A Week With the Siblings!

As most of you already know, my parents are adopting two boys from Ethiopia. Daniel is 9 and Jaleta is almost exactly a year older than Adelaide. They have been working on this process for about a year now and finally, the last week of February, they took their first trip to Ethiopia. They had to go finalize court there and make the boys legally ours and now they are waiting for Embassy. There is a link to their blog on the right side of this page. Feel free to go see pics of the boys and read some of the amazing stories that they brought back.
While they were gone, I was blessed enough to be able to stay with my siblings for a week. It was fun to see everyone. However, I haven't been in charge of that many kids in a long time. I was a little rusty! It surprised me how much I had forgotten about how organized a house with 14 people has to be and how many jobs and tasks there are. It was a little crazy, and tons of fun. Addy really enjoyed being with her aunts and uncles. I'm paying for it now; she never wants to be put down!

Scott was going to change our oil, until he got in there and discovered that neither of us can get our hands squeezed in there to unscrew the dang thing...boy does he look...well, he looks good :)

Installing the shop light I got him for Valentine's Day.
The drive to Spokane was amazing. Addy was so good and didn't cry once! She is such a perfect baby. Here she is our first night in Spokane, waiting for her jammies.
My brother Ryan (7). I thought this was a sweet face. He was looking at Addy :)
Opening her late Valentine's gifts from Gramma. She is sure a spoiled little grandbaby!
She LOVES this microphone! She just chews on it and talks to it
This is a "glow worm" seahorse. This is her face when the belly lit up...
...and then it started to make music. She's still learning to like this one lol.
Thank you grandma!
Reading with grandpa
My parents left Thursday morning. Here Addy is with uncle Cam (15). She was just laying on the floor with him, enjoying his company.
And then she fell asleep! Cameron must be magic because she NEVER falls asleep on her own at home!
Becca (11) and Addy. Becca and Katie (9...no...10...9 or 10 lol) were my biggest helpers.
At Caleb's (8) blue and gold banquet for Scouts. He got 4 arrowheads and his wolf, I think. Maybe his bear. I can never remember the order. But he's getting quite accomplished.
Getting ready to post the colors.
Levi waiting for dinner to start. He was one hungry boy!
Caleb really stepped up to the Addy plate this time around. He loved holding her and playing with her. He's so good with her, and his quiet, patient personality calms Addy right down. He could get her to stop crying just by putting her binky in and singing to her. He was so cute.
Waiting in line for balloons. Levi thought those balloon swords were pretty magical.
Congrats Caleb!
Addy with Cebu. She loved that kitty. She would grab handfuls of hair (ew) and try to put it in her mouth. I had to watch those two!
Levi (5) somehow got this mattress into the playroom and told me it was a bouncy house. I thought that was clever, but told him to put that thing away!
Uncle Josh (12) with addy. She was loving his tickling!
Katie with Adelaide. Katie has a very special talent when it comes to making Addy smile. Look at that big grin!
This chair vibrates. Addy doesn't like it, clearly haha. Uncle Tony (17) was trying to convince her.
Caleb playing "blastoff" with addy. He was lifting her pretty high and I was kinda nervous until he did a couple times and then I knew he could handle it. He's going to be a fun uncle to Adelaide.
Levi and me playing Go Fish. He was making us describe the cards rather than just showing them. We had some pretty interesting descriptions. That kid has an imagination!

One day I was in the bathroom and came out and couldn't find Addy. She wasn't in the living room where I left her. And it was only me, Levi, and Ryan home. SO I dashed upstairs to find her and I find this. Ryan had made it all the way across the house and up the stairs with Levi trailing her play mat behind haha. It was rather funny. They wanted her upstairs to play nintendo.
Aunt Shauna (19) and Addy
We had Shauna's 19th birthday while we were there. One of her friends came over to bake her cake, and as you can see, Levi enjoyed it!
Cousin Haley.
Levi as a bunny. After we put Addy in the ears, he found the whole suit and did a little pose. He's just HILARIOUS
Becca and I had some fun with Addy. We should totally have a photography studio!


Ooops, must have uploaded this twice. Oh well. HILARIOUS
Caleb and Addy
Ryan joined in
Friday we got to go to an assembly where Caleb and Ryan got academic awards. It was fun to see some of the teachers that I had growing up! And of course, they all love Addy. Here Becca is handing the awards out. She's in ASB.

OK, side note, I swear there is a baby ghost in this house. I always hear a baby crying, and it's not Addy! I can handle baby ghosts...

Aunt Shauna fed Addy licorice (yes, at 4.5 months old. She's also had root beer, jello, applesauce, pudding, jolly rancher, ice cream, you name it) At first she wasn't sure...
Then she decided she loved it!
And was quite offended when Shauna took it away.

Friday night late. Waiting for mom and dad's flight.
It was so good to see my parents again and this whole experience taught me two things. 1. Kids come one at a time for a reason. 2. My mom is boss (as Tony would say).

I am so excited to have our brothers join us. I'll be going back to stay with the kids when they get the boys so Scott and I will meet them. They seem so sweet and wonderful. I love them already. Don't forget to check out the Ethiopian blog! Link's on the side of this page :D
Shane, we love you and look forward to seeing you again too. Only a year! Work hard, pray harder.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was great. The stake put on a dinner for presidencies in the stake and the clerks were invited as well. So Scott and Addy and I enjoyed some yummy texas roadhouse. It was pretty amazing. Then Scott took me to Walmart and bought me a big huge diaper bag and some shoes and I bought him a tripod for the camera. It was great just to have the night out. He also surprised me with flowers on Monday because he knew that I would be more surprised if he bought them then than I would if he brought them home on Tuesday. I thought that was cute. So here are some fun pictures from this week.

Adelaide is four months old! She is rolling both ways and still stands up to the couch and is now almost sitting! She is so strong and so eager to learn and develop. Here she is sitting with the aid of her boppy, which she hardly needs anymore. Can I just say that the day your child can entertain themselves with toys is a wonderful day! And she's so happy doing it!
Monday night, we got Addy's card from her grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles. She LOVED it! She chewed on it and read it and then chewed on it some more. She is so good at holding books. She can even turn pages and opened the card by herself. My smart cookie :D
This lovely thing was inside our house! Eeeek! Props to Scott for vacuuming him up. I was too chicken lol.
Addy playing on the floor where we found the centipede...I think I may reevaluate that...haha. Ok, so I'll just watch and make sure that nothing gets her!
Some Valentine photos of our baby's first Valentines Day. She even rolled back to front for the first time for me yesterday! Today she was doing it like crazy. She even performed her new maneuver for Grandma over webcam!


Absolutely fascinated with her red socks...


Happy Valentine's Day to all! I am so grateful to have my eternal Valentine. He is perfect for me, and I'm perfect for him. And our little baby is just perfect no matter which way you swing it! We love you all and thanks for reading! Shane, I totally dreamt that you ran into mom and dad while they were in Ethiopia...which is stupid because you're on a whole other continent, but it made sense in the dream...anyways. I love you. Work hard, pray harder!