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)

/span>

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.

Praise God!

She passed court! Its official now!

(I really am dying to post her adorable picture but their agency discourages that until the Visas have been issued and the families are home (December). This is probably for security reasons while the families are in country.)

Thank you for all the words of encouragement and your prayers are cherished by my parents.

No News is Good News?

Marquez gives out zebra rides while Nyah squeals wildly in delight

I heard from my parents when they arrived in Ethiopia and they were planning on going to sleep. Perfect, because it was nighttime over there! Now they won't have jet lag and can switch right to Ethiopian time :)

Now I haven't heard from them in two days... and being the natural worrier that I am... They are usually so good with returning emails right away and I've been emailing during Ethiopia daytime. Hmmm.... we shall see. Power and internet access is sporadic over there so meanwhile Orin, the kids and I wait on pins and needles to see how their first meeting with B went at her orphanage.

birthday balloons providing endless hours of entertainment

Tomorrow

Tomorrow at 7:30am my parents are heading out on the journey of a lifetime to meet their daughter in Ethiopia. I am so excited for them to meet her, to experience her country, her people, the homeland of my daughter, Nyah Noelle. Oh, how I wish I could be there and wrap my arms around my 7 yr. old sister that I have only met in pictures. Words cannot even describe how I feel. God is so cool like that. You can't put Him in a box, because just when you do, He does something else incredible and amazing that you totally weren't expecting.

Pray for them, their travel, their time in Ethiopia. My mom is staying the entire 6+ weeks. My dad has to come home after the first two weeks but will be back for the last two weeks. I miss them already. Nyah asked "Can I go too?"

We wanted to enjoy the last day of nice weather here in Oregon and Nyah was begging for a wagon ride.

Makaylee thought it would be funny to tie Ella up to the wagon and see if she could pull it up the hill. She's not a sled dog, Makaylee!

Nyah got a kick out of it.

Can I ride it down the hill?

Awwwww... my sweet babies.... They are such good kids. But no, your little sister cannot go down the hill with you...

cute

Heavy. Mommy got a workout today. We're talking 90 lbs. around the whole neighborhood.

Happy 2 and 32 to You!

We woke up the morning of Nyah's birthday party to a chilly 61 degree house. Brrrrrrrr! We bundled up the kids until the furnace repair guy could get here.

Nyah wearing her hat my friend crocheted her for her baby shower

some of Nyah's grandparents who came to celebrate her birthday with her

birthday kiss from Daddy
Nyah's not so sure about having over 20 people singing to her

Yay! I'm a big girl now!

Marquez is too full for ice cream cake?!?!?

licking all the frosting off

The next morning the kids used the matching Fall bibs and placemats Great Grandma sewed them.

Great Grandma takes Nyah on a ride in her walker. It was so funny! Nyah does not like riding in the stroller but she loves this.

We celebrated my birthday with Nyah's leftovers :)

The kids surprised me with this photo collage they had made me with my friend Lillian. It was so thougtful of them and really made my day special. On the wall were pictures they had each colored me that I am going to save in the memory box.

Count your blessings,

Name them one by one,

Count your blessings,

See what God has done!