Growing our CRAZY Family!

My LIL Ethiopian Valentine

2012-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

My day started out with my FAVE latte and breakfast sandwich from Starbucks from my HONEY POOOOO! It was SO SWEET and the BEST Valentine's day breakfast evaaah! :) Mmm Mmm! ...That's LOVE! :)

So, this is the FIRST year - that it was not necessary to make Valentine's for the girls classes - Madison had outgrown it a while ago - but now that Kinz is out of elementary - they were both like, 'uuuuh no Mommy, we DON'T take Valentine's to school anymore'... It was kind of sad actually! They are getting tooooo grown up... I guess I will just have to look forward to when Miss Mihret is in school and I can help her make Valentine's for her classmates! :) Instead today, we made a lot of cupcakes and ate a lot of cupcakes!!! :) ...oh ya and had a lil mini Valentine photo shooot! hehe! :)

FEB. PHOTO a DAY - Instagram!

2012-02-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

I've never done a PHOTO challenge before and I always thought they sounded like FUN... Soooooo, I decided to give this one a shot...

....thought I'd share here since I am having so much FUN with it on Instagram! :)

February 1. YOUR VIEW TODAY!
Mihret and I walking to the mailbox and painting our tootsies

February 2. WORDS
WONDERFUL, beautiful WORDS to live by WORDS...

February 3. HANDS

February 4. A STRANGER

Loooook, there is one behind Mihret - at cold stone! hehehe :)

Febraury 5. 10 am

Getting ready to go on a HIKE

... at the top of the MOUNTAIN - lil Si

February 6. DINNER

I FORGOT about DINNER!! ha ha! I don't know how that happened!

I LOOOOOVE DINER! :) ...Oh well... onto the next day! ;)

February 7. BUTTON

A lil Chai Latte to start out with... LOVE that BREW button! :)

Then Mihret and I went to the park with Janet and Tarah - PUSHED this BUTTON to cross the street! :)

February 8. SUN

Unfortunately, there was not a lot of SUN that day - so I posted a pic from the day before. :)

It was such a GREAT day! I had to SUPER SIZE this pic!!! :)

February 9. FRONT DOOR

Mihret got her BOW OF THE MONTH for February today! :)

February 10. SELF PORTRAIT

AAAAAAGH!

Was happy to turn this B&W to hide a few of those pesky SMILEY LINES! :)

February 11. MAKES ME HAPPY

Oooooooh GOSH - this was a hard ONE - cuz SO many things make me HAPPY - but... we were at KINZI's Softball game and I LOOOOOOOOOOVE....

...had fun teaching Mihret how to jump in RAIN PUDDLES with her NEW boooots too! :)

Februray 12. INSIDE MY CLOSET

a lil PROJECT HOPEFUL necklace and a few of my other necklaces from Kenya and ET! :)

February 13. BLUE

Grabbed a few of Mihret's blue bows and BLING! hehehe! :)

...and remembered these TWO (when they were little) with their BIG BLUE EYE glasses! ha ha!

It really has been FUN - and it's COOL to see other people's PHOTOS of the day too! - TOTALLY digging Instagram right now! :) Well, there are MORE days left in February, so this post is...

....TO BE CONTINUED... :)

IT'S GOOOOOOD!

2012-02-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today Mihret and I went to BIBLE STUDY - it was AWESOME!!! I JUST LOOOOVE it!!!! The book of James is AMAZZZZING - learning from Beth Moore - makes me want MORE! :) ...and the group of WOMEN are SERIOUSLY AWESOME!!!

LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!!!

Today was the VERY first time I tried to put Mihret in the nursery... The drop off went really well!!! She got on a little rocking horse and looked happy... When I left the room, I could hear, "MOMMA! MOMMA!" She was just kind of TALKING it - so I felt goooood to go! Grabbed my buddy Shan - and we headed to our lil study room! ....I kept looking at the pager - thinking, hmmmm... any minute... probably any minute. Our leader asks, "ANY PRAYER REQUESTS?" ...I asked for a lil prayer that the buzzer wouldn't go off and I have a happy lil camper in the nursery... Guess what happened RIGHT BEFORE we were about ready to pray!? YEP! The BEEPER, BEEPED and my heart sunk a little! I RAN to the nursery and found a crying lil boooogery nosed baby girl! ....It's funny, she got sad when someone showed her kindness and said, HI and gave her a big ole hug... probably made her miss her MOMMA!!! :)

Soooooo... I grabbed the lil squirt - wiped up her BOOGS and headed back to participate in a lesson on JAMES... part of our homework was on JAMES 1:27!!!! ...Sooooo I had a lil show and tell! :) hehehe! She was GREAT! She sat REALLY quiet... ate a few smarties and a few bites of a donut - then we went to watch the video of Beth Moore and she would CRACK up laughing when everyone else did... My bud Shannon gave her a lil book to read and kept her occupied - and she was QUIET and SUPER DUPER goooooooood! SO.... on the way home - I decided to take my bible study buddy, Mihret out to Mexican food!!!

OOOOOH Golly - this lil girl CRACKS me up!!!! I LOVE HER and her CRAZY FUN PERSONALITY! ....I have to say... she still just TOTALLY AMAZES me!!!!

...It was a FUN day - and we will give the Nursery another shot next week! :) Maybe she will last a lil longer than 15 minutes. (baby steps) :)

...Just a lil about what I took HOME from the study today:

JAMES 2:1-5

¹ My brothers and sisters, believers in our GLORIOUS Lord Jesus Christ must NOT show favoritism. ² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. ³ If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

CONCLUDING THOUGHT: Faith and Favoritism DO NOT mix.

going to make a conscious effort not to judge
going to make sure that I continue to change because of the WORD of GOD
gonna try NOT to be a FORGETFUL listener...

a lil HIDE and SEEEEEEK! :)

2012-02-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

HIDE and SEEEEEEEK!

..has never been more FUN, than with this LITTLE ONE! :)

I think Mihret was SHOCKED to see BIG SIS able to squeeeeeeeze her bod under the sink cabinet too!!! ha ha ha!!!

Bowling, SNOW and a visit to the Doc...

2012-02-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

I haven't been blogging lately.... Sooooo, I thought I'd share a lil of what our crazy fam has been up to with a few PICS... mostly of a lil someone! :)

Mihret did a lil bowling, showed off her belly (I think she is prettttty darn proud of it, - and that belly button thingy is prettttty coooool), and was her silly lil self - trying to get the ball to make it to the pins! :) ha! LOVE it! She is a character! ...gets me laughing all the time!!!

...This January we had some SERIOUS snow... keeping Erik home from work and the girls home from school for like 7 whopping days!! It was soooooo crazzzzzzzzy!! It was nice to have everyone home for a little while - but I have to say, I was relieved when the snow was gone, and we could all get out of the house and back into our regular schedules... :)

...Mihret had her 18 month check up!!! She is doing gooooood! GROWING great and SUPER DUPER Smart! hehehe! .....okay I'm a lil biased! :) ...When she got HOME her Iron levels were low - so they had me give her an Iron Supplement - and wanted to retest her blood today to see how her levels looked now... It was a looooooooooong wait sitting in the doctors office... we got a lil bored - so I took a few pics! :) ....Turns out her iron levels were still low - so we made a trip to Children's... and still really have no clear understanding of why they are low or what we should do now... kinda frustrating. But, they ruled out some major stuff... so, this Momma was relieved. :)

I loooooove taking pictures of this sweeeeet girl!!! She is a JOY and a BLESSING to our family!!! I sooooooo look forward to waking up every morning to see her happy lil face! OOOOH Boy, I LOVE her!!!

18 MONTHS old TODAY!!!

2012-01-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

Miss Mihret is a YEAR and a HALF today!!!

She woke up feeling really HOT! EEEKS! I haven't had little toddlers in the house for so long - we didn't even have a thermometer!! AAAH! So after Mihret and I snuggled for about an hour or so... I decided I better skip on over to Bartell's and get a thermometer and some acetaminophen for kiddos and some pedialyte!!

I came home and checked her temp - it was 100.9... gave her some kiddo Tylenol, and a sippy cup full of pedialyte and she went back to sleep again... I called my buddy Megs and she gave me some good ole guidance on how to monitor her termperature.... and just to be able to talk to another Momma of a little one - made me feel better! THANKS MEGS!!!! XOX

HAPPPY Half Birthday Mihret!!! :)

WE LOOOOVE YOU little one! MUAH!

