

I'll be thinking of a different name for the blog soon. We're not on the road anymore and we are not living out of a minivan. Something that would be fitting for us living in Scotland. We'll see...