Wednesday, November 21, 2012

GOTCHA DAY!


A year ago today we arrived home with our baby girl. She has grown leaps and bounds, in stature and personality. She is still sugar and a whole lot of spice! Tonight we had injera - pancake style. Ethiopian restaurants are no where to be found here in Panama City and I wasn't about to tackle the culinary skill of Ethiopian cooking just yet, so....we did a kid friendly compromise - PANCAKES! No utensils required. We tore a piece of pancake and used it to scoop our decadent cuisine. This consisted of blueberries, whipped cream, nutella, peanut butter and syrup. The kids were in "Pancake Injera" heaven! 
Hadi Girl - You have been a blessing to our family. You definitely keep us on our toes. (I had a glass of wine to celebrate making it through the year too!) We thank God for being home with you. You complete our family!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Blessed this Mother's Day

I thought it was appropriate to FINALLY update our blog on this very special Mother's Day.  I was treated like a queen ALL day!  When I awoke this morning I felt extra blessed to spend this Mother's Day with our daughter Hadi.  She is  sugar and definitely SPICE.  I was then quickly reminded of Hadi's birth mom.  Hadi would not be here if it wasn't for her.  I will be forever grateful for the eternal sacrifice she gave in order to give Hadi life on this earth.  Mother's Day has a whole new meaning for me this year.  Thank you God for producing good out of something really difficult.  I am blessed.

Here are a few pics below of what we have been up to!

This picture was taken by my dear friend Tracy.

These two pics are of Hadi and Kaylee's first birthday.  Kaylee was adopted from China 2 months after Hadi.  Stacie is one of my wonderful friends here in Panama City.  They happen to live 2 houses down from us!  Kaylee and Hadi have a birthday one week apart.  God divinely planned for us to be here going through the process at the same time!!

By far, Hadi's favorite thing to do is play with WATER.  She is officially OBSESSED!

Jon, Trevor and Luke - I love these boys with ALL my heart!

Jon Jon can't get enough of Hadi...she has 3 smitten brothers.

Evidence of the SPICE!

Here is just a snapshot of the craziness of our lives.  We are truly blessed by our precious ones.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  Adoption is definitely a journey before and after but it is one well worth traveling.  Hope this blog update finds you abundantly blessed!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Life is full!

















We have been busy this last month. We went on a last minute trip to Colorado after Christmas. We got to spend a lot of time with family. It was especially awesome to meet Kelel and Seniat who were in the same care center as Hadi in Ethiopia. Pretty awesome story. Kelel and Seniat very much remember Hadi. We spent an evening celebrating with some injera, a staple in Ethiopian cuisine.


Enjoying a day of skating in Daddy's old stomping ground....the USAFA ice rink.




























We also celebrated Hadi's 1st birthday while we were attending a wedding in Atlanta. She loved the cake right after her first swim in a swimming pool!
















Hadi and her GIRL cousin Aly!










Hadi and Emily...finally some built in girlfriends in our family!

































Here is a pic of my boys wearing the jersey of their favorite player and great role model...Tim Tebow!

Overall, things have gone really well. We are blessed by family and friends who have supported us on this journey. The question I get most often is, "How are the boys doing?" They are GREAT...they smother...I mean, love, her with all of their hearts. They are still understanding the whole meaning of adoption and everything that goes with that. Just the other day and actually, just now, Jon asked, "Mom, when Hadi grows up will she speak Spanish?" Ummmmm?!?! Luke asked driving to church yesterday, "Are we going to keep our sister?" I think in his 3 year old mind he thinks this is a trial basis sometimes and we are trying her out for the right fit. So innocent and very honest. Adoption is something that doesn't feel natural in our human sense but it is so completely supernatural. We rely on God to grow the bond through our hearts. It is a process but it has truly begun and we are thankful! She is a blessing! (And really LOUD....I didn't realize squealing/screaming was part of the girl make-up...I'm pretty sure I NEVER did this as a child)
That's all for now...promise to update more frequently.