153 Days

2012-01-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

That's FIVE months our little Mihret has been HOME!! 3,672 HOURS we have been able to wake up and see her BEAUTIFUL little face! 220,320 minutes we have been able to LOVE on her, hold her, cuddle her, tickle her, share with her, teach her...

153 Days that THIS crazy family has been in HEAVEN and LOVING every single minute with our beautiful daughter... and the girls silly new sister!!!

It really hasn't taken Mihret long to feel comfortable, safe, attached, loved RIGHT here in her HOME! We see a new little snipit of her halarious personality each day! She is a bright eyed, smart little girl with a BIG HUGE smile and a crazzzzzy lil wave to everyone she sees!

She is a year and a half old now.... and PACKED full of PERSONALITY!

She is saying words like:

GOOD

GIRL

OUCH

BYE

HI
GO

PEE PEE
POO POO

CACA

MOMMA

DADDA

KIKI (Kinzi)

BITE
MINE

PLEASE

ONE MORE
GONE

CANDY

BOOK

SHOE

JUICE

WAWA (Water)

BABY

BED

CHEESE

CHEERS
TEETH
KNEE
EYE
NOSE...

She is taller, stronger, much more healthy - and most important - she is HAPPY! LOVED! Everyday! NOW and FOREVER!

She LOVES to be held, she likes to sit in the BIG chairs to eat meals, she loves to play ball, she recently started to love on her dollies, she likes to color on the walls and put stickers on cabinets! ha!... she drinks soy milk and loves cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She is not a fan of TV - but LOVES to be read to. She likes to pick out the book for you to read before naps and bedtime. She likes bows in her hair and she doesn't like to be dirty or messy. She LOVES to smile for the camera now and she ADORES and SCREAMS with excitement when I share with her pictures of her Ethiopian Buddies from Hannah's Hope! She gives the worlds best hugs and kisses - she gives the best pouty look when she wants something. She loves water bottles and wants to carry one around and put the lid on and off and pour water into things, she DIGS bathtime - without bubbles just lotsa toys and a little trickle of water running! She runs to meet Daddy at the font door when he comes home. She absolutely loves every bit of attention she gets from her crazy big sisters. She is sleeping great, eating good, and going potty like a BIG Girl. If we are sitting at a stoplight for too long, she tells me to, 'GO GO GO!' :) She likes to pretend to eat and she likes to pretend to feed ya...

She is KIND

She is SMART

She is IMPORTANT ;)

Aaaaaaaaaw and WE SURE DO LOVE HER!
She is a BLESSING we thank GOD for EVERYDAY!

"The greatest of these is Love." 1 Corinthians 13:13.

CHRISTmas Break

2012-01-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

SNOWFLAKE LANE

The girls are outa school and I look so forward to all the days I get to hang with them before they have to go back... We ALL had such an amazing CHRISTmas this year with Mihret HOME! ...We went to Snowflake lane in Bellevue - a little crowded and overwhelming for Miss Mihret - but she DID looooove it when it started to snow (the fake kind - but still REALLY cooool) :) We went to MOD (made on demand) pizza first! MMMM mmmmm MY FAVE! We met Erik's brother and his wife Jen and their sweet boy Grant there - and shared the FUN with them...

Last year we started a tradition to grab some YUMMY Ethiopian food at Habesha Ethiopian Restaurant in Seattle and then go to the Black Nativity at the Moore Theater. This year we got to do it with MIHRET (her first ET dinner in the US)! YAY! Erik's brother, Kevin and his wife were in town and so they joined us! The staff asked if Mihret was Ethiopian and gave her special love and attention! It was SWEET! :) We ordered Sega Sambusa and Kategna for appetizers! DELISH!!!!! ...For Dinner we ordered Abesha Lamp Tibs, Doro Chicken Tibs, Zil Zil Beef Tibs and we asked for COOKED Kitfo (yaaaa, okay we like the MEAT! :) hehehe! We also ordered some lentils and Shiro Wat. Mihret was not too sure about any of it. She did like the Injera - a little - but she wasn't a fan of the rest of it. It's weird... at the Riviera she ate Shiro Wat like it was going outa style! She just LOVED it! Kevin and his wife liked the experience - not too sure if they were crazy about the food. I LOOOOOVED it! However, it took us about 6 bites into the Kitfo to realize it wasn't cooked!! AAAAAGH! How we didn't clue in to the texture - I have NO idea. :) It was DARK (I mean REALLY Dark! :)) and the flavors were REALLY YUMMMY... Okay, but I definitely like it better cooked! :) ha ha! ...and after I realized it was raw - I had a hard time dipping back into it again. :)

BLACK NATIVITY

We didn't have tickets for the Black Nativity but after dinner we drove straight over and were able to find 7 seats together! It was AWESOME!!!!! Mihret was awake until after intermission! She had her hands in the air and was waving and was LOVING it!!! It was so COOOOOL to see her enjoy it!!! I mean REALLY enjoy it!!! It is a high energy, passion filled event TOTALLY and COMPLETELY celebrating Christ's birth - It was BEAUTIFUL!!! ...LOVE making new traditions - LOVE doing them with little Mihret...

This year for Christmas - we decided to go to Leavenworth. (Mihret sees SNOW for the first time) :) We left Christmas Eve and had an AMAZZZZZING dinner at Andrea's Keller! MMMM mmmmm! Weinersnitzel! Pretzels! Spatzel! Apple Struedel! - TOTALLY different from the ET dinner we had enjoyed just days before. :) We stayed at the Enzian Inn! We LOOOOOOOOVE it cuz they have a DELICIOUS breakfast in the morning, an ole guy comes out a blows this big giant horn (ugh - forgot the name of the thing) outside on the balcony :), they have an inside and an outside pool (Mihret went swimming for the first time), they have racket ball, ping pong.... and we took advantage of all of it! :) It was AWESOME! Christmas morning we went upstairs for the YUMMY breakfast and met another adopted family... I never really know what the 'right' words are that you could say when you see another family with a sweeet Ethiopian baby.... but, while we were having breakfast the Mom came over and asked, 'Is she Ethiopian born also?' - hmmmmmm... I thought that was a good way to ask? :) They were a nice family with the cutest little boy! :)

LEAVENWORTH

After FULLY enjoy Leavenworth, we drove home and enjoyed each others company and just chilled and played with our new things, watched some movies and started to pack for our trip to Cannon Beach! :) AAAAW I LOVE THE BEACH! I have been enjoying Cannon Beach since I was a little one... so, I was SO excited to share it with Mihret and Madison and her friend and Kinz and her 2 buds!!!! :) We rented a fun house on the beach with a hot tub (turned out to be the best - with all the dips the girls took in the ocean) brrrr! :)

We went for a 3 mile hike down to a beach called Crescent beach - we were the only ones there - IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! :) The weather was cold and rainy - but it didn't stop us or prevent us from having a TON of FUN! We walked the little town, ate a lot of salt water taffy, yummy pizza and had a fondue night and a game night - we must have played Taboo for 3 hours! :) We made some AWESOME memories!

Okay... So it's December - I mean it's like WINTER - It is COLD outside - and these crazy girls would run from the house to the beach to the HOT TUB for hours!!! ha ha ha! :) Then I went out there with them (dressed for winter) and got a few crazy shots of their COLD lil red legs and jumping in front of the ocean and Haystack Rock!!! CRAZZZZZZZZY Fun Girls! :)

Is she yours?

2012-01-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

....so the other day when Mihret and I were at Costco - a lady came up to me and told me how CUTE Mihret was and then she asked me, ' is she yours??' I wasn't offended - I think it took me a little off guard but, ya know.... I see interracial families... and I am curious. I want to know if they are adopted, from where, what agency they used and I rarely approach anyone because I feel like I am intruding on something or I feel like I would be offending them or asking too much or they would think, ' for Pete sake lady - look away and mind your own business....' ha! :) I think it is hard for people to NOT ask questions... I am an OLE Momma to two TEENS and a beautiful little Ethiopian baby girl... it isn't something ya see everyday... :) I would be curious.... and I would probably take an EXTRA looooooooong look and be very tempted to comment or compliment or something. :)

I have to say, I am LOVING it! I LOVE to say, YES! YES! She is MINE!!! (for this little time on EARTH that God has chosen me be her Momma and look after her and LOVE her) ...and if they have any other questions I most generally answer them - unless it gets a tad to personal for my taste - ... I am finding it is such a BEAUTIFUL way to witness to other people about our AWESOME GOD and how the LOVE of Jesus Christ put the burden of orphans on our hearts and out of obedience He set us on FIRE to make ONE LESS orphan in the world today. Maybe - Mihret's little story will encourage someone else to make one less orphan, maybe her lil story will SHOW someone JESUS...

