Roots on Fire

The giant sequoia holds the title of the world's largest and fastest growing tree. The largest of these is the General Sherman Tree. The General Sherman is 275 feet tall, has a trunk with a circumference of 102 feet, and a diameter of 30 feet. But the interesting thing is, as big as that tree is, the roots are even bigger—the roots of a tree spread out wider than the tree is tall. That means that General Sherman's roots probably occupy over 1 acre of earth and contain over 90,000 cubic feet of soil.

This is a picture of hubs with a giant sequoia (not General Sherman) a few years ago.   

That's a big tree, right? It's strong, it's been there a long time. It even has giant pine cones.

This big, beautiful tree and all trees of its kind have a problem. They can produce over 3 million seeds a year, however, each and every one of those potentially beautiful seeds cannot germinate without fire. Yes, fire. Heat opens up the cones to let the seeds fall out and clears the ground to help the seeds germinate. Without that ugly, blackened ground, the giants would fail to continue.

Our sweet Iris will have been through the fire. Her roots here will begin with the blackened earth of leaving the only people and places she has ever known. Everything will look different, smell different, feel different, and it will not be easy. She doesn't know that we are mom and dad. She doesn't know that we will feed her and help her and protect her always. We have to prove it. While we hope that her life will flourish and she'll grow like a General Sherman, we would ask that you help us to protect her during the time that it takes for her to sprout and put out roots.

What does that mean?

It means we want you to help celebrate her homecoming! If you live nearby, please come to the airport, make signs, and give us a hug (maybe some little cheers too)—we'll need it. But, remember we will have been traveling for nearly 24 hours with a one year old, and we won't have seen our boys for over two weeks, so give us some grace and room. We'll have a photographer there, and she'll be capturing the moments the big brothers get to meet their little sister, so please leave her room as well.  Lastly, remember that ALL of this will be overwhelming for Iris. She may cry the whole time—I might too!! It may be a lot more “brutiful” than beautiful to see us come home.

We'd be thrilled to receive dinners and have play dates outside of our home for the boys. Our sweet boys will be adjusting and probably feeling the change a LOT. Please be patient with them too. But, for a while (1-2 months) we will be limiting all of our activity. We won't be going a lot of places, and we'll be limiting visitors inside of our home to mostly family. That's all so our little sapling can learn what “home” is, and who belongs there. For more information about “cocooning” click here...

http://yestoadoption.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-is-cocooning-and-why-are-you-doing.html

Please call, email, send messages, and let us know you're still there. We might not answer that phone, or get back to you right away, but I promise we'll appreciate it. There's nothing worse than feeling isolated after a big life change.

We cannot wait to meet our daughter, and for her to meet her brothers. We're nervous too. We'd be crazy not to be. “Soon” is getting short. We're ready to GROW!

Blood Moons

From the NASA website:

“The action starts on April 15^th [2014] when the full Moon passes through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad—a series of 4 consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six month intervals. The total eclipse of April 15, 2014, will be followed by another on Oct. 8, 2014, and another on April 4, 2015, and another on Sept. 28 2015.

"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," says longtime NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak.”

Last year, on April 15^th, my grandmother, a gentle and kind soul, slipped away quietly. We dropped everything to drive 12 hours to spend the first and last Easter I would have with my grandfather in 30 years. There were a lot of hard things about that time, but on Easter, we took a break. My cousins cooked and my kids played, and my 94 year old grandfather, for the first time, had a house full of generations. He died just three weeks later, but that day, that Easter, he said was the happiest day of his life, and he knew he was loved.

“No one should die alone…Each human should die with the sight of a loving face.”

--Mother Teresa

On October 8^th last year, I set an alarm to get up early to see the next blood moon. I had never seen one. The air was cold but the sky was clear. I took my cell phone outside with me, and I looked down to see a waiting message. I opened it, and for the first time ever, saw the face of our sweet daughter. Under the blood moon, I knew it was her, and I cried.

Today, Easter once again, that same daughter turns 15 months old. Yesterday, April 4, on the date of the third blood moon, she began her very last week without a mom and dad. We have every approval, every piece of paper, every bag packed and we are on our way in just a few short days. She is already loved.

If it were possible to feel the past and the future all at once in the present, I would be living there today. I've spent the last week hugging and loving on my little boys before we leave. We've been to the zoo, to the park, to museums, and to visit the butterflies of the Phillippines at the conservatory. They are going to be wonderful big brothers. They know what it is to be loved and they know how to love well, and I thank God that they have always known it.

The final blood moon of the tetrad is September 28, 2015. Iris will have been home for just over 5 months by then. That thought alone fills me with immeasurable joy. It's time!

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
―Mother Teresa