Four days to go - and counting....

Well...after over a year of planning we are finally here. Hannah and John leave at 7am on Saturday morning for New York. I sorted out her clothes yesterday. Today I have to think about her toys and what she might like to take with her. What does a 6 year old like to play with when she has Manhattan at her doorstep? Which Barbie goes with that?

So here's where we are at. Hope Air (national charity that flies children and a family member somewhere for medical treatment) are flying John and Hannah to Newark via Westjet - so are flight costs are covered. They are staying at a studio apartment across the street from the hospital that is owned and operated by an organization called Forward Face, they work with children and their families affected by facial differences. They have the apartment confirmed thru the 11th of October and we are waiting to hear if we have it for the whole time they are in New York. Variey Club is covering our cost of accomodation - up to $5000 - and our apartment is $85 a night, so that all works out well. We raised enough money for me to go twice to New York to visit Hannah and John. The first time is from the 14th -18th of Sept. before she has her surgery, which means I can go with Hannah to some of her pre-surgical appointments. And then from the 9th-14th of Oct. the kids and I are going to go spend Thanksgiving in New York with John and Hannah. All very exciting. We are still fairly amazed at how God has answered our prayers. Here we are days before leaving and we are not having to sweat it out about money - God has just been so kind to us. Thanks everyone who has prayed for us! We really appreciate it.

Also very exciting is that Hannah went to get a new haircut yesterday and for the first time ever she now has bangs - she looks completely adorable. She spend a great deal of time in front of the mirror yesterday checking herself out!

We would just ask for prayer at this point for the next four days as Hannah has to say goodbye to her school friends and to grade one which she only gets to go to for 4 days. That you would pray for the apartment that John and Hannah would be able to stay there through to October 25 when they are scheduled, at this point, to fly home. Also that it would all work out for Dr. Pocock to come to New York to be trained in this procedure! The New York people are being a bit funny about this at the moment -so we really pray that that works out. And finally for the other kids that they would be strengthened by God's love and compassion as they say goodbye to their Dad and sister for a long time. Thanks. We'll keep you updated.