Flashback Friday: Easter

My sweet friend Jenn will often do Flashback Friday posts on her blog, and I am going to borrow her idea for our blog.  Please note that Jenn's flashbacks are fun, intentional, reflective looks back at the past.  My use of flashback Friday is an attempt to blog about things that have happened in the not-too-distant-past, but  long enough ago that they can't be considered current.  (This seems to happen a lot in our little corner of the blog world, so thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with us)!

The weeks surrounding Easter were a sweet celebration.  We did a lot of fun things, and a lot of reflecting on the true gift of our salvation through Christ.  Here is a quick look on some of the fun things that happened around here.

We dyed Easter eggs, which Mikayla LOVED...  

 

 

 

Our sweet girl on Easter morning...

 

A little bit of Easter basket fun...

 

 

We also had a mini Easter egg hunt in our back yard.  Mikayla was really good at finding the eggs and wanted us to hide them over and over again...

 

So thankful for a special day with our family!

Wordless Wednesday: I Can Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

*Photo taken by Jenn Hare*

Big Froggy

We have had tons of frogs around our house this spring, and Mikayla seems to spot them everytime.  A few weeks ago she got to hold a tiny frog at a friend's birthday party.  Ever since, if she sees a frog she gets as close as she can to it and giggles hysterically.  One evening, we found a huge frog.  She got really close to it again, and this time, she wanted to hold "big froggy."  Brian picked it up, and she inched closer and closer to Brian and the frog, excited to hold it, and unsure at the same time.  I think her face says it all!

  She finally decided that she did want to hold it...

 

And then changed her mind as soon as the frog got close to her hand (this happened several times)...

Her curiosity won in the end, and she held "Big Froggy" for what seemed an eternity, smiling, looking at it, giggling, and repeating "Big Froggy" over and over again.

 Folks, this was weeks ago, and we still talk about "Big Froggy" almost everyday!  No frog since has quite measured up for our sweet girl!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Our Big Girl

Our life has revolved around this lately:

She has done GREAT!  But, seriously, when did she grow up into such a big girl?

Happy Mikayla Day!

Hello?  Anybody still there?  If you are still hanging on with us even after a 3 month blogging break, you are amazingly faithful! 

On Saturday we celebrated a very special day for our family.  It was the one year anniversary of the day that we arrived home together, as a family.  I affectionately call it Mikayla Day. It is almost surreal to think about how quickly time has flown by.  Wasn't it yesterday that we were in Ethiopia just after their celebration of Christmas?  Wasn't it yesterday that they put this sweet little girl in our arms forever?  It hasn't been an easy year by any stretch.  I would  venture to say that it has been the hardest year I have ever experienced.  It has been a transforming year for all three of us, and change isn't easy.  We have stretched and grown in countless ways.  Even with (or perhaps, because of) these growing pains, this year has also been the biggest blessing imaginable.

In addition to extra snuggles, hugs, kisses, and prayers of thankfulness, we celebrated by heading out to a local Ethiopian restaurant.  The food and family time were great, and I love that we got another picture by the Christmas tree decorated for the Ethiopian celebration of Christmas.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from one BUSY little bee!

One Year Ago

One year ago today I woke up as nervous as I ever had been before.  I knew my life was about to change forever because Brian and I were to meet a new member of our family.  One year ago we traveled across a busy city in a foreign country to meet a little girl who was already part of our hearts, a child for whom we had prayed long before we even knew her.  We stepped out of a van and walked up the stairs to a room with six tiny cribs.  One year ago, a video camera watched as we laid eyes on this sleeping beauty who was our daughter for the first time.  

 One year ago today, we fell instantly in love with our little Tamir.

Has it really been a year?  In so many ways it feels  like just yesterday we were in Addis for the first time.  In so many other ways, it feels like I have known Mikayla forever.  What a difference a year makes!

Mikayla Tamir, we are so thankful for the blessing you are in our lives.  We are so much richer for being your parents.