Elder Clan

Another Elder!

2011-12-27T11:54:00.004-05:00

Our big news this Christmas season is that we are gaining a new family member. Scott was engaged on Christmas Eve and he and Becca are looking to a summer wedding. We are excited for them and will very much enjoy having Becca as part of the family.

Another Teenager!

2011-12-27T11:28:00.017-05:00

Earlier this month Molly became the 5th Elder child to reach that teenage milestone. Her birthday coincided with our annual gingerbread making day so her birthday turned out to be one big day of celebration.

Thankful for friends who help with the younger kids!

Later that night we celebrated with family.

And even managed to get her ears pierced in the midst of the busy day.

And then the next day, Amy took Molly to camp with a couple of friends so that they could ride horses. A good 13th birthday!

Misc. November Happenings

2011-12-27T11:20:00.004-05:00

The ballet company from the place where my girls dance has a big performance each year called The Gift. It is the Christmas story told in dance. This year Elizabeth was able to be a sheep in this performance. I had great expectations of being able to post the video but even Eric, who can usually solve all computer issues, was not able to get the video to load (sorry Nana and Grampa). We did however manage to get a picture of her backstage in costume so that will have to suffice. Maybe next year we will do better.

Thanksgiving Day began with Amy and me running the Atlanta Half Marathon. We both had a good race and I enjoy being able to run with her.

We did host Thanksgiving dinner at our house, but failed to take any pictures. It was however a lovely time with family and friends and we always look forward to everyone coming over.

Church Hiking Trip

2011-11-22T17:52:00.010-05:00

A group from our church went hiking recently on Signal Mountain in TN. It was a beautiful place, the weather was great and we had a wonderful time of fellowship while enjoying God's incredible creation.

Life in the Clan

2011-11-06T16:18:00.003-05:00

Matthew had a rather rough day or so recently. On Saturday morning he was standing on a stool in the kitchen watching Eric make pancakes. Somehow he managed to fall off and in the process bit his tongue badly. It bled and bled and bled....we held rags on it but the blood kept filling up his mouth. So he just starting spewing all the blood into the kitchen sink and it just kept coming. We had a childless friend over and right when Matthew was spewing blood into the sink, Eric handed her a plate of pancakes and said "here your pancakes are ready"! I am guessing she will choose in the future to eat elsewhere. Hopefully she will still have children. Matthew then spent several hours on the couch too woozy to get up. Later in the day I heard a tremendous crash upstairs. I went up to find that Matthew had somehow fallen (the story was a little convoluted) getting off the toilet and had smacked his head on the toilet seat, breaking it (the toilet seat, not his head!).
To follow all of that up when we were coming in from church the next morning Matthew straggled in last crying, his hand and his head covered in blood. He said that a scooter had fallen on his head. I know enough of the laws of physics to know that scooters do not jump up off the ground and hit someone in the head. And, no, we do not have scooters hanging from the garage ceiling on nifty little hooks - we are not that organized. Actually we do have hooks on one wall for scooters, but the kids never hang the scooters up and the hooks have long since been blocked by large containers which are there to hold outside toys. I'm guessing these containers are empty. The scooters are usually laying scattered around the garage floor and mostly in the walking path through the garage. I could say that maybe the scooters are possessed and my children actually do hang them on the hooks that Eric spent good time putting up and the scooters jump off the hooks in order to sabotage family members that walk through the garage. But I'm pretty sure possessed scooters are not something that Christians believe in, so that is not an option however much I would like to believe that my children hang up their scooters and my life is organized. So all that to say that I have no idea how a scooter hit Matthew in the head. But he survived, we weren't reported to Family and Children's Services, and all seems to be well.
As we focus on giving thanks this month (and always) these incidents remind me to be thankful that my children don't get hurt nearly as much as they could and that all days are not like this.

Elizabeth

2011-10-23T17:15:00.009-04:00

Elizabeth turned 6 this October. She is my fearless, can do everything the older kids do child. We recently had a church weekend out at Camp Westminster and Elizabeth wanted to do the climbing wall and the zip line - and she did...fearlessly!

This is atop the 30 foot climbing wall.

Here she sits calmly waiting...when I did this several years ago I was holding onto the pole for dear life.

Off she goes!

Okay, she shows a little fear here...

But quickly recovers.

Mission accomplished!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Our First Honey Extraction

2011-09-16T18:26:00.007-04:00

Eric was pleased with how his first extraction of honey went. It was neat to watch and the honey is very tasty!!

Football Begins

2011-09-16T18:16:00.003-04:00

Peter is once again playing football for a home school team. This is their second year and they have won 2 games which already is a great improvement over last year. They have an ex-NFL player for a coach and he is doing a great job with these kids. Peter tried out for and received the kicking job this year (although he still plays on the field). Peter is number 20 in the pics. Katie is the team photographer and has set up a blog for the team pictures at (if anyone wants to look at football pictures):
http://northatlantasaints.blogspot.com/

August Birthdays

2011-09-16T18:09:00.003-04:00

We had two August birthday which I did not get to acknowledge on their day (the story of my life these days..). However, we did celebrate - Anna turned 9 and Scott turned 22!!

Beach Trip

2011-09-16T18:04:00.007-04:00

We did get to the beach in August and had a great time. I posted most of the pictures on facebook (in a more timely manner) but here are a few which I like.

More Vancouver

2011-09-16T17:54:00.006-04:00

With vacation and the start of school I never posted the rest of the Vancouver pictures, so here are some more.....

Vancouver

2011-08-05T16:09:00.007-04:00

Eric had a business trip this past week to Vancouver, BC. He has taken each of the older children (when they have been around age 13) with him when he has gone to interesting places. This time it was Molly's turn. They flew into Seattle where Eric's parents picked them up and they all drove up to Vancouver to stay for the meeting. Molly was able to spend time with her grandparents which was a special time for her and she enjoyed traveling to such a neat place. One day they headed up to Whistler, which is where the 2010 Olympics held the alpine skiing. Here are some pictures. I have never been there, but it looks like a gorgeous place!

Catch-up Post

2011-08-02T14:46:00.010-04:00

July was a very busy month for us. I was working in the kitchen at camp which while it had its benefits, much of the rest of things got put on hold. So here is a little of what we did in July.

We started July with our annual running of the Peachtree Road Race - the world's largest 10K road race. A friend from church who volunteers at the race snapped the picture above after we all finished (the guy in yellow is one of Scott's housemates). Then the picture below is in our matching Peachtree T-shirts after we cleaned up.

Scott's house, The Hot House, held a pig roast. It was quite interesting as I had never seen one before. The meat was excellent!

Molly and Emily went to camp with their friend Corrie. Peter also attended camp and Matthew attended day camp, but I did not get any pictures of them. I don't necessarily do a great job documenting the whole camp experience. In fact I think they are "out of sight, out of mind" as all my children claim that they are the only campers in their cabins who do not receive mail or care packages from home. Oh well....

Then we finished up July with Emily turning 10. All in all a busy, but fun month.

Grace Rides a Bike!

2011-06-18T15:23:00.003-04:00

No matter how much I make sure everyone is taken care of before getting into the shower it always happens that one of the children comes and bangs on the door. They yell something unintelligible except for the word "mom" and I yell back that I can't understand them and they yell louder. How many times this goes back and forth depends on several factors, but mainly my patience. Most of the time it ends with me yelling at them to go away and praying that they were not trying to report some disaster that needs my immediate attention. So one morning this week as I'm getting into the shower it starts with Elizabeth yelling something. I do decide this time to go to the door and she tells me that Grace is riding a bike. I say something to the effect that that is great, but nothing to get me out of the shower about (Grace has a little bike with training wheels that she loves to ride). Then Elizabeth tells me that Grace is riding a bike with only two wheels and that she, Elizabeth, taught her how to do this. I tell Elizabeth that I will check it out when I'm through, but no more bike riding until I'm done. I try to finish my shower in a hurry wondering how the 5 year old is teaching the 3 year old to ride a bike and where on earth were my older children. Well imagine my surprise when I went out and found that my just turned 3 year old is indeed riding a bike with no training wheels. I did ask one of the older children where they were in this process and one of them replied that they did see what was going on and made Grace put on a helmet! At least they provided some sort of help. I do think Grace is the youngest in our family to achieve this feat! She is quite proud of herself as is her little teacher!

