18 MONTHS old TODAY!!!

Miss Mihret is a YEAR and a HALF today!!!

She woke up feeling really HOT! EEEKS! I haven't had little toddlers in the house for so long - we didn't even have a thermometer!! AAAH!  So after Mihret and I snuggled for about an hour or so... I decided I better skip on over to Bartell's and get a thermometer and some acetaminophen for kiddos and some pedialyte!! 

I came home and checked her temp - it was 100.9... gave her some kiddo Tylenol, and a sippy cup full of pedialyte and she went back to sleep again... I called my buddy Megs and she gave me some good ole guidance on how to monitor her termperature.... and just to be able to talk to another Momma of a little one - made me feel better! THANKS MEGS!!!! XOX

HAPPPY Half Birthday Mihret!!! :) 

WE LOOOOVE YOU little one! MUAH!

153 Days

That's FIVE months our little Mihret has been HOME!! 3,672 HOURS we have been able to wake up and see her BEAUTIFUL little face! 220,320 minutes we have been able to LOVE on her, hold her, cuddle her, tickle her, share with her, teach her...

153 Days that THIS crazy family has been in HEAVEN and LOVING every single minute with our beautiful daughter... and the girls silly new sister!!!

It really hasn't taken Mihret long to feel comfortable, safe, attached, loved RIGHT here in her HOME!  We see a new little snipit of her halarious personality each day! She is a bright eyed, smart little girl with a BIG HUGE smile and a crazzzzzy lil wave to everyone she sees!

She is a year and a half old now.... and PACKED full of PERSONALITY!

She is saying words like:

GOOD

GIRL

OUCH

BYE

HI
GO

PEE PEE
POO POO

CACA

MOMMA

DADDA

KIKI (Kinzi)

BITE
MINE

PLEASE

ONE MORE
GONE

COOKIE

CANDY

BOOK

SHOE

JUICE

WAWA (Water)

BABY

BED

CHEESE

CHEERS
TEETH
KNEE
EYE
NOSE...

She is taller, stronger, much more healthy - and most important - she is HAPPY! LOVED! Everyday! NOW and FOREVER!

She LOVES to be held, she likes to sit in the BIG chairs to eat meals, she loves to play ball, she recently started to love on her dollies, she likes to color on the walls and put stickers on cabinets! ha!... she drinks soy milk and loves cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  She is not a fan of TV - but LOVES to be read to.  She likes to pick out the book for you to read before naps and bedtime. She likes bows in her hair and she doesn't like to be dirty or messy. She LOVES to smile for the camera now and she ADORES and SCREAMS with excitement when I share with her pictures of her Ethiopian Buddies from Hannah's Hope!  She gives the worlds best hugs and kisses - she gives the best pouty look when she wants something.  She loves water bottles and wants to carry one around and put the lid on and off and pour water into things, she DIGS bathtime - without bubbles just lotsa toys and a little trickle of water running!  She runs to meet Daddy at the font door when he comes home.  She absolutely loves every bit of attention she gets from her crazy big sisters.  She is sleeping great, eating good, and going potty like a BIG Girl.  If we are sitting at a stoplight for too long, she tells me to, 'GO GO GO!' :) She likes to pretend to eat and she likes to pretend to feed ya...

She is KIND

She is SMART

She is IMPORTANT ;)

Aaaaaaaaaw and WE SURE DO LOVE HER!
She is a BLESSING we thank GOD for EVERYDAY!

 "The greatest of these is Love." 1 Corinthians 13:13.

CHRISTmas Break

 SNOWFLAKE LANE

The girls are outa school and I look so forward to all the days I get to hang with them before they have to go back... We ALL had such an amazing CHRISTmas this year with Mihret HOME! ...We went to Snowflake lane in Bellevue - a little crowded and overwhelming for Miss Mihret - but she DID looooove it when it started to snow (the fake kind - but still REALLY cooool) :)  We went to MOD (made on demand) pizza first! MMMM mmmmm MY FAVE! We met Erik's brother and his wife Jen and their sweet boy Grant there - and shared the FUN with them...
 
Last year we started a tradition to grab some YUMMY Ethiopian food at Habesha Ethiopian Restaurant in Seattle and then go to the Black Nativity at the Moore Theater.  This year we got to do it with MIHRET (her first ET dinner in the US)! YAY! Erik's brother, Kevin and his wife were in town and so they joined us! The staff asked if Mihret was Ethiopian and gave her special love and attention! It was SWEET! :)  We ordered Sega Sambusa and Kategna for appetizers! DELISH!!!!! ...For Dinner we ordered Abesha Lamp Tibs, Doro Chicken Tibs, Zil Zil Beef Tibs and we asked for COOKED Kitfo (yaaaa, okay we like the MEAT! :) hehehe! We also ordered some lentils and Shiro Wat.  Mihret was not too sure about any of it.  She did like the Injera - a little - but she wasn't a fan of the rest of it.  It's weird... at the Riviera she ate Shiro Wat like it was going outa style! She just LOVED it!  Kevin and his wife liked the experience - not too sure if they were crazy about the food.  I LOOOOOVED it! However, it took us about 6 bites into the Kitfo to realize it wasn't cooked!! AAAAAGH! How we didn't clue in to the texture - I have NO idea. :)  It was DARK (I mean REALLY Dark! :)) and the flavors were REALLY YUMMMY... Okay, but I definitely like it better cooked! :) ha ha! ...and after I realized it was raw - I had a hard time dipping back into it again. :)

 BLACK NATIVITY

We didn't have tickets for the Black Nativity but after dinner we drove straight over and were able to find 7 seats together! It was AWESOME!!!!! Mihret was awake until after intermission! She had her hands in the air and was waving and was LOVING it!!! It was so COOOOOL to see her enjoy it!!! I mean REALLY enjoy it!!!  It is a high energy, passion filled event TOTALLY and COMPLETELY celebrating Christ's birth - It was BEAUTIFUL!!! ...LOVE making new traditions - LOVE doing them with little Mihret...

