I DID IT!

So much has been going on this year that I sadly fell way behind on keeping up with the family blog! I love keeping the blog and find it very therapeutic, even if no one is interested! So.......I have been on a mission lately working like a mad woman to update it. There are a couple more posts that I am working on but for the most part, it is caught up FINALLY!

My sweet friend Kari told me how to make collages and that is the only thing that made this possible! It's kind of boring with having collages for each post but so much faster and when you are nine months behind, I'll take it!

JUST CLICK ON ANY OF THE COLLAGES AND THEY WILL GO FULL SCREEN SO YOU CAN VIEW THE PICTURES A LOT EASIER!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

Family Vacay At Disney Resort!

 

 

We have visited the ALL-STAR MUSIC DISNEY RESORT for the past two Summers and have had a great time! They have so many activities for the kiddos from morning until night including family movie at the pool each evening! Myli is such a daredevil and the first night fell off the step in the pool and scared us to death! Well, we thought she "fell" off the step! Mark kept trying to take her out with him to float around the pool and she wanted nothing to do with that. I looked at him and said, "You know what she wants right?" and sure enough, I took her, turned her towards daddy and she took right off SWIMMING! Full on face under water and everything! She didn't stop for days! She woke up saying "wimming" and went to sleep saying the same! It was great to see the difference between this Summer and last! She just floated around last year taking it all in and this year she was part of the action! So cool! Tommy & Taylor tanned and napped a lot and Blake, Sophi and Josiah (Blake's friend) played until they couldn't play anymore each day! This was our last vacation before Tommy left for college. It was bittersweet! Vacations with a big family are so much work but oh so awesome!!

Myli Swimming!!

 

Here she is in action!

Meeting The David's!

 

When we started the adoption process for Ethiopia our agency had a Yahoo Group set up for families in the program. We shared the journey with so many families and over time grew to think of these people as our extended family! We shared our ups and downs, prayed for one another, and celebrated each small step along the way! A sweet couple named Caleb & Becca received their referral before us and as we followed (ok, stalked) their blog of their trip to Ethiopia to their beautiful daughter Sakari, we always thought it would be great if we could meet up with some of the families one day.
Well, as luck would have it...the David's were vacationing in Orlando the same time we were this Summer and we were able to work schedules out to finally meet up! They are a precious family and it was great to finally meet them in person and of course share in some yummy Ethiopian food at The Nile! The girls were so cute together!

Myli's 2nd Birthday!

 

 

SHE'S 2!!!! We had a great time celebrating Myli's birthday with a few of her little friends!
WE LOVE YOU BABY GIRL!!!

Myli's New Hiding Place!

 

Just sayin'...if you can't find Myli.....look in the dryer!! This is now her favorite place to play! Oh and you might want to check for anything that comes up missing there too!

Re-Adoption Day!!

 

We are proud to announce that Myliah Nael Frehiwot is now an American Citizen! As you can see, she quickly took over and made a new friend! She sat on the Judge's lap the entire time, played with the gavel, and answered all of the questions she was asked! She pointed out and said each person's name in the room as asked by Judge Rainwater! ADORABLE!! Now all we have left paperwork wise to complete her adoption (other than post placement reports for the next 16 years)is to apply for her COC - Certificate Of Citizenship and a SS#!!

Just in case you are wondering about her name....we decided as a family to use part of Myliah's twin brother's name which is Nathnael as her middle name
(Nael - pronounced Ny-el)and then her 2nd middle name Frehiwot is her Ethiopian name. Nathnael passed away shortly after they were found and brought to the orphanage of malnourishment.

PS - Tommy & Taylor were at M-Fuge Youth Camp, that's why they are not in the pictures!

BEACH DAY!!!

 

Blake's 12th Birthday!

 

 

TOMMY'S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION!!!!

 

WOOOO-HOOOO!! HE DID IT!! Crazy to think that I have a son old enough to graduate!!
Tommy, we are so proud of all of your accomplishments!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Senior Prom 2009

 

HOW SWEET ARE THEY!!

Senior Wrestling Recognition Night

 

Day At The Beach

 

 

We LOVE the beach!

Senior Banquet EG First 2009

 

Our church had a Senior Banquet for all of the graduates at the church!
It was great celebrating their accomplishments together!

Taylor's 13th Birthday!

 

So the theme of late is how our children are growing up!! I'm not real fond of that but I can't seem to stop it!
We are so proud of Taylor! She has an amazing spirit and is the sweetest I know! We love you sweet girl!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Forever Day Celebration!

 

We went to an Ethiopian restaurant called The Nile in Orlando to celebrate the day Myliah became a part of her FOREVER FAMILY! She got to eat some injera which she was not real fond of. It is very sour although it is not near as sour at this place as it is in Ethiopia! We had a great time!

Tommy's 18th Birthday!

Can't believe my baby boy is 18!!!
Seems like yesterday that he was just laying in my arms SCREAMING as he did best!
We are so proud of the man he has turned out to be! LOVE YOU BUBBA!

 

 

Where does the time go??

I can't believe our baby girl is 18 months old!! Doesn't seem possible!
Happy 18 months Princess Myliah!!! WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND ARE SO GLAD GOD GAVE YOU TO US!!!!!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

New Family Pics

New Family Pics#2

Tommys First Wrestling Match for EGHS

Although he did not win.....he made a great effort for his first time!

Tommys First Wrestling Match for EGHS(2)

A few pics for fun!

Myli loves to wear Daddy's shoes!

Her new hiding spot!

Football Dude!

Sweet Sophi!

Big Helper!

Myli loves to help her Bubby Tommy empty the dishwasher! Everytime she hears the dishwasher open, she runs right for it and this is what she does......




We finally figured out why.....this is how Bubby rewards her!!

Operation Christmas Child Boxes!

Each year our family participates in the Operation Christmas Child program through our church. It is a great way to teach our children about giving and they love to shop for "their" child. This year proved to be a bit crazy as we all entered Target and each child got their own shopping basket! Not sure what we were thinking but hey....it was worth it in the end! Right in the middle of shopping, we heard that the Space Shuttle was launching and since all of our children love to watch the shuttle, they nicely (haha) threw their baskets at me as they ran for the door! After returning, the shopping continued. As we were making our way to the check out, Myli decided that she wanted to push the big cart and fell and busted her face on the metal bar! Blood was going everywhere as the manager scrambled to find paper towels and a boo-boo ice pack. After we got Myli all cleaned up, we again headed to the checkout and everyone checked out seperately to be careful not to combine any gifts! We came home and wrapped all of the boxes, decorated them with stickers, loaded them up, and prayed over them for the children that were to receive them!

Operation Christmas Child Boxes!

Pumpkin Patch

Tommy - Homecoming 2008

What A Goof!

Enough Pictures Already....MOM!!!

He Dared Me!!

Planning The Night Out!

Isn't He Handsome!!
Love You Bubba!

Half A Lifetime!

Today Myliah is 16 months old and has been with her Forever Family for half of her life!! I can't believe she has been home for 8 months! She continues to amaze us and keeps our home full of laughter and joy!

Gift of God

Ok, so I must confess that I have left all of the blogging to my wife for the last four years. Pretty shameful huh? I guess it’s time for me to do my part and contribute to our story. Earlier this year when we were in Ethiopia God impacted our lives in a huge way and she asked me to write about it.

Our trip to Ethiopia was amazing. Melissa covered it in such great detail in this blog that I don’t want to be redundant. We were the family in our travel group that was on autopilot. Thanks to Mel’s great planning we had everything that we needed for the perfect trip, right down to a copy of our income taxes (which really came in handy in getting Myli’s visa!) It was smooth sailing and happy times for us until Thursday.

In an earlier blog entry called “Thursday Update” (posted on March 7th, 2008) that described our time in Ethiopia Melissa said;“OUR TOUR (of the orphanage) WAS OVER BUT WE DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE. WE ARE FOREVER CHANGED AND A PIECE OF OUR HEARTS ARE THERE FOREVER!

That was really all we could say at the time. What happened that day was beyond words. When we arrived at the orphanage we asked to see where Myliah (Frehiwot) slept when she was there. We want to be able to tell her as much as possible about her life in Ethiopia when she is older and wants to know. The director of the orphanage said “isn’t this the twin?” We had no knowledge of a twin so we assured her Myliah was not. A few minutes later we were introduced to the nanny who had cared for Myliah when she was at the orphanage, and she assured us that Myliah was in fact a twin. Our hearts jumped for joy at this incredible news, and a thousand thoughts were going through our minds. A twin? Where is he? Can we adopt him too? Has he already been adopted? Can we see him? All of these thoughts ended abruptly with the words “We are sorry, we did everything we could, but he was too weak and didn’t make it”.

I can’t even begin to express the grief that enveloped us in that moment. It was like a doctor had come out of the delivery room and said that our baby had died. We were crushed and completely overcome with grief. We asked them to give us any information that they could, and they brought out a piece of paper that said: Nathnael brother of Frehiwot. The nanny told us that Myliah got her strength from him, she said it over and over that he was the reason that she lived. He gave his strength to her.

Neither of us could sleep that night, and when we were able to talk we tried to figure out what this all means. The only explanation I have for how we could feel so much grief for a child that we never saw or even knew about is how quickly we had bonded to his sister, and the words of the nanny. We decided that night that Nathnael would not just be an unknown orphan that died, but would part of our family forever. He is our son.

So the question is how do we make him a part of our lives? How can we celebrate his life? How do we make sure that he is not forgotten? We wanted to find a way to think about him every day for the rest of our lives. While we were processing all of this we found out about an opportunity to invest in a project that would help the cause of the Ethiopian orphans. We decided to invest in an incredible project called the Ethiopia Guest Home. Not only is the guest home is a great place for adoptive families and mission groups to stay while in Ethiopia, the profits go directly to caring for orphans. For us, honoring Nathnael’s memory means finding a way to help Ethiopian families care for their children, and not have to abandon them. That is what the guest home is all about. To find out more about it go to: www.ethiopiaguesthome.com.

The guest home is a great way to memorialize Nathnael, but I needed something more up close and personal. I needed something to look at everyday that would remind me of my little boy up in heaven. I wanted to have something that I can’t put away, ignore, or forget about. So I got this tattoo. It is based on a painting called “Gift of God”, which is really fitting because Nathnael means gift of God. And the amazing part of this story is that it was through his death that Myliah (Frehiwot - which means Fruit of Life) became our daughter. So she was his gift to us.

I'm Growing Up!

