DON'T pass THIS up!

...It wasn't too long ago and my dear friend Lauren was HELPING US raise money to bring home our daughter from ETHIOPIA!  She allowed me to sell her merchandise... her AWESOME POPPIES and her extreme talents of WEB DESIGN... By the way...... if you are looking to create a new web page or start a blog, Just click on the image below and CHECK IT OUT...

To help jog your memory of the AWESOMENESS Lauren shared with us through the proceeds of all the sales that were made in a month see my blogpost :

BLOWN AWAY!!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH LAUREN!!!!

Soooo... now as she sets off on another adoption journey, and understanding the experience of adopting and the expenses involved... I only wish I could do more to help this AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING family who blessed our SOCKS off!!

She has put together the BIGGEST MOST AWESOME basket full of GREAT things for YOU to win!!! Simply... head on OVER to her SITE... Just click HERE!  You will go straight to Lauren's beautiful website! 

DONATE as little as:

FIVE DOLLARS and you are entered to WIN!!! ...Also, absolutely ANYTHING is HELPFUL and COMPLETELY appreciated when you are funding an adoption - every little bit helps!  and YOU are helping bring home an ORPHAN to a CHRIST LOVING family who will cherish and adore this child FOREVER AND EVER!!!

Directly from Lauren's blog...

There are soooo many amazing goodies that total over $350 worth of awesomeness! The very blessed winner of this basket is going to receive so many wonderful things that can either be an early Christmas gift for her/him OR a combo of goodies for them and goodies to give away as Christmas presents! Either way it’s just great!All you have to do to is enter your name into a drawing for this basket when you make a donation of $5 towards our Ethiopia Adoption. For every $5 we will put your name on the list…. so, $10 we will put your name on twice… $25 five times… and so forth. Simple right? Read all the way to the bottom to see how you can get an extra entry too!

GO HERE TO DONATE - GO HERE TO ENTER TO WIN ALL OF THIS!

 

 

 

Last day to ENTER November 27th at 11:59 pm. 

 

 

Then I will draw a winner and announce it on the blog on the 28th! 

 

Once I hear back I will ship all the goodies to you! YAY!! This is a WIN – WIN situation! Even if you don’t win the basket you have still helped us bring our baby home AND you have the opportunity to win another basket next month!

After you donate……  post something about this on twitter, facebook ,or your blog (better yet – all 3!) and we’ll add your name again to the list.  Just be sure to leave a comment with the link to your post about it!

If you wish for your name to be put on the list for the basket drawing without donating to our adoption just email me at laurenalexis1@gmail.com for how to do that.

If you would like to send a check just email me.

 

 OKAY, SO seriously.... How AWESOME IS THIS!!! It is honestly the BIGGEST AND BEST giveaway I have ever seen! I LOVE IT!  I LOVE LAUREN AND HER FAMILY!

PLEASE... take a minute to POP on over to LAUREN's BLOG and ENTER! :)

TWO MONTHS HOME

OCTOBER 20, 2011

2 MONTHS HOME and look how much Mihret's hair has grown! hehehe! :)

SLEEPING HABITS:

We have moved Mihret into her own room and she is doing okay.

She still sleeps in the portable crib

She is still waking up about ONCE a night.

She is taking close to a two hour nap now around noon everyday. :)

Won't let Madison or Makinzi put her to bed

EATING HABITS:

Mihret still pretends to eat a lot - she will pretend to feed us too

SHE LOVES FOOD! :)

She has gone from being in the 20th percentile in weight to the 65th!!! WOW!

 She is just now starting to let Makinzi and Madison feed her - she is still pretty particular about that

She is starting to like fruit more - wouldn't eat it when we first got home

She will eat pretty much everything now - even raw onions :)

I still give her rice cereal mixed with apple sauce for breakfast

Likes to feed herself

Starting to drink Soy milk not formula now 

PLAYING:

She is being nicer to Furbee - she doesn't push him away - she puckers up for a big kiss instead! :)

She LOVES to play with cell phones and pretend to talk to people

She likes the older kids a bit more than the little ones

She shares well.

