tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38053648580966656612024-03-05T16:17:14.794-05:00What's Happening In Beachyville?Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-43732018570755376882020-07-18T08:52:00.000-04:002020-07-18T08:45:44.605-04:00<div dir="auto" style="direction: ltr; margin: 0; padding: 0; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black; "> http://bit.do/fGHFK matt_monica </div> Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-41468182662586452202016-11-13T10:04:00.001-05:002016-11-13T10:04:36.808-05:00HelloHello
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<br>matt_monicaMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-74203167030925678652011-03-22T13:58:00.006-04:002011-03-22T14:29:21.625-04:00Auction Week<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJUAMSOLmRpwzXCbWwz0pQw4yDOcx8Sxw6vnErj6weXwbgXFirK8aRrAtRG1gDCghiy19Al56vK_l9ik3QsRUm22WXnWTV4poJJOHUFxV9ekUgqixNvnCi-FbQoymQDU4uEcXaRRZy8yG/s1600/Auction+%25281275+x+1650%2529.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 309px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586972834695420706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJUAMSOLmRpwzXCbWwz0pQw4yDOcx8Sxw6vnErj6weXwbgXFirK8aRrAtRG1gDCghiy19Al56vK_l9ik3QsRUm22WXnWTV4poJJOHUFxV9ekUgqixNvnCi-FbQoymQDU4uEcXaRRZy8yG/s400/Auction+%25281275+x+1650%2529.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>It's auction week in Beachyville. This auction is for Daudy and Grandma Beachy's personal items. Come on out this Saturday at 9:30...and bring your checkbook.<br /></div><div></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-19089574205042908442011-01-16T14:28:00.005-05:002011-01-16T14:49:38.689-05:00Christmas Letter<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzwXQr7fKxIBYhNo3QaUV52DySERQKYxNibSQcQsV6R0OhYhHvTELfyz1KmuYwI5MhAZQVkv0LGXsTVs33HJMDCXvHpt82wfsjRJ3cqRlrijwc3_7hPWazzaLoXU64fftxH77PTs4z-K-/s1600/Boys+and+stockings.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 179px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562872945231644546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzwXQr7fKxIBYhNo3QaUV52DySERQKYxNibSQcQsV6R0OhYhHvTELfyz1KmuYwI5MhAZQVkv0LGXsTVs33HJMDCXvHpt82wfsjRJ3cqRlrijwc3_7hPWazzaLoXU64fftxH77PTs4z-K-/s320/Boys+and+stockings.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br /><div><em>Obviously this is a few weeks late, but here is the Christmas letter that I typed up last month...<br /></em><br />Dear Family & Friends,<br /><br />I (Matt) will attempt to give you a brief glimpse into what we have been up to this past year. Once again it has been a busy year and to mix it up we decided to add another boy to the house…<br /><br />In January of this year my nephew Isaiah moved in with us and began attending Westview Jr. High. Isaiah turned 13 in May and is currently in the 8th grade at Westview. He is a great student and is enjoying going to Westview (who wouldn’t?). Having him living here has been an adjustment for all of us. Isaiah doesn’t have any siblings so having three “little brothers” was a whole new experience, and for us we made the leap from kindergartener to teenager almost overnight. You can definitely see a difference in how Isaiah interacts with the boys now versus when he first moved here. Of course, he and Brennan can fight like brothers too.<br /><br />Brennan turned six this past June and is in the 1st grade at Meadowview Elementary. He is currently obsessed with all things Star Wars and spends a lot of time playing with anything that remotely resembles a light saber. This fall he played soccer in the West End league in Shipshewana. Despite the fact that his coach (me) didn’t know what he was doing, he really enjoyed playing. Recently he lost his first two teeth.<br /><br />Sawyer turned three in October. He likes to make us work for his happiness. He’s got a heavy dose of stubborn in him. I’m told it is revenge for how I was as a child (my apologies to my parents). Recently we seem to be seeing more frequent signs of hope with him. He can be so cute and funny during those times. Now if we can just get him convinced to go pee and poop in the potty. We did manage to get rid of his pacifiers when they magically “broke” on his third birthday. He recovered from that loss pretty quickly.<br /><br />Jeremiah turned two this month. He’s talking quite a bit and has developed a bit of his own stubborn streak. He’s still cute and cuddly though! Of our three boys, he is the closest I’ve gotten to having a daddy’s boy. He can often be seen carrying his blanky around and/or sticking his thumb in his mouth. That thumb habit will probably be a bit harder to break than Sawyer’s pacifier addiction.<br /><br />Monica is still teaching Title 1 (working with groups of kids on reading) at York Elementary. This is her 3rd year at York. She teaches in the morning and gets home around noon each day. I’m still working as the controller at Honeyville Metal. I’ve been there over six years now. When Monica and I are at work, Sawyer and Jeremiah are with their babysitter Linda. This is Linda’s 7th school year taking care of our boys. We’re very fortunate to have her taking care of the boys!<br /><br />There have been some pretty big changes in the Beachyville subdivision this past year. In June my Dawdy Beachy passed away. It was pretty sudden so it has been an adjustment not having him around. After that, my mom and dad decided to move Grandma Beachy from the nursing home into their house. We get over there quite a bit to see Grandma. Jeremiah loves to give Grandma her water cup and tell her to drink. Grandma’s health has declined quite a bit. Because I work so close to home, I’m on call when mom or whoever else is staying with Grandma needs some extra help moving her around.<br /><br />At the end of June, Monica and I went on an amazing vacation to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua with our friends JB & Carla and Ben & Jen. It was great! We stayed in a house right on the Pacific Ocean. We did a lot of relaxing, sitting and staring at the ocean, reading, lounging in the pool, and eating. Sign me up for that vacation again!<br /><br />We hope all of you are doing well. Merry Christmas!<br /><br />Matt, Monica, Isaiah, Brennan, Sawyer, and Jeremiah </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As I mentioned in the letter, Grandma's health was deteriorating and after Christmas she declined rapidly and passed away on 12/31/2010. It's an adjustment not having her around but she was ready to go and lived a long life. My mom posted a great <a href="http://kbeachy.blogspot.com/2011/01/tribute-to-mom-barbara.html">tribute to Grandma </a>on her blog.</div><div></div><br /><div>Our family with Grandma on Christmas Eve</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelzbph0GgI0xCM1ZounOfbSDGIlpAi9ypJXLp5NXM07k10TBNd2f_N1oQMDLbjGYw92njLmnX2ml3D77gxlz__mRfzvcWz3rR4pYwFWp5yNAvAicHmREEy81EkGGCkTy4ID0NmHzdxccQ/s1600/Family+with+Grandma.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562870342821523378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelzbph0GgI0xCM1ZounOfbSDGIlpAi9ypJXLp5NXM07k10TBNd2f_N1oQMDLbjGYw92njLmnX2ml3D77gxlz__mRfzvcWz3rR4pYwFWp5yNAvAicHmREEy81EkGGCkTy4ID0NmHzdxccQ/s320/Family+with+Grandma.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><div>Jeremiah watching Grandma Barbara's video with her. They had a special bond.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqTvsa90n5G5URNnfgALNMdKOtOKGKKX1mbJpwzHG0eHvHYMhc5QkY29xaGg5nT-pKC7IlAW1wLqFoJfEJHafqk5myNG3y-BKuc7clpzKZNNo2fzC08WLpqNJbSfMqhu0J3ATK-dR6bxP/s1600/Jeremiah+with+Grandma.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562870324561093426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqTvsa90n5G5URNnfgALNMdKOtOKGKKX1mbJpwzHG0eHvHYMhc5QkY29xaGg5nT-pKC7IlAW1wLqFoJfEJHafqk5myNG3y-BKuc7clpzKZNNo2fzC08WLpqNJbSfMqhu0J3ATK-dR6bxP/s320/Jeremiah+with+Grandma.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-37969607875240313572010-05-11T10:53:00.005-04:002010-05-11T11:25:45.408-04:00Happy Birthday Isaiah!As of today, we have a teenager in the house. Isaiah is now 13 years old. I got up this morning and surprised him with bacon, eggs, sourdough toast, and one of the world's best donuts from <a href="http://www.risenrollbakery.com/index.html">Rise 'n Roll</a> for breakfast. I think he was pretty pleased. Now I need the rain to stop so I can grill pork burgers tonight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoygELnPDgvcHcFOWfWC35MtMplvDBAoMwsnssHBl8P4SW2Bf79xNvTvTaJo1sQ6E2T8i7B9JIUD-a_SiAhTsnYDiMP8tBe_c8fNYPBdNJ21BqSC8n3v-49qRj4DDEQIZ0M3wl8b-vTljL/s1600/Teenager.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoygELnPDgvcHcFOWfWC35MtMplvDBAoMwsnssHBl8P4SW2Bf79xNvTvTaJo1sQ6E2T8i7B9JIUD-a_SiAhTsnYDiMP8tBe_c8fNYPBdNJ21BqSC8n3v-49qRj4DDEQIZ0M3wl8b-vTljL/s320/Teenager.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470032733488812114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sawyer had to get in on the donut action this morning too.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZZGrxgoRrcGMetGoro-49IDAF67I55KKfbQU_SMH1Su3c2-O4KbeSmOlO7jGbVHmljI7_188wza5K3L88GwtUEmmxaOrFdrlySUjLirYRSj6sEEtRuTkB_Dkod1MjpJX_cBwSo8Xiltk/s1600/Sawyer.