Packing

I can hardly believe this time has come. We've been in various stages of preparation for Ethiopia for many months now. But it finally starts to feel real when you start to think about what to pack. We have our handy rubbermaid "action packers" (thanks to the suggestion from our experienced missionary friends Stu & Lauren) and have started making piles of things that must go and then things that might be able to go with us. Right now it's just a mess really. We're making valiant attempts at trying to keep it organized using a spreadsheet and various sections of the basement floor at the Kipfer parents' home. We also have the airline regulations that will ultimately determine what stays and what goes. We've worked about three hours today on this task and I suspect we'll be working a few hours daily for the next 4 or so days. At least that's my hope. Our goal is to have it done by this time next week. That way, we'll have a few days to just enjoy family before we depart on October 26. Feeling pretty good at this point but we'll see how it is a few days from now!