"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

It's all fun and games




The weather here has been beyond gorgeous... we have been staying out way past bedtime... but like all things, the fun must come to an end. It's all fun and games until... someone gets a lap full of duck poop and mom fires a shot in and breaks the backboard!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Gotcha... 1 year ago!!!





It is hard to believe that 1 year ago we woke up in Ethiopia. Sometimes it is hard to believe we were even there, yet so much of me deeply misses Ethiopia. Africa had a real impact on all of our lives.

1 year ago today we drove into the courtyard of Hope's Place and were greeted by so many adorable little faces. Our boys were standing shyly on the stairs with their buddies all wrapped around them. They came right on over and shyly took our hands, gave us kisses and whispered their names. They tell us that they were told that day their mom and dad would come to get them- we don't really know if they understood that was "us". We spent a long day at Hope- loving on all the kids, delivering packages, taking pictures, checking on specific babies, measuring kids. We had lunch- Bis sat with his friends across the room, Yordi couldn't be removed from our sides to join his friends. They showed us their room and where they slept. And then we left.

And so a year has passed. I think they "know" they are here for good now. Things are settling in to a new normal. Older child adoption is a whole different world. Challenging but so rewarding... yes we missed out on all of their "firsts", but we have had the joy of all the new firsts and they are old enough to tell us... the first time in the grocery store, the first time in the swimming pool, ice cream, shoes, the first snowfall... sometimes we forget that the things they are experiencing are so foreign and new to them...

We are so thankful to have them home and for the relatively "easy process" that we had (ok if you don't count getting stuck in country). We are so thankful that our family is complete and that( for today anyhow ) :) they consider themselves part of it. We love these guys and just love watching them (especially our 3 littles) interact and learn and grow...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter Pictures- all of the "outtakes"

We had a great time getting ready for Easter... with 5 kids to coordinate luckily Addie went with a blue and green dress. It was tough trying to explain to the boys why the Easter "BUNNY" brings eggs... We got the kids chicks for Easter- the boys were so thankful. They wanted to know if we were going to sell them for money or eat them. They were very excited to find out they will get to grow up and lay us eggs. Everyone loved coloring eggs- Addie was our only mess maker this year :) She managed to dump the entire contents of the yellow food coloring in her lap and on the floor. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!!!














We had a great day celebrating - starting with sunrise service at the outdoor stadium at the high school at 6:30 am (the kids in pjs) followed by breakfast and an egg hunt at home before all of our family and all the cousins arrived at our house... man they all get bigger and take up more room each year!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

In negotiations...


This time the pig is seriously busted. This is the view of my day lillies and peonies from my bedroom window. The pig has made himself a nest... we are in negotiations... hot wire or a sentence to the barn and pasture with the 4H pigs. Addie chuckled at dinner when I told her she needed to disipline her pig. She asked how she could possibly discipline something so adorable. I am not finding him so cute right now. The bummer of the deal really though is that we were ham and beans for dinner. Someone brought up ham/pig and Molly put it all together... she burst out crying and wanted to know if she was eating Rusty (Noah's pig from last year). We told her that it was a good possibility. She was slightly less than pleased. She had a banana for dinner. She is NEVER eating pigs again. Too bad cause ham was the only meat I could get her to eat...

Thursday, April 9, 2009

It is done...



More pictures to come of all the kids together. But for now, a sneak peak at the only creation I actually had to sew this Easter!