What a FUN Weekend!

Don't you just LOVE this little guy's smile??? I find myself just falling in love with it ALL the time! He's a charmer and totally knows it too! Anyway, so how's life been? I've been falling behind in the blogging world, so sorry if this is a long post(-: The past few weeks have been... well, lets just say, Elijah caught whatever bug was going around...you know the one...High fever, nausea, fatigue, for lets say 6 days straight!! Thankfully, he seems to be on the mend and the rest of us didn't catch it. I was just getting tired of not sleeping in my own bed. The first night I was on the couch with him...then it dawned on me, "hey, we have a guest bed....duh!"
OK, back to the weekend. We went to Columbus on Friday to get a last minute Easter outfit and just hang out as a family. The boys had fun playing at the indoor play area at the mall, mom found no clothes though, bummer! It was a drizzly day, so I decided to take some playing in the rain shots of the boys, I think they came out pretty cute...


Love those boots! We had bought Elijah a pair well over a year ago, and Scott's mom found the same pair for Yonatan. So let's see, that was Friday....Saturday, the boys and I did some yard work in the backyard. Cleaned the garden up a bit and brought out the lawn furniture from the shed. Scott had fun helping out at the track meet and then coming home to finish raking the backyard(-: During Yonatan's nap that afternoon, Elijah and I painted Easter eggs. Even though this was Elijah's 5th Easter, this was the first time I had ever done the decorating egg thing with him. Call me OCD, but the mess always scared me. To my surprise, it wasn't too messy at all, maybe next year I'll brave both boys helping(-:

Later that night, I had the brilliant plan to start on Cake Pops (check this blog out, http://bakerella.blogspot.com/ seriously fun stuff if you are into baking). Anyway, not realizing how time consuming they would be for a first timer, I dove in (yes the night before Easter..before getting up early for 2 services...not too bright am I?) Oh well, I think they turned out super cute and am now wanting to make up holidays to make these for! Seriously, cake on a stick...who wouldn't like that??

OK, so that brings us to today. Easter Sunday! I awoke to my husband saying, "He is Risen" I was supposed to respond, "He is Risen Indeed!" But couldn't remember the liturgical stuff. Sorry babe! We had a really good time at church, being reminded why we are here, what our purpose is founded on and really just challenged to take our faith seriously. It was a good morning! After church we ran home and took some pics of the boys...

and headed over to my sister's house for a yummy lunch. The pic below is of the 5 "Ohio" cousins. That was the best shot I could get. It had been a long day for them!

All in all it was a fun weekend. The sad thing is that Upwards Soccer kicks in this week and we will no longer have free Saturdays for a very, very long time.....that's depressing!

My Little Photographer

For Elijah's 5th birthday, the only thing he asked for (more than once) was a camera. So we found an inexpensive one on clearance and gave it to him. Since then, he has randomly been taking photos...some are pretty funny, I'll have to post them later. This particular photo, I actually took (i haven't uploaded any of his yet), but it was after I walked into the living room and noticed him placing my willow tree figurines like you see up above. I asked what he was doing and he then explained that he wanted to set them up so he could take a picture of the whole family seeing the new baby. Like most photographer's I think he took like 20 photos of the same scene. Gotta love it!

New Pics

So because I am trying to go through the different days in Ethiopia, I haven't really posted much of Yonni since we've actually returned, so I thought I would put a few on the 'ol blog today. I had a "mini photo shoot" a week or so ago and we took these 3.

A week or so after we got back from Africa, we had a movie night and watched Madagascar 2. Yonatan loves popcorn!

Here is Yonatan and his cousin Ethanah having fun together.

This past week had a couple of gorgeous days, so we joined my sister and her family and went to the park...

Ethiopia Days 2 and 3

Days 2 and 3 in Ethiopia were pretty simple really. On Tuesday morning we met with Tsegey at the House of Hope to go over the meeting we would have with the US Embassy on Thursday. After that, we had the opportunity to see the bed that Yonatan slept in for his last 3 months in Ethiopia.

We also noticed what they had written on the walls in their bedroom...it brought tears to our eyes. The castle below made us chuckle because back home Elijah is obsessed with castles.

Later that afternoon, I stayed back at the Guest Home with Barb and Yonatan. Scott, Vern and Elijah went sight seeing in Addis and also visited the Lion Zoo.

Day 3 was pretty similar. Vern, Barb, Yonatan, and I went sight-seeing and the Lion Zoo while Scott stayed back at the Guest Home with Elijah. He needed a little one on one Daddy time. Since I actually went on this trip I can talk about it. We first stopped at the National Museum of Ethiopia. Looking back, I was so focused on just getting to know and bonding with Yonni, that I honestly didn't pay that much attention to what was going on. One thing I did pay attention to was Lucy, yep Lucy. Its the oldest "human" remains that we have and they were found in Ethiopia and is why many people believe Ethiopia is the birthplace of civilization. I'm a bit skeptical.... but here she is...reconstructed of course.

