they are coming home!!

September 9th

 

After 14 long months of waiting...I will finally get to meet our sons!

Words simply can't describe my emotions.

I can't wait to kiss this face.

And give him a BIG BIG hug!!

There is so much that I am looking forward to and so many concerns on my heart this night, but since we will be catching a plane in just a few hours, packing seems to be just a little more important.  In the morning we will be on our way to the States to wait for the delivery of our baby girl and to finalize adoption stuff with T & Y.  A few days later Chris will be on a plane to bring our boys home.  The timing is quite unique in that just a little over two years ago, the two of us were leaving our home in Asia to return to America for our sisters wedding. Two days later, we were back on a plane to Ethiopia to bring home E & N.  The double jet lag thing sure adds some excitement those first few days. Now we are in pretty much the same situation, except this time Chris will go alone and the three of us will be waiting at the airport to welcome them home. 

Yes, life is full and unexpected but what grace and joy comes with seeing His works revealed.

What a journey of faith this has been...and will continue to be. 

We covet your prayers during this season.

famine

11 million lives in need. 

Desperate because of

drought and conflict.

A mother who has to walk for weeks

in harsh and dangerous terrain

to rescue her children.



A child in need of a cup of water

I can't stop thinking about this.

My heart is so burdened for these people who are in such dire need.

 I don't want to just be sad.
I want to be broken.

I want to act.

If you haven't read or seen what is going on in Somalia please get informed. 

There is so more loss than we could imagine.

As these precious souls flee their homeland, they are entering places open to the Truth and waiting with provision.

Let us not be silent and passive.

May His name be spread and lives be spared.

pray

take action

give sacrificially



He remains faithful forever, executing justice for the exploited and giving food to the hungry.

The Lord protects foreigners

and helps the fatherless

and the widow

Psalm 146:6,7,9

make a joyful noise...

Since the boys came home, we have sung three songs pretty much every night before bed.  As they have gotten older we have added some more things to the list like: reciting their memory verses, reading a Bible story, prayer needs and prayer.

For quite a while we sang the same three songs...we really wanted them to get these songs in their mind and heart.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (my Mammar's favorite song)

There's Just Something about that Name" (my Nannie's favorite)

Blessed be Your Name (A family favorite)

followed by

Prayers

and then ending with Psalm 121 (for decades Chris grandparents nightly recited this before bed)

Lately we have been singing the 3 oldies as well as letting the boys choose a song they would like to sing.  Occasionally, we will teach them a favorite of ours from the past.  They both love to sing and can quickly pick up the tune and words.  Well, at least most of them, I love how E sings "Blessed Be Your Name", "You give DON'T take away, You give DON'T take away.  I always think how he is saying it in complete innocence yet that is usually my natural heart cry to the Lord.

Just today as Chris was taking the boys to the store he had Nehemiah on his shoulders and he said he just started singing-"Righteousness, Righteousness is what I long for..." 

Melt my heart!

They are truly taking in so much.

Our desire and prayer for our children is that we will be feeding their souls with the good things of the Father...and that they will be vessels that worship His precious name.

Adoption update: We hope to receive an update any day with news on travel plans. Please join with us in praying that Tesfay and Yohannes will soon be home and in our arms! Thanks much!  

2nd Gotcha Day!!

Last week we celebrated 2 years as a family!! It was wonderful getting to spend the day telling the boys about our first time meeting and recalling some wonderful memories over these past two years.  These have been two of the most humbling and rewarding years of our life!  Parenting sure is not an easy task but there is such a joy that comes from raising and watching your children grow and learn what it is to walk in His ways.  We are so thankful to the Lord that we get to be E & N Daddy and Mommy!!

As most of my days recently are spent lying on my side, my time outside is limited, but for this special day I stored up my upright time and requested of my boys that we go outside and take some Gotcha Day pictures.  All three of them were very willing to accommodate!!  We followed with a Mexican fiesta at the request of the boys.  I was certain they would ask for chicken nuggets or pizza but was pleasantly surprised that they asked for the "Mexican Place".  Since we have only been here a few weeks they haven't learned the name of the local Mexican restaurant.:)   After dinner the boys ask if we could go outside and look at the stars and moon; although, we could not find either that night, we did enjoy some yummy cookies and cream ice cream.

what a handsome little man.

Why yes I am three!!

Our last Gotcha day as a family of 4!!

Daddy love

Squeezing my Sugar

Wanting to capture the boys together with their buddy's.

Lulu has been a favorite of our boys since the boys became official US citizens, it was a gift from the court :)

Tigger is a new friend given to them by their best buddy Mason.

26 weeks.
Praising the Lord for each week that passes.



lately.

We are away from home, living in another country and I am currently on bed rest so life for our family of four has been a lot of transition lately.  For the past two weeks, we have all been living in one room and though we enjoy quality time together we are thankful to now be in a very comfortable apartment.  Chris has been doing a fabulous job trying to keep the boys busy although he is having to do a lot of it on his own.  It has been a little more difficult as it is the rainy season around here, so it has meant a lot of indoor time. Here is what the boys have been up to:

Our boys sure do like to travel

Pool time.

I have been impressed by his skills to watch the boys as I could only sit and watch,

wishing I was enjoying some pool time with my boys.

.

Buddy time.

 These are two of the boys new friends.  We have been friends with their parents for five years now.  We just happen to be in the same place waiting for our baby's to be born. I love getting to see our children play together!! We couldn't have planned it better ourselves (except we are missing the Rivers:() to have some of our favorite people here with us during this time. It has been such a joy to spend quality time with them as we haven't had this opportunity in years.

Chill time.



Nehemiah is a little fish these days.

 So fun to see him trying something new.



Below is a series of events that happened within minutes.  This little boy can't get enough of football time with Daddy.  Here is just a taste of some of his mad skills.

Running a pass route

Working his defensive back skills

The Quarterback. 

He just happens to be an incredible QB like his daddy.

Ezekiel often says that Daddy and him are QB's and Nime is a runningback.

Coach Daddy has been working on his follow through

So close.

We immediately commented that he needed to keep his eye on the ball.

I believe he caught the next one!! :)

Snack time.
This little boy keeps us laughing

He has found his nitch in kicking

Cuddle time.

I love how he still will just sit and cuddle with us...our sweet baby boy.

Reading time.
When I saw him sitting him here looking so big I could have cried...

growing up so fast and is truly a three year old in every way.

We are here waiting for Salome to hopefully take her sweet little time to arrive, as well as waiting to hear anyday about going to get Tesfay and Yohannes to bring them "HOME"!! Tomorrow we celebrate two years of being together as a family of four!!  Life is about to change for our family, but we simply can't wait to welcome the next three into our family. 

Praising the Lord for His mighty works...His ways are so much higher and greater than anything we could have ever imagined for ourselves. My heart is resting tonight in the fact that He goes before us and prepares our path for each step in the journey.