 

Myli had her 18 month check-up last week! She is healthy and growing like a weed and way too fast for me! She is in the 8th percentile for her weight and 35th percentile for her height! I'm guessing she is just going to be a little peanut!! Myli was mimicking the pediatrician with hand gestures, it was quite hilarious to watch and Dr kept a close eye on her too and said she is very smart! We already knew that! LOL! Her new passion is reading. She used to bring you books and back into your lap saying "read" but now we find her reading all by herself! She LOVES books (like her Daddy)! She still loves to dance and sing and takes advantage to do so at every little jingle she hears! She continues to be a clown and is Little Miss Social ALL OF THE TIME! It is hard to get in and out of anywhere without her saying "HI" to all who walk by! She is quite vocal and I dare you not to say "HI" back to her!! She is relentless and will not stop until she is acknowledged! I don't take her to the grocery store anymore because it takes us way too long to get through by the time we stop and talk to everyone who she grabs their attention! She is working on all of her eye teeth (one is just about to poke through) and her 4th bottom tooth. This brings us to a total of 16 teeth when they all come in!! She had 3 when she came home so she has been working pretty hard getting them all in over the last several months. She continues to be one of the happiest babies we have ever been around. Even after receiving 4 shots in her little thighs!! OUCH!!
WE ARE BLESSED!!

What A Treasure!

We received such a blessing via e-mail today! I just had to share it!

One of the families we traveled with to Ethiopia was the McIlrath's. We had talked several times via e-mail before travel and we were so excited to get to meet them and thank them for all they had done! Dave traveled in October of 07 to help our agency find, set-up, and furnish the new Transitional Home! He also did all of the hiring of the staff, nannies, etc. They are an amazing family!!

During the week, Dave made mention a couple of times that he had held Myli on the bus when they were moving some of the children from Kids Care Orphanage to the new TH. I assured Mark that Dave must have been confusing Myli with another child because we were told that she was not moved to the TH until January of 08, when we received her referral so he couldn't have held her.

Well....today we received a couple of surprises! One was a picture of Myli IN DAVE'S ARMS on the bus riding to the new TH!!! The other was a picture of Myli on her first day at the new TH! We did not have any pictures of Myli as such a little baby, these pictures are true treasures for us! Look at those ears!! No mistaking it, it's her, our sweet baby girl!! She was about 3 months old!!

As adoptive parents, we miss out on so much of our children's lives before we can hold them and that leaves us to often wonder and dream about what they might have looked like when they were little.....Not this time!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

PLEASE VISIT: ethiopiaguesthome.com to see the work that the McIlrath's continue to do for the orphans and families in Ethiopia!!!

Braids

Leyla's hair is getting so long so in trying to figure out how to care and keep it, we decided to get it braided. She was a trooper!

BEFORE.......Miss Andrea put over 100+ braids in!! It took almost 4 hours!!!

AFTER

Izzy

Every morning, as soon as Daddy leaves for work, Myli runs to our sliding glass door yelling "IZZY" where she is met by her new BFF! Izzy is a lizard that appears each morning on the door to play with Myli! They talk and play awhile and then our day can start! She also has taken a liking to her big sissy's 6ft stuffed snake and carries it around! It's the cutest thing! Here they are in one of their in depth discusions (look very closely and you'll see Izzy).........

First Hair "DO"

Myli's hair is growing soooo fast now! When we went on vacation, we met a family that had a little girl who was a couple of months older than Myli. One night, we got on to the subject of hair and I told her dad that I couldn't wait for Myli's hair to grow so I could give her a "Do"! He told me that I needed to put it in "puffs" and that would make it grow. I was thinking to myself that she didn't have enough hair to put in puffs and that this may be an old wives tale, but it seems he knew what he was talking about! I took what little hair she had and put it in these puffs and her hair is growing like crazy! I am so excited to get to play with her hair now!!

Myli's Nursery

I never posted any pics of Myli's room! There are still some things to be done like making her bow and headband holders but for the most part, it's done for now!

Myli Update (5&6 month)

I know I say this each time I post an update about Myli but time is flying by so quickly! We are getting ready for our 6 month post placement visit which should be a breeze this time!
Myli is almost 14 months old and she is doing so well! We are excited to say she is now sleeping through the night with little to no night terrors in her own room!! Daddy puts her to bed each night and she wants her room pitched black! Crazy! If her door is cracked even the slightest, she will point to it until it is closed! She typically goes to bed around 8:30-8:45 and sleeps until 6:30 or so! With school starting back up, she now wakes along with everyone else. This makes for an early morning 3 hour nap and she seems to have given up her afternoon nap. Sleeping, check!Myli LOVES music! Anytime there is music, she sings at the top of her lungs and dances away! It's in her blood!! Over the Summer, Mark & I worked VBS and Myli tagged along every night to our music classes. She learned the chorus to one of the songs and it is now her fav. She will come up and start raising her hands and babbling wanting you to sing it. It goes, I won't stop never gonna stop praisin', everyday you'll be my number one, Jesus, Jesus, my numer one! She is so cute and raises her hands and does her little pointer finger for the number one part! So precious!! She is expanding her vocabulary each week. Her newest word is read. She will bring a book to you and say "read" and back up into your lap. The cutest! She is also picking up on more and more sign language! This is the coolest thing ever!! I always heard that babies could sign but for some reason, didn't really believe it! She signs, please, thank you, more, all gone, cracker, milk, nite-nite (sleepy)We are plugging along with the weight! She is so ready to sit in a front facing carseat so she can see out of the car! This is one of her least favorite things to do but I think when she is able to turn around, she will be much happier. Still loves her bath time and massage. So, I think that's about it, we are so in love with this little girl! She was made for our family!!!

Bath, Massage and Hairtime!

Myli

Upside Down Myli!

Myli stealing Mama's phone AGAIN!!!

Action Shot!

SuperGirl!!!

Mama's Angel Girl!

Tropical Storm Fay...The one who wouldn't go away!

We are so thankful that our home was spared this go around! I kept having flashbacks to 2004 when we lost our home to Hurricane Frances! That was one of the hardest things we have had to deal with! I don't know if I could do it again!
Not to mention.....we don't have flood insurance!!

TS Fay came in on Tuesday and didn't leave for days! No one was prepared for what we were in for! The storm kept stalling and we received more than 2 feet of rain. Our neighborhood was hit really hard and many families lost their homes all around us! After hours and hours of pounding rain, this is what we were left with..........

First Day Of School

I for one am soooo excited that school is starting! I admit it, by the time Summer is over, I am ready for everyone to go back to school! I love teachers and I thank God for them every day! We went to registration last week and found out what teachers we have this year and we are very pleased and can't wait for an exciting year!





Taylor is 12 and starting the 7th grade! It doesn't seem possible that she is in Junior High already! She had a great first day and was not nervous at all! Actually, this is the first year since Kindergarten that she hasn't cried the first day of school! She is growing up!


Blake is 11 and starting 5th grade! He is very bright and does very well in school. He loves a challenge! His favorite subject is Math! It is amazing to think that he has only been with us for 2.5 years! He is learning so much!

More School Pics

Leyla is 10 and starting the 4th grade. She loves school and is a good student!




Sophi is 5 and is starting Kindergarten! She attended First Friends Weekday Pre-School at our church for two years and has learned so much! She spoke no English when she came home just over two years ago and you would never know it now! It's really incredible!

******NOTE - NO, I didn't forget about Tommy but he was not really into having his picture taken for his first day of COLLEGE!!! We are so proud of him! He worked really hard to get good grades and he is now in the Early Admissions program at our local Community College and will graduate High School this year with an AA! He is taking 15 hours and so far he's loving it! He goes Monday -Thursday and is enjoying some freedom and getting a taste for adult life!

Adding Some Bling!

Sophi has been begging to get her ears pierced for about a year now. We agreed to get them done before she started Kindergarten so here we are!
We went to Merle Norman in the mall the Friday before school started! She picked out her little pink sparkly earrings, and when the lady told her to go sit in the chair, she quickly looked at me and said, "I think I want to wait until tomorrow" and like a good mommy, I lied and told her we couldn't wait because they already opened the package! Bad Mommy!!! She was given the option to sit in daddy's lap so she opted for that. Poor daddy, I think it was harder on him than it was for her!
So, they got ready, told her they were going to count to 3 and we decided the two ladies needed to go back to Kindergarten because they said one and POW!! It was done!
They are so smart!! I think daddy cried longer than Sophi!!!
So, her ears are pierced and she thinks she is 16 now! She has worn her hair up everyday to school!

Happy Birthday Leyla!

We celebrated Leyla's 10th birthday with family at where other than the Chinese Buffet! When asked where she wanted to eat, she again said she just wanted to eat shrimp with PawPaw at the Chinese place. Ok! We had a great time!

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid!

Ok...I have to laugh while writing this post seeing that our YG had a little discussion about Chuck-E-Cheese recently! There were several who said they would not take their newly adopted children to CEC b/c it may be overwhelming to them! I stayed out of that discussion as we had just gone!! Too funny! Well, we opted out of Disney World on our vacation b/c we knew that would be total overload for Myli and Grandma wanted to take the kids this summer to CEC so it all worked out! We went to CEC while we were in Orlando and everyone had a blast, including Myli! She rode all of the rides, played in the toddler area and enjoyed it immensly! I guess she won't be scarred too badly!

Disney Resort....Here We Come!

We finally squeezed in a little Summer vacation!! We stayed at the Walt Disney World All Star Music Resort! No Disney World this time! Decided we did not want to put Myli through that torture just yet!! We'll give her a good year or so before we do that to her.
Our first night there was pretty crazy. We got all settled in and went to the movie at the pool but the night quickly turned tragic when a little girl was found floating at the bottom of the pool. The lifeguards worked on her for what seemed like an hour before the paramedics came and then they worked on her for what seemed like another hour! It was so sad! They used the AED on her and when they took her to the ambulance she was breathing again. We prayed for this family and hope that she recovered quickly.
The rest of the trip was wonderful. We got a Family Suite that had a bedroom where Mark, Myli and I slept. The living room had a pull out couch that slept two, it had a chair that turned into a bed and the ottoman also turned into a bed! We brought one sleeping bag and the three youngest took turns on the floor. We had two bathrooms which was a lifesaver and a nice kitchen area! It was great!! When we arrived in the room, in usual Disney stlye, there were towels in the shape of Mickey! We took full advantage of the photo op! There were all kinds of activities scheduled throughout the day poolside so that is where we spent most of our time. Myli did great! She loves her pool floaty and chilled out as we danced, watched movies and played games.
We did most of our school shopping while in Orlando too!

More Vacation Pics!

More Vacation Pics!

Happy 1st Birthday Myliah!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS MYLIAH!!
We celebrated Myli's birthday with family and friends this weekend! (Her Birthday was actually July 6th) Of course she only took about a 20 minute nap before the party so I was expecting her to be pretty grouchy! She surprised me and once again was the perfect little angel we have all come to love so much! It was a great party and she had a blast running around and playing! Myli did very well with her cake until we lit her candle and she tried to put it out with her fingers! She didn't get burnt but was highly upset that I pulled the cake away from her! As with all of our children that have been with us for their first birthday, we got Myli her own little cake and let her go at it. She wasn't sure what to do with it at first until Taylor shoved her hand in it and then.....it was all good from there! She ate and ate and was terribly upset when I took it from her when we thought she had eaten enough! She did not agree! We were afraid that she would be awake for the next 24 hours straight but she did very well at bedtime and slept all night! I guess she was experiencing the crash after the sugar rush!
Here are some pics from the party...enjoy!

