Long time comin'

After a long, long year in which Kidus and Biruk watched every single member of our 13 member household celebrate a birthday...
 

 these guys FINALLY got their turn!

Last year they had just missed their birthday by two days when they came home and with all the adjustments and ensuing craziness we decided that it was probably wisest to not worry about trying to celebrate it.
They wouldn't have understood it anyway and we were just a little bit busy with the ringworm, warts, bacteria, and all the other lovely things that had come along home with them. Besides, I doubt there was a toy in the world that would have competed with their undying fascination with the toilet in those days.
On it, in it, around it, it kept them happy for hours... and me buying soap by the buckets.

Thankfully, they've become more discerning (with more than a  little help from their mom) over the past year about what consists of an appropriate play-thing.
Thankfully.

Love, love, love these babies!!
I am still pinching myself that they are home and they are here to stay.
I'll forever be thanking my Father for the unfathomable blessing He has given us!

lake trip

There are few ways more fun to break up a long and hot summer than a trip to the lake.

We've talked about going for a long time now and we finally did it! We rented a pontoon for 12, loaded up the fishing poles and we were off!  

 All right, so maybe it wasn't quite as simple that...I forgot to mention the hours of planning ahead, the trips to the store for supplies and food, the packing of towels, diapers, sunscreen, books, water, wipes and napkins, extra clothes, and cleaning out the van. The prodding and coaxing of unmotivated children and  their irritable parents (I'll blame the heat)...anyway, after ALL of that...then we were off!

We were happy to have Grandpa join us for part of the day.

The kids loved all the fishing even if they didn't catch much.

Picking up a few new fishing skills from a pro.

 

 Kidus tried his hardest to fall off the boat, but, poor kid, his mean old mom just wouldn't let him.

The kids were just a little freaked out at the idea of swimming in a murky, green lake since they've spent most of their lives in a crystal- clear swimming pool. It took a little coaxing and me jumping in first to prove that there weren't any hungry man-eating catfish lurking nearby  before they were convinced to try it.

This was Biruk's reaction the first time he went into the water

but by the end of the day he didn't want to get out.

We'll definitely be going again! 

We like...

No hair

lotion hair

sandy hair

happy hair

wet hair

dry hair

twisty hair

adorable hair!

Cherry time

If you have love one for another

Forgiveness 
is the act of: 

sacrificing

offering up

giving away

releasing

laying down

 surrendering

 our

hurt

shame

bitterness

justification

righteousness

anger

 

of whatever it is that stands between you

and a brother

a sister

a spouse

a child

a friend

an enemy

It is the healing balm for all relationships.

It is the way

to peace.

to love.

to joy.

to healing.

It is letting go and letting God be God

It is an act of faith

of trust

of dying to oneself

of becoming vulnerable. 

Forgiveness opens my eyes to how much God loves me and releases me to love others freely and unconditionally.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

Desert spring

I LOVE this time of year.

Our changes of seasons are pretty subtle in the desert, you have to look closely, but they are there if you're watching.

The temperature has been perfect, tons of sunshine and longer days mean that we've been spending every chance we have outside enjoying it!  Summer is coming quickly and all too soon we will be driven inside by the scorching temperatures.

March was a huge birthday month for us.
Which explains why my jeans are all now too tight.
Peanut butter pie, strawberry  shortcake with buttermilk biscuits, strawberry pizza, oatmeal cake, chocolate cupcakes...my resolve to restart my diet only lasted as long as it took for things to get out of the oven. Again.

First up, Bella turned 5. She had waited for this day for, what seemed to her, FOREVER, but it came much too quickly for her mama!

Notice the spaghetti-monster  peering over her bowl in awe of her smartest and funnest big sister.

Bella loved her new puppy and she even got to spend time with her great friend, Lily.

Lily was visiting from out of state and also turned 5 a couple of weeks before .

Isabella and Lily five years ago.

A couple of days later we celebrated Caleb turning 15.
I. Cannot. Believe. It.
and
WhereDidTimeFly???

Don't tell him that I think it's pretty cool that he loves his little sister so much...you know how much 15 year olds hate to be cool. (Umm, do teenagers even still use the word cool anymore?)

Okay, never mind, go ahead and tell him. And while you're at it, tell him his mom and dad are awfully proud of him and who he is becoming too.

Next up, it was Jerry's turn. Since he wouldn't let me buy him a 3 night golfing trip at a resort in Mexico, we did the next best thing, which was to stay at home surrounded by the many little people who love him most, and who think he is the  awesomest, smartest, handsomest, funniest dad ever! I would agree.

We ended the month with Gabe turning 9.

He's his father's son, no doubt about it.
Gross was the theme of this year's party...we couldn't find a wormy brain cake recipe so we had to settle for wormy cupcakes. Either way, one worm is too many as far as I'm concerned.
But you only turn nine once and the wild dreams and crazy imagination of boyhood fly away so quickly, so a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do while she can!


Several weeks ago we drove a couple hours north and spent a day sledding and playing in the snow.
I love snow.
Especially when it's 2 hours away.

Mikayla enjoyed it a lot more than she had last year and she ate it by the handfuls.

(Mikayla '09)

We went hiking recently for the first time since the twins were home. First time with 9 kids and
we haven't gone again since.

It's going to be a much shorter hike next time; after all, you can only carry out so many people before you end up needing to be carried out yourself.

Here's hoping at least some of the birthday cake calories got burnt off in the desert...but I'm taking a wild guess that it wasn't even close to all of them.
A wild guess and the sad fact that my jeans are still too tight.