Irresistible

See this sweet little munchkin sleeping on Mommy and Daddy's bed? I just had to take her picture. She was so cute sleeping there. I think she was subconsciously calling to me, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, your bed is so comfy. Don't you want to come take a nap with me?" Then I sent Nathan a sms and asked if he had any ideas for dinner, but that I really just wanted to go crawl in bed with Ruth instead of preparing dinner. He responded with "Go on. Awash (the Ethiopian restaurant we order take out from) is cheap." What an awesome Hubby! I had a great nap sleeping next to a precious little girl. Cherishing these days home with our kiddos. or at least most of them.

Adoption Update

Last night as we were heading to bed, Nathan checked our email one more time, and we had an email from CWA! It was titled "Birth Certificate Information." Yep. That's right! We got the information we need to have the I-600 notarized! We have our form filled out, have emailed the Embassy to let them know we are ready to get our notarization done, and are now waiting to hear back from them. We let them know we are available today, but who knows if they can do it today. We have an appointment on both Tuesday and Wednesday so we might be waiting until next week. Monday is a holiday here, so they will be closed. Praise the Lord for His goodness! We are now 4.5 weeks into the 6-12 week wait. We are hoping for the shorter end of the wait, but only God knows how long it will be. For now, we are trying our best to be patient and keep ourselves busy around here. Happy Friday, Everyone!

Beauty

This morning Nathan pulled open the girls bedroom curtains and saw this! Isn't it beautiful? It started raining in the night and poured for a while. What a gorgeous reminder of God's faithfulness to us!

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands."

Deuteronomy 7:9 

Wordless Wednesday

Homemade Granola Bars

I found this recipe the other day on Rachael's blog. It looked yummy, and I've been looking for a good granola bar recipe. I like trying recipes that others have tried and like. So, Friday I gave it a try. We needed a good, non-crumbly snack to take with us to Nairobi National Park. And they were great!!

 Mixing it up.

 Before baking.

Just out of the oven.

I did make a few changes because of availability of ingredients here and our tastes. So, here's the original recipe with my changes in parenthesis.

Homemade Granola Bars

2 c. rolled oats (I used quick oats because that's what I had and I couldn't find rolled oats at the store.)

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. wheat germ

2-3 T. flax seed (I omitted this because I couldn't find it.)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 c. dried fruit (I used chocolate chips. I'm not a big fan of dried fruit and it's really expensive here.)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. honey

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c. oil

2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease a 9x13 pan. In a large bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, flax seed, cinnamon, flour, dried fruit, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in honey, egg, oil, and vanilla. Mix well, using your hands. (I didn't have to use my hands.) Pat mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the bars begin to brown at the edges. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Cut into bars while still warm.

I've already made our second batch and have more ingredients for them on my grocery list! This will definitely be a frequently used recipe in our home! Thanks, Rachael!

Join Us

Alright, here's the latest on the adoption...

Last night we talked with our case manager. We had managed to set our hopes a bit higher than we should have and were a bit disappointed after talking to him. We were hoping for mid-May, but it looks like it will be more like the end of May. But we are trying to stay positive. We'll be going to be get our baby before we know it!

So...right now we have the letter we need from MOWCY. This week should produce the birth certificate we need to be able to fill out our I-600 form. After they receive the birth certificate, they can request an Ethiopian passport for Ezra. After they get the passport, Ezra will have a medical exam. After all that is done, we can submit our case to the Embassy. Then we begin the final waiting stage. The wait for an Embassy appointment. This is also the final stage where there can be a delay. The Embassy can request more information regarding Ezra's case.

All this is done in Ethiopia where we have no control over what is going on. The only thing we have control over or at least think we do is getting the I-600 notarized. Would you join us in praying for Ezra's birth certificate to be produced today or tomorrow? We have received an email from the Nairobi Embassy saying they can notarize our document on Thursday. This would be a.m.a.z.i.n.g! We could get it notarized and then FedEx it to Addis. This is the last document they need from us before we can submit our case to the Embassy!

We are so stinkin' anxious to go pick up our son! This is most definitely the hardest stage of waiting. So, please join us in praying for the birth certificate to show up!!

Prayer and Praise

Prayer~

We are working with Ruth now on letting people other than Mommy help her when she needs something. We are trying to prepare as much as we can for Ezra. Please pray with us about Ruth and everyone's adjustment to a new baby.

Permission to continue flying US registered planes here in Kenya is a continual prayer request.

We have a friend who is transitioning back to the US in the next couple of days. Please pray for her.

Praise~

We received word the end of last week that we have received the MOWCY letter we need before we can get our birth certificate. And that the birth certificate should be available this week! Praise the Lord!

We've had a great time with Nathan home the past 4 days! It's been a great family time!

Our a.w.e.s.o.m.e. friends, the Shealy's have offered their car for us to use while we are in the US for the second time!

Oh Glorious Day!

One Last Game Drive

Nathan and I both had the thought that it would be fun to drive through Nairobi National Park one more time before we headed to the US for a couple months. Since this weekend was a long one, and we didn't have a whole lot that needed to be done to get ready to go, we thought we'd take advantage of today and go for one more game drive. It was a great day for it. Overcast and cool and the sun peeping out every now and then. We didn't see a whole lot, but had a great time.