She plays good by herself

She will let you read an entire BOOK to her now! :)

LOVES to stack blocks

Not a fan of TV

Loooooves to open up the cabinets and get her cups and bowls out

Likes to mix and pour stuff

LOVES the water and bathtime

POTTY TRAINING:

Mihret still says caca when she has to go Potty

We are not pushing this though - she is still wearing a diaper

We do give her a treat for going pooooopy

Does not like Madison and Makinzi to take her potty

Does not like her little potty - likes to go on the BIG potty

LANGUAGE:

Mihret's vocabulary is growing sloooooowly

She still says Momma, Dadda and Caca

Calls Furbee GAGA

Kinz taught her to say, GO - so now she says GO CACA :)

We think we have heard her say BYE and BABY but don't hear them often

She jibber jabbers alllll the time

Starting to SING

GIGGLES about stuff

Laughs to herself and at silly things

LOVE HER SMILE!

HEALTH:
Almost all her Mollescum is GONE

Her Giardia is GONE

She is still taking an Iron supplement

She has a nice size belly - she thinks is funny to show us and point to her belly button

OUTINGS:
Kinzi's Softball Games and practices

Kinzi's Volleyball Matches

To the ZOO with her friends Makeda and Skyler

Out to coffee with friends

Getting better in the car no more crying and less throwing up :)

Wagon Walks

To the mall in the stroller

Dr. Visit at UW

Remlinger Farms

1st POST PLACEMENT VISIT

Mihret loved Diane, she sat on her lap or stood beside her and put her hand on her solder. SO CUTE!

It was FUN for her to meet Mihret!

Nice to talk to her about Mihret's development, attachment, etc...

My sweet nephew and his BIG OLE HEART

My sis sent me this - it brought me to tears and just warms my heart... that her little boy thinks about this moment in time as SUPER special to him! 

♥ LOVE YOU TANNER - You are a ONE COOL KID!! XOX ♥

♥ Mihret and Tanner!!! ♥

DARC, I HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU. I WENT TO PICK UP TANNER FROM SCHOOL TODAY AND HIS TEACHER WANTED TO SHOW ME SOMETHING HE HAD WRITTEN.

THE ASSIGNMENT GIVEN TO THE KIDS WAS TO WRITE ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE TRIP.

SHE GAVE EXAMPLES OF DISNEYLAND, SILVERWOOD, ETC. OUT OF ALL THE FUN PLACES

WE HAVE BEEN AND THINGS WE HAVE DONE THIS IS WHAT HE CHOSE TO WRITE ABOUT

....HE HAS THE SWEETEST HEART!!!! MADE ME CRY :)

I HAVE ATTACHED "TRANSLATION" - IF YOU WILL - OF TANNER'S WRITING SINCE HE DID WRITE IT ALL BY HIMSELF WITH NO HELP FROM THE TEACHER :)

"WHEN I WENT TO SEATTLE TO MEET MY NEW BABY COUSIN. SHE LIKES ELECTRONICS. WHEN WE GOT TO THE AIRPORT MY OLDER COUSIN SHE STARTED TO CRY. WHEN WE WERE AT THE AIRPORT I WAS A LITTLE SHY CAUSE A LOT OF GIRLS WERE THERE. NOW THAT'S WHEN I MET MY NEW BABY COUSIN!"

P.S. TANNER ASKED ME.....DID YOU SEE THE BIG BOW I PUT ON MIHRET'S HEAD :) YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL FROM THE SCANNED COPY, BUT THE "DARKER, SMALLER

PERSON" ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE IS MIHRET WITH A BIG BOW!!

Soooooo sweet!!! I loved it!!! Mihret will adore this as much as we do one day!!!! 

LOOOOVE YOU SO MUCH TANNER!!!

ONE MONTH HOME

September 20th, 2011

ONE MONTH HOME

What we have done and how Mihret is doing

Mihret is 14 MONTHS old

-Mihret is sleeping in our room in a crib - she is waking up about 2+ times a night

-Does not like being told, 'no' -plays with her fingers to process

-She says Caca when she has to go potty - we sit her on the potty and she GOES!