The Screwtape Letters

2011-06-18T15:14:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Eric and I attended the performance of C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. The tickets were a gift from the children for Mother's and Father's Day. The show is traveling through the US and if it comes anywhere near you, I would highly recommend it. Max McLean was excellent! After the performance he left for a few minutes and then came back and answered questions from the audience. It was a nice touch and we enjoyed hearing things from his perspective. Eric and I were talking to some people outside the theater and Max McLean came out and spoke to those of us still standing around; thus the picture (which unfortunately is a little blurry). Excellent, excellent show!

Ballet Recital

2011-06-11T19:09:00.006-04:00

Molly and Emily finished up their ballet year with a wonderful recital. They are both enjoying dance very much.

Pictures from the performance - Emily:

And Molly (she received her pointe shoes this year, but the class was not ready to do the recital in them...hopefully next year):

Camp Starts

2011-06-11T18:11:00.006-04:00

The camp summer has begun. This summer Amy is head wrangler, which means she is in charge of the barn and all the people who work at the barn. Katie is a junior counselor, working as a lifeguard and also helping at the barn. I'm sure it will be a great summer for them. The summer opens with family day and we all went down to enjoy the activities (although with temperatures in the upper 90's, some of the activities were more miserable than others - the pool was quite popular).

Peter almost to the top of the climbing tower. Once he got up there it was then off the zip line.

Matthew wasn't entirely thrilled with the climbing tower. He made it just short way up and then declared he wanted down. The counselor working the ropes told him she would let him down and then the mean mom stepped in and said "No, he can go a little farther". I did not want him giving up at the first sign of difficulty. He then did manage to make it about 3/4 of the way up with a lot of encouragement.

My children are not the only ones working out there this summer. I am working in the kitchen for a good part of the summer. I have bartered time in the kitchen in exchange for sending Peter, Molly, Emily and Matthew to camp. I finished my first week and it went well, except that it is very hot. The kitchen does not have AC! (This is a rather rustic camp!)

2011-05-21T21:24:00.002-04:00

We celebrated Katie's graduation last night with a party at our house. We had over 70 people attend...we had a slide show....we had a message from our pastor.....we had great food and great fellowship. Now we have 3 down and we are not even half-way! We love you Katie and are very proud of you.

Below is Katie's slide show. I will post some pictures later when I can get copies. We were too busy to take them.

Alphabet Pictures

2011-05-02T16:10:00.007-04:00

Katie's big photography project for this spring was to find the alphabet out and about in the world (not in actual words). Here are some of her letters.

Easter Pictures

2011-05-02T15:59:00.007-04:00

Hearing Aids - Answered Prayer

2011-04-23T16:21:00.003-04:00

After an initial back and forth on hearing aids for Anna, it was determined that she would in fact benefit from hearing aids. This did not bother me until I realized that medical insurance does NOT cover hearing aids and they are quite expensive. Anna therefore went without hearing aids for some time. She only has a mild/moderate hearing loss so as long as you are not whispering or are not at some distance from her, she can hear. The aids however would hopefully allow her speech to develop better as they would enable her to pick up sounds more clearly. The added expense, especially combined with everything else, was a challenge and we prayed that God would provide hearing aids for her.
Our pastor wears hearing aids and he mentioned Anna's situation to the woman from whom he receives his aids. She went to her supplier and explained Anna's situation and the supplier agreed to provide Anna with hearing aids FREE OF CHARGE! What an answer to prayer! So now Anna has her hearing aids. Thank you Lord for your provision.

Eric's New Hobby

2011-04-23T16:15:00.002-04:00

Hiking Trip

2011-03-21T13:31:00.008-04:00

Last Saturday we went hiking with some friends from church to a beautiful place just north of Chattanooga. I posted more pictures on Facebook, but wanted to include some here also. Eric's back was bothering him, so he volunteered to stay home with the little kids. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place! God's creation is amazing!

Train Museum

2011-03-21T12:49:00.012-04:00

Here are some pictures of our visit to the Southeastern Train Museum with our home school group. We were able to walk through The Superb which is the only train car to carry both a living and a dead president. Warren G. Harding used the train to travel out west where he died. His body was then brought back on the same train car. It was a pretty fascinating place.

Happenings

2011-03-20T16:42:00.004-04:00

Lots has been going on here, but not much time to write about it. Here are some highlights of the past several weeks:

We had not one, but TWO septic tank disasters. The first one coincided with an overnight house guest! I suppose if I was more witty I could come up with a post regarding those two incidents, but at the time having sewage all over my basement floor did not put me in the best of moods.

We had one ER visit - that would be Scott.

We were presented to the church as new members and then had the church over for lunch. Back last spring, after much prayer, we decided to join a church that was more in our community than the one we had been attending. This new church probably needs a post of its own as they have been wonderful to us, but being part of this post will have to suffice. We visited maybe two or three times, then went on vacation and then came back and immediately Anna went in for her back surgery. The church hardly knew us, but surrounded us with love, food and support. I would get to the hospital and have one of the nurses tell me that someone from our church had just been there and I could not have identified that person walking down the hall. They brought us food each week and that is quite a feat for our size family. It was quite an outpouring of support. So we were thrilled to finally join and be presented.

Matthew had a birthday - turned 7 - and I missed putting up a birthday post. Of course I also missed getting him to his first ever soccer game as I got the times confused so my mother of the year award will have to wait for another time. So a late happy birthday to Matthew.

Birthday Surprises!

2011-02-25T15:16:00.007-05:00

This past weekend was Amy's 20th birthday followed one day later by Peter's 14th birthday. We -mainly Katie, Scott, Amy's good friend and I- managed to pull off not 1, but 2 separate SURPRISE parties!
For Amy, Scott built a bon-fire in the woods (the cover was that he and Becca were having a date night) and we had Amy's friends come and hide down there while she was out for dinner with my parents. When she returned we went down to "rescue" Scott and Becca from the little kids and "Surprise".
For Peter, we had his friends come over on Saturday for a paintball party while he was out "shopping for a present for Amy". The weather was wonderful - low 70's during the day which was perfect for paintball and then somewhat cool, but not too cold at night, which was perfect for the bonfire. Considering we were dealing with 2 older, rather nosy children and the plague was moving through the house, it all went off very smoothly and it was a wonderful weekend.

The Paintball Men

We did not get a picture of Amy's party, other than the bonfire above, so you will have to suffice with a picture taken earlier in the day when we managed to get her out of the house.

Travails on Ice

2011-02-18T17:10:00.007-05:00

Our home school group went ice skating. My children, at least the middle/younger crowd, had never been ice skating. It looked to be a long day. Katie and her friend took Anna around the ice and she wailed the entire time (Anna that is, not Katie). Elizabeth was clutched onto my hand falling every few seconds, and every time I looked around for Matthew he was causing some sort of catastrophe on the ice.

Then things began to improve. We sat Anna out. Elizabeth decided she wanted to try it on her own, and it was like she was born in the North. She took off and hardly hit the ice at all.

I have to give Matthew credit for boldness - he got out there and kept skating, but unfortunately still managed to spend most of his time in the following positions.

