There's No Place Like Home

We made it home and it truly was a Christmas Miracle that we were able to catch the last flight to Boise from Seattle on Christmas night after many delays and 33 hours of traveling. I have never missed my children like I missed them this trip, as well as my bed, my shower,... and the list could go on and on. Our luggage got lost in the craziness so our camera was also missing until yesterday, but here are a couple more photos.

Great long time friends of our children and new lifetime friends of Sam and I, The Healy Family and us, before we flew home.

Handsome DAG! He really does smile, just not usually on command.

Nate with his best buddy and his buddy's sunglasses that he just couldn't get enough of.

Dag has a fascination with cars, so this is his favorite place now that we are home. Let's hope it lasts for a while, being the youngest of 6 children with schedules, he'll spend his fair share of time in that very spot.

Nate, doing what he does best,.. smile and get into EVERYTHING! Did I bring home a 5 year old or an 18 month old? I must admit I did underestimate the language barrier...it is really hard not being able to explain, "NO!" as he opens the car door driving down the road.

The whole family is still experiencing a little jet lag. Last night the boys feel asleep at 5:30pm and we could not wake them for anything, so today Nate, AKA Mr. Energizer Bunny, started his day at 3am, hence we did too. A little sleep deprivation going on at our house!?

The cutest thing is watching them in the tub. It is their favorite thing yet I would say. They splash and laugh, and dunk each other, and laugh, and rub soap all over each other and laugh. Swimming lessons are definitely in order since neither of them have any fear of the water.

So let me be honest, I love these two farts to death, but this is HARD! We can do it though. I know they are meant to be part of our family, and I wouldn't have it any other way. So here's to perseverance.

A Whole New World

Pictures Finally! These are just a couple of our favorites to depict our stay here.

This is Injera, a traditional ethiopian meal, and you just all dig in with your hands, no forks allowed.

The most common site on the streets...Goats everywhere.

Now for the important pictures, Nate listening to his first Hannah Montana

A little wrestling before bed.

Dag after the embassy appointment looking at photos of his family in America.

This was traditional dancing. The women are soooo beautiful.

Dad and Dag watching a movie together.

What an Experience

Amazing! That is the only word that can sort of describe this experience. I am so grateful to be here, but can I just say, " God Bless America", we are so blessed. Every moment we get to spend with the boys we fall more and more in love. They really are amazing strong little guys with personality bubbling over. Nate is such the charmer. He loves sun glasses and I caught him wearing mine and then going over to the TV to see his reflection and striking poses and giving himself the thumbs up. He is also so smart, and very talkative. We just say, "ishy, ishy" which means okay, uh huh, in Amharic after all his stories. Dag loves cars and trucks and reading books and snuggling. Yesterday we had to go to a meeting in the morning but some of the parents went to the care center while we were in our meeting, and they said Dag was ticked when we didn't show up. He cried and was so upset. Later, when we did get to go hang out, he just melted in our arms. Seriously, you guys are going to love these two. Yesterday we watched a movie the agency has put together for us about their background, and it is so precious. Their mom is my hero. She is beautiful and so strong. I am so grateful to her. Tomorrow we actually get to meet with her in person and I pray I will hold it together to be able to rightfully thank her and put her mind at ease.

Sam and I went jogging yesterday morning and realized never in our WILDEST dreams did we picture ourselves going for a morning jog in Africa. Suprisingly, there were a lot of men out jogging, and goat herders, and wild dogs...you know how I love dogs out on my run...needless to say I got stared at a lot. The jet lag thing is killer. We can barely stay awake until 7:30, and then at 1-2am we are wide awake, listening to dogs bark, crazy birds, and this man singing in a megaphone from the orthodox church from 1-7am. This is more culture than I ever dreamed. I have some really cool pictures of the Mercado, the largest open air market in Africa, but the dial up thing isn't cooperating with posting photos yet.

We are safe, happy, and having the experience of a lifetime. Still in search of a wifi cafe, but we have a good lead so maybe soon you'll see pictures. Love to all.

Love at first sight

We are here, and we got to meet our boys this morning. They are amazing. I held it together and I can't wait for you guys to meet them. Nate is a ball of fire! Total charmer. Sicily, you have your work cut out for you. Dag is so sweet and loving...adorable. We can't take any pictures of them until they are in our care on Tuesday, so you'll have to wait for that, but we couldn't be happier. Ethiopia is definitly third world. The people are beautiful and so genuine and kind. We can only use dial up internet once and a while so I'll see if I can find a wifi cafe somewhere else to post more. Love you all.

