Today!

Home at last!

It has been a whirlwind of a week for me and I am glad to report that it has come to a wonderful ending. Ella and I ran around today trying to make sure everything was ready to go when Lorri and Elias walked in the door. Lorri's mom and dad have been a great help to me this week! They came over today and helped me get the house in order as I finished putting the finishing touches on Eli's room. The flight was to arrive at 5:15pm so Ella and I left extra early to make sure that we were there on time. The anticipation killed us as we sat at the airport and waited for the airplane to arrive. We checked the flight board and it said that the airplane had landed so Ella and I ran over as close as we could get to the security point and waited for Lorri, Eli and Sherry to get off of the airplane. Several people got off and there was a lady that came up to me that just got off of the plane and said, "Elias is beautiful!" Here we go again with this "beautiful" stuff! I asked her if he by chance had a baseball in his hand on the flight home....just kidding! After a few more minutes, Lorri, Eli and Sherry came walking around the corner and...WOW...He is BEAUTIFUL! After a long hug with Lorri, Ella and Eli, I took a quick moment to thank God for bringing us together as a family and giving me two amazing children from China and Ethiopia. Thank you so much for following our journey to Elias. It has been a wonderful journey and I truly can't believe he is asleep upstairs RIGHT NOW...I just hope he is dreaming of baseballs and pin stripes. Here are a few pictures that Lorri took while she was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Eli is on his way and Ella is a Pre-K Grad!

Lorri called me a few mornings ago (2am) and said that they had completed all of the paperwork and since Elias was not feeling well (ear infection she thinks) she thought that it may be best if they came back a couple of days early. I told Lorri that I thought it was a great idea and that it would have been even better had she told me at an hour when I could comprehend what she was telling me. I took some quick notes and contacted the travel agency and had her return flights changed. So with that being said, Lorri, Eli and Sherry are in the air as I type and should be in Nashville tomorrow evening. Ella was so happy to hear that Lorri, Eli and Aunt Sherry would be back two days early. She can't wait to meet her brother and snuggle with mama.

Other major events...Ella graduated today from her preschool! It was a beautiful ceremony and Ella was so cute in her cap and gown. I can't believe that she is going to kindergarten next year!

I will update the blog probably one more time once Lorri returns and then I will hand the blogging back over to her. It has been fun blogging...I love to take pictures of Ella and now I will have Eli to take pictures of, so I may be creating my own blog...stay tuned.

Elias is a MAST!!!

Sorry that I have not posted in a few days. I have not had much information to post. Lorri emailed me and said that she is having trouble with her phone service so she was able to email me and let me know that they are doing well. She said that it was also very difficult to send pictures because of how long it takes to send them. She said that she tried and it was taking forever and she did not have much time to wait. She is going to make another attempt tomorrow.

Lorri called me today while I was in a seminar at Lipscomb University and told me that Elias was a Mast! She said that the visa appointment was wonderful and Elias is a very precious baby. She says that he is responding to his name and is very happy. She is in LOVE! I could hear him squealing when I was talking to her on the phone...it was music to my ears. Elias has a runny nose and is a little congested but does not appear to have a problem eating since he is eating about every three hours. She told me to get ready to take over when she gets home...for some odd reason I think she is referring to the night shift.

Lorri and Sherry ventured out some the other day and did a tour of the city of Addis Ababa and went to the Lion Zoo. She said that the lions were HUGE! They have been eating wonderful food and drinking the most amazing coffee every morning.

That is about all of the information that she gave me today so I will post pictures when she sends them or at least update when she emails or calls.

They made it to Ethiopia.

I went to bed last night knowing that my wife was somewhere over the ocean and still had a long flight ahead of her. After I tossed and turned most of the night, Ella woke up at 5:50am and at that exact moment was ready to mark the day off of the calendar that Lorri left for her. She was also itching to find the first of 8 days of hidden gifts that Lorri left for her. I made an unsuccessful attempt to get her to go back to sleep and then I remembered that I set the coffee timer in case of an early riser.