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZZGrxgoRrcGMetGoro-49IDAF67I55KKfbQU_SMH1Su3c2-O4KbeSmOlO7jGbVHmljI7_188wza5K3L88GwtUEmmxaOrFdrlySUjLirYRSj6sEEtRuTkB_Dkod1MjpJX_cBwSo8Xiltk/s320/Sawyer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470033080004130946" border="0" /></a>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-83855646913424927892010-04-29T21:51:00.007-04:002010-04-29T22:16:01.948-04:00Geothermal & Ice CreamOK so I've been doing a poor job of actually documenting what is happening in Beachyville. This having 4 boys thing is keeping us busy. Here's a little update of a few things going on. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Geothermal</span><br /><br />Two years ago I had looked into converting my heating system to geothermal but the payoff just seemed to take to long. Thanks the the <a href="http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index">federal tax credits for energy efficiency</a> and the <a href="http://www.inenergyefficiency.com/">energy efficiency rebates</a> available through the state of Indiana, the payback on a system conversion is much more appealing so I'm "going green". We're going to have a closed loop system with the <a href="http://residential.climatemaster.com/products/tmw-water-to-water">ClimateMaster TMW</a> Water-to-Water geothermal unit.<br /><br />For the closed loop, we're having a horizontal loop put in, which means they'll be burying pipes in the ground between 3' and 6' below the surface in about 350' of trench. Since we're in the woods, that means we need to clear some space so that they can put the loop in. This actually works in our favor because we've been wanting to add onto the yard so we can move the swing set over closer to the deck. The last couple days have been spent cutting trees down and burning brush. Sawyer and Brennan really got in to working out there with us.<br /><br />Here's a few shots of the action...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSf-QBVOM7x1VwXE9CIE40pobMkS8bchktJFS8EjudptwyMC67aVoZ9jF3UL36zIdlXcYnApkXxJZ2rzLPcMvxAtpxx0qbgGlb3SFXBvhWr5eEDQMfG_vKZ7SuLZVpxoIeLPweueQxulQ/s1600/geothermal1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSf-QBVOM7x1VwXE9CIE40pobMkS8bchktJFS8EjudptwyMC67aVoZ9jF3UL36zIdlXcYnApkXxJZ2rzLPcMvxAtpxx0qbgGlb3SFXBvhWr5eEDQMfG_vKZ7SuLZVpxoIeLPweueQxulQ/s320/geothermal1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465745683712318546" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0HIYy6NsPDHk7T_PfYtIns7tCkIvqJlWqvTcxJTjRi72Htc7_4m_GL7XyqyZE_zppyiGD6rhyphenhyphenj5mbTVbx8wInRLyw78sk5FsQUDAuWtQ0PzWE35aj3ahFuT1ZY75yBmfNm5NfzILkvcw/s1600/geothermal2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0HIYy6NsPDHk7T_PfYtIns7tCkIvqJlWqvTcxJTjRi72Htc7_4m_GL7XyqyZE_zppyiGD6rhyphenhyphenj5mbTVbx8wInRLyw78sk5FsQUDAuWtQ0PzWE35aj3ahFuT1ZY75yBmfNm5NfzILkvcw/s320/geothermal2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465745688258209538" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAf1bDwSnayFE4Qy36Mif_885zxzAr9H7Rt9tmcslZoFsaz0S-SSzLosvCFwhkAewtNHLYattOu9LQtjiAA4RbpyyrEJy2USfC4nlEXB6MXmL2iXx0vjmH4BgtAMIGcg_r5AR6rlzuoTi/s1600/geothermal4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAf1bDwSnayFE4Qy36Mif_885zxzAr9H7Rt9tmcslZoFsaz0S-SSzLosvCFwhkAewtNHLYattOu9LQtjiAA4RbpyyrEJy2USfC4nlEXB6MXmL2iXx0vjmH4BgtAMIGcg_r5AR6rlzuoTi/s320/geothermal4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465745698682399010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQv05Rc7U4T8IuWHt6AV0SsGibrrPrygzks7wxUy8vVdrZmh4gK-635zA4-7AdkFoy2PYpXQe6DnTSKnnKaehUe5qdeGcDgSZKgpA7rE-RLeUMVf3K1-3i8D16EyjTueDHwSC-DJs9Ygcq/s1600/geothermal3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQv05Rc7U4T8IuWHt6AV0SsGibrrPrygzks7wxUy8vVdrZmh4gK-635zA4-7AdkFoy2PYpXQe6DnTSKnnKaehUe5qdeGcDgSZKgpA7rE-RLeUMVf3K1-3i8D16EyjTueDHwSC-DJs9Ygcq/s320/geothermal3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465745690189614962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzovd6Adpdk02CSBAMEcfXtAVezg6Mqh3yyRJVKBgrkCHXiggOMtUjpaF4oWRQI_ZKP9wRvKwwJQBa8pWFGl3uE4ppBzzKeRi9RAnDdb9QtzjYwTEGZnz9T30mA5BmS2i8qeU40o-aOY2v/s1600/geothermal5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzovd6Adpdk02CSBAMEcfXtAVezg6Mqh3yyRJVKBgrkCHXiggOMtUjpaF4oWRQI_ZKP9wRvKwwJQBa8pWFGl3uE4ppBzzKeRi9RAnDdb9QtzjYwTEGZnz9T30mA5BmS2i8qeU40o-aOY2v/s320/geothermal5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465745711030708354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ice Cream Run</span><br /><br />Did anybody else see that Dairy Queen commercial with the family who ran through the car wash to get in their car and chase down the DQ truck? Well, we saw it Sunday night around 7:00 and saw that Sunday was the last day you could buy one blizzard and get the 2nd one for $0.25. Being the spontaneous folks that we are (speaking sarcastically), we threw the kids in the van and headed for DQ. We went through the drive through, ate in the van, and then drove back home. It was a good time and the boys loved it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZcK-ft8vhvX6pdQdIuwS5VN83B30binaTWkv4NfuRq3W5guY_s_NFQmo6zxt5prJah4XGCzvJb8Awg2OuE4Tayh8QR6pDqeiJEi2kqXcrcdFMYf_H01-ZfcahlFYVwrSQPQIPKeTS1Qx/s1600/ice+cream3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZcK-ft8vhvX6pdQdIuwS5VN83B30binaTWkv4NfuRq3W5guY_s_NFQmo6zxt5prJah4XGCzvJb8Awg2OuE4Tayh8QR6pDqeiJEi2kqXcrcdFMYf_H01-ZfcahlFYVwrSQPQIPKeTS1Qx/s320/ice+cream3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465747780943247026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKouHW5XmQKKbICgi028ykbTWzmb-IYgcdRii50aORbNL1a6nZgBVIzJgPvxaDxWwDL-OYgiOf0-14HysNZ2h44eDCMV-fAbsvDFy2uRumrerM7a97wBV7vkpnyykJKFLNWLagMOOW6DD/s1600/ice+cream5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKouHW5XmQKKbICgi028ykbTWzmb-IYgcdRii50aORbNL1a6nZgBVIzJgPvxaDxWwDL-OYgiOf0-14HysNZ2h44eDCMV-fAbsvDFy2uRumrerM7a97wBV7vkpnyykJKFLNWLagMOOW6DD/s320/ice+cream5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465747791180201074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbGU4fTJfEU8opWM80QqY7OJueezT3HSVPUGIMyG7VkiTE1s4Sw9tuuRcvbJPL-5BECs0__AS6xDCLMrDFWJJidJdVgewhU7MDxvIeUHcszgW2AAHS2OYmou5PjNeogxtQQCTjqaIjiuj/s1600/ice+cream2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbGU4fTJfEU8opWM80QqY7OJueezT3HSVPUGIMyG7VkiTE1s4Sw9tuuRcvbJPL-5BECs0__AS6xDCLMrDFWJJidJdVgewhU7MDxvIeUHcszgW2AAHS2OYmou5PjNeogxtQQCTjqaIjiuj/s320/ice+cream2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465747773025743826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgeaQw4kU3p_Ua8YDRmsFK-vkOU2ETCfFSes9zBMhIFGK34t7sJpTJspjod6bDFa8xJGUmVMMTaIvhpbydDJpRQSU5153rNm50O88YEUteRmRvkhjB4NibSFStz9T-3JFER7eGK6FU0sD/s1600/ice+cream1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgeaQw4kU3p_Ua8YDRmsFK-vkOU2ETCfFSes9zBMhIFGK34t7sJpTJspjod6bDFa8xJGUmVMMTaIvhpbydDJpRQSU5153rNm50O88YEUteRmRvkhjB4NibSFStz9T-3JFER7eGK6FU0sD/s320/ice+cream1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465747772263542898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTUcGR1Ut1qJ094qGkTyt-ZGtkRxP6JE09bbkjYdtBjq6HXQrWndci8qI1YLCrKUDjh3E6J5aJXWabHRvZ60P6U6jUpPHAVNE9HCyzH6hZjlRFljgFf3LVSmXwig_H4h43Wim9h1RQ0Zw/s1600/ice+cream4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTUcGR1Ut1qJ094qGkTyt-ZGtkRxP6JE09bbkjYdtBjq6HXQrWndci8qI1YLCrKUDjh3E6J5aJXWabHRvZ60P6U6jUpPHAVNE9HCyzH6hZjlRFljgFf3LVSmXwig_H4h43Wim9h1RQ0Zw/s320/ice+cream4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465747789295216658" border="0" /></a>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-13664869785921986312010-03-10T11:05:00.002-05:002010-03-10T11:19:04.852-05:00Funny Brennan StoryBrennan has been wanting to act "older" lately and last night he told me that he wanted to wake up and get ready for school by himself. I didn't think much about it at the time. Well this morning all of a sudden Brennan was standing beside our bed and he proudly told us that he was ready for school. He had gone potty, brushed teeth, ate his breakfast, and put on the clothes we had laid out for school today. There was only 1 minor problem....it was 4:00 AM! After we told him that he still needed to sleep for a few more hours, he hopped into bed with us. Just as he was drifting off to sleep he pointed at the ceiling and frantically said "there are bugs in the house, there are bugs in the house". Either he has amazing night vision or he was just pointing at the green light on the smoke detector.<br /><br />For a little further explanation, Brennan's desire to act "older" is because he wants to be like his older cousin Isaiah who is 12. For those who don't know, Isaiah (my sister's son) moved in with us in the middle of January and is in the 7th grade. Since then Brennan has tried to grow up quickly so he can do things like Isaiah does. Thus, he woke up this morning to get himself ready for school all by himself. If only he could tell time like Isaiah can.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-16603569963066782512009-12-09T23:54:00.006-05:002009-12-10T00:14:07.874-05:00Oh Christmas TreeFirst of all, sorry for the no posting slump I've been in lately. It's too the point where I feel like I need a home run post to break out of the slump, but I've given up on that and I'm hoping a bloop single over the second baseman's head can help me end the slump. OK, on to the actual post...