Apple Orchard & Cupcakes

Okay, so they don't normally go together. But, they are two of the things that I have done with Makenna recently so that we get some special time together. We had a blast making cupcakes together, and it made me wonder why we had never done it before. She has done it with Gramma though, and knew what we needed to do. She helped crack eggs, put the paper liners in the pan, and hold the mixer. Somehow, she has gotten really big overnight. :(

Dance-Barn Dance that is!

Last weekend we were invited to a barn dance at our friends house, which turned out to be a little baby shower for us too. It was so much fun! It was 85 degrees that day, which is insane for early October, but it was beautiful out. A lot of people dressed the cowboy/cowgirl part, especially the kids and had a great time. Somehow I was with Makenna most of the time, and didn't get any picture of Kya(who was with Ron) in her cowgirl outfit, so those pics will be coming. What a bad mom huh?

Makenna had a blast, and danced for at least 3 hours straight. She didn't want to leave until the band played the last song, but finally at 10:30 p.m. we took her home. She wasn't happy that she had to leave, but she knew that she was getting tired too, so didn't fight us as much as I expected. That girl is serious about her dancing, and gets in a zone while she is. You just don't mess with her then. Guess she takes after her mom, because I have never heard a beat that I could ignore. If only I had her moves?????? :)



The Band

My little cowgirl

Isn't she beautiful?

My little cowgirl and her friends

Party time!

Bunny hop anyone????

Just too amazing to pass up. What barn dance is complete without a windmill and a gorgeous sunset?

Playdate

I have been wanting to post these for a couple of weeks, but alas, time escapes me. We had a wonderful playdate with our awesome friends a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun having them here. The girls are also from Ethiopia, and have only been home under two months. They are gorgeous and sweet, and have the best smiles. I am so thankful that we have such awesome people in our life.

The girls (and Logan-thanks for being such a good sport) played outside, and then put on Ethiopian dresses and danced to Ethiopian music and just ran around together. It was truly adoreable. Shonna, if you are reading this, we want to come see you guys again soon!

Sleepy Time

Ok, so sleep things are getting a little better around here. Kya was up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours all night long when we first got home, and gradually has slept more and more at night as she has acclimated to being here. Now, she is mostly sleeping through the night. However, now the nap thing isn't going so great. She will not sleep more than an hour at a time--even though she NEEDS to! But, we are hoping that will come around too. WE are open to suggestions if anyone has any fool proof nap tricks. So far we have tried dark room, music and background noise. Nothing has seemed to make a difference.

So, here are some picks of Kya sleeping (ahhhh!) and of the girls in their PJs together.

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.