Ella and I went to church and after church Ella decided it was a Chinese buffet kind of a day so I took her up on her desire. I didn't think that I would hear from Lorri until well after lunch because her flight was not set to arrive in Ethiopia until 7pm Ethiopian time (12pm our time). We were walking out of the restaurant and my cell phone went off. It was Lorri calling me at 12:10pm and I could tell by her voice that something was not so good. She said that their driver was not at the airport. I told her to say put and I would make some phone calls and call her back (so glad I put the international plan on our cell phones). I tried every number I had and realized that it was a Sunday on Memorial Day weekend, and I was wasting my time. Lorri called me back and said that she was with several other families and her ride was on the way. She called me back about an hour later and said that they made it to the House of Hope and the director took her straight to Elias. Lorri said that Elias was asleep when she first saw him and the director picked him up and handed him to her. She said that he opened his beautiful eyes and stared at her for a few moments and then wrapped his little hand and arms around her and would not let her go. She said that he is beautiful! I quickly asked her if she could change her terminology around my son...and she again said that he was just beautiful. I asked her if she would just throw in a few words like, baseball, fastball, slider, homerun, and maybe even toss a baseball into his crib so he can begin working on his finger placements. Of course I am kidding ( not about the baseball comments, though)...I am sure he is very beautiful! Lorri said that all of the children and people at the HOH were so precious and kind. She said that she was greeted with hugs from everyone and was so excited to finally be in Ethiopia. We were not able to talk long but she did say that she was able to take a few pictures during her first visit with Eli and hoped to have them sent tomorrow. I will continue to update as I get information and pictures. Please continue to pray for Lorri, Sherry and Eli.

We miss mama already!!!

Oh what a day! It has been about 10 hours since Lorri flew out of Nashville International bound for Ethiopia (more on that later) and Ella and I already miss her terribly. Here are just a few of my top reasons for missing her thus far:

1) I am now in charge of updating this "blog" thing. Lorri gave me a crash course late last night and told me to keep it updated. I had to remind her that I could create a lovely Excel spreadsheet but had no earthly idea how to even sign in to a blog let alone create, update and upload to it.

2) Ella has informed me time after time today that, "Mama does that better than you or if mama were here..." The latest time was when I was reading her a book before we said our prayers; Mama reads books better than you, dad. I could not argue at all with that because Lorri can bring any book to life and at any hour of the day. I guess that is why she is a fabulous teacher!

3) I looked at my watch and noticed that it was 6:30pm and Ella asked me if we were going to eat dinner...ooops! I quickly ran into the kitchen and whipped up a delicious meal consisting of noodles. Before I gave Ella her plate of noodles, I began feeling like Lorri was somehow watching me so I got creative and cooked a bag of frozen orange chicken stir-fry. Ella came running in the kitchen and said that something smelled really good! Wheew...only 8 more days!

As I said before, we took Lorri and Sherry (sister-in-law) to the airport today at 10:30am and checked all of their luggage and then came the hard part of telling Lorri that we would see her in 8 days. Lorri has only been away from Ella 1 night since she was placed in our arms in Guangzhou, China over 4 years ago. This was a very emotional time for all of us!

Lorri called from Dulles Airport (Washington D.C.)and said that the first leg of her trip almost didn't happen. The first reason was because the airplane had to be fixed before they could leave and the second reason was because she nearly had an anxiety attack from the plane being extremely small, filled to capacity and had no air conditioning. Did I mention she was assigned the back seat? She said that after she knocked her head on the ceiling a few times from the turbulance, she was fine. After their layover in DC, they departed for Rome. After a stop in Rome, they will be headed for Ethiopia.

As I type this, Lorri is several thousand miles over the water heading toward a little 6 month old boy from Ethiopia that has no clue how lucky he is to have a mama like Lorri a few short hours away from...forever!

It's Official!

Yesterday, we learned that we had been approved in court and that Elias was officially our son. Thanks so much to all of you who were praying for us. Your prayers were heard and were answered. God continues to bless our family, and we are so humbled by His grace and mercy.

