SURPRISE!!!

Oh, life is a crazy journey.  And it looks like it's just about to get a bit crazier for the Gottschalk family!  Please allow me to set the scene...

It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon on the 8th of September and I picked up my phone to notice that I had missed a call from a strange area code.  Fortunately, the caller left a message.  Here's how that message went;

Caller:  Hey, Ken.  It's Mary Ellen from Small World.  We just got a call from St. Petersburg and we need to talk to you right away.  Please give me a call.


Ken:  (Various thoughts running through his mind....jumping to conclusions...mild panic setting it)

Needless to say, I picked up the phone and called Mary Ellen back right away.  As the phone rang, I ran through the possible scenarios:  Max's paperwork got screwed up, we forgot to do something while were in Russia, or worse, someone wants Max back.  My stomach sank.   Mary Ellen answered:

Mary Ellen:  Hey Ken.  Got some news for you.  Max has a biological sister and we need to know if you want to adopt her...in 24 hours.


Ken:  (GULP)  Huh?  (scrambles to gather his thoughts and string a logical sentence together)

Long story short?  It didn't take long for Shelly and I to decide that we were about to be parents again.  What a wonderful opportunity for both Max and this little girl to grow up together, and for us too!  We know that she will be a perfect fit and can't wait to meet her and ultimately bring her home to meet her family and friends.

With that said, we have no idea when that will happen.  Hopefully sooner than later.  The bad news of this whole thing (if there is such a thing) is that we had to start back at square one with our paperwork.  As fate would have it, our homestudy expired just four short weeks prior to that call on that sunny Wednesday.  The silver lining in this cloud is that we (think we) know what to expect in the weeks and months ahead.  But then again, we weren't expecting this!

Stay tuned.  Plenty more to come.