Quite a Pair

Ready . Aim . Squirt!

Cha Cha Chattanooga

18-hour day of fun and adventure . . . 8 hours round trip in the van.

First stop: Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, TN.
In awe of so much water, big fish, turtles and sharks; bravely touching sting rays and sturgeons

Picnic Lunch: enjoying the hardscape sidewalk water river gouged into the sidewalk between the aquarium buildings.
Hiking up shorts to wade and splash in the refreshing water

Afternoon adventures: Scenic Drive up Lookout Mountain

Visit with dear friends in Sewanee, Tennessee
Mile-long hike in the clean woods of the Monteagle Plateau to explore a fresh creek.
Climbing boulders and searching for critters, taking a refreshingly cool drink from the creek

Picnic Dinner: Crust Pizza at the Cross in Sewanee.
scaling the cross, feasting on pizza and rice crispie squares, running and wrestling with friends

*Yes, the kids are proudly sporting their Camp YoungLives 2011 shirts . . . camp coming in August!
(The shirts were perfect for keeping track of seven kids throughout our day of adventure).

The First

Our first over-night guest . . . Gramma!

We were blessed to have Gramma (Amy's mom) spend an entire week with us. All the kids thoroughly enjoyed the extra attention, and Amy thoroughly enjoyed the extra help preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the crew. It was wonderful to have Gramma cheering on kids at three baseball games, providing an extra pair of eyes watching kids at the Children's Museum and playground, and entertaining the kids with endless book readings. It was also great for Hiwot and Tesfaye to have an opportunity to get to know Gramma in their own comfortable environment (and for her to get to know her new grandchildren!).

The week was a complete success!
Thanks Gramma!

Two Months Home

After keeping our home tightly closed for two months, our doors are slowly opening to the outside. We have been incredibly intentional keeping our world small as Hiwot and Tesfaye are adjusting and our family is bonding. The kids have done great. While we have taken several family outings (playground, baseball games, zoos, water park), we have intentionally chosen places where we could avoid (stress inducing) attention.
Hiwot and Tesfaye seem ready to let a few more people into our small world. We've moved slowly. Following their lead, we brought them to church for the first time (our church family was thrilled to finally meet them!), we had our first babysitter (late night date!), our first dinner guests, and our first over-night family visitor. Change is stressful, new people are overwhelming, but the kids have warmed up quickly and have handled our newly semi-opened world very well.

That the kids are leery of new people is a very good thing! That they get stressed in new situations is completely normal, expected and healthy. These are signs that they are growing more comfortable with us . . . we are bonding! Holding them close, it is time to (very slowly) expand their realm of comfort. Baby steps!

Hanna Hiwot
"Hiwi"

• Hiwot has grown 1/2 inch and gained 3 pounds since she first came home.
• We have started to slowly introduce her family name "Hanna Hiwot" but call her "Hiwot" mostly. . . sometimes her new nickname "Hiwi" (which she thinks is pretty funny!).
• Her roller coaster of emotions has settled down considerably. She is much more even-keeled.
• She is still easily overwhelmed. She is incredibly sensitive to new situations and people. We have learned to hold her tight and take things slow, allowing her time to warm up. At times, she dissolves into tears, but is quickly comforted by us.
  
• Unfortunately, we have had to revert to wearing diapers at night. After a month home, she started wetting the bed regularly. Poor dear. Stress shows up in many different ways.
• She insists on sitting next to Amy for each meal, and is a very good eater (enjoying seconds most meals).
• She loves to help prepare meals.
  
• Hiwot enjoys having her hair styled, but wont leave it in for very long!
  
• Her English growth is extraordinary. She is talking in full sentences (still broken English but incredibly clear).
• She loves to play: dress up, coloring, doll babies, pretend play, running, dancing, board games, singing.
  
• She can be incredibly goofy and is always full of fun energy.
• Hiwot and Maegli are inseparable!
  

Jackson Tesfaye
"Tesfish"

• Since arriving home, Tesfaye has grown an inch and gained 4 1/2 pounds!
• We have yet to introduce his family name "Jackson", calling him "T", "Tesfaye" or "Tesfish" - the endearing form of Tesfaye.
• Tesfaye has begun to open up to us more emotionally, clearly showing when he is angry, upset or frustrated. We are trying to help give him the words to express these strong feelings. We are working to teach him to allow us to comfort him.
• Approval is very important to him. He works very hard to please us - always very quick to help out. He gets very frustrated with himself when he thinks he has done something wrong. We want him to know he doesn't need to earn our approval - we LOVE him!
• Tesfaye has thoroughly enjoyed playing baseball (he has been incredibly impressive!). He also loves doing "school" at home. He has flown through math work and is learning to read (it's interesting teaching phonics to a child who is still learning English!). Tesfaye is a bright boy and very eager (and quick) to learn.
  
