Month of December in Pictures

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Spoke on Ethiopia

Today Dave and I spoke at an Intercultural Communications class at NDSU.  Our friend who is the professor had asked us to come to her class to speak about Ethiopia.  I am not one to speak in front of a large group of people so thankfully Dave is a natural at public speaking.  

While considering to agree to talk at my friends class, I asked her for a general outline to what she would like us to touch on.  She gave me this outline:

1. Overview of your family (adopting from Ethiopia)
2. Your trips to Ethiopia
3. Overview of the culture of Ethiopia
4. Things you learned about communicating in Ethiopia
5. Things that surprised you about the culture
6. Issues that you have dealt with currently (hair, racism, etc.)

We did adapt it to fit our comfort level, knowledge, and what we felt was important to share about Ethiopia.  Our goal was to focus on the beauty of Ethiopia versus despair and adoption.  We talked about us, our first impressions, history of Ethiopia, facts about Ethiopia, its people, the culture, etc.  It went very well and I think the most of the class enjoyed it.  Some of the students even had questions for us so that we pretty awesome.   

I enjoyed sharing our family culture and Ethiopia with these students.  Funny how a presentation can make you think about things you don't normally think about on a daily basis.  When we sought out adoption we never knew how much we would love another country and how much the country itself made an impact on us.  As we told our class, we are going to do what we can to infuse Ethiopia into our family so our girls can learn about their birth country.  It will then be up to them as they become adults as to continue to incorporate Ethiopia into their lives or not.

Thank you my dear friend for giving us this opportunity (you know who you are!).

Finally Done!

Update on Makenna...we are finally finished with her medication.  WOO HOO!!!!!!  For those who don't know or remember, Makenna got admitted to the hospital almost a year ago with an unknown infection in her right leg.  The first diagnosis was a broken leg and the final diagnosis was an infection which she received in Ethiopia.  Since last late January/early February, Makenna had been taking 3 different medications every day.  These meds are very nasty so for Makenna to tolerate them for as long as she did is just amazing.  To top it off, she rarely refused and took them like a champ.  I couldn't be more proud of her.

We are incredibly blessed to have a healthy little girl again who is loving life.  Makenna is such a character and is a natural comedian.  She makes us laugh on a regular basis.  

So here is to a quiet and event free holiday!

Thanks everyone for the love and support during this time.  

Our Blog Going Private

Many of you may be wondering why we decided to take our blog private.  I don't think it will surprise you when I say it is to protect our girls and our family.  Unfortunately there are a lot of people in the world who disagree with adoption in general.  There are others who may be okay with adoption as long as you adopt your own skin color and/or race.  I may not agree with these people but they have a right to their opinion.  It is just too fortunate they feel they have to lash out on those families who disagree with them on sites such as Facebook and blogs. 

Thankfully we haven't been attacked and we want to keep it that way.  Our girls are too precious and don't deserve to be treated unfairly.  We want to protect them anyway we can at least while we can.  Make sense?

For now, our blog will stay private.  Sorry for having to do this as I know it is more difficult to log on and to remember to check the blog.  I hope you can all understand.   

Halloween 2011

Halloween was a success!  The girls had a blast at their school parties, going to my work to trick or treat, and walking around the neighborhood with friends.  They each came home with 2 full plastic buckets each - one from my work and one from the neighborhood.  That is a lot of candy!  

Makenna dressed up as Elmo and Maya was My Little Pony. 

Happy Halloween everyone!

October

Our October was crazy!!!  Highlights included NDSU homecoming, fall harvest at our CSA farm, school art project for Makenna, celebrating my birthday, painting pumpkins, pumpkin patch with friends, and football games.  Enjoy the pictures!

My Soccer Girl

Maya is having a lot of fun at soccer.  She has a tendency to want to stay home or not participate at first.  All she needs is to see her friends and coaches to get her excited.  Dave took some awesome action shots at practice last night.  I am so proud of Maya's ability.  She just looks like a soccer player even with her pink skirt.  I hope she continues with it and see where it goes. I know it would make Dave happy (right Dave?).

Happy Monday!

How can you not have a great Monday when you see this grin?  

Fall Festival

Yesterday we took the girls to the local fall festival and met up with our friends Kimberly, Greg, and their children Abygail and Caleb.  I am so thankful we were meeting them or Dave would have kept on driving.  It was obviously beautiful out as every family in town was there today.  Dave doesn't particularly enjoy going to these type of events as it means him chasing the kids while I visit (yes, it is true.  I like to visit).  Once we found a place to park and walked a block to the event, we quickly realized this may have been a mistake.  The lines for everything were a mile long.  We stayed though as we were meeting friends and we had already promised the girls a pony ride.  I ended up standing in line for almost 40 minutes while Dave and the girls bought wrist bands, said hello to the clown, played at the jungle gym, and watched the ponies give rides to other boys and girls.  Finally it was Maya and Makenna's turn and they loved their pony ride!

 After our long wait and fun pony ride, the kids lead us to the barn where they could decorate a small pumpkin and a cookie.  We then hit the jumpers and the barrel train.  The girls had a blast!

 On our way to the front entrance, we had to visit the pets and go through the hay maze.  Maya really loved the bunny and even got to hold her. 

 Here our attempt at a family picture.  It seems really impossible to get a great photo with the two kids.  Either one is looking or they just refuse to smile.  Trust me, they had a great time!