After the museum we too went to the Lion Museum, which was actually quite sad. Such magnificent animals, and given such small spaces with NO grass to live in. After that we went back to the guest home, hung out and blew bubble. I'll add more pictures from days 2 and 3 to the montage above. Here are the boys blowing bubbles.

Happy Birthday

My sweet, little guy...how have five years gone by already? Why has the time flown so fast? It seems like yesterday that your father was crying next to the operating table saying, "look Fran, you're a mom...he's beautiful." And then not long afterward, we brought you home and begun the best journey of our lives. It has been so awesome watching you grow. Its been great enjoying your gentle spirit that is still so refreshing. Everyday is something different and something new, I love it. Although we sometime miss your baby and toddler days, we are so excited about where you are right now. You amaze me with everything you are learning and comprehending. And although I am sad, I am also so excited that in this 5th year of your life you will be starting kindergarten. What a new chapter in all of our lives. I am also looking forward to seeing your relationship with your new brother blossom. I know it was a rough start and you were just wanting to love on him all the time. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see how excited Yonatan is now when you get off the preschool bus and I can't wait to see that relationship grow. You are a great big brother and I know you will always be looking out for him. Thank you for being so patient, encouraging, loving, and accepting in this whole process. I am SO very proud of you. I love you little guy....nope, I love YOU more.....Yep, I love you as high as the moon and the stars in the sky too!! Happy Birthday!!

Ethiopia - Day 1

So, I've been receiving quite a few hints that I need to post pictures....so I am finally starting to get to it. Its been a rough week in the William's home. Elijah and I have had sinus infections, and poor Yonatan is probably just wondering...wow, these people are so not fun! Anyway, I'm stealing this format from an awesome girl we met in Addis (Gretchen, you know who you are(-: ). On her blog she posted pictures according to the day while in Addis...so I am doing the same.

OK, so I had already posted about our trip as far as London. So after leaving Great Britain, we boarded a plane that we would be on for the next 9 hours. After a fuel stop in Damascas, Syria, we landed a little late in Addis at 2:30am. At this point, we were met by Akie from our guest home, and he already had me in tears. He was carrying a little bouquet of flowers for the new mom. So at this point we pile into the van, oh yeah, this is funny... Elijah was in the front seat with the driver and Akie. As we started to drive away he said, "WAIT A SECOND EVERYONE, where are the seat belts?!" We all had to laugh and explain, "When in Rome..."

OK, so we made it to the guest home and tried to sleep for a few hours. We woke up excited and ready to go, but we then found out the House Of Hope van wouldn't pick us up until 10am. When the van finally arrived, we piled in the van along with the other families that were heading over to the HOH. Along the way, we were told to get ready because there was no formal introduction, Yonatan could be just standing in the driveway. So we threw the video camera on Vern and the camera to Barb and said, "Get ready!" We arrived and we got out of the van and did not see Yonatan right away, and then we noticed a little girl helping a little boy down the stairs and at that point I think we lost it. Elijah almost immediately ran up the stairs and gave him a hug and tried to give him a bear. Yonatan didn't like that so much and kept walking down the stairs. He then passed me and then passed Scott and we were like, "uh, ok". Then all of a sudden he turned around, and went to Scott. Everyone in the courtyard at that point cheered and we were all crying. At this point we all got acquainted, ate lunch, headed back to the guest home and had our first night as a family of four. So, I am sure you are all tired of reading and ready to see pics of that great day, so, here they are...

I'll post more day one pictures in the picture reel at the top of the page. Hopefully, I'll get to day 2 soon(-:

~Ciao

We are Home!!!

The first time we held Yonatan.

So we are back from Addis! Even though our trip was amazing, we were so glad to be back. My brain is not functioning quite normal yet...hence the 4:30am post. The boys took a "nap" at 4pm yesterday and then I dozed off around 7pm. Well, Yonatan woke up at 1:30am and Elijah at 2am....I think we are about ready to sleep again until 9:30am or so and then hopefully stay up most of the day.

ok, so again, my brain is dead, but over all our trip was awesome. Yonatan has been great for all the changes going on in his life, The staff at the Ethiopia Guest Home were absolutely amazing and we recommend them to anyone heading over! Ephrim was also amazing. Cannot say enough about how he blessed us! For now, here are a few pics and as I post more pics later, we'll reveal more of our trip.

Daddy and Elijah playing futbol with Yonni.

Yonni and Daddy listening to some tunes. Yonatan LOVES music and has a great since of beat already. I thought it was funny because the first song he listened to on my Ipod was "Seed to Sow" by Michael W. Smith. This was not on purpose, but he became addicted to it as the days progressed.

The brothers chilling out at the Guest Home. We brought a portable DVD player, which proved to be very useful!