Voy a Mexico!

I think that's "I go to Mexico" but that is how lame my spanish is. We leave tomorrow to go visit my sister and my sister-in-law and their wonderful families. There will be lots of cousin time!! We can't wait to see our family south of the border. We will update you when we get back and maybe I'll show on my sister's blog is you want to check her out here. Adios for now. Here are some fairly recent photos.

Certificate of Citizenship!

Today Asher and I went downtown and got his Certificate of Citizenship. Even though he became a citizen after readoption on March 13, 2007 we had to apply through the federal government to receive a certificate of citizenship and file all of our paperwork through the Homeland Security offices. So I took all the paper work down there upon their request and all they wanted was to see his passport and green card. But we now have all the paper work complete for Asher (except to change his name and citizen status on his social security card - sigh!). We waited an hour to get in for the interview and it only took about five minutes once inside. Asher did awesome and when we were finished with the interview and waiting for the certificate he ran freely in the waiting room since no one else was around. I snaped the blurry photo of the sign hoping I could get Asher in it too but he was too happy to be out of his stroller to stand still enough for a photo. So we now have a paper that says my youngest is a Ethiopian American!

Fun with Friends!

We had a great long weekend. Brad is was out of town and we stayed busy with lots of planned fun. Saturday we went to a new park for us and played and visited with friends that just returned last month with their new son from Ethiopia. He and Asher are only a few days apart in age. We enjoyed our time together and our kids seemed to enjoy playing together. Later on that evening we went to a steel drum band concert. It was wonderful music. My secret desire is to learn to play the steel drum and to have one one day. I love that tropical sound. We had a great time dancing and swaying to the beat and of course, I forgot the camera.

Monday we got to see Ashley and her kids again as we hosted a lunch gathering at our house and Shelley and her kids that we traveled to Ethiopia with last summer. We had a great time with 12 kids and four adults. Brad came home from West Virginia just in time. Although I have only one photo of Ashley and the rest of our kids. I wasn't thinking I should have had Brad take a picture of the girls. We had a good time playing out side and with Slime. These women are so fun and their kids are fantastic. I wish we could have hung out all day! Maybe next time Shelley and Ashley!

Fun at the Park and Fair!

This week we went and checked out this park that is new for us. We are meeting a wonderful family there on Saturday and we took a dry run to see if we could get there. Once there we had to play, of course. The family will are meeting returned last month with their new son from Ethiopia and he and Asher are only a few days a part in age. Can't wait to see them and I better not forget the camera like this time so these shots are from my camera.

Tonight we went to our county fair! We usually go to opening day and hit the big parade or even the harness racing night, but this year we hit the BIG Demolision Derby night. We watched a station wagon beat all the other cars and I realized why my parents insisted I drive the station wagon during my high school years. After the first round we decided to go check out the live stock. We entered the ring where they were auctioning the ribbon winning hogs and recognized one of the men catching the bids in the crowd. It was one of Abby's horse instructors and we had to explain to Abby that we didn't care how much she wanted to wave to him, she better keep her hands down. We didn't want the expense of the night to include a $600 hog. We realize that we have a country girl and a city boy and Asher was all wided eyed at everything. They even had a wild animal petting zoo. We saw Zebu Cattle, Kangaroos, African pigme goats, snakes and camels. Never experienced that at the county fair before!

Asher's first year forever a Ewing!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It has been one year since Asher has come to be forever in our family. Here is a view of some photos from the last year. I posted in a few months ago when we celebrated the day we first saw his picture but now I'm trying to post it directly to the blog. Ok, so how do I make this slide show smaller? Any help?

A couple cute shots!

Asher loves to read books and he gets them out all the time and just looks at the pages very carefully turning the pages not to miss one. We read many books at bed time and through out the day but this time was different. After eating dinner - we now strip the clothes because its too easy to pull of the bib - Asher pulled off this huge volume of Dr. Dobson's child care book or something like that off the shelf and started looking at the pictures in the back. These are not cute children pictures but gross shots of rashes and injuries and diseases. He studied these things like he was memorizing them for an exam and he sat there for a good five minutes on one page. We could not stop laughing and since he sat that long I was able to get my camera for the photo. So who knows if he doesn't go into medicine he will at least be a father that is not faint hearted at injuries and his wife's deliveries.