This year for Christmas - we decided to go to Leavenworth. (Mihret sees SNOW for the first time) :) We left Christmas Eve and had an AMAZZZZZING dinner at Andrea's Keller! MMMM mmmmm! Weinersnitzel! Pretzels! Spatzel! Apple Struedel! - TOTALLY different from the ET dinner we had enjoyed just days before. :) We stayed at the Enzian Inn! We LOOOOOOOOVE it cuz they have a DELICIOUS breakfast in the morning, an ole guy comes out a blows this big giant horn (ugh - forgot the name of the thing) outside on the balcony :), they have an inside and an outside pool (Mihret went swimming for the first time), they have racket ball, ping pong.... and we took advantage of all of it! :)  It was AWESOME! Christmas morning we went upstairs for the YUMMY breakfast and met another adopted family... I never really know what the 'right' words are that you could say when you see another family with a sweeet Ethiopian baby.... but, while we were having breakfast the Mom came over and asked, 'Is she Ethiopian born also?' - hmmmmmm... I thought that was a good way to ask? :)  They were a nice family with the cutest little boy! :)

LEAVENWORTH

After FULLY enjoy Leavenworth, we drove home and enjoyed each others company and just chilled and played with our new things, watched some movies and started to pack for our trip to Cannon Beach! :)  AAAAW I LOVE THE BEACH! I have been enjoying Cannon Beach since I was a little one... so, I was SO excited to share it with Mihret and Madison and her friend and Kinz and her 2 buds!!!! :)  We rented a fun house on the beach with a hot tub (turned out to be the best - with all the dips the girls took in the ocean) brrrr! :)

We went for a 3 mile hike down to a beach called Crescent beach  - we were the only ones there - IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! :) The weather was cold and rainy - but it didn't stop us or prevent us from having a TON of FUN! We walked the little town, ate a lot of salt water taffy, yummy pizza and had a fondue night and a game night - we must have played Taboo for 3 hours! :) We made some AWESOME memories!

Okay... So it's December - I mean it's like WINTER - It is COLD outside - and these crazy girls would run from the house to the beach to the HOT TUB for hours!!! ha ha ha! :) Then I went out there with them (dressed for winter) and got a few crazy shots of their COLD lil red legs and jumping in front of the ocean and Haystack Rock!!! CRAZZZZZZZZY Fun Girls! :)

Is she yours?

....so the other day when Mihret and I were at Costco - a lady came up to me and told me how CUTE Mihret was and then she asked me, ' is she yours??'  I wasn't offended - I think it took me a little off guard but, ya know.... I see interracial families... and I am curious.  I want to know if they are adopted, from where, what agency they used and I rarely approach anyone because I feel like I am intruding on something or I feel like I would be offending them or asking too much or they would think, ' for Pete sake lady - look away and mind your own business....' ha! :) I think it is hard for people to NOT ask questions... I am an OLE Momma to two TEENS and a beautiful little Ethiopian baby girl... it isn't something ya see everyday... :) I would be curious.... and I would probably take an EXTRA looooooooong look and be very tempted to comment or compliment or something.  :)

I have to say, I am LOVING it! I LOVE to say, YES! YES! She is MINE!!! (for this little time on EARTH that God has chosen me be her Momma and look after her and LOVE her) ...and if they have any other questions I most generally answer them - unless it gets a tad to personal for my taste - ... I am finding it is such a BEAUTIFUL way to witness to other people about our AWESOME GOD and how the LOVE of Jesus Christ put the burden of orphans on our hearts and out of obedience He set us on FIRE to make ONE LESS orphan in the world today.  Maybe - Mihret's little story will encourage someone else to make one less orphan, maybe her lil story will SHOW someone JESUS...

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

Romans 8:14-16

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

WE LOVE YOU MIHRET! I don't know exactly what the right way or the best way to advocate for the orphans are - but my HEAVENLY Father and my little Mihret are helping me out there! :)

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

Proverbs 31:8-9

The Costco lady's next question was, 'What has happened to her REAL parents?' - I think most people don't realize it may not be a comfortable question to respond to... I think it is a question they ask out of curiosity.  I usually skip over it by just saying, 'I really don't know - I just know that she was an orphan along with 5 million others in Ethiopia who desperately NEEDED a family and... LOVE!' ...and that I am TOTALLY DIGGING being her REAL Momma!!!! :)

Thank you LORD for Mihret - that she is HOME with our FAMILY!! We are LOVING every minute and are so so so so THANKFUL for her!

 "God makes us who we are so the world can see who He is" David Richardson, Treasure Coast PCA. ~ I LOVE this!

Oh LORD - Help me to be an example and help me to have the words and the wisdom to show more people YOU and share YOU with more people!

Acts 1:8

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

1 Peter 3:15 

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,