<br /><br />The last few years we've been putting up my parents "fake" Christmas tree. This year I was dreading the process because it turns me into a scrooge every time. You have to take every piece and spread apart the branches and I was sick of it. I decided it may be time to venture out and go get a real, live Christmas tree.<br /><br />So, last Saturday we bundled up and headed to Wilfong's to find and cut down our own tree. It went pretty well. We may have started a tradition. We walked around a bit trying to find the "perfect" tree but at some point you just get really cold, the kids start fussing, and you need to cut down a tree and get out of there. I'm not sure we found the perfect tree but it looks pretty good. We got an 8' tall Douglas Fir. The other kinds had looked pretty good but they were twice as much money.<br /><br />Here are a few pictures of the adventure.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLUxnQwZQJwsSHEEc0np6ZU8EZwuUQ5IOxiIeOV30u3coqR6-OU1SvHzYzw1thU2Wxn6nYiVrQZPeImM3X16o-o_8fLGGMHtore_mcpcWGcryEQZr9mjUfOvkP7mSyWn9lvclX9BFwL4-/s1600-h/ChristmasTree1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLUxnQwZQJwsSHEEc0np6ZU8EZwuUQ5IOxiIeOV30u3coqR6-OU1SvHzYzw1thU2Wxn6nYiVrQZPeImM3X16o-o_8fLGGMHtore_mcpcWGcryEQZr9mjUfOvkP7mSyWn9lvclX9BFwL4-/s320/ChristmasTree1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413469241301696226" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaYf10-XCaAyp6dCNXilATEDdc8S_qDBOq3XKaGPwzy67wvsN7OUDyk0Y0B86EH-HgEAI5BddNTIxs_iBnCbEBREq0s4FJcLUiGUhc0Q9tVd5_HooZDd4ikX6uayGzi_PUMaXrqaZ5S55/s1600-h/ChristmasTree2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaYf10-XCaAyp6dCNXilATEDdc8S_qDBOq3XKaGPwzy67wvsN7OUDyk0Y0B86EH-HgEAI5BddNTIxs_iBnCbEBREq0s4FJcLUiGUhc0Q9tVd5_HooZDd4ikX6uayGzi_PUMaXrqaZ5S55/s320/ChristmasTree2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413469243692716770" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNaI5C7WUR3HzyJWnz6fNM6KVOcqItbJvUmn31fVLkQMdW-1yo8EbZNJzqtBt9ykzeGfUQTC7RPThozKeF4ZicHjwIJC24bDkps7LMsPSGGC2Yy5rN63E8mr2Sayu9_84ljpKOfzHIYAg/s1600-h/ChristmasTree3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNaI5C7WUR3HzyJWnz6fNM6KVOcqItbJvUmn31fVLkQMdW-1yo8EbZNJzqtBt9ykzeGfUQTC7RPThozKeF4ZicHjwIJC24bDkps7LMsPSGGC2Yy5rN63E8mr2Sayu9_84ljpKOfzHIYAg/s320/ChristmasTree3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413469246051808386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_Ok2tjMRq6B7P4puruhqCB4TzfCi5JaCpGbKvSJYLYdYQHYKjaIdEoK0-b3PaOOKh6JQWZ7gj6H8Ef4x-jPMFFVDqbLWmJiYQxAM0301RxSyWdRzV0q4Obzo-LOeX_u6pdbsAyYoOAcO/s1600-h/ChristmasTree4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_Ok2tjMRq6B7P4puruhqCB4TzfCi5JaCpGbKvSJYLYdYQHYKjaIdEoK0-b3PaOOKh6JQWZ7gj6H8Ef4x-jPMFFVDqbLWmJiYQxAM0301RxSyWdRzV0q4Obzo-LOeX_u6pdbsAyYoOAcO/s320/ChristmasTree4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413469246546450882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyYEh26mM6C1qNfrJU8Q4Er9B_d9LSYIEar6UmeQ8DpjRzna-_j_JbAFbntHI30UbzErpmfx3c6RPhV0Xa2Pv4-34xGhI6O7Qzd_JF-jpMqzk_Hdvgsjih8HlPAwy5nPehmMOemjVAmJD/s1600-h/ChristmasTree5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyYEh26mM6C1qNfrJU8Q4Er9B_d9LSYIEar6UmeQ8DpjRzna-_j_JbAFbntHI30UbzErpmfx3c6RPhV0Xa2Pv4-34xGhI6O7Qzd_JF-jpMqzk_Hdvgsjih8HlPAwy5nPehmMOemjVAmJD/s320/ChristmasTree5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413469251975161490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLpJ8RSMzoGGMwRrJe4IuGJKOwW9e45vK9_XMRqjtGvkd8mxn9hAu-yDwslH26TDankbWf805h5CxgitF9JhvutWoxuxBnA3H9CY_zstMhgKTwjhcneIOr1qTKnsqVkaH8d9dpqcrZN2U/s1600-h/ChristmasTree6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLpJ8RSMzoGGMwRrJe4IuGJKOwW9e45vK9_XMRqjtGvkd8mxn9hAu-yDwslH26TDankbWf805h5CxgitF9JhvutWoxuxBnA3H9CY_zstMhgKTwjhcneIOr1qTKnsqVkaH8d9dpqcrZN2U/s320/ChristmasTree6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413470168465577698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Jeremiah turns 1 on Friday so that should give me enough motivation to put together another post. Maybe it will be a double in the gap. Jeremiah isn't walking yet but he's likes to stand up beside anything he can grab ahold of. He's managed to find the kitchen cabinets.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWOHYbohFQGEIcBl26TIApKc2isnsbkBKIpprZSkTwZ-8z4gkOBwQgdIMAg-60QPgVFyA4LaIHFPWrM5aXx7tq6zDabcSpHGPsPSoTEK3gJqnbjxDL-N-cwIFWLhpZfc56rUfGXCv4_wDQ/s1600-h/Jeremiah1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWOHYbohFQGEIcBl26TIApKc2isnsbkBKIpprZSkTwZ-8z4gkOBwQgdIMAg-60QPgVFyA4LaIHFPWrM5aXx7tq6zDabcSpHGPsPSoTEK3gJqnbjxDL-N-cwIFWLhpZfc56rUfGXCv4_wDQ/s320/Jeremiah1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413470829767871810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJyr5g6tnUI-F4cEdU_Esz7MGFnAa0TwilMk52dYkD78nuV9OAh7KDSsMj7fUEzSTm1tp19mLhljSOlD2qxqEQdr22ll1xpeqDUL7SlMr27fS6RVdnTS2dDTtCKjSmUa7-L-K-U-5WzE_/s1600-h/Jeremiah2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJyr5g6tnUI-F4cEdU_Esz7MGFnAa0TwilMk52dYkD78nuV9OAh7KDSsMj7fUEzSTm1tp19mLhljSOlD2qxqEQdr22ll1xpeqDUL7SlMr27fS6RVdnTS2dDTtCKjSmUa7-L-K-U-5WzE_/s320/Jeremiah2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413470834545829954" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKkcrvOEP0gC1tC8kyXaf5xiLtmfmNnfFFP3iGV4y5O4wUFB7ccSwiDy7OiZdFkj8-5giA_QDIeOMtZ_-2W8IgvK1jMDCao67OTvAcn8pjWiddbMsGK5KTw_RLYa8_wg4y81qUN-k2gBS/s1600-h/Jeremiah3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKkcrvOEP0gC1tC8kyXaf5xiLtmfmNnfFFP3iGV4y5O4wUFB7ccSwiDy7OiZdFkj8-5giA_QDIeOMtZ_-2W8IgvK1jMDCao67OTvAcn8pjWiddbMsGK5KTw_RLYa8_wg4y81qUN-k2gBS/s320/Jeremiah3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413470835617192962" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Upon further review, based on the number of pictures I've included in this post, I feel like it at least qualifies as a hard ground ball through the infield. Forget this bloop single stuff.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-31798686257187705312009-08-18T22:27:00.004-04:002009-08-18T23:06:48.368-04:00KindergartenToday was Brennan's first day of Kindergarten!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrCyWcCfRzxkYN8t7fV-1-u8tOn84VEP20f2iH9dlq5cs2tInd-cwilJNFjx4a9qMgil6REmqizRerhvwdXtcqgw3aHiDmSbkVtxLp0TR5TuGrFr0yqHWnwOH62h2a5c4veBGB7Zb7QFZZ/s1600-h/P1020503.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrCyWcCfRzxkYN8t7fV-1-u8tOn84VEP20f2iH9dlq5cs2tInd-cwilJNFjx4a9qMgil6REmqizRerhvwdXtcqgw3aHiDmSbkVtxLp0TR5TuGrFr0yqHWnwOH62h2a5c4veBGB7Zb7QFZZ/s320/P1020503.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496186063979202" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We all (minus Jeremiah who was still in bed) walked out to the end of the drive this morning and waited with Brennan for the bus to pick him up.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyqBY7cRUdNqe8IfNiJfMFhSKRkHd5rQPXV6_3I0GAHBv_0voUGrsAE28xWkljPzNELhEhdrPJJzp6On7F_TJXiy3gVBK26PCRwQuccj6JYfB3SwXZRrbHaSlxRgv5fQuAeO0w1SCQFHt/s1600-h/P1020507.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyqBY7cRUdNqe8IfNiJfMFhSKRkHd5rQPXV6_3I0GAHBv_0voUGrsAE28xWkljPzNELhEhdrPJJzp6On7F_TJXiy3gVBK26PCRwQuccj6JYfB3SwXZRrbHaSlxRgv5fQuAeO0w1SCQFHt/s320/P1020507.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496194923026914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When the bus pulled up to our driveway, Brennan walked right up to the bus and hopped on. The bus driver told him to turn around so his mom could take a picture. Brennan gave a quick turn, said "cheese", and headed for a seat. And then he was gone...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBB-8TLx6ZO24qoaGtdoehzrq0xa6eCMsBPt9KzIjVIFjHWG1DK9nlxoZS0Ra4dgmOhCwFIXElwMIV6S6NDVrWdXF9rZ7yaLAGXJPMkrON8OBrRzUidOup4nKw7PYF8gR-3eDmwDfgzGV1/s1600-h/P1020510.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBB-8TLx6ZO24qoaGtdoehzrq0xa6eCMsBPt9KzIjVIFjHWG1DK9nlxoZS0Ra4dgmOhCwFIXElwMIV6S6NDVrWdXF9rZ7yaLAGXJPMkrON8OBrRzUidOup4nKw7PYF8gR-3eDmwDfgzGV1/s320/P1020510.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496198924967138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When he got home in the afternoon he said that riding the bus was his favorite part of kindergarten. I think he enjoyed a few other things too, but he wasn't too impressed with nap time. Kids just don't understand how great that concept is. Who wouldn't love a designated 30 minute time period to lay down and rest in the middle of the day?<br /><br />Sawyer wants to go to kindergarten too but sadly he's got 4 more years until he can join Brennan on the bus.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXB7_O79SSrOzwNR-pYpZ0lrSn93Qr0IsPRRD6FS5dggPQ3PS2XL0zKiBXiIa9sq48kBD_q2rnZ_w95p3VgAllmnzFgZPHZReFpGq7Kwn-AJbuaIQwJNYkBl0WriDBIGpTiyHOe4sCTtD/s1600-h/P1020300.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXB7_O79SSrOzwNR-pYpZ0lrSn93Qr0IsPRRD6FS5dggPQ3PS2XL0zKiBXiIa9sq48kBD_q2rnZ_w95p3VgAllmnzFgZPHZReFpGq7Kwn-AJbuaIQwJNYkBl0WriDBIGpTiyHOe4sCTtD/s320/P1020300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496999179845250" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here are a few Jeremiah pictures taken over the last few weeks. He continues to do really well. He's such a happy, laid back little guy. Plus he's ridiculously cute in my biased opinion.<br /><br />I had to include this picture of him in his Bears onesie for his little buddy <a href="http://bogardsjourneytoethiopia.blogspot.com/2009/07/fireworks.html">Silas B.