So, Asher has been sucking these two fingers (middle and ring) ever since we meet him. They are his comfort and his way to settle down to sleep or if he is upset. I wonder how long he will do this. He does have two welts on those fingers, but I think it is soooo cute!

This Day Last Year

This day last year was the first time we met our sweet son Asher. From the very beginning you could see the spark in his personality and the fun he would bring to our family. We loved seeing this little peanut make us smile when we fed him his first bottle and watched him kick off the shoes that were way too big for him. We were blessed with our son Asher! And can't believe how much he has grown in one year. We will be celebrating his "forever day" this weekend. We became a family on 7/16 which is when we will celebrate our family forever day together!

My Experience in Kentucky

Hey everybody! I’m back from KY. Thank you so much for supporting me so I could experience this awesome week. I just wanted to send this as an update and to show you the result of your prayers and support:

A drop of sweat slides down my forehead and down my face. After taking a swig of water I scan the area. My eye is suddenly caught by the beauty of a smile. A smile on a face that doesn’t smile often.
This is the story of a lot of kids but 4 girls in particular:

A teenage girl showed up at Sunday night with an unsmiling face. It seemed whatever we did-water games, activities, fun songs, etc. - she would not show any happiness on her face. It was later at the debriefing time that I found out her story.
Her dad passed away and soon after, her mom ran away. She lives with her 2 older brothers. I think that they were about late high school, early college age. She had a lot of sadness in her.
That night we made a promise to try and let her be herself this week. We hoped we could lighten the load a little bit, if only for 3 days.
She came sporadically to V.B.S. Coming one day, leaving early the next, and not coming at all the last day. But it was on Wednesday night that I ever really interacted with her. The Happy Church holds a youth Service every Wednesday but it was pretty unstructured. My Youth pastor’s wife, Jess, me and another girl invited her to play cards. She shrugged and we took that as a yes. At first as we were playing she would only talk when she had to. But about our second or third game she was showing some emotions. In this game, Dutch Blitz, you have to race you opponent to get a card in the pile first. It was funny because when we got beat we would get naturally frustrated and beat our fists against the table or grunt loudly. And we would all get a kick out of each other’s frustration. It was cool because I saw her smiling in her sleeve as if she didn’t want anyone to know. Still-she was smiling.
One thing that was also awesome is that she showed up at the carnival. I didn’t get to spend too much time with her, but it was cool because she looked like she was having fun.

* * * * *

Imagine living in a trailer with your five younger siblings and parents who are drug addicted. Because of this, you’re the one basically taking care of your younger siblings. Oh yeah, you’re only 13 years old… I came to know a girl in this situation. She and I befriended very quickly, but partly because she had a little 3 year old on her hip, and I told her I understood what it was like to watch your younger siblings. It turns out I didn’t really know it as much as she did. She showed up for the first day of vacation bible school without her little brother who she stuck to like glue. The second day she came with her little brother. It was hard for her to let him go to his class because he didn’t feel too comfortable with any one else than her. She was also naturally worried about him.
Her actions spoke to me though. Watching her, I’m thinking, “Sometimes I complain when I have to watch my little siblings for 5 minutes. Not to mention all day.” I will always remember her.

* * * * *

The first day of VBS I noticed a girl with a smile not any where to be found on her face. The first day she was not participating in any thing. Later in debriefing that night I was told she had sores all over her mouth, so it was painful to talk. So it was surprising when the next day, we were playing a game and she was actually talking in it and participating. And last day, a whole different person walked through those church doors. She was singing and doing the motions in worship, she was talking and interacting so much more, and she even addressed me and asked me a question. I found out later she is the oldest of eight. They all live in a trailer. She showed up at the carnival and it was awesome because she was sticking to me like glue. I learned from that experience to never under estimate the power of a smile.

* * * * *

Before V.B.S, we would go out to the trailer parks and pass out fliers so that people are informed. While we were doing this I noticed a girl who was pulling a wagon.
She was there during V.B.S, but of what I observed, she didn’t look like she was having a lot of fun. One time, at the carnival, I was looking around from the inflatable I was running. She was on another inflatable where you tried to run as far as you could as a bungee cord tries to pull you back. She was laughing and smiling and I wanted to take a picture of her smile before it disappeared again.

