1 year

Click here to view this photo book larger

6 months!!!!

Our kiddos have now been home 6 months! We have been extremely blessed to have an amazingly smooth transition! We just had our 6 mth post placement visit with our Social worker, one more at a year and we are done! We had a great month full of happy times!! Both of them are doing amazing! Our whole family and a bunch of friends participated in a 5k run/walk for LetthemLOL.com. We helped to raise enough money to build 3 wells in Sierra Leone Africa!! You both had your very first Ice cream cones!! I love witnessing firsts! Our life is crazy busy but we love it! Here is a few highlights of month 6!

You had a blast at your first family wedding!! Danced all night!

5k run for water!! Team Ethiopia!

enjoying a "popipsicle"

TAMIRAT

Oh my little man you are so darn cute!! Everyone remarks on your beautiful eyes! Cute yes but SMART!!! Preschool is all done and we are preparing for kindergarten! This month you have been having fun at swim lessons and you are making lots of new friends. We recently bought you a lacrosse stick and signed you up for soccer!! Basically any sport that involves a ball you are all over it! Fearless and a quick learner! Look out I think you will give your sister Marianna a run for her money someday! Occasionally you will mention your Dad or brother in Ethiopia, always good memories. I think you miss home sometimes but you love your family here too. Tommy is a snuggler..I love getting big hugs! The new phrase for this month is "AWW Come On Mom!!" Yes it has not taken long to learn all of these great phrases from your siblings!



First time driving a go cart



Your favorite thing to do!

Million

Our little princess!!! Oh has your personality come alive this month...and your stubbornness! We forgot what it was like raising a toddler! Let me follow with you are still 5x's better than any of our other kids were at 3! You are always smiling! Dance class will be a must for you in the fall..you love to perform and you demand all of the attention! Everyone loves to pay attention to you though. We are still rocking the eye patch for a while longer. It is working wonders! You have a very cute tan line to prove you have been sticking with it! Ring around the rosie is your favorite song..you will do this over and over! You have changed so much since we got home you are almost unrecognizable. Its amazing what clean water and good food can do!

A day that would change everything...

 On June 4th 2010 a Father would make one of the hardest decisions of his life. On this day I was home praying for the children I knew that were somewhere out there. God had chosen them but we still didn't know who they were. Everyday my pray was for God to keep our children safe and to comfort their family as they made a life changing decision.

  On this day on the other side of the world another parent was praying to God. Aleymayehu traveled 4 hours away with his 2 youngest children hand in hand. He was praying to God that he could provide his children with a healthy, blessed life. He was sacrificing a life with his children in order to save their lives. Tamirat and Million's dad walked into an orphanage and explained to the staff that he could not care for his children and wanted a better life for them. He knew that his children were suffering. They had endured sickness, loss of their sibling and their mother to Malaria and a constant struggle for food. He prayed that they would be able to have a bright future. He walked away that day leaving his 4 year old son and his only daughter who was 2. How his heart must have broke as he kissed then for the last time. Not knowing if he would ever see them again. This was a giant step in Faith. He put his children in God's hands changing their lives forever.

 One year later I pray that God comforts his heart and he knows that they are healthy and happy and flourishing. June 4th is a day we will never forget. Thank you God for the day that changed everything.