-She is saying Dadda, Momma, Caca and calls our Yorkie (Furbee) GAGA

-She is being treated for Giardia

-She is anemic and is being treated with Iron supplements

-She SMILES with her WHOLE BODY

-She is still warming up to her sisters Madison and Makinzi

-Not a FAN of the carseat

-She gets CARSICK - she has thrown up about 4 times in the car :(

-She likes to pretend to eat

-She does good playing with her toys by herself

-LOVES to be held

-LOVES baths

-Touches her BOW in her hair and SMILES :)

-Not a FAN of baby dolls

-Likes to stack things, even her food

-Getting up and down the stairs really good

-Is understanding more what we are saying

-LOVES to play with BALLS

-Likes SWEEETS

-LOVES to play in rain puddles

-Waves good bye and says, GA

-Can give ya a HIGH FIVE

-Does not like to look at the camera and smile

-Still drinking FORMULA

-She has been to softball games, volleyball matches and the zoo

-She still has a lot of the mollescum. Her body is starting to fight it though.

-Likes the wagon and the stroller

-Won't let you read an entire book to her - is good for about 30 seconds :)

-Takes about an hour nap at noon

-Definitely does NOT like it if she CANNOT see you 

-Cries and throws a fit for no reason sometimes

-TOTALLY tickleish and has a GREAT BIG belly laugh :)

-Got her EARS PIERCED

-Seeing MORE of her funny lil personality

-PUCKERS up and gives the BEST kisses EVER!! ♥

 

We are ENJOYING every single second with HER! She is SUCH A BLESSING! 

LOVE YOU MIHRET!

M♥RE L♥VE for MIHRET ♥

My dear friend Tiffany threw me a TOTALLY FUN shower at the Edgewater Inn restaurant - right on the water - it was beautiful... she decorated the table with adorable cupcakes with lil brown babies on them! ha ha! I LOVED IT! and we played little games and HOLY SMOKES... all of them - Crystal, Sonja, De, Tiff, Diana, Carol and Jan were SO SO thoughtful and soooooo incredibly generous... I couldn't wait to get back home and try on all Mihret's adorable outfits, play games with her and read books to her... THANKS LADIES!!! I had such a BLAST! A few of my buds couldn't make it - but BLESSED the SOCKS of Miss Mihret with a little BARBIE car and AMAZZING little outfits and books!! WOW!!!!

(Mihret pictured here in her new lil JUICY outfit from her Grandma and Grandpa riding her BARBIE car from the May's and the Bate's) :)

(Ooooooh LOOK I'm wearing the SAME outfit that I did at Niki's SHOWER!! ha ha ha!) :)

...The BLESSSSSSSSSINGS just kept on COMING!!!! My ACER Momma's all got together and surprised me in between Kinzi's SOFTBALL Games - They had a picnic table ALL set up with BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS Cupcakes, Strawberries and Cream, drinks, sandwhiches!! WOW!!! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Surprised!!! It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Mihret got SOOOOOOOOOOOO many DARLING outfits... and MORE!!! I LOVE these Softball Mom's... I honestly cherish their friendship... and are REALLY a lot like FAMILY - since we see each other SO much, cheer on each other's kiddos together, travel together - LOVE THEM!!!  

Here is a pick of some of my AWESOME ACERRRRRRR BUDS

Mihret LOOOOOOOOOOVED the CUPCAKES!!!! Mmmmmmm mmmm!!! 

 

...Then last weekend we went to EASTERN WASHINGTON (Mihre'ts first trip to our HOME TOWN) to go to another SHOWER that Erik's SISTER - Angela had arranged with ALL our family that live there!! Erik's Mom made YUMMY Spaghetti, garlic Bread, Cider - we had cake and ice cream - YUM! It was soooooooooooooo nice to see all our family and share this time together and Mihret got SOOOO many adorable things - from a little rocking horse, a winter coat to darling outfits and a sweet knitted hat!! SOOO FUN!! SO THOUGHTFUL! Thanks Ang!!! XOX ♥  We had such a GREAT time sharing Mihret and spending time with everyone! :)

(I think little Mihret was all PARTIED out at this point and  ready for a nap... ) :)

....it seemed like every time I saw FAMILY and FRIENDS - everyone had a little something for Mihret ♥ things came in the mail - things were left on our doorstep!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! It was SO FUN! I am so GRATEFUL for the AWESOME people GOD has placed in our lives!!!!  We REALLY ARE BLESSED - way more than we deserve!

