We have a visitor! Stanley is back!

Stanley arrived a week ago, ready for the cold weather we've been having... He's visiting from Mansfield, Ohio, and will be staying with us for awhile, and making the move with us back to the States. We've had some fun showing him around Germany...He's been bowling with the Cub Scouts, attended a traditional Nigerian Baby Naming Ceremony, and even carved some pumpkins to get ready for Halloween. Tomorrow, he'll be trick-or-treating with the rest of the kids! Wait till' you see what costume he chose!

Back to school... Soccer... Packing up...and a quick trip to Addis!

Since Jon returned home, it has been a whirlwind of reintegration and getting ready for the big move. I've been packing things and trying to tie up loose ends, and between school, work and all my little projects, I just haven't had time to sit down and upload pics, and post.... That, and my computer has been acting weird every time I log into Blogger.... not sure whats up there, but right now, I'm on Jon's!

I have some pics here for your viewing enjoyment, so enjoy!

The kids started back to school the first week of September, this pic is from day 2, since I was so busy on day 1, that I forgot to take a pic!





Its crazy having 4 kids, on 3 different buses... The girls are doing fairly well as Freshmen, and have maintained honor roll thus far! Leyton is enjoying 2nd grade, and is doing well, too... Thank God he got my spelling gene! Ava is really doing great in PSCD... she has made a bunch of friends, and continues to work on speaking! She has a great team of teachers, and we will miss them dearly, when we move.











After we finished packing up on the 22nd of September, I decided to purchase tickets, and make a quick trip to Layla House. I had been wanting to do it for a while, since so many changes are taking place down there at the moment... I really just wanted to check them out for myself, and see what I could do to help. It was a really quick trip, just one week... and you know that can't possibly be enough time, but it was worth it, and I'm so glad that I went!







I was especially glad to hang out with the kids, and visit with 'my loves'! A few shots from the trip!













It was great to catch up with my sponsorship kids, too! I always love seeing them, and can't believe how much they have grown in the past few years! They are great kids, and honestly, one of the best gifts you could give yourself for the holidays, is to sponsor one of these kids for $35-40 per month... and make a WORLD of difference in the life of a child. The money really gets to them... and it makes such a difference... I'm so glad that we do this!






I had a great time staying with my dear friend, Ivy.... She was so nice to open her house to me, and it was great to catch up with her! On my last night, we had a little going away party for another friend, Will... Will works with Mending Kids, and was there volunteering with Dr. Rick Hodes...



The kids are ALL busy with soccer! And all are doing well!























A week ago, I opened the blinds in the morning, to watch for the bus, and saw a boxer wearing a jacket, walking down the sidewalk down the street from our house. A short while later, when I went out to take Ava to German Kindergarten, the same dog was in the middle of the street in front of our house! She walked over to me, and followed me out to put the recycling away... and then sat by our door.... I was running late, so I put Ava in the car, and drove her to KG. When I returned about 20 mins later, the dog was walking in the middle of the street at the edge of town... Our road is beyond curvy and narrow, and cars fly through here. I didn't want her to get hit, and thought she belonged to an older woman in our town... so I opened the car door, and she came and climbed in. She laid down immediately and was fast asleep, before I got back in on the drivers side. I drove to the ladies house, and was assured that it wasn't her dog. I drove to a neighbors house, to see if she recognized her... but she didn't. She suggested we take her to the town mayor and let them deal with her... and also to see if she was reported missing.... We drove her down there, they took our name and called the pound, but got no answer... so I agreed to keep her at our house. I drove her home, but couldn't get her out of the car... she was dead asleep. She slept in the car, and I couldn't wake her, for almost 3 hours. When she did finally wake, I brought her inside, where she promptly found a cozy spot on Olivers bed, and went back to sleep. Later that afternoon, the lady from the pound called and came to get her. When she arrived at our house, she told Jon that she had been watching for the dog for a week.... It seems that the dog and her owner, were involved in a auto accident a week prior, in a city about 30 miles from here. The owner is still in the hospital, and the dog ran from the scene.... No wonder she was so tired... the poor thing had been walking for a week, with no food... Look at this sweet face.



A few random shots of Ava....







Selina celebrated her 15th birthday over the weekend....





We have already booked tickets for the move. We will leave our house on the first of November, and will be flying from Germany to Kansas on the 8th... We have a house lined up, and hopefully everything will work out, and we will have our stuff quickly. I can't believe how fast the time has gone, since Jon's been back. I'm not looking forward to the move... I will miss Germany so much, its our home... But hopefully something great will be waiting for us in the 'land of Ahh's!'

Home At Last!

A week ago today, the hangar doors opened, and in walked Jon. It was a long deployment, and its so good to have him home!

Talent Show....