</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKs7IXKMIBSXxvtu7Xmr9lbN54Ss8WG6JZfxqcrCW64nRelhd4D40aW1HVlG7f8RyX8WqPrnkAWaML3cU0FHRIhg_oW-f7tUpm2PWahRzHvJw7x2NTihIaO8nRgyx-2KVHMhdRJDFqu2NW/s1600-h/P1020452.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKs7IXKMIBSXxvtu7Xmr9lbN54Ss8WG6JZfxqcrCW64nRelhd4D40aW1HVlG7f8RyX8WqPrnkAWaML3cU0FHRIhg_oW-f7tUpm2PWahRzHvJw7x2NTihIaO8nRgyx-2KVHMhdRJDFqu2NW/s320/P1020452.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496992103979426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgdtVd1_3DLMwWCZVJ3_Es21wkKPCwa_Jm0b9xEhf-q-L-2uadMl5AlcgVjtOHL3SUMGZpqaTIabrAcWOdkc19ojvEKMH2WxXUN059u9R30CpNlcd5dREEIWM1dTe-x12EaxeuHG6q8CwN/s1600-h/P1020486.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgdtVd1_3DLMwWCZVJ3_Es21wkKPCwa_Jm0b9xEhf-q-L-2uadMl5AlcgVjtOHL3SUMGZpqaTIabrAcWOdkc19ojvEKMH2WxXUN059u9R30CpNlcd5dREEIWM1dTe-x12EaxeuHG6q8CwN/s320/P1020486.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496991400936802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-9gkgFoX94pMBrVGzd2GcUpJyHu0RZNTBzlJq0MLVzW4E_GygVcADKK0ZQhtclWo-OpTpf3DzAvz-pWCLrJYDo5rrcDCYzshzHegQsOTOVcrj0w6hxCvp9sMmtD05vX9NY6IhU39tXoF/s1600-h/P1020496.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-9gkgFoX94pMBrVGzd2GcUpJyHu0RZNTBzlJq0MLVzW4E_GygVcADKK0ZQhtclWo-OpTpf3DzAvz-pWCLrJYDo5rrcDCYzshzHegQsOTOVcrj0w6hxCvp9sMmtD05vX9NY6IhU39tXoF/s320/P1020496.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496213926784114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Monica and her three boys.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQ861IfT0U01xYLxcM18Bu07-Tsav5h1s4tgxTCWj1AksDMdHLWdyk5N3PJ0WLVHDpI69vrp_I0zXLNXnXrcaiMBMcZizSttpDwrYw7nXrpjE2qGX-FMtdQtCWZdB_dWj3CIoosJ1Ke2c/s1600-h/P1020137.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQ861IfT0U01xYLxcM18Bu07-Tsav5h1s4tgxTCWj1AksDMdHLWdyk5N3PJ0WLVHDpI69vrp_I0zXLNXnXrcaiMBMcZizSttpDwrYw7nXrpjE2qGX-FMtdQtCWZdB_dWj3CIoosJ1Ke2c/s320/P1020137.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371497006743466642" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Random - the Goodyear blimp flew right over our house today. Not sure where it was going.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYctv23ytj5cPFVXvOSI6PB23P9TioCUzLr3JEtx8YyYi_Le9uAMHP-Vk32e3niqyMFKLg9xMOy7WQR_DMjnAE_3YSKi-4VYpzOursK1jw25KwbRi_xcffZChnCg_2lcDTSP-rjP7l8jY/s1600-h/P1020513.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYctv23ytj5cPFVXvOSI6PB23P9TioCUzLr3JEtx8YyYi_Le9uAMHP-Vk32e3niqyMFKLg9xMOy7WQR_DMjnAE_3YSKi-4VYpzOursK1jw25KwbRi_xcffZChnCg_2lcDTSP-rjP7l8jY/s320/P1020513.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371496208935250050" border="0" /></a>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-52077586656847317452009-08-04T21:49:00.012-04:002009-08-04T23:02:34.039-04:00Trip - Days 5 & 6OK, sorry for the long delay in posting...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 5 - Sunday</span><br /><br />Sunday morning we ate breakfast with the Ralph’s and then left for church around 10:00. We went to their local MKC (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meserete_Kristos_Church">Meserete Kristos Church</a>) congregation. They don’t attend there regularly because the service is in Amharic (can't say I blame them). The service starts at 10:00 but the first 30 - 45 minutes is people filtering in and kneeling or sitting at their bench to pray. They are vocal prayers! I guess it was good to experience the service but after awhile I was ready for the service to be over. After church we went back to the Ralph’s for lunch and then packed our stuff up and Jim drove us to the Union Hotel. The Ralph's were SO great to us! Hosting us for those first couple days was a huge blessing to us.<br /><br />The Union Hotel<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutV_8c-peFUmVMEFL_oRul7WpsmaWcHx0ec6F-x46ejCu8QDwlkMvIt6i1hY-69Qi2DeGQj3Tx39CYOYAGjJiSBPNxj9rIMcAmzSIJewbSMUbrT5lD3KeHmHnBKBY_17crF70fB9xDnpA/s1600-h/Union.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutV_8c-peFUmVMEFL_oRul7WpsmaWcHx0ec6F-x46ejCu8QDwlkMvIt6i1hY-69Qi2DeGQj3Tx39CYOYAGjJiSBPNxj9rIMcAmzSIJewbSMUbrT5lD3KeHmHnBKBY_17crF70fB9xDnpA/s320/Union.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296148399460562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here are a few pictures of our room.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXooOm80Itl3kWDKnmPw9sy0SAx55_WIZfWXjGxOWQaiHVlCRRTXdxpfBi0UBQKR22sxYJOC0rRLgR8lsJsa-MmALsgcExBjjAVpwsad_uvX46uu6rLk6lItrHC_PyWSdXFfgV6iN3WGR/s1600-h/room1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXooOm80Itl3kWDKnmPw9sy0SAx55_WIZfWXjGxOWQaiHVlCRRTXdxpfBi0UBQKR22sxYJOC0rRLgR8lsJsa-MmALsgcExBjjAVpwsad_uvX46uu6rLk6lItrHC_PyWSdXFfgV6iN3WGR/s320/room1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296158194192930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This bed may as well have been a sheet of plywood with a sheet on it. I'm sure there are some Room 106 alumni out there who can attest to this.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrRdPXs1yP9SNH4d1ECvGpqAeKaKVEMlahNFB0WqJkbB8svQdxTPb4pv04Bwl_M5TdaqKXdPacSy0tfEayhGmmSjO02PqqEkCQUt8ADB3M_LdIrXyQJ-90O4DyKRkb6Q5Y3SzuDAZNzHm/s1600-h/room2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrRdPXs1yP9SNH4d1ECvGpqAeKaKVEMlahNFB0WqJkbB8svQdxTPb4pv04Bwl_M5TdaqKXdPacSy0tfEayhGmmSjO02PqqEkCQUt8ADB3M_LdIrXyQJ-90O4DyKRkb6Q5Y3SzuDAZNzHm/s320/room2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296160137145474" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We were glad to see we had a crib in our room.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyUwXAeqPsRF9-s7IZEQdlUrLOFbxqt9HCSgcc6MlG2oEXcuXhhTY5XJcxlttj-fXoO0s8AaQjOjnFSuhcDFNbhJnmlDRd6LywRUyokDIq4UIFwSll7ZJ1uRzue4JSzMYHZWas3BFBlJj/s1600-h/room2a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyUwXAeqPsRF9-s7IZEQdlUrLOFbxqt9HCSgcc6MlG2oEXcuXhhTY5XJcxlttj-fXoO0s8AaQjOjnFSuhcDFNbhJnmlDRd6LywRUyokDIq4UIFwSll7ZJ1uRzue4JSzMYHZWas3BFBlJj/s320/room2a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296170663790162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FLo2IDbjZn5-4ZZeib_BpxJMc6P5jNLYVVYZrkJwCQWdGwvdgD6R4K81j2m3KaqUuh3Hg-gHlwzBc5zMRLOGL-2uiv-fF3CYv9uHmboXVmQuDqOOpK3QCRvKvZEnW2iIc4my_DntzOtK/s1600-h/room3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FLo2IDbjZn5-4ZZeib_BpxJMc6P5jNLYVVYZrkJwCQWdGwvdgD6R4K81j2m3KaqUuh3Hg-gHlwzBc5zMRLOGL-2uiv-fF3CYv9uHmboXVmQuDqOOpK3QCRvKvZEnW2iIc4my_DntzOtK/s320/room3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296174981077698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After we got checked in, we started looking at our window to try to see Hannah’s Hope ("HH"). We couldn’t see it from our balcony but when we went up to the 2nd and 3rd floors we were able to easily see HH.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-lg6CwkLxvvzqATMk6ugkHmhnpC3OEisR7m3aRwSln1AsFIe0VvHIVymJxw54puWdBi3-UTtgRiD4Ns914ONj_9gkX84A6KmwZHyostrovEhhjrK7jWFWKPqDKcboHr55ouXk1JRBqoa/s1600-h/hh.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-lg6CwkLxvvzqATMk6ugkHmhnpC3OEisR7m3aRwSln1AsFIe0VvHIVymJxw54puWdBi3-UTtgRiD4Ns914ONj_9gkX84A6KmwZHyostrovEhhjrK7jWFWKPqDKcboHr55ouXk1JRBqoa/s320/hh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296849607661042" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I convinced Monica that we needed to walk over there. It was so close, how could we not? We agreed that we wouldn’t knock on the door because we didn’t want to mess up their schedule by showing up a day early. We could hear the older kids playing inside and at one point a ball came over the wall and I threw it back over. We took our pictures by the gate to HH and then headed back to the hotel.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SyVcTIFMvI4GcE6X6dCYIMYztH5lnA-0JFbllks2bD27HgeYkkDTDR5ZaS_WBdwIp134GJ4TnrHxQGsjtqRhv7u5Pe1I1U0blfNzxrGJtTA0f-MFxC_pjwBEPTAEQMnFUnJAi6Y21E3I/s1600-h/gate1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SyVcTIFMvI4GcE6X6dCYIMYztH5lnA-0JFbllks2bD27HgeYkkDTDR5ZaS_WBdwIp134GJ4TnrHxQGsjtqRhv7u5Pe1I1U0blfNzxrGJtTA0f-MFxC_pjwBEPTAEQMnFUnJAi6Y21E3I/s320/gate1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296851717238578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2-OclvuwbrJ9gYmS8cXx1le8JnDdMZqLKTlkVpEY8WOUnbcOzYtQGTHChF3SH3Z7iudGY2GTClwPTBey0jaFfsLVArpAd3slVZqT3hIFXrYKzW0a6N-MhzkPlxbH5V_kIIyg8WlCJRe3/s1600-h/gate2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2-OclvuwbrJ9gYmS8cXx1le8JnDdMZqLKTlkVpEY8WOUnbcOzYtQGTHChF3SH3Z7iudGY2GTClwPTBey0jaFfsLVArpAd3slVZqT3hIFXrYKzW0a6N-MhzkPlxbH5V_kIIyg8WlCJRe3/s320/gate2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366296861188076578" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When we got back to the hotel, we saw an American in the lobby. We weren’t expecting anyone from the AGCI travel group until later that evening, but I asked her if she was there with AGCI. Her and her husband were there with Holt International, an adoption agency that has an orphanage next door to the hotel. There were 4 couples at the Union adopting through Holt. They invited us to go out for pizza with them Sunday night at the Addis Ababa Golf Club. It was fun hanging out with them and getting to know them a bit. After we got back from supper, it was time to get to bed and get ready for the big day. I took some sleeping pills just to make sure I’d get plenty of rest.