Amazing Grace

The Bible says to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord." It doesn't say we need to be in tune :-)
We had a fun morning of singing in PJ's. At the end of Amazing Grace, Brodie wanted to sing "Jungle Balls" - better known as "Jingle Bells".

Discovery of the Whoopee Cushion

After getting sealants on their teeth at the dentist, Blaize and Brodie came home with the prize they chose - a whoopee cushion. Of course, they had to try it out on their sister after receiving meticulous lessons on placement for best effect.

What's for dinner? "Kitchen and Tomatoes!"

Tonight we had chicken and potatoes for dinner . . . pronounced a slightly different way :-)

An Encounter With The UPS Man

Upon arriving home from Wednesday night church, the kids happened to see the UPS man running to our front porch, drop off a package, and run back to the truck. They started laughing and laughing, thinking it was the funniest thing. As soon as they got out of the van, a few of them ran to the front door to mimic the UPS man while the others laughed hysterically. Here is a picture of Brodie doing his best high-speed UPS imitation.

Bike Riding 101

This video clip of pictures shows how our backyard was transformed into a bike riding acadamy . . . among other things.

Double Trouble!!!

Jon installed a gate for the door to our bedroom. Mommy needs to be able to go to the restroom without 7 children joining me! Within minutes of Jon setting up the gate, we saw our 2 three year old sons running towards our room. Brennan and Brayden had gone to get a step stool out of their bathroom. We found Brennan on the step stool trying to lift Brayden over the gate. They were not going to let a gate stop them from getting what they want! Looks like there will be a lot of mischief in their future!

Mommy's Top Ten List

It is hard to believe that we have been home with our new children for 3 weeks already. It has truly been a "wonderfully crazy" time! Here is my "Top Ten List" for our first 3 weeks as a family of nine.

10. The first trip to the donut shop! Yummy!

9. Lots and lots and lots of laughter! It’s “chicken,” not “kitchen.” Aliyah & Ava laughing as they taught each other English and Amharic words. The toilet full of candy at our church’s “Trunk or Treat.” I’m sure our new kids think Americans are CRAZY! Tickle! Tickle! Everyone wants mommy to go around the table at meals and tickle them. They especially like when I tickle Daddy.

8. Mom! Mom! Mom! I hear that at least 500 times a day!

7. Clean up! All 7 kids are great at cleaning. When everyone helps, we have more time to play!

6. Over 100 bananas were eaten the first week. We now go through over 50 a week just for breakfast!

5. Lots of bike riding! The joy on the kids faces as they learned to ride bikes was priceless, and the shock on the big boys’ faces when Mommy rode a bike (and beat them in a race) was hilarious! They were also surprised to learn that Mommy could kick a soccer ball.

4. The first lost tooth! Why is Mommy so excited about my tooth being out, and why is she putting it in a plastic bag with my name on it?

3. 70 fingers! 70 toes! That is 140 nails that need to be cut each week!

2. My sweet husband, who gets up on the nights he is not flying with Brennan, so I can get a good night sleep.

1. Hearing all 7 children singing “Amazing Grace” together during our family devotions!

Our first days at home!

It's going very well but is definitely a bit crazy at our house. Before posting this video, it is halfway through the day and I finally realized my jogging pants are on backwards :-)

A Busy Day in Addis Ababa

We were busy being tourists today. In the morning, we went to Entoto Mountain. The view of Addis Ababa from the top of the mountain was beautiful! While there, we visited the museum and old palace, and we learned a lot about Ethiopian history. Then we visited Kids' Care Orphanage, where our children spent the last 2 years of their lives. They asked to go say good-bye to their friends. It was sweet watching them giving their farewell hugs. Everyone did well except for little Brennan. he just wanted us to hold him, and he was happy when we left. After lunch we visited the Ethnographic Museum at Addis Ababa University where we learned more Ethiopian history. The kids were a little bored, but really got excited when we visited the musical instruments room. At the beginning of our museum visit, Brodie came running up to Brennan to share some "news" with him. We realized quickly that what he told him was that there was a lion at the top of the steps. When we made it to the top, Brennan started screaming. It was just a stuffed lion, but Brennan was terrified. We decided then that a visit to the Lion Zoo wasn't going to happen this week. We gave the kids watermelon with dinner tonight. We don't know if they have had it before, but they seemed to really like it. They giggled a lot as they spit out the seeds. We also let them each have 2 bananas which thrilled them. We are so pleased with how well they eat. Tomorrow we get the kids' visas, and in the evening we start our trip home. Please pray for health for all of us, safe travel, and that we can get through customs and immigration in Dallas quickly. Our next blog will be sent when we arrive at home! Thank you again for all the prayers! Please keep praying for us as we transition in to a family of nine. It is going to be a wild ride, but we are very excited!

Another Great Day!