Everyone else had a great time and they are anxious to go again. (Well except Anna - but I didn't think she would like it anyway, so it wasn't a big surprise.)

The Wonder of Imagination

2011-02-04T16:04:00.010-05:00

I have been reading Anthony Esolen's book Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. I am only on Method 4, but I am enjoying the book. One reason is that by God's grace I have basically raised my children according to what Esolen says aids the imagination. I like books that justify my choices! For example, when I send the children outside ~~because they are getting on my nerves~~ to play, Esolen says that I am aiding the development of their imaginations. I have always sent my children out often ~~because they get on my nerves often~~ because intuitively I knew that it was good for them to be outside. I even locked the oldest 3 out of the house one time because they did not want to go outside and so kept filtering back in. They stood with their faces plastered against the sliding glass door begging to come back in. I sat on the other side and ignored them. They resigned themselves to the fact that they were stuck outside and then went off to play. When it was dinner time they did not want to come in. They had built this whole little community underneath the trees lining our fence.

Another item of importance for Esolen is developing the memory for as he says "without the library of the memory...the imagination simply does not have much to think about, or to play with". This was a big Aha moment for me when I came to understand this. I was not just having my children memorize random things to fill up their minds, but things with which their minds could make connections. Again, by God's grace, we have always done a lot of memory work to develop these foundations. Ditto on Esolen's other building blocks of the imagination - don't supervise the child all the time, teach them to use machines/tools, and read fairy tales.

I thought at one time, like many people, that all children had imaginations. Maybe it is a part of each person's nature, after all God is certainly imaginative and we are made in His image; but imagination does not flourish naturally. How do I know this? Enter Anna. Anna came to us with an imagination that if it had ever been there had been destroyed. Typical of children who grow up in an orphanage (although certainly not all children) is a lack of imaginative play. When Anna arrived she did very well with structured activities - puzzles, card or board games, coloring (but only in a coloring book), etc., but had not a clue what to do if the other kids were engaged in some sort of imaginative play - dolls, blocks, stuffed animals, outside play etc. This was quite amazing to me that a child would not naturally be able to play imaginatively. Why is it important anyway? Well for one, imagination plays a big part in developing cognitive skills. But more important being able to think creatively and adapt to different situations can greatly impact a child's success in life. So how is Anna doing now? We are making progress. She sat down last night on her own and built a house and an airplane with Lincoln Logs. Not a big deal for most people, but for her a big step. Are most children going to be like Anna? Of course not. But do not take a child's imagination for granted. Go, find a child, and fan the flames of their imagination! (Or at least get them off the computer and send them outside.) Oh, and read the book - I think you will find it worthwhile.

Anna Learns to Ride a Bike!

2011-01-21T15:53:00.005-05:00

Eric took some time off work after the holidays as he ended up working quite a bit over them. One of his goals during this time was to get Anna to ride her bike without training wheels. Fortunately this was the week before the huge snow storm hit. Anna's physical therapist really wanted her to ride without training wheels, but I was highly doubtful that she could do it - she is still so weak physically and her balance is not good (this is what the bike riding will hopefully help to correct). Eric worked with her each day with the training wheels (took her to a big empty parking lot near our house) and then the last day he had at home he was able to take the training wheels off and she could ride around the parking lot. She cannot start or stop her bike. This however turns out to be a good thing. Once Eric gets her going she has to ride until he stops her -which is much longer than she would choose for herself! Maybe one of these days we will see some muscle on her legs.

Katie Turns 18!

2011-01-15T21:03:00.005-05:00

Well my third child became an adult today! I told her she wasn't allowed to, but she did anyway. I love my adult children and they are a lot of fun to be around, but boy do I realize how much time is flying by. Katie is a lovely young woman - we have enjoyed the last 18 years and we look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for her life. Happy Birthday Katie - we love you!!

World Magazine Story

2011-01-08T13:39:00.002-05:00

Back in the fall, World Magazine did a story on the Rosenows and their ministry, The Shepherd's Crook. This is the adoption ministry where we found out about Anna. World wanted to do some follow-up stories about some of the families that had adopted through the Shepherd's Crook and so we were asked to submit our story. This we did and got a nice thank-you, but no indication that they would be using it. I figured they were using another family's story as we never heard back. But then on Monday we get an email that they were going to use ours! And then a phone call saying, "Can we send a photographer to your house today or tomorrow?" This "today" happened to be the day that I was taking down Christmas decorations - so there were boxes all over the house and decorations in various stages of being put up. It was also the day I was trying to get all my school stuff ready to start back on Tuesday so there was also school stuff everywhere. And of course laundry - which is always everywhere. We went into frenzied cleaning mode and by Tuesday had the house at least somewhat presentable. The photographer came out and took somewhere between 500-600 pictures! He took pictures in the girls' bedroom, in the schoolroom, in the family room, outside and in the kitchen (notice there were not many areas in the house that we could skip cleaning!) We had to put food on the table and pretend we were eating dinner at 3:00 in the afternoon. It was an interesting experience. I don't know what issue the story will be in and I don't know if we will just be a little blip of a paragraph, but the kids all think it is pretty cool that we will be in print. I will reserve my judgment on the coolness of it all until I see what they actually put in!

Snow Time

2011-01-08T13:24:00.007-05:00

We did not get blanketed by snow like most of the rest of the country, but anything here in the south gets the kids out. It was the first white Christmas in Atlanta since the 1880's!

I like the dog in this picture.

This particular person mostly looked like this.

Which made sledding a little more of a defensive sport!

Even his mother was not immune!

Anna did sled twice, but then went in before the camera made it out. She doesn't handle cold particularly well.

Christmas Highlights

2010-12-27T16:17:00.007-05:00

Christmas Morning:

Anna's first Christmas nicely coincided with Atlanta's first white Christmas since the 1880's.
It did not take her long to get the hang of the present concept.

The oldest and the youngest!

The drum set:

Each year the kids draw names so each child just gets a present for the person whose name he has drawn. Scott came and asked early if I could "fix" it so he could have Peter's name as he wanted to get Peter a drum set (a cheaper used set off Craigslist). As cheaper used sets were not as cheap as Scott had anticipated, I said we would go in with him as we did not have Peter's present yet. I think I must have been heavily drinking at the time. Yes, our house is loud, but this takes it to a whole new dimension. We put the set down in the basement and as I listen to the drum sound coming up through the floor at night, it reminds me of the scene in The Two Towers (Lord of the Rings) where they are traveling through the mines and you hear the drums start beating from the depths of the mine. Not the most comforting type of sound to sleep by.

Eric's mom made the girls clothes for their American girl dolls.
She also made sleeping bags for the dolls - all very cute!

On to my parents for Christmas dinner and more presents!

Anna received a bike from my parents.

Our wonderful oldest 3!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

Molly's Riding Party

2010-12-21T21:14:00.009-05:00

Because we know the head wrangler at camp......

we were able to give a riding party for Molly's birthday.

It was a fairly reasonable day weather wise considering the frigid temperatures around here lately, and all the girls had a great time. Amy and Katie took the girls for a trial ride all around camp and then they were able to ride in the ring for awhile.

My sister and I did "pony" rides for all the little ones.

Happy Birthday Molly

2010-12-09T23:02:00.002-05:00

Molly is 12 today. It is hard to believe that she will be a teenager next year! Molly is a very self-disciplined and determined girl. She is one of those that you turn to if you want something done and you need someone who you know will do it correctly. She is a joy to have in the house and we look forward to what the Lord has in store for her over the next year.

Annual Gingerbread House Projects

2010-12-09T22:51:00.007-05:00

Starting out:

I realized that I should have show her some pictures of what we were actually doing.
When we laid out all the decorations she thought we were going to eat them!
Fortunately she caught on pretty quickly.

