Video of Solomon's arrival

A local television station was at the airport when Solomon arrived Wednesday.  It is one of the top viewed stories for the week and it's only 4 days old!  Click on the link below to view it yourself.  Less than 2 minutes long and it's full of GOOD news!

Video of Solomon's arrival at the airport

Once an Orphan...Now in a Family

Once there was a boy in Ethiopia whose parents were both dead.  He went to live in an orphanage.  He never knew what it was like to have a family.

Then one day when he was 16, a man, woman and their daughter came to his orphanage.  And they started emailing him.  And encouraging him.  And sharing God's love with him.  And they called the boy their son and brother.

And life looked a whole lot different.

Lots of things happened and one day, this boy flew across the Atlantic Ocean to go to college in America.

And to live with this family who loved him very much.

This boy's name is Solomon.  Our family had the privilege of being at the airport when he arrived today...

along with another 100 or so folks.

Balloons and signs were everywhere.

There's Solomon's mama hugging him as he walked out of the terminal.

Our four kids standing *next* to Solomon.  Everyone was wanting to hug him and welcome him.  And he was so very gracious to hug every person who came to greet him.

The Mestas Family...Solomon's family

You can read about their entire journey on Eileen's blog.

Happy Father's Day

All four children had been working on "gifts" for Dad this week.  They started off their day sharing them with him.  I just didn't take photos with this camera to share the excitement on the blog.

We went to church with Dad and I let eveyrone stay in worship to hear him preach.  We ate lunch at Jason's*Deli.  It was very hot outside and C wasn't feeling well so we didn't do any outside activities on the way home.

Dad and his fan club

Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the whole wide world!

Fancy Dinner

In Sunday School the kids' lesson was on "helping".  Since that is something we discuss *often* in our home, I was pleasantly surprised when they woke up today wanting to be helpers.  They cleaned their rooms more than expected as a daily chore.  They kept asking me all day how they could help.  Then around 4pm they asked if they could make dinner.  (That typcially translates, "How can we make a mess and you fix it?")

So after some discussion, it was decided they could make dinner.  The excitement was beyond belief.  It quickly became a "fancy dinner".  We all put on nice clothes.  I let them use the "good" dishes.  They did all the serving and we used very good manners at the table.

Our fancy dinner with Mom behind the camera.

On the menu was pb&j OR pb&m.  That's peanut butter and marshmallows.  We didn't have any marshmallow cream or small marshmallows so they used the big ones.  Quite funny to watch them eat trying to use good manners.

And for dessert...chocolate pieces to dip in pb.  (Mom had a graham cracker with whipped cream.)

Such a fun memory.

Oh, and the helpers disappeared after dinner to go play with Dad.  Mom cleaned but there were no pots and pans to wash!

We are very thankful for a church that teaches God's Word in a way that applies it to our every day life.

The End of Camp

It was a long week without our big girl and we were all very happy when the time finally came to go pick her up.  We got there a little early :) so we have to wait a bit.  Dad and the kids found things to do to pass the time.

Waiting for H...

H with the two counselors on the other side of her cabin.  (Ryan and Shelby)

H with the two counselors in her side of the cabin.  (Hannah and Holly)

Three  friends (with little brother's head - he did it every time I took a photo of them.  I think he missed his sister too and just wanted her attention.)

Ringing the bell.  They want to do it every time we're at the camp.

So now we are all home together.

H had an amazing week at camp.  Ask her.  She'll tell you all about it!

First Swim of the Summer

Our friends, the Mestas Family, invited us to go swimming with them.  So we pulled out all the swim clothes and towels and sunscreen, packed a lunch, and met them at the pool for a day of swimming.

B walked through the sprinkers.  It was so hot that any water was a welcome friend.

The Mestas' have five children 7 and under so they made good playmates for our three.  Thanks, James, Jeremiah, Josiah, Kezziah and Keren for playing with us!

E and Kezziah

C and Keren

It has taken me over two years, but both girls are my buddy now.

The five youngest Mestas' were adopted.  Read Eileen's blog for their amazing story.

Now we're on our way to pick up our big girl from camp!!!!