Goodbye Shaners

Lincoln and I have been in a weekly Bible Study for at least 4 years now. The group that we've met with has grown and changed many times over those four years. We've had friends come, friends move, and split to make a smaller group. We've been blessed to make some amazing friendships.


This past week we said goodbye to another couple, as they start the next journey in their lives in TN. We pray that you will feel God's strong hand of peace and protection as you move. We will miss you all!

"Baby in my tummy" (no, not me!!)

"Mommy, I have a baby in my tummy!"

It was her first time pretending this. I wonder if motherhood is what God has in store for her life...

a 1 year reunion

The first week in May we made a trip to Michigan to visit some very dear friends. We hadn't seen them in a year...and we'd never seen them in America! We went to visit the families that we met in Ethiopia while we were there getting the boys. We spent 10 days together there, experiencing something life changing, and we became fast friends. They are people that I will always cherish, and it was so wonderful to see them again! We were so blessed that they opened their home to us and welcomed us like family. We spent 4.5 days together, making new memories, and enjoying the ones from Ethiopia.

At Lake Michigan! It was freezing, but we had to see it!

We also got to meet another AAI family! Wendy invited us over to her home for the afternoon. It was so neat to meet someone in real life that I have talked to over the phone and email for the last year!

The Pastoor kids, Redburn kids, and Dewey kids.

We were also able to meet up with the Beart's while we were in Michigan. Our four Ethiopian kids were good friends at Layla House and came home to America just weeks apart. I am so thankful that they took an evening out of their busy work week to drive and meet us!

What a fantastic family!

I'm pretty sure Tinsaye and I have a picture just like this in Ethiopia. I fell in love with her while we were there...and I can't describe the emotions of seeing her here, healthy and thriving with her new family that God designed just for her!

Brian, Solomon, Joan, Meredith, Thomas, Silas, Blake, Tinsaye, Graysen, Ashley, Hunter, and Lincoln.

These four were good friends in Ethiopia at Layla House!
Blake, Solomon, Silas, and Tinsaye

The Silvers joined us on Thursday and spent the night. It was surreal to see how much our Ethiopian kids had grown and changed over the last year. It was also amazing to see all of our kids together! Before we left we had to take some group shots...

The four Ethiopians that we traveled to get together...
Blake, Silas, Mintesinote, and Eliza

All of our kids together!
Jake, Blake, Eliza, Silas, Hunter, Graysen, Mintesinote, Nick, Abebaw, and Solomon

Does this picture look familiar?
Yup, it's the "fab four" back together again, this time state side!

We so enjoyed our one year reunion with our travel buddies!
I can't wait for them to come here in 2012!!!!

Summer Baseball

The boys are playing on the town summer baseball league. They had their first practice a few days ago, and I think they all really enjoyed it!!



I was very impressed with their coach, who held an hour long practice and really taught the kids about all kinds of "baseball things". They practiced batting, catching, throwing, and running bases.

We're also very happy that some of our long time friends have moved back home! It's so nice to be able to spend time with them again!!

1st tooth lost - Hunter edition

My first born has lost his first tooth!

Hunter's tooth had been loose for a week or two. Then he started asking Lincoln to pull it, but every time Lincoln would get the pliers out to yank Hunter would say it hurt. Then...(of course while Mommy was gone) He did it! Lincoln just pulled that little tiny tooth out!

He has a smile like mine, and you can't see his bottom teeth when he smiles...but I had to have a picture of the hole!

Hunter was too excited to tell Grammy over the phone, so she just came on over...guess she knew what happened because she brought him a "Happy 1st lost tooth" card!

Hunter and Daddy with the pliers that did the job!

I think Hunter's firsts are especially special to me because I feel like I'm able to measure my growth as a parent by them. Just as Hunter's role as oldest, and only boy disappeared when Blake and Silas joined our family, my parenting has kind of gotten mixed up too. Now I'm parenting children older than the time that I first had a child in my home. For those who haven't done the math, they were born before Lincoln and I were even married (by 5 days)! It's just kind of a big joke in our home. When God calls you to travel a path you've never walked before the only way to walk it is to pray and laugh along the way!

Happy Summer Break!

We've grown a lot this year, and school's been fun...
but we're ready for SUMMER BREAK!!!

Our first day of Kindergarten...

