New Ride!

I have a new car! We tend drive our cars til they are dead so it was kind of fun!

At the dealership!

Daddy's girl

First Snow!

Well the girls finally got to see a big snow fall! Some of us liked it better than others!

Beads

What else is there do on a snowy day but put beads in our hair!

My Future Stylist!

It was been a very busy few weeks. The girls got to meet Auntie Christa and Uncle Dave from Scotland and Uncle Mattie and Auntie Tamara and our Cousins Joseph and Jacob from Michigan. We love you guys! We were in a cabin in Nisswa, MN. It was a little rough on the girls at first but they quickly got use to all the attention and then loved very minute. It was so neat to see our families fall in love with our 2 beautiful girls as much as we have. We truly are blessed with 4 great kids and families and friends that have been so supportive.

I was searching through all the pictures finding the best ones to post. Sorry, Travis but I couldn't resist. That's what Uncles are for, to practice doing hair

Christa and Dave were here for about 10 days. After they left I had actually start thinking about going back to work, which I did on Monday. I was really hard. We never did the daycare thing with Logan and Dylan so that is new for us. Our Neighbor has a daycare, and is really sweet. So over we went at 6:45 Monday morning. The girls were fine. They did well all week. Me, not so much and Bob wasn't thrilled either. But I guess we need to make the best of it.

On the 25th we will be home 3 months and think back to those first few weeks and how far we all have all come. I am truly amazed.

Dress up!

These were so cute I had to post them! We were looking at pictures of Ethiopia and the girls wanted to put their Ethiopian dresses on. Somehow Junie and Murphy had to get dressed up too!

2 months!

We have been home for 2 months now. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, the time just seems to fly by. We have taken the girls to meet extended family, great grandparents, aunts and other friends. They are getting more social and do well in new situations anymore.

We had our first sleepover friend. Bob's niece Anna who is 5 came and spent the night. It was the first time they had met so they were all a little shy at first but after a little while they got along really well.

We got family portraits done at the park by our house. I haven't seen the pictures yet but it went well. The girls got their ears pierced a couple weeks ago. They did really well. They love them! They keep wanting their hair done and headbands are not cutting it anymore. The pictures are of Birtukan with her hair in little puffs. I think I did a pretty good job for my first attempt at girl hair.

The girls started speaking to each other in English now, which is bittersweet for me. They really like to talk on the phone, play with babies and dance. They have a play kitchen but I guess I need to cook more because most of the time they make lotion. I made a homemade lotion for their skin.

We are all ready for winter with snowpants, hats, mittens, and boots. Pretty soon they will be Minnesota girls!

It's been a month

We finally got a family picture. Tuesday the girls have been home 1 month! It seems al ot longer. I can imagine them not being here now.

We went to the International Adoption Clinic Yesterday. They were poked and prodded, We even had to do a stool sample! The girls did well. They felt they could possible be a bit older so when we go back in 6 months They will test their development again and get an xray of their wrist to determine their age. They also have heart murmurs that have to be looked at. Other than that they felt they are doing well.

This past week the girls have really opened up to interacting with other people. They are less clingy when we meet new people or are somewhere new. and they always give everyone their prettiest smiles.

Sleeping Beauties!

Ethiopian and American Girls

Here are some pictures of the girls in their Ethiopian dresses that we got from the good-bye ceremony at the care center. Our Social Worker came for our post placement on Monday. That night Birtukan told us "Birtukan, American girl. Netsanet, American girl." We told them they are Ethiopian and American girls.

When we leaving Ethiopia I felt really sad for Everything the girls were losing. They will not grow in Ethiopia. Even if they go back there one day it won't be the same. They are both Ethiopian and American girls. It is my hope for our girls that they appreciate both cultures.

The best smiles ever!

The girls have the best smiles! They light up their whole faces, the whole room for that matter!

We went to visit my work this morning. Netsanet seem a little off all morning. Which she was because she throw up all over self right after we left. Luckily I had Logan with. So I have a sick sleeping baby and a laptop on my lap. This gives me an opportunity to check up. Logan is entertaining Birtukan, which is helpful.

The girls are going well. They pet the dogs a little bit now. I think Murphy liked it better when they were scared of him as he not overly fond of little kids, but he tolerates them very well.

Birtukan and I were looking at some kids clothes websites and she has very definite ideas about what she likes and what she doesn't. She does not like jeans so I must dressed dreadful all the time!

