Four Generations of Love

On Sunday we took pictures with my grandma, which included 4 generations of our family. It was so special, and I am so blessed to have such a great family. My grandma has amazed me with the fullness of her love towards my girls. She fell in love with Makenna and lights up when they are together, and I was worried that she would have a harder time falling in love with Kya. But, as always, her love just shines through. She adores Kya too.

I so wish that my girls could have met my grandpa. I think about that so often and wonder what he would have said. I know that he would have been a skeptic at first, but I also know that he would have melted with their love and from seeing me so happy. We met Makenna in Ethiopia 1 year after he died. It was his death that really made me wonder what we were doing, or what we were waiting for. I just wish that we could have realized that sooner. He was so very important to me, and I would have loved to see him with my girls.

Here are some pics from that day. I took a bunch of my nieces and Makenna. Makenna loves her cousins and does a pretty good job trying to keep up with them. And I took some of my adorable, VERY blue-eyed nephew. Enjoy!

Change, Change, Change

So, I have been a litle absent in my blogging efforts lately, but we have been trying to get through all of the changes that we have been faced with the last few weeks. It has been a BIG adjustment not only for Kya, but also for us.

This time is much different, so we are re-learning how to face some of the issues that Kya has with learning to trust us. We are her 4th set of caregivers, so she justifiably has some concerns that we aren't here for the long haul. And, she has had a difficult adjustment into our life, timezone, etc. She is faced with a world completely different, in fact the opposite, of everything that she has known. But, she is getting better everyday--which is AWESOME to see. And, as she gets better so do we. :)

Here are a few pics of her from this week. Some are her first attempts at eating squash too. She warmed up to it after a few tries. That girl LOVES her food, so we weren't too worried. Last week when we took her to the Dr., she had gained exactly 1 lb in a week! She weighs almost 15 lbs! WOW!!!! More pics to follow!

(RED) Love

We couldn't resist takins some pictures of the girls in their matching (RED) shirts. They looked so cute together. I couldn't decide which ones to share so there are quite a few. It is precious seeing them together. It's amazing how quickly kids know that they can trust another kid--far more quickly than adults do.

Sisters

Well, Makenna is in love! And, Kya isn't far behind. Here are some pics from their first day together. The first thing out of Makenna's mouth when we went to get her out of bed was "where my baby sister at mom? I need to see her!". And, before we knew it, she had climbed in the crib with her.

Introducing Kya Abaynesh

Here are a few pics that we took in Ethiopia, including her first bath. She has changed so much it is amazing. She has the BIGGEST brown eyes I have ever seen. She is all eyes---with a little gleam in them!

I will get a few more of her and her big sis up too!

We're HOME---almost!

Okay, so we are in the USA anyhow. We are sitting in DC trying to kill the 6 hour layover that we have from our flight from Ethiopia to MSP. Which, isn't too hard to do with a baby in tow! :)

We obviously had a hard time getting to an internet connection while we were gone, so sorry for the lack of updates. It just never worked out for us to get on and get a good e-mail sent. But, we had a fabulous time and now have a new sweet little girl coming home with us.

Kya Abaynesh is a really good little girl. She has a pretty good disposition and really is attaching to us well. She was definitly letting us know when she needed something this week when we were with her.

She is so different from Makenna in every way that I feel like this is the first time we are doing this again. It's strange! Anyhow, we are all getting to know each other, and can't wait for Makenna to meet her. I miss her SO much!

More to come soon!

We MADE IT!!!

Hey everyone, we just wanted to say that we made it! We are in ETHIOPIA!
YEAH!! :) We met our travel mates Beth & Matt in DC and have been together
ever since. We stayed at the Addis Ababa Bed & Breakfast last night and have
an awesome time--fabulous hosts! And, today we did a day trip through the
countryside and to the Blue Nile Gorge, which was beautiful. The drive
through the countryside gives you such a different picture of life in
Ethiopia and we got to see so many of it's beautiful people. Pics to follow
when we get home.
But, the best part is that we meet Abaynesh tomorrow! We already received
updated pictures and info on her when we arrived at the guesthouse tonight.
She looks fabulous.
We miss all of you and will talk to you soon!
Love Ron and Kari