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

Romans 8:14-16

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

WE LOVE YOU MIHRET! I don't know exactly what the right way or the best way to advocate for the orphans are - but my HEAVENLY Father and my little Mihret are helping me out there! :)

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

Proverbs 31:8-9

The Costco lady's next question was, 'What has happened to her REAL parents?' - I think most people don't realize it may not be a comfortable question to respond to... I think it is a question they ask out of curiosity. I usually skip over it by just saying, 'I really don't know - I just know that she was an orphan along with 5 million others in Ethiopia who desperately NEEDED a family and... LOVE!' ...and that I am TOTALLY DIGGING being her REAL Momma!!!! :)

Thank you LORD for Mihret - that she is HOME with our FAMILY!! We are LOVING every minute and are so so so so THANKFUL for her!

"God makes us who we are so the world can see who He is" David Richardson, Treasure Coast PCA. ~ I LOVE this!

Oh LORD - Help me to be an example and help me to have the words and the wisdom to show more people YOU and share YOU with more people!

Acts 1:8

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

1 Peter 3:15

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

TWO TEENS and a TODDLER

2011-12-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

....at the end of October Kinz turned THIRTEEEEEEEEN! Aaaaaaah! WOW! How can that be? It really is amazing how time flies - I have completely enjoyed every single minute of her 13 years of life and the AWESOME little lady she is becoming! I am ONE blessed chicka to be her MOMMA!!! ...She decided this year to have a Halloween/Birthday Party with her entire softball team (that's 11 Crazzzzzzzzzzzy, Screaming, LAUGHING GIRLS that took over our basement)!!! It was a costume/haunted forest/scary movies kind of a night! It was GREAT (okay, besides going downstairs to find SALSA on the walls the next morning - EEEEEKS)!!! ha ha! :) My sis was the HUGEST MOST AMAZZZZZING help EVAAAAAH - Look at all the AWESOMENESS she made!!!! Seriously - some of it looked too darn CUTE you didn't want to EAT it! THANKS KRIS - YOU ROCK - and helped make Kinzi's party one she will never ever forget. :)

Daaaaang, she is GOOOOOD!!!! ....sure wish she lived closer!!!! It was a super fun night and Kinz felt totally celebrated and special! Definitely a Birthday SUCCESS! YAY!!! I still can't believe she is a TEENAGER!

....so now, we have got TWO teens... and a toddler in the house!!!

I gotta say it's is pretty FUNNY... to go from talking about hikki's to caca, driving to diapers, softball to Dr. Seuss, singing 'head and shoulders knees and toes' to jamming out to Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or some other teenie bopper band, teaching basic words to trying to figure out an algebra problem that is WAAAAY over our heads... :)

Well.....WE LOVE IT!! ...and wouldn't change ONE single thing about it! Mihret has been home 3 months and none of us can imagine our lives without her! Madison and Makinzi have been SO GOOOOD with her - They are the best BIG sisters EVER (besides the occasional antagonizing here and there) ;). They try to teach her all kinds of words (the latest are: 'ME', 'POO POO' and 'JUICE' - which is now referred to as 'JUJU') ha, they LOVE to read to her and play with her - they have taught her how to give HIGH 5's and KNUCKLES (which are REALLY crucial hand gestures during softball season ha! :) ....and now Mihret will let them feed her, put her to sleep and take her potty! (the last 3 are HUGE - she really didn't want anyone else to do these things besides her Ma and Pa) ;) Erik and I have been able to get out every Tuesday night and let Madison and Kinz watch Mihret for an hour or so - while we skip down to the lil Mexican restaurant and grab a beverage and some chips and salsa and get to talk to each other - ya know - keeeeeeping the SPARK alive!! :) IT'S GOOD! :)

I think the first couple months Mihret was home - we were all trying to learn and understand her needs, all of us were trying to bond and attach to her, learn what she likes to eat, when does she sleep, how does she like to play, (we did learn Mihret desperately required a routine and a schedule - if she knew what was going to happen when - she was a happy camper - unlike Kinz and Madison who were kinda go with the flow babes) ....at the same time we were also tying to make sure we weren't forgetting about her sisters needs as well - just trying to figure out our place, our role, our responsibilities and make sure lil Mihret's adjustment is as easy for her as possible - it definitely was a big CHANGE in all of our lives. An AMAZINGLY AWESOME change!!!! - but it took us just a little bit to get all of our MOJO on the same page (if that makes any sense) :) So, there were a little bit of growing pains at first... but SERIOUSLY - 3 months HOME and Mihret is potty trained, takes a 2 1/2 hour nap starting at noon, and goes to bed at 8 and wakes up around 7 in the morning and she is a smiling, happy LOVING little girl! She REALLY is amazzzzzing! Her little PERSONALITY cracks me up on a daily basis - she has grasped hold of a lot of our mannerism's and LOVES to copy and mimic our behavior - She has definitely picked up some GOOD stuff! ha ha! (...on a side NOTE TO SELF: She is absorbing everything - BE CAREFUL) :)

It has been SO FUN for this Momma to watch Madison and Makinzi interact with her, show her off, teach her things, LOOOOVE on her, care for her... Mihret follows them around, helps them get ready in the morning, laughs with them, cuddles with them, takes pictures with them... Ha ha ha! :)

...argues with them, climbs up on them like a little jungle jim, gives them the evil eye, kisses them, hugs them... I'm pretty sure she thinks her sisters are 'THE BOMB!' (a little teenage lingo) :)

Mihret is 17 months old now! Almost a year an a half - and I have seen MORE changes in this sweeeeet little girl than I ever thought was possible! It TRULY is AMAZING to ACTUAL SEE how LOVE and a FAMILY can change a little girl... FOREVER! PRAISE GOD! We are SO thankful HE choose her for our crazy family! ♥

I ABSOULTELY, POSITIVELY LOOOOOOOVE the DICKENS out of our 2 TEEEENS and our TODDLER!

NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY - Especially SPECAIL to us TODAY!

2011-12-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

HOME almost 3 months with Mihret who is 16 months old!! ♥ We got to celebrate NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY re-adopting her! What made it EVEN better was that we got to CELEBRATE this day with THREE other AMAZZZZZZZZZING Families who also adopted through AGCI and have become such DEAR friends to us!

We were the first ones called up!!!

Our little Mihret - checking it all out!

Making it all OFFICIAL!

WHAT A CELEBRATION!

YES! YES! We are gonna LOVE her FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER!

She was gifted a BIG, BROWN cuddly bear! ♥ SO CUTE!

We have been SUPER-SIZED to FIVE!!!
(....Okay my GIRLS look great in this picture but Erik is, hmmmm, well, not sure what's go'n on there! ha ha ha ha! - and I don't know what happened to my neck in this pic - it seemed to have disappeared! ha ha ha!) :)

Whatcom County Officials! - Gave us a great gift bag, our paperwork and announced our FAB FAM of FIVE! :)

OUR CRAZY, AWESOME Group - Minus Madison (I think she was in the restroom! ha!) :) IT was a GREAT day - a BEAUTIFUL drive to Bellingham and the reception and our Mexican Lunch afterwards was AWESOME!!

DON'T pass THIS up!

2011-11-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

...It wasn't too long ago and my dear friend Lauren was HELPING US raise money to bring home our daughter from ETHIOPIA! She allowed me to sell her merchandise... her AWESOME POPPIES and her extreme talents of WEB DESIGN... By the way...... if you are looking to create a new web page or start a blog, Just click on the image below and CHECK IT OUT...

To help jog your memory of the AWESOMENESS Lauren shared with us through the proceeds of all the sales that were made in a month see my blogpost :

BLOWN AWAY!!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH LAUREN!!!!

Soooo... now as she sets off on another adoption journey, and understanding the experience of adopting and the expenses involved... I only wish I could do more to help this AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING family who blessed our SOCKS off!!

She has put together the BIGGEST MOST AWESOME basket full of GREAT things for YOU to win!!! Simply... head on OVER to her SITE... Just click HERE! You will go straight to Lauren's beautiful website!

DONATE as little as:

FIVE DOLLARS and you are entered to WIN!!! ...Also, absolutely ANYTHING is HELPFUL and COMPLETELY appreciated when you are funding an adoption - every little bit helps! and YOU are helping bring home an ORPHAN to a CHRIST LOVING family who will cherish and adore this child FOREVER AND EVER!!!

Directly from Lauren's blog...

