SUMMER FUN

We are having a blast so far this summer. Lots of swimming, basketball camp, cheerleading camp, football camp, vacation Bible school, playing with neighbors. Kolton takes it all in stride. He is doing so well, it's AMAZING! He has been home 6 weeks and understands nearly everything we say. He can also get us to understand him most of the time as well. Both Karson and Kolton learned to ride a two-wheeled bike on Friday night. Kolton has had several crashes, but Mr. Caution (aka Karson) hasn't had any yet. Also Friday night, Kolton caught his first firefly! He was in awe! That is such an amazing thing to experience through the eyes of a child for the first time.

Slip-n-sliding at the neighbor's house - making the slide slicker with dish soap

Last day of school....Karaline, Karson, and Kolton will be homeschooled next year. We are SO excited, but our last day at school was so bittersweet. We love our school and all the wonderful people there.

Karaline and her friend (and our neighbor) on the last day of 3rd grade Karson, Kolton, and their friend (and our neighbor) on the last day of Kindergarten.

Our spring soccer season is over too. John coached Karaline's team to 2nd place in tournaments and Kollin & Karly's team to tournament champs! It was so much fun! Here are the kids at the soccer park for Karaline's game.

My brother-in-law with a little stinker on his back :)

The first 3 or 4 weeks home, this is about all the kids did (and yes Karson has twine tied around his waist...don't ask me why. Maybe the Friar Tuck look is back?)

It quickly turns into this (keep in mind this is during a soccer game that is going on just a few feet from them wrestling on the ground)

Which leads mommy to do this (time out). lol
Of course it doesn't last long and they get out of timeout and have their smiles back too. Of course my brother-in-law wastes no time getting them all riled up as soon as they are out of timeout.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today my sweet girl turns 12 years old (at 10:46am actually ha ha). It's hard to believe. I know I say that every time one of the kids have a birthday, but seriously where does the time go???

Yesterday we spent the afternoon before soccer enjoying the sunshine. It has rained here nonstop for weeks....good for our drought, but bad for our playtime. :)
Karaline, my nature girl

It doesn't take sweet Kemry long to wilt in the humidity. lol She sweats like nothing else! She is beautiful even sweaty. :)

Karson is adjusting as well as expected to Kolton, but he is still

having the hardest time of all adjusting to our newest addition. :) In the trees.....lol

Kolton playing soccer with anyone willing to kick it with him. He puts his soccer cleats and pads on first thing in the morning. Ihad to hide all the soccer socks because he was wearing them all and the kids wouldn't have any clean for games. Now he just raids mommy and daddy's drawers for regular socks.

Karaline Olivia

Kolton wrote his name on the driveway. He can spell it verbally too - K, O, one, cross, O, N. LOL

I'm so sad that my sweet Kollin is on a field trip with his school until Friday night. :( Seriously, don't these teachers know that's FAR too long for mommies to be away from their kids, even if they are 13? lol

"the boys"

All the kindergarten boys - our neighbor, Kolton, and Karson. They are all the same age. Kolton is actually smaller than Karson but is closer to the camera here.

Even though they haven't gotten along very well lately (they have oil and water personalities), they sure look sweet here don't they? lol

Kemry lost a shoe and all the boys came running to her rescue! ha ha It was so sweet!

Kolton pushing his sister

Karaline - my tree hugger....for REAL

Who wouldn't melt with that smile and those eyes?

Kemry, aka Miss Class! lol She had to stick her hot dog in her mouth so she could focus on putting her shoes on the wrong feet. LOL

Mr. Handsome

Kemry cracks me up...she is so funny.

Don't ask me why he is making this crazy face...lol. Or eating a burrito outside in the yard.

Those lashes...it's so unfair.

We're home!!!!!! We have had some major computer/internet problems since arriving home so I apologize for taking so long to update. Not to mention we brought home a little guy during the busiest part of our school year who likes to be on the move ALL the time. :)

I cannot even stress how AMAZING this little guy is and how wonderful it feels to have everyone under one roof now. His adjustment, at least so far, has been incredibly smooth. It's like he has done this before and is a professional already! ;) Bonding is going really well. The trip was exhausting but not bad. Neither Tara nor I got sick or jet lagged. That's a success in itself! :) Emirates was like flying on a cruiseliner!!!!!!!!!!! It was AMAZING!!!! I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it. They fed us NONSTOP and all the food was delicious. I have craved it since we got home. Can you believe that? Craving airplane food??? lol Nuts I know. ;) We had an overnight flight to Dubai and then an overnight layover (they put us up in a hotel for free). We were able to shower and feel well rested for our 4hr flight to Ethiopia.


We had too much luggage for the trunk of the cab. HA HA I have been in gocarts bigger than the taxis there. ha ha Cabs are unbelievably cheap there. We never paid more than $16 and that was for an entire day of shopping.