• Always eager to help, Tesfaye has earned a lot of chore money, spending some on a prized flashlight (which he carries around in his pocket).
• He has grown into a master Memory game player, and has learned to peddle a big bike!
• Tesfaye gets along so well with everyone. He is definitely one of the boys! It's wonderful watching them all together. He is especially close to Kolpin, always very sensitive to his youngest sibling.
• Tesfaye is very attached to Mike!
• Sadly, he is beginning to forget some of his birth language (we're thankful we recorded a lot when he was first home and have adopted several words into our family's everyday routine).
  

These two precious children fit our family perfectly. It's been wonderful and amazing to watch their growth these past two months. Each day we get to know our children better as they are becoming more comfortable and settling into our family. We love them both dearly! They are such a blessing to us!

Splash!

Hot days call for lots of water! We are grateful for Water Splash Parks, especially when they're free for families!

We did get stopped by a Park employee assuming we were a daycare group (groups pay for use of the park) - he didn't seem very convinced we were family (I guess we're not the typical family!), but kindly let us continue on our merry way. :)

Picnic lunch and lots of water . . . a very successful summer outing!

Knock Out

We love baseball, and we love cheering on our Generals.
However, we are quickly learning that outings with seven children can be unpredictable, and sometimes forced to end a bit earlier than originally anticipated.
We had fun at the game for two innings before we needed to head home.


While at the game Tesfaye caught a foul ball AND lost his second tooth . . .
with a little help from his big brother (loosened during a wrestling match!)


Hopefully we'll be able to make it through an entire game before the season ends!

Fishing Lesson

We hope he won't lose his spear fishing talents, maybe just add rod fishing to his list of skills . . .

Happy Father's Day

Daddy

Mike is the amazing father to our brood of 7.
Each evening I love watching his eyes light up as he is attacked by his seven very excited children all very eager to welcome their Daddy home. It is obvious these children are the joy of his life and he is intentional in putting family first. He does such a beautiful job of meeting and connecting each child in a special way. The kids keep him busy! It's amazing to watch love grow to encompass each child. Mike is devoted to loving, teaching, leading, and guiding our children. . . and he's so much fun!
We are blessed to have Mike as the head of our household.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Our Daddy:

Daddy me baseball! - Tesfaye (6)

I like when Daddy shares his coke with me. I like to fish with him, is that good? - Davis (5)

dadadada hi! - Kolpin (22 mo.)

The good thing I like to do with Daddy is read books with him and wrestle him. - Burke (4)

Daddy me color, yeah! - Hiwot (3)

I want to dance with Daddy. - Maegli (3)

I like to have alone time with daddy. I like early breakfast. I love you Daddy. - Hendrick (7)

Announcement

Our official Adoption Announcement. . .
They're really home - Praise God!

Talk of Surgery

We have a big decision to make.

Our child's life could change.

Our son may undergo surgery this year.

We lift it up to our God, the Ultimate Healer.


When Davis was diagnosed with mild Cerebral Palsy last year, we knew surgery was a future possibility. The constantly flexed, overworked tendons of his right arm cause his wrist to curl in at a sharp angle. In severe medical terms, this is a wrist flexion deformity. This gives our naturally right-hand-dominant boy very limited mobility as he is physically unable to relax his wrist into a "natural" straight position.


The Orthopedic Surgeon we have been seeing for the past 18 months thinks Davis is a perfect candidate for a Green & Banks technique Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Transfer. Put simply, this surgery would transfer the tight tendon from the back of the wrist to the top, with the hopeful result being to pull the wrist back into a more "natural" position, allowing wrist extension and providing greater flexibility of the joint. These surgical transfers are recommended to be done before the patient reaches skelital maturity - most surgical patients are 5-9 years of age.

This is a relatively new procedure, test cases done within the last 20 years (most done within the last 10) have seen good results. A large majority of surgical patients saw improved appearance of wrist and gained improved mobility of forearm and wrist.
Surgery is not without risk. There is a slight risk of over-correction, an extension deformity developing post-surgery. Also, this procedure may result in significant scarring and tendon bulging across the top of the wrist. And, as with all surgeries, there is an anesthesia and infection risk.

Our Orthopedic Surgeon would like to perform this transfer on Davis this Fall.
We would love to see full-range motion given to our son.
This is exciting and scary.

We will be praying.

We will be seeking out second opinions and advise from Medical Experts.

Ultimately we will seek wisdom and guidance of our Lord.

We have hope in the knowledge that our God has the power to Heal.

We trust our Ultimate Healer.

Big Sisters

kolpin has two big sisters

two big sisters who love him very much


and big brothers who jump