More Birthday Pics!

Grandma & Grandpa Harpold

Uncle David, Aunt Karen & Katherine

Henry, Nicole, Taylor & Baby Zoey

Miss Kim, Mr Frank, Anton, Atanas, Nathan, Noah, Joshua, Jeremy, Hannah, Savannah, Gabriel, Madison, Josiah, Sarah, Caleb, Zachary, Christian, Eli, Isaiah, Emma and Assata
Tommy & Taylor

Again....More Birthday Pics!

Can you say "CRASHING FROM SUGAR RUSH"??

3 Month Post Placement Fun!

We are happy to report that our 3 month post placement visit went extremely well!
We greeted a very sweet SW at our front door who was totally smitten with our little Angel Myli! It was fairly easy and although Amy (SW) had not ever completed a post placement report for ET, it went flawlessly! We are dealing with a couple of issues, one being we now have three different birth dates for Myliah! One on her birth certificate, one on her Green Card, and the last would be in the paperwork we received with her referral. We have decided that we will have to use the date on her birth certificate (which has her 3 months older) since it is the legal birth date but we still don't believe that it is correct. I guess it really won't matter later in life! What is three months?! We now need to have her Green Card corrected so we can proceed with re-adoption "stuff". Overall, we were very happy and look forward to our 6 month post placement visit with Amy.

Just for those who may be interested in what a post placement will involve, see the following:

· Physical Stamina-mobility, etc.
· Intellectual Development-cognitive, speech and language skills
· Appearance, personality and character of child
· Health status of child-at time of adoption and now
· Include weight, height, head circumference, results of most recent physical examination & immunizations
· Report on any medical treatments for child with special needs, as well as any medical or developmental conditions
· Discuss child's and family's adjustment & attachment
· Discuss community and extended family’s response to child Discuss feelings and views of all.
· Education of child, if age appropriate. Discuss childcare arrangements, if applicable. Discuss method of education used by adoptive parents.
· Any changes in the family situation since the home study was completed (i.e. move, employment changes, health of parents, marital status, etc.) Discuss how adoption has changed the family situation.
· Daily routine and life of the adopted child (i.e. diet, sleep, play, etc…)
· Status of naturalization-family’s plans on re-adoption
4 color photos (one being a family photo) four copies of each.
**NOTE
Typing everything up will help with future pp visits. You can just go in and update your info quickly.

Happy 4th of July!!

What a great time we had! For the last 5 years, we have been celebrating 4th of July with our friends Frank and Kim and their 20 children! Yes, I said 20, it's not a typo!! We travel to Vero Beach to a beautiful park on the river and enjoy the fireworks together! We cause quite a stir with our 25 children in tow!! (their oldest was not there)
We actually had more this year because our friends Henry & Nicole joined us with their two sweetie's Taylor and Baby Zoey and Jack and his two dolls Kiley & Brandon!
So a total of 29 children and 5 adults! We are waaaaay outnumbered and the children could easily take over if they wanted! We just don't tell them!! They all played football, frisbee, and enjoyed running around until about 9pm when the fireworks started and then it was overcrowded blankets on the ground where you heard Ohhhs' and ahhhs' after each firework! Too cute!
Myli celebrated her first 4th with us and she was a trooper! LOVED the fireworks and looked at us after each one was rocketed into the air to see our reaction. She didn't even flinch at the noise and it is really loud! It was great to watch her and see her clap and enjoy her new family and freedom!

Summer Fun!!

Summer is going by so fast! Thanks to all of the thunderstorms almost daily, our outdoor activities have been limited. It's also very different this Summer having a baby in tow! Naptimes, bottles, fussiness seem to override anything else!!
We have had fun going to the pool, park, movies, some shopping and camps! Taylor and Blake went to Centri-Kid and had a blast! This was Taylor's second and last year to go and Blake's first year. Leyla and Blake will go together next year! Tommy went to Ecuador and Alabama on a mission trip and M-Fuge camp. We will start school supply shopping this week and looking for new clothes for school! This can either be really fun or really frustrating! Both Blake and Leyla are so small that it can be frustrating trying to find clothes to fit them! Thank God for the person who came up with the adjustable waist for pants/shorts/jeans!! We don't know you but we love you!! Everyone has grown so much this Summer and they ALL need new clothes! I am trying to decide how to split them all up this year. Sophi is not a shopper so she doesn't do well with "Marathon Shopping" so I may have to take her by herself to just a couple of stores!
So, that's how our Summer is going. Still trying to decide what/where we will vacation. Due to the price of gas, the lakehouse idea is out! We will stay closer to home but try to find somewhere to have some fun for a few days!
Enjoy the pics!

More Summer Pics!

Tommy's Trip To Ecuador

Tommy had the opportunity to go to Ecuador this Summer with our Student Revolution team at church! He was one of approx 25 to go! This was his 2nd trip! He drew and painted a mural for the school site they were assigned to! He made many friends and memories! We are so proud of him! He has such a heart for God and missions!

Home Three Months!

This is Myli's "What you talkin' bout Willis?" face!

Playing dress-up!

Relaxing at Blake's football game!

Just bein Myli!

Giving Mommy Kisses!

Where does the time go??? It has been three months since we returned home with our little Princess! Besides her personality coming out more and more each day, she is growing like a weed now and at last weight check she weighed in at a healthy 17lbs and some change! She had her 10 month check up and seems to be right on track for her age. She is actually a little ahead on her verbal skills!! Speaking of her verbal skills, she has now added to her growing list of words and noises, barking like a dog, meowing like a cat, hissing like a snake and can tell you where her nose is and claps at everything she does! She continues to make new faces to get a laugh and loves to be the center of attention and will let you know when she is feeling left out! The biggest accomplishment is SHE IS WALKING! She started about three weeks ago taking a few steps on her own and now she is walking about 80-90% of the time! It breaks my heart because she wants to be held less now that she is more mobile but it is great to see her growing and becoming a little independent girl! I will try to add some video of her walking if I can figure out how to do it! Our three month post placement visit with our social worker is scheduled for next Saturday! I am very excited to share how well Myli is doing and to get some feedback from the SW. We are required to have three home visits the first year (3,6,and 12 months) we are home and then we will provide a yearly update until Myli turns 18! Seems like a lot of work but it really is worth it! We are also required to send updates on Blake and Sophi until they are 18 so we have a couple of years under our belts of doing the reports. It's actually a fun time to stop and look back over the past year and see the progress and growth they have all made and to take in how blessed we really are!
Until next time.......

Taylor's 6th Grade Graduation

Taylor's graduation ceremony was great! She is now officially a seventh grader! She celebrated with all of her friends at a dance held by her school! They danced the night away and it was a NPA!! That means there were no parents allowed! I HAD to see what was going on and managed to sneak a peek and they were having a blast! Can't believe she will be starting middle school in August!!!

For All The Pastor's Wives Out There!

This is hilarious!!! Had to share!!!

Three pastors' wives from the Florida Hospital Seventh-day Adventist church in Orlando decided they were tired of having their latest household fiascos show up in sermon illustrations, so these women made a parody video to get their point across, revamping Carrie Underwood's popular "Before He Cheats" with their rendition of "Before He Speaks."
Thanks to Vickie McDonald (married to senior pastor Andy), Tami Cinquemani (married to associate pastor Jeff), and Amy Achata (married to youth pastor David) for venting their frustrations so creatively!

Happy Birthday Blake!

We celebrated Blake's 11th birthday at the Chinese Buffet....again!
Each year the kids get to pick what they want for their b-day dinner and he always picks his favorite Chinese restaraunt! He can eat any grown aduly man under the table! We found out he really likes Wasabbi and Ginger! haha!
We then celebrated his birthday at the Farley's. They were having a Team Kid party and we brought Blake's cakes to share with all of his friends!

Are You Ready For Some Football??

We did it! We are officially crazy screaming parents to a football player! Blake started flag football a couple of weeks ago and they had their first game Sunday, Mother's Day! They won and Blake got his first touchdown! They have given him the name "Blazing Blake" because he is a hard one to catch! He is also the smallest guy on the team but he gets the job done!

A Stop At The Hospital

Taylor was very sick for a couple of days with what we thought was a little stomach bug. When she did not improve the third day, I called the pediatrician and they sent us directly to the hospital where we found out that she was severely dehydrated and was admitted. She had a viral infection that just had to run it's course and was helped with IV solutions for 4 days until she was able to eat and drink on her own! She lost 8 pounds and missed her 6th Grade field trip to SeaWorld and skate party! We are going to try and take her next month with one of her friends to the new Aquatica hoping to ease the blow!
She was a trooper though and her spirits were high the entire time (even with blood draws everyday!). She also learned a lot of what goes on behing the scenes of being a Dr and nurse!

She wants to thank the following people for coming to see her and for the thoughtful gifts:
1. Grandma
2. Savannah & Mrs. Kim
3. Sammy & Mrs. Sandy
4. Pastor Matt
5. Mr. Durwood and Mrs. Karen
We are blessed to have great friends!

This was the first time I (mom) had been away from Myli for more than a couple of hours but she got lots of bonding time with Daddy and they both loved it! She also got to spend time with her Aunt Kim who adores and spoils her rotten! This was good for all of us and it confirmed that she can make it without me as much as I don't want to admit it! Daddy did a great job keeping up with everything and everybody!

Thanks again to all who jumped in to help during this crazy time for our family! We can't tell you how much we appreciate you!

Home One Month!

It's hard to believe that we have already been home for a month now!
Myliah is doing so much better than we could have asked for! Her attachment and bonding has been incredible! She definately knows strangers from her Mommy and Daddy! She is still not sleeping through the night every night but we are working on it and I'm sure it will come soon. She is taking 5-6 ounces of formula every four hours and is eating cereal in the mornings, and sometimes baby food at night for dinner if we can get her too. She loves mashed potatoes and breads! She is saying several words now like Hi,Bye-Bye,Yay,Hey,Dada,Mama(when she is sleepy),Nite-Nite so she is coming along quite nicely with her English! We have had a couple of people ask us if she will speak her native language or English!! Yes, that's a hard one to respond to but we just say English and go on!! LOL!
She is crawling all over the place and is getting into everything. Pulling up on anything that looks sturdy enough and learning that not everything can handle her weight! Speaking of weight, she has a weight check tomorrow to make sure that she is gaining adequately. She was diagnosed with Reflux and being lactose intolerant after coming home and she spits up ALOT so we are praying for good news on the weight check! She will do anything for a laugh and has so many silly faces!!
We are busy working on our one month update for our agency and starting on her re-adoption paperwork. It is not required for Florida but in the long run, it will be better for her. We will file our own paperwork to the courts and go before the judge to make it official.
As you can imagine, we are so happy and blessed to have this sweetie in our family and we can't get enough of her!! She brings so much happiness to our family! I think she gets tired of all the kisses sometimes but that's ok, they won't be stopping! She will just have to get used to it!!
As far as personality goes.........I think the pictures sum her up pretty well!!!

