Family Photo Shoot

Thanks to my lovely sister-in-law, we had a FREE family photo shoot last weekend :) Despite having to wait out the rain and sitting on entirely wet surfaces (a rarity for where we live), I am so happy with how they turned out. Jen should go pro and start making some $$ off this gig!

Here are a few to share...

Random Happenings

Some random things we have been up to...

Pulling Mikayla down the tunnel slide since she was "too scared" to go by herself (thanks Eli)

Wearing our cute Ethiopian "Brother" and "Sister" shirts, made especially by Carrie (currently waiting to bring her beautiful baby princess home!)

Mikayla's first trip to the Zoo in honor of the Komodo Dragon exhibit opening

Look Mom!

Eli spies his favorite... the rhino!And the ever important stop to brush the goats... Mikayla kept pointing out their pee-pee on the ground and making sure I knew about it!

Feeding the ducks at the park with grandma and great-grandma (Eli told me the other day that he "likes both the grandma's")

Playing dress-up (yes I might use this to blackmail Eli during his teenage years, we'll leave it here on the blog for safekeeping in the meantime) BTW, a huge fight ensued over the tu-tu not long after this picture was taken, so all of the dress-up clothes are currently in "time out"

Just being cute so mom can take lots of pictures!

And finally, giving lots of hugs!

Great Grandparents and Family Pics!

My grandparents have been visiting from Ohio for the past week, and we've enjoyed spending some time with them as well as other members of the family who we don't see as often as we'd like. This was the first time Eli actually understood who his "great grandparents" were, and insisted on calling them "great grandma" and "great grandpa" instead of the easier "grams" and "pa" used by the other great grandchildren. Oh well! They enjoyed meeting Mikayla, and she enjoyed smiling and charming everyone.

Great Grandpa, Eli, Mikayla, Great Grandma enjoying the porch swing

The doll bed great grandpa made for Mikayla... as you can see, many babies are making full use of it! We wondered if she put them all in the same bed due to seeing that done so many times at the care centers in Ethiopia. :)

Aunt Bonnie & Uncle Casey (my sister and bro-in-law)

Uncle Ben & Heather (my brother and his girlfriend)

Two Cuties!

Our Fam!

All Together!

MIkayla's Dedication

Sunday, November 1st we had the privilege of dedicating Mikayla's life to the Lord at Harvest Community Church. Harvest is the new church plant that we have been a part of now for five months. Since the movie theater venue is not available during evening hours (that's where we meet on Sunday mornings), we held the child dedication service at a nearby martial arts studio. :) The highlight was that we all had an excuse to take our shoes off!

We know that God has an amazing plan for Mikayla's life, just as he does for each of us. It's our desire to cling to God's wisdom as we parent her, and to be a shining vessel of God's love in her life. May she come to know the Lord in a personal way at a young age.

Thanks to all the family and friends who came to support us at the dedication service. We are continually reminded how blessed we are!

What kind of parents would we be if we didn't end the evening with a trip to the Golden Spoon?

Eli's Prayer

Today we went to the Zoo and there were a couple of people dressed up in Fisher Price character costumes. One of them was this huge red monster (looked like the Hulk, but red), and Eli was infatuated with him. He loved to go up and punch him over and over! Thankfully, the monster played right along.

So as always, I asked Eli who he wanted to pray for tonight when we said bedtime prayers and he listed off the "usual" long list of friends/relatives. After we prayed for them he said, "Oh! I forgot to pray for the red man!"

This is the prayer that ended our night:
"Dear Jesus, thank you for the red man. Thank you that I could go punch, punch, punch. Thank you for the red man. In Jesus name, Amen."