We're heerrrree

Wow, this is going to be a quick and hasty post but I wanted to tell you all we made it safe and sound and it is amazing. Sumathy and Ranjith are two of the most incredible people ever and take such good care of us and tell us to treat it all as our home. The children are absolutely adorable and the most caring children i have ever met. They take care of each other amazingly well, including feeding, waking up, showering.... basically, Susan and I are told to teach them English and love them and hold them. They won't let us lift a finger to clean or help with dishes or anything. They call us 'sister' and 'madame' and have the most amazing smiles in the world. Every single one of them, even under the most heartbreaking early life stories imaginable, are kind, helpfull, and just happy to receive a smile from us. I want to just bring them all home, but sadly India does not allow adoptions. So unbelievable, there are so many amazing children needing homes but these kids, they are in such a good place, I don't think they could be loved anymore.
Even as tired as both Susan and I are, we both know we made the right choice and for everyone reading this who donated money, clothing, time, whatever it was, rest assured that every bit of it is going to a wonderful place for children who will love it all!
We will take pictures and post them up to show the new dormitory to be built, as well as the new kitchen and dining room. And, of course, the children.... many many MANY pics of the children to come soon! Thanks to all, keep us in your thoughts, and know we are safe and sound and doing good things!

Pre-departure

We'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone who donated clothes, let us post flyers, gave money to the orphanage, ate at Bill Bixby's fundraiser dinner, put us on the radio, the list goes on. Seriously, the support everyone has shown was overwhelming, and we're excited to get over to Chennai to see how all of these efforts pan out. I'm taking an extra piece of luggage filled with donated children's clothing and Kate is taking a bag of medical supplies, and we've sent two boxes filled with more items so hopefully those arrive safely.
Between all the personal donations and the fundraising dinner that Bill Bixby put on and Ryan, Mei Mei and Ali served (thanks, guys), we've raised over $3,000 for the orphanage! We'll definitely be posting some photos and describing what the money will go toward. Its inspiring how supportive the entire town of Valdez has been. Thanks again to the Catholic Church, A Rogue's Garden and KVAK for letting us leave the drop boxes there, and also thank you to the Star, KVAK and KCHU for all the coverage.
A very, very big thank you again to everyone who donated. Its unique to have a chance to make a donation and see the results, so I hope that Kate and I can provide ample opportunity for you to do so.
We both leave tomorrow morning, Kate from Phoenix and I leave from LA, and if all goes well then I'll arrive 3 hours ahead of Kate in Chennai, then we'll meet up and head to the orphanage.
The website to the orphanage is www.balagurukulam.org and we will post some more background information once we're over there.