Next stop: The orphanage of the cutest little guy in all of Africa! ;P We arrived at the orphanage and were waiting in the director's office for a while (the children were napping). I saw litle heads peeping out at us. They must have told Behailu we were there (they all excite in this kind of thing) because next thing I knew, this GORGEOUS little boy sneaked in beside me and just stood there beside me until I noticed him. ;) What a thrill to see it was Behailu!!!!!!!
He had to show me his bed. He was so proud of it.As soon as we were back at the guest house, Behailu took his stickers and picked off all the red hearts and put them on my arm. I fell in love, hook, line, & sinker!We stayed at Addis Guest House (www.AddisGuestHouse.com). We HIGHLY recommend them. Everyone there was WONDERFUL. Every little need we had, they accomodated. They had a great little area for Behailu to play soccer and the best staff ever for him to play with. They played with him for hours. They translated for us when he was feeling sad (or naughty). They even got a taxi to go out and get whatever food our hearts desired. They have suites - living room, bedroom, spacious hall, and a private bath. Each room has it's own dial up internet access but you must stay on the first two floors for that. We were originally on the 4th floor and it didn't have internet. They moved us without a problem.

These are some of the amazing folks at the Addis Guest House! Im so glad they were all working the day we left so we could say goodbye. The guy above with Behailu was the sweet young man who played soccer with B for hours on end.

The nice courtyard where B could play soccer. Those plants took quite the beating.

We drank a LOT of these. ;) I think B was drinking a lot of them behind my back too. Apparently he knew that was naughty and would take a big swig of it when I wasn't looking. Doesn't he realize mommy is a professional at sneaky kids??? ;)

Behailu's first night no longer an orphan. ;) He took full advantage of the jelly beans and remote control.

Mommy is CRAZY about her little guy!

Sweetest story about this day. The first day or two, Behailu hoarded food and toys really bad. He just didn't realize they wouldn't be taken away and that they were available forever. Well we didn't say much about it because we knew the reason behind it. The 2nd day we returned to his orphanage and notice he had been hiding food (cereal bars) to sneak to his friends at the orphanage. He wasn't just hiding them because he didn't know he would have food tomorrow but he was hiding them because he wasn't sure his friends would have food tomorrow. SO PRECIOUS!

Ethiopia was AMAZING! The poorest of poor was safe, trustworthy, and kind. No one seemed bitter of their circumstances. Everyone loves everyone. There was a car wash, and goat market in front of our guest house. We watched them work their fingers to the bone during the day. It was also considered a "nice neighborhood" at night because everyone would go to their homes that to Americans looked like scrap pieces of trash found around the city. These people are so grateful for everything they have. EVERYONE should experience this at some point in their lives. We are so spoiled as Americans. We should be able to live happily with much less.

Our view from our window.

We were invited to our facilitator's home for a traditional meal and coffee ceremony. HEAVEN!!!!!! the food was UNBELIEVABLY amazing! The coffee....well we drank a TON of coffee this week. There's nothing like it. It's SO GOOD! I don't even like coffee!!! Ethiopian coffee is so much better than American coffee. :) The ceremony is so interesting to watch. This was our facilitator's wife, Hana, and Behailu. Hana runs Sele Enat, another orphanage. That orphanage was such a wonderful place to be. So full of love and happiness even if they live on very little.

This was the day we were shopping (notice B was big on dressing himself). It choked me up to see this because I realized how easily B could have become this boy. A homeless street kid having to shine shoes just to eat (several didn't even have this much and had to beg for money for food). God chose B for our family and I am SOOOOOO grateful he didn't end up here. It's almost too much to even think about. :(
On our way to the airport to go HOME!!!!!!!! There's no place like home. ;)

We got bumped to business class on the first leg on the way home. WOW is all I can say. ;) (B is pouting here)
Another step closer to DADDY and my other sweet babies! We kept telling B, "THREE Aeroplans.....DADDY!" lol

How cute is my little luggage rider?

at JFK waiting on our last flight...felt like forever!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DADDY AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy to see John and Kemry (the other kids stayed home to decorate the house for a party), but I don't think anyone was as excited as Behailu to get his daddy FINALLY! :) He made a mad dash to him, jumped in his arms, and gave him a big hug and kiss. Kemry was like, "Wait a minute! You are only supposed to be in pictures and this is my daddy too!" lol

So here I am.....36hrs of straight travel with no shower and only 2 hrs of sleep. Beautiful I say.

It's like he was ALWAYS her big brother....he knew just what to do.

The next morning we packed picnic lunches and headed to the soccer park as a family. He's a soccer STAR. My other kids loved watching his fancy moves.

BROTHERS......Behailu fits right in! It's so odd because it's like he has always been here. His adjustment is UNBELIVABLE! He is doing so well. Kemry is a little bit jealous and Karson loves him but he is sometimes too rough for Karson (who is my gentle sensitive boy lol), but the transition is better than I could have ever imagined.

Meeting Great-Grandma (Mammaw) for the first time.:)

He does this every second he can be outside...he obsessed with mastering the bicycle! this is pappaw ford (my dad) helping him.

Everyone loves Behailu so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is doing so well and our family is adjusting beautifully. We are so so so grateful God chose us to be his forever family. GOD IS SO GOOD!

p.s. we met some AMAZING friends on the way to Ethiopia in NYC (Natalie and Sheri with her gorgeous children) and some AMAZING friends on the way home in Charlotte (Hannah and her gorgeous family). I will post more about them later. They were too special to brush over. :) Also, TARA is the PERFECT travel companion!!!!!!! I couldn't have taken a better person with me. She was like the perfect lifesaver at all times. I cannot repay her enough!