In the process of decorating:

The finished products:
The only bad thing is what to do with all of the houses - they take up quite a bit of space and I dislike having them all over the kitchen counters. I am for pitching them fairly shortly after bringing them home, but that doesn't go over with the kids so well.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T15:30:00.008-05:00

Even though its been a week, I thought I would at least post on our Thanksgiving. Hopefully it will mend a little of my laxness in posting recently. Thanksgiving started at 6:30am as Amy and I headed down to run the Atlanta Half-Marathon. Amy has run this with my sister for the last two years and I decided to join them this year. Pre-race training went well except for the fact that at some point I injured my knee, but I decided to run anyway (maybe not the smartest decision). My knee began to ache at about mile 4 and then really hurt about mile 6. Since I wasn't even half-way yet I considered stopping, but I hated to quit the race so I continued. I did have to stop and walk a few times, but I finished (although because of the knee I did not get the time I wanted). I was limping pretty considerably after the race so my sister took me to the medical tent as she knew the doctor there. He told me what he thought was wrong and sent me to the table to get a massage. I thought "GREAT - a massage after running 13.1 miles!". Well let me tell you a sports therapy massage is nothing like Spa Sydell (not that I would know what Spa Sydell is like, but I envision it as being pleasant) - I thought I was going to die - I think the pain ranks right up there with childbirth. Anyway he thought my knee would be better by the middle of this week, which it is not. I am in fear of calling him again.

But on to better things. We had around 30 people for Thanksgiving and it was a great meal and great fellowship. I know we have the best Thanksgiving food ever (everyone chips in and brings something) and we certainly have great family and friends so all in all it was a wonderful day!

So Thankful for....

2010-12-02T15:28:00.003-05:00

...friends who can do hair!

Cross Country Ends

2010-10-31T16:04:00.009-04:00

Our cross country season ended last weekend. We had a great showing at the finals and it was a beautiful day, especially considering the weather at the finals last year was rainy and cold.

This was Katie's last meet as she will graduate this year. We are very proud of her sticking out the season. She was the only varsity girl and running is not her thing, but she showed great character in her attitude and her commitment. She ran on the team for 6 years and she finished well.

Our junior girls achieved second place! Molly placed 7th coming in 41 seconds under her goal time. (Her goal time was 11 minutes and she ran a 10:19).

Peter, since his football season was over, decided to run the last two meets of the year. He had been on the team the year before and so was still on the roster. He assumed that since he was in football shape that he was also in running shape. After he ran the first meet he realized the error of his ways. To his credit he did run the week between that meet and the finals trying to prepare better. Much to his good fortune the JV boys placed third and he came home with a medal.

Our team also had a great showing in the annual parent/coaches race. Our boys' coach placed 2nd overall and our girls' coach placed 1st. Eric was 3rd in the men's masters and I was 2nd in the women's masters.

Anna enjoyed going to the meets. She seemed to "get" the running thing. She was most confused by Peter's football games - didn't understand why people would intentionally knock people over, but running she could understand. It also helped that our team always has a great food table in the tent!

We closed the season yesterday with the banquet. Katie put together a great slide show that was the hit of the banquet. We have a great little team and we look forward to next year.

The Bue Angels

2010-10-17T21:10:00.012-04:00

We spent this afternoon watching the Blue Angels. There isn't much to say about them except that they are VERY cool!!! Katie got some great pictures (click to enlarge).

Cross Country Saturday

2010-10-17T21:08:00.004-04:00

Our Junior Girls team had a stellar Saturday. We placed 2nd, 3rd (Molly), 4th (Emily) and 5th!! Way to go girls!

Daniel Hannan

2010-10-17T20:47:00.009-04:00

Thursday evening Eric and I were able to attend a dinner in which Daniel Hannan spoke. Daniel Hannan is a conservative member of the European Parliament who became famous after this video clip aired all over the internet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs

Daniel Hannan is a very passionate and eloquent speaker. His basic premise is that he lives in what is our (the United States') future and that it stinks. His call is that we here in America will fight for our freedoms so that we will not end up where his country is. He certainly does not approach this from a Christian perspective and we know that God is the one who ultimately raises up and puts down governments. But Daniel Hannan in his speech pointed out that we are not a bunch of random people put here in a random time period for no purpose. I do know that God puts us each here for a reason and that our country is truly heading down the wrong path.

First Pointe Shoes

2010-10-13T21:47:00.001-04:00

Peter and Football

2010-10-13T21:11:00.005-04:00

Ever since Scott made the Tech team (he is not playing this year, but focusing on grades - or so he says), Peter has been wanting to play football. There were two home school teams in Atlanta, but they were not convenient to our house. This year a third team was formed and it practices relatively close to our house, so we allowed him to play. He very much enjoyed himself, but unfortunately received a concussion in one of the last games, thus taking him out for the rest of the season. I'm not so sure about this concussion thing - I told Peter if he gets another one next season he may have a very short football career. It was, however, overall a good first year of football.

Elizabeth turns 5

2010-10-04T22:17:00.006-04:00

Breakfast with Dad

Doll from Nana and Grandpa

With Gramma and Papa

Cross Country Season Begins

2010-09-18T17:54:00.008-04:00

Cross Country season began today. My runners this year are Katie, Molly and Emily. I have to give a lot of credit to Katie. She has never liked running, yet has faithfully run on the team each year, even though those early years were tough as she ran in the shadow of her older sister who was always one of the top runners in the league. This year our team does not have any other varsity girls, so Katie is it. (For a team to place they must have at least 3 runners - 5 for guys) Running is such a mental sport and for her to train knowing that she is the lone runner is not much motivation for her. Add to that the fact that running is not her favorite thing and I just figured that she would quit this year. But she has been consistently training, made the decision to continue being a part of the team and I am proud of her for her perseverance.

Varsity Takes Off - Katie is in maroon

Molly and Emily run on the Junior team (Juniors run 1.5 miles). They had a terrific first race. They medaled for the first time (the first seven runners get medals) - Molly placed 5th and Emily placed 6th, and their team placed 2nd out of about 20 teams. Their coach had worked out season goals for each of them based on their times of last year - Emily beat hers by 30 sec and Molly came within 4 seconds of hers. So they will now get new season goals! They have been training more consistently this year and it has paid off.

Start of Junior Race

Show and Tell

2010-09-16T22:34:00.004-04:00

Eric teaches Radiological Anatomy at Georgia Tech in the fall and he thought it would be neat to make a 3D image for his class of Anna's spine (pre-surgery). So he made the little movie above where you can watch her spine rotate around. He also made some images such as the one below

Before and After....

2010-09-12T22:18:00.005-04:00

I want to publish a before and after picture to show you just how dramatic a change the surgery brought.

Isn't that amazing! Thank you Lord!

Anna is Home

2010-09-07T22:10:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry for the lack of updates - it was a very hard juggling act with Anna in the hospital and life continuing at home with everyone else. But Anna came home last night. She is still in quite a bit of pain and doesn't move around well at all. Her muscles have greatly weakened; for example, she cannot hold her head up well at all due to the effects of the traction on her neck muscles. The two things she needs to do - eat and walk - she doesn't want to do, so most everything gets turned into some sort of fight. Some of the nurses, although they provided great care, were very easily manipulated by her into giving her what she wanted, so we are also dealing with quite a bit of attitude. Challenges abound....sigh.

We appreciate continued prayer for her recovery and now that we are all home hopefully I will be able to update more often.

Surgery Update

2010-09-01T22:26:00.002-04:00

Anna's surgery went well. The surgeon commented that she is "remarkably straight". He was quite excited that he was able to straighten her more than he expected. This was an answer to prayer. She started with a 95 degree curve. The traction reduced it to 68. I don't know what it is now, but we are thankful that is is straighter than anticipated. I'll have to get the actual number later.