There are soooo many amazing goodies that total over $350 worth of awesomeness! The very blessed winner of this basket is going to receive so many wonderful things that can either be an early Christmas gift for her/him OR a combo of goodies for them and goodies to give away as Christmas presents! Either way it’s just great!All you have to do to is enter your name into a drawing for this basket when you make a donation of $5 towards our Ethiopia Adoption. For every $5 we will put your name on the list…. so, $10 we will put your name on twice… $25 five times… and so forth. Simple right? Read all the way to the bottom to see how you can get an extra entry too!

GO HERE TO DONATE - GO HERE TO ENTER TO WIN ALL OF THIS!

Last day to ENTER November 27th at 11:59 pm.

Then I will draw a winner and announce it on the blog on the 28th!

Once I hear back I will ship all the goodies to you! YAY!! This is a WIN – WIN situation! Even if you don’t win the basket you have still helped us bring our baby home AND you have the opportunity to win another basket next month!

After you donate…… post something about this on twitter, facebook ,or your blog (better yet – all 3!) and we’ll add your name again to the list. Just be sure to leave a comment with the link to your post about it!

If you wish for your name to be put on the list for the basket drawing without donating to our adoption just email me at laurenalexis1@gmail.com for how to do that.

If you would like to send a check just email me.

OKAY, SO seriously.... How AWESOME IS THIS!!! It is honestly the BIGGEST AND BEST giveaway I have ever seen! I LOVE IT! I LOVE LAUREN AND HER FAMILY!

PLEASE... take a minute to POP on over to LAUREN's BLOG and ENTER! :)

TWO MONTHS HOME

2011-11-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

OCTOBER 20, 2011

2 MONTHS HOME and look how much Mihret's hair has grown! hehehe! :)

SLEEPING HABITS:

We have moved Mihret into her own room and she is doing okay.

She still sleeps in the portable crib

She is still waking up about ONCE a night.

She is taking close to a two hour nap now around noon everyday. :)

Won't let Madison or Makinzi put her to bed

EATING HABITS:

Mihret still pretends to eat a lot - she will pretend to feed us too

SHE LOVES FOOD! :)

She has gone from being in the 20th percentile in weight to the 65th!!! WOW!

She is just now starting to let Makinzi and Madison feed her - she is still pretty particular about that

She is starting to like fruit more - wouldn't eat it when we first got home

She will eat pretty much everything now - even raw onions :)

I still give her rice cereal mixed with apple sauce for breakfast

Likes to feed herself

Starting to drink Soy milk not formula now

PLAYING:

She is being nicer to Furbee - she doesn't push him away - she puckers up for a big kiss instead! :)

She LOVES to play with cell phones and pretend to talk to people

She likes the older kids a bit more than the little ones

She shares well.

She plays good by herself

She will let you read an entire BOOK to her now! :)

LOVES to stack blocks

Not a fan of TV

Loooooves to open up the cabinets and get her cups and bowls out

Likes to mix and pour stuff

LOVES the water and bathtime

POTTY TRAINING:

Mihret still says caca when she has to go Potty

We are not pushing this though - she is still wearing a diaper

We do give her a treat for going pooooopy

Does not like Madison and Makinzi to take her potty

Does not like her little potty - likes to go on the BIG potty

LANGUAGE:

Mihret's vocabulary is growing sloooooowly

She still says Momma, Dadda and Caca

Calls Furbee GAGA

Kinz taught her to say, GO - so now she says GO CACA :)

We think we have heard her say BYE and BABY but don't hear them often

She jibber jabbers alllll the time

Starting to SING

GIGGLES about stuff

Laughs to herself and at silly things

LOVE HER SMILE!

HEALTH:
Almost all her Mollescum is GONE

Her Giardia is GONE

She is still taking an Iron supplement

She has a nice size belly - she thinks is funny to show us and point to her belly button

OUTINGS:
Kinzi's Softball Games and practices

Kinzi's Volleyball Matches

To the ZOO with her friends Makeda and Skyler

Out to coffee with friends

Getting better in the car no more crying and less throwing up :)

Wagon Walks

To the mall in the stroller

Dr. Visit at UW

Remlinger Farms

1st POST PLACEMENT VISIT

Mihret loved Diane, she sat on her lap or stood beside her and put her hand on her solder. SO CUTE!

It was FUN for her to meet Mihret!

Nice to talk to her about Mihret's development, attachment, etc...

My sweet nephew and his BIG OLE HEART

2011-11-14T08:31:00.000-08:00

My sis sent me this - it brought me to tears and just warms my heart... that her little boy thinks about this moment in time as SUPER special to him!

♥ LOVE YOU TANNER - You are a ONE COOL KID!! XOX ♥

♥ Mihret and Tanner!!! ♥

DARC, I HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU. I WENT TO PICK UP TANNER FROM SCHOOL TODAY AND HIS TEACHER WANTED TO SHOW ME SOMETHING HE HAD WRITTEN.

THE ASSIGNMENT GIVEN TO THE KIDS WAS TO WRITE ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE TRIP.

SHE GAVE EXAMPLES OF DISNEYLAND, SILVERWOOD, ETC. OUT OF ALL THE FUN PLACES

WE HAVE BEEN AND THINGS WE HAVE DONE THIS IS WHAT HE CHOSE TO WRITE ABOUT

....HE HAS THE SWEETEST HEART!!!! MADE ME CRY :)

I HAVE ATTACHED "TRANSLATION" - IF YOU WILL - OF TANNER'S WRITING SINCE HE DID WRITE IT ALL BY HIMSELF WITH NO HELP FROM THE TEACHER :)

"WHEN I WENT TO SEATTLE TO MEET MY NEW BABY COUSIN. SHE LIKES ELECTRONICS. WHEN WE GOT TO THE AIRPORT MY OLDER COUSIN SHE STARTED TO CRY. WHEN WE WERE AT THE AIRPORT I WAS A LITTLE SHY CAUSE A LOT OF GIRLS WERE THERE. NOW THAT'S WHEN I MET MY NEW BABY COUSIN!"

P.S. TANNER ASKED ME.....DID YOU SEE THE BIG BOW I PUT ON MIHRET'S HEAD :) YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL FROM THE SCANNED COPY, BUT THE "DARKER, SMALLER

PERSON" ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE IS MIHRET WITH A BIG BOW!!

Soooooo sweet!!! I loved it!!! Mihret will adore this as much as we do one day!!!!

LOOOOVE YOU SO MUCH TANNER!!!

ONE MONTH HOME

2011-11-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

September 20th, 2011

ONE MONTH HOME

What we have done and how Mihret is doing

Mihret is 14 MONTHS old

-Mihret is sleeping in our room in a crib - she is waking up about 2+ times a night

-Does not like being told, 'no' -plays with her fingers to process

-She says Caca when she has to go potty - we sit her on the potty and she GOES!

-She is saying Dadda, Momma, Caca and calls our Yorkie (Furbee) GAGA

-She is being treated for Giardia

-She is anemic and is being treated with Iron supplements

-She SMILES with her WHOLE BODY

-She is still warming up to her sisters Madison and Makinzi

-Not a FAN of the carseat

-She gets CARSICK - she has thrown up about 4 times in the car :(

-She likes to pretend to eat

-She does good playing with her toys by herself

-LOVES to be held

-LOVES baths

-Touches her BOW in her hair and SMILES :)

-Not a FAN of baby dolls

-Likes to stack things, even her food

-Getting up and down the stairs really good

-Is understanding more what we are saying

-LOVES to play with BALLS

-Likes SWEEETS

-LOVES to play in rain puddles

-Waves good bye and says, GA

-Can give ya a HIGH FIVE

-Does not like to look at the camera and smile

-Still drinking FORMULA

-She has been to softball games, volleyball matches and the zoo

-She still has a lot of the mollescum. Her body is starting to fight it though.

-Likes the wagon and the stroller

-Won't let you read an entire book to her - is good for about 30 seconds :)

-Takes about an hour nap at noon

-Definitely does NOT like it if she CANNOT see you

-Cries and throws a fit for no reason sometimes

-TOTALLY tickleish and has a GREAT BIG belly laugh :)

-Got her EARS PIERCED

-Seeing MORE of her funny lil personality

-PUCKERS up and gives the BEST kisses EVER!! ♥

We are ENJOYING every single second with HER! She is SUCH A BLESSING!

LOVE YOU MIHRET!