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 6 - Monday (Gotcha Day)</span><br /><br />Monday morning we went down for breakfast and that’s when we got to meet the AGCI families in our travel group. There were 8 families in our group. It was good to meet some of the people who I had gotten to know through blogs and emails. There were a few mystery families in our group who kept themselves hidden from blog land. We had a great group!<br /><br />Around 9:00 or a little after Almaz showed up and we went over a few things and worked on the I-600 and I-864 forms. We also placed our coffee order at that time. I ordered 10 kilos which is somewhere around 22 lbs and it only cost 600 birr ($55).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5irqTz4Ek7IW8r-b6zuBXYlDte7WN7Z9ilfSUK9XjUQiJKeJsBAEQIgf9SAQfh7twximuCyN9vVCTjUzK-gKIB2qERAA3VF0Pw7YOrGqJAheefUqfjmhwF13aZ8svsKk_lj95fOs5ogZ/s1600-h/almaz+paperwork.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5irqTz4Ek7IW8r-b6zuBXYlDte7WN7Z9ilfSUK9XjUQiJKeJsBAEQIgf9SAQfh7twximuCyN9vVCTjUzK-gKIB2qERAA3VF0Pw7YOrGqJAheefUqfjmhwF13aZ8svsKk_lj95fOs5ogZ/s320/almaz+paperwork.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366298565652598050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After we got through that stuff it was time to the real walk. Only one family in our group was getting an older child, the rest of us were getting infants. We all got to see <a href="http://johnstonhappenings.blogspot.com/">Jason & Kala</a> meet their son who is 4 years old. It was a very special moment. He ran right up to them and was hugging them and was so excited to see them. If you didn't tear up a bit watching that, something is wrong. Kala said later that meeting him went better than she could have ever dreamed.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAi1XQftyiR4XOfUgYkSZ_d4-mR1L1eP7dzvoO-o9HTGc_8W9oypPGiAziY1PaYuXVYjRR67evjetfid-8NFqXafywdjELcH1ubnRp8qXzae9q4NFg-1Vtme5xr4B7fGZRn0VrhFLtxfr/s1600-h/jason-kala-henok.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAi1XQftyiR4XOfUgYkSZ_d4-mR1L1eP7dzvoO-o9HTGc_8W9oypPGiAziY1PaYuXVYjRR67evjetfid-8NFqXafywdjELcH1ubnRp8qXzae9q4NFg-1Vtme5xr4B7fGZRn0VrhFLtxfr/s320/jason-kala-henok.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366298576039540274" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After that we went inside the main building where the babies were. One of the first babies I saw when were standing inside the front door was <a href="http://luchtadoption.blogspot.com/">Troy & Amber's</a> little boy Silas. We still haven't met Troy and Amber but we've exchanged a lot of emails so it was great to see their son.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsf8VkhI-rNbVFJknaQH2RJ3_VCPODXdIsZiKIZnhwwUzuUJyxsy3hiGcnFLXwhQzU9It32XZWBn3jBaMUYo46RoQBZK9Y0ghUdbdUrBt4G72irgHyjiUvsBjiI07-yCJb3FhbrpdNcKw/s1600-h/sal.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsf8VkhI-rNbVFJknaQH2RJ3_VCPODXdIsZiKIZnhwwUzuUJyxsy3hiGcnFLXwhQzU9It32XZWBn3jBaMUYo46RoQBZK9Y0ghUdbdUrBt4G72irgHyjiUvsBjiI07-yCJb3FhbrpdNcKw/s320/sal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366298581708075842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We waited while a few other families met their children. Then Almaz took us to where Bemnet was. He was sleeping in his crib so we just looked at him for a bit. He was napping in courdory pants and a long sleeve onesie. As if that wasn't enough to keep him warm, he was wrapped up in a thick blanket plus he had a comforter on top of him. Oh and they had an electric space heater running in the room. It was by no means cold outside either. No wonder they give those kids 2 baths a day. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_blUQOw7sII33l4_k3L8omjTqn2M6EfSxKvauQdZMZKQX4Kp2p6gFvsiNvw-jrr3FBLHe8Oqla-uFWz6_iYho07Use1t1ODQQ3rrbImKCmcuNBfI8ARIr_SnWFNZ2ai8RA7FsaQFK97A9/s1600-h/sleeping1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_blUQOw7sII33l4_k3L8omjTqn2M6EfSxKvauQdZMZKQX4Kp2p6gFvsiNvw-jrr3FBLHe8Oqla-uFWz6_iYho07Use1t1ODQQ3rrbImKCmcuNBfI8ARIr_SnWFNZ2ai8RA7FsaQFK97A9/s320/sleeping1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366308825584047570" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's Monica getting her first peek at our little guy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0KIwTD-M_oT-AX_IZGiLw2vYtyZMQS8pu0Bws72Yul2fnW1fA3eJdTeOJ09qcn6D0i2HxWt7ViLdUBFV8qJ7DuEgf8azA0SjcoVVy_2bu2rpjvYiZMWeVeQL68HqN0RDhfpdOT0Q1pEh/s1600-h/sleeping.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0KIwTD-M_oT-AX_IZGiLw2vYtyZMQS8pu0Bws72Yul2fnW1fA3eJdTeOJ09qcn6D0i2HxWt7ViLdUBFV8qJ7DuEgf8azA0SjcoVVy_2bu2rpjvYiZMWeVeQL68HqN0RDhfpdOT0Q1pEh/s320/sleeping.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366298587853616002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After a while one of his special moms came and woke him up and handed him to Monica. What a great moment!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Yz3l0hUvHYW_ZUh3V0vr2Lm4uQjNYMg0HnAc9SvAStdVpqia1Ixa7KjwuIBM2ihb35rxp3rYGsvpU-llDQrNZSZ0Hd_9j-v3PonjcxZi3Oa2eUQBKfv9NDzBC59jevBPK327tMuYXyko/s1600-h/meetingjb.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Yz3l0hUvHYW_ZUh3V0vr2Lm4uQjNYMg0HnAc9SvAStdVpqia1Ixa7KjwuIBM2ihb35rxp3rYGsvpU-llDQrNZSZ0Hd_9j-v3PonjcxZi3Oa2eUQBKfv9NDzBC59jevBPK327tMuYXyko/s320/meetingjb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366298593329189474" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTKVThZWn17DElKzEtHah67a7PUjAFSB9hY2sHdYpodlv6JKjs7M9mvynTJh7R8K2Jh26tKCXTJBXd8r8srGEulXl8-z_BID_r-UxqronlZwHzVnUgc0wN83qHOFwtRy7YU0yp2-Cb3F9/s1600-h/family+photo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTKVThZWn17DElKzEtHah67a7PUjAFSB9hY2sHdYpodlv6JKjs7M9mvynTJh7R8K2Jh26tKCXTJBXd8r8srGEulXl8-z_BID_r-UxqronlZwHzVnUgc0wN83qHOFwtRy7YU0yp2-Cb3F9/s320/family+photo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366302005194203634" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's a picture of a few proud and happy parents.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwSO4ljmp1K9-oc1856bKVNn9rekhhyphenhyphenlvM7v3h5PbePZ1xj5KIIZgJwZPtrOphb_-mlUIA9F_wnfZoCZH1QaOnvkidFbbKEZAps6Z65FoPvLvDf1G3Z0UQS4c_v68_I4debTUnitil-Jh/s1600-h/friends.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwSO4ljmp1K9-oc1856bKVNn9rekhhyphenhyphenlvM7v3h5PbePZ1xj5KIIZgJwZPtrOphb_-mlUIA9F_wnfZoCZH1QaOnvkidFbbKEZAps6Z65FoPvLvDf1G3Z0UQS4c_v68_I4debTUnitil-Jh/s320/friends.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366302005592425922" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After spending some time holding Bemnet and seeing the other families and their children, we had to get ready for our appointment at the US Embassy. We went to the hotel, got our stuff, came back to HH, got Bemnet, and got on the bus for the Embassy. I think we left around noon for the Embassy and our appointments were at 1:00. The actual appointment at the Embassy was very simple. After all our families were done, we loaded back up on the bus and headed back to the hotel.<br /><br />On the bus ride to and from the embassy and while we were there, Bemnet was such a trooper. He just took it all in and was happy and content the whole time. Back at the hotel Monica was showing him pictures of his brother and he would get excited and laugh when she said "brothers" or "Brennan and Sawyer".<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkYslJH-KEu6VLRGgLlfwHgcRmez0GpW2yc-l45XXzjQBzUTOAOhvg7cy-81FJs9d_Lxx0H940HlW-ksZld4YfsejufLQuekWWIc8Ne8r1yTowZD-gglgIEZMd9sxMeHI6uw8pvldz6yj/s1600-h/brothers.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkYslJH-KEu6VLRGgLlfwHgcRmez0GpW2yc-l45XXzjQBzUTOAOhvg7cy-81FJs9d_Lxx0H940HlW-ksZld4YfsejufLQuekWWIc8Ne8r1yTowZD-gglgIEZMd9sxMeHI6uw8pvldz6yj/s320/brothers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366304052905669778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That evening I took a few of the guys over to the golf club to get a few pizzas. The plan was for us to get extra so that we could leave some in the fridge in our room for later. Unfortunately the power was out most of the next day. It got pretty warm in the fridge. Had I been at home, I may have eaten it but I didn’t want to risk getting sick on this trip.<br /><br />If you didn't see it before, here's a <a href="http://beachyville.blogspot.com/2009/05/today-it-really-happened.html">link to the blog entry</a> I posted from Ethiopia after that first day with Jeremiah Bemnet.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-70628276847258022252009-07-07T22:46:00.006-04:002009-07-07T23:13:44.612-04:00Misc. Picture Update<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Our friends, Gavin & Amy loaned us their exersaucer for Jeremiah to use. He always wants to stand up and after awhile our arms get tired so this thing is great. He's really enjoyed hanging out in it.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtpo6bY79AOGBQCeNhaAQ_lr4L_njURP2dOeEFLij5qev55-3xgY6_l6IgrUVP-4cBgc-KnzVdRor2YP0IhUroGNTcvmp7m-M4jSN_Sahs_YXNWohOkUozyfktiyPUCTmFFQtbcZXU9wH/s1600-h/exersaucer1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtpo6bY79AOGBQCeNhaAQ_lr4L_njURP2dOeEFLij5qev55-3xgY6_l6IgrUVP-4cBgc-KnzVdRor2YP0IhUroGNTcvmp7m-M4jSN_Sahs_YXNWohOkUozyfktiyPUCTmFFQtbcZXU9wH/s320/exersaucer1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355916090668216594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Sawyer likes hanging out around the exersaucer and trying to play with whatever Jeremiah is playing with. Brothers...