One interesting side effect is that for the first time I have heard her cry. Because her lungs and diaphragm were so affected by the curve, her body compensated in some strange ways. One was that when she cried no sound came out. But in her room tonight she cried and it was a normal healthy cry. Sort of weird to be excited about a cry. I'm sure at some point I'll miss having a child who doesn't make a sound when she cries - it makes it much easier to ignore!! But for now the cry was rather amazing.

She is currently in a lot of pain, and is on a morphine drip. They hope to get her up tomorrow - we will see. We are very thankful that God answered our prayers for a straight back. Thanks for your prayers and will keep everyone updated.

Surgery Moved Up!

2010-08-30T18:50:00.002-04:00

Anna was scheduled to spend 4 weeks in traction (originally 6 weeks but reduced) and then undergo surgery. From the x-rays they recently took she has made tremendous progress and her doctor is now planning to do her spinal fusion this Wednesday after only 2 1/2 weeks in traction (2 1/2 rather long weeks I might add). We are praising God for this unexpected turn of events and ask your prayers for a successful surgery Wednesday.

Scott Turns 21

2010-08-24T18:51:00.005-04:00

Today Scott hit that milestone of age 21. I could get rather weepy over the fact that I now have a 21 year old son, but he is such a neat, fun young man and we have enjoyed watching him mature over the years. He loves the Lord and he loves others so what more could a parent want. Well actually it would be nice if he didn't get any more traffic tickets, didn't wreck any more cars, didn't break any more computers, cell phones, furniture or other gadgets - I have affectionately dubbed him "the money sink" around here. But we love him and wish him well on this his 21st birthday!

Traction Day 5

2010-08-22T09:32:00.003-04:00

After the first couple of days they were able to put Anna in a chair during the day as opposed to laying in bed all day. This greatly helped her attitude as she is able to wheel herself out and about the area outside her room and we are able to wheel her all over the hospital and out into the garden. The amazing thing is that you can already tell a difference in her spine. Her doctor is more than pleased and says she is definitely ahead of schedule.

Traction Day 2

2010-08-17T22:40:00.004-04:00

Katie spent the afternoon with Anna today. When she first arrived Anna wanted nothing to do with her (which is how she was with Eric and me yesterday), but by the end of the time Katie had Anna smiling and laughing - at least a little.

Things on the home front were a little rough today. Amy was scheduled to have her wisdom teeth removed. We had a nice early appointment. In my mind I thought we could go, be home by the time the kids were finishing breakfast, and I could make it to the hospital in the afternoon. But we were rear-ended on the highway in route to her appointment (I was driving Amy's car). We sat by the side of the highway for close to an hour waiting (the police officer was directed to an accident that occurred later than ours by mistake) and then we had all the paperwork to deal with. We are both fine physically for which we are thankful and her car is not damaged (the other one was). The oral surgeon worked us in later and so we went ahead with the surgery as Amy returns to school next week and this needed to be done before that. So our nice early appointment turned into an almost all day affair. Then later in the afternoon, I took Molly to ballet - in the van this time - and once home the van began spewing radiator fluid all over the driveway. So off that went to the shop. If I wasn't reading The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment I could have quite the pity party today, but the book is way too convicting for that. So on to tomorrow and what the Lord has in store for that day.

PS. Amy is doing well after the surgery - we had somewhat of a rough time this afternoon, but she is doing well now. Praying for a speedy recovery.....

Traction Day 1

2010-08-17T22:38:00.002-04:00

One mad, sad, hurt, scared little girl.....

Happy Birthday Anna

2010-08-15T21:13:00.004-04:00

Anna's official birth date is listed as today. Of course we don't really know when her real birth date is - this one was assigned to her as it was the day she was abandoned. It was a somewhat bad timing as we just got back from vacation and she starts her traction tomorrow, but we wanted to get in a celebration before she goes into the hospital. I don't know that we adequately conveyed to her what a birthday is, but she seems to understand that she was 7 and now she is 8. It didn't take her long to get into the gift unwrapping, she loves ice cream, and our friend came over today and re-braided her hair so all in all it was a good day. Please pray for her as she goes into the hospital tomorrow - it looks to be a difficult time.

More Beach Life

2010-08-15T21:00:00.008-04:00

We are home now after a wonderful vacation. I think it was a good time of bonding for Anna and it was a relaxing time for us as a family. For the last part of our time we had Scott's girlfriend and a good family friend join us and we enjoyed spending time with those two girls. But now its back to the grind....

Kissing cousins!

Beach Finds

2010-08-13T16:30:00.014-04:00

We have been coming to this same beach for years and this is the first year we have found so many sand dollars, starfish and shark teeth. The kids have had a great time hunting. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of everything we have seen including a huge ray the fisherman next to us on the beach caught. It rather dampened the kids interest in going in the ocean that day. There was also a copperhead at the pool that has rather dampened my interest for going anywhere. Some of the kids came across some huge tarpins when they were kayaking in the ocean and then there are always the porpoises that are fun to watch.

Can you see the starfish?

Peter found 99 shark teeth!

Kayaking in the Marsh

2010-08-13T16:03:00.006-04:00

We had a girl's outing in the kayaks - paddling through the marsh then out into the river and finishing up in the ocean.

Beach Life

2010-08-12T09:25:00.012-04:00

Anna has adapted well to the beach. She wants to do everything including kayaking in the ocean. I was a little worried about sending her out as it can be fairly easy to tip in the waves going in or out. I didn't think she would handle capsizing well. However Amy the expert kayaker managed to get her in and out without incidence. We won't talk about how Amy the expert kayaker and her sister managed to sink one of the kayaks going out (we did recover the boat). Unfortunately Matthew was in that kayak and was rather traumatized, but he seems to have recovered.

On the Road Again....

2010-07-31T23:52:00.002-04:00

We left last weekend to head to the beach for our annual vacation with my side of the family. Of course we could not leave without some type of crisis. The day before leaving, while we were packing up, Emily fell off her bike and broke her collar bone. Last year the day before we left Emily had a near drowning accident so next year she will be locked in her room! We are thankful it was her collar bone and not her arm so at least she doesn't have a cast and can get in the water. She has been a trooper so far. I have taken some pictures and will try to get them posted at some point. But the weather is great and the beach is calling.

Heading down the roads of South Georgia

Good News

2010-07-26T22:20:00.005-04:00

We had some good news today on the medical front with Anna. We knew when we adopted her that she had a history of untreated ear infections and so had some hearing loss. We of course didn't realize quite how bad her ears were until she got here. There are perforations on both of her ear drums which the doctor could not even get a good look at for all the gunk in her ears. She had years and years of gunk in her ears and who knows what was growing in there. So she has had some pretty aggressive (translate expensive) treatments for her ears. The plan was for her to be fitted with hearing aids while she was in the hospital doing her traction thing. Today we went in for a re-check and the doctor was amazed - all of the gunk was cleared out of her ears!! So they re-tested her hearing and she is actually in the normal range now (okay so its the bottom, the way bottom, of the normal range but...). This means that she will not have to get hearing aids. Praise the Lord!!!! She still has the holes and we are praying (we would love for you to pray along with us) that they will close on their own. If they do not, she will have to have surgery. One of her perforations is so odd the doctor commented she had never seen anything like it. I am getting used to that phrase when it comes to Anna. But we are thanking the Lord for his mercy today in clearing out her ears and the fact that she will not have to have hearing aids.

Happy 9th Birthday Emily!

2010-07-18T21:51:00.005-04:00

Out to birthday breakfast with dad

Happenings and Transition

2010-07-13T20:57:00.001-04:00

We had a busy week last week. Scott, Amy and Katie were home from camp on a mid-summer break, so the house was bustling again with activity. I enjoyed having them all home - they have been greatly missed.

