september 2nd is a special day.... jonah yonan turns five! and we get to celebrate his birthday with him. so we are going big. why not right? we've missed the 4 that got him to this point so we're renting a 16 foot water slide and inviting some of jonah's people.

we've been talking about the menu.... "big cake" he keeps telling me!
shire( ethiopian favorite), oatmeal, corn, tomatoes.... interesting menu?

but isn't that kids. dixon and abigail have the same birthday. for their last birthday we had chili and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. gotta do what ya gotta do!

well this sweetie is not quite a baby;but fitsum thought she was.
and well fitsum just loves loves babies. he couldn't give enough love to sydney and baby charlie. i often think these little cousins will never remember a time when the yonan's didn't have jonah and fits. isn't that remarkable to think about!

this is probably way too much information...... but those of you who even care to read this at this point need to know that Fits has FINALLY had a solid poop.
yep, this is BIG stuff.
after sitting for hours a day, on the potty, swollen stomach, blowout city, all the work i've being doing to "makeover" his diet...... it's working.

this is a huge encouragement..... my first big coup as fitsum yonan's mom.

after almost 2 months of being home, now chicken pox free, we have finally seen our cousins.
what a happy reunion it was. boy, did the kids ever miss them!
hard work to get this photo... can't you tell?

quite frankly jonah is learning ALOT!
* most americans have dogs- BIG ONES!
* usually its good to say "please" and "thank you"
*if you put clothes down the chute inside out they come up inside out
*toilet seats go up!
*daddy comes home every night
*there is always enough food
*abigail is 7, jonah is 4- we are not the same age
*composting is fun and it's my job.
*everyone exchanges hugs and kisses at bedtime-even the girls!

one of the sweetest blessings of the last 5 weeks has been watching Jonah and Fits love each other. i think being in a large group setting for six months really affected their relationship. having so many other options, sleeping separately, eating apart, having lots of peers, enabled them to basically live separately. when they began there time at the care center fits wasn't really even talking and so their relationship wasn't very developed.

but now...such tender sweetness. jonah has also seen the big three loving on fits and attend to his needs and he has learned what his job as big brother should look like. this has been a highlight of these last days together.

well, i've been away for a while i know. you'll be happy i was. somedays just aren't pretty and they are just hard to make them funny at all.

today. nope can't even go there.....

but i will say. i want to be sanctified- it's never fun to get there, or at least i don't think it would be or should i say it's not for me. but it has to be the hope for these days.

that i will be able to rest in just who the Lord is, and that is all that will matter.
that joy will be found and complete in just knowing HIm.
that He is in control.
that i am loved by Him, he gave everything so that i would know Him.

He's not asleep.

a grand day!
today, the banner arrived.... popsie sent his banner to the kids so that they could hang it on their tent. AND the kids harvested their first red tomatoes.
there has already been talk of opening up a farm stand, with the abundance of tomatoes.
is this sounding familiar?
hmmmm.








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jonah has been a bit reluctant to use english for the most part, or he will say it in amharic and then english.
tonight during our family time
jonah just bursts out....."thank you for jesus!"

i think that is a pretty great first sentence, don't you?

tonight in the kitchen we were cleaning up together. jonah was helping- he is an awesome helper, certainly has a servants heart.

he was helping madeleiene and dixon do something and they were giving him some direction and he quickly replied "yes sir!"

so funny to see the things he picks up.

we have not encouraged "yes sir" but he hears the others say it and quickly applied it to all directions given and by anyone.

next thing you know they'll have him saying "yes your highness", "yes captain", "yes, boss"

we got to keep a watch on this thing, it could get out of control fast.

aunt megan blessed her youngest nephew with a whole loaf of white dabo.....
and well he went crazy wild. screaming, giggling, talking in some foreign language/amharic, and singing his favorite "dabo"song.
it was joy in the purest form.

do you think i let him eat the whole loaf?







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our first niece! we have loved hannah for ten years now and i do have to say i think that the way we felt about hannah sealed the deal on our future. matt and i loved hannah so much, our hearts overflowed for her. she has never lived close by, so we don't share all those day to day memories. but from the time hannah was born we loved her more than anyone else kids we knew. something about nieces and now nephews.

HB. happy tenth birthday!
we have delighted in watching you grow and change.
you are loved!

in so many ways it is hard to believe it's been a month since we have been home with the boys. in other ways it seems like we have never been without them. we do feel complete! it is so comforting to count your kids and have them all there with you, not just in your mind. there is a certain amount of peace that is present when you you are at the end of this kind of journey, when the longing is over.

we have a suburban with 2 benches = 6 seats in the back
i'll tell you, many time in the last month i have looked back at the kids and that one empty seat calls out to me.
flashing through my mind are all those kids we left behind, especially all the lovies at ahope!

who knows.... we never want to get too comfortable. but let's give it a school year. that should put things in perspective!

today, i was just sitting at the table all the kids around me.....
jonah was drawing and abigail was writing a letter. there were a few items on the table all things that needed to have some sort of attention given. you know that pile, right?

well jonah, sees something that interests him.... it was the brochure from hannah's hope, the care center where he lived for the last 6 months. i am totally oblivious to what he is doing until the moment when he starts saying "genet, genet, genet!" with excitement and emotion. he recognised a photo on the brochure and it was genet cuddling a child. Genet was the dear women who lovingly cared for both of the boys during their stay and she certainly holds a very large spot in their hearts, with reason, she is quite dear.

and then jonah is lost in is own mind..... that far off look overcomes him and he is gone.
do i know those words...."come back.... come back to me!"
nope don't know those words.
" what are you thinking? it's ok to feel sad!" nope don't know those either.
"you did have another life, you aren't crazy it did happen" nope not those either.

so what do you do?
well you just say "a-wel-da-halo"/i love you! and you sit together and look at the pictures to prove it did happen and to remember the place that made it possible to be together and wait until we can share what we are thinking and communicate about these life changing things that this little 4 year old is dealing with all alone in his mind.

pray for jonah!

every night at dinner we try to play our ethiopian music. it makes the kids so happy they just love it.
these are the pictures of them dancing in their seats- doing a very common ethiopian worship dance.
it is so cute- i wish everyone could see it. sadly one of the only times we can get them to do it is in their high chairs at the table.

tomorrow is the first of many "update" visits with the social worker; the beginning of many many many more and of course that means lots of PAPERWORK. goody goody gum drops- i love filling out paperwork.
so matt and i will go to be tonight praying....
1. that fits doesn't have one of his dabo-pointing to his mouth like he has never been fed, chase you with a plate tantrums
2.the kids don't tell all of our family secrets
3. that there is no jumping off the roof to the tramp or something else dangerous ( last time she was here, we looked out the window and abigail had a rope tied around dixons neck and was riding him like a horse while jumping on the tramp. and we still were APPROVED, amazing!)

our beautiful girls.... not looking so great right now!
can you say covered.... i mean covered in chicken pox.
we can certainly say they have had them, no doubt about it.

they are finally feeling better. we are so thankful- we have never seen them that sick.
still no sign for dixon. we are all really hoping that he gets it soon. he is actually anxious to get it because he thinks that he will be able to have ice cream for lunch and drink his fill of cola.