</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFcdpOsWts8q-AwPzu4FwWzgYudB3oFrvdBfYvTpNgGoPx2jVxWCMQ6mLdDjbHpUEViTmxG-N1Sm95icPnBIxv4StKNWucp3scLsFSlgWAxE1pXdGdVlwEH5BvgFOkHoy4-ePrCad55a9/s1600-h/exersaucer3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFcdpOsWts8q-AwPzu4FwWzgYudB3oFrvdBfYvTpNgGoPx2jVxWCMQ6mLdDjbHpUEViTmxG-N1Sm95icPnBIxv4StKNWucp3scLsFSlgWAxE1pXdGdVlwEH5BvgFOkHoy4-ePrCad55a9/s320/exersaucer3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355917861444758450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Jeremiah keeps finding this really cute kid to look at on the exersaucer.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq7W8KGUk6ZrhWBiE8Qyq2EQhLfbIt5b9ZznyOIFzFGoqjbGFaoyMYE0QxlAFu5pC3J94YEwBe41S5TBXMGtGui3dkTtbQ5j54hjSFZnoCDRKcxGK0jHbjsNSClVkJH1yMFCl9KKi8M9n_/s1600-h/exersaucer2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq7W8KGUk6ZrhWBiE8Qyq2EQhLfbIt5b9ZznyOIFzFGoqjbGFaoyMYE0QxlAFu5pC3J94YEwBe41S5TBXMGtGui3dkTtbQ5j54hjSFZnoCDRKcxGK0jHbjsNSClVkJH1yMFCl9KKi8M9n_/s320/exersaucer2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355917865526577858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-family: times new roman;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;">This is what happens when you watch too much baseball instead of putting your son to bed.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimU3Z841hWsF4-zMaKATg8J26tHRQsi1BeqC4D45Td82U2hXvfrFi6yyrlrXs-sZUFqc6jI6IOY9DfqEI3GsU3udVkr8hx6jH-fldCGU4BLY6zbjjEtwWnoA73PC27xeb4egfW_dUnvgdY/s1600-h/brennansleeping1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimU3Z841hWsF4-zMaKATg8J26tHRQsi1BeqC4D45Td82U2hXvfrFi6yyrlrXs-sZUFqc6jI6IOY9DfqEI3GsU3udVkr8hx6jH-fldCGU4BLY6zbjjEtwWnoA73PC27xeb4egfW_dUnvgdY/s320/brennansleeping1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355916079777007794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">At the beginning of June, Brennan learned to ride bike without training wheels. He's been pedaling like crazy ever since. He loves it! He's been on several "long" bike rides since he learned (2+ miles). He has to take some breaks on the longer rides to look back and see how far he's gone.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOYeAo4dcnDfqFKuEyEBXvjDM1MyYG6FCZi2v1FzqBSyC9KPoHy-Jh5U32dOvwrDi0Em8F8yriH5XpbxFXKqxbnaDHzXZOXWqiaAZiraoxIXCYoHtU4gRy_q3i9a0wmaYcmzznkvu6TP1/s1600-h/brennanriding3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOYeAo4dcnDfqFKuEyEBXvjDM1MyYG6FCZi2v1FzqBSyC9KPoHy-Jh5U32dOvwrDi0Em8F8yriH5XpbxFXKqxbnaDHzXZOXWqiaAZiraoxIXCYoHtU4gRy_q3i9a0wmaYcmzznkvu6TP1/s320/brennanriding3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355916071807473170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovmetVWO3KALxkJeOjQf0V0n518VYKzg7Tp99zX3ii3LjHnDdGFN6HDjm01xhk5s5OALRAhS-e6otGgAbOZ069-7BVz6xkO3Kqa4-kUFt2HwHJ-Q5M_Y4sQP4kHUL_zZyQqfYOoPosE6A/s1600-h/brennanriding2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovmetVWO3KALxkJeOjQf0V0n518VYKzg7Tp99zX3ii3LjHnDdGFN6HDjm01xhk5s5OALRAhS-e6otGgAbOZ069-7BVz6xkO3Kqa4-kUFt2HwHJ-Q5M_Y4sQP4kHUL_zZyQqfYOoPosE6A/s320/brennanriding2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355916071630050322" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCm02TEqRCzdrVYtQ8sacnlzNf-iQOfJPK9Wqb3iKEXdDCRPiD4-sCklgjXqzIKNhwRmr7p00OUoZTO1zjKy4zXtAoozQC2nqLfqYL2Zdhbq9H_IgM0h5_lPkwAHy2Q7oaeOlbYLakQIw/s1600-h/brennanriding1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCm02TEqRCzdrVYtQ8sacnlzNf-iQOfJPK9Wqb3iKEXdDCRPiD4-sCklgjXqzIKNhwRmr7p00OUoZTO1zjKy4zXtAoozQC2nqLfqYL2Zdhbq9H_IgM0h5_lPkwAHy2Q7oaeOlbYLakQIw/s320/brennanriding1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355916066922279682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Sawyer enjoys the bouncy seat more than Jeremiah does. He's always crawling in the thing. He thinks he's pretty funny. Hopefully it can last at least a few more months.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGclTkUnMbB3X07RQ761_TV6u5NEP8oTC3cdwRK021S6QqoRJyYKGe6jE2-LhvAlZGEcfbNzf8pYV9LvxGOGCKhP-R6Ugl4hIBHgFwyab5sleMI9ZL1wKhSNA9O0keQhGe_aqaXlFAiq3A/s1600-h/sawyerbouncyseat1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGclTkUnMbB3X07RQ761_TV6u5NEP8oTC3cdwRK021S6QqoRJyYKGe6jE2-LhvAlZGEcfbNzf8pYV9LvxGOGCKhP-R6Ugl4hIBHgFwyab5sleMI9ZL1wKhSNA9O0keQhGe_aqaXlFAiq3A/s320/sawyerbouncyseat1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355915679274032258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Sawyer has been a full fledged mama's boy since we've come back from Ethiopia. This picture shows one of the happy moments but there are plenty of annoying "mommy hold you" comments that Sawyer makes along with other whining and screaming when mommy is holding Jeremiah or needing to do something else. This too shall pass...I hope.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzidIfW9yud_oAlzFGBJWuFxVT99KXS7dlzN1kBRbtu4cmVxk069xAYus0GeloqWYjI767Zpeh_ptZQCVA3GfokoQNqw3e7f63wtBlnbM65CZOvI6cWm6C2fL5tZb-wLTBo8OMFAWmmOV/s1600-h/mommasboy1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzidIfW9yud_oAlzFGBJWuFxVT99KXS7dlzN1kBRbtu4cmVxk069xAYus0GeloqWYjI767Zpeh_ptZQCVA3GfokoQNqw3e7f63wtBlnbM65CZOvI6cWm6C2fL5tZb-wLTBo8OMFAWmmOV/s320/mommasboy1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355915677600213362" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">We live in the woods and we've got a pretty good crop of wild raspberries right now at various spots in the woods. We've been out picking a few evenings over the last week. Tonight we were all out picking. Sawyer eats them as fast as he can pick them. It's pretty funny. There are a couple good shots of him, post raspberry eating.</span><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGrYSwuOKlAo5rZAywq7SUFxoRDNpJKTElLKKIW7jdesqo4IcjvQVtFfThyphenhyphenblrrhdd1huHmssW5ReUVjmU4nMU8orMydqBYocRAjzv7mFaswobtyJYW3BW9qmQrcT_a0uc-RIkWu8eOBX/s1600-h/berries1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGrYSwuOKlAo5rZAywq7SUFxoRDNpJKTElLKKIW7jdesqo4IcjvQVtFfThyphenhyphenblrrhdd1huHmssW5ReUVjmU4nMU8orMydqBYocRAjzv7mFaswobtyJYW3BW9qmQrcT_a0uc-RIkWu8eOBX/s320/berries1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355915666130763906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezT4wB7P46r9ioRzwmLv_lTvqzFXEggdPfprO8OLg9JIVOzDApONsxQWtTKBQ5Qk_MHmTCbzwQIl-jIAgVOtMVdiwFtujHmahkSwvvjDiq0jASFuFf8pJ76er-peMPav6p5U-jTz0HJpo/s1600-h/berries3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezT4wB7P46r9ioRzwmLv_lTvqzFXEggdPfprO8OLg9JIVOzDApONsxQWtTKBQ5Qk_MHmTCbzwQIl-jIAgVOtMVdiwFtujHmahkSwvvjDiq0jASFuFf8pJ76er-peMPav6p5U-jTz0HJpo/s320/berries3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355915671856718962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a style="font-family: times new roman;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIt6LRqQzTXpVTHexfS6qb_aa_1_o-9CmOfqZOnDoe43-cr3HPK_Y2JjstrEeoJEM9EiXCZoz-b6gkguaMlG9HFhjrqY_pDBRGiUkZz4iq7fGEznNu_BPOzlxYGLXsbP9YWMMfJjMRDli/s1600-h/berries2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimIt6LRqQzTXpVTHexfS6qb_aa_1_o-9CmOfqZOnDoe43-cr3HPK_Y2JjstrEeoJEM9EiXCZoz-b6gkguaMlG9HFhjrqY_pDBRGiUkZz4iq7fGEznNu_BPOzlxYGLXsbP9YWMMfJjMRDli/s320/berries2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355915667030932386" border="0" /></a><br /></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-18356394479144420932009-07-01T23:15:00.005-04:002009-07-01T23:31:25.475-04:00Trip - Days 3 & 4<span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 3 - Friday</span><br /><br />I finally woke up around the time they were serving breakfast on our flight. We landed right about on schedule. Thanks to all the travelers who have gone before us we knew right where to go for our Visas. We were only the 2nd or 3rd people in the visa line and we got through that very quickly. Then through customs, and then we got our luggage. There were plenty of luggage carts available. We didn’t witness all the baggage helpers who we’ve heard would be trying to help us get our luggage for a price. I think the fact that we were arriving in the morning and weren’t on a flight originating in the US meant less guys hanging around trying to get tips. We were able to easily get our bags off the carousel and onto the luggage carts. From there we got in the line to have our luggage scanned. A kind gentleman pulled us over into the empty line, scanned one of our storage tubs and then let us through.<br /><br />We walked out and right away spotted the Ralphs waiting there for us. They were amazed at how quickly we had made it through everything (visa, customs, security, etc.). Everything just went really well for us. We traveled back to the Ralphs in their Camry and a taxi. We visited with the them until lunch time and Jim made me my first cup of Ethiopian coffee. It was great! After lunch we laid down for a short nap that turned into a 2-½ hour nap because Monica turned the alarm clock off.