YUP, We're still here and havin' fun!

Waterpark Paso Robles, CA

Buddies


Butterfly Beach, CA

Berries!!!



South Fork American River, CA



SPRAY GROUND- I love this place. It's so Pacific "North Westy". I had the pleasure of meeting up with a dear friend from California who is also an Ethiopian adoptive mom. We got to see her sweet Mia and meet her latest edition Samuel.








This picture of Kiera is soooo...Kiera. This is how she spends most of her day. I know it's a hard life but you know, someone has to do it!





And this one of Elias...well he's just plain cute.

PICTURE THIS...IF YOU DARE.

It was a Friday morning. I had already worked 4 nights and was heading in for a 5th of the week. I was greasy. I was gross. And I was having a first class MELTDOWN. It was ugly cry sobbing.

I do believe the best quote during my rampage was, "You know what babe(Rob)? There's only a couple of things that I'm good at. One, I'm really good at sitting on my butt and two, I'm really great at eating chocolate! And that's it! I'm just awful at anything else!!!" And then the crying continued. I went on and on about how my life is so out of control, how our house is a total pigsty. How I'm really not that great of a mother. How I'm getting chunky. How I don't have any discipline whatsoever. It went on forever. I couldn't stop crying. And my dear sweet husband just hugged me.

It was amazingly pathetic, but I'm pretty sure some of you out there might have had this happen to them as well. Sometimes it's all too much. And you know what else I do when I feel this way? I tell myself what a pathetic pile of doo-doo I am because I AM NOT STARVING TO DEATH. I AM NOT UNDER A PILE OF RUBBLE IN HAITI. I HAVE NOT BEEN SWEPT AWAY BY A TSUNAMI. I HAVE NOT LOST A CHILD TO A SEXUAL PREDATOR.

And that is when the true ugly soul in me pops out. I am sitting in a warm house with loved ones. I have a fridge (or two) stocked with food. Yet, I am crying like it's the end of the world.

Fast forward about 30 minutes. I am still crying. It has slowed to a medium sniffle but yes, I can't stop crying. My husband in desperation has left for Starbucks hoping maybe a latte will stop the flow. I mean seriously, after awhile, what's a guy to do?

It's at this point that this sweet almost 2 year old Ethiopian boy climbs up on to the couch. Mind you, I am still in a fetal position. My sweet boy, crawls up to me, and wedges himself into my chest. This dear sweet child takes his hand and pats me on the shoulder and whispers "oh mommy". And while he just pats me and rubs me it occurs to me, maybe in all my faults and ugliness; I have done something right.

MOCK ME IF YOU MUST....

We went here on vacation last week!!!
Yes, I am one of those. I love the whole Twilight thing and I can't really tell you why. But I was tickled to cruise up this way and was teased somewhat relentlessly by some people I know. I can take it. I really don't mind.

I got lots of photo ops like this...

and this

and then even this

and then some silliness such as this

But in all honesty, I really wanted to go to the Olympic Peninsula because this place I heard was really spectacular. It was truly the most beautiful place I have ever been. It should be on your list of things to do before you die. It's crazy.











I love this picture because I like to think we're a pretty fun family and I love seeing that come out in Elias. He's quite the ham. And he's also quite the trouble maker as well. We had one dinner on this trip end in disaster thanks to him. The dude loves his daily 3 hour nap (as do his parents!). He had missed out on this daily ritual for two days and boy did we pay for it. Ugghh. In the form of shrieking that was ear popping and being walloped in the face by my sweet little thing. That guy can pack a punch and the hit was not received well by his dear mother. It's hard to believe that the same guy can look like this...



We all felt better after a good night sleep so we spent the afternoon soaking at Sol Duc Hot Mineral Springs. It was so relaxing, even Elias behaved. And that's saying something!

A Funny Thing Happened....

So, this is the product that I use for Elias' hair. I love it. It is soft, smells good, easy to use and it keeps my man looking his best. :) I found it on a fluke while shopping Wal-mart's black hair care aisle. Yes, it's true. I'm guilty of occasionally walking through Wal-mart's lovely doors. Politics of shopping aside, I love this stuff! So I noticed that it was time to stock up on some more and I trotted down to Renton to find a Wal-mart. So here's the deal. Renton is waaaaay more racially diverse then where we live which makes me sad. I really want to make sure Elias is exposed to lots of people with brown skin. Renton is the place to be for that and as it happens, Wal-mart is the place for that too. So, I'm in the special hair care aisle and I'm looking for his special stuff. I find it, I put it in the cart. Meanwhile, I am the only white person in the aisle. I am quickly joined by 3 women who have beautiful brown skin. They want to know what I use on Elias' hair. I kid you not. 2 minutes later, Miss. Whitey-White moi is giving hair care advice. I was asked about the product. I was asked to demonstrate how I put it in Elias' hair. They acted as if I were the expert in black hair care. He of course, being an enormous flirt was lapping up the attention like a puppy. It was one of the most surreal moments since Elias came home. I think what I loved about it, was this. The inclusion. I felt like I was part of their group. They made me feel like I was part of their group. Thank you ladies for making my day!!!

THANKFUL FOR NORMALCY.

Do you ever find yourself paraphrasing your life in blog posts? I will have a certain thought or story and think to myself, "Gosh, I should really share that!". But alas, whenever I actually sit down at the computer to do something rather than blogstalk and facebook; all intelligent thoughts vanish. Completely. So at least I will leave you with some pictures. We are busy creating lives here and saying over and over again, "We will never move again". Famous last words of course. Thinking back over the last couple of years I feel like we have never truly rested. I still can't believe we went through the adoption process and then moved out of state, twice. So, I am feeling thankful for rest, stable jobs, a loving church and a healthy family!


Perfect day to be out on a boat!


Checking out the sights on the way home.


With Opa and Oma on the ferry boat ride to Bainbridge Island.


Plain cuteness. First day of Preschool.


A visit with Gami at Pine Lake Park.


Huskies vs. Cal. High of 32. We were cold.







Dinner out to "Lalibela" to celebrate 1 year home. I love Ethiopian food. It makes my heart flutter thinking about it. This dear Ethiopian man at the restaurant explained that Elias'original name didn't just mean "example", it meant Godly example. I loved that. I felt so thankful that he took the time to explain the difference.


This photo requires an explanation. Most years we send out a spoof Christmas card, this year we were a grunge band. It was fun. I'm not sure if other people find it funny but it's probably my most favorite tradition.


Coffee with Daddy in the morning. The perfect start.

I will try and be more faithful with posting. Then maybe I might be able to spill out some those "awesome" thoughts and stories I have:) Ha!