M♥RE L♥VE for MIHRET ♥

2011-11-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Tiffany threw me a TOTALLY FUN shower at the Edgewater Inn restaurant - right on the water - it was beautiful... she decorated the table with adorable cupcakes with lil brown babies on them! ha ha! I LOVED IT! and we played little games and HOLY SMOKES... all of them - Crystal, Sonja, De, Tiff, Diana, Carol and Jan were SO SO thoughtful and soooooo incredibly generous... I couldn't wait to get back home and try on all Mihret's adorable outfits, play games with her and read books to her... THANKS LADIES!!! I had such a BLAST! A few of my buds couldn't make it - but BLESSED the SOCKS of Miss Mihret with a little BARBIE car and AMAZZING little outfits and books!! WOW!!!!

(Mihret pictured here in her new lil JUICY outfit from her Grandma and Grandpa riding her BARBIE car from the May's and the Bate's) :)

(Ooooooh LOOK I'm wearing the SAME outfit that I did at Niki's SHOWER!! ha ha ha!) :)

...The BLESSSSSSSSSINGS just kept on COMING!!!! My ACER Momma's all got together and surprised me in between Kinzi's SOFTBALL Games - They had a picnic table ALL set up with BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS Cupcakes, Strawberries and Cream, drinks, sandwhiches!! WOW!!! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Surprised!!! It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Mihret got SOOOOOOOOOOOO many DARLING outfits... and MORE!!! I LOVE these Softball Mom's... I honestly cherish their friendship... and are REALLY a lot like FAMILY - since we see each other SO much, cheer on each other's kiddos together, travel together - LOVE THEM!!!

Here is a pick of some of my AWESOME ACERRRRRRR BUDS

Mihret LOOOOOOOOOOVED the CUPCAKES!!!! Mmmmmmm mmmm!!!

...Then last weekend we went to EASTERN WASHINGTON (Mihre'ts first trip to our HOME TOWN) to go to another SHOWER that Erik's SISTER - Angela had arranged with ALL our family that live there!! Erik's Mom made YUMMY Spaghetti, garlic Bread, Cider - we had cake and ice cream - YUM! It was soooooooooooooo nice to see all our family and share this time together and Mihret got SOOOO many adorable things - from a little rocking horse, a winter coat to darling outfits and a sweet knitted hat!! SOOO FUN!! SO THOUGHTFUL! Thanks Ang!!! XOX ♥ We had such a GREAT time sharing Mihret and spending time with everyone! :)

(I think little Mihret was all PARTIED out at this point and ready for a nap... ) :)

....it seemed like every time I saw FAMILY and FRIENDS - everyone had a little something for Mihret ♥ things came in the mail - things were left on our doorstep!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! It was SO FUN! I am so GRATEFUL for the AWESOME people GOD has placed in our lives!!!! We REALLY ARE BLESSED - way more than we deserve!

This AWESOME book was dropped off on my door step by my dear FRIEND Shannon!!! I read it to Mihret EVERY night - SHE LOVES IT - so DO I!!!

and my friend JANET S. and her AWESOME fam - gave Mihret this book - ANOTHER one of my FAVE'S!!!

...Not to mention Mihret's lil closet is FULL of FUN! I'm telling ya... this MOMMA is having such a blast finding outfits for her to wear everyday and bows to put in her hair, books to read to her, sippy cups, diapers, blankets, cute bowls to eat out of, bibs, shoes, toys... :)

My sister-in-law, Mikayla - had plans to throw me a BIG OLE shower and we kept needing to reschedule or move it to a different location... She made the most BEAUTIFUL invitations and put a lot of thought into it! We decided to turn it into a FAMILY FUN dinner - just down the street at Red Robin...

...It was just perfect... Beautiful FLOWERS - in a HOME MADE GIANT Jar, Personalized Cupcakes for Miss Mihret, a UW JERSEY!! COOL! UGGS!! A couple adorable outfits... A Rahel Ethiopian Dolly! LOVE HER!!! So does Mihret!! SUPER DUPER CUTE!!! Love the story behind her and the support that goes back to World Vision!! AWESOME! Thanks MIKAYLA for planning such a FUN time on YOUR birthday!!! :)

To top off an AWESOME night... - Mihret's Uncle Zach WON her a little Green and Blue Monkey Dude from the 'BIG GRABBER THINGY' game!! ha ha ha!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!! He tried it a couple times - had a goooood grasp on it, it slipped away... then we all decided to leave and just give up... Zach ran back in to try it ONE more time and GOT THAT CRAZY LIL THING!!! ha ha ha!!! ...Then he CHASED our car down and gave it to MIHRET!!! ♥ SOOOOOOO FUNNY!!!!

SH♥WERED WITH L♥VE

2011-11-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

...was I freaked to leave lil Mihret!? Yaaaaa know, I had spent over 5 amazing days HOGGING her and LOVING on her and monopolizing all of her attention all to MYSELF... I was actually really looking forward to her spending time bonding and attaching with her Daddy again and her sisters (but YAAAAAA I was TOTALLY gonna MISS HER)! :) ♥

Niki planned this AMAZZZZZZZZZZZING shower - My sister was still in town so she was able to make it and brought THE MOST AWESOME cake - Not to mention it was DELICIOUS - and she brought back the HIGH CHAIR that Madison, Makinzi, her sweeeeet kids, Peyton and Tanner all USED - she painted it and put all of their names and birthdays on the back of it for Mihret!! SO COOOOOL!! Elle J added sooooo much sunshine with beautiful flowers and balloons and a THE NEATEST Shower game - that had me in TEARS at the very first sentence!! ha! :) PLUS... brought the VIDEO (that I put on the last post - Mihret's HOMECOMING) her husband made the night before (He created it in ONE night!!!) and played it for all of us to see!!!! IT WAS THE BEST!!! ♥ XOXOX

It was SO GREAT to see everyone! ...and to tell them how the last few days have been in Ethiopia with Mihret! I had SUCH A GREAT time and my goooooooodness I was just blown away with all the ADORABLE outfits for Mihret and all those things I haven't purchased in like 12 years.... bottles, blankets, diapers, portable crib.... EVERYONE blessed us SO MUCH! REALLY GENEROUS and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thoughtful!!! ...I couldn't wait to show Erik and the girls ALL of the CUTENESS Mihret got and what a FABULOUS time I had with all the GIRLS!!!

HOME at LAST

2011-11-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

August 20th - 2011!

...Mihret and I hopped off the plane - with the EXCITED anticipation of seeing Erik and the girls and my sister, my niece and nephew and my Dad and ALL our friends who have totally been supporting us through this whole journey (and missing some of my AWESOME AGCI peeps and more of our AMAZING family who couldn't make it) ...just the very first peek of everyone as we came up the escalator, I couldn't hold them back... and out came the good ole UGLY cry of complete JOY and HAPPINESS!!!! I'm not sure if Mihret knew what to think about it all... it was probably pretty overwhelming for her! :) But, she did great! It was AWESOME to see everyone!!! We felt SO SPECIAL AND LOVED to share this moment we had been anticipating for so long with so many GREAT people!!

Mihret is HOME!!!!! WOW!!! SHE is HOME!!

Here is a video my dear friends husband made for our family!

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH Miss Elle J, your TOTALLY AWESOME AND TALENTED Hubby and kiddos for taking SO many great pics and video.... and then GIFTING me with THESE memories in this totally thoughtful, heartfelt, BEAUTIFUL video!!! WOW!!! What a Gift! WHAT A DAY!!! Thank you for capturing this time in our lives!!! Such a PRICELESS gesture!! I LOVE YOU ELLE J FAM! ;)

♥ I am BLESSED by your FRIENDSHIP! XOX ♥

I LOVED every single sign WELCOMING Mihret HOME and all her balloons and treats from friends and family!! WE thank God for all of the people He has placed in our lives who have been so supportive during this whole process of bringing HOME our DAUGHTER from Ethiopia - from our decision to adopt to THIS DAY she is off the plane and HOME for goooood!!! THANK YOU! THANKS SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH for your prayers and encouragement - I can't even put it into words how SINCERELY GRATEFUL our family is! ♥

...Got as many pics as we POSSIBLY could, gave a ton of hugs and then we headed out to the car... to put our little sweeeeetie in her new car seat (THANKS DAD)! ...as I got in the car I noticed Erik had my car totally detailed and had little snacks all over and installed a DVD in front of Mihret's car seat... it looked AWESOME even if Mihret was TOTALLY NOT a FAN of any of it - especially being strapped into that seat!! :) We really couldn't get HOME fast enough... I was excited to have our time together for Erik to reconnect and for the girls to really meet their new LITTLE SISTER and play with her... and to get her out of that car seat that was definitely not making her happy at all!!!

