Visiting Mimi and Poppy at the Lake

Easter in Ethiopia

We have had a wonderfully smooth trip so far! Garrett was an absolute doll on the plane - slept on and off but didn't eat much other than his snacks. Heather and I had quite the upset tummies but felt much better the next day.

Our first day here we spent at the baby home with Tsion....as we walked up the stairs she greeted us! She was walking down the hallway all on her own. It was a chaotic meeting and entire day because the older boys were home from school and were quite excited. Garrett got very overwhelmed by them but still did great with Tsion.

Today is Easter here and last night there were celebrations all through the night - singing, parades, prayers blasted over the loud speakers throughout the city, etc. We were all up from about 11pm-4:30am and then up again at 5am.

We called Tegist (the orphanage director) and changed our plans for today (Sunday) so that we could nap this afternoon. She offered to bring Tsion to the Guest Home we are staying at along with a caregiver so we could still spend some time with her (and allow Garrett to nap/not be overwhelmed by the big boys).

When they arrived today Tsion was sleeping. We had a chance to ask lots of questions about her schedule, preferences, etc. When she woke up, she was very overwhelmed and confused as to where she was. Poor little girl... Eventually the caregivers left the room and Kenny and I spent about 1 1/2 hours with her. She was extremely shy and probably scared - SO not like the little girl I met in January. Stranger danger/separation anxiety has definitely kicked in for her.

Tomorrow we plan to spend the bulk of the day at the baby home with Tsion in her own environment. Please pray she opens up and feels more relaxed with us. We really want this process to be as smooth as possible for her. It is breaking our hearts to see her scared. As far as food goes, we are loving the pasta and pizza! Garrett loves the strawberry/banana smoothies they make here, too. Luckily, we are all in good health (thanks to probiotics and preventative Pepto!).

All for now.... Jill

Easter Festivities So Far...

This past week we have been busy, busy, busy getting ready for our trip to Ethiopia but took some time to participate in some of our yearly Easter traditions. Blogger is frustrating me so much tonight, so here is a brief recap in paragraph form instead of under the pictures: Garrett and his buddy, Anthony, at our neighborhood egg hunt, Garrett at M's egg hunt, dyeing eggs, a fun egg hunt at a grandparent's home and leaving out our key and carrots for the Bunny!

Celebrating Christmas: Round Two-ish

The second day of celebrating Christmas 2008 entailed our annual family trip to the Gaylord to see Santa and all of the fun decorations/trains AND then celebrating with Kenny's extended family. I did a decent job of photographing the first part of the day but TOTALLY forgot to whip out my camera for the second. Here is the first half of the day in pictures:

We got in line early that morning before the doors opened near Santa's chair, and while we were waiting in line Santa snuck up behind us! Garrett (who is really not a shy or quiet child) got VERY quiet and even hid behind Kenny's legs. After Santa moved on to the next family, Garrett got giddy and his eyes lit up with excitement. He proceeded to tell us all about Santa!

I wish I had a digital picture of the actual "Seeing Santa" visit because it was even more priceless. No, I do not have a scanner. Yes, I am behind the technology of 2009. Yes, I hope to get one soon. Anywho, there were these LARGE decorative boxes on each side of Santa's chair and Garrett sat down on the edge opposite of Santa to chat with him. The picture is just priceless!!

This is Garrett's annual picture in the poinsettias. You can see from past pictures that he has grown, grown, grown. Tear.

Our little family in a sleigh....


A little candy cane action..

And, if you remember from various posts, Garrett is a big fan of benches...not sure why but here he is checkin' one out! I love that he never disappoints!