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsBXO6pkwyZUY7ZJJh866nlyGhd5joIoq4sAm35mPoeckSznssH9sqbk8vqbmS1Mu6jOZXTdLjvWNT7Cv3FXuSOfqiUAXDHOhTCY3TK3bes2JmsrBeFS52ym0UZTdLXyD7J9p1yXTMznn/s1600-h/The+Ralphs1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsBXO6pkwyZUY7ZJJh866nlyGhd5joIoq4sAm35mPoeckSznssH9sqbk8vqbmS1Mu6jOZXTdLjvWNT7Cv3FXuSOfqiUAXDHOhTCY3TK3bes2JmsrBeFS52ym0UZTdLXyD7J9p1yXTMznn/s320/The+Ralphs1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353698019768584994" border="0" /></a><br />The Ralphs<br /><br />Friday evening is their pizza/movie night so Jim, Zack, and I went to get pizza. We ate pizza and watched two episodes of Perfect Strangers on DVD. It was pretty funny to flashback to a show from that long ago. After that we sat around talking until our eyes couldn’t stay open much longer. We went to bed around 10:30 and slept until 7:30 in the morning.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 4 - Saturday</span><br /><br />We ate breakfast at the Ralph’s and then ventured out to see the city. First we drove over to find the Union Hotel so we’d know where to go Sunday. We found that pretty easily. It was a little weird knowing that our son was only a few blocks away. We even saw the famous path that families walk on to go to Hannah’s Hope. After we had spotted the Union, we went to find the bridge where Jeremiah was found. All we had was the name of the sub-city and the name of the bridge. We were able to find it remarkably easily and I got some video clips from the area. Unfortunately I had forgotten to put the battery back in our camera. I felt like an idiot! Thankfully we can capture still images from our video camera.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3eCd7-cpwJgVtxeCUqujvPuie9naQsiUEuoOxGLJxVgEeoyGIXQBcDYiYNisKylll64ZVlmOdPWKMj-pSB8ZLj9Rv3hdaGZyWjXMwGWezLnef51hgh5_lLUGG8ZKanCxbP4K_KQDN4gc/s1600-h/Kera+Bridge.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3eCd7-cpwJgVtxeCUqujvPuie9naQsiUEuoOxGLJxVgEeoyGIXQBcDYiYNisKylll64ZVlmOdPWKMj-pSB8ZLj9Rv3hdaGZyWjXMwGWezLnef51hgh5_lLUGG8ZKanCxbP4K_KQDN4gc/s320/Kera+Bridge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353698019646190210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After spending a little time at the bridge, we went to a restaurant for lunch. They served mostly American and Mexican food. At this point of the trip I was gung ho about eating Ethiopian food so I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any on the menu but by the end of the week when we went out to eat with the Ralphs again, I was very happy to go back to this restaurant. After lunch we went shopping. It was a little overwhelming trying to figure out what to purchase. After walking in and out of many shops we started buying some stuff. We got clothing for each of the boys and for ourselves as well as some coffee mugs and a coffee set and some various other items. We knew we’d get another chance to shop with our travel group later so we didn't have quite as much pressure. It turned out that we came back to the same spot.<br /><br />We made a short stop at a grocery store where Jim and I ordered macchiatos (#2 for me on the day) while Monica and Anna got a few groceries. After that we went back their house to drop things off before heading to supper. We decided to go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant for supper. I loved it! I really enjoyed the food, especially the dora wat. After we finished eating we had a cup of coffee. I even made Monica take a sip. On the way back we drove past the Sheraton hotel. It is huge! We were going to go in and see it but security wasn’t letting anyone in. So, we headed back to the Ralph’s to call it an evening.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeQ2WCuiIHjTlOGRv8ARYwZdMC4malzob6r3r6vbPWHhF7YCWVNRSb5oWfqeZKDH3n-BWOIHfbY2MgCbBr79mYUczMHqJHyiSgHDOzsq0QeF4Kb8cJvw3HCoAsLxsZ33Z__FjU2uM0k0h/s1600-h/traditionalmeal1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeQ2WCuiIHjTlOGRv8ARYwZdMC4malzob6r3r6vbPWHhF7YCWVNRSb5oWfqeZKDH3n-BWOIHfbY2MgCbBr79mYUczMHqJHyiSgHDOzsq0QeF4Kb8cJvw3HCoAsLxsZ33Z__FjU2uM0k0h/s320/traditionalmeal1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353698023313261282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCMPC6E2JeN3FiEdH10SN37T6YIsYYwHJyVhw0jZIgP00F8Fuo4pifl6_HJqb-0MwynFm9zRreKTKjy5YHzoZcXzz-0wqajmypfLoZSVYTLVbw0gaRGwT1P7LxDvqiM5zudsQeKJFBYR5/s1600-h/traditionalmeal2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCMPC6E2JeN3FiEdH10SN37T6YIsYYwHJyVhw0jZIgP00F8Fuo4pifl6_HJqb-0MwynFm9zRreKTKjy5YHzoZcXzz-0wqajmypfLoZSVYTLVbw0gaRGwT1P7LxDvqiM5zudsQeKJFBYR5/s320/traditionalmeal2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353698024644149714" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG2T5oYWK_D0T0mK5UrNAOX7_eIhUywG1xI8j61XmRgewtOA8JNdxCjgDvNaKJf-6G3gpXIGU-TYE68Ty4I9Ig4PRg3J7IInAIDvL3TvkHwgDGpLJtjx362snUCVw17X3p5P63dY9OLBW/s1600-h/traditionalmeal3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG2T5oYWK_D0T0mK5UrNAOX7_eIhUywG1xI8j61XmRgewtOA8JNdxCjgDvNaKJf-6G3gpXIGU-TYE68Ty4I9Ig4PRg3J7IInAIDvL3TvkHwgDGpLJtjx362snUCVw17X3p5P63dY9OLBW/s320/traditionalmeal3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353698032430934162" border="0" /></a><br />Rare sight of Monica drinking coffeeMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-39352117066603590852009-06-30T23:54:00.008-04:002009-07-01T07:45:21.681-04:00Trip - Days 1 & 2<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 1 Wednesday</span><br /><br />We left home on Wednesday around noon. A friend from church, Merlin Miller, drove us to the airport. We got to O'Hare airport in Chicago with plenty of time to spare. We were able to bypass the regular check-in line because of the "unusual" size of the two storage tubs we were checking in. Note for future travelers, we used the 25 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tubs. Technically I think they're a few inches over the L + W + H limit but I'm pretty sure the weight is the only thing they check unless the size is obviously too big. We were able to watch the TSA guys send the tubs through the scanner and then they fastened the zip ties. We then made our way to the gate and had a few hours to kill. After a some anxious waiting, we finally boarded and took off for London on time at 6:00 PM.<br /><br />We flew on United Airlines from Chicago to London. This flight had the TV's in the seatback right in front of you. Those are great because you can pick what movie you want to watch or you can flip to the flight tracker and see where you are at on the flight path. Another note for travelers, take your own headphones along. The ones the airlines provide you aren't good, as Monica can attest to. The first movie I watched was Taken. Good stuff! After watching a movie and eating supper I started realizing that I better get some sleep or I'd be in trouble the next day.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day 2 Thursday</span><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9P4HwuIr9diNoHX0dIljIJ0VESLwxGf6a4raUGqu9ZWYEm08AyoubbNhVkaanvfQ-g5BtMztV_aEulbddH-SILARImHIKWIZjf5C1HdYq3vPjR_VBQLxUnb5vIJvZRiL44lRO7lpSGPY/s1600-h/London+flight+map1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9P4HwuIr9diNoHX0dIljIJ0VESLwxGf6a4raUGqu9ZWYEm08AyoubbNhVkaanvfQ-g5BtMztV_aEulbddH-SILARImHIKWIZjf5C1HdYq3vPjR_VBQLxUnb5vIJvZRiL44lRO7lpSGPY/s320/London+flight+map1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341528982156354" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Neither of us got a lot of sleep on the flight over, maybe 4 hours +/-. We got into London at 8:00 AM London time which was 2:00 AM at home. After we got through customs, we took the Heathrow Express train into central London. For the rest of the day we took a combination of the Original Red Tour Bus and the Tube (subway) around London. It was sort of like one big final date before we added Jeremiah to our family.<br /><br />We saw most of the big highlights in London; Big Ben, House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace (we caught a bit of the changing of the guard), and a whole bunch of other things. We also ate two of the staple meals in London. I had fish and chips at a pub. I guess what Monica had would be chicken sandwich and chips. We also had afternoon tea with a scones.