This AWESOME book was dropped off on my door step by my dear FRIEND Shannon!!! I read it to Mihret EVERY night - SHE LOVES IT - so DO I!!!

and my friend JANET S. and her AWESOME fam - gave Mihret this book - ANOTHER one of my FAVE'S!!!

...Not to mention Mihret's lil closet is FULL of FUN! I'm telling ya... this MOMMA is having such a blast finding outfits for her to wear everyday and bows to put in her hair, books to read to her, sippy cups, diapers, blankets, cute bowls to eat out of, bibs, shoes, toys... :)

My sister-in-law, Mikayla - had plans to throw me a BIG OLE shower and we kept needing to reschedule or move it to a different location... She made the most BEAUTIFUL invitations and put a lot of thought into it! We decided to turn it into a FAMILY FUN dinner - just down the street at Red Robin...

...It was just perfect... Beautiful FLOWERS - in a HOME MADE GIANT Jar, Personalized Cupcakes for Miss Mihret, a UW JERSEY!! COOL! UGGS!! A couple adorable outfits... A Rahel Ethiopian Dolly! LOVE HER!!! So does Mihret!! SUPER DUPER CUTE!!! Love the story behind her and the support that goes back to World Vision!! AWESOME! Thanks MIKAYLA for planning such a FUN time on YOUR birthday!!! :)

To top off an AWESOME night... - Mihret's Uncle Zach WON her a little Green and Blue Monkey Dude from the 'BIG GRABBER THINGY' game!! ha ha ha!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!! He tried it a couple times - had a goooood grasp on it, it slipped away... then we all decided to leave and just give up... Zach ran back in to try it ONE more time and GOT THAT CRAZY LIL THING!!! ha ha ha!!! ...Then he CHASED our car down and gave it to MIHRET!!! ♥ SOOOOOOO FUNNY!!!!

SH♥WERED WITH L♥VE

...was I freaked to leave lil Mihret!? Yaaaaa know, I had spent over 5 amazing days HOGGING her and LOVING on her and monopolizing all of her attention all to MYSELF... I was actually really looking forward to her spending time bonding and attaching with her Daddy again and her sisters (but YAAAAAA I was TOTALLY gonna MISS HER)! :) ♥

Niki planned this AMAZZZZZZZZZZZING shower - My sister was still in town so she was able to make it and brought THE MOST AWESOME cake - Not to mention it was DELICIOUS - and she brought back the HIGH CHAIR that Madison, Makinzi, her sweeeeet kids, Peyton and Tanner all USED - she painted it and put all of their names and birthdays on the back of it for Mihret!! SO COOOOOL!! Elle J added sooooo much sunshine with beautiful flowers and balloons and a THE NEATEST Shower game - that had me in TEARS at the very first sentence!! ha! :)  PLUS... brought the VIDEO (that I put on the last post - Mihret's HOMECOMING) her husband made the night before (He created it in ONE night!!!) and played it for all of us to see!!!! IT WAS THE BEST!!! ♥ XOXOX

It was SO GREAT to see everyone! ...and to tell them how the last few days have been in Ethiopia with Mihret! I had SUCH A GREAT time and my goooooooodness I was just blown away with all the ADORABLE outfits for Mihret and all those things I haven't purchased in like 12 years.... bottles, blankets, diapers, portable crib.... EVERYONE blessed us SO MUCH! REALLY GENEROUS and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thoughtful!!! ...I couldn't wait to show Erik and the girls ALL of the CUTENESS Mihret got and what a FABULOUS time I had with all the GIRLS!!!

HOME at LAST

August 20th - 2011!