It's OFFICIAL

(wait, I think I have said that at least once already haha)

WE TRAVEL THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Behailu passed his TB test! I will leave here at 3am to get to Charlotte airport by 7:30am. My flight leaves at 9:30am arriving at JFK at 11:30am where I meet up with my traveling buddy, Tara! :) We get to hang out with two awesome Guat adoptive moms (Sheri, Curtis' mom & Natalie, Arianna's mom) in NYC all day. Our flight leaves (Emirates) at 11:30 pm. We land in Dubai at 7:30pm on Sunday (Dubai time), stay overnight in the airport hotel there, and leave Dubai at 8:25am landing in Ethiopia at 11:30am on Monday (which will be our 6:30pm EST). CRAZY HUH???? :)

We leave Ethiopia at 7:30pm Friday night the 24th (our 2:30am Sat the 25th), arrive in NYC at 7:30am on Saturday, and I arrive back in Charlotte at 7:30pm.

Blogger is banned in Ethiopia, so I won't be able to blog photos. Their internet is on and off and dial up at best. I am going to try to upload updates to my blog through my yahoo account (which I hear works a little better) and post on facebook if that is possible. If nothing else works, I'll call John and ask him to post for us. :)

I wanted to post a few pictures from Easter though. I have been so consumed with finishing this adoption, I haven't been posting on my other cuties as much.

Wednesday night our coordinator called to say they had a bad experience with the embassy that day with another family and wanted to hold our travel off until May. My friend, Tara, cannot go with me in May and there are SO many things going on that week here that would make it difficult to travel. Not to mention John has rearranged his work schedule twice already and in this job market, it isn't very good to leave a bad taste in employer's mouths.



Beginning April 1, the US Embassy in Ethiopia began imposing a new rule for all children over two. Before they can get a US Visa to travel home, they have to pass a TB test (all children receive a chest xray before referral as part of the medical exam which Behailu had and passed back in June). If they fail the 2 day skin test, they get a chest xray. If it is clear, they are good to go. If it isn't clear they send a sputum test off to a lab and it can take up to 8 weeks to get the results back. If that shows active TB, they have to stay in Ethiopia and receive treatment for 6 months before coming home. While I agree with imposing regulations, I disagree with their timing. The children need to be tested in the beginning of the process, not at the very end. That way a child isn't sitting in an orphanage 6 months longer than necessary.



The issue with our travel is Behailu doesn't go for his skin test until Monday. The embassy doesn't allow them to be tested before their birth certificate and passport are obtained which takes a while. He is the first with our agency to go through this new requirement. If he is tested on Monday, we won't know until Wednesday if our travel dates are still April 18-25. If they cannot get it all finished by then, our travel dates will once again be May 2-9. Everything has to go absolutely perfect for it to be finished in time. If they have power outages which are common, it will delay things. If he fails the skin test (which is common because most children have had the TB vaccine which causes a lot of false positive skin tests) and needs a chest xray, it could delay things especially if the xray cannot be done the same day for whatever reason. We are praying only for God's will. We know whatever happens is what God has already written for us. It's very difficult being "on hold" until 2-3 days before we fly out though. We have already bought our domestic flights which we can change if need be, but we are holding off on the international flights. Just one more hoop to jump through on our journey to bring Kolton Behailu home. All totally worth it! Here are some new pictures of him we received from a wonderful Canadian family today.

Ok....REAL travel dates are

APRIL 18 - 25!!!

I cannot believe I leave in 11 days!!! My wonderful friend, Tara, is going with me. She is such a great person to go with me. Her husband is also pretty amazing to take off work a week to stay home with their kids so she can go!

TODAY IS KARSON'S 6th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!!!!!!

Adoption News - Apparently they still may get our date set for April 22 (travel April 18-25). We won't know until Monday or Tuesday for sure which will give us 10-11 days until travel if it's April 22. Ahhhh I am still having a hard time deciding where to stay. Here are my choices:

The Dimitri Hotel - This place is great that I hear it's very clean, friendly, and the food is great, but it has no outside place for Behailu to play. It's a bit more expensive than the other places but it's a hotel instead of a guest house.

Yeka Guest House - Great yard, but I don't know a lot more about it.

Addis Guest House - No yard, but seems very nice otherwise. We don't know anyone personally who has stayed here.



Please be praying for us as so much is still uncertain. I still may have to travel alone as everyone who is willing to go with me is having passport issues that cannot be worked out quickly. A good friend who recently moved away reminded me that perhaps God wants me to travel alone so He can be the one beside me. :) That is such a fantastic thought. Then I realize I get lost in my own town...often. HA HA

On a FANTASTIC NOTE, the 7th grade middle school band which Kollin plays percussion in got a PERFECT SCORE today in competition! They will be traveling to state competitions. We were very proud of them today. They sounded amazing!

Kollin is furthest to the left

Kollin is 2nd from the left.