My grandpa turns 92

Last weekend we celebrated my grandpa's 92nd birthday. I was so happy to get this picture of him with all 4 kids. I grew up 1/2 mile from my grandparent's and spent many hours at their house. I have so many wonderful memories of spending time with grandpa and grandma. My grandma passed away a year and a half ago. Grandpa continues to live on his own and take care of most of his own needs. He has always been in good health and we are all so thankful for that. It is such a blessing to watch him interact with my kids. He likes to play with them when we go to visit. I don't know how many more birthdays we will get to celebrate with grandpa, but I am just so thankful for each visit we have. He is a true blessing in our lives!

School Picture Day

Today is picture day for Hunter and Brylie. They looked cute before they left but you just never know what they will look like by the time they get their picture taken. I have no expectations for good school pictures. I hope they smile nice and their hair isn't sticking up and their shirts aren't all wrinkled, but I really don't expect all of that for school pictures. In reality it is a long assembly line of kids who get approximately 30 seconds each to sit on a stool, smile and move on. We'll see. :)

First day of school

Today is the first day of school for Hunter and Brylie. This day always gets me choked up. I love having all of my kids at home and miss them terribly while they are at school. This is such an exciting day for them though and I know that they will come home with all kinds of things to share with me.

Here is my Kindergartener and 1st grader.

New backpacks are always so fun!

A squeeze from mom.Brylie's teacher Mrs. Zens. Notice the terrified look on Brylie's face. She's not so sure that she will like all day Kindergarten.

Brylie found her best friends Hannah and McKenna and everything seemed better then. :) (they all look a little scared)

Hunter with his 1st grade teacher Mrs. Peterson. She taught Robb in Kindergarten.

Hunter has his cousin Booker in his class this year and they were thrilled to see that they both wore Star Wars shirts today! :)

Hunter asked if they could take a 'Jedi picture' too. I love it!

Favorite Ruby Photos of the Week

Pictures of Ruby

Jodi took some really great pictures of Ruby a few weeks ago. She posted a few on her blog here: JJW Photography Blog: Ruby. We used the first picture for her announcements. It turned out great! Thanks for the great pictures Jodi!!

Sisters

Ever since Brylie could talk she has been asking for a sister. I am so excited that she finally has her sister and a lifelong best friend. Ruby just lights up when Brylie walks into the room and Brylie can hardly wait for Ruby to wake up from her naps so she can play with her again. I love the bond they are forming and I pray that they will always be close.

Haircuts: Short and Sweet!

BEFORE

AFTER

The trip home to America

Knowing that we would be flying 20 hours in an airplane with a baby brought us some anxiety. Will the flight bother her ears? What if she screams the whole time? Will there be turbulence? I hope the weather is good. Lord please no delays! All of these thoughts crossed my mind several times during the days before the long flight home. She was such a good baby but being in an airplane for 20 hours is a lot to expect of anyone, especially a 5 month old! Well, as you can see from the pictures, Ruby was an angel during all 3 flights. She slept 8 1/2 hours on one of the 9 hour flights. We were so thankful and praising God for answered prayers!

On the first long flight we were fortunate to have an extra seat between us. I love this daddy/daughter picture! She looks pretty content, don't ya think? :)

This was the airlines version of a bassinet. We were so surprised that she slept 8 1/2 hours in this crazy thing! (we did feed her and change her in those 8 hours, she just kept sleeping through it all)

Favorite Photos of the Week

Ruby got some bling!

Last Sunday after having lunch with the Weelborg family we decided to get the girls' ears pierced. Destiny was first and she did so well. Little Ruby woke up just in time for her turn. The crying lasted about 1 minute and that was it. We didn't get Brylie's ears pierced until she was 3, and I thought that went quite smooth, but this was a breeze. She doesn't mind having them cleaned and never bothers them. Her little gold earrings look beautiful with her pretty brown skin. (thanks for the great pictures Jodi!) I didn't get a good after shot, but I will post a pic of her pretty earrings soon.