As soon as we pulled up to the house - I see this:

...and started to bawl all over again! ha ha ha!! MY SIS IS AMAZING! :) I've NEVER seen a sign SO big!!!

I LOVED IT!!!!!

...Mihret slept in-between Erik and I that night! ...she probably woke up about 3 or 4 times... new place, new people, new home... I can't imagine the confusion that was happening in her little headd heart!! ...WE will be here for her now and FOREVER... to LOVE the socks OFF of her on her GREAT days and her BAD ones!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING being a family of FIVE!! SOOOOO HAPPY to have her HOME!!!

God is GOOD!

Praising Him and THANKING Him for our safe flight HOME, for our BEAUTIFUL little GIRL, and that we are ALL TOGETHER FOREVER!

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

Matthew 18:5

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.

Psalms 68:5-6

WELCOME HOME SWEEEET BABY MIHRET!!! ♥

GOING HOME!!!

2011-11-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

August 19th!!!

Mihret and I were enjoying every single second together but still WISHING we were at HOME!! T called and she said she had a CD of pics and video for some families whose kiddos are at HH. It was nice to see her again and chat for a little bit. While we were in the lobby - I paid our bill and Mihret noticed her buddy from Breakfast and kept wanting him to hold her and she'd want to walk over to him.... sooooooo we made another quick exit... We walked up to the 3rd floor and I skyped Madison and Kinz and their friends!!! It was FUN!!! I really wish the internet would have worked in our room... It was GREAT to see their faces and for Mihret to wave and jibber jabber a little to her sisters... who we would soooooooooooooooooooon be seing FOR REAL!!!!!:)

YES!!! The day we leave to go HOME... FOREVER!!! I could hardly wait... I think we were COMPLETELY packed by noon! I kept looking at the clock... I was SOOOOO EXCITED to be HOME with our little girl... to be a family of FIVE!!! ... asked the hotel to give us a ride to the airport at like 4:30!!! Yep, 3 hours early! hehehe! :) WE WERE READY!!!!

We only had ONE suitcase and One backpack and ONE BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL!!!!!! ...I was standing in a line behind a nice family who were bringing home their little boy! They got a picture of me and my sweeeeetie in line!! :)

bye bye Ethiopia!! We'll be BACK!

....I can't say how long I had anticipated this day... bringing Mihret HOME! I just couldn't wait to HOP on the plane and start heading in the right direction... FIRST STOP Dubai... UNFORTUNATELY, as soon as I got there the ONLY flight delayed was OURS!! :( Running ONE hour behind. EEEEEEEKS! With less than a 2 hour layover I was staring to freak! As we waited another 45 minutes or so for the plane to come they served us cake and soda (Mihret loved it and made a BIG GIANT HUGE MESS)! :) ...After SOOOO many years of NOT paying any attention to 'Passengers with small children can board.' 21 When they finally announced this type of seating - there was nooooo stopping me and Mihret!!:) YAHOOOOOOOOOOO! We are FINALLY going to LEAVE!

...I was just praying everyone would take their seats as soon as possible so we could get this plane in the air!!! :) Ooooh Mihret did AMAZING!!! She ate so good, slept great, played with other little kids on the plane, CUDDLED and SNUGGLED with me!!! :) She was REALLY good!

When we got to Dubai - we were there with about 7 minutes to spare - I was BEGGGGING the airline peeps to call ahead for us and hold our plane. (ya right - wasn't gonna happen) - I grabbed our backpack and ran like a crazy lady just to pick up NEW tickets for the next flight in SIX HOURS!!! OOOOH I COULD CRY!!!! I desperately wanted to get a hold of Erik - so I went and bought a phone card and tried to use the pay phone thingy's - it was really confusing... I think I had to ask 6 people to help me!!! :) I finally got a hold of Erik and started to BAWL!! ...after I got that out of my system, Mihret and I walked around the beautiful airport. Emirites had strollers so I grabbed one and we went and had some ice cream and walked around and then had some pizza and walked around - then we found a free lounger type chair and we went and took about a 2 and a half hour nap!!!

Starbucks in the Dubai airport!!

....BACK IN THE AIR!! Mihret did AWESOME... AGAIN!! I thought her ears would hurt, or she wouldn't be able to eat or she would be crying and figity... she did better than I did... FOR SURE!!! Once our plane landed in LA - I was FRANTIC yet again to try and make sure we could make the flight HOME!!! We were herded down to customs in a GIANT HUGE HUMONGOUS line (oooooooooooooh nooooooooo) then I waited in another line in Immigration with Mihret's SEALED MANILA envelope from the U.S. Embassy... we loooked for our luggage, rechecked it, ran a MILE to get in another line for ticketing (I must have cut in line every time... TOTALLY apologizing - the ticketing lady was SOOOOOOOO sweeeeet! I was sweating, tired, dirty, and stressed and she was SO KIND - she asked about Mihret and told me THANK YOU for adopting her!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I turned into a big CRY BABY messss!! I wanted to reach over and just give that woman a GIANT hug!!!!) , got in another line to go through security... RAAAAAAAAAAN TO THE GATE with minutes to spare... BOARDED THE PLANE TO GO HOME!!!!

YES! WE MADE IT!!!

We were on the last stretch!!

THE HOME STRETCH!!!!

...Still at the Riviera

2011-11-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Okay... I was TOTALLY wishing I was able to get our tickets changed... I LOVED the one-on-one time I was getting with Mihret but I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO READY to get OUR BABY HOME... and I missed Erik and the girls!!

...it would have been nice to get out and walk around and talk to people and see and share Ethiopia with Mihret... Instead of seeing the inside of room 706 for soooooooooooo long. Our driver we loooooved, Tsega, was off on a trip with another American family and so I wasn't able to call him to have him pick us up and just drive us around... I totally could have asked a few of the cab guys down in front of the hotel but, I just didn't feel super comfortable with just me and Mihret going...

....in the morning of the 18th Mihret and I woke up and had the breakfast buffet! Mmmm mmm! ;) ....we ended up having to make it a quickie... Mihret kept wanting to get down and run to this man sitting at a table!! AAAGH! I slurrrrped up my YUMMY coffee (I seriously could drink 12 cups it's SO delicious), shoved a few more scrumptious bites of egg and a pancake down, grabbed little miss Mihret and zippppped back to the room.

We had a great big window in our room, which was really nice. We were able to open it and just watch people, feel the cool air, hear people talking... It was better than watching TV!! We also went to the ballroom and played a little, I gave her a bath, she snacked, played, napped....

We went down to the restaurant for dinner... They gave Mihret Shiro Wat (I'm sure I probably spelled that wrong) :) ha! But... she ate it like babyfood!!! It was GREAT! I liked it tooo! :) (She's blowing spit bubbles in this picture!!) hehehe! :) ...We'd skype Erik and the girls every night!

...our plane didn't leave until August 19th at 7:35 p.m.!! ...Soooo, Mihret and I just pretty much hung out LOVING on each other WAITING to go HOME...

DONATIONS DELIVERED! ♥

2011-11-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

...It was August 17th, 2011...

Mihret and I woke up (soooooooooooooo AWESOME to see her sleeping next to me) ♥ ...we went to the breakfast buffet and Mihret just LOVED my scramble eggs - It was SO good to eating something she really liked - since I couldn't get her to eat any rice cereal or baby food. After breakfast we came back to the room and played for a little bit... I brought her a little baby dolly that she loved on and would give kisses to!! IT WAS THE SWEEETEST!

At NOON Almaz came to deliver all of our paperwork from the US Embassy! WOW, it was record speeeeeed, we got it back so FAST!! We all sat down in the ballroom and Almaz explained it all.

There were 5 families there at the same time.

After Almaz was finished explaining everything - I asked Wass or Danny if they could take me to Betzatha because I have 4 GIANT tubs of donations (THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH to all of those who donated!!! WOW) and I needed to stop and pick up some goats too! :) So, Wass drove T and Almaz back to HH and then Danny came back and helped me load up all the donations and we went to one of his favorite goat shopping spots and we grabbed 4 and headed to Betzatha!!! YAY!!! 1 goat will feed the 46 kids 1 meal.... So they were gonna get at least 4 goood meals from these goats.

We unloaded the goats and helpers carried in all of the tubs and started to unpack them!!! THEY WERE SOOOO THRILLED! My heart REALLY went out to this orphanage. It had SO many needs. They all just had a SUPER SMILE as they put their hands back into the tubs to bring out MORE AND MORE AWESOME donations - they sooooo desperately needed!

