Happy 35th Birthday Mom!

 
and I loved the birthday cake!

Another round of random Maya pictures

A week ago Maya wanted to go outside and play in the puddles.  She of course had to wear her rain jacket and her boots (winter boots).  She had fun!

Last night Daddy gave Maya some chocolate pudding for dessert.  She LOVED it! I was impressed how clean she was considering her big bites.

That same morning I snagged some photos of Maya before she headed to daycare.  Maya thought her pants were wild and so did Dad.  Aren't they cute?

I also tried something new last night with Maya's hair.  I really like how it turned out.  It is going to be fun experimenting with this style.

Ethiopian 1st Ladies

Our adoption agency has a monthly newsletter and this month they featured Ethiopian 1st Ladies. I found this very fascinating and an important part of Ethiopian culture so I thought I would share.

Cool Adoption T-shirts

Check the adoption T-shirts out...how cool are these??? I personally am in love with this one and may just have to order it. Check it out here.

Jane Kurtz and Ethiopian Reads

Today we had the privilege to meet Jane Kurtz who is the co-founder of Ethiopian Reads and a published author at our church, Olivet Lutheran. Jane is an amazing woman who grew up in Ethiopia, has a passion for reading, and a terrific story teller. Along with Yohannes Gebregeorgis, they founded Ethiopian Reads in 1998 with the intent to make books available to Ethiopian kids. Their first library called Shola Children's Library opened their doors in 2003. Per Jane, over 40,000 Ethiopian children visited this library the first year! To learn more about Ethiopian Reads and how you can become involved, visit www.ethiopiareads.org.

Jane Kurtz is an author to many children's books. If you would like to learn more about Jane's books, you can visit her website at www.janekurtz.com. I am so excited to begin reading these fabulous books to Maya!

Here we are with Jane Kurtz

Maya loves her new books!

Homecoming 2009

Today we enjoyed the homecoming parade and football game. We had a great time seeing old college friends and their families. Maya and her friend Wren had fun collecting lots and lots of candy! Today has been a great day but exhausting. It will be an early night tonight.

Before leaving home, we had to take annual homecoming pictures


Wren and her parents joined us at the parade

Check out this huge shopping cart!

My sorority's annual "HO" dance in the middle of the street - the cars hate us!

Us in front of my sorority house and a picture of Maya with her friend Wren


Maya's nap took place during the football game. Unfortunately it didn't last long which isn't a big surprise considering the noise level.

What a great day and we are already looking forward to next year. Hopefully the Bison will win!!!

More pictures

We got another sneak peak of our photo session from a couple of weeks ago. I am getting really anxious to see the rest of the pictures. So far I am really happy with them.