We are blessed!

I haven't been too good about blogging lately so here is a quick update.  Thanksgiving was great!  We went to my brother and sister in laws house and they had a guest from Ethiopia.  He and his wife were so nice and they made Ethiopian food and brought it for the boys-injera and doro wat!  They were so excited it was so fun to watch them enjoy this meal!  This was a true treat for them!  They loved speaking Amharic to him and I think it was comforting being around someone from their country!  Truly a blessing for the boys!

It was so nice having some time off from work and school-we took the boys on their first camping trip!  We take our boat to an island in the intercoastal and camp there.  Besides the mosquito bites-the boys had so much fun! We went with another family-the kids played well together-they had a blast fishing, swimming, playing, etc...  Joseph finally got his cast off so he enjoyed being able to do all these things too!  I learned a lot about camping with kids (all new to us!!)-bring LOTS of clothes-you never seem to have enough!  It was pretty cold too (for Florida)!  We can't wait to do it again!!

We have some good news on Danny and Yordanos-we are waiting for a court date for Danny-should have it in a week or two and Yordanos' paperwork is just about done an then they will file for a court date for her-probably next week!  In 2 days-it will be 2 years we have been waiting-I can't believe it has been that long.  We just want to have them home with us and hopefully it won't be much longer now! 

We truly are blessed....here are a few pics!

 

2 months in the Country!!!!

Wow-I can't believe it-yesterday was 2 months that the boys have been in America-feels like much longer!!! They have done so much and learned and grown so much too!  Where does the time go??  It really makes you keep things into perspective when you think-gosh it has ONLY been 2 months-they have come so far!  Sometimes our expectations are so high that we forget these little guys (not so little anymore!!) were taken away from everything they'd ever known-food, culture, people,country, etc... and placed with a family they barely knew.  They really are doing great considering all of these factors! 

Last weekend we took them to Orlando to an Ethiopian restaurant-it was amazing!!  Great food and the nicest owners-they spent time with the boys speaking Amharic-the boys really enjoyed it!   The boys said it was GREAT injera-that is a HUGE compliment!!! We even brought some home and the owner told us we can freeze it-we did and it wasn't bad a few days later!  The boys really wanted these wrist and headbands with the Etiopian colors-I will post a  picture-it is really cute!  I love it how they are so in tune with their culture-we hope they never forget where they came from and always have a piece of Ethiopia in their heart.  After lunch, we took the miniature golfing and then we went to a gathering of families who are in the process or who have adopted from Ethiopia-that was nice to meet different people.  Most of the kids were younger, but the boys enjoyed it!  Hopefully we can find a few kids from Ethiopia who are in their age range-still searching!!!

This week we baked cookies-that was a riot!  We ate more of the batter than we had for cookies-just kidding-but they really enjoyed it!  Alex couldn't believe how the cookies got so BIG in the oven!  It is so much fun watching all of thee "FIRSTS" through their eyes!  They really want to see snow so we are contemplating going up to NY after Christmas.  Then we could also see our family and they can all spent time with them!  We'll see-hopefully it will all work out.  I get tired just thinking about a trip like that-but I know it will be totally worth it when we are there! 

Tonight I took Alex to "Movies in the Park"-a huge screen outside where all the kids and parents watched Monsters and Aliens!  The weather was perfect-just needed a little blanket (yes-even in Florida!!)!  It was the first time our town did it-huge success and a lot of fun for the kid!  Joseph didn't want to go so he went with dad to baseball!    Sometimes it is good for the kids to get quality time alone with each parent-we are learning that quickly!  Life is good.....

Hoping to hear good news on Danny and Yordanos soon-Danny's paperwork is all done and Yordanos is close if not already done.  Just waiting for them to be filed for a new court date-it is 2 years this month we have been witing for them to come home.  Makes me sad...but we will wait as long as it takes-they are our kids. 

Here are a few pics of the boys-more later!  Take a look at th last picture of Alex on his "man-made contraption"!! 

Quick Update

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted!  Everyone has been asking "How was Halloween for the boys?"  We did a lot of prepping ahead about Haloween-books, pics, internet, etc... so they were pretty prepared!  Joseph dressed up as a vampire-he is going through this vampire stage right now-wants to watch vampire movies and find out abut them so the costume was very fitting.  Alex was a storm trooper-we started out with the costume and that didn't last very long-I think he trick or treated in is clothes, face make-up and of course all of the guns and swords!! We went trick or treating in a friends neighborhood and there were TONS of kids and and stuff going on so they got a good taste of Haloween!  Alex loved going to the houses, Joseph got a little bored-but he's 14-not too surprising!  Alex sorted out his candy in catgories-right up his alley as a kid who likes everything to have a spot/place.  Joseph wanted to send his candy to Ethioia to his friend in the Faith/Hope orphanage-so sweet!   The boys are very motivated by money so we decided ahead of time that we would participate in our dentist's program where they pay you $1.00 for every pound of candy and then tey send it to the soldiers.  We went on Sunday and turned in candy-The boys really ejoyed this and didn't complain at all.  They also enjoyed carving jack-o-lanterns-didn't like the pumpkin seeds too much or the pumpkin smell! 

Overall, things are going very well.  School is great-they are learning so much. Joseph gets his cast off in2 weeks-YAY!!  They can swim again and ride bikes-Woo Hoo!!!  Alex is doing a lot better with following directions and boundaries-but he is definitely a give him an inch and he wants a foot kid!! 

We are heading to Orlando today to go to an Ethiopian restaurant and to a gathering of families who adopted children from Ethiopia!  Should be a blast-we are all looking forward to it!!  Can't wait to see them interact with ther children from Ethiopia!!  They both stll speak Amharic all the time so we are so happy about that-we want them to keep their langauge!  Will post about it this eek-at least try to!

Eoy the pics!!  More later....