 ...Mihret and I hopped off the plane - with the EXCITED anticipation of seeing Erik and the girls and my sister, my niece and nephew and my Dad and ALL our friends who have totally been supporting us through this whole journey (and missing some of my AWESOME AGCI peeps and more of our AMAZING family who couldn't make it) ...just the very first peek of everyone as we came up the escalator, I couldn't hold them back... and out came the good ole UGLY cry of complete JOY and HAPPINESS!!!!  I'm not sure if Mihret knew what to think about it all... it was probably pretty overwhelming for her! :) But, she did great!  It was AWESOME to see everyone!!! We felt SO SPECIAL AND LOVED to share this moment we had been anticipating for so long with so many GREAT people!! 

Mihret is HOME!!!!! WOW!!! SHE is HOME!!

 Here is a video my dear friends husband made for our family!


 
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH Miss Elle J, your TOTALLY AWESOME AND TALENTED Hubby and kiddos for taking SO many great pics and video.... and then GIFTING me with THESE memories in this totally thoughtful, heartfelt, BEAUTIFUL video!!!  WOW!!!  What a Gift!  WHAT A DAY!!! Thank you for capturing this time in our lives!!! Such a PRICELESS gesture!! I LOVE YOU ELLE J FAM! ;)

♥ I am BLESSED by your FRIENDSHIP! XOX ♥

I LOVED every single sign WELCOMING Mihret HOME and all her balloons and treats from friends and family!! WE thank God for all of the people He has placed in our lives who have been so supportive during this whole process of bringing HOME our DAUGHTER from Ethiopia - from our decision to adopt to THIS DAY she is off the plane and HOME for goooood!!!  THANK YOU!  THANKS SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH for your prayers and encouragement - I can't even put it into words how SINCERELY GRATEFUL our family is! ♥

 

...Got as many pics as we POSSIBLY could, gave a ton of hugs and then we headed out to the car... to put our little sweeeeetie in her new car seat (THANKS DAD)!  ...as I got in the car I noticed Erik had my car totally detailed and had little snacks all over and installed a DVD in front of Mihret's car seat... it looked AWESOME even if Mihret was TOTALLY NOT a FAN of any of it - especially being strapped into that seat!! :)  We really couldn't get HOME fast enough... I was excited to have our time together for Erik to reconnect and for the girls to really meet their new LITTLE SISTER and play with her... and to get her out of that car seat that was definitely not making her happy at all!!!

As soon as we pulled up to the house - I see this:

...and started to bawl all over again! ha ha ha!! MY SIS IS AMAZING! :) I've NEVER seen a sign SO big!!! 

I LOVED IT!!!!!

 

...Mihret slept in-between Erik and I that night! ...she probably woke up about 3 or 4 times... new place, new people, new home... I can't imagine the confusion that was happening in her little headd heart!! ...WE will be here for her now and FOREVER... to LOVE the socks OFF of her on her GREAT days and her BAD ones!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING being a family of FIVE!! SOOOOO HAPPY to have her HOME!!!

God is GOOD!

Praising Him and THANKING Him for our safe flight HOME, for our BEAUTIFUL little GIRL, and that we are ALL TOGETHER FOREVER!

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

Matthew 18:5

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.

Psalms 68:5-6

WELCOME HOME SWEEEET BABY MIHRET!!! ♥

GOING HOME!!!

August 19th!!! 

Mihret and I were enjoying every single second together but still WISHING we were at HOME!! T called and she said she had a CD of pics and video for some families whose kiddos are at HH.  It was nice to see her again and chat for a little bit.  While we were in the lobby - I paid our bill and Mihret noticed her buddy from Breakfast and kept wanting him to hold her and she'd want to walk over to him.... sooooooo we made another quick exit... We walked up to the 3rd floor and I skyped Madison and Kinz and their friends!!! It was FUN!!! I really wish the internet would have worked in our room... It was GREAT to see their faces and for Mihret to wave and jibber jabber a little to her sisters... who we would soooooooooooooooooooon be seing FOR REAL!!!!!:)

YES!!! The day we leave to go HOME... FOREVER!!! I could hardly wait... I think we were COMPLETELY packed by noon! I kept looking at the clock... I was SOOOOO EXCITED to be HOME with our little girl... to be a family of FIVE!!!  ... asked the hotel to give us a ride to the airport at like 4:30!!! Yep, 3 hours early! hehehe! :) WE WERE READY!!!!

