Branson and Noah

Last weekend we had an exciting adventure to Branson. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma M. the whole clan was treated to the musical Noah! It was a wonderful show, and it was so neat to experience it with the whole family.



The Whole M Clan


On the way there we stopped at Lambert's. This is a very yummy restaurant, and the kids had a great time watching the waiters toss the rolls. Too funny.



We stayed at a hotel that had a waterpark indoors. All the kids had a great time, but Ruth loved it. She went up and down the toddler waterslide non-stop. Finally, we had to get her out of the water because her teeth were chattering.

On the way home, we stopped at the Bass Pro in Springfield. We also drove through Warrensburg where we bored the kids by telling them all about our college experiences and how we met. It wasn't near as exciting to them, but I loved reminiscing!!!

Feeling Good!

I am so happy to report that we are ALL feeling better. That was one contagious little virus. Ruth completed the illnesses by getting an ear infection that turned into an infection of the lymph nodes. It is good to see her happy and feeling good again.
We had our first post-adoption placement visit last week. It went well! Ruth continues to thrive and be a happy little girl.
Here are a few recent photos. There are always more photos of the little ones since the older one are at school!!

Look who is 8...

Happy Birthday to our sweet Heidi! We can't believe you are already 8 years old. You are such a sweet girl with a big heart, and we love you very much.
For her birthday Heidi went to American Girl with her sister, Isabelle! She also decided to eat at Applebee's and had her usual (Mac and Cheese).
It was a great day!

Ruth continues to do great! She went to the OT this week since she was unable to eat solids. We have a little bit of work to do with her, but she is already eating graham crackers. Wow!!! The reason she had issues with eating is because she had been on the bottle for so long she never learned how to move her tongue. She only sucked back and forth like a baby will do with a bottle. So we were taught how to stimulate the tongue to go side to side and to start weaning her off the bottle. She has been a great sport, and we feel so blessed that she is our daughter.

First Day of Preschool and more

Isabelle had her first day of preschool this year. She is in the 4 year old room. She said she had a great time, but couldn't do math yet. I said that was ok - that is why we go to school. She is so funny!

Devin came home from school sick, and Riley is recovering from his Labor Day weekend illness! I am hoping it doesn't work itself around the whole family.

Ruth is doing great. We have seen a lot of improvement in her attitude and behavior in the short time she has been home. She can keep up with the rest of the kids and is trying new things all the time! We are very proud of her.

She is Home!

Chris arrived home Saturday evening with Ruth. He said she did a great job on the trip! Thank you Chris for traveling and taking such great care of our little girl. You are an awesome husband and father.

She was greeted at the airport by Mommy, Ethan, Devin, Heidi, Isabelle, Riley, Grandpa and Grandma M, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kim and several of our friends!!! It was such a blessing to have so many people that we love and care about be a part of our big day!!!!
Ruth looked so much bigger than I expected getting off the plane. She clung to Chris for a while, but finally came to me. By the time we left the airport, she was running around and smiling.
She is getting more comfortable everyday. She is very sweet! However, she does have the temper many reported. She likes to scratch and hit, but we are working on it.


Our main focus right now is to get her comfortable in her new surrounding, but we have already made an OT/PT app't for her at our local children's hospital. She will only take a bottle or eat baby food. She is 2.5 years old. She doesn't seem to know what to do with solid foods. We know that they had a tough time with her eating in Ethiopia, too. So it isn't a huge surprise.
She will also go to the International Adoption Clinic for an appointment in the next few weeks.
We are so glad that she is home. We feel like she is perfect for our family. She is also a good sleeper - Woo Hoo!

He Met Her!!!

Today was the big day! Chris met our little girl for the first time. She went right to him, but was a bit shy the whole day. I guess she is usually quite outgoing. He said she loved to swing and let him know that she didn't want to stop. LOL He said she was quite a bit smaller than Riley and very cute. He also said that I am going to be very, very busy. Thanks babe!
Tomorrow is the Embassy appointment. Chris is looking forward to seeing more of Addis Ababa. He hasn't had the opportunity to get out yet. He said the weather was absolutely beautiful today, but it has been chilly at night. He said that he has slept well, but has a little bit of altitude sickness.
We are doing fine here. I took Riley to the doctor yesterday, because he ran a high temperature the night before. The Dr. thought he just had a virus. He feels much better today.
I can't believe she will be home this week!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to School and leaving in 3 days!!

The kids started back to school yesterday. I already miss them being home!
This year I have an 8th grader, 4th grader and 2nd grader. They grow up so fast!!



However, I have been keeping busy packing my hubby up to leave on Sunday for Ethiopia. I can't believe our little girl is finally coming home. As I mentioned before, a good friend of ours visited their little boy in Ethiopia a few weeks ago. While there she took photos and a great video of Ruth! We couldn't believe how much she had changed since the last video. She seems so sweet. Although I think I am going to be extremely busy chasing my TWO 2.5 year olds around. LOL

Update and photos

Our really good friends went to Ethiopia for their court date last week. We are so excited to say "they passed"!!!
Anyway, while they were visiting their adorable little boy...they took the time to give our little girl some loving. It was so great to hear more about her personality and development. They reported that she is very beautiful, sweet and cuddly, but has a temper!!!
They also took some photos for us. Thanks guys!!!
She sure looks happy!

Bulgogi and friends

Last Friday our adoption group went to our annual luncheon at a great Korean restaurant. A majority of the children in our group are from S. Korea, but we also have a few from Vietnam, China, Guatemala, and soon Ethiopia!!
We have a fun group and the food was great. Our family really likes to eat Bulgogi. I couldn't get over how well everyone ate.
Here are a few photos...


Riley and his buddy, Luke


An attempted group shot!

