a Trout Creek Thanksgiving

Every other year we go to Trout Creek Bible camp and
my side of the family meets in the lodge for Thanksgiving.
Many of us went to camp there as children so it brings
back a lot of fun memories!


Makaylee sported her Indian gear she made in school and had
me wear her pilgrim hat. Marquez ditched his pilgrim hat
as soon as he got there.



Nyah's favorite thing to eat at her first Thanksgiving?
Her bottle...



Auntie Leah's IPhone kept the kids entertained



crazy cousin Jed- there's always a nutty one in the bunch



a view from the top


kitchen cleanup girls!


My family came over for the Denver Bronco game afterward
(we're Colorado transplants) and they finally won! It had
been a long day for Nyah; she crashed as soon as they left.


Tried to get a picture for the Christmas card but
Nyah wasn't cooperating!



Auntie Leah messes around with her new SLR or whatever
it is camera. I think she's got the gift!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are Thankful this Thanksgiving that Nyah is home!
Last year at this time our dossier had been in Ethiopia
for a month and we hadn't been matched yet. Here's her
referral picture we got a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving!



Grandpa and Grandma arrived in town last night for Thanksgiving
and thought it would be fun to take the kids downtown to Haydyn
Bakery on 23rd Ave. and do some early Christmas shopping.



Nyah thinks she's getting some dessert, too!



Marquez and Makaylee get in some coloring time before their
picks arrive.



Mmmm, peanut butter chocolate mousse and mint whatchamacallit :)



Happy Thanksgiving to your families!

Hair

We took Makaylee to get her hair done for Thanksgiving
at Geneva's in North Portland. I felt like we were in
the movie "Barber Shop." I like having my children around
other black people so they can experience that part of
their culture as well. One older gentleman asked if Nyah
was mine and if she was adopted. He was like, "Ah, man,
she's so lucky. Will you adopt me, too?" He then came
over and wanted to know all about why we adopted and said
he was always curious why Angelina Jolie and Madonna adopt
kids from Africa. "But I'll never get close enough to ask
them so I thought I'd ask you." One of the barbers who works
there said I need to get Nyah a black doll because she was
afraid of black people. I tried to explain to him that she
is not comfortable being around men, period, except her Daddy.
She's just always been like that. It really hurts Orin's
friend Steve's feelings, too. She cries out in terror when-
ever he comes over and clings to us for dear life. Even if
he stays a couple of hours. She's getting better with her two
grandpas at least. But the ladies at the barber shop
she would walk right up to and hop in their lap. Everyone was
really nice but sometimes I get the feeling that black people
don't like white people adopting "their" kids. As if they
owned them because they happen to have the same of color of
skin. That is so silly. It is just skin, people. Nyah doesn't
have anything in common with them besides that. The Ethiopian
culture and the African American culture here in the states are
completely different. Studies have shown that Ethiopian DNA is closer
to Egyptians than Africans. Makaylee and Marquez on the other hand
are half white. So the black community doesn't have dibs on them,
either. So leave us alone. And the funny thing is, I forget all
about the fact that we are all different colors until we go out into
the community and get the questions and looks, and more questions.
Okay, that is my soapbox for the day.


Makaylee adores her kindergarten teacher! She wanted to
make her a Happy Thanksgiving card this morning before
school and she actually had time because I didn't have
to do anything to her hair this morning. I hope the
school doesn't make her take out the beads because they
too distracting. They clank together so loud everytime
she turns her head!

Homeschooling rocks

Homeschooling rocks. Marquez got to tour a college campus,
visit friends from Ethiopia, and then go home and do a Thanksgiving
tutorial online all in one day. He loved George Fox University and
got to see this tiny house that I shared with 7 other girls my junior
year that I was engaged to Orin. I couldn't show him married housing
where Orin and I lived my senior year because they had plowed it
down- it was condemned- even when we were living there! Marquez is
so cute. When Orin got home that night he informed him that he
wants to go to GFU too when he gets older. Hope his college fund
starts growing faster because at this point all we'll be able to
afford are the books.


Alec, Haven Nyah and Marquez -cutest kids ever:)

Becky's blog is naingandbeckysadoptionjourney.blogspot.com
if you want to check it out.


When we got home it was time to work on Marquez's homeschooling
for the day and Nyah wasted no time getting into trouble with
Mom's attention divided...



so cute its hard to concentrate on anything else



Diaper pails that swivel are loads of fun to put toys into
and watch them disappear.




Waiting for "Da" to get home and make us tacos!

Makaylee: "Mommy, I decided not to be a teacher anymore."
Me: "Why not?"
Makaylee: "Because I want to make lots of money. So I am
going to work at Taco Bell or Mc Donalds."
Orin: Sadly, she's not too far off.


sharing one of those sweet sister moments


Marquez gets serious playing his Tony Hawk board game
on Playstation. Everytime we are in a store he is begging
me to buy him "skate boarder" clothes with skulls and stuff.
I'm not into that rebel, anti-authority look for my 10 year
old son. At any age, really. Hopefully he'll understand
someday but until then I remain the uncool Mom.


