Frogs and Bird Nests

Yesterday, Tem and Tessa spent the majority of the afternoon in the backyard. Tessa was busy chasing a frog around the yard, attempting to catch it in her small toy net. Tem decided he was going to build a bird nest and got busy making mud and finding grass.

Yesterday Abby and I were bringing Tem and Tessa out to Muskegon to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. So we were almost there when a deer ran across the road and this is the conversation between them that followed........

Tessa: Does he bite?

Tem: We can eat him. Yummy! I love chicken!!

Playground. Pizza. Picnic.

Its Been A While...

We have been home from Ethiopia for about three months.

Wow. Three months of laughter. Transition. Joy. Paperwork. Fun. Stress. Love.

And for some reason, we can't find time to ever update the blog :)

The latest update...

-Tem and Tessa love their scooters. The other night, they brought their scooters to Dad so he could "fix" them with his tools. Tessa was getting kinda warm because of the start of a Michigan summer, so she just decided to take her shirt off in the front yard. No big deal.

-They are starting to use English a lot more than at first. Tessa's latest thing is, "Hey Mama. Hey Mama. Hey look." anytime she needs attention. Tem's favorite phrase seems to be, "What is this?" He uses it for anything..."Rumble strips. What is this?" or when he saw a guy with his shirt off, he said, "No shirt. What is this?"

-We are learning over and over again that adoption is not easy. It is loaded full of emotion and up-and-downs and craziness and transitions and hard work. But its so worth it. And its what God did for us. That's a humbling thought.

"In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will -- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." Ephesians 1:4-6

paperclips and acorns.......

funny story. and true even. i was making tem and tessa's beds this morning and realized that while the rest of us are sleeping at night, they are quite busy.

tem's bed was full of acorn shells. apparently he got hungry during the night and decided that the acorns he and tess collected would make a yummy midnight snack.

and tessa's bed was full of paperclips. attached together to make quite a beautiful necklace.

huh. i wonder what we have planned for tonight??

New pets...

Today, Tem and Tessa became the proud owners of four goldfish.

Tem decided to name them: Abel, Hanna, Water, and WashHands.

A WOMAN IN AFRICA........

I am forever connected to a woman in Africa. She has trusted me with her children. We have some similarities.....but many more differences.

We both have had eye injuries. She lost her eye. I have perfect vision once again.

We both have had a baby at home. She was alone in her mud hut. No midwife. No husband. No one. I had my husband, my mother-in-law, my neighbors, a hospital five minutes away.

We both have children who can make us laugh and cry. She has watched her children go hungry, go without medicine, get ostracized for having parents with AIDS.........I have not. I have never even had to worry about where the next meal is coming from.

We have extended families. She only has two family members still living......her parents are gone, her husband, most of the others. I have parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends who feel like family.

I will never understand why God chose to place me in America and placed her in Ethiopia. Her life has always been quite difficult, mine has been so easy. Whenever I begin to complain of the minor inconveniences in my life, I will remember this woman in Africa. And I am forever connected to her and indebted to her for the gift of Temamen and Tigest.