We had another great day in Ethiopia. It started with our U.S. Embassy appointment, which went very well. We will receive our kids visas on Friday. Then, we visited the "National Museum of Ethiopia" where we saw the skeleton "Lucy" and learned a little more about Ethiopian history. After that we had lunch. The kids all ordered traditional Ethiopian food, and once again we were amazed by how much they ate. The waiter had to bring more injera bread 4 times! Injera bread is a sponge-like sourdough flatbread that Ethiopians use as a utensil to eat their food. The kids love it! We spent the afternoon at the Transition Home so the kids could say good-bye to all their friends. On the way back to the guest house, we picked up fruit for the kids to eat. When I peeled oranges for them, they were so excited. They acted like kids receiving an amazing present! They were so tired from the day that they barely stayed awake for dinner. Actually, Ava slept through dinner! She crashed on the sofa by the dinner table. We have another big day tomorrow. We plan to do more sightseeing. Thank you again for all your prayers! Please keep them coming! Everything is going better that we could have imagined, and we know it is because our trip is being bathed in prayer! THANK YOU!!!!!!!

They are ours!

We picked up our kids this afternoon. Our agency's transition home staff said the kids were so excited about us coming. Apparently, they kept asking yesterday if our plane had landed yet. Then today they repeatedly asked when we would be arriving. The kids are doing so well. We spent quite a bit of time playing with them at the transition home. We even hung upside down from the jungle gym with them! After we brought them back to the guest house, we gave them showers and put on new clothes. They were so excited about their outfits, but the highlight for all was getting their own new shoes. They each smiled and said, "Thank you" as we gave them their shoes. They ate GREAT at dinner. We had chicken and rice. They all cleaned their plates and more. We are going to have to cook a LOT of food when we are home. Wish we could bring the cook here home with us. He is great! They were also surprised and excited at bedtime when we gave them pajamas to wear. Brennan cried at first because he thought we were taking away his new clothes, but was happy when we showed him they were on the couch. Jon read the Bible before bed. We brought the Amharic/English Bible we bought on our first trip. Blaize read some for us. He read John 3:16 and all the kids recited it together in Amharic. It was precious! They are all hard asleep now. The guest house staff put another bed in the room with Blaize and Brodie, so Ava is in there. They were so excited to all sleep in the same room. Brennan will sleep in a crib in our room. He was crying at bedtime, so we put him in our bed and he quickly fell asleep. We will move him in a few minutes. Tomorrow we get up early for our embassy appointment. Then we will do some sightseeing. Thank you to all for your continued prayers!

We made it!

We made it to Ethiopia! Our trip went very well, and now we are settled in at the guest house. Tomorrow morning (Tuesday), we have a "Paperwork Party" to complete all the paperwork for our U.S. Embassy appointment on Wednesday. In the afternoon tomorrow, we get to pick up our kids and bring them to the guest house. They will be with us for good! We are so excited!!!! Thank you for all your prayers!

Traveling to get our kids!

Praise the Lord! We received final clearance from the U.S. Embassy and are leaving 10/24 and returning 10/30 with our four sweet kiddos!!

147 Million Minus 4

The first meeting with our precious children . . .

Getting Ready

As we have talked with parents of large families, one of the things they have recommended is color coding everything. That way you know whose pencil was left on the table, whose cup is in the sink (or laying on the floor), etc. So, we now have pencils, backpacks, and even cups in everyone's favorite colors. So far this has been very helpful, especially since we are not having the "that is my pencil" fights! It should be even more helpful when our four new children arrive.

We are still waiting to hear about clearance to travel from the U.S. Embassy. They have reviewed our information and have asked for more documentation from our adoption agency in Ethiopia. The staff there is working hard to get this paperwork for the U.S. Embassy. Hopefully, our kids will be able to receive visas soon and we will be able to travel to bring them home.

Jon is working on a video montage of our first trip to Ethiopia, so check back in a few days to see it (providing he can figure out how to do it)!

Why the blog name?

Our blog name comes from the moment our next door neighbor learned that we were going to adopt four kids. With a shocked look, she said "I don't know what to say, but that it's wonderfully crazy!" We thought this expression hit it head on . . . we are looking forward to it being "wonderfully crazy".

Three months ago, on April 22, our family received a referral from our adoption agency for a sibling group of 4 beautiful children. Today, July 22, they are officially ours! A judge in Ethiopia signed all our paperwork making our adoption official! We are now a family of 9! Praise the Lord!!!!!!

Thank you for all your prayers! Attached is a picture of Aliyah and Anna in Ethiopia on July 6 with their new brothers and sister.

Please keep praying for God's timing in bringing them home. We hope to have an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia sometime in early fall.

Thank you again for your prayers!

Sincerely,

Jon, Christi, Aliyah, Anna, & Brayden