We started off the week celebrating the 4th of July. We were pleased to have two fireworks showings - one from a neighbor who spent a fortune on some really nice fireworks and had the 3 families in the cul-de-sac out to enjoy. Then the following evening we went to my parents and watched fireworks from their neighborhood club. Anna and Grace did NOT like the fireworks at all. Grace was clutched around my neck so tightly I could barely breath, but since her head was buried into my neck my face at least pointed upward so I could view the show.

Monday evening we had Scott's girlfriend Becca's parents over for dinner. They just returned from 25 years on the mission field in Africa - first in Kenya and then in South Africa. We had a lovely time with them and enjoyed learning about some of their work in Africa.

Scott was able to finally have an MRI this week. He has been having back trouble for some time now (from football). The MRI showed 2 herniated discs and an older stress fracture. There isn't much to be done, but at least he now knows what is wrong. Incidentally Becca has a stress fracture on her hip and is on crutches. They make quite the crippled couple at the moment.

Katie got her driver's license this week. Hmmm.......................................

I finally entered the world of Facebook. Katie set up an account for me. I am so behind the curve, but hopefully I'll figure it out.

Anna has been home two months now. I think overall things are going well. She seems to have all the routines down and is generally happy and good natured. The Lord has been growing us all through the process. I find that I that I can be harder on her than on the other children. I am used to their sinfulness and so somehow hers stands out more. My expectations are maybe too high in some areas and our transition would be smoother if I can just learn to lower those. Last week she began sighing and rolling her eyes when I asked her to do something. "How dare this child react like this" strummed through my head. But I didn't have to look far to see where she is learning these things from. She studies everything to try and fit it and well....she was fitting in. So opportunities for training are abounding - not just for her, but for all of us. God is gracious though and we are all learning.

Pictures from the 4th

2010-07-13T20:47:00.008-04:00

The Plan

2010-07-01T18:37:00.004-04:00

After countless doctor visits, x-rays, MRI's and CT scans we now have a plan for Anna's scoliosis and it is not pretty. Her spine is too bad to just have surgery as we had hoped. Mid-August she will be going into the hospital where she will have a halo screwed onto her head and she will be put in traction for approximately 4-6 weeks - yes, WEEKS! Then she will go into surgery where she will have a rod placed in her back (and yes that adds another week or so).

This has been difficult to deal with in many ways. One I don't have a family that I can just leave for 6 or so weeks. Second how in the world do I explain words like halo, traction, weeks, hospital to a child who doesn't even understand the basics of the English language. I was excited to find several Ethiopians in the area who are very willing to help us with translation, transition, etc. In God's providence there is an Ethiopian Evangelistic Church which meets 5 minutes from our house. A woman who attends that church came to the house one day to explain to Anna that she wasn't going to allowed to eat or drink when she go up in the morning (this was before her MRI for which she had to be sedated). I knew the not eating breakfast thing was not going to go over well (and it did NOT), but what was surprising to me was that having an Ethiopian come over did not go well either. Anna seems to want nothing to do with anyone from Ethiopia (we have tried having a couple of others talk to her, but it was the same). She acts like she doesn't understand what they are saying, she turns away and she certainly won't talk back to them. I'm sure there are many psychological factors involved with this, but suffice it to say it is very frustrating. So I don't think having anyone over to try and explain what is upcoming is going to be helpful. On the other hand maybe she doesn't want to know that she will wake up with a halo screwed onto her head. Either way, as the orthopedic commented to us, "you know when she wakes up she will be MAD". Yeah...thanks!

It would be an understatement to say that I have not had the best of attitudes for the last several weeks. But this is the plan, this is what God has ordained, and even though I have no idea how we will get through it, I have to trust that He will provide.

Off to Camp

2010-06-29T21:52:00.005-04:00

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

2010-06-29T21:46:00.003-04:00

Last Re-cap

2010-06-21T17:15:00.014-04:00

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....

The Body of Christ

2010-06-09T22:20:00.003-04:00

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

My Beautiful Ballerinas

2010-06-07T22:23:00.009-04:00

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.

Camp Dedication Day

2010-06-06T16:52:00.008-04:00

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

2010-06-06T16:36:00.009-04:00

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!

A New Nephew

2010-06-01T21:02:00.002-04:00

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

2010-06-01T20:51:00.009-04:00

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

Update

2010-05-28T15:23:00.004-04:00

Anna has been home almost two weeks now. I would have liked to update sooner, but it has been a zoo around here - really! Scott has been home, which always adds another ring to the circus here, Eric's parents came out from Oregon for a visit (planned long before the timing of the adoption), we had several doctor appointments for Anna, dentist appointments for all the kids, Eric was sick for several days, and the older kids were getting ready to leave for camp this summer. Scott, Amy, and Katie are all working at Camp Westminster for the summer. I was quite sad to see them go - they left on Wednesday and will be gone until the end of July (although the girls will be home for some of the weekends).

Overall I think things are going well. Welcoming an older child into the home was much harder than I anticipated. I knew it would be hard, but there were several days where I questioned what we had done. It didn't have to do with Anna being some very difficult child - it really is more my own sin nature and wanting to have my comfortable life back. This process has highlighted some very ugly areas in my own heart. Certainly Anna does bring difficulties, but my issues are much bigger.

Anna seems to be a very happy child. Her excitement when she makes some sort of connection is infectious. We have several of the Signing Time videos and she loves to watch them. She has made much more progress with the sign language than the actual spoken language, but at least we are learning to communicate in some sort of fashion. She enjoys puzzles and card games, is fascinated by the phone, and loves to watch food being prepared. She has some definite opinions and can be quite stubborn in certain areas (ie. food) so that has been challenging at times.

Medically we are in the midst of gathering information. The orthopedic we saw said that he can fix her, and he also commented that we saved her life bringing her over when we did. Her curve is so bad she is shrinking. We are waiting to get an MRI and a CAT scan and then he will make the decision on surgery. He said that something needs to be done sooner rather than later and commented that we were going to become great friends. Inside I was thinking I don't need any more friends, especially in the medical field, but I am so very thankful for the medical care that we do have here and fact that there is hope for Anna. Of course ultimately that comes from the Lord and we continue to look to him as we tread this new path.

Re-cap in Pictures - Layover in London

2010-05-19T21:46:00.010-04:00

Good News

2010-05-16T22:17:00.003-04:00

This morning we took Anna to see her cardiologist - Dr. Vincent. I have to tell you a little about Dr. Vincent as he is a pretty special doctor. We first met him during one of Abby's early hospital stays. It was the weekend and Eric and I went back to CICU to visit her. As we walked in, there was a man standing next to her bed who was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, jean shorts and flip flops. He launched into details about Abby and what was going on. I had no idea who he was and as he talked I just continued to stare and wonder who in the world this strange man was. Finally I blurted out "Who are you?" He calmly responded "I'm Dr. Vincent". I wasn't impressed and at the moment was happy to know that Abby had a different cardiologist and this was only the guy on call. I soon came to think very different of Dr. Vincent and was happy to have him in Abby's life. He was on call at the time of one of her most difficult surgeries. It lasted into the night and the details coming out of the OR were not good. In fact she set the record (at Egleston) for surviving the most times being put on and taken off the heart lung machine in one surgery. Of course at the time no-one thought she would survive and it was very tense. She made it out of surgery and went to CICU where no-one know what would happen during the night. Eric and I spent the night in the waiting room and in the morning went in to see Abby who was miraculously still alive. One of the nurses pulled me aside and told me that Dr. Vincent had set up a folding table next to Abby's bed and had slept on it all night. It brings tears to my eyes even now to think of it.