We only had ONE suitcase and One backpack and ONE BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!  ...I was standing in a line behind a nice family who were bringing home their little boy! They got a picture of me and my sweeeeetie in line!! :)

..

bye bye Ethiopia!! We'll be BACK!

....I can't say how long I had anticipated this day... bringing Mihret HOME! I just couldn't wait to HOP on the plane and start heading in the right direction... FIRST STOP Dubai... UNFORTUNATELY, as soon as I got there the ONLY flight delayed was OURS!! :( Running ONE hour behind. EEEEEEEKS! With less than a 2 hour layover I was staring to freak!  As we waited another 45 minutes or so for the plane to come they served us cake and soda (Mihret loved it and made a BIG GIANT HUGE MESS)! :)  ...After SOOOO many years of NOT paying any attention to 'Passengers with small children can board.' 21 When they finally announced this type of seating - there was nooooo stopping me and Mihret!!:) YAHOOOOOOOOOOO! We are FINALLY going to LEAVE!

...I was just praying everyone would take their seats as soon as possible so we could get this plane in the air!!! :)  Ooooh Mihret did AMAZING!!! She ate so good, slept great, played with other little kids on the plane, CUDDLED and SNUGGLED with me!!! :) She was REALLY good!

When we got to Dubai - we were there with about 7 minutes to spare - I was BEGGGGING the airline peeps to call ahead for us and hold our plane. (ya right - wasn't gonna happen) - I grabbed our backpack and ran like a crazy lady just to pick up NEW tickets for the next flight in SIX HOURS!!! OOOOH I COULD CRY!!!! I desperately wanted to get a hold of Erik - so I went and bought a phone card and tried to use the pay phone thingy's - it was really confusing... I think I had to ask 6 people to help me!!! :)  I finally got a hold of Erik and started to BAWL!! ...after I got that out of my system, Mihret and I walked around the beautiful airport.  Emirites had strollers so I grabbed one and we went and had some ice cream and walked around and then had some pizza and walked around - then we found a free lounger type chair and we went and took about a 2 and a half hour nap!!!

 Starbucks in the Dubai airport!!

....BACK IN THE AIR!! Mihret did AWESOME... AGAIN!! I thought her ears would hurt, or she wouldn't be able to eat or she would be crying and figity... she did better than I did... FOR SURE!!!  Once our plane landed in LA - I was FRANTIC yet again to try and make sure we could make the flight HOME!!!  We were herded down to customs in a GIANT HUGE HUMONGOUS line (oooooooooooooh nooooooooo) then I waited in another line in Immigration with Mihret's SEALED MANILA envelope from the U.S. Embassy... we loooked for our luggage, rechecked it, ran a MILE to get in another line for ticketing (I must have cut in line every time... TOTALLY apologizing - the ticketing lady was SOOOOOOOO sweeeeet! I was sweating, tired, dirty, and stressed and she was SO KIND - she asked about Mihret and told me THANK YOU for adopting her!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I turned into a big CRY BABY messss!! I wanted to reach over and just give that woman a GIANT hug!!!!) , got in another line to go through security... RAAAAAAAAAAN TO THE GATE with minutes to spare... BOARDED THE PLANE TO GO HOME!!!!

YES! WE MADE IT!!! 

We were on the last stretch!! 

THE HOME STRETCH!!!!

...Still at the Riviera

Okay... I was TOTALLY wishing I was able to get our tickets changed... I LOVED the one-on-one time I was getting with Mihret but I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO READY to get OUR BABY HOME... and I missed Erik and the girls!!

