I feel like an emotional ping pong ball lately. I am ecstatic at how well the big kids are doing but cry often when the weight of what they’ve endured to get here comes crashing down. And so it goes. Extreme joy to debilitating grief. I hate when a language gap the size of the...
It is so much fun re-experiencing so many things through the eyes of non-American-raised teenagers. Our day at the Big E was definitely a day of “firsts.” First kid to reach double digit push ups (unassissted). First time milking a goat (or any animal for that matter). First donuts…hot out of the oil. First encounter...
A little over a week in and I can still say we’ve had pretty smooth sailing. As I listened to the 5 kids laugh until they cried last night in the back of the van, I realized how blessed we are to have kids with such great senses of humor. I’m going to go out...
Monday Kayla and I made pumpkin muffins. When we were adding the pumpking, she asked what it was and I told her. Kayla’s been the pickier eater of the two and the muffins have been her go to food if she doesn’t like what I’m serving. Wednesday We are sitting around the dinner table eating...
While pictures are certainly worth at least a thousand words, sometimes it’s just nice to have words. We’ve been home about 5 days. We had our first, full, “normal” day yesterday. This is definitely the honeymoon period. John and Kayla are quiet, polite, and helpful. While I don’t think these qualities will necessarily go away,...
By the time you read this, we’ll be on our way home, but here are some more photos from the trip. The relationships between adults and our kids amazes me all the time. They make friends everywhere we go. Choosing teams for a courtyard soccer game. Eyob is the founder of the ministry that runs...
Language. With such a large language barrier, it’s so comforting that they have each other. They get along amazingly well for being in such a potentially awkward situation. They are also translating for each other. Sometime one understands and visa versa. Fashion and bargaining. We went out shopping last night. Kayla played fashionista for John,...
It’s been a whirlwind of a 24 hours. We received a call yesterday morning that we needed to be in Ethiopia in time to appear in court Friday morning. That meant pushing our departure up by 3 days. We rushed around yesterday getting papers notarized, starting to pack, and gathering donations ministry friends. Because of...