Dad sent been sending some great pictures from Ethiopia. They have their Embassy date this Tuesday and hope to get Bethlehem's Visa then so they can all come home. Although they are happy they have been able to stay so long and form such a neat relationship with their driver, do a lot of sight seeing with Bethlehem, and establish a bond and trust with her which has been easier for her to do on her own turf. It is so beneficial for her to learn some English while they are still in Ethiopia and have a translator! Bethlehem is having a fun time teaching Mom and Dad new words in Amharic and quizzing them on them. They report that she has way more energy than them and never needs a nap! They are sure enjoying her and all her humorous ways! The link to their blog is www.iamnot4gotten.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Thank you God for family

It was Orin and I's first time ever to host Thanksgiving at our house. Orin's dad has been trying to get us to do it for years but I wasn't that confident in my cooking abilities. But this year I decided to give Orin's mom a break and just wing it! It turned out great and was a lot of fun and not as hard as I thought it would be :)

Jenae even tried her hand at a new butternut squash recipe.

Jenae got us all peppermint mochas for extra energy. Nyah used all the caffeine to completely skip her nap for the day. There was no way she was going to go down and miss all the action. She reminds me a lot of my Grandma- never one to miss a party ;)

The kids wait until the company leaves to start devouring their "Thanksgiving house".

We had warned them that it would be rock solid but that didn't stop them!

Nyah couldn't tell the difference.

Christmas is definately my favorite holiday, but in some ways Thanksgiving is too because it is about remembering what God has given us. And I really like that the kids just focus on spending time with family and relationships instead of focusing on presents and what they are going to get! Thank goodness they haven't tried to materialize Thanksgiving yet. Its still one of the last untouched holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We got a light dusting of snow the other day and the kids were just thrilled! You would have thought it was Christmas morning they were so excited :) Schools were cancelled of course which made it "the bestest day in the world".

"Mommy, my hands are cold!"



Nyah was mesmerized by it. Simply speechless. She just walked around so quiet with a big smile. It was so sweet:)

my 'lil eskimo

switching hats

Nyah praying

Did you catch the "Grandpa and Grandma on the airplane" part? She is so excited to go to the airport to meet them. We are still praying they will get the earlier Embassy appt. or they won't be home until Christmas Eve. I just called them early this morning while putting the turkey in the oven and they were getting ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner with some missionaries. My dad just arrived back in Ethiopia late Monday night and had brought roasted turkey breast and mashed potatoes in his luggage for Thanksgiving! It survived the trip even with an overnight stay in Chicago on the way (I think he must have iced it overnight).

They just moved to a missionary compound because it is bigger with more room for B to run around and it is way cheaper than the guesthouse. They are glad they did! My dad downloaded Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving onto his IPad before leaving for Ethiopia again for B to watch with them. They reported she is adusting very well and has made a lot of improvement. She was refusing to follow directions occasionally when she didn't want to stop doing something that was really fun, like getting out of the pool or going to bed when there was an wedding going on right outside their window. You know, typical kid stuff. It was so neat to hear her voice on the phone the other day. Her English is very limited so our conversation went something like this:

B: "Hello! How are you?"

Jill: "Good! How are you?"

B: "Hello! How are you?"

Jill: "Good! How are you?"

B: "Hello! How are you?"

Barbie Does the Hokey Pokey

Barbie does the Hokey Pokey

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