My 9 year old American

Today Spiderman turned 9 and though it works for the blog, he's not really into Spiderman anymore.  He's much more passionate about Lego Star Wars (as you can see from his big grin down below).  In a surprise turn of events, he declared he didn't want a "friends party" this year, just a family one.  In light of how busy life has been, I should not complain that there were no games to plan or crazy cake to decorate (he actually asked for Papa Johns pizza and lemon meringue pie).  It just seemed very strange NOT to have a big "to do".  He had just as much fun and even had his soccer team singing to him after tonight's make up game.

If you take the whole past weekend into account, it really was a big party weekend for him.  Thursday we went to St. Louis with the Schneiders and had a pizza & pool party at a nice hotel.  That was followed by an early morning appointment at Immigration as both he and Hope became American Citizens!  It was precious to see them take swear their oath as citizens.  After all the paperwork that had gone before this, there were even extra reasons to celebrate.

This woman went out of her way to make it a smooth and easy appointment for all of us.  We were out of the office about 20 minutes later with our Certificates of Citizenship in hand.  Since it was way too early for the Ethiopian lunch we promised the kids, we had time to stop at the Mississippi River and the Gateway Arch to explore.

Here are the kids standing at the corner of the St. Louis Arch.  I always forget how tall this thing is (630 ft).  We had an hour to spend so we explored the underground museum here for a bit.  As you can see below, the weather was iffy and they were calling for thunderstorms.  We'd been praying for good weather all week so the zoo could still happen.  By the time we made it there at 1:00pm, the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky.  Thank you Jesus!

Well first we stopped for Ethiopian food and though Spiderman & Hope ate with abandon, my other 3 sat back and had Peanut butter sandwiches in the van when we were done.  The lady who ran the restaurant was expecially sweet and fawned all over the newest citizens.  When we made it to the zoo, Spiderman was thrilled!  He'd been planning this trip for almost 2 years and he got to see his favorite, the lions.  Below are the kids petting the king cobra.  Hope has this thing about snakes and would have none of it, fake or not!

Honoring Almaz

This last weekend we were so blessed to have a short visit from Almaz, the woman who runs Hannah's Hope Ethiopia. It seemed as if it might not happen even though we had been planning it for quite some time. God gifted us all when He made it possible and though she was only here for less than 48 hours, we made the most of our time together.

Here Almaz is pictured with 13 of the 15 kids that were here for our reunion. For most of these kids, it had been 1 or 2 years since they had last seen her and they all remember the love she showered on them in Ethiopia. I know it was very emotional for her to see the kids that she released so long ago and better yet, to see them all thriving in their new families and country. Over and over again she stated, "Only God could do this."

Here are the mommas of the special bunch of kids. We were surprised and yet blessed that the Morby's travelled all the way from New Hampshire and the Riggs drove all the way up from Oklahoma, for such a short and spontaneous trip. The rest of us Missouri Mommas had it easy in comparison. Of course, we all took turns filling in Almaz on our children and picking her brains about what God continues to do in her life and at Hannah's Hope. We will not forget this weekend!

A special treat for our family was having the Riggs stay at our home. Though we'd met Michelle & Hannah at last year's reunion, we got to meet Abby & Landis this time. It was our own mini-Guatemala reunion over here. Poor Abby http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/ didn't feel great through the weekend and yet she was such a trooper and just the sweetest thing you could imagine. It's both inspiring and heartbreaking to know the difficult road she has been travelling with her Leukemia. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

We had 3 big meals together as a group and filled in the gaps between with lots of laughing, playing and talking. My man marvelled at how we ladies could all talk for two days straight and yet still not run out of things to say. Almaz said that last evening that she wished it would continue on for 3 more days. Men will never understand us...

Not only did God take a humble woman from Ethiopia and call her to make a big difference in the lives of so many children and families, He endeared her to my heart in such a special way. Not only is Almaz my sister in Christ, in so many ways she is like a little sister to me. I have said many prayers on her behalf and I am compelled to continue to lift her up in prayer as I see even deeper into her calling, her heart and her needs. Her road is hard, her heart is big and it is surrendered to His will. ""Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised". Proverbs 31:29-30

Bryce Canyon National Park

We ended our trip with a short stay at Bryce, one of my favorite places. Even though I took a TON of photos, they just still can't do it justice. These "spires" behind us are called the hoodoos and they seem to go as far as we can see. The kids were entranced at the first sight of the canyon and when we took a 2 hour hike down to the bottom and back, they had such fun exploring.

Once again, Goose was so dramatic that she said, "I never want to leave this place". They saw chipmunks, birds and lizards but unfortunately no bears or mountain lions. :)

There was plenty of time for trailblazing along our hike and the kids slept very well in our tent that night (Did I tell you that it doesn't work that way for adults?). We got an early start for home the next day but for our final night before getting home, we opted to stay at a hotel instead. It was wonderful!!

Now it's time to get things ready to start school next week.

Lagoon

Our first full day in Utah was met with a surprise for the kids. Aunt Susie treated us all to a day at the local amusment park, Lagoon. Not only was this the highlight of my own childhood when we got to go on those rare occassions. Here is was riding rides with my little brother and big sister for the day. Even better was watching the new generation as my kids had never been to an amusment park before. Their idea of a roller coaster was riding on hilly country roads. Well....



MAYBE it wasn't such a great idea but I thought that if we started the kids on one of the bigger roller coasters, they wouldn't have a chance to get nervous and everything else would be downhill. Hmmm. Maybe I'm not the best mom but as Aunt Susie went to the kiddie rides with Boo, we took Jaybird, Spiderman and Goose to the Colossus - the double upside down roller coaster. They were filled with nervous excitement as we stood in line but once we were half way up that first hill, panic settled in. The boys both closed their eyes, held on tight and screamed through the ride. My man (who sat next to Goose) tells me that she squeezed her eyes shut and yelled, "Jesus help me! Jesus don't let me be scared. Help me Jesus, help me!" throughout the entire ride. At the end I turned around to see tears streaming down her face. So maybe I would do it differently if I did it over again BUT by the end of the day, they did decide that they kind of liked it. :) We stayed till almost 11:00 pm so we obvioulsy had a great day.

As for Boo, she wasn't too sure about even the kiddie rides and sweet Aunt Susie (unlike myself) was more accomodating. When we rejoined, I convinced and bribed Boo to try out these smaller kids bumper cars with Spiderman (who is just the right size to ride both the big rides and kiddie ones). The picture above was at the start of the ride. By the end she sat there with her arms crossed, practically growling at me and still gets huffy when I mention the bumper cards. Se la vie!

Thanks again Aunt Susie! This day really was such a treat.

Family Reunion

So the REAL reason we went to Utah was to have a family reunion revolving around my parents 40th anniversary. We got as many together as possible and had a fun picnic at the park (despite the 102 degree heat). There was plenty of food and games but what brought the most laughs was when "Grandpa" started a water gun fight and we all got carried away and cooled off.


Of course Aunt Susie made plans for the younger crowd and had fun stuff including a pinata, games and these tattoos. She has earned her reputation as a party planner and child spoiler so none of this was any surprise. Thanks Sis! You're the best!

And of course, the whole gang that came - My parents with all their kids, most of their grandkids and some of their great grandkids. Quite a crowd. Thanks Steve for handling the awesome photography!

There is still more to come.....