Thanks to Page Phelps for the beautiful pics!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Happy B-Day to you!!
You are 42!! You surf like a pro-o
And you look like one too!!

I Heart You!!

American Idol Gives Back

Chris Daughtry in Uganda! Great video and song! Had to share!

Easter 2008

Our first Easter as a family of 8!
It was great as usual and everyone enjoyed the annual egg hunt at Grandma's house. Myli was not real sure what to think of all of the crazy kids running around but she got used to it and joined right in looking for eggs with Tay-Tay and Tommy!

Can you say BABYPROOFING!

It's been about 12 years since we've had a baby in our household, therefore, we can safely say that we were not prepared AT ALL!!!
We made a trip to Target to find a baby gate right away! Daddy does not like to read directions but after some prodding from mom, he decided to read a bit and then I found out why daddy doesn't read directions! The template was wrong and just added more work to get the brackets in the right place for installing! As you can see, Daddy had more than enough help putting things together and testing his work out! For a couple of days, Myliah continued to test Daddy's workmanship by ramming her head into the netting of the gate! I am proud to say that it still stands and the screws are still securely in the wall! Way to go Daddy!!

First Week Home!

We have had a great first week home! I know I already wrote a post on this but I will say that everyone is adjusting very well and we are all getting along great! We were afraid that our Sophi may have some issues with not being the baby anymore but she has taken on the role of big sister so well! She makes sure that Myliah has her blanket and binkie when needed and that there are toys everywhere we go! Taylor has blown us away with her ability to help with ALL areas of being the oldest big sister! She loves to dress her, change diapers, help with baths, and feed Myliah! She has been a lifesaver to mommy!! Tommy is doing great too! He's a great big brother and likes to carry Myliah because she gets the attention of the girls!!! He's 17, what do you expect!! Blake and Leyla are doing well, they have been the least affected by the changes! They have each other to play with and things are running smoothly for them too! They like to play with Myliah and help too!

Eight is enough! (I Think!!)

Our first family pic!

Our Homecoming!

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see all of our children at the end of the VERY LONG walkway at the airport! I could hear our oldest daughter, Taylor, saying "walk faster mom"!!! I couldn't, I was so tired! Our wonderful friends, Frank and Kim Farley along with 16 of their 20 children made sure that our children were at the airport to greet us!! THANK YOU is not enough but they know how much we love and appreciate them! Myliah took right to everyone and of course started making all of her funny faces entertaining everyone! She did amazingly well on the plane rides home and we really could not have asked for anything more!!

America World Staff! Our Heroes!

Meet BeBe! When asked what his title was for America World, he replied with "I don't really have a title, I just do what needs to be done". Well, after our week with BeBe, we chose to give him the title of "THE MAN!" I don't remember if he added it or someone else, "The Man With The Plan"! He has a heart of gold and makes sure that if there is something that you need or want, you have it! If he hears you say something like, "Oh we need to get some formula today", the next thing you know, we are parked outside of a supermarket and he is saying, let's go! He goes out of his way to make sure that your time in Ethiopia is amazing! We had a blast with BeBe and can't say enough about him! Of course, Mark found out that he loves to surf so he invited him to visit FL to come surfing and to go to Disney World!! He has never been to the states! Oh, just so you know, one interesting fact about BeBe is he is a gymnast! Not just a gymnast but he is one of the best in Addis! He helps his brother teach gymnastics in his down time!! This sort of blew me away because he looks and acts WAY TO COOL to be a gymnast!

Meet Girmachew! Talk about a workhorse! This man is amazing! He has been dubbed "Superman" and he definately wears this well! He is in charge of getting all of our paperwork to the courts, securing court appointments, attending the hearings as our POA and then while in country, helps families with the paperwork to secure the children's Visas and Passports. We did not see him very much while we were there but knew that he was busily working to help all the families in different stages of their process. We caught up with him on Saturday afternoon before heading up to the room to pack and he was paying for our hotel rooms. He is a very humble man and we appreciate all he does! One interesting fact about Girmachew is that he is a US Citizen!

Meet Barrett and Rachel! They are newlweds and just moved to Addis Ababa this past January! Rachel works for America World and is currently running the Transition Home alongside of the nurse, Fortuna. She will be implementing new systems to help things run more smoothly. Barrett (I can't remember who he works for or what he does at this very moment) is a wonderful help to his wife and supports her 100% in her efforts! He's also a pretty funny guy! He kept us laughing and helped keep things calm in times of stress! One good thing to know about Rachel & Barrett is that they are both huge fans of Hummus and will eat it at each meal if the restaraunt has it! They also appreciate if you let them take your leftovers home to eat if you go out to dinner with them! They live at the Transition Home and say that the children get up all hours of the night and wake really early and are ready to play! They are very happy to have ear plugs!!! They are such a sweet couple and are open to any and all suggestions that families feel may help make things run smoother for all involved.
BeBe, Girmachew, Rachel & Barrett were wonderful to be with on our trip! They made sure that we had everything we needed and were so laid back about the schedule, etc. It made things so nice! We were in great hands!

Yet More!

This was Myli's first bath in the Hilton sink! She loved it!

Last dinner together with our travel group! We went to Zebra Grill on the way to the airport.

These are two of the teachers at the Kids Care Orphanage

These are the schedules posted above the cribs at the Kids Care Orphanage. I thought it would be nice for those waiting to see how they keep track of what,when,and how much the babies eat and their weight and med checks.

This woman worked tirelessly the entire time we were at Kids Care on the laundry! I can't imagine doing this everyday with a water hose and a stone for 50+ children!

More Random Pics

Coffee Ceremony at Transitional Home

Pic of crib at the Hilton

Daddy and Myli at Blue Topps

Myli playing happily in her crib

Myli on bus a fun ride

Pics of our trip!

Our first week home!

What a whirlwind our first week has been! Things are getting back to normal, although it is a new normal. It has been 12 years since we have had a baby and boy is it a shock to have a baby around again! No more picking up and running out the door spontaneously! It takes much more preparation to just go to the store for a few quick items! We are loving the new normal though! I do have to say that there was one day that I had to stop and ask myself if I had even brushed my teeth!! That's pretty sad! Between jetlag and the new night schedule, things can get forgotten!
Over all, it has been really great! Myliah is adjusting very well and has just found her little place in our family! She has such an amazing spirit and loves to be the center of attention! She is still not sleeping very well but I'm sure that will come with time! After all, it's only been a week!
She has about a dozen different faces that she makes and she gets lots of laughs from them!! I think that's the idea! She also claps, blows and gives kisses! Her kisses are still the wide open mouth and slobbery ones but those are the best ones! She started waving goodbye on Sunday at church and now waves at everyone that passes by! And, if you dare not speak to her, she will let you know how unacceptable that really is!
I'm beginning to wonder if she will ever get a chance to learn to walk though due to her brother and sister carrying her around so much! We have her first head to toe well baby check on Friday so we will see how the ears are coming along! We are also beginning to wonder if she may be a little lactose intolerant due to the amound of spitting up she does! We'll see!
So, in a nutshell, we are doing great! Bonding and attaching is going much better than we could have asked for and life is sweet!!

P.S. - All of our pictures are still on the little laptop that we took to Ethiopia so I still have to get Mark to help me access them and I promise pics will come soon!

Home Safe and Sound!

Just wanted to let you all know that we are home safe and sound and enjoying our new family! It's a new normal around here! Still a bit jet lagged and trying to catch up on some much needed sleep!
Our flight arrived almost two hours late into DC which put us WAY behind! The travel agent only gave us two hours and 30 minutes to make our connection and to make a long story short, we missed our flight b/c it LEFT EARLY!!! We raced through immigration, baggage claim, customs, rechecked our baggage, got our boarding passes, took the shuttle to another concourse, and when we got to the gate, the plane was gone! Mark got in the customer service line of about 50 people and I went to the front of the line and caught the eye of an attendant and told her that we were at the gate before the plane was scheduled to take off and she needed to fix the problem immediately, she put us on the next flight out which was at 12:40!
We had a wonderful flight into Orlando, Myli slept the entire time and so did I!
I will post pics of our sweet homecoming party which consisted of the Farley family and our children! It was so sweet to see familiar smiling faces! They had posters to welcome Myli home and she took very well to everyone!
Thanks again for all of your prayers! Myli is doing a little better. We took her to our pediatrician on Monday and she still has double ear infections and a sinus infection that the meds in ET just didn't take care of so we are starting on new antibiotics and we are confident that she will be healthy in no time!
We are sooooo happy to be home but most definately have left a HUGE piece of our hearts in Ethiopia!
Love to you all!

THURSDAY UPDATE!

WE STARTED OUR DAY ON THURSDAY BY VISITING THE ORPHANAGE WHERE MYLIAH AND ALL OF THE CHILDREN IN OUR GROUP WERE BROUGHT TO. THE ORPHANAGE IS CALLED KIDS CARE. WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND WERE QUITE SURPRISED BY THE CONDITION OF THE PLACE WHEN WE ARRIVED. WE WERE GREETED BY THE DIRECTOR, ASTER, WHO BRINGS NEW MEANING TO THE TERM "CHRIST LIKE". SHE HUGGED ON ALL OF THE CHILDREN AND THEN INVITED US TO LOOK AROUND. WE WENT TO THE KITCHEN AREA FIRST WHERE A LADY WAS WORKING ON TORO. SHE WAS SIFTING BIG BASKETS FULL OF WHAT LOOKED LIKE KERNELS. WE PEEKED INTO THE KITCHEN WHERE WE FOUND ONE 4 BURNER STOVE THAT THE COOKS USE TO PREPARE MEALS FOR UP TO 60 CHILDREN AT A TIME. FROM THE KITCHEN WE ENTERED THE SCHOOL ROOM WHERE THE CHILDREN WERE BUSILY WORKING AWAY. AFTER CLASS, THE CHILDREN CAME OUTSIDE TO PERFORM SEVERAL SONGS FOR US. IT WAS PRECIOUS SIGHT! WE THEN ENTERED THE NURSERY AREA WHERE THE BABIES AND TODDLERS ARE HOUSED. THE FIRST ROOM WE ENTERED WAS AS BIG AS OUR BATHROOM AT HOME AND IT HAD 4 CRIBS TUCKED IN THERE WITH AT LEAST 3 BABIES PER CRIB. THEY WERE VERY TINY NEWBORNS AND SOME WERE BEING FED WITH BOTTLES PROPPED BESIDE THEM. THE NEXT ROOM WAS FULL OF 6-12 MONTH OLD BABIES WHO WERE QUIETLY PLAYING ON THE STRAW CARPETED FLOOR WITH NOT MUCH MORE THAN A BALL. THERE WAS ONE NANNY IN THE ROOM. WE PLAYED AND LOVED ON SEVERAL OF THEM! WE PROCEEDED DOWN THE HALL TO SEVERAL SMALL ROOMS WHERE THE WALLS WERE LINED WITH CRIBS FULL OF PRECIOUS LITTLE BABIES. IT WAS HEARTWRENCHING TO SAY THE LEAST! THERE WERE JUST SO MANY BABIES! OF COURSE, WE WANTED TO BRING THEM ALL HOE WITH US. WE THEN ASKED IF THEY COULD SHOW US WHERE MYLI HAD SLEPT AND WE GOT TO MEET THE NANNY WHO TOOK CARE OF HER. SHE LOVED AND KISSED ALL OVER HER AND SAID SHE LOOKED SO VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY. WE WERE INVITED TO A COFFEE CEREMONY AND WATCHED AS THE LADIES ROASTED THE COFFEE BEANS AND THEN MADE THE COFFEE WITH SUCH LOVE. THIS WAS ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS AS I DONT DRINK COFFEE BUT CERTAINLY DID NOT WANT TO OFFEND THEM AFTER THE HARD WORK THAT IT TOOK TO MAKE IT. MARK TOOK MY COFFEE AND PREPARED IT AND WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKING, WE GAVE IT TO ONE OF THE OTHER MEN IN THE GROUP AND HE GLADLY DRANK HIS SECOND CUP! AFTER THE COFFEE CEREMONY WE GOT TO MEET THE SPECIAL LADY WHO IS IN CHARGE OF MATCHING ALL OF THE CHILDREN WITH THEIR FAMILIES. OUR MYLI HAPPENS TO SHARE THE SAME NAME, FREHIWOT. OUR TOUR WAS OVER BUT WE DIDNT WANT TO LEAVE. WE ARE FOREVER CHANGED AND A PIECE OF OUR HEARTS ARE THERE FOREVER!
WE LOADED UP ON THE BUS TO GRAB SOME LUNCH AT BLUE TOPS AND IT WAS GREAT! MYLI WAS A GOOD GIRL AND MARK AND I SHARED A BURGER AND FRIES!

