some more fun before school begins.......a new season

THE FAIR

a first for our ethiopian girl and a favorite of our boys. we spend most of our time at the FREE stuff and one night with a handful of ride tickets. we always make the best of it, and we're all tuckered out when it's over.

aregash's first time

her first ride.....she would have been riding the big-boy rides if she was able too!

cole doesn't particularly care for rides--but he CHOSE this one

these are my dare-devils.....zach & luke with their friend pacey on the yo-yo

cole gave in and indulged his little sister---"as long as we don't spin", he says.

THE LAKE

we have been to many different lakes this summer--all within an hour or so from home.  i love this time soaking up the vitamin d and watching my kids enjoy themselves just playing....no talk of video games or ipods, etc. just plain. simple.fun.

taking a break--he's pretty handsome

lots of friends to make sand-thingys  :0)

always busy look'n cute

a chat with friends, reese and kiera

having fun together after the friends have gone--burying cole

i can't believe how he's grown--and has the voice change to prove it --he'll be 13 next week!!

grouchy.....playing

love that boy!!

a perfect way to end the summer............even though it's not the end of the fun to be had.

Come to a Shower......Save a Life!!!

This is Shonda from God Will Add.  Kendra has kindly let me take over her blog to tell you about an awesome Baby Shower like none other.  A couple of my friends have teamed up and we're trying to raise funds for an organization called FOVC.  They help provide aid and hope to the immediate areas where our kiddos are from, an area that has been hit hard by this horrible famine.

Shameless plug:  Will you hop on over to my shower?  I promise I won't make you smell mystery diapers and  no I won't let you wrap toilet paper around my abdomen.

For $13 FOVC can feed one starving child for one month.  So far, this shower has raised $710.  If you're amazing at math like myself, you know that 54 kids who didn't have food today, will have food tomorrow and for the next month because of the generosity of a select few.  Wow!  Can we make it 100 kids?  Will you please help me spread the word? 

Why? 

Of all the great charities out there, why have I chose to rally behind FOVC?  A few simple reasons:

1) There are a lot of other great charities that are working to fight this famine, and I (despite my cynicism of big organizations) have supported them.  But FOVC is the only NGO working directly in the areas my boys are from, and where their first families still live.  Even if I liked nothing else about FOVC, this one simple fact would make me want to support them.  Thankfully, there are lots of other things I like about them:

2) They are a very small grassroots organization and very conservative with their money.  All their workers are volunteers, and they do all their traveling on their own dime, which means all the money we give goes directly to feeding the kids and helping their community fight poverty with long-term goals in mind.

3) I have a close friend who has done aid work with them in Ethiopia (and is on her way back in a few weeks), knows many personal details about how they operate and spend their money.  She's a Dave Ramsey fiscal conservative like myself, and she fully endorses them.  They have an independent bookkeeper who verifies that over 96% of the funds go directly to Ethiopia.

4) Directly from the president of FOVC:  "We have an amazing team of volunteers! Our board members and officers (if I do say so myself) are doing outstanding work! We spend a lot of time and effort educating ourselves on best practices of economic development (it's what my husband does!) and strive to implement every program using best practices. This means we empower, not enable. Every effort we undertake is aimed at offering long-term sustainability, success...and HOPE

Have I convinced you they're great?

Click here and support them:

And then (this part is optional), click here and tell MB how excited you are about his arrival into our family.

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we tried a new camping spot this time...with just our family of six. 

 it was in the black hills 

and closer to home than we usually go. 

we needed a little get away 

to just relax and enjoy each other.

they really aren't as miserable as they look! :0)

aregash's first time cooking hot dogs over a fire.....or maybe her 2nd,
but first time noted. :0)

should be on an oscar meyer package....even when we don't eat that kind!

heading down to the lake for the day--mommy armed with camera....
and then the bugs made a noise--
you shoulda seen her run!!

i love getting to be a part of the fun--i'm usually on the side-line. love it!

afraid of nothing......and first for being buried on the beach.

the summer is quickly slipping away 

and we hope to do this at least 2 or 3 more times 

before the cold sets in.

a family favorite.

love my family.

love it.

6 months HOME

this little child 

has blessed our home 

for the last 6 months.

we are soo in love.

mama's happy

Dic had to go across the state for work and Zach needed to be in the same town for a baseball tourney...

so we ALL went along. 

 It was GREAT fun!

at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD

cute as a button..as always

We went with another adoptive family to eat at an ethiopian restaurant--

we don't have anything even resembling ethiopia in our town.

sad.

the sample platter

there were things like beef tibs, lamb, goat cheese, collard greens, potatoes, carrots. 

 it was delicious and the boys loved it too.  

aregash was in. heaven!!!

they even had the yummy fanta-soda-drink

at one point some ethiopian men came over to speak with aregash.  

they told us several times how grateful they were that we brought her here and gave her a loving family.  

it was such a beautiful few minutes 

with people from her country. 

you never really know just how people feel when they see their children leaving their homeland. 

we told them what we tell everyone........

WE are the blessed ones--

that their country has blessed us with it's children. 

that this little one has been the blessing to us.  

my heart melted.

she was ECSTATIC that she got to eat her Ethiopian cuisine--

this is what the injera is typically served on and everyone gathers around to eat, but we had to many people. the owner asked aregash a question in amharic and she answered(in english). my eyes welled up with tears...so did hers.

FUN

at the water park--gotta love those lines :0)

this would be the mommy trying to be cool.  

turns out the kids already thought i was cool--

shoulda 

just 

stayed 

in 

the 

pool. 

ha!



BASEBALL

Zach's team WON the championship game!!! Woo Hoo!!

the champions of the 10-year-old division.
and our LAST game of the season!!!!
Yay!
Yay!!

coach and son giv'n some "bumps"

some badly needed time away with family 

helped to soften this mamas heart. 

 gotta 
love 
those 
times.


and then at the end of the trip.....
 i still have 
this

and this

and this

mama's happy :0)