What will we do about Halloween?????

Wow, what a day!!! We had a beautiful day of 70 degrees and sun shine while the leaves fell with the slight breeze in the air. We had our family portraits taken today. Who knew that the weather would be so great for it. We had a local photographer take them outside her home and can't wait to share them with you - I'll have to ask her if I can do that. They were so fun to do and she took great shots of our family, the kids alone and then Asher alone. We have school pictures of Caroline, Caleb and Abby. Actually our photographer is the same that Abby's preschool used. We used the fall foliage as a back drop and she even got fun pictures of the kids playing in the leaves. Everyone did so well and Asher did well when we got him to look in the direction of the camera:). Tomorrow is Halloween and we had originally decided not to trick or treat because Abby has a phobia of masks. But we decided that maybe Caleb and Caroline really wanted to but we were keeping them from the fun. So, Brad asked Caleb and he said yes and by the end of the night all three were deciding what to be tomorrow without going to buy costumes (we usually make them anyway). Caleb is going to be Yoda from Star Wars (like there is any other), Caroline wants to be Ann of Green Gables and Abby says she is going and she will wear a horse costume that we have. Asher may go as a bear if we can't think of anything else. And he looks like a teddy bear in his coat. Trick or treating is short lived at our house. We tend to just go to the neighbors house that we know well and we usually feel unsettled with some of the other costumes that we see. We haven't been in three years so this could be interesting. Plan B is to turn the lights down and watch a light hearted movie in the back of the house while a bowl of lollipops sits on the porch for those going around. We will keep you posted on how it goes.

Now and Then . . .

I can't believe it has been three months since we've brought home our son, Asher, from Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Here are some photos of Asher now and back when we were in Ethiopia from 7/9 - 7/16/2006. He has changed in looks but what you can't see from pictures is his developmental skills. He came home having a little problem holding up his head, rolling forwards and backwards but not sitting up at all without assistance. He can now crawl (rather fast I might add), sit up and go from his tummy to sitting to standing along furniture and walls. He has no problems creating a mess by emptying shelves, taking off papers and magnets from the refrigerator and emptying the laundry basket faster than I can fill it. What has not changed is his sweet smile, his deep dark wide eyes, his wonderful laugh and the wonderful way he looks at his father!

Now, Asher in his bear coat 10/06

Then, Asher getting warm 7/06

Asher Now 9 mos old

Asher then 7 mos old

Asher now 10 mos old
Asher 7 mos old

My Sweetie!

There is a breeze in the air and today we saw some snow pebbles. Not big enough for flakes so they are more like snow pebbles. Saturday was sweetest day! And my sweetie (of 15 years of marriage and 7 years of dating before that) was sick this weekend. We are passing around the virus I had last month. He was sick this weekend and he was still cared for me and worried that I was going to be tired today after being up with Asher last night while he broke his 7th and 8th tooth! I really appreciate him. He is the best help mate! The perfect and only one for me!!! I love you honey!!!

Fall is Here!

It is Starting to look like fall around here and this past week Abby has been home with a rash and a virus! So while the kids in the neighborhood were at school we came out to play. I don't know if her rash was from her 5 year shots that she got two weeks ago or just something she caught. We are hoping it will not cirulate through the family. We are in the full swing of the soccer season and enjoying following our football teams: Kings HS, Ohio State and Cincy Bengals! It is hard to believe that we,ve been home 3 mos from Ethiopia! We just completed our first post placement report and we are sooo blessed with a healthy and happy boy! Although these photos don't show it. They do show that Asher's taste test on leaves are a big thumbs down!:(

A picture paints 1000 words! Gotta see these!

Wow! A world away there are photos of a faith I can not even fathom. Take a look at the photos on the web site. Most are taken in Sodo, Ethiopia in the region that Asher is from in Ethiopia. He is from Bodite that sits on the river that is shown in these photos. One photo talks about a women getting water 5 miles from her home and how a child in her home died from disease caught from drinking the water. We all need water and how important clean water is to everyone on this earth. I'm amazed and in awe how different our lives are from those across the world and I know this happens else where not just Ethiopia. Only by the grace of God was I born in the US (the richest country in the world) to the family I am apart of today. What a blessing! Am I worth it? Do I deserve it? No. Am I grateful enough? Never!

These photos educate me, make me grateful and urge me to pray for the people of Ethiopia and others around the world struggling to survive. They also stir a passion in my heart for Africa, but I don't know what to do about that yet. Still praying!

It's not by MIGHT, not by POWER but by MY SPIRIT. . .

Here's the link http://www.womeninphotography.org/archive15-July03%20/member_prof/12MenNChurchLarge.html