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Adoption: Our older girls (part 3)

September 1, 2010

Our older girls (part 1)

Our older girls (part 2)

On May 15th, 2007, our dossier left for Ethiopia.  The next thing we were waiting for was the news that our case had been submitted to the Ethiopian courts.  As we waited we were anxious to let our girls get a glimpse of our lives, and to visualize themselves here. So one of the things we did was print off a big picture of them, and then took pictures of our other kids holding the picture in various places around our house.

We had a great time making the pictures, and I think it helped all of us feel closer to each other during the waiting.  We were also fortunate to get pictures of the girls from other traveling families.  We treasured every scrap of contact that we got.  And I think they did too. Here the girls are holding things that we sent them.

In early June we got the wonderful news that our case had been submitted to Ethiopian court.  Our court date was June 29th.  There are times when cases have to be submitted to court several times, so we were not 100% certain that the girls would be ours after that point.  And there was still the little niggling fear that the courts would refuse us, and say a smaller, richer family would be better for the girls.   But we just had to wait on God at that point.  He’d already opened so many doors with this adoption.  We knew that He could open this one as well.

At the end of June we got the wonderful news that our case had passed court and the girls were legally ours.  Another week or two of waiting, and we also had a travel date.   We’d be leaving to get the girls at the end of July.  Now we had to figure out who was going.  I’d been to Ethiopia twice already, once with Erika and once with Jared, for our other daughters’ adoptions. But my husband had never been to Ethiopia.

We really wanted for him to be able to go this time, especially since it seemed that with older kids, the more parental involvement in the whole process, the better.  Problem was, our youngest daughters were only 2 and 5, and we just didn’t feel good about leaving both of them for more than a week.  Finally after going round and round discussing every possibility,  we decided that both John and I would travel, and bring our little girls with us.  So, 2 kids on a 30 hour trip TO Ethiopia, and FOUR kids on the way back.

It was going to be an adventure.

Ever heard of Moon Dough?

August 31, 2010
Ever heard of Moon Dough?

I hadn’t, until I got a sample of it along with a Moon Dough Barnyard play set.  Moon dough is a new kind of play dough that is soft, non-sticky, and marshmallow-like.  Best of all, the company says that the dough never dries out– hooray for that! The barn play set is fun.  Just...
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Mucho randomness

August 30, 2010

The tail end of summer is roaring past me at ridiculous speed. We opted to skip the ‘big’ fair this year– it costs so much!– but had a great time going to a church carnival on Saturday. They had 50-cent hot dogs, corn dogs, burgers, ice cream, snow cones and cotton candy, if you...
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Together for Adoption

August 30, 2010
Together for Adoption

I’m sooo excited to be attending the Together for Adoption conference!  It’s Sept 30-Oct 2nd in Austin, TX.  Are you going?  Are you thinking about going? If you live anywhere near Austin, please do–I’d love to meet you there!  Turning in your registration before Sept 1st will get you the lower early bird registration...
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Sunday

August 29, 2010

Our God He lives forever He reigns in power and love Let Earth bow down before Him For He is exalted We look to Yahweh Yahweh Forever Yahweh Yahweh Our hope is God Almighty His love is greater than all Lift high the God of Heaven Give all the honor We look to Yahweh...
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Adoption: Our older girls (part 2)

August 28, 2010
Adoption: Our older girls (part 2)

Our older girls (part 1) Although John and I were in immediate agreement when considering adopting these 9 and 11 year old girls, the journey had its share of obstacles. Money, amazingly, was not one of them.  Between a tax refund and the sale of my first book, God had that covered. The first...
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Canning Recipes

August 25, 2010

Don’t miss: Avoiding the Back to School Wallet Pinch (by me) at Blogher.com ~~~~ This is the time of year when people get busy canning garden produce.  Just in case you’re looking for a few good easy canning recipes, here are some of the recipes and videos I’ve shared over the years. Mary Ostyn:...
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Lunch

August 24, 2010
Lunch

My lunch today. From the store: watermelon From the garden: tomatoes, cukes, canteloupe, and CORN! Also: this french bread - it has a secret!
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Heading off…

August 23, 2010
Heading off…

Third child.  Third time I’ve sent a child off to college, and still it is not easy. Friday I got Jared settled into his dorm room for his first year of college. Made his bed, stocked his dorm fridge with yogurt and OJ and milk, bought him cleaning supplies and ravioli and trail mix...
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Helpin’ with the groceries!

Grocery Spending (10-11 people)

2009

  • Aug-$860
  • Sept-$350
  • Oct-$845
  • Nov-$728
  • Dec-$747
  • 2010

  • Jan-$770
  • Feb-$847
  • Mar-$835
  • April-$935
  • May-$798
  • June-$858
  • July-$700
  • Aug-$702

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