Finally an update. He's been home 9 months now! WOW!

Where in the world have we been?

I know, I know. It's been awhile. Hmm.. Let's see. Let's back track a bit, and start where we left off. We will call this one what the heck has been going on since Mamo's last 6 month post? and I will bring this entry current through September. Alright. Well, we MOVED! Yay! We miss our old friends in our old neighborhood terribly, but we are SOOOO close to the kid's school now. Like one minute away close! It is soo nice. I was barely surviving the spring school year- like I was close to breaking down. 3 kids in the mix and a school for 2 of the 3 that was 35minutes away, was HARD. Real hard. and we both work, so it was almost impossbile. I was coming up short in too many areas and this move has repaired that A lot! We are still dog tired at night (we just collapse these days), but I am so thankful for the short commute to the kids school that we have now. Ok, so we moved in to the new house, and then decided to overhaul the entire kitchen. and we overhauled all of it. and we did that while we lived here. and we should have a t-shirt that says we survived it. I really should have taken pics of the mess we lived in, but I just couldn't. Lets just say -- glad that is over. We went from this:

to this:

So, mama is HAPPY! and daddy is happy with his sunroom:

and the kids are happy about the big, flat, backyard to play in

The three kids all started CPA this year-- Robby (1st year) as a Freshmen (WOW) and is on the CPA football team,(he's #43 to the side)

Caitlin is a 7th grader this year and is trying her hand at acting in various plays,

and Mamo started 4 year old preschool and loves it!

We also signed him up for soccer and he was soo excited! that is until after the first practice and the first game. He was pretty bored with it after that. Yep, dragging him to practices and games was NO fun for mommy and daddy! He is not ready for organized sports yet! Lesson learned!

They all 3 LOVE school and we are sooo happy about that! We are in LOVE with their school and feel so blessed to be a part of CPA!

We go out to eat Ethiopian food at least once a month, to keep the memory of Mamo's culture (at least in food) in check. Injera is a flat bread and there are meats and veggies that are eaten with it. The fist time I had in was when Robby and I were in Ethiopia, before we met Mamo. It was different and we were really scared of what we were eating. It was just so unlike anything we had ever eaten before. We go to dinner with part of our African fellowship group a lot and I remember a few of the mom's talking about how they CRAVED it and how they gorged themselves at the restaurant. All Philip and I could think of while they were saying this, was well-- You can have ours-- argh. I knew right then and there, that there was no WAY possible I would ever like this stuff. and then I ate my words, and so did Caitlin. Robby likes it okay and Philip still not so much. I actually think that when we go out to eat Ethiopian that Caitlin and I are more excited than Mamo is these days. and we ALWAYS order enough to bring leftovers home- and we duke it out the next night for the scraps. ha ha Here are 2 of the sweet families that we go eat dinner with regulary. Yes, all these kids belong to 3 families- and I only have ONE kid pictured here. Kind of makes me look lame compared to these other 2 families. They have heard the orphan cry and they have responded! So blessed to have these sweet, precious, families in our lives. There are 6 kids in this photo that were in the same orphanage with Mamo at the same time as him. CRAZY!

We have been LOVING fall this year! Our subdivsion is very wooded and oh my the leaves have been GORGEOUS! This seemed like a really LONG fall this year and nine hundred million leaves have fallen into our yard. Here are a few that Mamo rescued and turned into art. This was his first fall!

Here is a cute picture of Caitlin-- she dressed as a pirate at school. Lord, someone slow her down from growing up so dang fast. Cute!

In September, we finally made a trip up to my dad's house at the river. Mamo was sooo excited about getting on Papa's boat and going to Grammy's house! it was his FIRST boat ride!! We did a little boat riding (and driving),

we ate a little icecream at the marina, and of course did a litte fishing!

It is so hard to believe that this time last year (September 26th) that our case was being submitted to the Ethiopian courts to request a court case. One year ago (yes we are pretending this is September, and not November, I am behind people, ha ha)that Philip hadn't even been to Ethiopia yet. We were patient waiting our turn though! God has been so good to our family. Mamo has had such an easy transition. Our BIGS have had a pretty easy transition too, but to be honest there has been some growing opportunities for all of us. We are adjusting great as a family of 5. And we are loving EVERY minute of it!