Christmas Miracle

Finally! We have tickets in hand and we are going to Ethiopia for Christmas. Sam and I leave for Ethiopia on Wednesday December 16, and will be hugging and kissing our boys Friday morning...and hopefully not crying too hard is my goal. We return home Christmas night, for what I imagine will be an unforgettable Christmas for all. I can hardly believe it is really happening. We've talked about and prayed for this day to come for 9 months now, and now that it is here we are a little "freaked out" by the unknown. "Are we ready, will they like us?" are just two of the thousands of thoughts that run through my head all day long. A couple of nights ago I dreamt I brought the wrong kids home. UGG!

So much to do in the next two days, hence this blog is brief. I am hoping to post some pictures while we are there, so stay tuned. Thanks to all for your love and support the last 9 months. We couldn't have done it without you.

A Little More Aloha

I just had to include a few more of our favorite photos from Hawaii:

Sicily loved boogy boarding with dad, but especially loved playing in the sand 12 hours a day.

We could not get Elle out of the water. She was such a fish. If there was a wave she was in it.

The girls at our favorite beach.

The boys doing what they did best. They played so hard in the water, it made me tired.

Family photo

A Thanksgiving to Remember

ALOHA!

Thanksgivings Hawaiian style is Heavenly.

These are the brave cliff divers at "the end of the world" today. I was a little sheepish, and didn't partake...they needed a picture taker, right? Gone are the days of my cliff jumping. Now that I have six children to mother and care for, I'm not as brave as I was in years past. Oh, well.

The waves this morning were enormous, and Sicily did a lot of running from them.

Carter was the first to take the 35 foot plunge.

Happy Turkey Day 2009! We need a tan.

I've Got Proof

We got birth certificates of the boys this week and it was such a great feeling to see they are officially Smiths. They had a passport photo attached to the birth certificate and they both looked like hell, which breaks my heart. Last week they were moved from the orphanage they have known for the last 18 months to our agency's care center in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Luckily, they have each other and 13 other children from their previous orphanage to be with them, as everything familiar is taken away. I think this is one of my favorite pictures I have. Knowing they have each other has brought me a lot of peace, on many a sleepless night when I wake up worried about them, as we moms tend to do. We should have a travel date in the next few days...I'll keep you posted.

SCARY

Girls wanting to be vampires for Halloween? Not a princess, a fairy, a bug, or rock star...VAMPIRES. I tried my hardest to convince them otherwise, but they would not have it. So here you go, my two adorable vampires ready to suck your blood, complete with custom made fangs from dad's office. I'm glad I forgot the red-eye reduction button too, it is so fitting for thirsty vampires.

Spencer had a party with 15 of his friends to celebrate the night. They watched The Sixth Sense, and they might be pretending to be screaming for the picture, pre-movie, but they were screaming like a bunch of girls moments into the show. I've never seen 15 thirteen year old boys snuggle up so close in all my life.

Poor Carter spent the night quarantined in my room with the likes of the swine flu. Thank goodness he is on the mend now.

Happy Birthday Nathnael

Happy 5th Birthday to Nate!

And Happy Halloween to all. I'm not sure I love that Nate's birthday is on Halloween, and I might just have to fix that. In Ethiopia birthdays aren't a big deal or even celebrated, which would be really great after about age 30, but not when you're 5. In fact, they don't even really remember the exact date of their birthday, but more or less the season it was and an event in history it might have happened around. Ethiopia also has 13 months, 12 of which have 30 days and the 13th month has 6 days. So really, according to Ethiopian calendars he wasn't born on Oct. 31st, there is no such day. So what do you think... is it cool to have your birthday on Halloween or a drag because it's never really all about you? I'm thinking we might just have to celebrate it on October 30th, or November 1st from here on out. But for today,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHNAEL, WE LOVE YOUR GUTS AND CAN'T WAIT TO GIVE YOU YOUR BIRTHDAY HUGS AND KISSES!

Happy Day!

We passed through the Ethiopian courts today, and it is official, Nate and Dag are ours. I am the mom of these two adorable boys and I can hardly wait to hold them in my arms. We are so excited, and I honestly feel like I am 20 pounds lighter today. The emotions I experienced the last week in anticipation for this day were like no other. More to come, but I just had to shout with joy and put a few pictures of these darlings back up on the blog...because I can now.

Grandpa...This is For You

So this post is for my dad and Garth (father in law), who might get a kick out of watching this video Spencer put together of himself playing football this season. It's a little lengthy, much better in high definition on the big screen, and doesn't even quite do his season justice. I'm not usually a bragging parent (at least I try not to be), but Spencer was pretty dang good at football this season, if I do say so myself. I think he had 12 or more touchdowns and many amazing defensive plays as well. His games were really fun to watch. We tried to video tape all of them, but that is super hard to do. Sam and I would both give it a try and than you would get all excited watching some amazing play he was doing and we would forget we had a video camera in hand. Finally, we enlisted our fabulous friend Makita, and thanks to her we have some good footage.