I DIDNT KNO HOW HONORED AND BLESSED WE WOULD BE AT OUR NEXT STOP. WE WENT TO THE ADDIS ABABA FISTULA HOSPITAL. THE HOSPITAL WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1974 AND THEY ARE DOING A MIRACULOUS WORK FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF ALL AGES. THEY SPECIALIZE IN TREATING THOSE WITH CHILDBIRTH INJURIES AND VICTIMS OF RAPE. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO RESEARCH THIS SUBJECT AND FIND OUT WHAT GOD IS DOING FOR THESE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. IT IS TRULY AMAZING!!

AFTER RETURNING FROM OUR LONG DAY OF VISITS, WE HAD A NICE BBQ DINNER AT THE OUTSIDE DINING AREA AT THE HILTON.

P.S.- YOUR PRAYERS ARE WORKING, MYLI IS RECOVERING NICELY AND WE THINK SHE WILL BE READY FOR TAKEOFF ON SATURDAY.

Wednesday update from ET!

I KNOW WE ARE A LITTLE BEHIND ON UPDATING BUT WE HAVE BEEN RUNNING EVERYDAY AND WE ARE JUST SO TIRED AT THE END OF THE NIGHT THAT BLOGGING GETS PUSHED UNTIL....

MYLIAH HAS BEEN SICK SINCE WE PICKED HER UP AND WE DECIDED THAT SHE NEEDED TO SEE A DOCTOR FIRST THING SO WE CALLED THE HOTEL NURSE AND THE DR CAME TO OUR ROOM WITHIN THE HOUR. HE WAS WONDERFUL WITH MYLI AND CHECKED HER FROM HEAD TO TOE AND HE FOUND HER TO HAVE TWO EAR INFECTIONS, DOUBLE EYE INFECTIONS, UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION AND SINUS INFECTION AND ALL OF THIS HAS CAUSED DIARRHEA CONTINUOUSLY. DR PRESCRIBED AND ANTIBIOTIC FOR THE EARS,SINUS,AND COUGH, ANTIBIOTIC EYE DROPS, AND SOME LEM-LEM WHICH IS A ORAL HYDRATION SALTS, MUCH LIKE PEDIALYTE IN THE STATES. THE DR TOOK HER PRESCRIPTIONS TO THE FRONT DESK AND WE RECEIVED ALL OF HER MEDS IN LESS THAN AN HOUR DELIVERED TO OUR ROOM!! NOW THAT'S SERVICE!! WE ARE PRAYING FOR A QUICK RECOVERY FOR THE FLIGHT HOME!

WEDNESDAY WAS ALSO OUR EMBASSY APPOINTMENT TO GET MYLI'S VISA. AFTER HAVING OUR BUS CHASED DOWN AND STOPPED BY ARMED SECURITY GUARDS, ONE OF OUR SWEET NEW FRIENDS MICHAEL WAS USHERED OFF OF OUR BUS BY SECURITY FOR VIDEO TAPING THE EMBASSY BUILDING, AFTER DELETING HIS FOOTAGE, WE MET UP AGAIN AND WERE USHERED INTO A SMALL SECURITY ROOM TO GO THROUGH METAL DETECTORS AND HAVE OUR BAGS SEARCHED, THEN WE WERE OFF TO A WAITING AREA OUTSIDE UNTIL WE WERE CALLED TO ANOTHER WAITING ROOM WHERE YOU WAIT TO BE CALLED UP TO SPEAK WITH AN OFFICIAL THROUGH A GLASS WINDOW. WE WERE ASKED A FEW QUESTIONS AND WERE APPROVED WITHOUT ANY DELAY. THAT WAS SUCH A GOOD FEELING AND WE ARE ALL CLEAR TO BRING OUR SWEET MYLI HOME WITH US!
SOME OF THE OTHER FAMILIES WERE NOT SO LUCKY B/C THEY WERE TOLD THAT THEY DID NOT NEED TO BRING TAX RETURNS AND IT TURNS OUT YOU DO TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS! SO AFTER MUCH FRUSTRATION AND SCRAMBLING TO GET TAX FORMS EMAILED AND/OR FAXED OVER, ALL OF THE OTHER FAMILIES RECEIVED THE GO AHEAD AND OUR BABIES ARE ALL COMING HOME!
WE HAD DINNER AT NEW YORK NEW YORK AND THE PIZZA WAS GREAT! THE RESTARAUNT WAS LOUD AND A BIT OVERWHELMING FOR ALL OF THE BABIES. WE SEEM TO BE RUNNING INTO LATE DINNERS AND THAT'S NOT SO GOOD WITH LITTLE ONES THAT ARE WORN OUT AND READY TO GO TO BED. I'LL SPARE YOU THE GORY DETAILS BUT MYLI DECIDED TO HAVE ANOTHER BLOWOUT RIGHT BEFORE LEAVING THE RESTARAUNT AND THERE WAS NOWHERE TO CHANGE HER SO SHE AND DADDY STUNK UP THE BUS ON THE RIDE BACK TO THE HILTON!! OH THE JOYS OF PARENTING BABIES. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME AND THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU FORGET ABOUT AND NOW I REMEMBER WHY!!!
HERE'S A QUICK RUN DOWN OF THE PICS, HOPE THEY SHOW UP!
MYLIAH AND GUARD FROM THE TRANSITIONAL HOME, SHOPPING EXCURSION, WHAT WE ATE FOR LUNCH AT ABESHA, INCUDES A BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE. IT WAS QUITE TASTY THOUGH I WAS VERY HESITANT TO TRY IT, STILL NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT IT ALL WAS BUT FROM WHAT WE WERE TOLD, IT WAS A SAMPLER PLATTER OF MEATS, CHEESES, VEGGIES THAT YOU USE INJERA TO SCOOP IT UP WITH. INJERA IS LIKE A PANCAKE ONLY ALOT MORE SPONGY AND SOUR AND IT COMES ROLLED UP. INJERA IS YOUR UTENSIL!
THE LAST PICTURE IS OF MARK AND MYLI CATCHING A LITTLE NAP ON ONE OF OUR OUTINGS

WOW!!! WHAT A TRIP!!

I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this trip has been!!
Sorry about the updates or the lack of! We just realized today that I was e-mailing the wrong place! oopss!

So, anyways, here's a quick run down of our time so far!

The flights were pretty daunting just due to the length of them! We arrived in DC and the computers were down at ET Air so they were reticketing and boarding everyone by hand and we were the lucky ones to have only waited about 2.5 hours! At one point, the doors were closed and locked and we thought we were going to be in the Dulles airport for the night! After much prayer and pleading with the Man upstairs, we were given seats and took off an hour and a half late!
Good news is we made it and were off running to the transition home Monday morning to meet our sweet babies! What an amazing experience that was! Myliah was very apprehensive at first and cried a bit but we were able to walk around with her and feed her some cereal and rock her to sleep before leaving. I can't say enough about the staff at the home! They love the children as their own and it is very evident! Myliah's nanny was very helpful in showing us how to calm her crying and what noises she uses to soothe her! It was hard to leave her but knowing that the next day would be for forever was an amazing feeling!
This morning (Tuesday) we loaded up to go back to the home one last time. Myliah was sleeping when we got there so we asked her nanny to let her sleep and we took the next hour or so to play and hold the other babies and children at the home! (note to these families, i will try to email your pictures very soon!) All of the children are precious and love the attention!!
Myliah woke up and was changed and handed over to us by her nanny whose heart was visibly breaking! She watched our every move to make sure that we knew exactly what to do and then stood at a distance as Myliah became more familiar with us! There has been a huge change in that Monday, she was more comfortable with Mark and today she has totally taken to her mommy and even cries when I leave the room!
Saying goodbye to the nannies was very emotional for me! Several of the nannies were wiping their tears away as they kept kissing Mylliah goodbye for the last time! As we were walking out the gate, we were called back by one of the nannies and the Director because the guard wanted to say a special goodbye to Myliah. He said he was like her daddy and he loved her and it hurt to see her go! The flood gates were opened!!! She was so loved and it shows!!!!
We have had an awesome day with her! After saying our goodbyes, she has only cried maybe two times and she was just hungry! She is adjusting beautifully and is one of the most mellow babies I have ever been around! We all met for dinner and a paperwork party tonight and we got to meet Girmachew! All I have to say is that Girmachew and Bebe are two amazing men and work so very hard to make things happen on this end!! It's an eye opener to see what happens on this side of the world!
I think I have covered everything up to this point only leaving out some touring, shopping and paperwork drama but all is good and we are just so excited about having this sweet little girl in our lives! It has been an amazing journey and we have fallen in love with the people of Ethiopia and the culture here!

TEST

This is our newest picture of Myliah! Isn't she soooo sweet! We cannot access our BLOGGER account from Ethiopia so we are going to be e-mailing our posts! Just a test to see if this is working!

We're Leaving On A Jet Plane!!

This will be us in just two short weeks!!!

