Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It is getting warmer here so we decided to break open the fire pit for the season. As you can see Yabsira had her first smores! She tried one the traditional way and then she decided "no chocolate!" So,I had to eat her chocolate...I can never let chocolate go to waste!

WE ARE PRAISING GOD!!!

Today we found out that Yabby's best friend from Ethiopia passed court! She will be living in the U.S.A. and I have been in touch with her sweet Mom and we plan for the girls to keep in touch. Yabby is beside herself with joy and can't wait to talk with her BFF on the phone.

We are still alive!

Another month has almost past and I really didn't think life could get any busier that it already was! Was I ever wrong! I have been to the doctors office at least twice a week since Yabby has been home. Mainly the visits have been for her with one of the rest of us sprinkled in every once in a while. From giardia to ear infections and everything in between. We are praising God that nothing has been serious.
Yabby is very, very, very loving her family(as she would put it:). She has a new favorite song. It is a Toby Mac song and I'm not sure the name of it. But it melts my heart when I hear her sing it. The chorus goes like this...sort of..."I love my family. God bless my family." It is in the cd player in my car and to her brother and sisters dismay she sings it loudly even after the song has ended.

My girls

One Month in America!

Did one month really go by?! It is fun to reflect on a little girl who had never used a straw before that is now playing the Wii with her brother and sister.
Rob and I have often used this analogy to gain perspective. It is like we started reading a novel a third of the way through. We aren't sure how it started. We are figuring out the plot as we go along. As we keep reading the plot becomes a little clearer.
I know we will not completely figure her out. That is kind of a joke in our house...When Joel was one week old I said to Rob, quite confidently,"Go to work! I need to figure him out!" Every year on his birthday Rob asks me laughing,"So, have you figured him out yet?"(sorry,I think I have told this story before:)) The same goes with Isabelle and Yabsira. God is the only one who knows them completely. So, we need to constantly be seeking Him on how to raise them. After all, He knows the whole story!
THEN

AND

NOW

Happy Birthday Yabsira!

Yabby's Birthday was a blast! And thanks to Grandma and Papa Brown she thinks all cards sing and have a dollar in them. She got plenty of toys but one of her favorite gifts was from Aunt Brenda...two mangoes! At preschool she got a really cool birthday hat that she insisted on wearing while we did our errands! So everywhere we went people wished her a "Happy Birthday" and gave her candy! At the bank they even gave her a big bag of stuff. She was in heaven!lol What a great first birthday in America!

YABBY

When we found out our daughter's name, I thought it was beautiful! Yabsira means "the work of the Lord"! And she certainly is! Before she was home I would let everyone know her name. "Her name is Yabsira," I would say,"But you can call her Sira." It was so sweet and lovely,sigh.
Don't get me wrong, I still think our daughter is sweet and lovely. But our little one is a firecracker! She is fun and silly and has enough energy to power the whole eastern sea board, so... She is Yabby! It comes out so easy and is very fitting.

SNOW!

Yabsira is fearless! She loves the SNOW! Or as she calls it"ICE!" Her Dad has tried to explain to her by holding snow in one hand and ice from the freezer in the other the difference between snow and ice. But she protests and says "NO, ICE!"
This picture was taken when the weather was a little warmer. Joel and Isabelle only had to show her once how to use the sled and zip,she flew down the hill! It was pretty trying to get her to come in!