At the Beach

Here are a few pictures from when we took the girls to the beach. They seemed to like the water. They did go out very far but would splash water on each other and laugh!

Everyday seems like they get more settled and more comfortable. We have had our share of tantrums but not anything to bad. The girls are getting use to Junie and Murphy. They still don't like the dogs but at least will tolerate them being in the same room. Logan and Dylan seem to enjoy having little sisters. They had their first day of school yesterday and Birtukan and Netsanet were so excited when they got home. Overall I would say the first week home went really well. We are starting to here more and more English. One of Birtukan's favorite words is Shoes, which she loves! She is a girly girl. They have the best smiles, they light up an entire room!

Back in the USA

Sorry this has taken awhile. with all the laundry, the jetlag, and most importantly the girls this the first chance I have gotten.

We got the girls full time last Wenesday night and they switched favorite parent Birtukan started prefering me and Netsanet Bob. That night Bob decided it would be fun to vomit nonstop for about 8 hours. Leaving me to take care of the girls by myself. I am pretty sure it was a flu because the next night Birtukan did the same thing. I felt more sorry for her. Luckly she was better that afternoon because we left that night.

The girls were awesome on the flight home. It took about 30 hours to get home so we all were exhausted. When we landed in Washington Birtukan said some amharic words and then "America" I think she was asking if we in America. It was really cute!

The girls are doing really well. The language is not an issue. Netsanet repeats what we say. Birtukan seeems to understand what we say but I she is really quite so I don't expect to hear alot of talking in English until she is really sure of herself. The only issues so far seem to be the dogs and food. They are terrified of Junie and Murphy but it seems a little better. We are trying to have them around the dogs in same doses. The girls are less then thrilled with American food. Our friends Ron and Kari were very sweet and brought us some Injera (Ethipiopan flat bread) to the airport. The last of that was eaten for lunch. Other than that the girls just like white bread, crackers and bananas. They are trying new foods now but most of the time it gets spit out.

They seem to being attaching to us and the boys. They are girly girls. They love Jamas (shoes) and pink! Anything girly. I was kind of surprised by this.

Arrived in Ethiopia!

Bob and Shonna have been having some problems with the laptop so unfortunately we have no new photos, but things at the embassy went well.

Here's a quick update via email recently received from Bob and Shonna....

"The girls are verywell behaved and everything is fine. We get the girls at 4 today,then we will keep them. They keep us on a short leash pretty much. We feel like children on a field trip. They drove us through themerkato (giant market) today, but we couldn't get out of the vans. It is too dangerous for us Farangi (white people). It is pretty amusing. That place was a real zoo. Food is fantastic. Last night we went andwatched Ethiopian Dancing on our field trip. Drank some honey wine, it seems to be stronger and less sweet than the stuff in the states. Birtukan is very attached to me. She understands that we are hers. It will be good when we don't have to drop them off to the care center starting tonight. Netsanet liked Shonna yesterday. That was animprovement over not liking either one of us. Be back in three days."

The Girls Birth Certificates Photos

Here are the most recent photos we have of the girls that came with their Ethiopian birth Certificates! We will be with our Sweet daughters in 4 days!

The Girls Room

9 days til we leave. The girls is room is all ready to go. It is pink with a Shabby Chic theme. We tried to keep it simple and calm. Which I am pretty sure we succeeded because everyone likes to hang out in there and read. It has been weird to have a pink flowery room in my house. What you don't see because I moved it for the picture is the girl's suitcase, but it has been packed for a month.

The Pugs

So it is less than two weeks to go. It seems like a dream or not really real or something. One thing we keep hear is that the kids from Ethiopia are terrified of dogs. In Ethiopia dogs are either pack animal or guard dogs either way definitely not pets. When we went the girls photo albums we included these photos hoping it will help a little bit. Otherwise my poor puggies are going to be so confused and not very happy. It is about time Junie learned the universe doesn't revolve around her! Otherwise we just counting down the days and trying to get some projects done.

It's official!

Well this is my first post! What a week! The girls are officially ours! It was touchy if we were going to travel as scheduled or not because of our Immigration paperwork, but a phone call to our Congresswomen's office took care of that. Our flight leaves Minneapolis on Thursday Aug. 16 and we have a night in DC and then arrive in Ethiopia Saturday Morning. We kept trying to imagine what it will be like to meet the girls but can't. Now come getting everthing ready to travel! 20 days to go!