Our Program Director, Duni just called and we have now payed for our airline tickets! We are booked to leave on March 1st and return March 9th! The tickets were quite a bit more than we we had hoped they would be but, it is what it is. We'll make it! We also decided to buy Myliah a seat for the return flight which cost a small fortune but we thought it would be well worth it when we started thinking of the three of us crammed into two seats with all of our junk and this poor innocent tortured soul in the third seat during the hundreds, I mean, MANY MANY hours on the trip home!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! You have endured the long wait with us and now in the last 4 short weeks, we have received our referral, passed court, and now have travel plans! God is so good!! It's been a long road but so worth it and we can't wait to bring Myliah home to meet all of her new friends and family!

Introducing Myliah!!

We are so proud to introduce our sweet little Myliah!! She is officially ours!!! We passed court on February 6th and have tentative travel dates set for Feb 29th - March 8th!!

More like OBSESSED!

77%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Looking for x-ray technician training?

I knew this, I just needed a wake up call!!! :P

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

December 18th we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary! What were we thinking getting married a week before Christmas!! I guess when you don't have children to think about it's a great idea! Now that we have been blessed with 5 children and save almost all of our shopping until the week before Christmas, it doesn't seem like such a great idea!! Mark is usually in a Christmas musical of some sort and many years, he has been performing on our anniversary. This year, the program was early so that was nice.
So, what is it like to be married 20 years?!! Well, we still can't figure out how it is possible since we are both still in our 20's!! LOL!! Ok, the truth.....for the most part, the time has flown by. It hasn't always been easy but worth every second! It is made much easier by having a God fearing husband who is not afraid to follow God's will for our lives and lead our family! We have had some great times! It also helps to have a passionate and loving husband!
Mark got a new Breedlove guitar, the first surprise I have EVER pulled off in our 20 years of marriage, yeah me! and we spent the day together shopping in Orlando! YES, He really loves me! Well, the plan was to go to the new IKEA store first, then to the mall, and then have a nice lunch and return home in time to pick the kids up from school. Well, that was the plan and this is actually what happened.......

We went to IKEA

That's it! We ended up staying more than 3 hours at IKEA (could have been there another 3 if time permitted), didn't have time to go to the mall, didn't even have time to stop for lunch!! Not even a drive through! We were so late getting to the school we had to call our SIL who works at the school and she grabbed T & L for us until we arrived! Thanks Karen! We had a great day and it was so nice to get to spend time together...... just the two of us! That's a rare thing around here but one that we have come to realize how very important it is for a marriage to be successful!
I am so thankful that God has given me such a wonderful husband!
I don't know what I would do without him!

Family Pics!

National Adoption Month

Transition Home is Up & Running!

We received this letter from Laurel, our Ethiopian Program Director on 11-14!
It is nice to know what they need so that we can start collecting the items or monetary donations for when we travel to pick up our daughter.


Dear AW Ethiopia Families,

We are excited and pleased to be able to announce that the new America World transition home in Ethiopia is up and running. Last week the first 13 children, who were recently referred to families were moved from Kids Care to the America World home. The home has been equipped with all the major needs and staff have been hired, trained and are providing loving care. There are still many things needed to help make the home a nurturing and stimulating environment for your prospective children as they wait the arrival of their parents. Therefore, we are writing to let you know of some of these needs and how you could help meet them, if you desire to do so.

America World employee Rachel (Duckworth) Ward and her husband will be making a 10-day trip to Ethiopia before their official move there at the end of January 2008. So if you would like to donate items for use at the transition home, please have them mailed to or dropped off at the America World--Tennessee office by close of business on Wednesday, November 21st. Items may also be dropped off at the Corporate office in McLean. Rachel will be leaving for Addis on Monday morning, the 26th.

Here is a list of suggested items:

Classic children's books
Coloring books and crayons
Children's Bibles and/or Bible stories
Hand Sanitizer (large bottles)
CD players, children's worship CD's, lullabies, etc.
DVD player and Children's Videos (ie: Veggie Tales, The Wiggles, Praise Baby)
Rubber coated children's spoons
ABC and 123 learning materials for toddlers.
Tape recorder
Little cosmetic mirror
Baby blankets, regular ones and one with hoods sewn in
Towels/soaps and bath items
Playdough
Jump rope
Inflatable balls
Bubbles
Lace cards, beads to string on laces
Clothing
Diapers
Baby Tylenol, antibiotics, probiotics


If you would prefer to make a monetary donation, you may write a check to America World and send it to the corporate office in McLean. In the memo line, please write "transition home support," so that our finance department knows how to allocate your donation. Rachel will be able to use these funds to purchase items while she is in Addis.

November News!

Praying that our news will come in November!!!!

Ethiopia - November 2nd
America World received court appointments this week for the five families who received referrals on October 3, 2007. The appointments are scheduled for November 7, 2007. Once we have final approvals for these families, America World will begin to work on their travel. We continue to wait for court appointments for those who received referrals on October 19, 2007

Ethiopia - November 9thAmerica World continues to wait on court approvals for the five families who received referrals on October 3, 2007. There were some hold-ups due to delays at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. We anticipate more news for the families waiting on approvals next week.

America World continues to work toward our goal of the transition home in Addis opening. This past week our staff representative secured cribs, beds, refrigerators and other households appliances for the home and has started the process of hiring nannies. Eventually children will stay in this home between referral and travel. Our agency looks forward to the home’s grand opening!

October News!

I haven't been very good at keeping up with the updates lately! SO...The following are the Agency Updates for October! This should fill you in!

Ethiopia - October 5thAmerica World is happy to announce that we received referrals for six children this week; four of the children were males, and two of the children were females. The ages of the children ranged from approximately 1 ½ months to 11 months old. There are five families currently reviewing the referrals for these children. We look forward to receiving their responses within the next week!

As mentioned in the Ethiopia September monthly update, America World signed a lease for a transition home in Addis Ababa last week! Once this home is up and running, the children who are being adopting by America World families, will be transitioned to this home from the orphanage between the time of referral and travel. In addition to this, our in-country staff liaison has recently hired two additional staff to help with adoption processing. Our agency believes that both of these accomplishments will lead to a smoother, more efficient adoption process for Ethiopia families, so we are happy to share this news!

Ethiopia - October 12thSeveral families have asked about referral timings. How often does America World anticipate receiving referrals? In answer to this question, referrals in the Ethiopia program will be more sporadic and less systematic than some of the other America World adoption programs. Occasionally our agency may receive two sets of referrals in a month; other times there may be more than one month between referral batches. In most cases, we will receive multiple referrals at a time rather than individual referrals. This will assist America World in planning group travel for families.

Ethiopia - October 19America World is happy to announce that we received referrals for six children this week; three of the children were males, and three of the children were females. The ages of the children ranged from approximately 2 months to 14 months old. There are five families currently reviewing the referrals for these children. We look forward to receiving acceptances from families within the next week!

October - 26thOur agency continues to wait on court appointments for the families who received referrals on 10/3/07 and 10/19/07. The court in Ethiopia has been overloaded due to re-opening after 2 months of being closed, but we anticipate receiving appointments in the near future.

America World recently hired Rachel (Duckworth) Ward to work with our transitional home services in Addis. Those of you in Tennessee may know Rachel as she has worked in America World’s Tennessee affiliate office as its Director of Social Services since AW-TN was licensed in 2004. She and her husband Barrett plan to depart for Addis Ababa early in 2008.

Mac N Cheese Prayer!

Found this today and just had to share! Enjoy!

Changes!

Our children are growing up WAY TOO FAST!!!! ALL OF THIS IN A MATTER OF TWO WEEKS! IT's HARD ON A MAMA'S HEART!!
1. My oldest (11) started shaving her legs!
2. My baby started pre-school and turns 5 tomorrow!
3. My oldest son went to Homecoming AND drove himself!

With Sad Hearts

Katie Denise Beary
12/20/1980 - 9/4/2007

Katie Denise Beary, 26, of Little Rock, died in a car accident in Memphis early Tuesday morning, September 4, 2007. She was born on December 20, 1980 in North Little Rock, and attended Parkview High School.

She is survived by a daughter, Leyla Paige Harpold, of Melbourne, Florida; her parents, Tom and Nancy Beary, of Little Rock; one sister, Billie Cobb, and her husband, Charlie, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; one nephew, Tyson Cobb, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and several aunts, uncles, and cousins who loved her very much.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 8, 2007, at the First Church of God, Frenchman’s Lane, Little Rock, Arkansas, with Pastor Mark Lewis officiating. Interment will be at Pinecrest Memorial Park.

DEAREST KATIE:
WE LOVE AND WILL MISS YOU ALWAYS!
MARK, MEL & FAMILY

Pics of the Lakehouse!

The Lakehouse was in Eatonton, GA which is located exactly in the middle of NOWHERE! The GPS couldn't even find the streets!! LOL!! It was a very nice new house and was decorated in a hunting/black bear motif. The floors were all wide planked pine and were beautiful! As you can see in the pics, even down to the mirrors in the master bath had antlers! There are 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The house is on Lake Sinclair which is 15,330 acres of water and has over 400 miles of shoreline! I think we saw EVERY INCH of the lake while boating! We had such a great time!

Couldn't resist! More Pics!

More Pics!

Our Summer!

Over all we had a great summer! We were all getting a little restless by the time school started but we managed to make it! :)
We finally went on a "real" family vacation this summer. We rented a lakehouse in Eatonton, GA and it was great to get away from everything! It was a good 25 minute drive to the nearest Wal-Mart (but thank God we had one, we made about 4 trips!) We enjoyed boating everyday and the kids had so much fun tubing and knee boarding! Mark even accomplished some scurfing and skiing too!! I will try to upload some pics to share!

Tommy, Tay, Blake, and Leyla started school last week and it went pretty smoothly! We love all of their teachers and we are praying for a great year! Sophi starts pre-school this coming Tuesday. She has been lost not having anyone around but mom these days so she is ready to go.

On the adoption front, all is still pretty quiet. We haven't heard any news lately. Our family co-ordinator just returned from a two week trip to Ethiopia and she shared her experience with us which just made us that much more excited to get over there to our new daughter! We will keep you posted on any news we hear!

So, that's about all that's goin on here!

A Must See Video!

Video set to "Everything" by Lifehouse
If you need Jesus to come to your rescue and help you fight off the distractions, temptations, and harmful influences in your life all you have to do is ask for His help. Get down on your knees and pray to God. Ask Him to forgive you for your sins, tell Him that you believe that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for you, so you could spend eternity in relationship with Him.

MY BABY IS DRIVING HIS OWN CAR!!!

