A taste of Ethiopia

Take a few minutes to view a great slide show our social worker put together on a trip to Ethiopia this summer. The first photos are of the countryside and then some kids that are currently being cared for at Horizon House, the orphanage for our agency. The end of the slide show is a travel group there picking up their children. It is incredible to think that our son will be there one day in the future. Please say a prayer for all these sweet kiddos and the people who care for them until their new Mommies and Daddies can get there.



Click here to view the slideshow.

Back to School

Today was a big day! Makenzie started 5th grade and Seth started 4th! We were all up and ready by 8:20 which is a feat around here. After home schooling last year, we are all used to taking things a little more slowly in the morning. Everyone had a great 1/2 day of school. Sophie was in a bit of shock with only Mommy to hang out with. I am sure will we all adjust though.

My Lips Hurt Real Bad

The cut under the eye is from a previous incident! That is one fat lip!! Seth has been attempting some stunts with the skateboard ramp. This one didn't work out so well for him!

Happy Birthday and Ethiopia

I've decided to try to do better at this blogging thing - mainly just as a keepsake for my kids.

Makenzie turned 11 yesterday! It's amazing that she can continue to get older, but I don't! Aunt LoLo tried to show everyone up with the great birthday present she gave Makenzie. Addie was born at 10:04am. It was sort of strange to be at the hospital 11 years later - it was much easier this time for me :) We had plans for Makenzie's birthday and she was super gracious about postponing the plans. I know that Makenzie and Addie will enjoy spending birthdays together for years to come!

In other news: The Neal family dossier is in Ethiopia. We were officially added to the waiting list for an infant boy from Ethiopia with Wide Horizons for Children yesterday. Everything we've been waiting for arrived on the same day! The wait will be about one year until we get a referral. We all know how fast that year will go!

Pictures...

you can always see new pictures at www.dropshots.com/sophiemei. Alright, maybe not ALWAYS, but sometimes....

You are kidding me right??

We had an interesting day today. In the span of about 20 minutes Sophie did/encountered more damage than you can imagine. Upon returning home from the grocery store I dumped all the groceries and Sophie on the rug in the kitchen (not on Rugs, on the rug). After she systematically dumped out all the bags I noticed that her hands were wet... and I smelled pickle juice. The pickle jar had leaked all over the rug and all over Sophie. I removed her from the area for a quick clean up. After about 2 minutes of not hearing any noise at all -- always a bad sign, I went looking for her. She wasn't in her room or Seth's room. The bathroom door was closed, and I had been in the kitchen and didn't see her pass by me. After a minute of panic I checked the bathroom where she was apparently rinsing off the pickle juice with toilet water up to her armpits. I stripped off the 2 wet shirts and put her in the hall way while I cleaned up that mess. She meandered into the living room to find some other things to "explore". I went to the kitchen to continue making dinner when I glance over at her and she is putting something wet and yellow in her mouth. I look on the floor and there is a pile of DOG VOMIT!!! She was eating dog vomit!!!! It was at that point that I decided that the hidden camera Lauren had called to ask me if I had installed in her house to laugh at her kids antics had suddenly been moved to our house.

Walking...

Not really, but falling with style. Sophie has been doing this thing where she will take some really fast steps from Dan to me or vice versa. You can check it out here: www.dropshots.com/sophiemei. Enjoy!!