Christmas Time is Here!

Here are some pictures of our December so far. We have been busy between parties, setting up decorations, going to school performances, and somewhere in the middle of it all unpacking many boxes... enjoy the photos!

(written by Allison)

Our MOVE

O.K, so let me just start with "I hope to NEVER move again...EVER!" Yes, it was that fun. It began with our first load and a friend's cat. We had kept an open trailer in our friend's barn when our move was delayed for a couple of weeks. It was filled with boxes of books and garage items mainly. The first day we were able to have a key we retrieved the trailer (in the freezing weather I might add) and headed to our new home about 25 highway miles away. When we first got there Pat began to unpack...I urged him to come inside so that all of us could take time to eat and thank God for our new house...create a memory or two. Upon returning outside, I saw a flash of fur and then heard "MEOW" in a tone I cannot discribe...I called my friend Harper to inquire if she had a cat but was sure it had just jumped on from the neighbors house. In a paniced mother's voice I hear, "Oh, no...ROSEBUD"...after crawling on my hands and knees begging this poor, terrified cat, who had just taken the ride of her life, to trust me I finally was able to hold onto her. (I've never held a cat that shakes) And so, we returned her to her family that, thankfully are still speaking to us, and chalked up the memory of day one of the move!

Today on the way to school Kalkidan screams "SCURL!!!"

What?

SCURL!!!

Oh, you mean squirrel?

Yes, Scurl!

Allison (trying to be nice) "Mom, she means a girl squirrel...you know, SCURL"

Love these girls! By the way...doesn't Kalou's hair look great? Finally, after 1 year I found a product to tame the mane...though I still enjoy singing "sha ka, sha ka, sha ka con" while working on it!

It has been a very busy but exciting fall. We were successful in obtaining our license for our new adoption agency, ARISE Adoptions, Inc. Pat and I are working together to help families bring home children from Ethiopia and hope to broaden the process to other countries soon.

Our kiddos are doing well...school is great and we are so excited to be moving soon. It has taken a lot of work but we are just about ready to go! We had a visit from Aunt Janie who came all the way from Oregon to help us get organized. A big task for sure. We miss her so much!!!

Other big news is that we are on the hunt for a high school for Allison. Can you believe it...HIGH SCHOOL!!! Unreal! Next year we will have kids in every grade from preschool to high school...oy!

Make a Smilebox postcard

pause music box first...enjoy!

Quotable Quotes...

Kalkidan (the day after election day): "The president is so cool. He gets to live in the yellow house, right mom?" She apparently had been learning about presidents at school and got a little confused...

Gracie (Randomly): "Ahh, I love Sleeping Dutie." She means Sleeping Beauty.
She loves her princesses!

Princess Gracie!

Gracie and her "lip stick" (aka chap stick)

Gracie as a princess fairy on Halloween

Fall Festivals

We have gone to several harvest festivals this fall. It's been a lot of fun!
Enjoy the pictures!
(~Allison~)

We're Moving!

We are finally moving! Some one bought our house not too long ago after we had been trying to sell it for over a year! We found a house that we love and will be moving in shortly. Can't wait!

Written by: Allison (again)

Henry?

Some of you may know that we have a dog named Henry, he is a shnowzer. Well, today as I was doing my work I heard him scratching on a toy playhouse and yelled at him to stop it and didn't think much of it. A little later I went out to get the mail. After a little while longer I started to wonder where my dog was and started looking for him; after a few minutes of searching I started to get worried. I remembered that I had gone out to get the mail earlier and maybe he had gotten out then- I headed for the car. I was thinking as I was stitting in the car "where was the last time I saw Henry?" then I remembered the girls' playhouse! I ran inside and looked in the house and he wasn't there. We have a large tv. next to the playhouse and I soon found Henry stuck behind it! I had been yelling and he hadn't even barked! Maybe he was hiding (there is a lot to hide from around here after all). I don't know but I'm glad he was found.

Written by Allison, Happened to my Mom
ps. He had been behind there for around 5 hours!

School Starts Today...Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

O.K., so I'm a little excited! Just dropped 4 of the 5 off at school this morning! Couldn't stop singing...kept going back and forth between George Michael's "Freedom" and "Imagine me for you and you for me...so happy together" to my dog Henry. I know it borders on tragic and sad but good comedies always do!

Alli was met by looks of "Wow...is that Allison from the second grade?" since it has been that long since she has attended this school. Ryan seemed fine since he had a swimming party where he met lots of new classmates...yes, he did a cannon ball immediately to introduce himself (his father's child). Michael and Kalkidan went right in after a huge lecture in the car about not being disrespectful, not picking their nose & wiping it on the walls, listening and obeying and what will happen when they don't...(it was a rough Sunday at church with the volunteer teacher who was about in tears after watching them yesterday). Gracie is at home with me today as her first day starts tomorrow. She has Henry dressed and covered with a blanket as she is working hard to make him cereal in her play kitchen.

So what will I do, people keep asking me, with all this free time? It is actually just 2 days of freedom...just 12 hours a week....I'm sure I will find something...work, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, purging the house of junk, yard, my sister's new baby, etc., etc., Actually, I'm most looking forward to having quality prayer times and maybe, just maybe, reading a book!

Kalkidan's First Birthday Celebration

Kalkidan turned 5 this July and in a way celebrated her first birthday. She had such a gleam in her eye (which you could see if I could get my other photos to upload...ugh) and was so full of joy and surprise throughout most of the day. She mentioned that she had never had a birthday cake before or presents and couldn't believe that the fun just kept coming! She was blessed by family both near and far celebrating with her either in person or in spirit. We kept it pretty low key for the most part, having a family pool party at Nana and Papas and dinner with Grandma and Silly Grandpa from St. Louis. All went well until the end (which you could also appreciate with the photo of her giving me a look to kill) as I announced the day was coming to a close...oh, the many faces of Kalkidan! (More to Come)

Happy 4th of July!

We had an awesome time with friends this year to celebrate the fourth of July...actually it was the 5th but whose counting. We love these friends like family and it is so amazing to watch our kids growing up together. I was pregnant with Ry when we first met. How things have changed!

Summer Fun

While Ryan was
away at camp
the rest of the crew
headed for Papa and Nana's pool
...way cool!

Welcome to our new Blog!

Hi Everyone!!!

Welcome to our new blog. O.K., so its been months since our last blog expired. We are still alive and still learning what it means to have a family of 7! Our friends and adoptive family, the Ellerbees, have been such an inspiration...We read their blog almost daily...it makes us laugh and feel somewhat normal (they're crazy too)! Allison kept prompting, pleading, begging,...well, you get the picture...until we got this done. I'm so glad we did! Stay tuned and we'll try to do a better job of keeping in touch.



If you want to see the videos just pause the music toward the bottom of the page.

Adding Two to the Team

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ryan Turns 10! Oct 07

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

First Friends...Sept 07

Make a Smilebox scrapbook