So, a little about what happened: Our actual court date was May 8, but I was a little unsure of what that actually meant in regard to ET time. They are ahead of us, so I wasn't sure if we'd hear something yesterday or would have to wait until Monday. I got to school and had no air in my room. By third period, it was almost unbearable. My students were cranky, I was on pins and needles, and my computer was SLOW. Every free second I had during each class period, I would refresh my email to see if anything had come through. Most of the other families were at "normal" jobs where they could sit at their desks and check regularly. Oh, to have one of those jobs yesterday :-) After 3 periods of checking email, checking my phone, checking email again, I got a text from Brian...and I missed it!!! I got a voicemail from our ET program director....and I missed it!!!!! Needless to say, our director called Brian since she couldn't get in touch with me, and Brian texted me to tell me that we had been approved!!!!!!! Were were in the middle of class change when both messages came through. There was nothing normal about yesterday, but it ended up being one of the most wonderful days of my life. Wow! A son!! I've waited a very long time to say that. This is the first picture we received of him at 2 months: This picture was taken by my friend Angie who recently traveled to pick up her son. He's a few days shy of 6 months in this picture: We are waiting to find out when we travel. It could be as soon as two weeks from today which is slightly frightening since I'm NOT packed. But believe me, if they say go, I'll go. I can't wait to get my hands on that precious baby. I'll try to continue to post regularly for those of you who are following our journey. Please keep us in your prayers!!

Tomorrow is the DAY!!

Tomorrow is our court date in Ethiopia. Our representative will be there for us and will hopefully be able to deliver good news. If all goes well, Elias will be officially ours tomorrow. I'll be able to finally post a picture of him for all of you to see. WOW! I've waited so long to do that.

Yesterday, I received the best gift. I opened up my email around lunch time to find a video of Elias. I cannot even begin to tell you how it felt to see him in "real time" for the very first time. I was floored when I realized what it was. What a precious, precious child he is. He's changed quite a bit since his 2 month pictures, and he appears to have gained quite a bit of weight. Oh, and his little smile...it took my breath away. We all gathered around the computer last night and watched it over, and over, and over. He was on his belly and kicked his feet and propped himself up like he was superman instead of a 6 month old. What a cutie!! We are SO in love with him already. Ella is over the moon and can't wait for him to be home.

Pretty soon, we'll be a family of four. Can't wait!

Feeling Blessed

Ok, so two posts in 24 hours...shocking, I know! Last night as I was washing the covers for all of the little things that 7 month old babies need, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I could hear Ella in the bath tub talking to Brian and as I sat in the middle of what will be little Eli's room, I was reminded of just how awesome our God is. Our children were born worlds apart from each other and from us and by God's grace, their little lives met up with Brian and me. Wow! That can only be because of God. I believe that God calls us ALL to different things, and we respond accordingly. I feel so humbled and so honored to belong to Ella and Elias.

Something random before I sign out...Ella has become quite the little photographer. Here's a pic she took of Brian and me on Easter Sunday.

Birthday, Sea World...and a BROTHER!

I know, I know, it's been a little while since I've posted. How embarrassing :-) We've been slightly busy around the Mast house. Someone turned five, we took a birthday trip to Sea World, and oh, we found out we have a son/brother. So, there's been just a FEW things going on.

We cannot believe that Ella is FIVE! All of those things you "older" people told us about the time flying by, well, you were right. Where in the world did it all go? We celebrated in style, or should I say "bouncy" style, at the Jump U. This was Ella's choice, so we were happy to oblige. It was really a ton of fun. The kids had a blast, and it was good to be with all of the parents, too. Her cake was a castle that she saw in a book. We gave the picture to a lady who makes cakes at Ella's preschool, and boy did she do a fantastic job. Here's a picture:

Also for Ella's birthday, we took her to Sea World. We saved our change and had enough to go during spring break. It was really tons of fun. I think she may have enjoyed it even more than Disney. Ella loves animals, and this was really an amazing experience for her. Here she is with daddy waiting to feed the dolphins:

We also went to the beach and a spring training game to watch the Mets vs. the Braves. Wow! That was really a lot of fun for daddy...not so much for Ella, though. She enjoyed it for a while but once the cotton candy, peanuts and coke wore off, well, you can imagine.
The beach was incredible, and we actually got to spend two days there.

