Our new/old friends, the Weimers

I've been waiting for a long time to show off this picture of 1/2 of the amazing Weimer clan. This picture was taken from Ethiopia on Kirk and Heidi's way home from picking up their three beautiful family additions. I still haven't officially gotten permission to post this picture and the subsequent excerpt from Heidi's blog, but I figure, I've waited at least a month and when you're a mom to SIX CHILDREN, I may just need to post it and they can tell me later to take it off. I must also say publicly thanks to the Weimers who have single-handedly managed to raise us hundreds of dollars worth of t-shirt profits by bragging so much about our shirts. It's because of them that a cool idea with some hope for fundraising has turned into a really great fundraising idea...and, honestly based on feedback, a way to bless similar families with a heart for adoption. Anyway, the below blog excerpt tells an amazing story from Heidi's perspective of how we met...and "remet" ten years later:


"Yes, we are wearing matching shirts. And, NO, I do not normally force my children to do that. These "One Family" shirts are stinking awesome, though, so they truly merit the stares and empathy of others who are all secretly thinking "Bless their little hearts for all being dressed alike."Side story to share...Back in 1995 I went to Africa for the first time on a mission trip to Kenya. About a dozen others (none of us knew each other before the trip) also took part, and one of the younger ones on the trip (along with me) was a girl named Danielle. After the nearly month-long trip, I kept in touch with her for a little while, but alas this was during the pre-EVERYONE-IN-THE-UNIVERSE-HAS-AN-EMAIL-ADDRESS era, so staying in touch was no easy task.A few months ago I was thinking about Danielle and how I wish I could find her and let her know about our upcoming adoption from Ethiopia. For some reason, I could just picture her (wherever she was and whomever she was with) bringing home her own from Africa as well. Well, lo and behold, two days later (not even kidding) I got an email from a friend at our former adoption agency informing me that a new client of theirs recognized my photo on an Ethiopian mission trip blog and that she's pretty sure I'm the same person she went to Kenya with twelve years ago. SMALL world, right?Turns out Danielle (check out her blog under The Blacks to the left) and her family just started the adoption process from Ethiopia and are selling the COOLest shirts as a fundraiser. Hence, the matching t-shirts we are donning in the afore-shared photo. :) We love our One Family shirts. The coolest. [Kari...Your Simply Love shirts are Simply the Coolest, too, and we are about to order a few. Don't get all jealous on me now.]"

(*Pretty amazing, huh? I left the part in about Kari because her shirts really are the coolest too--Karl and I both love wearing them--and you can find them if you follow the "Gibson family" link)