Addis Life

Today we got our latest issue of Addis Life.  It doesn't come very often and to be honest I am not sure the number of issues per year so I enjoy it when we do receive it.  Every issue is full of inspiration, something to learn, and many beautiful pictures of people, places, and things.  It really makes me want to jump on the next flight out of town as I miss Ethiopia more than ever. 

If you don't already receive it, I highly recommend subscribing to it.  If nothing else, it makes a great coffee table decoration.

Bye Bye Tonsils

Mid-August Maya had her tonsils removed.  It was a quick decision on our part as we learned that Maya's heavy breathing and restless nights were not common for a 4 year old girl.  Unfortunately this is not good for any young person to not get a good night's rest and to snore or breath heavily.  This is actually because of very large tonsils.  From speaking to the doctor, most tonsils in children will shrink down over the years and should be at the normal size around age 9.  We decided to have Maya's removed now as she was struggling with her sleep and very much relied on her naps during the day.  This is fine for now but with the new daycare naps are much shorter and next year she will be in Kindergarten.

Maya did great on the morning of her surgery.  She was a very brave girl and did everything asked of her by the nurses.  Recovery though was very tough.  We ended up spending most of the day at the surgery place waiting for Maya to drink and to have a few bites of food such as jello.  Maya finally complied and we got to go home.  She spent the rest of the week at home in the care of Dave who had the flexibility to work from home. 

It took a good 10 days for Maya to come around from the surgery.  She really had no energy, didn't want to eat much, and didn't talk much at all.  This is very unusual for Maya as she is our chatterbox.  Thankfully the surgery went well, Maya did recover, and all ends well.

Before Surgery:

 After Surgery:

Hey Friends!

Hello friends, family, and fellow bloggers.  It has been way too long since my last post.  I wish I could blame it on our crazy busy life but I have to admit, I just wasn't into blogging.  I used to have a big passion for it and I really enjoyed putting my random thoughts and updates about my family on my blog.  It was nice to share pieces of our family with all of you as well as give me an outlet to share some of my struggles, fears, etc.  I would love to have that passion again and thankfully I can feel it coming back (I hope).

It has been tough for me to share my world on the computer.  I am a very open person and willing to share almost anything but I found it hard when I would hear the words "I read it on your blog".  I realized that no one was really asking me how I was doing, what was new in our world, how were the girls, etc. because they felt they knew it all from reading my blog.  You see, I did blog about most things but not everything.  I'd love to have someone ask me about my world without referring to my blog.  Maybe that doesn't make any sense.

I will tell you that we have been busy with family and work plus enjoying the time we had left of warm sunny days. Maya has been busy with soccer, dance, and Sunday school.  She loves them and is really enjoying her new activities.  Makenna is playing any sports right now but our plan is to enroll her in parent/toddler gymnastics after the holidays.  Makenna has incredible upper body strength and loads of energy so I think gymnastics may be perfect for her.  Until then, she gets to tag along to Maya's activities and also to Dave's weekly soccer games.

Both girls have recently transition to a new daycare.  We had to make a tough call but in the end we decided to switch as our new daycare has more to offer.  Plus it will give Maya a new experience before she heads off to Kindergarten next fall.  The girls really are enjoying it and have met some new friends.  We like it too.

I have also been styling the girls' hair more which has been really fun.  

Last but not least, today is our referral day for Makenna.  Two years ago I left work in a hurry to meet Dave at home so we can call our adoption agency and get the exciting news.  What was even more special is we hadn't told anyone we were growing our family.  Can't believe it has already been two years.  Happy Referral Day to us!

Philly - Post #1

Almost a year ago we decided to visit our good friends in Philly over the 4th of July.  It was a perfect time to go as Makenna can fly as a lap child and we had extra time off from work.  Plus it worked out great for our friends Steve, Amy, and their 4 year old daughter Bailey.

Bailey and Maya go way back.  They were together in Ethiopia at the same care center.  Since coming home, we have made a point to stay in touch.  Amy and Steve have flown back twice to attend the EKC Mehaber and now it was our turn to visit them.  We love these guys very much and couldn't imagine our lives without them.  I just wish we lived closer!

We had a great time while visiting.  The first day we just hung out, relaxed, and visited.  The next day we took off to the Jersey Shore in the city of Sea Isle.  Steve's parents have a fabulous place a block from the ocean which made our trip so easy.  We have the lakes and they have the ocean.  So different and so very cool!

Makenna is excited for the trip!

 Maya got to have slumber party with Bailey.  Aren't they precious?

 Maya at the shore

 Makenna LOVED the water!

 Amy and me - love her!

 Makenna's favorite moment on the entire trip was riding the horsie.  Late at night on the way home from the shore, Makenna said out of the blue "I rode horsie".  She was so proud and really loved it.  This made me so happy knowing my girls had a terrific time. 

 Maya had a great time at the mini amusement park.  I think she rode on every single ride and would have kept going if we didn't force her to leave.  Look at that smile!

 Bailey's grandpa took one for the team and took the girls on the Tilt-a-whirl.  This ride makes me sick to my stomach so I was glad to be the one taking the picture.

Stay tuned for more of our trip...I especially wanted to blog about it as it was a terrific vacation for our family.  I also want to remember it well and have it included in our family blog.