I'm hoping to be able to post video soon, of the Talent Show last night... Leyton and Selina put on a great show of Ethiopian Dance.... The did a great job, I'm very proud of the totally shy, Selina, who literally ran off the stage after the dress rehearsal in utter embarrassment, on Tuesday... lol She held it together, but didn't take her time leaving the stage, after the performance! I will try to get it up soon!

Adoption Symposium...

The kids and I spent all day Saturday, representing AAI at the annual Adoption Symposium here. It was great to see so many folks considering Ethiopia, and adoption in general. We had a pretty good turn out, lots of information, and made a few really good connections. I need to get on the ball with the Ethiopian gathering this summer... There were a few families there, that I didn't know, with children from ET... I'm looking forward to a good turnout and lots of fun!

Bike riding diaries.... take one...

So, living in Germany, where everyone rides a bike... The girls are dying to learn how to ride. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any training wheels that will fit a bike big enough to fit them! And at over 100lbs, each, they are hard to hold up. Jon tried to teach them last summer before he left... but it proved to be more of a challenge than we expected. The girls constantly want to back pedal, or watch their feet, instead of where they are going... The lessons were short lived as we all became frustrated with their lack of progress...

Fast forward 8 months... and they tell me yesterday that they really want to learn to ride a bike. So we are at it again... Keep your fingers crossed....

Here in Germany, (and maybe in the States now, since I've been away nearly 11 years, and out of the loop!) they have these 'starter bikes' without pedals... more of a tool to perfect balance, before moving a kid on to the next step. Of course they only make them for 3 year olds....
I had a bright idea yesterday, to let the girls try that with Leytons bike, which is shorter and easier to control. They spent a few hours trying to keep their balance, and I have to say, it was quite entertaining.... They will need a few more lessons, for sure... but I think now, they understand what they were doing wrong last year.

I have lots of excuses... which one do you want???

I can't believe that I logged in here today, and realized that I haven't posted a thing since before my trip! So I guess I'll do a quick recap, and post some long awaited pics!
It was nice to have my mom here for Christmas, and she was able to stay until January, when I returned from Ethiopia.



My trip was great... The Holiday Project was a huge success, and there were lots of smiling faces in Addis!
















I was able to visit Mukatore this time, a small town to the north, that is home to some of AAI's Sponsorship kids... I raised money for a Christmas Feast, for the children and their families. We were surprised when we arrived to learn that a news crew for Oromiya national television would be there to film the ceremony and wanted me to make a speach! Needless to say, I'm not a very good public speaker, and to be put on the spot like that made me even more nervous! But with Jeri's help, I got through it... and even got to eat goat on tv.... how nice. The feast was great, and the kids were very appreciative.... They put on a show of songs and dance.

















While there, I rescued 2 tiny puppies from a trash heap and the girls and I nursed them to back to health... They are now at Layla House with the kids. Meet "Buttin (as in Butt in the air)" and "Lu-lu (as in looks like a panda)" whose names have been changed to protect their identities...





It was bittersweet, meeting with my Sponsorship kids this time... When I arrived, I found out, that Yeninesh, the sweet little sister, was hit by a car and killed a week or two before. The mother finally came to the city from the countryside, and it was nice to meet her after 3 years. The boys have grown so much... scroll back a few years to my first meeting with them!




It was great to catch up with old friends, and nice to meet some new ones. As a hazard to this job, I always have my heart stolen by a child or two... and this time was no different... I long to go back.



For me, my trips to Ethiopia are always eye-opening, and life-changing... There is always some part of my trip that has me thinking about what else I can do... Wouldn't it be nice to find a job that would pay me to go there and do something good? If you are reading this, consider heading to Ethiopia to volunteer your time with the kids... You will not regret it.











Elena was up to the challenge of capturing a portrait of every child again this year...



The volunteers were invited to a traditional Coffee ceremony with the staff at Layla House... it was very nice.



I was on the road a lot this trip, and made it to Nazret to visit Selina's family, too... Here are some pics of the trip...












Jon came home on R & R in February... We all packed up and headed to the Alps for some snow-fun...

















Ava was 'daddy's little girl', while he was here, and it was really great to have him home, even if it was only 14 days.























We made Ethiopian dinner for Liya's birthday, and had some friends over... unfortunately, I only got pics of the food....







Leyton joined CubScouts, and has been busy catching up, since he came in late... He has earned his Bobcat and Tiger Badge, and competed in the Pinewood Derby.





















Leyton has also been busy loosing teeth.... geesh, the tooth fairy will be poor before you know it!




The girls celebrated their first Easter at home, with Egg dying and hunting...



















Liya and Selina both received cameras for Christmas, and have been busy capturing some great shots... (mostly of themselves, and the posters on their walls... but here are a few worth posting... ) They've also been taking guitar lessons... I'm hoping to hear something recognizable soon...































Last week, we went to Belgium to the beach for spring break... it was a bit cool... but I love the beach, no matter the weather! We had a good time....