While I was there, one of the directors wanted to show me around... we walked around outside, saw the kitchen, playroom, older kids rooms and then we started walking upstairs to the infant/toddler area and Mihret SCREAMED and started to cry... I immediately turned around and went back downstairs and she was fine. It really is sad to think of her there, how she got there, how hurt and alone she felt...

We didn't stay too long, then Danny drove us back to the Riviera. When I got back I learned everyone had changed their tickets to leave THAT NIGHT!!! I got on the internet and got a hold of Erica and tried like crazzzzzzzzzzzzy to change mine toooo, but all of the flights were booked. Waaaaaaaaaa! I was gonna miss my travel buds... BIG TIME!!! I gave them HUGE hugs good-bye, in hopes that we will always stay in touch!! Then Mihret and I went and had chicken and rice Kabobs in the restaurant. :)

At 7:00 we went and skyped Daddy, Honey and Kinz! Mihret waved

to them!! It was SO CUTE! It is great to watch our baby girl show a little more of her AMAZZING little personality each day...

I LOVE HER!!!

♥ I GOTCHA GIRL! ♥

2011-10-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

August 15-16, 2011

....such a long trip... this time it seemed even longer... I just COULDN'T wait to get my hands on our baby girl!!

I flew from Seattle to Chicago - I had a 6 hour layover in Chicago - where I did a LOT of people watching, playing on my iPad - downloading apps I thought Mihret would like, and pretend sleeping. :) (who can really sleep in an airport). :) After my stay in Chicago was up - I hopped on the plane to Frankfurt - my seats were really good, I LOVED all the plane food (I think I just totally dig it being delivered and everything in its little place - I got so excited to get the next little snack, meal or little sip of soda) hehe! :) and I met a lot of really nice people on the plane. :) Once I was in Frankfurt I grabbed a coffee and a little snack (like I needed more to eat - ha ha ha! :)) and did some more pretend sleeping, It's like I wanted to sleep, but there was way to much going on and people walking by and maybe I was a little afraid my backback, shoes, and everything else would be missing when I woke up. :) Next leg of the trip... LAST LEG!!! Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!!

Once I LANDED on ETHIOPIAN SOIL at 9:00 p.m. I think I moved as fast as my feet would take me without mowing anyone over! :) I ran to the Visa line (it seemed to take FOREVERRRRRR)... Got my visa and stood in another line to get it stamped and then said a little PRAYER that all the donations and my luggage made it (my carry on was totally packed full with baby food, diapers, formula, baby wipes, toys, treats, snacks, clothes and stuff for Mihret though, just in case). ALL FOUR GIANT 36 Gallon tubs and my luggage made it!!! I found help to push the two HUGE carts full of stuff through the x-ray machine... This is where it got a little tricky. They asked me to open up a couple of the containers. LOTS of questions, Lots of discussions going on, and I was a little freaked. I decided now would be a gooooooooooooooooooood time to put on a lil charm - be the goofball that I am and maybe tip someone REALLY good! :) hehe! They kept telling me I needed to pay taxes on these items. I told them they were ALL donations for local orphanages. They asked for a donation letter and I handed over AGCI's general donation letter. IT WORKED! How, I don't know... I think they thought I was silly and just kinda of shewed me on!! PHEW! No payment in taxes, they didn't confiscate the gooooods and now I was on the search for my ride to the Riviera! It was 11 p.m. and I was pooooooooooooped - but my heart was RACING to see Mihret tomorrow!!! Found my RIDE and was happy to hear they had given me room 706 - off the beat and track and definitely a lot of room to move around...

...from our first trip I totally anticipated Mihret to be very apprehensive to see me, scared, and really not so happy. Not happy to be put back into my arms, to leave her VERY special mothers, to leave Hannah's Hope and everything she knew to be normal.... But this Momma was SO ready for her to be OUR little girl in OUR home in OUR family! Right NOW and FOREVER! Basically I tried to prepare myself for the rejection I would be receiving from her... and goodness, I don't blame her. What a lot has happened in her short little life. Our home would be the 5th place she'd call HOME! It was time for her FINAL stop! The best SPOT! Thank you God - for placing her in our OUR HOME! We are BLESSED!!! WE are her FAMILY now... and WE will get through ANYTHING TOGETHER!

AUGUST 16, 2011

I woke up and my heart was RACING... I went to the main part of the Riviera and saw some familiar faces!! YAY!!!! LOVE the Givens, Britts, and Kohring's!! They all had their BEAUTIFUL children!!!! GOSH, it was AWESOME to see them with their kids!!! Wass was coming to pick me up at 9:00 to go get my baby girl... MIHRET... I got anxious at about 9:05, 9:10 - He showed up at 9:15... and I was on my way!!!

We arrived at HH... It was a nice day. 75 degrees maybe, No one was sitting outside. It seemed really quiet. Maybe the kids were all eating or sleeping or something. I took off my shoes and put on the indoor crocs and stepped into the infant part of Hannah's Hope Transition Home. It still felt quiet and kind of dark... We walked up the stairs and Mihret's room was the first room at the top of the stairs to the right. I saw one special Mother (I didn't really recognize her) she was holding Mihret and another little sweetie. As soon as Mihret saw me she was scared and upset. Wass was taking pictures and video taping our meeting... Oh I was SOOOOOOOOOOO glad to see her!!! I missed her SO much!! Whether she was happy to see me or not - it didn't matter!! I WAS HAPPY TO SEE HER!!! ♥

I stayed up in her room, for only minutes and then we went downstairs to the BIG open room. I left all the special mother gifts up in her room. (I totally thought they would be there for me to give them to personally) It really was eery to me how quiet it was. No one was in the BIG room. We sat down on the floor. She was still unhappy. After a few minutes passed, I just asked if we could leave now... There were really no goodbye's. ...Which all in all was okay... Mihret would have had an even harder time saying good bye... We got our picture by the famous Hannah's Hope gates, with my sad little girl and missing my man by my side...

I just could NOT wait to get her back in our hotel room and LOVE on her and just start being her MOMMY! She cried leaving HH, the whole van ride back to the hotel and the walk to our hotel room.

I changed her clothes, gave her a little bath, gave her a snack, played with her, LOVED on her... and she was happy! Really!! She was!!! She was CUDDLY! SWEET! She LIKED me!!! ♥ SHE REALLY LIKED ME!!! I'm telling you, it honestly felt like a miracle!!!! ♥ We got to spend a couple GREAT hours with each other before we got back in the van with Danny and Almaz to go to our EMBASSY APPOINTMENT.

She did AMAZING in the car, she clung on to me, and let me hold her close! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! OH. HOW I LOVE HER!!! ♥ Once we were at the U.S. Embassy and through security we sat down in an area - very similar to the DMV - Almaz grabbed a number! REALLY! She took a number and we waited our turn!! I TOTALLY thought we would step into someone's office and it was going to be much more 'official' like. The whole time, Mihret sat on my lap, content, happy, quiet, cuddly!!! :) Our number came up and Mihret and I walked to the booth - the representative asked me a few questions and then said....

"The ADOPTION of Mihret Sanders is... FULL and FINAL!!!"

I GOTCHA GIRL!!!

FOREVER!!

What an AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZZING day!!! We came back and went to our room. She was SOOOO Good! I was hungry so we ordered up room service. I had a yummy hamburger (with a fried egg on it) and fries. Mmmmm mmmm!! Mihret ate a LOT of my hamburger!! I was soooooooooooooo glad, because I couldn't get her to eat any of her baby food or rice cereal that I had brought. We filled up our tummies and then walked to floor 3 in the other building and SKYPED Erik and the girls!!! We were TOGETHER (well sorta... connected through the internet for now :)) We are a FAMILY of 5! I took our sleepy girl back to our room and we jumped into the giant king size bed and she fell asleep in my arms! Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! ♥

I was so surprised how this day ended up.... it REALLY was an ANSWER to PRAYER... to see Mihret want to love on me, cuddle with me, reach for me... I was really anticipating a sad little girl not wanting to have much to do with this CRAZZZZZY momma! :)

Thank you Lord for Mihret, thank you for placing her in OUR family, thank you for her sweet little spirit and her loving heart. Please be with her and watch over her - as I cannot even try to begin to fathom the confusion and loss that she feels right now.

I LOVE YOU MIHRET!!!

Embassy Surprise! ....and I'm off!

2011-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 11 2011

I woke up in the morning and looked at my phone for new emails... and to my TOTAL SURPRISE I saw this!!!