My heart skipped a beat while I prayed the prayer of salvation with 2 kids at V.B.S. This was one of the best times of the whole week. Please be praying for them. I don’t know if I will ever see them again in my earthly life, but we will defiantly meet again in heaven. And I will never forget any of the kids I met this past week. God also helped me through my fear of home-sickness and helped me realize that it’s ok to be away from home a little bit. Thank you again for supporting me on this awesome week that I will never forget.
Love, Caroline

Some kids at the Sunday night service

Pictures of the Week!

Our family at the carnival in Kentucky. They were all

great workers. Fun was had by all and connections were made

with people in the community and the Happy Church. Pray that God

would continue to work in the children of this community!

Caroline will update you more soon she is working on documenting it all!

My boys!

Nothing like a tractor ride on the 4th of July!

A few of our cousins are in town! We miss them all!

We've had a full week and are enjoying some time with two cousins from Mexico and my sister-in-law and older sister from Chicago. We had a great 4th with a family reunion (abby keeps calling it a family funeral). Asher enjoyed watching his first fire works and now calls them boom booms! We are still praying and waiting for Asher's passport so we can go to Mexico at the end of the month. For him he and I can't leave the country with out it. We will keep you posted!

My baby is in KY for the week!

This is day 3 for my daughter Caroline on her missions trip to Appalachia Kentucky. She went with some of her youth group. They got there on Saturday evening and yesterday attended church and also held a children's service in the evening. Today was to be a service day at the church and then an afternoon handing out fliers for the VBS they will help the church put on for the next three days. By Friday they will have a fun day and Brad and I and the other three will travel with several other families and meet them in Kentucky. We will help them wrap up the week by putting on a free carnival on Saturday and hope to bring many from the community to the church and make some great connections for the church there.

I have already seen God at work in my daughter and can't wait to see how God shapes her with this experience. She is an amazing young lady and a home body at it very best. So, this week is a stretch for her but she felt God calling her to go and share his love and great news to this community. She and her friend in this picture are the only youth girls on the trip. Please join me in praying for her and her group this week! We will keep you posted in what happens and God works in this wonderful part of Kentucky!

First Big Fall!

Here is the boy's first big fall. He fell trying to master the front porch steps with a big watering can in his hands. And the result was his head being glued shut. He slept through the whole thing and we were anticipating stitches. So the experience could have been a lot worse. He is an active boy! Brad and I were in the waiting room and we actually thought it was pretty good that it took 6 months to get his first big injury. (With our first we talked about what awful parents we were, but now we see the glass half full!) The tricky part is to keep him from breaking it back open, but so far so good! He took this bandaid off at the check out at Hobby Lobby the next day and it had already bled and freaked out the cashier, opps! We were also to have our social worker over that night for our 1 year post placement report but she called and rescheduled for one week. That felt good! Sorry this is not a better picture it is hard to get this kid to freeze for a minute!

Father's Day!

I have the best Dad in the world. My Dad was there when I was growing up to give me advise, he coached my softball and basketball teams and helped to give me many pointers on the game, but the best thing I recieved from my Father was time. My Father always gave us time whether it was time shooting baskets, time to talk while taking a walk, even time teaching me how to drive (boy did that take some time). But my favorite time with my Dad was devotion time. When I was little my Dad read to us from a book called "Little Visits with God" and as I got older my Dad would read to us from "Our Daily Bread" and I don't live with my Dad any longer but my Dad still calls every once in a while to pass on a good devotion he read here or there and I love when my Dad shares about God's Word and how it is teaching him and alive in today's world. Thanks Dad! (In case you think I grew my hair out - this picture is of my twin sister, Cathy - I guess I need a new picture Mom and Dad)!

My husband is an amazing father!!! I love to see him with my kids and they can't get enough of him. When he walks in the door a chorus rings from our house "Dad's Home!" and everyone comes running. Every morning the kids want to know if Dad's still getting ready for work or can they call him and tell him Good Morning! My kids are sooooo bonded to him. And he makes life so much fun. Even in this picture taken on our Father's Day outing which consists of Putt-Putt, Wendy's Frosties and the park (the frosties were dinner, by the way, requested by Dad), Brad was throwing up Asher and trying to get him to smile for the picture when Asher's shoe goes flying toward me and everyone laughs, but Asher, of course. Dad knows how to have fun! And I'm so glad he does! Dad also gives great wisdom, a listening ear and is the best fan in whatever the kids are involved in! He puts God first in all he does and always puts us infront of his work and many, many times that is not easy to do. We love our Dad!