Well....Here it is!! We are officially parents to a 16 year old boy with a CAR!!!!
Tommy left for camp this past Monday and we started the hunt for a car for him. He had the money (most of it anyways :P), we just found the car for him! We wanted it to be a surprise and boy was it ever! I could not sleep Wednesday night and just kept praying and asking God to bring the right car to us and give us some kind of a sign so that we would know it was the right one. I was searching on craigslist.com Wednesday night and found a car in our area and when Mark got home from church, he e-mailed the guy. The guy calls him back on Thursday and it turns out that he's leaving for NY on Friday and wants to sell the car right away! The price is good and he offered to meet us at the church for us to look at it! I went to look at another car while Mark was waiting to meet at the church and by the time I arrived at the church, Mark had already driven the car and felt good about it. I told Taylor on the way that I had a good feeling about this and I thought this was going to be the one. When I got to the church, I stepped out of the car and the first words Mark said to me is, "Guess who Shaun works with?" Pam S.!! Turns out, he works as a teacher at the same school as a very good friend of the family!! THANK YOU GOD!!! That's the kind of sign I had prayed for! The guy was very young and is a speech teacher! So..................that's the story of how the car came to be! It's a beautiful 2000 Mustang! A reddish-orange color!
Now, Tommy got back tonight around 11:00pm from camp and was his normal talkative self! Mark had the car sitting across the whole driveway, all posed for the new owner as he arrived home! It was great! He was actually speechless and couldn't catch his breath once he realized that the car was his! Taylor gave him the keys and then it really hit him, IT WAS ALL HIS!!!
Daddy took him for a ride in it (it's a stick and he will have to learn to drive it) and he is in love! It was great to see his reaction! We also invited his girlfriend over to see it and her parents were kind enough to come by for a few minutes so they could "share the moment"! It was cute!
MY BABY BOY IS DRIVING A CAR!!!!!! I just don't see how that happens! Mommy is having a hard time letting her firstborn grow up! I know it is inevitable but does it have to happen soooo fast??!! He is such a good boy and we are soooo proud of him! I don't know many 16 yo teenage boys that would stand in front of almost 600 people and lead them in Worhsip like Tommy did a couple of weeks ago at church! It was a Youth Led service and he did an AWESOME job!! It was AMAZING to see my son and his passion for Christ!! Keep up the good work baby boy!! We love you and are so proud of you!!! You deserve the best!!

NEW BLOG FOR ETHIOPIA ADOPTION!

I have been working on this for a few months but had not shared it yet with too many people. It's been kind of boring, regarding the process. We just received our USCIS approval this week so we are almost on the waiting list so I'ts time.
To follow our journey to Africa, go to: http://www.totsites.com/tot/journeytoafrica
(You may have to copy and paste it)
I will be posting any new news to this address but plan to keep this Blog for our family updates!

HAPPY MOMMY'S DAY!!!

This was one of the best Mommy's Day I have ever had!! I was awaken by a sweet little face that was excited to give me gifts that she had kept well hidden in her room for several days! Mark and the kids got me a necklace!!! It is beautiful as you can see! I also included a picture of some of the other special gifts that I received this past week, the best are the handmade ones if you ask me!!!! We went to church as we normally do and then took my mom and Mark's mom out to Chili's for lunch! It was very nice! I got to see my big brother that I hadn't seen in a while too! After enjoying a nice lunch, we came home and did NOTHING! That was the best gift of all!
I AM BLESSED!

CONGRATS TAYLOR!!

Taylor entered a Design-An-Ad competition along with 4,000 other students from Brevard and Indian River Counties for the statewide newspaper, "Florida Today". There were a total of 48 schools represented and 140 teachers involved. 46 local businesses submitted their criteria to the schools so that students could design ads for the companies to chose from. Taylor's ad was picked! Out of 4,000 applicants, only 46 were chosen! We celebrated with her at the Florida Today compound! The company that she designed for was Marine Max and a representative from the company came to see her get her award! It was a great night and we are so proud of her! I have included some pictures of her with her Art teacher, Mrs. Weatherington, the Marine Max rep "John" and the Florida Today rep.
Enjoy!

Sophi's Room!

For those of you whom I promised a peek into Sophi's room.....
It still is not complete but here is the room so far..........

Our family

Our Journey to Blake and Sophi!

EASTER 2007

Taylor's Birthday Bash!

Well, Taylor turned 11 this year!! I can't believe how time flies!
We had a great time! Taylor invited 6 girls for a sleepover. We started out at her favorite Chinese Restaraunt where they filled up on the best Chicken Fried Rice and Bourbon Chicken ever! We then went to ROSS where the girls filled a cart full of Junior Misses size dresses and proceeded to put on a FULL FASHION SHOW in the dressing rooms! We were in the dressing rooms for an hour while they modeled their beutiful dresses! From there we went to Payless Shoes where I endured yet another FASHION SHOW of SHOES and they all walked the wooden middle isle "Runway" sporting the highest heels they could find in the store! The girls ended the night with a "Midnight Swim"! It was great! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!

FUNNY SOPHI

Sophi's Favorite thing to say now.... While sitting at the computer..."Daddy, How do you spell "dot com"??? Too funny!! She always keeps us laughing!

HIS Truth Is Marching On!

"Where you live should not decide whether you live or you die!"
"Love thy neighbor is not a piece of advice, IT IS A COMMAND"

We're Growing Again!

Most of you already know but just in case you missed the news.......Our family is growing again!!! We are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia!!! Everyone is so excited and we cannot wait to see what child God has in store for our family!
Just a little background on how this all came to be.....
July 2006 - Began to pray!
August 2006 - Started researching countries and agencies
September 2006 - Prayed some more
October 2006 - Felt God leading us to Africa
November 2006 - We decided for sure on Ethiopia and found a great agency
December 2006 - Applied to agency
January 2007 - We were accepted
February 2007 - Started gathering paperwork for our homestudy and dossier.

The way things are looking, it will be about this time next year when our new daughter joins her Forever Family!

We are starting a new blog to keep as a journal of our journey to AFRICA!!! I will share that when we get it all set up!

Chuck E Cheese

We tried to go to Disney World but they were closed due to being at capacity so we took a trip to CEC instead!

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2006 (pg#2)

Decorating the tree!

Some New Pics

Fall Fest at our church, Sophi's Thanksgiving Day Program, Just havin' fun!

IT'S All OFFICIAL!

We had Blake and Sophi's Re-Adoption Day on October 5th and celebrated with Chinese food with the Farley's.
Leyla's last adoption hearing was on October 31st!

Sophi's 4th B-Day

Christmas Song

Sophi's 1st Day of School

With Tinkerbell (her fav) backpack and snack box in tow, Sophi started pre-school!

First Family Vacation - Disney World 2006

As you can tell from the pics below, we had a great time at Disney World this summer! ALL 7 OF US!!! There were very few complaints although it felt like it was 100+ degrees! We stayed at the New Orleans Riverside Disney Resort and that was wonderful too! They had several pools and lots of great things to do including boatrides and great restaraunts!
Our family is truly blessed!

Disney World - 2006

Disney World - 2006

Disney World - 2006

EASTER 2006

EASTER 2006

A FEW MORE!

MORE PLAYING AROUND

PLAYING AROUND

Sweetie Pies

MORE SIGHTSEEING

The man holding Sophi is Yeh. He was our taxi driver for the entire week we were there. He was very good with Blake and Sophi. When Mark would get out of the car just to run in somewhere and Sophi would scream, Yeh would hold her and walk around telling her Ba-Ba (Daddy)would be right back. He was so sweet.

SISTER ROSA, PENNY & MARIA

I often wondered what the people who were taking care of our children looked like. Here are a couple of pics of Sister Rosa who is the Director of Cathwel, Penny, who is the Assistant Director, and Maria, who was Blake and Sophi's Case Worker while at Jonah House.

Sightseeing and Fun Times

Travel Pics - Sophi

These are Sophi's pics from her visit to Jonah House. As you can see, her caregivers loved her very much. She had a special little buddy that she took care of while at Jonah House. She loved to help take care of the babies.

More Travel Pics - Blake

These are a few pictures of Blake's friends and his room with his roomate. The boys loved the gifts we brought and Blake was very proud to hand out the T-shirts and candy.

MORE TRAVEL PICTURES

Picture #1 - We are standing outside of Jonah House where Blake and Sophi have been living. Pic#2 - Blake and Sophi in the activity room where we first met them. Pic#3 - Blake & Sophi with Penny who is the Assistant Director of the Orphanage and Maria, their social worker. Pic#4&5 - Our first night together in the hotel having a good old fashion pillow fight.

TRAVEL PICTURES

Picture #1&2 - Playtime on Valentines Day. Pic#3 - Blake relaxing and playing his Game Boy. Pic#4 - Daddy & Sophi reading together. Pic#5 - Daddy sleeping while Sophi blows bubbles.

Our first couple of nights home.

Well.....
It has been a couple of hard days.
We did not get much sleep Saturday night. Sophi was up basically all night. We are back to square one with her on the sleeping b/c we are in another new place for her. Blake on the other hand has done great! He goes right to bed and falls asleep very fast and sleeps all night. It will just take Sophi a little longer due to her age and not being able to understand. We woke up Sunday morning to our hot water heater having flooded our garage and it ended up being an all day project and we still did not have hot water before we went to bed. Sunday night was no better for sleep but Blake and Sophi are starting to go to bed earlier. It should not take long to get them turned around and on our time here. As soon as we get into a more regular routine, it should be much easier.

We spent most of Monday just playing around the house and Mark STILL working to get our hot water tank replaced. This afternoon we went to the beach and everyone had a great time. Sophi got too far out in the water and got really wet. She was not very happy about that. She was cold too so that didn't help things. That wore them out! Maybe tonight will be a better night to sleep!

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!

We are soooo very happy to be back home!! There truly is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!

We had good flights home but not a lot of sleep so we are very very tired.
When we arrived in Orlando this morning, Most of the Farley Tribe were there to greet us along with Tommy, Taylor, and Leyla! My mom was also there but waited at baggage claim. That was a great welcome home for us and we needed to see some familiar faces! We missed everyone so much!

Blake took a few minutes to warm up to everyone but was soon playing and fitting right in! Sophi and Emma were so sweet together. They held hands and played. Sophi also took a liking to Zachary! I feel like they will adjust very well. Now just to get Sophi to give Mark some space! He's loving it but needs a little break!

We just stayed around the house today and got a little rest. Blake has hit it off well with Tommy and the X-Box games and Sophi has been a little ham running around playing. She sat for a long time with Taylor tonight just giving her kisses over and over. So sweet!

Well, it is late and I think that we may get to bed real soon. Maybe it won't take too long for everyone to get back on schedule and our days and nights will be all straightened out soon.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support on this long journey to our blessings! Glad to be home safe and sound!

DAY 5 IN TAIWAN - LEAVING TODAY!