Our last day of Kindergarten!

do they miss it?

I am often asked the question:
"do the boys miss Ethiopia?"
yes, they miss it.

Do I sometimes feel guilty
about taking them out of their God-given country and culture?
yes, i do. often.

But, God calls us to love the orphans.
I can't think of a better way to love someone,
then to welcome them into your family.

And Lincoln and I always want to do what God calls us to do,
so, we did.

I really like what Shelly of Good to Be Crazy has to say on this subject:

"For Dan (her husband) and me, adoption was never about offering Hannah and Joseph (their adopted children) a “better life.”
For us, it was never about being able to give them more stuff, a better education, summer vacations at the beach and the like.
It was never about turning them into Americans, because Americans “know better.”

But it was all about giving them a family. And this family happens to live in America.

Sure, we could have sent money across the ocean and provided for Hannah and Joseph’s physical needs.
From a distance, we could have ensured that they had water, food, clothing and school fees for each month.
And yet we knew the Lord was calling us to step up and to surrender more than just our wallets."

May 22, 2010 - We are HOME

We landed in DC and headed back through customs. Again, no problems whatsoever. Praise to God for getting us safely and securely through all of our customs checks! We had several hours of layover time, but we were back on US soil and were so excited to call home!!

I called Aunt Sissy first because she was on vacation and wouldn't be home when we got to STL. It was the boys first time to talk on a phone, so when I handed it to them they weren't even sure what to do. They did eventually hear her voice and started saying "Hi Sissy, Hi Chad" over and over again...of course, that's all the English they knew!

Then I called my Mom and got to talk to Graysen. Oh, my heart. I had not realized how much I had missed them until I heard her voice! Hunter wouldn't talk to me on the phone, but I knew he was very nervous about what was about to happen, and that was okay.

We boarded the plane in DC to head to STL...what a great feeling to know we were on our final leg of the trip home!
Finally, we arrived in STL a whole hour ahead of schedule! Luckily, our family was already there. I can not describe to you what it felt like to have all four of my kids in one place. I just sobbed and sobbed. Such a rush of emotions. I had tried my best to not think about Hunter and Graysen all week and soak in as much of Ethiopia as I could. But to see them again, and to realize that Bizayehu and Sintayehu were here with us as well, something we had worked toward for so long, was just awesome.


The kids immediately took to each other. They were all four just running around baggage claim as if they had been together forever. (Now, this didn't last past this one day, but for the moment, it was just what I needed!)

Home.
at last.

May 21, 2010 - Going Home Day

I'm going to let the pictures speak mostly for themselves this day. It was our last day in Africa, and things were a bit surreal. By this point we had experienced so much there was no way to process it all. We knew that would have to happen after we got home. We were also starting to let ourselves look forward to being home and especially seeing Hunter and Graysen again!

the inside of some shops.

i think this is where I am most in my element...with kids all around me, and one in my arms.

there was a going away party for all the kids who were leaving that week. it was a bitter sweet thing, because although it was nice for the kids to have a party with singing and treats, it was heartwrenching to see those who knew they were being left behind. how many times did they have to sit through a "celebration" for someone else...why were they never the chosen ones?

Gail's post on facebook the week we left:

"We do have kids leaving this week. Sintayehu & Bizayehu, Birtukan & Elias, babies Tizita and Mintesinote and Mekdes from layla and Biruktawit from AHOPE. Also leaving are Birhan and Tsegaye from KM. They have waited a very long time and we are so thrilled to say goodbye to them."

showing everyone where we would live.

saying goodbyes after the party.

Back at the Ritmo...Lincoln and I talking to the video camera...we're talking about getting out of Camp Chaos and back home.

We ordered these shirts a long time before we left. We couldn't wait to wear them home!

Our driver and friend Dawit.

The girls. Definitely couldn't have made it through this week without them!
Joanna, Ashley, Kim, Sheryl

The Youngs and the Dewey's left just a few hours before we did for the airport.

at the airport. The boys were amazed by the planes outside the window.

finally on our first airplane!

He sat forever like this without the headphones even plugged into something! Mean of me? Maybe, but I knew we had 22 hours to entertain on the plane...why give away a surprise before it was necessary?!

Again, at some point the days changed as we were in the air...tomorrow we would finally be united as a whole family!!!