Marquez was so excited to have Makaylee's brother come
visit for the weekend. Finally someone to play with.
unfortunately it didn't last long. They were shooting
hoops in the front drive and Will got mad. He ran and
refused to come in the house. I had to leave the girls
in the house alone and try to coax him back in but he
kept going further and further down the street. Unsafe
situation for all. He eventually came back but Orin and
I decided it wasn't a good idea to have him come over
anymore. We'll just have to meet with him at McDonalds in
the future to keep him and Makaylee in contact.

Art

We decided to let Nyah feed herself the other night.
She's 13 months so I know she should have started this
long ago but I hate a mess. She feeds herself spaghetti
and toast and eggs and stuff, but not yogurt. But she
really had fun painting her face with her spoon. Since
this is our first baby, we found it quite entertaining!




beckoning the dog to lick her fingers




No wonder the dog has diarrea today. How do you get babies
to stop feeding the dog from their high chair? She always
dropping crackers and vegetables to her.



Time for a bath!

No News

No news today on whether or not we get to adopt
Makaylee's little sister. The committee didn't
meet afterall and they won't decide until some
time in January it looks like. More waiting.
Good thing we have gotten pretty good at that.
I am sad though because I had already boughten
her things for Christmas and was already picturing
Makaylee getting to share celebrating our Savior's
birth with her beloved sister and how special that
would be (she hasn't seen her in over a year). Here's
some pictures of Makaylee and Nyah though. Makaylee
wanted to wear a side ponytail to school! Brings me
back :) Now if I could just find some Aqua Net for her
bangs...

Special Visit

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last night
and everyone was so excited. I put little
ponies in Nyah's hair for the special occasion.
She wouldn't tolerate it for very long so I
didn't get to do the back. They lasted through
the night, I was surprised.




Makaylee shows Grandpa her album with all the
pictures from when she was 18 months- 3yrs. that
her previous foster mom had scrapbooked for her.
Makaylee was so adorable! (and still is)




Sorry, Orin, I know you hate it when I cut
off your head but then I would have missed
out on Dad's expression!




Grandpa reading Nyah her favorite book - the
first time she sat still all night :)

A Few Days Left

I didn't think I'd ever say this but I'm actually
enjoying watching Nyah grow. Her personality is
just blossoming each day and she is getting so animated!
I thought I would miss her babyness but this toddler
stuff is great. I love being able to interact with her more
and watching her try to communicate with words.



In four days we will know if we get to adopt Makaylee's
2 year old sister. This adoption committee in the foster
care system is kind of like your court date for you
international adoptive parents. So needless to say we are
getting anxious. Orin and I really wanted to adopt Makaylee's
brother as well and keep all three siblings together but we
had to let that go because he was getting aggressive with
Marquez when angry and it wasn't safe to have him in our
home. But we love him and are going to see him regularly so
Makaylee can continue to have a relationship with him. He is
such a sweetheart, really. He just doesn't know how to handle
negative emotions. So, please pray on Wednesday that if it is
God's plan for our family that we will be chosen as the adoptive
family for little sister. Makaylee prays for her every night
and is counting on this. I am hoping she won't be devastated
if it doesn't work out though, because her and Nyah have so
much fun together! Those two are inseparable!

Overdue haircut

Marquez's hair was getting way too
long and we couldn't keep it from
sticking out in crazy ways anymore
sooo... the beautiful curls had to
go. We saved a few precious locks
for his keepsake box since I never
got to have any baby curls from the
hospital.



experimenting for future hairstyles





We had fun with it before we shaved it all off!

Nyah was sick all weekend so we stayed home and had
a quiet weekend full of lots of naps, fluids, and
humidifiers for her. She is feeling a little better
thank goodness. Now that all the project cars are out
of the driveway, there's room to play ball. Orin,
Marquez and Makaylee worked all day on putting
together the basketball hoop and shooting around.
Makaylee was so ecstatic that it could be lowered
to 8 ft. for her. We are going to put her on the kindergarten
YMCA basketball team in January. I can't wait to watch
her. I've never seen a little girl so into sports before!
She's so naturally competitive and can dribble with one hand
instead of two. Now if I can just find Marquez's old Air
Jordans from when he was 6...

Homebody

We were so busy this summer going here and there
that I love days like today where there is nothing
on the calendar that we have to do. We can just sit
in our nice cozy house and enjoy each other uninterrupted.
My favorite thing has got to be seeing the world fresh through
the eyes of a baby in all her wonder and amazement! The wind is
whipping through our backyard and Nyah watches the leaves swirling,
Makaylee is deciding which piece of Halloween candy to eat
next, and Marquez is making paint thinner to work on his model
car with Orin as soon as he gets home. All is right in the
world.

"Cute!... but what is she?"

Every year we go with another adoptive family we met at church. This is our 5th or
6th year in a row. We are quite the herd when we get together :)






Yay, Daddy gets to go this year! He's usually still at work.





Everyone thought Nyah was a bug- I thought it was a monster- who knows?!





Marquez saw two other boys dressed in the same costume as him and was embarassed. I thought only girls feel this way. Kinda like when you show up to prom and someone else has on the exact same dress as you. He he.





It was packed downtown at 4pm- probably because all the dads wanted to get home
to see the big game :)




Nyah was mesmerized by all the different costumes!





Pizza break at our friends house before we go out again





Marquez is so cute!




Auntie Jenae dresses up in Orin's postal uniform to go to work the night shift at the hostpital.