As you may know, Em’s beloved Sparkly Turtle went MIA. Emmy and I prayed yesterday as we searched everywhere, asking God to help us find that turtle, and just as I was ready to call the whole search off (because it was hopeless), Em confidently proclaimed, “Jesus will find Sparkly Turtle.” Well, at this point, Jesus was indeed the only one who knew where this turtle was, so there you go.

As I began stressing over the tears Em would shed (Sparkly Turtle is more than just a stuffed animal to her), Wes came to the rescue, finding another Sparkly Turtle online, ordering him, and telling Emma an elaborate story about how Sparkly Turtle was vacationing in Hawaii (which is where my sister and brother-in-law found the one they gave my niece, which is the one that prompted Emma to ask “Aunt Cherry” to get her one for Christmas two years ago) but would be heading home shortly on an airplane. Em believed him and thought this sounded like a wonderful adventure, while Ana remained quite skeptical.

Of course.

Fast forward to tonight. After a day of playing with a stuffed German Shepherd named (what else?) Baby Charlie, Em told me that HE was also missing. Oh, goodness. This was not unlike Happy the Hippo who Em speculated was on the airplane with Sparkly Turtle but who was later found in the toy box in Ana’s room. Fortunately, Emma didn’t jump to this conclusion first, telling me instead that, “We were playing Hide and Boo Seek! He is under the couch!”

Armed with a flashlight, Wes headed for the couch in the front room. Sure enough, there was Baby Charlie, playing a very extended game of Hide and Boo Seek… right next to Sparkly Turtle. (Who had obviously won the game since no one had been able to find him in days.) Wes distracted Emma, slipped the turtle into the mail slot, and said, “The plane must have landed! Look who’s here!”

Emma was thrilled. Cuddled in her bed tonight, she told me how much she loves Sparkly Turtle and assured me that he had NOT been to Hawaii… just on an adventure with the mailman, who probably took him to Walt Disney World.

Of course.

Now… what do we tell her when the foreign Sparkly Turtle shows up in the mail? Hmm…