...it would have been nice to get out and walk around and talk to people and see and share Ethiopia with Mihret... Instead of seeing the inside of room 706 for soooooooooooo long.  Our driver we loooooved, Tsega, was off on a trip with another American family and so I wasn't able to call him to have him pick us up and just drive us around... I totally could have asked a few of the cab guys down in front of the hotel but, I just didn't feel super comfortable with just me and Mihret going...

....in the morning of the 18th Mihret and I woke up and had the breakfast buffet! Mmmm mmm! ;) ....we ended up having to make it a quickie... Mihret kept wanting to get down and run to this man sitting at a table!! AAAGH! I slurrrrped up my YUMMY coffee (I seriously could drink 12 cups it's SO delicious), shoved a few more scrumptious bites of egg and a pancake down, grabbed little miss Mihret and zippppped back to the room.

We had a great big window in our room, which was really nice.  We were able to open it and just watch people, feel the cool air, hear people talking... It was better than watching TV!! We also went to the ballroom and played a little, I gave her a bath, she snacked, played, napped.... 

We went down to the restaurant for dinner... They gave Mihret Shiro Wat (I'm sure I probably spelled that wrong) :) ha! But... she ate it like babyfood!!! It was GREAT!  I liked it tooo! :)  (She's blowing spit bubbles in this picture!!) hehehe! :)  ...We'd skype Erik and the girls every night!

...our plane didn't leave until August 19th at 7:35 p.m.!! ...Soooo, Mihret and I just pretty much hung out LOVING on each other WAITING to go HOME...

DONATIONS DELIVERED! ♥

...It was August 17th, 2011...

Mihret and I woke up (soooooooooooooo AWESOME to see her sleeping next to me) ♥ ...we went to the breakfast buffet and Mihret just LOVED my scramble eggs - It was SO good to eating something she really liked - since I couldn't get her to eat any rice cereal or baby food.  After breakfast we came back to the room and played for a little bit...  I brought her a little baby dolly that she loved on and would give kisses to!! IT WAS THE SWEEETEST!

At NOON Almaz came to deliver all of our paperwork from the US Embassy!  WOW, it was record speeeeeed, we got it back so FAST!!  We all sat down in the ballroom and Almaz explained it all.

There were 5 families there at the same time.

After Almaz was finished explaining everything - I asked Wass or Danny if they could take me to Betzatha because I have 4 GIANT tubs of donations (THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH to all of those who donated!!! WOW) and I needed to stop and pick up some goats too! :) So, Wass drove T and Almaz back to HH and then Danny came back and helped me load up all the donations and we went to one of his favorite goat shopping spots and we grabbed 4 and headed to Betzatha!!!  YAY!!!  1 goat will feed the 46 kids 1 meal.... So they were gonna get at least 4 goood meals from these goats.

 

 We unloaded the goats and helpers carried in all of the tubs and started to unpack them!!! THEY WERE SOOOO THRILLED! My heart REALLY went out to this orphanage.  It had SO many needs.  They all just had a SUPER SMILE as they put their hands back into the tubs to bring out MORE AND MORE AWESOME donations - they sooooo desperately needed!

 

While I was there, one of the directors wanted to show me around... we walked around outside, saw the kitchen, playroom, older kids rooms and then we started walking upstairs to the infant/toddler area and Mihret SCREAMED and started to cry... I immediately turned around and went back downstairs and she was fine.  It really is sad to think of her there, how she got there, how hurt and alone she felt... 

 We didn't stay too long, then Danny drove us back to the Riviera.  When I got back I learned everyone had changed their tickets to leave THAT NIGHT!!! I got on the internet and got a hold of Erica and tried like crazzzzzzzzzzzzy to change mine toooo, but all of the flights were booked. Waaaaaaaaaa! I was gonna miss my travel buds... BIG TIME!!! I gave them HUGE hugs good-bye, in hopes that we will always stay in touch!!  Then Mihret and I went and had chicken and rice Kabobs in the restaurant. :)

At 7:00 we went and skyped Daddy, Honey and Kinz!  Mihret waved

to them!! It was SO CUTE!  It is great to watch our baby girl show a little more of her AMAZZING little personality each day...  

I LOVE HER!!!