 We saw several giraffe. None too close. I like this picture though.

Nathan spotted these 2 rhino pretty far away. We drove around trying to get closer to them and found 4 more!

They like using the binoculars. Not really sure if they find what we are looking at though.

 These 2 were running along. I don't think we've ever seen them running before so that was kind of cool.

 It looked like they were chasing this herd of zebra.

 Mommy and Dinah.

 Ruth looking for animals while eating her granola bar.

 Riding with Daddy.

John took this picture of an eland. He did a pretty good job! 

We had a good time, but did learn one very valuable lesson: do N.O.T. leave your windows rolled down when you stop to take a potty break! 

Nathan and John hopped out and ran down to the port-a-pottys. They came back and the girls and I got out with our potty seat for the squatty potty and t.p. We were walking down the path, and I heard John say, "Daddy, here comes a baboon." John was sitting in the drivers seat with Nathan standing just beside him outside. He said he looked over and there was a baboon in the passenger seat. I heard him say that and turned around to see 6-8 baboons invading the van. John was screaming. Nathan was screaming. The baboons were screaming. It was quite a site. I got the girls in the port-a-potty and ran back to get John. I grabbed a couple scrawny sticks that I saw on the way to take to Nathan. John and I ran back to the port-a-potty so the girls wouldn't be too scared. We kept watch to make sure he was okay. It was a very tense time as he was trying to get them out. He couldn't leave the windows up because if they were inside they couldn't get out. But he couldn't leave them down because more would jump in. He finally got most of them out but had one trapped in the very back. He opened the back hatch just a bit and slammed it and the baboon scampered back to the front and out of the van. Then Nathan hopped in the van and backed down a bit closer to where we were at the bathroom. We lost most of our food except for our yummy granola bars in the Tupperware bowl and an apple. They got a new bag of peanuts, raisins, bananas, and several apples. And they also left some stinky deposits. Nathan cleaned it and we finally got to go potty. Then we were on our way a bit shaken, but thankful no one was hurt! We were all ready to leave at that point but had about a 45 minute drive to get out of the park. The kids talked and talked about it and what we could bring next time to scare the baboons away. So, moral of the story...don't stop at the picnic areas and leave your windows down!! 

New Pictures!

This afternoon we got about 20 new pictures of Ezra. It's so fun to get a surprise like that in our inbox. We never know when they are coming. It's also kind of bittersweet as well, though. He's growing up without us, and we realized he has 2 teeth on the bottom! Enjoy our sweet little man...

We also got word that part of our paperwork has arrived. The second MOWCY letter that we needed has been received and so now we are on to the birth certificate which should arrive next week. Keep praying, folks! We are getting there!! 

The Big Day, Part 2

A tradition that we've started with our girls is that they get birthday flowers. Well, we kind of laid down on the job yesterday since we waited until 4pm to get them. I was going to pick some up on our way home from Amani, but there wasn't anywhere to pull off the road where they were selling them. So, I got Nathan to take care of it. You should've seen our girl when Daddy pulled her pink roses out of his bag! :) 

Think she likes her roses? 

Then our friends, Chris, Emmah, Tehillah, Tana, and Ethan came over to help us celebrate. Dinah had requested pizza so she had her olive pizza along with a cheese and a veggie pizza for the big people. They always have a blast when these guys some over!

It's so much fun to watch them interacting and enjoying one another!

And the birthday cake. This monkey cake is a bit harder to ice than the flower cake. Maybe I should have thought a little harder before making this purchase! :) 

Think she was excited about it? 

All the kiddos, minus Ethan. I love the expressions on each of their faces.

Dinah put the candles where she wanted so one ended up in a nostril, one in an eye, and the other 3 on down the body. She didn't quite get that she had to wait until we were done singing before she blew them out. We lit them 3 times before we got to the end of the song. 

She finally got to blow them out and keep them out. :) We got everything ready and then I started cutting the cake and Chris, Emmah, and Tehillah burst out singing in Swahili! It took us by surprise, but it was the cutest song..."cut the cake, so we can eat it now" is my loose translation. Too bad we didn't have the video camera out! 

Enjoying the cake and ice cream.

The Birthday Girl. She made this face a lot.

Our kids just l.o.v.e. babies! I asked to hold Ethan after we got done eating and as soon as he was in my arms, John was asking to hold him! Then along came Ruth asking for her turn. :) Ethan is about 3.5 months and weighs as much as our Ezra. So Nathan told them he's about the size of Ezra. Maybe it will help them realize his size. 

Our sweet six. Plus me to protect Ethan.

Think I've gotten darker since last time they were over? Or maybe he's gotten lighter. 

And finally the birthday present. I was so proud of Dinah. Not once all day did she mention getting a present!

But she was happy when she realized she was getting one!

We had a Strawberry Shortcake toy saved and so that's what she got.

And she liked it!

And so did everyone else!

Then she got a froggy purse and a doggy piggy bank that barks when you put coins in it from Chris, Emmah, Tehillah, Tana, and Ethan. And let me tell you, that froggy purse is going everywhere with her today! And she has been asking for work to do around the house to get money to put in her piggy bank.

After prayers, she was able to open her birthday mail from Mimi and Papa. What a smile a birthday card brings! 

It was a great day and she went to bed one happy 5 year old!