Most of you know we are adopting again. On January 20, 2009, we learned that we have a son waiting for us in Ethiopia. He is the sweetest thing you've ever seen! We can't wait to share his picture with everyone. Our court date is coming up this week, so if all goes well and we are approved, we'll be able to post pictures. Stay tuned!! My sister-in-law, Sherry, will be traveling with me. We will have to spend about 6 days in country, so the whole trip will be about 8 days. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. We'll be posting on our blog from Ethiopia, so be sure to check back. Thanks for your prayers.

Happy Gotcha Day!

We celebrated our 4th "Gotcha Day" with Ella on Sunday, January 11. Gotcha Day or Forever Family Day is known in the adoption community as the day that a child becomes a part of his or her forever family. This is such a special day, and it's sometimes even more celebrated than birthdays. Ella loves to hear her "birth" story, so we spent much of Sunday telling and retelling how we met. It was such a special day. She had a fever most of the weekend but still had enough energy to join the festivities (which is usually the case for children when presents are involved). She gets to pick where we eat, and then she always gets a special present from a collection that we purchased while in China as well as something else that she's maybe wanted for a while. This year, we gave her the chop we had made for her while in China. It's a beautiful piece of carved marble, with her name in both English and Chinese carved into the bottom. There's also a ladybug and dragonfly carved on both sides of her name. It's a stamp that she can use on envelopes etc. It came in a very special box with an ink well, also. We've waited a long time to give it to her. When she opened it, she took in a deep breath and said, "Oh, mama!" It was very sweet. Of course the breath was much deeper when she opened the DS that she's wanted for a while :-) We enjoyed being together, as always, and will continue to treasure these celebrations. Here are a few pics from the day:

Finally...I am posting (Allison!)

I know, I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I've found something new, and it's called Facebook. It's really quite terrible because it's like the black hole of time. You can be on FB for an hour and it feels like just a few minutes. It's so interesting, though, to see how many people are actually on Facebook. Seriously, stay away if you haven't fallen into the pit already :-)

Christmas at the Mast house was truly wonderful this year. It's been amazing each year, but this year seemed especially special. We enjoyed just hanging out as a family and really getting to know each other all over again. Ella talked our ears off, ate way too much candy, and stayed up WAY past her bed time every night; HOWEVER, it was such fun!! This picture was taken Christmas Eve. It was SO fun watching her prepare for Santa's visit. The first line of Ella's letter to Santa said, "Dear Santa, you rock!" That's her new phrase!
And of course, Santa did totally rock! Ella's Gotcha Day is Sunday, so we are gearing up for that. It's hard for some people to understand why we make a big deal about this day. For us, this was Ella's BIRTH DAY. We celebrate her birthday in March, but "Gotcha" is the day we became a family. That day is a day that we won't EVER forget, so it's important for us to share it together each year. Geez...I can't believe a year has gone by already!! We hope you are all doing well and are safe. Happy New Year!

Pumpkin Pickin' and Halloween Fun

We've had a great time this year with all of the fall activities you experience with a four year old. What a great age this is (unless it's bedtime)!! We SO enjoy doing things as a family, so picking pumpkins and trick-or-treating are right up our alley. Ella has really embraced the fall spirit and has been way more into the festivities this year. It's been a little difficult getting her to understand that the pumpkin we carved can't just stay out until next year, though. Her little mind can't grasp 365 days. She really just lives for the here and now. I'm sure that there's a lesson for her daddy and mama there somewhere :-) Here are a few pics of her at a local pumpkin patch...oh, what fun we had!
For Halloween, Ella dressed up as Snow White. Now, I know I'm probably biased, but I've got to tell you that I'm pretty sure you haven't seen a cuter Snow White than my sweet girl (unless, of course, it was your own child). Let me tell you, she played the role perfectly. Her little neighbor friend told her that she looked just like Snow White. Well, just take a look for yourself:
Seriously, have you ever seen such? Daddy is going to have a big problem when she turns 16 (or 35 if he has his way). She'll have a brother to take care of her, too. She says that Eli is in her heart, by the way; I can't tell you how sweet that is to hear. Both of my children have grown in my heart, and I wouldn't trade that for all of the money in the world, or for anything else for that matter. I read on another blog recently that there's no greater gift from God than giving birth. I'd have to say that there's no greater gift than children...period...regardless of how they get here. Sorry to get off task there, but I'm just so blessed, and I have to shout that out every now and then. Anyway, if you beg to differ about Ella being the cutest Snow White you've ever seen, you can take that up with Papa Bear (aka Brian Mast).