Two for the Price of One - I Wish!

Well, yesterday we went to TWO dr. appts. We had an orthopedic appt scheduled but also took him to his ped. because Asher had not been sleeping for about four nights and naps have been bad too. So we went to check out his ears. He ended up having fluid in his right ear causing him pain but no need for an antibiotic. The doc said he probably had an infection and it is just clearing up.

So here is what the orthopedic had to say about Asher's legs. The doctor's main response was let wait and see. He thinks that this could be a regular case of bowed legs and that time will straighten them. He also said that with bowed legs in toddlers usually is at its worse at the age of 18 mos (the exact age of our precious Asher). But he also said that we need to keep an eye on him and have him x-rayed in 6 mos for a slight chance that he would have Blount's disease (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001584.htm) which is a disease where the inner part of the tibia just below the knee fails to develop normally causing angulation of the bone. So, we will wait and see and I'll update you come Dec. Thanks for your prayers!

Last night after a day of doctors we went to the Reds game. They lost but we had a great time with our niece from Monterrey, Mexico. It was both her first experience and Asher's first experience at the Red's game. She thought the seventh inning stretch was interesting and couldn't believe that everyone knew the same song. We watched the boats on the river, many give aways and games and even had fireworks for the one home run by the home team and, of course, we had all the ball park foods, Nachos, peanuts and we brought our families tradition of M&Ms. It was a fun evening!

Is it Super Man!

We had to work really hard to catch our breath after putting Asher in the Body Wear suit. It helps your arms from carry so much weight in the pool. Can you believe how buff this little man looks. We died laughing and every time he tried to pick something up he would fall over and struggle to get up. Oh, this was a great stress release for our busy week. He is soooo fun to be around and he didn't even complain being in this.

This is more like it! Our little bow legged bather. If you look closely at his right leg you can tell that he is still bowed in this leg. It is only in his right leg and the left is pretty straight. Please pray for us this Wednesday (6/13) as we go to an orthopedic and have it checked. It seems to affect his hips when he walks and the way he wears the soles of his shoes. They may just tell us to give it more time, but it is very obvious when he walks and if we can do something now to help correct it than we hope to find that out this week. Believe me, he doesn't have any problems getting where he needs to be fast but he looks a little awkward getting there.

Moses' Mother

This is a book that I often read to Asher before bed time, but it made a big impact the other night as I read it to him. I got to the page where Moses' mother places him in a basket in a river and it hits me. . . This is a picture of Asher's birth mother and many, many mother's around the world. These mother's feel such a deep love for their children and find that they can not give their children the basics. Moses' mother feared for her son's life and so do many, many mother's all over the world. Moses' mother found a way to keep her son safe and try to make him known publicly but safely. This happens all over the world. Babies are left at the steps of the police, orphanages, churches, hospitals or clinics and many times the mother stays hiding close by to make sure their children get to the safe arms. In comes Miram, Moses' sister to watch over him until he found safety in the princesses arms. I know this story sounds so obvious but this picture just brought to life my son's birth mother and what a selfless woman she is.

I am really wanting to give back to Ethiopia in her memory and I am looking into a program that is in the developing stages and will be serving in Ethiopia to meet the needs of widows and grandmas trying to raise their children with little or no means. This organization is looking to provide micro-loans to women so they can keep the blessings God has given them. I am often praying and thinking of Asher's mother. I don't even know anything about her or if she is even living but my heart aches for the aching she may have in her heart for her little boy and I pray that God will give her the peace that he is doing well. I will always talk to Asher about his loving birth mother that loved him so much she put him in safe hands and God sent him to our family. We are Happy and Blessed! (That's what Asher means!)

Haven't Heard From Us - Summer is Here!

This week was the first week of summer! So far, we've been to an amusement park, the pool, taste of our cities resturants festival, volleyball in our front yard, sprinkler and lots of popscicles. But on our first day of summer we went back to school to say Good-bye to Caleb's teacher. He enjoyed field day last week and enjoyed his second grade year but now it's summer. Abby graduated from preschool and will start Kindergarten next year and Caroline will be going to Junior High next year. It can't be true that I have a junior high student in my house. At our house besides all the summer fun we have a time for chores (our famous chore chart is up on the kitchen wall) and a time for reading! So sorry we haven't written much lately, we have been to busy enjoying the first days of Summer!