Our girls are so loved. In this photo we added Nivea to the mix..she is my cousins cousin who couldn't wait to meet her chocolate cousins.

It is still hard to adjust. The girls do not like for me to leave them. They are getting more comfortable with Daddy and even their grandma's. There has been many restless nights for Jerusa Mahder. She wakes up in the middle of the night if I or Dad am not by her side. She can feel us and often times sleeps on my stomach. I do not enjoy sleeping on my back.

We have had one outbreak per girl with bumps and fever that lasts for 3 days. It may be an allergic reaction, it may be chicken pox..I still don't know for sure..

Food is never a problem and they are not hard to please. They don't like any milk or anything with cheese. They love fresh fruits and avocados. Are avocado's a fruit?

What else? Oh they love church and swimming and going anywhere in the car. They hate the word Doctor let alone the actual thing! The boys are loving and annoyed all together. They get nervous about their ds's getting messed up, or sharing something that the girls shouldn't have. The girls don't like sharing either and they will not back down from anyone. They are very strong in attitudes and physically. Jersey B. picked Jackson(the oldest) up of the ground one night!!

We are tired and feeling blessed all at once. I'm still trying to work this blog into my life. I don't get near the alone time I did have with three kids..imagine that! I have convinced Jerusa M. that she can leave my lap so here I sit for a bit.

I think of all of you and wonder what is new in your world. I know God's hand is strongly upon all of us. Just want to follow where He leads.

Oh What a Night!

(RANDOM PHOTOS OF MY KIDS WITH ME, MY MOM AND MY SISTER!!)


Last night is a night worthy of writing here for all the world to read..and for my failing mind to remember. Just to give you a slight glimpse of where my mind is or isn't..I have lost my car keys twice this week. Yep...I did.

Last night was our first Wednesday night at church. Jersey Betty went to Super Church last night for the whole time. She stayed the entire time. This is like Sunday School for ages 5-12 for an hour. The leader sang "Our God is So Big" from veggie tales just for her. They did the motions and everything. Jersey was so excited. She talked about that for a long time.

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(Jersey says "hi")

One Week Ago..

photo: Monday/ our first day meeting our girls at Hannah's Hope!

We stepped on US soil. Back with two very precious girls in our hands. We could hardly wait to get them here, show them new things and let our families love all over them. They have been loved like crazy.


I do apologize for not checking in here much sooner. Time has flown and I am trying to get the hang of this new life of mine. I have thought and wondered about my pals over the blog world and what their lives are like too. We have been soaking in every minute.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the prayers and emails that we have been given. Our boys, our girls and us(mom and dad) are all doing very very well. Many people tell us it's like our girls have always been here. I feel the same way.

The girls have definetly found a way to make that "brother/sister bond" tighten quickly. Jerusa Mahdie's crying is a new thing for the boys "the love/hate it!" haha.. Jersey Bethlehem can pick on the boys as good as anyone and the boys love to hate that too! She is funny because I know she is very vocal but the only thing she can do right now is imitate us and laugh at our facial expressions and movements..not so warm and cuddly at times! :0)

There is so much I have to tell but it will have to wait until I can release these girls from my arms and hips. They have not let me out of their site since we have come home. If you are wondering about ET and HH, they are everything you could imagine. Probaly even greater!

I promise to check and write more soon. XoxxOOxx.

Amber and her family of SEVEN!!

CHAO!!

in the morning at 7 am we are heading on outta here. Going to fly to Newark, New Jersey and then to Rome.
This time next week we will be flying back with our girls!!

We worked hard today around here cleaning and packing and folding and going crazy!!

We got it done now I am just trying to make sure I have covered any and everything we could possibly want to take.

Sorry this is so short, my mind is going 100 miles a minute. Just if you think to say a prayer for us, for our girls, for the birth mom. ..that will mean more than you will ever know.

God is great!
We are blessed and highly favored from the Lord!!

My Three Sons

We took our boys out for dinner and bowling last night. The last Saturday as a family of 5. Am I sentimental? Can you tell?

I have faith in my Jesus to know that everything is going to be alright.

Can you tell which one is the onry one? I didn't even know he stuck that fry in until I uploaded these.

This boy got a strike right off the bat! Hence the crossed arms:) haha He was so pumped. It was a close game between him and his oldest brother. He was triumphant.

We love these boys and know that they are going to make awesome big brothers. They are ready to meet our girls. Hope our girls are ready for us!!

Flight is set!

We bought our plane tickets yesterday! That's is very exciting and almost doesn't feel real. I don't think it has hit me yet even though I have religiously been buying food, clothes, toys and medicine for this trip. We are leaving in one week!
Woah! One week.

To be honest, I'm sad. Our boys are sad too. This is the longest that we have ever left them...that they remember anyway. We went to Puerto Rico as a second honeymoon but they were too little to notice.

Our oldest really wants to go!! Really bad! We just don't feel like it is safe for him and I wouldn't want to risk anything health wise or other happening.

We had our travel call with Emily House yesterday. It was a nice review over what we were expecting. She did say our girls may have night terrors starting in the hotel. Also, we will want to watch the oldest not being a parent to the youngest. She couldn't over emphasize the tired feeling we will have. And once we arrive we will want to kiss our family and then come home!!

I feel happy(to meet the girls), excited (to see their land, sad(to leave our wonderful boys), anxious(about the safety of our travels, tired(already!) And blessed from God above!


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Why Ethiopia?

- Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000

-1 in 10 children die before their 1st birthday

-1 in 6 children die before their 6th birthday

-There are 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia

-720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone

-1.5 million people in Ethiopia are infected with HIV

-60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

-1/2 of the kids in Ethiopia will never attend school

-88% will never attend secondary school

These make me realize that I am called to help more than I thought I was. What I'm doing may not be enough but I am doing something. Thank you God for giving me the chance to do!
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