Made me think!!!

My husband was listening to the radio in his car the other day, and he listened to an interview with Francis Chan (author of the great book - Crazy Love). He said that Francis Chan gave this as an example. I didn't hear this interview. I am just paraphrasing what my husband told me, but it really made me think - so I wanted to share it.

Francis Chan said imagine that you told your child to go clean his room. So your child went to his room for several hours and then came out and said...
I thought about cleaning my room. I understand what you would like for me to do, and I have read about cleaning my room. I have told my friends about what you said. We are going to study all about cleaning the room. Then you go to the room, and it isn't clean. Is this what you wanted? No, you wanted the child to listen to you and take action. You wanted the room clean.

Think about God's word in this way. You read the bible, you study the bible, you tell your friend's about Jesus, you go to Church to learn more about it. It is wonderful to do all the above things, but are you taking action? Are you living what you have learned, read, and studied? Think about it!!!!

Travel Date!

We found out today that we have an August 25th Embassy date! It won't be long now. This adoption journey has definitely had its ups and downs, but we are so excited to finally bring her home.
We also received her birth certificate today. There has always been some question about her age so we were very anxious to find out what she would be given. We think she is a little younger, but her "new" birthday is April 9, 2008. That date makes her 11 days younger than Riley - too funny!!
Our good friends are visiting their little boy in Ethiopia this week. We hope to have updated photos of Ruth very soon. I can't wait to hear what they have to say about her.
Please keep our little Ruth in your prayers!

Scout Camp, photos and more

It has been a busy week! The whole family is so excited that we are all together again.
Ethan did great at camp. He earned 7 merit badges including the infamous "swimming" merit badge.
It was so great to see them on Scout Sunday but we were quickly escorted out around 2:00 pm because of severe storms. So fun!!

My mom came for a visit last Monday and Tuesday. It was a marathon shopping spree, but it was so nice to visit with her.

Once the boys arrived back home from camp they took a nap, and then we went out for a nice dinner!

This weekend my mom, aunt, and I went to a baby shower for my brother and his wife. They are expecting a baby boy in September.

Then we attended our adoption group picnic. Can you say hot!!!! It was lots of fun with great company so that made up for the heat.

Today at church, Devin won a Quantum leap pad for answering questions about the Armor of God. We are so proud of him!

Well, that is a quick recap of recent events. We are hoping to confirm Chris' travel plans for Ethiopia on Tuesday, but it looks like he will have an Aug 11th Embassy date. Yippee!!

Please continue to pray for our little Ruth!!!

New picture

I love getting new pictures. It makes the wait so much easier!
We are so thankful for the other families who take the time to take photos for the families that are still waiting for their child/children to come home.
This photo was taken last week. I love this photo because she is holding a pen. This is special because you will seldom see our 4 year old without a pen in her hand.

In the midst of all the good news, we do have sick boy. Devin was diagnosed yesterday with Strep. He has been so good even though he doesn't feel well. He is trying so hard to be the man of the house, and he is doing a great job. We are also missing Dad and Ethan. We can't wait to see them on Scout Sunday.

Introducing...

We found out early this morning that our case was approved in the Ethiopian courts.
We would like to introduce Ruth Addisyn.

First photo - October 2009


April 2010





We hope to have her home in 6-8 weeks!

Happy Independence Day and Webelos Camp

Happy 4th of July! We hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday.
God Bless America!


Well, the 3 boys are home from camping adventure #1 (Webelo's camp). They had a great time and the weather was very nice. I am so glad to have them home for a day.






We will post court results tomorrow!

Summertime fun and quick adoption update

We have been keeping ourselves busy! We have been having a ton of fun at the park, spray park, Worlds of Fun and just hanging out at home.
At the end of this week, the big boys and Chris will leave for 3 days for Webelo's camp. They will come home for the 4th of July and then Chris and Ethan will leave for 10 days for Boy Scout camp. This is great bonding for them, but I sure do miss them!!!!!!!! At least we can visit on Visitor's Sunday.

Yesterday, Ethan received two merit badges and received the rank of Star. Great Job!

We finally received good news about our adoption of "R". The letter we have been waiting months for was received yesterday (not in time for court, though). However, our new court date is July 5th! Our agency seems to be optimistic that our case will pass on Monday. We sure hope so. We want our baby girl home!!!!!! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We can definitely use them.

Here are a few pictures of our fun...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband. Our family is so blessed by your strong faith in God, your great sense of humor, and your hard work in supporting and leading our family. Thank you for all that you do! We love you very much.



Happy Father's Day to my dad and father-in-law, too. Thanks for always being there for us! You are great dads and awesome grandpas!!!!!!!

Home from VACATION!

We had a great time on vacation!
Our first stop was the grandparents in Oklahoma. We spent the night and headed to San Antonio with a quick stop to visit Uncle Brad, Aunt Dawn and Dylan.
We then got back on the road and landed in San Antonio! The next day we went to the Riverwalk and the Alamo. We had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and then did some swimming!
The next two days we spent at Sea World. It was blast for everyone. The kids really enjoyed feeding the dolphins and playing at the waterpark!
On Thursday morning we headed to S. Padre Island with Uncle Brad, Aunt Dawn and Dylan. We spent several days playing in the sand, boogie boarding in the ocean and chasing crabs. It was an amazing trip with great company. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousin. The last night we were there we went to a great buffet with great music. The boys got to eat crab legs and Heidi learned she was quite the hula hooper. We also had great accomodations thanks to Aunt Dawn!!
The kids did an amazing job traveling. The only glitch was getting stuck in the Oklahoma floods.
Enjoy a few photos of the great week!
For those following our adoption we didn't pass court again. Our new date is June 28th!