The Orphanage visit

On our last day in Ethiopia we got to visit the orphanage that Ruby was taken to after being abandoned by her mother. This was a difficult experience. I imagined how Ruby must have felt being put into a room with a bunch of babies, not knowing what was going on. She was less than a month old, but had only known being with her mom. I felt so many emotions on the tour.

This is Almaz, the wonderful woman who started the orphanage. She was very sweet and loves all of the children so much. She lives in a room right at the orphanage. This is the baby room where Ruby stayed.

Seeing the crib that Ruby slept in while at the orphanage, was very hard. I can't believe my baby girl spent almost a month here. These sweet faces pray for a mom and dad. My heart ached as I hugged them. This precious boy watched us as we drove away.

Visiting the orphanage was the hardest part about the trip. There are so many children in need of forever families. My stomach was sick and my heart hurt as we drove away. I pray that all of those children find a home very soon.

Favorite Photo Friday

Little Ruby is the sweetest baby that loves to cuddle with her mommy. This picture was taken in Ethiopia 2 days after meeting her. I am completely in love with this precious child!

House of Hope

We were very impressed with the HOH. The facility is well taken care of, the staff is amazing, and the atmosphere is full of love. We were so glad that our little girl had been there for the past 3 months.

This is Tsegay, the director of the House of Hope. He is an amazing man with a heart of gold. He and his wife, Almaz, love all of the children and do a wonderful job managing every aspect of the HOH. He was so organized with all of the paperwork we needed while in country and took care of everything for us. What a relief because we were on cloud nine after getting Ruby, there was no way we could be worrying about paperwork! :)

This was one of Ruby's nannies that loved her so much.

The staff worked endlessly on all of the laundry.

These are the cooks in the kitchen. They were so friendly and always made wonderful meals.

This is Ruby laying in her crib at the House of Hope one last time.

This is one of my very favorite Bible verses and it gave me goosebumps to see it on the wall of the children's rooms. The Lord has a plan for each and every one of the orphans.

Robb and I kept saying how thankful we were that Ruby received such amazing care until we got to her. Later in the week we were able to visit the orphanage that Ruby spent 3 weeks in before coming to the House of Hope. The orphanage was nothing compared to the HOH. I will share those pictures later this week.

Funny stuff

We took Ruby to church for the first time yesterday and of course she was the center of attention. So many people have been praying for her for so long they were so anxious to love on her. A few people were amazed at how soft her hair is and several said, 'oh, I thought she would have curly hair', but we totally got a kick out of one church lady who very seriously asked if we had been able to communicate with her alright. A little confused I said yes. Then she went on to say how great it is that she has siblings who can help her with her English. Hello?!?! She is 5 months old...she DOESN'T speak ANY language yet. So funny. Robb and I laughed all the way home imagining this poor lady thinking we were trying to talk Amharic to her so she would understand. Bless her heart, but she sure gave us a good laugh. We knew we may be faced with some funny questions, but never thought about this one. So here are the siblings trying to teach poor Ruby some English. :) And here's a cute pic just cause Kerrie asked for one. :)

Donations for the House of Hope

Our agency's transition home, where the children go from the orphanage after being matched with a family, is called the House of Hope. We were given a monetary donation from our church to purchase some donations for the HOH. We brought along 2 radio flyer tricycles and another suitcase full of misc. items, (colors, bubbles, balls, frisbees, paints, paper, stuffed animals, snacks) and also bought some things while we were there. My mom also bought this great glider rocker to donate. Those nannies will be in Heaven sitting on a cushioned chair! Ruby and I even tried it out! :)Robb brought along some tools and put the trikes together as the older kids at the HOH watched from the doorway. It was so great to see their excited faces as they saw the trikes come together.

These were such a hit the whole time we were there. The kids were so good about waiting for their turn. Since we aren't supposed to take pictures of other people's kids, we couldn't photograph their pure joy. bummer! It was priceless!

Ruby loved the rocking chair!

And of course I will add a few more pics of our sweet girl. :)