Spencer is really into Michael Jackson right now as well, hence the music that goes with it. I think I have listened to more MJ music the last month than I have in my lifetime. My kids do think I am pretty cool though, because I can do the moonwalk. This poster hung in my yellow and orange animal room when I was 10 or so, and I still think it is the best he ever looked...I loved him then.

THERE IS BEAUTY ALL AROUND

It is so beautiful in Boise right now. The leaves are changing and thanks to a wet summer the colors are amazing. Today it was 75 degrees and just fabulous. I'm not usually an autumn lover, it means the end of summer and the precursor to winter, which I really struggle with. But, I just might have a had a change of heart this year. I have quite enjoyed fall.

Today is also Dagim's 3rd birthday. I hate that he is getting older without us. Oh, how I wish he were here to celebrate. He has a really cute bike sitting in his room and my other children would probably talk him into going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, and ordering fried macaroni and cheese, because that is what they love. I wish I could put a big giant picture of him on this blog too, but as you may or may not have noticed there are no more pictures of the boys on our blog. Earlier this week we found out from some new found friends, also waiting for children from our same orphanage, that until we pass through court, we aren't allowed to have pictures of the children on the internet. Truthfully, I don't know why I didn't know that until 5 months later. I have read all my papers our agency sent us about 20 times, but maybe it's selective reading, because I never saw that...oops. So you will know when we pass through court because pictures will be back. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAG!...10/28/2009 Pictures are back.

And if these aren't three of the cutest girls around showcasing the fall foilage, I don't know who is. Sicily had a fun play date with her friends Kerrie and Susanna yesterday, who were recently adopted by our friends, the Dildines, from Ghana. I just want to eat them up every time I see them. They are Nate and Dag's exact ages...could we prearrange some marriages right now?

It's Fall

Fall at our house means lots and lots of football. Sam has season tickets to the Boise State games and BYU games and more importantly our season tickets to Spencer and Carter's games. They practice daily with games on Saturday. Mix in a visit here and there to the chiropractor to correct the hard tackles from the week before, and we hardly have time to to think, let alone blog. The boys have both had great seasons. Their games are super fun to watch, and until yesterday the weather has been ideal. Yesterday... was miserably cold, but luckily the games were good. The girls are troopers and great cheerleaders at the games, as long as I take a picture of them once in a while.

ETHIOPIA BOYS UPDATE: I know I mentioned in the last post that we had a court date of October 9th, well last week it got pushed back to October 26th. UGGG! They said something more pressing had to go through the courts before adoption cases could start up...Seriously, what could be more pressing than getting these boys home, nothing in our minds and stomped on twisted up hearts. So don't pray for us on the 9th, save it for the 26th, and hopefully we can travel before Christmas.

Carter is the one with the ball. He plays something called a "two back", and is on the "D Line". (I don't know my football positions too well.)

Spencer is #82 on the blue team. He plays tight end, and defensive end, and whatever position it is that gets him to score at least two touchdowns a game. It helps to hit puberty before anyone else when it comes to football.

Our pretty little Sissy.

Elle is miss photogenic. I have never seen her look bad in a picture, even when she tries to.

Summer Don't Go!

We have had the best summer, and are a little sad around here that school starts on Monday. Now, don't get me wrong, I won't miss the constant mess, fixing and cleaning up meals around the clock, the occasional(okay, who am I kidding, frequent) bickering, disney channel to the hilt, laundry galore...you get the gist, school has it's advantages. However, we will miss... no homework, sleeping in late, staying up even later, s'mores around the fire pit, the swimming pools, family get togethers, the lake, the warm sun, the water...the lake. We have had a dang fun time this year at the lake. Hence, the pictures on our blog all look very similar, but bear with us, it's coming to an end. This last weekend is no exception, we spent it at the cabin with all our dental school friends that live close...the Hayhursts, Taylors, and Shipps. When we first met, we used to all hang out in Louisville and it was just Spencer and Hannah Shipp in tow, now we are far out numbered by children, but they all have such a great time together. The proof is in the pictures.

It doesn't get any better than this. Nothing like losing your shorts in front of all the cute girls. It didn't really seem to bother Carter though.

This tube has been a good investment. We have always been anti-tubers until we found this one, and it's so fun and can fit so many we have loved it....added bonus, we can keep it inflated and just tie it on the dock and not have to carry it around with us all day.

Elle and Abby and the new beach, now that the water is down.

The kids doing a little PX90 and than making stew in the hot tub.

Carter teaching Tanner to surf, and Spencer trying to do a 360 on the surf board.