Somehow Andrew's birthday celebration lasted all weekend. It began with a spontaneous trip to Big Ed's on Thursday, then a boys' night on Friday, dinner at his parents Saturday and lunch with my family today. Whew! Everybody let him pick the menu so we had Matt and Morgan's special recipe spaghetti and meatballs Saturday and Mom's roast and potatoes today. For dessert I brought his favorites: banana pudding and caramel pie.
Caramel pie makes a much prettier picture than the banana pudding that just looked like yellow mush. No worries, though, it tasted just fine.
One-fourth of the pie is lacking pecans per Andrew's request. I hope he didn't get too used to this kind of special treatment. Life goes back to normal tomorrow, Dear.
Here he is with two of his birthday gifts - a Braves onesie (okay, not technically for him but he loved it) and a Daddy diaper bag.
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to photograph the homecoming for one of the Haitian girls that arrived in Knoxville yesterday. Benita was adopted by one of the teachers at our school, so I offered to tag along with my ridiculously large equipment. I never realized how cumbersome it was until yesterday in a space so full of people that you could barely move. It was such an amazing experience to see those girls finally home with the families that have hoped for so long. Last night they slept under a roof for the first time in 11 days. I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster these parents have undergone not only dealing with adoption paperwork, but also because of the earthquake.
Benita's smile yesterday seemed to be permanently plastered on her sweet face. In nearly every picture you'll see she was wrapped up in the arms of one of her new family members. In fact, I had to ask her for a picture by herself because I wasn't able to snap one otherwise :) If you have about ten minutes to spare, watch this video.
Benita's Homecoming from Sarah McAffry on Vimeo.
Check out the photo blog for more pictures.
4 comments:
The video and the pictures were so moving. I am so inspired by what the Rudd family is doing. I am also hoping I might get a chance to teach some of the kids!!
What a blessing for everyone. God never ceases to amaze...out of great tragedy comes great triumph.
Such a beautiful child! She is radiant!
There's something about Andrew holding that Braves onesie, that just SCREAMS boy to me!! okay, so Ive changed my mind AGAIN...At least you have proof if it ends up being a boy!! I made it official on the blog!! lol....The pic of Benita is very sweet..I know she must feel at home now...Praise God for adoption..
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