And the secret has been revealed...

Yesterday
I taught Miss M
How to make this.

I wrote the day of September 14
On the first chain
And the date of October 5
On the last chain.

Then I hung it there.
As a tease.
And told her I'd tell her today
What it was about.
Her guess was that it was a calendar.
(Because of the dates.)

Today I showed her this.

And this.

And finally this.

And then I told her that on October 5th
We'd be flying here

To see these guys...

I know she showed up in the other pictures...but that was from several years ago, as you can tell!

And while we were there we'd
Hopefully
See
Some of this stuff.

Oh....
And that I had bought some of these
Online.
Because, she doesn't own any.

She was excited
Of course
And then the questions started.
Repeatedly, the same ones.
Will I get to meet your niece?
Will I get to see orange trees?
Will I get to sleep over at your old house?
Will I get to play on the iPod on the flight?
Can I tell my mom?
Can we start packing on the 3rd?

She tore off her first chain
And counted down the days left
22.

Miss M loved that the chain is almost as tall as her.  She is pointing to where we are hanging the chain. This is a special sign for her in my house and was a quick connection the two of us made when she moved in.  It's related to some personal information that I can't share her...but she wanted to make sure I took a picture of her with the chain and the sign to show how important it was and how it was all fitting together.

Praise Reports:
--I got answers back from Miss M's CPS caseworker today!
1) Miss M can start having a weekly call on the phone with her mom.
2) They are looking at trying to get Miss M some counseling support down here in our area rather than my having to drive up into the center of Phoenix.
3) Miss M's sister has officially requested to the caseworker to come and live with Miss M and I and we are starting that process rolling with that with hopes that it will be worked out for when Miss M and I get back from Michigan in October.

Prayer Requests:
--Please pray that I have wisdom about the timing of Miss M's sister coming to join us.  I wish it could happen before the trip to Michigan so she could join us, but that just isn't financially possible.  While I know it is right in my head, my heart hurts with the thought of her being left out of that and then joining us to live her shortly after that.  But...I have to trust God's timing, perfect plan, and ask for continual wisdom in all of this.