Rain, rain, go away

Without having the outdoors available to release some of their energy, the kids have been SO rambunctious lately!

Nyah's thrilled with the trailer her brother rigged to her trike!

She's always filling it with dollies and stuffies and giving them train ride while she shouts "Choo choo!"

Marquez has been great with entertaining the little ones

and Nana's who come for a visit...

and I am thankful for friends who stop by to do crafts with them.

Your turn, Nyah!

Go, Diego, Go!

and finally we had a day without rain :) Thank you God.

Dad's home from Ethiopia for a couple of weeks and brought some more pictures of Missy B. Mom is still over there at the guest house with a friend of hers to keep them company!

B baking cookies at the guesthouse.

playing soccer outside the gate

swimming at the Sheraton

playing with another boy who is also being adopted

Dec. 10th is the date they expect to arrive home in the United States now. Its been so hard to wait because we are all so excited to meet her and hear all about their adventures in Ethiopia!

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Skateworld fun

Makaylee's got it down!

Can you tell she hangs out with three brothers all day?

Daddy shows her how its done :)

Nyah watching Marquez skate... she wanted to join him so bad! She kept inching out onto the rink when I wasn't looking. She is one determined little girl!

air hockey

goofy girl

I finally learned how to cornrow :) Even if it did take way too long... It lasted a whole week!

Orin had almost an entire week off. It's a good thing because there's nothing like Daddy's lap.

"Mommy, watch me!"

taking a break

getting in tune for baskteball season

Orin is helping coach Marquez's team and having a blast with it! I keep teasing him that I am a bastketball widow :)

Here She Is!

I got permission to post pictures :)

first time meeting Little Miss B at her orphanage

lunch at a hotel

leaving the orphanage forever!

staying in Addis now

B is very pleased with her new sunglasses

had to remove her braids to treat her dry scalp

trip to the Lion Zoo in Addis

first time ever swimming - she didn't want to leave the pool even after 2 hours :)
Mom forgot her suit in the U.S. so dad got a workout!

on a hike in the countryside

waterfall by the Portuguese bridge

Looks like the Great Rift Valley in the background?

Orin and I didn't get to do any sightseeing outside of Addis while we were there so its been great to see my parents getting out and exploring the more rural parts of Ethiopia while they are there!

B has been doing pretty good they say but has some understandable waves of grieving. I am so glad she is able to do some of her grieving/bonding in Ethiopia where there is a translator and her environment is familiar. Can you imagine having to do this in America where everything is foreign and no one speaks your language?

She really enjoyed having ice cream for the first time and when my dad emailed this morning, B and my mom were baking peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips. B thought they must be having a party and asked my mom where the balloons were. So my mom went to go find some :0

Halloween night

Had another adoptive family over for dinner before we went out. Between the two of us we have 11 adopted children. Our schedules are rarely free to get together and when we do we hardly get to talk to each other we are so busy with the kids. But we have made it a tradition to trick-or-treat together for the last six years.


Makaylee wore the Raggedy Ann costume that my grandmother sewed me when I was her age.

It was such nice weather!

Go Ducks! #1

Some of the kids were too scared to go through this haunted house to get to the front door for candy.

M&M break

Bedtime Bear and Horsey looking awfully cute together

thrilled

Ben's class had to do famous people speeches. His first choice was Michael Jackson but I vetoed that. He gave his speech at school dressed in the Joseph costume from church. It was so cute! I was on proud mama :)

Makaylee tries her hand at pedicures

Affliction Night at AWANA

(note to self: red food coloring does not double as fake blood)

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Jenae's friend Cassie bringing her two sweetie pies for a visit

Jenae's magnetic personality attracting babies by the dozen

Makaylee and Jenae's masterpieces

the Legos have taken over my living room

Nyah being cheeky at the Harvest Carnival

She absolutely loved this rice table! She could have stayed there the whole night. I need to get a huge bowl and fill it with rice for her to play in at home. Hmmmmm.... on second thought, that sounds like it could make a huge mess...

Makaylee fishing

I see you, Nyah!

jumping off some extra energy from all the sugar

horseback rides

Its been fun getting updates from Ethiopia. They went to an Ethiopian church Sunday (while we were sleeping last night). B likes the Tigger movie my dad downloaded onto his IPad before the trip. She hasn't shown any interest in the flashcards my mom brought so they aren't doing any prep work for school. B loves hot tea at meals and adds a lot of sugar. She likes the traditional Ethiopian way with leaves in it so she will tear open the tea bags and add the contents to her tea, then offer some to my parents. So sweet! My mom emailed this morning and said they were off to a coffee ceremony. What fun! We wish we could pack up all the kids and join them.