Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Off to Camp

Molly and Emily attended Camp Westminster last week. They were able to take some friends that we met through church. They were in Katie's cabin, and also had Scott and Amy looking out for them, so it wasn't too much of an away from home experience. Peter commented that we would be down to 5 kids at the dinner table. It's amazing how 5 kids is still a lot of kids, but I felt like we had nobody here and it took away my desire to do any sort of cooking. Kind of like when Eric is out of town and we have fish sticks. Of course of the 5 we had left, 4 of them are of the sort where you could slave all day in the kitchen and they would turn their noses in disgust anyway. So we ate pretty simply. There were also a few nights the animals didn't get fed (Molly and Emily are in charge of the cats and also in charge of Amy and Katie's dogs while they are gone). But fortunately all of the animals survived and Molly and Emily had a great time. I am thankful they had the opportunity to go.



Yellow River Game Ranch



Monday, June 21, 2010

Last Re-cap

Here are a few more pictures of the trip to Ethiopia. Obviously I'm a little slow in getting all these posted, but I at least wanted to post of few of some of their activities.

Unfortunately many of my favorite pictures I am not allowed to post. They are pictures of many of the orphans that Eric, Scott and Amy had contact with while they were there, and we are not allowed to post pictures of them or of anything in the orphanages. But we have pictures of Scott throwing some of the children up in the air while others cling to his legs wanting a turn. There are pictures of the orphans sitting on Scott's lap and crowding all around him, and pictures of Amy holding the babies they visited for people who were adopting. There are pictures of Scott playing soccer with some of the older boys at one of the orphanages. While visiting one of Anna's orphanages, the one she spent the most time at, the doctor there pointed out a little boy to Eric and asked if he might be interested in taking him also. So there is a picture of him - and what do you do with a question like that??? His sad eyes tug at my heart. To hear a number - that there are 5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone - is hard to comprehend. But to see room after room after room filled with cribs and beds and children - well that is just overwhelming. Those visits were tough. But now when I hear 5 million orphans, the faces in these pictures come flooding into my mind, and I pray. The need is so great.

Below is one of the babies they visited. I can now post a picture of her as her court date was June 1st and her parents are now in Ethiopia picking her up. Isn't she adorable??? She is no longer an orphan!

Attending a traditional coffee ceremony. Here roasting the beans, and yes the coffee was wonderful. Eric brought back some raw beans and tried to roast them... they burned!

Scott playing soccer with some of the street kids. Through this ministry they were able to meet some of the Youth for Christ staff in Ethiopia.


Cultural dinner with dancing!



And Scott's Ethiopian shoes....

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Body of Christ

I met this woman - once - in a church. She learned of our adoption and said she would love to come over and do Anna's hair. Being woefully inadequate on hair issues (I can't even do my bio girls' hair, much less this huge mass of textured hair that Anna has), this was a huge blessing to me. She spent 4 hours at my house today - 3 of those braiding. Did you catch that - 3 hours of braiding hair????? On one person!!! And to top it off, she said she would be back when it was time to re-braid. What a blessing it is to be a part of the body of Christ.



...so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.....
Romans 12: 5-6

Monday, June 7, 2010

My Beautiful Ballerinas

Saturday we headed from Camp Dedication to Molly and Emily's ballet recital. My mom said they were each the best in their class, but what else would you expect from a grandmother! Of course I thought they looked pretty good myself.



Sunday, June 6, 2010

Camp Dedication Day

We got to spend Saturday down at Camp Westminster for their Dedication Day. The kids all had a great time doing many activities and we enjoyed seeing Scott, Amy and Katie. We have missed them!

We actually got Anna to ride a horse which I consider a major accomplishment as she spent the first two weeks being terrified of our two dogs and three cats. She will now pet the cats and the smaller dog, even though I have tried to convince her that the larger dog is actually much sweeter. But she loved riding the horse and she also loved being in the pool.





Amy directing things at the barn - where she is happiest!


Grace was happy to see her big brother!

Scott was able to take Matthew for a ride on the tractor.

Cousins

Re-cap in Pictures - Addis Street Scenes

Here are just some random pictures from around Addis.

Eucalyptus Scaffolding seen all around town

View from back of guest house

Donkeys carrying eucalyptus branches down mountain

Weaver at Leprosy Hospital

This boy was outside the Leprosy Hospital and was very intrigued by our group.
Eric asked the women he was with if he could take a picture.



Historic Church in Addis - note the light bulbs!

Medical clinic, clothing store and goats!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A New Nephew

Eric has an identical twin brother who unfortunately lives in Oregon 3000 miles away. When we told them that we were pursuing the adoption of Anna they had some news of their own. They had also just begun the process of adoption from, of all places, Ethiopia (neither one of us had previously mentioned this to the other). I would say it is a weird twin thing, but it is much bigger than that.

So they had their court date today and now are the proud parents of this little boy - Kenenisa David Elder. We have a new nephew, the kids have a new cousin, Anna has an Ethiopian cousin, and Kenenisa has a forever family. God is good.

Re-cap in Pictures - Gotha Day





They look a little ragged, but they were working off two red-eyes in a row!