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!

The Good, The Bad and The Cute!

The Good!
We had another award's ceremony and Heidi and Devin did a great job this year. Heidi read all the required reading each month this year. Way to Go!
Heidi and Devin both received ribbons for participating in Rocket Math. Devin also received the Presidential Fitness Award. Great Job! Also, Devin was promoted to a Webelo at Cub Scouts.

The Bad!
Unfortunately, we received upsetting news from our adoption agency. It seems that the paperwork discrepancy from Jan/Feb is still delaying us. We are waiting for a piece of paper that requires a 3 month waiting period from a region that is notorious for being slow! Which means...we have no idea when our little girl will be home. We are hoping and praying that the piece of paper will arrive in time for our next court date, but it is not looking very promising!!

The Cute!
We received some new photos of "R", and she is just as cute as ever.
Also, below are some photos of the kids from the last week.

So sad!

We didn't pass court again! So bummed - still missing MOWA letter. This is starting to remind me of Heidi's crazy adoption process. It is so emotionally draining.
We love you "R" and pray everyday for you! Hurry Home!!!!!
The new court date is June 7th!

Lots to celebrate!

The school year is coming to a close, and we have had so much to do! Ethan had a band concert and several band competitions. He was part of a trumpet trio who received a 2 rating at one competition. Great Job! He also received several awards at the annual awards ceremony. Prior to the ceremony he emceed the student/teacher academic bowl and played the trumpet in the Fine Arts open house. We are very proud of your hard work!




Also, Isabelle had her Preschool Promotion. She did a great job. It was so cute. We are very proud of Izzy, too!

Weekend Fun

We had a fantastic weekend! We worked outside on Saturday, and then went out for some yummy dinner! Then on Sunday we went shopping after church. Chris and the kids bought me an outfit and took me to Applebee's for Mother's Day!


I am so blessed to be a mom and have such great kids!!!! I am also blessed to have a wonderful mom and mother-in-law. What great examples they have always been to me.
We are now preparing for a busy week. Gotta love the end of school events.

Try, Try Again

Well, we just found out that we did not pass court again for R! The next court date is in 2 weeks.
Please continue to keep our family and our little girl in your thoughts and prayers.

Also, Riley had a follow-up appointment for his injury and is healing just fine. He has to be on a "soft" diet for another week. He saw some chips yesterday and started crying because he wanted one so bad - Poor Guy!

Cousins are fun...

We had a nice weekend visiting with family! We celebrated an early Mother's Day and the kids played and played. The "triplet" girl cousins put on several plays (see photo)!
We also had the opportunity to visit "Cowboy" church. It was a nice service with great country gospel music. We all enjoyed it. I did miss nursery a little bit. We kept Riley occupied with snacks most of the service.
Afterwards, 8 adults and the 10 kids went out for pizza. It was yummy - thanks grandma and grandpa!



Of course, what is a trip without drama. We had only been home about 10 minutes when Riley decided to lacerate his soft palate. He was not goofing around, it was just sort of a crazy accident. We spent the evening and early morning in the E.R. He had to have a couple of stitches. I think it was harder on us, because he has been as crazy as ever since we got home!!!!
We are just very thankful that he is ok.
We will post our court results for baby girl on Friday. As usual, we appreciate all your good thoughts and prayers.

Raingutter Regatta and more

Devin was the overall winner for the Raingutter Regatta. We are so proud of him. He made his boat all by himself!!! Ethan helped the regatta run smoothly. Great job Scouts!!!
Here are a few photos of the big event!





I just had to add this photo of Isabelle. Chris said the 80's are definitely back.