So fast forward 12 years and I contact Dr. Vincent's nurse through a nurse friend that we have stayed in touch with. I tell her about Anna and that we would like Dr. Vincent to be her cardiologist. We get an email back from her that gave us Dr. Vincent's cell phone number and a message from him to call anytime. I called him last week to tell him Eric was picking her up and they would return Saturday evening and could he see her at some point. He tells me he is heading out of town Sunday evening, but that he would see her Sunday morning before he left. I thought of what a wonderful doctor to see us on the weekend when he is heading out. We are blessed.

We took her in this morning and Dr. Vincent did an ECHO of her heart. He commented that her repair (done in the states two years ago - not here in Atlanta) looked "pretty darn good". He said it wasn't perfect and that she may need a valve replacement in the future, but for now her heart looks good. That was wonderful news and an answer to prayer. From some of the reports we had gotten, we were thinking that something might have to be done soon. Dr. Vincent will do a full exam in the next couple of weeks, but we are thrilled at the good news, especially as it allows us to look into her other medical issues. Her scoliosis is much more pronounced than we expected so we will be seeing an orthopedic next.

As far as adjustment things are going well. We have certainly had some bumps - adopting an older child is much different than an infant! But overall she is doing well.

HOME!!!

2010-05-15T23:11:00.006-04:00

Day 4 and 5

2010-05-14T20:59:00.004-04:00

I can't wait to get more details and see pictures of all the things they have done. I really cannot put much explanation into what they have done as I just don't have the complete picture.

They had their embassy appointment on Thursday. It came very close to having to be re-scheduled as the embassy said that they were missing some vital form. Belay was able to step in and find the form! They were then able to go ahead and finish the appointment and they got Anna's visa on Friday. Another answer to prayer!

Thursday afternoon they were able to hook up with the soccer ministry that we had collected the jerseys and balls for. Scott was able to play with them and it sounded like he had a great time. Eric was able to meet the Youth For Christ Staff in Ethiopia (I'm not entirely clear on how they are related to the soccer ministry), and he enjoyed connecting with them.

Thursday evening they went to some sort of cultural dinner with music and dancing. They all had a great time - Eric said Anna loved all the music and tried to imitate the dancers.

Friday was a very busy day. They went to visit Anna's previous orphanage so that Eric could talk to the doctor that has treated Anna for a majority of her life. That was a very beneficial meeting. Then they went to the last orphanage Anna was in so that she could say goodbye. After that they visited 3 state run orphanages. One of the orphanages is for older boys and Scott was able to play soccer with them. A couple of years ago the estimate of the number of orphans in Ethiopia was about 5 million. The number of orphans that they saw just in these visits was a drop in the bucket compared to that, but it was very overwhelming to them. It was very difficult to see rows and rows of cribs and beds and so many children without families. A hard day...

But most wonderful of all they are headed home!

And speaking of home - all the kids are still alive and the house is still standing so I'd say that it was a successful week on my part!

Name Change

2010-05-14T20:42:00.003-04:00

Eric has been investigating issues with our daughter's multiple names. A couple of issues have surfaced while he has been there and after consultation with Belay (the head of the Gladney in-country operations) he decided to just give her an American name and we will put an Ethiopian name as the middle name (which one has not yet been determined). So henceforth she will be called Anna. Belay explained this to her and she seemed happy about it, so that is what we are doing.

Day 3 P.S.

2010-05-13T08:26:00.003-04:00

Do you remember Imelda Marcos and all her shoes? Well that is Scott! I think he has more shoes than all the girls in the family put together. So guess what he was doing when I called yesterday - buying shoes! I asked him why he wanted to buy shoes in Ethiopia and he said "how cool is it to have shoes from Ethiopia!" I can think of cooler things to bring back, but for Scott it is shoes!

Day 3 in Ethiopia

2010-05-12T23:21:00.003-04:00

Today was the day that they visited the Gladney foster care facility. Here they took part in a traditional coffee ceremony where a woman roasted coffee beans over a pit, then crushed them with a type of pestle and mortar set, mixed with the water and then served (this is the short "its midnight and I'm tired" version). They were able to deliver the care packages to the soon to be adopted babies. Amy changed both babies into their new little outfits and Eric took pictures and video which we will send to the parents. Amy commented that Baby E was enthusiastic and happy and Baby D was also happy but seemed to have more of a quiet disposition. She enjoyed her time with them.

Eric was able to get two doses of antibiotics into Tigist so I pray we will see improvement and especially that her condition would not worsen.

Pneumonia!

2010-05-12T07:03:00.002-04:00

Tigist has had a pretty hefty cough since they have been there. Eric was able to get it checked out today as they were at the Gladney Facility, which has a doctor. She unfortunately has pneumonia. Please pray that she would heal.

Day 2 in Ethiopia

2010-05-11T22:58:00.005-04:00

Today was a free day just to be used for more "family bonding". Eric has been quite reachable by phone, but conversation is somewhat difficult due to the connection. So I don't get near the details that I would like. Scott is keeping a journal so I am anxious to read that when they get home and hopefully get more of a sense of what happened.

They took a couple of journeys out today. First they drove up Entoto Mountain which gives a view of Addis from the top. Something about that didn't seem to go right, but I never did get the details. They also visited Alert Hospital Souvenir Shop. Alert Hospital is the only leprosy hospital in Africa and the people who have been treated there make things to be sold in the souvenir shop. Eric seemed to really like that place. I know they picked up some things, but I don't know what and he even mentioned he might go back for a few other things. I associate leprosy with the Biblical accounts of it and forget that countries still struggle with it today. Last they went to visit a little boy who was recently referred to some friends of ours. This little boy has some medical issues and our friends are praying about whether to accept the referral or not. In the providence of God our trip came only a few days after this referral. They asked if Eric could swing by and just take a look at him which Eric was able to do. He took some video and was able to talk to the nurse there. The boy seems to be doing well and we were glad to be able to do this for them.

The guest home where they are staying is suppose to have internet, but it is not working (I suppose a typical Africa thing). I am disappointed to not be able to see any pictures, but we will have lots when they return! Also when I talked to them last, Eric and Amy were reading by candlelight as the power was out (another typical Africa thing). They have all commented that it is just so different from anything they have ever seen.

Nigisti seems to be doing well. Amy says she gets nervous when they go out - probably wonders if she is being returned to the orphanage. She also seems to be quite picky about her food! Eric says she is very friendly with them, but shy around others, and seems to have a good attitude. Communication is difficult as she doesn't understand English at all, but they seemed to have worked out some good hand signals. All in all I think things are going well.

While We Were Sleeping

2010-05-10T15:07:00.004-04:00

A lot can happen in one night! When I headed to bed last evening Eric, Scott and Amy were on the plane from London to Addis. By the time everyone here was up they had landed in Ethiopia, checked into the guest house, gone to the orphanage, picked up Nigisti and were all back at the guest house together.

I know on the blog I have switched back and forth between Nigisti and Tigist. Her given name is Tigist, but it doesn't appear she was ever called by it once she was in the orphange - Eric is looking into this further. Anyway apparently Nigisti was ready to go! Eric talked to one of the sisters at the orphanage asking if Nigisti was having anxiety about leaving or was sad about leaving anyone in particular and the sister was very emphatic that Nigisti was ready to go. I think that since she came to the States for surgery she has seen another life and she is ready for that to begin. They spent the afternoon at the guest home just doing things together to get acquainted which from all reports went well. The last time I talked to Eric I could hear her in the background laughing hysterically. I asked Eric what was going on and he said Scott was throwing pillows at her! I am sad not to be there, but I am excited for the time that the 4 of them have together. Plus, in our family its probably better for her to meet siblings a couple at a time! All of us might be a little overwhelming. More to come....

