Meet Ezra!

As most of you know, Nathan and I have been in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the past five days. I'll post more about our trip later, but I know you are all dying to see pictures of our little guy. We passed court on Tuesday and Ezra Thomas Bereket Roberts is officially our son! 

Would you join us in praying that everything can be processed as soon as possible so we can go pick up our son?! 

Safari

Stay tuned for more pictures of our safari if we can work on the blog while we are in Addis. Otherwise, we'll get them up next week when we are back home. Happy Thursday, Everybody! 

Sunday Picture

Picture of the Day

Amani ya Juu

After a breakfast of fresh mandazi, pineapple, cinnamon bread, and coffee, we headed over to Amani ya Juu to do some shopping. Jet lag is a horrible feeling and it really helps to get over it quickly if you can stay awake and not sleep until the next night. So, we try to help our guests by keeping them busy. ;) 

And Amani did not disappoint. The kids played in the kids room while Nana, Poppy, Auntie Beth, and Uncle Todd did some shopping. We had a great time looking at all their lovely things. 

I thought I would take a few more pictures of the shop this time since I wasn't really shopping for anything.

Dinah likes to sit in the bean bags and read books. 

Daddy was resting, too. :) After a late night and an early morning, I think we all are tired.

This is the kids room. They have such neat things for kids and they are constantly changing and redesigning things.

The room with kitchen things...place mats, aprons, hot pads, table runners, etc.

The quilt room. Wow, do they make some beautiful quilts! I always like to look at them, but never buy. 

Miss Maggie is one of our favorite reasons to go to Amani. Amani would not be the same without her! 

Auntie Beth and Uncle Todd. What a cute couple!

Miss Maggie had chai and John saw it and wanted some. So she went and got three cups of chai for our kiddos. Can you tell she likes chai?! :)

We are having a blast with everyone! Nathan took everybody to the hangar this afternoon while I stayed home with napping kiddos. Tonight we are headed out to get some Ethiopian food. Oh, boy! This should be fun. :) More to come later...

They're Here!

We are home safe and sound from the airport! Sorry there aren't any airport pics. We usually get there and have to stand around and wait. Well, tonight we couldn't find a parking spot. We drove around and around, got cursed at, and drove around some more. Nathan finally pulled up behind some cars, I hopped out, and ran in to see if I could see them. Spotted Poppy right off. So I called Nathan and told him I would come get the kids so they could greet them. I ran out to the van, got the kids, and we ran back in just in time to see them coming through customs and out the doors to us. They had good flights that were only about half full. Maybe we'll have that good fortune next time we fly! And arrived with all their bags! We got home before 10pm which wasn't too bad. The kids are all sleeping, Nana, Poppy, Uncle Todd, and Auntie Beth are all getting ready for bed. And we are just waiting for the bathroom to free up. The busyness starts tomorrow so stay tuned for more fun Kenyan adventures! 

Wordless Wednesday

Mama's Birthday

Last Wednesday was my 31st birthday. It was a nice normal day at home with the kids telling me "Happy Birthday" about 100 times each. The kids and I had a great day together. We even got to video skype with Mimi and Papa. We all got showered and dressed up because Daddy was taking us all out for dinner.

And then Daddy showed up with Birthday flowers for me! :) 

We went to LaRena which is a really good Italian restaurant. I think we've been here every year since we've been here for my birthday. The first year, Nana, Poppy, and Auntie Beth where here and watched the kids while Nathan and I went alone. Last year, our good friends Kurt, Angie, and Micah went with us, and this year, it was just our family.

We had a great time! The kids ate well and so did we! We came home and had a brownie before bed. Nathan tried to get the kids to sing Happy Birthday with him, but Ruth is the only one who joined it. It was precious!!

Tuesday Treats

Last Wednesday was my birthday. Nathan came home from work with a bouquet of flowers. He left work early and rode his bike to where we normally buy flowers to get me flowers! And he even remembered not to get roses. :)

I really enjoy that Nathan gets up with the kids in the morning and lets me sleep as late as possible before he has to get ready to leave for work. This morning I slept until almost 7:30!

Nathan has been such a big help in getting things ready around the house for his family to come visit. Even last night he asked if there was anything else he needed to do. Thankfully, I think we are about done around the house other than some laundry and baking.

Last night Nathan washed all the dinner dishes while I got all our clean produce ready to put in the fridge. However, when I went to put it away, the fridge was a mess and there was no room for the produce. So, I proceeded to clean out the fridge and Nathan also washed all the dirty dishes from things we had to throw away! We were both exhausted and it was a huge help for him to wash all the dishes for me!

I am really blessed to have a Hubby who helps out around the house and helps me so much with our kiddos and loves me unconditionally! I love you, Honey!

What has your Sweetie done for you lately?

Prayer and Praise

Prayer~

Lately it seems we are bombarded with people needing money. Please pray for wisdom in how to deal with each case.

I just learned last night that the lady who brings fish to our house and fillets it in our yard lost her son. She gave birth back in September, and the baby seemed to be fine. She had some complications, but the baby was ok. She stays in Nairobi to sell fish to make money for her family who lives in the countryside outside of Nairobi. I guess she went home to visit her son and he had passed away. Please pray for her. She is a strong Christian, but I can not imagine the toll it's taking on her. Her name is Margaret.

Please pray for a safe trip for Nana, Poppy, Auntie Beth, and Uncle Todd. They depart NC on Wednesday afternoon and arrive in Nairobi on Thursday evening.

Nathan was sick yesterday. He is feeling much better today, but please pray the rest of us don't get it! We have a busy few weeks coming up.

Praise~

Our baby boy is 6 months old today!

The new SP float plane Nathan has been working on at the hangar is coming together with just a few snags here and there!

Our family will be here in 3 days!! We are super duper excited!

The Lord continues to provide for the needs of the orphanage in ways we never imagined! We praise the Lord for his faithfulness!

Sibling Love

We got to church a little early this morning and the kids were running all around while we waited for church to start. The kids all sat down together for a minute on a stump. Dinah asked if I had the camera because she thought I should take their picture. I did have our little camera in my purse. They sat down side by side, and then John decided to hug his sisters. Aren't they precious?!

All in a Saturday

This morning we got up and got ready right away to head over to one of AIM's compounds for a yard sale. It's always fun to go see what other missionaries are selling and hope to find some good stuff for a great price. Mommy got some almost new Old Navy pants to take to Ethiopia for $4 each. And the kids came home with...

These little people. They sat them in their train carts and played with them all morning and afternoon.

I'd say it was a good investment of about $1.25. 

Then John and Ruth got out the dollhouse and played with them some more.

They were so sweet playing together.

We also came home with about 10 more kids books to add to our collection. Ten cents per book isn't too bad, huh?

Then they found John's tractor from Uncle Nathan and Ruth pushed all the little people around. 

I'm so glad we've instilled a love for books in our children!

Isn't she a cutie?! The little people were actually bought for Ruth. John and Dinah have so many more toys since they were born first. She's been great to share them with Dinah and John though.

So, there you have a glimpse into our Saturday! Hope you're having a great one!