ENTOTO STREET

P.O. BOX 1014

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

Dear All God’s Children Date: 11 August 2011

This office is ready to schedule an interview for the I-600 petition filed on behalf of the below applicants.

Case Number:

Family Name:

Interview slots are available Monday and Wednesday at 9:00 am or Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00 pm. Please select your 3 preference dates and send us an e-mail. We will send you a confirmed appointment date after checking our available slots. Make sure you get our confirmed appointment date for parents to come for their appointment.

The fee for the visa interview is USD 404.00 per applicant. If the family is adopting more than one child, who are not siblings, there will be an additional fee of USD 720.00 for the I-600 petition. You may pay in local currency at the current rate of exchange.

When communicating with this office, please provide agency name, child’s full name and case number exactly as shown in this letter.

Please note that the next available slot we have is starting from August 15, 2011.

Sincerely,

Adoption Visa Unit

WOW!! WHAT???!!! REALLY??!! YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! :)

We didn't even know our file had been submitted to the U.S. Embassy... so to read that we HAD CLEARANCE was such a SURPRISE! A HUGE BLESSING, and an ANSWER to prayer! ...and there I was at home alone crying and screaming with excitement and running all over THRILLED to death!!! I called Erik, texted the Givens and quickly got a hold of Erica to make my flight arrangements!!!!

The night before I left to Ethiopia there was a BIG year-end softball party. I decided to skip out on packing till later so we could enjoy some AWESOME friends, food and FUN! ...Just before we were ready to head out - my friend John gave me a loaded squirt gun... Hmmmm... what to do? Definitely couldn't let a little FUN go to waste!! hehehe! :) Sooooo I gave Erik a gooood squirt down! ha ha ha! - after some struggle - I ended up in the POOL! FULLY CLOTHED! ha ha ha! Well... he definitely didn't get away with it - cuz I pushed his boooty in too!! :) We had a LOT of laughs and I'm sure were quite entertaining to our buds! ha ha! ...told everyone good bye and got our soggy bottoms in the car to head home and finish packing!!!

We loaded up FOUR 36 gallon containers filled to exactly 50 pounds each with donations from some REALLY amazing people to take to Betzatha (the orphanage where Mihret spent some time and desperately need the help). *** THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Much to ALL the AWESOME folks who donated a TON of diapers and formula!!! THANK YOU!!! ♥

Was I nervous to go alone? No. Not really. I was looking forward to it... I knew Mihret may have trouble bonding to us right away and to be honest... I was a lil selfish - I wanted her to bond to me first, to look to me for her meals, attention, bathing... and REACH for me. I wanted to make that connection first (sorry Erik) :) ... he had also just started a new project at work and was able to cart Mihret's BIG sisters around. :)

I think we got about 3 hours of sleep (okay maybe less) :) ... my plane left at 6:30 a.m. and I am compulsively early... so, I wanted to be there at like 3:00 or 3:30! :) Well... the employees didn't show up till 4:00 a.m. ...and of course, we packed all the stuff in and stood at the wrong line... ha ha ha! It felt like we changed lines we were in about 3 times before we finally hit the right one. We got a little nervous when they weighed all of our bags and the containers. 2 of them were over weight, so Erik helped me take a few things out and add them to another container. United was not so kind to wave the extra baggage fee (even after begging and showing them AGCI's donation letter). Whatever. Totally worth it! :) I gave Erik a big SMOOCH goodbye and I was off!!

...OFF to get OUR LITTLE GIRL and BRING HER HOME FOREVER!!!!

COLORADO!

2011-09-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

July 30 - August 7, 2011

SOFBALL

12U A Western Nationals in Fort Collins, Colorado.

...It was a LOOOOOONG 2 day trip to Fort Collins from Seattle. Kinz and I were off for 10 days of SOFTBALL FUN! We met our AWESOME caravanning buddies in the morning... grabbed some coffee, and we were off! :)

I TOTALLY enjoyed our talks along the way with Kinz and sharing this time with the Hands, Peterson's, Ensrud's and the Riggs. We stopped in Idaho the first night and had a FUN dinner and let the girls swim. It was HOT!

I think driving the second day was much harder... 'ARE WE THERE YET?'

When we got there - we had a LOT of down time and we were able to get out and explore a little... Here we are in Estes Park! It was BEAUTIFUL!

Made me want to siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, ♫ ♪ THE HILLLLLLLLS ARE ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE, WITH THE SOUND OF MUUUUUUUUUUUSIC! ♫ ♪ Laaaaaaa laaaaaaa laaa laaa :)

I even got to hook up with one of my dear friends all the way back from Kindergarten (maybe even preschool - I can't quite remember) KIM, it was SOOOOOOOOO GOOD to see you!!!! (grabbed a pic off her facebook cuz the pic the waitress took of us didn't turn out super FAB! hehehehe! :)

LOVE that she's wearing her ORDINARY HERO t-shirt in this pic - with her beautiful daughter!!! It was SO fun to sneak away from softball for a bit and catch up with KIM!!! LOVE YOU KIM!!!

...Was TOTALLY hoping to catch up with another one of my friends named Kimberly (from AGCI) but we couldn't get it to work out. DARN.

The girls had a great time. They placed in the top 9 out of 38 teams! NOT BAD! :)

The Momma's had a good time toooooo! :)

10 days is a long time to be away though and we were EXCITED to get back home! So, as soon as they were out of the tournament we jumped in the car and headed HOME! YAY! :)

WAY TO GO KINZ - You played great! I LOVE WATCHING YOU!

PRAYER.

2011-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Prayer.

I have been touched to TEARS with prayer in my life... there are THREE times specifically where someone prayed for me and my family. ...someone who knew how IMPORTANT it is to GIVE IT TO GOD - to take your situation and give it to HIM! SO HUGE! ...I've never really been a very good 'out-loud' prayer, my family didn't pray out loud and I have really rarely experienced someone PRAYING for me out loud, talking to HIM! Asking Him to LISTEN to OUR situation! WOW!

...the first time I was part of this seriously HUMBLING experience was when we were with our small group and we had planned a FAMILY MISSION trip to Kenya and at the dinner table Steven LIFTED our FAMILY right up to HIM! I was overwhelmed with gratitude that they didn't just send us off with well wishes - but that he spoke directly to HIM! He prayed for specific things for our family, for protection, wisdom, strength, opportunities... and it was REALLY special to us. I felt like GOD was right there in the room, listening to him and looking over us... TEARS.
*Our trip to Kenya was AMAZING, it lead to another trip to Kenya to help a group called the Joy Divine Children's Organization which then led us to ADOPTING from Ethiopia.

...another time someone said, 'let me pray for you' (I honestly get choked up every time I even think about this!) my daughter was having a hard time at school with friends - and my heart just HURT for her, and as a Mom, I just didn't know what to do to help her... Until her 3rd and 5th Grade teacher, Lisa, sat down with me and GAVE IT TO GOD!!! WOW! She prayed for me and for my daughter. She gave it to HIM! I was humbled. She didn't try to fix it or tell me how to fix it for her - but she gave it to the ONE who knows our hearts and knows how to help us and what our next step should be... She gave it to HIM! I felt SO blessed to have this person in my life to PRAY for us. I was moved to TEARS.
*My daughter has since switched schools (a couple times) and now is thriving as a Junior and is doing strong socially and spiritually!

...MY prayer is to be more BRAVE like them, to not be afraid if my words don't come out perfect and completely articulate, for Him to give me the wisdom of what to say and the COURAGE to do it.

Another time someone prayed for me, Elle J :), for my family, my DAUGHTER in Ethiopia - I didn't hear her, but the genuine and sincere thoughtfulness of it brought me to tears. My friend and her family said a prayer for our lil girl in Ethiopia - they did it in such a special way....

They prayed for our little girl. They gave it to HIM and sent up a lantern in the sky as a symbol of their thoughts and PRAYERS for her! WOW! No one has ever EVER done anything like this for us. We again were humbled, someone is talking to GOD on our behalf! ...you know someone REALLY cares about you, when they give it to HIM!*We have since gotten home with our little girl (looking forward to blogging more about this) and I have seen SO many answered prayers with HER - she is a TOTALLY different kid than the one I met at HH. ♥

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for your PRAYERS for us during our ADOPTION JOURNEY! THANK YOU! The POWER of PRAYER is SO HUGE!! HUGE!!! ...as I write this RIGHT now some of my dear friends are having to deal with uncertainty in their adoption. They are scared for their children in Ethiopia, their hearts are hurting, doubting... PLEASE pray for a MIRACLE for these families and their children so they can bring them HOME, so they will have a FAMILY FOREVER.