The Adventure Begins

2010-05-09T08:33:00.008-04:00

Eric, Scott and Amy took off last night on their first leg of the Ethiopian journey. They were flying to London where they will catch another flight to Addis. It was unbelievable how much stuff they took. We were required to take $200 worth of humanitarian aid. We took hand sanitizer, diapers, clothes, and play dough (we were given a list of things they needed). Then we had 50 something soccer jerseys, 16 soccer balls and two pumps! The place where they are staying, The Ethiopian Guest Home, partners with a ministry to reach street kids through soccer. Eric talked to Dave (he is the one who started the guest home and he lives here in the states which made making arrangements very easy) about whether Scott and Amy could take part in the ministry while they are there. Dave said yes that would be great and he mentioned that if we could round up some soccer jerseys that the kids would really love that. I knew soccer jerseys were something we could handle as we were a soccer family for years; however, I didn't realize the extent of what we were going to get. One of Eric's co-workers and fellow soccer mom gave her daughter the job of rounding up some jerseys. She did great - came up with almost 40 very nice jerseys. Then my sister, who coaches two teams, came up with about 15 more. Then we got a money donation which was suggested to us that we could use it to pay for the extra luggage fee. I thought I would pick up a couple of soccer balls and then use the rest of the money towards the luggage fee. Eric and I stopped by a soccer warehouse we used to frequent and the owner upon hearing what we were doing sold us some very nice balls for very cheap. So I spent all the money on balls and pumps. I figured it was a chance to get a bunch of balls for them at a very low price. Then of course we had all of Eric, Scott and Amy's stuff plus clothes for Tigist and some games and other things for her to aid in bonding. We also had two small care packages to take to soon to be adopted children.

The first leg of the flight was on Delta and they only allow one bag each, so we tried to stuff as much as we could in 3 large suitcases, plus one large duffel bag which held part of the soccer stuff. We figured the suitcases were over the weight limit - which they were - so we had to take stuff out at the airport and pack it into another duffel bag. The lady at the counter was unimpressed with our letter stating that we were carrying humanitarian aid which asks them to waive the extra luggage fee or reduce it. (Our adoption agency provides the letter and says it works sometimes and doesn't work sometimes.) So Eric was preparing to pay and she tells him "no charge"! She said since Ethiopian Air (which they take out of London) allows 2 bags, she will allow him two bags. In the whole scheme of adoption expenses it is a drop in the bucket to pay extra luggage fees, but on the other hand when money is flying out right and left it was a nice little blessing. A second blessing is that Delta was able to check the bags all the way through to Addis. It was questionable that they were going to be able to do that, but they did. This allows them to possibly see a little of London as they have an 8 hour layover there. Without worrying about luggage they are hoping to run out and see a couple of things. We thank God for these two wonderful blessings to start the trip with.

Georgia Tech Spring Game

2010-05-06T18:55:00.007-04:00

The Georgia Tech Spring Game was the weekend before last. ( It took me awhile to get the pictures up.) Unfortunately the weather was horrible and the game had to be called in the 2nd quarter due to thunderstorms. But thankfully Scott got some good playing time -even had a few tackles.

Scott's fans in the stands:

Posed

Not so posed

Afterwords we had a bunch of people over for burgers and hot dogs. We were having too much fun to get many pictures - only one of a couple of Scott's goofy housemates and a couple of the cousins!

Grace Turns Two

2010-05-03T22:38:00.004-04:00

Some pictures by Katie:

Ethiopian Food

2010-05-01T09:36:00.005-04:00

My foray into Ethiopian cooking has been met with mixed success. The first thing I tried was entitled "Ethiopian Sloppy Joes". It was so spicy that no-one would eat it. Even Eric and Amy, who love spice, could not tolerate it. Unfortunately this did not set a good precedence for trying anything else Ethiopian. Everytime I get the orange cookbook down (from which the Sloppy Joes came) all the kids cry "you're not making Ethiopian food again are you?" I did manage to find a cabbage side dish that everyone seems to like and I have also tried a few chicken dishes which have turned out okay. So when Eric and I told the kids we were going to an Ethiopian restaurant last evening we were pretty much met with groans. But we persisted and headed out. At first I wondered if all the kids were going to leave hungry, but after getting used to the idea of the different food all of them did quite well and we did manage to find food that they all liked - except for Grace.

This is pretty much how Grace spent the meal - rubbing the food off her tongue and saying "hot". She left somewhat hungry!

Dogwood Festival - Piedmont Park

2010-04-25T17:02:00.012-04:00

A gorgeous spring day and even in the midst of the city there is much beauty.

WE PASSED COURT AND SHE IS OURS

2010-04-09T15:56:00.009-04:00

She is now legally Tigist Eric Elder (in Ethiopia the father's name is the middle name). We have known her as Nigisti (that is what she is called in the orphanage -possibly a nickname for Tigist but we are a little sketchy on that).

Here are some pictures from the first care package that we sent. (I could not post any pictures of her until she was declared legally ours, but we did receive several of them.)

The translator is reading the letter we wrote when we introduced ourselves - and she is wearing the tie-dye shirt we sent her.

Looking at the photo book we sent:

Blowing kisses to her new siblings:

It was a long process, but we are excited that we are now so close to bringing her home. It looks like we will travel the week of May 10. It is a little hard to grasp that we have a daughter halfway around the world that we have not even met! Thank you Lord for this new blessing.

Mayfield Dairy

2010-04-09T15:51:00.006-04:00

Today our home school group had a trip to the Mayfield Dairy. This was a nice distraction as I didn't have to sit at home waiting for THE PHONE CALL.

Nice Hairnets!

The best thing about the field trip was while we were at the dairy I did receive THE PHONE CALL and we increased our family size by one!!!!!!!!!

Easter

2010-04-06T18:06:00.007-04:00

Easter, as usual, was spent at church and then my parents. We have a nice dinner followed by two hunts - one for the younger children and then one for the teenagers/adults. The adult hunt is rather competitive and we always have a great time. Some of Scott's friends from Tech joined us and we enjoyed some great fellowship. It was a beautiful day, and most of all we are thankful that the reason we celebrate this day is that Christ rose from the dead and has given us life.

Siblings

2010-04-06T18:03:00.000-04:00

New Court Date

2010-03-31T12:45:00.003-04:00

Gladney was able to get our re-issued court date moved up a few days so our new court date is now April 9. Of course there is still a chance it could be postponed on that day. It is hard not to be anxious - the waiting seems to get harder with each stage of this process.

Postponed

2010-03-29T18:05:00.002-04:00

Well fortunately I somewhat expected this to happen so it wasn't a total disappointment to hear that our court date is postponed until April 13, but it still made the day somewhat sad. There is a chance that we could get an earlier court date and we will find that out this Wednesday. I know it is all in God's timing and so we rest in that it wasn't His timing today; however, we pray that we will hear some good news on Wednesday.

Thought for Today

2010-03-22T10:30:00.002-04:00

"Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

John Quincy Adams

OH HAPPY DAY!!!

2010-03-16T11:39:00.000-04:00

Finally a court date.....March 29th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matthew Turns Six!

2010-03-05T22:16:00.003-05:00

Today Matthew turned six. Six seems such a big leap from five - he is growing up fast. He started his day with breakfast with his dad, and then he went to a pottery place with his cousin and painted a pottery piece. This was followed by lunch with his grandmother and then later a birthday dinner to which his grandparents came. Tomorrow is a combination party with his cousin whose birthday is two days after his. Both he and Peter have become big football fans because of their older brother. Matthew wanted a Georgia Tech football outfit for his birthday so that is what he got. He was very excited. Since he can read now, he has been asking for his own Bible, which he also received. He was thrilled with that too. Happy Birthday Matthew!