We took things easy today! We packed up everything this morning and headed out at about 11:00am. We took a taxi to the Main MRT station and rode around to the different parts of the city. We found lots of shopping and things to do. Kim told us about TGI Fridays restaurant and we were ready for a bit of American food at this point. We tried asking several people where this was with no help and then we had a very sweet young lady who worked right by TGIF who took us right to it. Blake had a little meltdown in the restaurant because he wanted some ice cream but he didn't understand when Mark told him after he ate he could have it. We asked the waitress to tell him he could have the ice cream after he ate his lunch and she asked if she should tell him in English or Chinese! LOL!!! He understood and things got a little better. Sophi is warming up to me a little more. Slowly but surely it will happen. She fed me some french fries at the restaurant and was interacting with me quite a bit. She still gets VERY upset if she doesn't see Mark so they have been spending a lot of quality time together. We leave tonight at 8:00pm to go to the airport. It is bitter sweet. I can't wait to get home but it is kind of sad to think about taking Blake and Sophi from everything they know. We are praying for a great trip home and lots of family time!

Tommy, Taylor & Leyla:
We cannot wait to see you guys!!!!!
We love you and hope you get a great night sleep!!!
Love ya oddles and oodles!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Mommy & Daddy

DAY 4 IN TAIWAN

We started out the day with a trip to the Handicraft Market. It was a neat place. We did not get to stay as long as I wanted due to having two children who don't understand the words, "Don't Touch" (in English anyway)!! Blake and Sophi were ready to run around, not look at things in a store. We left the Handicraft Market and walked a few blocks until we found an MRT station. The MRT is a subway system here and was really really crowded. I thought it would be really easy to find our way around and it wasn't too bad but, like I said, Blake and Sophi were running all around while we were trying to figure out which loop to get on. It was quite comical for those around us I'm sure! When we finally got on the MRT, we headed down to the Main station and found a little shopping mall and a food court!!!! YEAH, FOOD!!!! We had lunch at a place called Sunflowers and they had spaghetti and garlic bread!! That was soooo good! We looked around for a while and Blake and Sophi had ice cream and then we headed back to the Handicraft Market where our taxi was waiting.

We are very tired and looking forward to an early night tonight!

We are leaving tomorrow evening at 8:00 to head to the airport. Our flight leaves Taipei at 11:30pm.
Please pray for a safe trip back home for us!!! Both Blake and Sophi are getting colds so also pray that they will have a good flight and not have problems with their ears or anything.

Tommy, Taylor and Leyla:
I am so glad we got to talk to you this morning!!! We have missed you sooooooo much!!! We cannot wait for you to meet your new brother and sister! I know you will love them as much as we do!
See you very soon!!!!
Love, Mommy and Daddy

DAY 3 CONTINUED

Well, we went to Jonah House at 3:30 today and were greeted by some of the nicest people ever! We first went to the older boys wing where we were bombarded with the boys trying out their English skills on us. Some were very good and some...well they were not! They all tried hard though. Blake handed out his gifts and they were all so happy. Blake took us to his old room and showed us his bed. He slept on the top in bunk beds. We got to take lots of pictures and video of Blake with his friends. We also met Teresa who is the social worker for this group of boys. She was very kind and told us of all of the boys who also needed a home. They were all touching and pulling my hair. The ladies just laughed and said many of them had never seen my color hair (blonde). It was funny. They also thought that my freckled arms were funny. LOL We had a great time. Blake was ready to go home. That was an awesome feeling!

From the boys wing, we went over to the toddler wing. It was so nice to see how much the caregivers really care for the children. Sophi was greeted by ladies and one gentleman that were so happy to see her. They just doted all over her and held her and gave her candy!! She showed us her little toddler bed where she slept next to her little buddy. He was a doll. We timed things good. The older children were still at school so she was the only older toddler there at the time so she got a lot of special attention! And boy was she loving it!!!! She got to have snack time and helped feed the little toddlers. Shortly after snack time, her friends came in from school and they were also very happy to see her. They hugged and kissed and played until nap time and then we had to say our goodbye's. I will sum this part up into a few words. It was heart wrenching! I have never seen such hurting! Sophi was truly loved and was very special to the caregivers and that made things very hard for everyone. Blake was very sweet to Sophi when we left and he comforted her in the car until she had calmed down. He is a great big brother.

We had the privilege of meeting and talking with Sister Rosa. She is a dear lady! She was so kind and so compassionate with the children! She is a very matter of fact woman and will tell you exactly what you need to know. She had a long talk with Blake and Sophi about their new lives in America and that she wanted the best for them.

I am glad to have this part of the journey behind us. We were caught off guard with the idea of saying good-bye because when we arrived Monday, Sophi had her backpack on and was ready to go. She did not cry or anything when we left so we had a different idea of how things were going to go. That's ok. I know that this needed to happen so Blake and Sophi would have a definite separation from this life. We will always remember how blessed we are to have the 5 children that God has given us through birth and adoption! We are truly BLESSED!

Can't wait to come home!!

DAY 3 IN TAIPEI

This is what we have done so far today:

We had our AIT appointment at 8:30 this morning to apply for Blake and Sophi's visa's. Our social worker Maria met us there and they ushered us right up to where we needed to be. It did not take long at all. We were there about an hour or an hour and a half. Maria was happy to see the kids. She said they looked very happy. While waiting at AIT I got to talk to Maria a bit about the children and she gave me some very helpful information. I found out that Sophi is used to having a bottle of milk every night before bed so that was nice to know. Maybe tonight will go a little smoother at bed time! She also said that one of the reasons Sophi probably attached to Mark so fast is that he looks a lot like her foster father and she was VERY attached to him. Made me feel a little bit better anyways. She actually let me dress her this morning without crying. She was sitting on Mark's lap but that's ok, it was a nice baby step.
After our AIT appointment, we went to what Maria called a children's amusement park. Mark & I were both expecting something similar to Sea World. No.....this would be more like a traveling circus with about one third of the rides and things to do. Blake requested (actually, he insisted) to Maria that we go before he left Taiwan so that's why we went. They both had a great time running around and played at the little playground so it was well worth the visit. It felt like it was 100 degrees though!
While at AIT this morning, Maria invited us back to Jonah House so the children could say good-bye to Blake and Sophi. Blake's friends only went to school a half of a day today and Sophi's friends who are in K will be home around 4:00. We are leaving the hotel at 3:00. We will meet Sister Rosa and see where Blake & Sophi have lived. We are very excited.
Well, I will go upstairs and prepare for our trip to Jonah House. We will let you know how it goes!


Tommy, Taylor & Leyla:
Mommy and Daddy miss you soooooo much!!!!
We love you ooooooodles and oooooodles!!!!

DAY 2 IN TAIPEI

Let's see....I'll start off where I ended yesterday afternoon. By the time I returned to the room from posting, Sophi had stopped crying. She was upset that I had taken her shoes off of her! She had another melt down when we were tried to change her into her jammies for bed but sat with Mark until she calmed down.
We ventured out for dinner last night and Mark, Blake and Sophi ate
at a little place right by the hotel. I was not up to eating.

Anytime we say we are going "bye-bye", Sophi runs and gets her backpack that she brought with her from Jonah House! She is soooo cute. It was really heavy so when she went to sleep, we took some things out of it and made it more manageable.
Mark was exhausted last night so he fell asleep in the bed with Blake and Sophi and I was in the twin all by myself! Sophi woke up once and was crying and I just rubbed her back and she went right back to sleep. She is attached to Mark like super glue! If he leaves the room, she screams her head off!!!! She does not want anything to do with me right now. She just cries when I try to touch her so I will wait it out and let her get used to me. Maria, who was Sophi's social worker told us that she was VERY attached to her foster father and this may be why she is so attached to Mark. Blake is as sweet as they get (so far)!! He helps to comfort Sophi when she is upset and he has told us when she needed to go potty so far. We are so glad that Penny worked on letting them get aquainted before we came. Blake is a little smaller than I thought he would be. He wears about a size 6 or 7. He loved all of his clothes that we brought for him. He also loves the Game Boy that Frank & Kim Farley sent for him too. He now asks for it in English.

This morning, we came downstairs for breakfast and found out that Sophi really does like to eat! They told us at Jonah House that food and sleep are very important to her and boy were they ever right!! Blake is a much pickier eater than Sophi. He eats very little and has a lot of energy to burn off.
We found the Wellcome Supermarket today and bought some food items, water, and juice for lunch. We are talking about going to McD's for dinner tonight. We will see!
Well, I better go check on the gang! We had a great pillow fight this morning and I think that's what was about to happen when I left! Oh yeah, right before I left the room, Daddy was drawing a kitty cat with Sophi and she actually said it in English! They are both VERY VERY smart and I believe will catch on quick!

Tommy, Taylor and Leyla:
We Love you soooooooooooo much! Can't wait to get home to see you!!! Hope you are having a GREAT week!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo!
Mommy & Daddy

GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

It is very hard to explain how it was seeing Blake and Sophi in person finally!
Very very overwhelming but so good!!!!
Blake came in very shy and he is most definitely Mr. Personality. He is as sweet as can be! He took to Mark very fast and even held his hand when they went out for a walk while Sophi was napping.

Sophi (we found out she likes to be called Wei-Wei) was very stand-offish and took a bit to warm up to us. The social worker, Maria, would tell her to come sit with mama and dada and she would for about 30 seconds and then she was off to something else. She is a BIG and HEAVY girl! She was too excited to take her nap before we arrived so she was ready to go as son as we got there. She packed her little backpack and was out the door headed to the elevator while we were talking with the social worker. Blake and Sophi both fell asleep in the taxi on the way back to the hotel. Blake woke up and walked upstairs and has been awake ever since but Sophi slept in the stroller for about an hour and a half. She was very scared when she woke up and has been crying ever since. Poor thing, she is SO scared! I don't think she has ever drank out of a sippy cup or at least she wants me to believe that so I can't get her to drink anything. I need to find something edible for dinner so I better run. Will be back later to let you know how things are going.

P.S. - Taylor, She won't let me take any of her clothes off but from the looks of things, she will be in size 4's or 5's! She got a little haircut but did let me put a clip in her hair today at Jonah House. Her feet are little. The pink converse we sent her are a bit too big. I can't think of anything else right now. Once I get her clothes changed I will be able to see more of her. Oh yeah, she LOVES pink! And she had on a pair of pants with a pair of sweats over them. She had on 3 shirts and a big Hello Kitty jacket with her pink shoes! One more thing. She likes to play kitchen and fixing foods so that little kitchen we have will be perfect for her!

TOMMY, TAYLOR AND LEYLA:
We miss you guys so much and cannot wait for you to meet your new brother and sister! They are a lot like you guys and I know they will fit right in! Our digital camera is gone so for now, we can't post pictures! We will see what we can do tomorrow.

Love you all!!!!
Mommy

HELLO FROM TAIPEI

WE MADE IT!!!!!!
We just got to the hotel, showered and are out to find a camera! Yes, ours has gone missing between San Francisco and Taipei. That's ok though, we still have 2 hours until our taxi comes to pick us up.

The flights were wonderful! I slept most of the way from Orlando to San Fran and a lot of the way to Taipei. Not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. We do highly recommend EVA Evergreen Deluxe, it was so comfortable.

TO: Tommy, Taylor &　Ｌｅｙｌａ：
Ｗｅ　ｌｏｖｅ　ａｎｄ　ｍ