Celebrating Christmas: Round One

Today we celebrated our first round of Christmas with Brandon, Jess and Jordyn! We had so much fun hanging out, eating pizza, opening gifts, decorating gingerbread men cookies and letting the kiddos play! Here are some pictures from our time together:

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Happy Thanksgiving! I cannot believe that this holiday is already here....somehow this year has flown by! We are up, showered, breakfast eaten, parade being watched and so on before we are off to my dad's house to celebrate round 1 of 3 of Thanksgiving meals with family. But, before we go, I just wanted to post a little something on the thoughts/things rambling in my head and home today:

Garrett made this "Thankful Tree" over the past week or so. It started out with a brown tree base/branches and the leaves (hand prints) on top but as the week progressed he saw it fit that the leaves should fall down the tree just like they do in real life. Humph. Always wanting things just right. No idea where he gets that from. I digress. Some of the things Garrett has been most thankful for are (all in his words):

carrots
new pictures of Ellie
that God loves me
vitamins
chairs to sit on and eat our food
swings in our garage
that we have a trash can to put our trash in
that we have food to eat
a refrigerator to keep things cold

I have my own list of things I am especially grateful for this year and will list those in this book instead of blogging about them. At the top of my list, though, is my husband, son and future daughter. I am blessed beyond measure by the three of them even though not all of them are here today.

And speaking of the little cutie that's not here today but rather in Africa, I am hoping that she is feeling full of love, food and all things she needs! And, to help my heart feel a little bit closer to her on this day, we sent over a Thanksgiving care package (great idea from some friends) with some turkey pajamas, a small toy and a little fall sweater dress....take a look:

I am looking forward to celebrating today (and the next three days) with those I love and hope you are, too! Happy Thanksgiving!

All things pumpkin....

Today has been all things "pumpkin" at our house! Garrett and I have carved 3 pumpkins. And by saying "Garrett and I" that means that I was really the only one to get out the goop and carve. Garrett started too but decided the goop was just too much for his little hands to take on. So, he gladly gave me directions and I was just fine with that. Oh, and he rolled each pumpkin into the house (literally) so that I wouldn't have to carry them. Such a gentlemen!


I think the cutest thing I will remember about this Halloween season is the "car-vender". When we purchased our pumpkins Garrett saw a little package that had carving tools in them. One was a knife thingy and the other was what Garrett is holding in the above picture. He calls it his "carvender" and WE. LOVE. IT.

And because Garrett just couldn't stand the thought of not carving or giving attention to the little pumpkins and because I wasn't up for trying to carve them, too, we decided to paint them. G-man was thrilled!

Today has started off on a good foot....now if only I can get the mister to nap so we can enjoy some festivities tonight!

Trick or Treating at Daddy's Office

Kenny works for a consulting company so he is not technically at his company office each day but rather a "client" site. He has been at the same client site for the past 2 3/4 years and each year they host a Halloween trick-or-treating for the kids! Today was the day and Garrett was THRILLED to be able to wear his costume again! He and Daddy gathered lots of treats and had so much fun!

Gathering Treats

Softball & Sneak Peak of Halloween

Today Garrett and I (finally) went to see my best buddy's little girl, Prestyn play softball!! She's a rock star in her hot pink helmet and with her pink bat! Great job today, Prestyn!!


And this evening the little man and I had our second date of the day at one of his best buddies (well, okay, his momma is one of my great buddies, too) Halloween Party! When we asked Garrett in September what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he boldly told us "A PUMPKIN!". We tried to remind him that he'd already been a pumpkin as an infant and he might think about choosing something new. But NOOOO. Mister insisted on being a pumpkin! And, so, here is a sneak peak of the Halloween Hottie:

Look carefully at this picture (maybe click on it to enlarge)....Garrett is making such a funny face!

Pumpkin and Cowboy (aka: Anthony)

Happy 4th, Ya'll!

A Peek Inside Memorial Day Weekend Thus Far...

The block we live on in our neighborhood had a party last night - complete with lots of yummy food and a bounce house for the kiddos! Garrett had a blast bouncing, running freely in the street (we had it blocked off & with a city permit - don't worry, he was safe), riding bikes, snagging chip after chip and filling up as many cups as he wanted with "orange" drink. It was a great night to meet new neighbors and hang out with the ones we've grown to love.

Garrett & Anthony (his little buddy) roaming the streets

Anthony (with G's glasses) and Garrett (on A's bike)

Garrett LOVED him some bike riding....and I LOVE this crinkle nose grin!

The boys playing their very own version of an oh-so-fun game: take-off-Garrett's-crocs-and-throw-them-up-in-the-air .... over-and-over-again.

And, this final picture is of G-man wearing the "hat" he made at church today. We are still not sure how it tied into his lesson, but, regardless he is SUPER proud of his creation. He even wore it out to lunch.

More to come....