Veggie Tales Live

We took Ella to see Veggie Tales Live. She loved every minute of it. It was very loud, so I thought for sure she wouldn't like that part; however, she hung right in there and danced and sang with the best of them. Of course she had to have a "glow wand", and I'm pretty sure if you asked her she'd say that was the best part. Here are a few pics from the night:



Update on our adoption...the courts in Ethiopia just reopened after a very long rainy season. It's kind of funny to think that we are planning our lives around another country's rainy season, but we definitely are. Anyway, the wait is still 6-10 months, and we've been waiting around 5 months. Since we were very specific in the age range we've requested (0-6 months), it may take a little longer. We COULD have a referral by Christmas, but I'm thinking more like January. The referral is when we get a picture of our son and all his medical information. Typically, you travel 2 months after referral. Since Brian is going to Africa by himself (yes, you heard that correctly), we are hoping it will be close to spring break. Please continue to pray for us as we journey down this path.

Diving Dreams and Back to School

I feel like I'm always apologizing for being behind in my posts, but life happens and all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of September. We are all back in school, including mama. My position at CHI was eliminated, and I had to return to teaching. I'm at a great school and am once again teaching language arts to middle school students. I'd forgotten how much I really do love teaching language arts, so it's all worked out for the best. It will be nice to share our summers together and to have days off together throughout the year. Here's a picture of Ella's first day of school.
Since the Olympics, Ella has been talking a lot about being a diver. She was glued to the tv when the diving events were on. She told us one night that she needed to eat her dinner in front of the tv because she "couldn't miss diving." This obsession has gotten a little more serious lately. Just a few days ago, I heard a very loud thumping noise. It sounded a little like someone "landing" on my hard wood floors. I yelled down from upstairs, "Ella, what are you doing?" She responded with, "I don't know." That was my clue that I needed to investigate. I snuck into the living room to find her in a peculiar position on the ottoman. She had her knees bent and her arms out at her sides. I asked her what she was doing, and she said that she was practicing her dives. After my blood pressure went down a little (I"m thinking that she might actually be diving into the floor), I asked her to demonstrate. In a very nice, fluid move, she gracefully jumped to the floor. I'm kind of wondering now if she really might have a career in this. Here's a picture of her in the tub with her goggles (she thinks she might like to be a swimmer, also):
I'll leave you with a funny story. When Ella and Brian went to the dentist last week, the dentist asked Ella how many teeth she has. This was one of those questions that really wasn't supposed to be answered; you know what I mean. However, Ella looked at him and said, "Twenty primary teeth." She's right and after everyone recovered from shock, the visit went on as planned. Who know where she comes up with this stuff? Here's one last image of her on her new scooter:

More Summer Fun

Ella has wanted to go fishing for quite some time now. Brian loves to fish, so taking Ella fishing is a moment he's waited for since as long as I can remember. Here's Ella getting ready to go:

Shortly after we arrived at the lake, Ella was kicked back ready for the "big one" to hit her line:

The funny thing is, she had a bite almost the second Brian dropped her line in. After a brief moment of panic (by mama and Ella), Brian took over; however, it was too late at that point, so that first bite will always be the one that got away. Since he got her worm, Ella (well, daddy really) had to reload:

Daddy is so patient and such a good daddy. After another unfortunate worm was put on the hook and everything settled down again, I looked over to see this:
...and this:


This was probably the shortest fishing trip daddy has ever been on, but I'm pretty certain it's one that he'll never forget.

Beach Pictures

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