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6omWTLnCWAm-rZ9v7tFiqz00peNMjAi_VX2Ua2zI9BkYaC9XFMJRXGT0u7gX1v85Sh0Tq_WaqYIA54itTgRjKChMr2Pxgkba9459T0Ajrke2HeeIJd7OZX4jR89SZ_e9nB1PzYUys4m4/s1600-h/Big+Ben1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6omWTLnCWAm-rZ9v7tFiqz00peNMjAi_VX2Ua2zI9BkYaC9XFMJRXGT0u7gX1v85Sh0Tq_WaqYIA54itTgRjKChMr2Pxgkba9459T0Ajrke2HeeIJd7OZX4jR89SZ_e9nB1PzYUys4m4/s320/Big+Ben1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341302577014594" border="0" /></a><br />Big Ben<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFtgCY5g6P7HkphdqCSt2subFSE3rQfUbS7zkwZTZ_S_GW_y13C_BCk-cH1g174CpCgX0x4vwWG1PVE3ocUAiSNdp5-mw38xedFefQ2nyFDyNi1L16m4kYyvxmGck7EfA6OITSrU5KLMO/s1600-h/Changing+of+guard1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFtgCY5g6P7HkphdqCSt2subFSE3rQfUbS7zkwZTZ_S_GW_y13C_BCk-cH1g174CpCgX0x4vwWG1PVE3ocUAiSNdp5-mw38xedFefQ2nyFDyNi1L16m4kYyvxmGck7EfA6OITSrU5KLMO/s320/Changing+of+guard1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341307070529282" border="0" /></a><br />Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZVLji_teHJaioEIlLwGTd94rexN3qD2-WEx3taucxtjXXoqDDHwYEge3pmGKQ1sptg9OCQxn_0VCYTsMHQt0tMTOdJy5xJxieWJWsgWKrdzMXDMgpRIQY_YIWpOXhIGopxDUrepC-r9K/s1600-h/Fish+%26+Chips1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZVLji_teHJaioEIlLwGTd94rexN3qD2-WEx3taucxtjXXoqDDHwYEge3pmGKQ1sptg9OCQxn_0VCYTsMHQt0tMTOdJy5xJxieWJWsgWKrdzMXDMgpRIQY_YIWpOXhIGopxDUrepC-r9K/s320/Fish+%26+Chips1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341313417612626" border="0" /></a><br />Fish & Chips<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOqfPG92IGzgwIeak1BuVMnhEMtTe0Rl3sXkR-qoD6aQXwO3eTUQFtFw8ih49yyru8nKzfihoSY9nLLkVqp1kz4TaoBh-H-5-O7-OsPskkhapfATGMELd5vkxaSYWjNnV1I25tieuErEp/s1600-h/Chicken+%26+Chips1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikOqfPG92IGzgwIeak1BuVMnhEMtTe0Rl3sXkR-qoD6aQXwO3eTUQFtFw8ih49yyru8nKzfihoSY9nLLkVqp1kz4TaoBh-H-5-O7-OsPskkhapfATGMELd5vkxaSYWjNnV1I25tieuErEp/s320/Chicken+%26+Chips1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341531550209986" border="0" /></a><br />Chicken & Chips<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />By early afternoon I was starting to hit the wall. We ended up walking around in Hyde Park for awhile. We found this really cool tree that (see picture below). After walking around awhile, we then decided it was time to head back to Heathrow. When we got back to the airport we went over to Terminal 4 and made a reservation at the Yotel for the layover on our way back home. Then we went to Terminal 3 to check-in for our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGrBKDIiswNpb8X1pwXB-qJAQ8VkWOahJLfn04Uuc0TrgIR9G0jQohpgEFbtxmS6IrNOOgeyRZ40UD_HgBvTXWBwVRmP0MOiP2rSaW_EkXkbvsTt82c3htdW-Z6MI2q8IM9CHrVwaYIyI/s1600-h/Funny+tree1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGrBKDIiswNpb8X1pwXB-qJAQ8VkWOahJLfn04Uuc0TrgIR9G0jQohpgEFbtxmS6IrNOOgeyRZ40UD_HgBvTXWBwVRmP0MOiP2rSaW_EkXkbvsTt82c3htdW-Z6MI2q8IM9CHrVwaYIyI/s320/Funny+tree1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341312170102066" border="0" /></a><br />Funny Tree<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfMpQ9GYhA_pSlswGHC6g5DKPkICQL7jLf8H7ru8jNaBgde2oqgCY4KJeISpFeaWECmuI_A9sIjwKCLGrghRsbStrdR1mOkdTjfut7v7663PM3pLZGoaUVCDiGiWyBxq4P3_ej9NV5QJx/s1600-h/Under+Tree1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfMpQ9GYhA_pSlswGHC6g5DKPkICQL7jLf8H7ru8jNaBgde2oqgCY4KJeISpFeaWECmuI_A9sIjwKCLGrghRsbStrdR1mOkdTjfut7v7663PM3pLZGoaUVCDiGiWyBxq4P3_ej9NV5QJx/s320/Under+Tree1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353341319754105394" border="0" /></a><br />Standing under Funny Tree<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSIN9X-mY79ihHbwJfzzqUGIXyvt-epU-42yfBn9dW0ZLy3xJQseKIapNrPK86CgRHalFMjtgHJmr5dEPG0pE7XYhRsVgvB1kNVMsfRqji7xLW_F508NnW3TAiWKQqcRiuuWfaVGxzr24/s1600-h/Ethiopian+airlines+plane1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSIN9X-mY79ihHbwJfzzqUGIXyvt-epU-42yfBn9dW0ZLy3xJQseKIapNrPK86CgRHalFMjtgHJmr5dEPG0pE7XYhRsVgvB1kNVMsfRqji7xLW_F508NnW3TAiWKQqcRiuuWfaVGxzr24/s320/Ethiopian+airlines+plane1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353340857008487858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">We had a mini-scare when we checked in at the Ethiopian Airlines counter. They only allow one carry-on plus a personal bag and the carry-on can't be more than 15 lbs. We each had a duffel bag and a backpack. Somehow my backpack was ok because I had a laptop in it, thus it was deemed a laptop bag. Monica's backpack, while smaller and weighing less than mine, wasn't ok because it didn't have a laptop. Make sense? The woman at the ticket counter thought we would have better luck if Monica's stuff was in a purse rather than a backpack. So we had to do a little rearranging because they weigh your carry-ons when you enter the boarding area. We managed to spread the contents of Monica's backpack between our two carry-on duffel bags, Monica's purse, and my pants. It's a good thing I wore Cargo pants! I don't think my pants would have fit under the 15 lb weight limit if they had weighed them separately. The pockets were stuffed with snacks, a digital camera, and a video camera. I felt fairly stupid (and like my pants were going to fall down)!<br /><br />Fortunately when we went through the boarding area they didn't say anything about Monica's purse or my backpack. They only weighed our two duffel bags and those both were ok. PTL! The same woman who had given us our tickets when we checked in was the one who let us through the boarding area. Fortunately she was very nice to us. While we were waiting to board the flight, I spotted another couple around our age that was on our flight and I told Monica I thought they were going to Ethiopia to adopt too. More on that couple later...</span><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />When we boarded the plane, we hit the jackpot and discovered we were assigned to the exit row. Sweet! We're talking serious leg room people. I fell asleep and never even found out when we took off. Monica woke me later when they were coming around for supper. After supper I went back to sleep and slept right through the stop we made in Rome. Evidently the stewardesses came around when we had landed in Rome and was very insistent that everyone unbuckle their seat belts while they were refueling. Monica managed to unbuckle mine without waking me and then buckled me back in at take-off. Thank you dear!<br /></span><br /></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-3064702800305251562009-06-07T23:30:00.003-04:002009-06-08T00:23:12.616-04:00UpdateWe've been home for just over two weeks now. It feels longer than that. Having three boys all under the age of 5 has proven to be a lot of work. Shocking revelation I know. I'm sure that will all change this week when Brennan turns five. Fortunately, Jeremiah is a pretty laid back, happy baby. It's the combination of having a baby in the house and two other boys that is wearing us out. More specifically, Sawyer is a handful. I love that little guy but he is a strong willed, stubborn little stinker.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYi6ZOQ8QfsJJFwO1D6XIK32qrkkOO_p2wnNeBKD6kL_xYa7sfp2fMBRii99uyEjadkjZZEswkE7BOFsL0jpPQoHLn0HkmPiNsY6MeA_mIT77UdL_q9U_xggTLhyphenhyphenG9_YUk9rfS9pARbcC/s1600-h/Sawyer1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYi6ZOQ8QfsJJFwO1D6XIK32qrkkOO_p2wnNeBKD6kL_xYa7sfp2fMBRii99uyEjadkjZZEswkE7BOFsL0jpPQoHLn0HkmPiNsY6MeA_mIT77UdL_q9U_xggTLhyphenhyphenG9_YUk9rfS9pARbcC/s320/Sawyer1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344802280318284482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Sawyer's adjusting fairly well to having a new baby brother but he's only 20 months old. You can't expect too much at that age. He has had a lot of changes thrown at him the last few weeks. Most importantly, mommy isn't always available when he "needs" her. Brennan loves his new baby brother and is adjusting very well to having a new baby brother.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanrtZNluLTf8ebRravAlGuh6bMmWgYrLQD2eXCBkF34SvWfUPoPOhVgxNX5Vtrd3wtpZJwnA6B1REm8ThsadDKVVR3GPOWeKeSGboHOWRBAte2Vzx4OHQ2f-qyjqG9pGA3sr3hUQL20Yt/s1600-h/Boys+Watching+TV1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanrtZNluLTf8ebRravAlGuh6bMmWgYrLQD2eXCBkF34SvWfUPoPOhVgxNX5Vtrd3wtpZJwnA6B1REm8ThsadDKVVR3GPOWeKeSGboHOWRBAte2Vzx4OHQ2f-qyjqG9pGA3sr3hUQL20Yt/s320/Boys+Watching+TV1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344802272504140322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So far Jeremiah has been taking it pretty easy on us. Somehow he managed to get his nights figured out right away. He generally goes to bed around 8:00, wakes up once during the night for a bottle, and then goes back to sleep until about 7:00. He also seems to be attaching fairly well, especially to mommy. He does fine with me, but if Monica is right there when I'm holding him he'll often fuss a bit to get over to mommy. I took off work Wednesday afternoon to stay with him while Monica went somewhere and it went pretty well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZfW4K6VDIBOZFmY0kdZj8wforkLIVySRMQp_pf7w24ei5nXxfpBFuUNfcTfEQexq-Mh7rsCtpDOJ9peD4q-hbk9Cs1scQVuvgtzPLJjt2hF4fEQcFBAZNEmRofXB9POV5nFUhll7AzF0/s1600-h/Jeremiah1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZfW4K6VDIBOZFmY0kdZj8wforkLIVySRMQp_pf7w24ei5nXxfpBFuUNfcTfEQexq-Mh7rsCtpDOJ9peD4q-hbk9Cs1scQVuvgtzPLJjt2hF4fEQcFBAZNEmRofXB9POV5nFUhll7AzF0/s320/Jeremiah1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344802276410660418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRLlSyR26ebT1UBtb5TCTxOX7tgR3dobQReaG1YPr4l-vBL3OgZJiVzAQ5skoT3jnXVyUhfifXSU-Y2nD8Jk_ZWup-zNjATqIYHR1itYhfjD_nz-iCevdXXgA9Rg-ePFmY4qDqM3iTFRn/s1600-h/Bath+Robe1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRLlSyR26ebT1UBtb5TCTxOX7tgR3dobQReaG1YPr4l-vBL3OgZJiVzAQ5skoT3jnXVyUhfifXSU-Y2nD8Jk_ZWup-zNjATqIYHR1itYhfjD_nz-iCevdXXgA9Rg-ePFmY4qDqM3iTFRn/s320/Bath+Robe1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344802270912849426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We spotted a few uninvited visitors to Beachyville recently.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsgbtwvfueRS0TU67rZl79pAwUVz83eTqkbeQ7fSuts9N77WbWAUTOlsEsVrz93g_Y6hdmdB21CqMJeFCs6kFJ3fz8zvTAHQGcNPS740tWP-cAmIUp6xISDUfm4tFCTzcZbupP8qCWfCl/s1600-h/Fox1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsgbtwvfueRS0TU67rZl79pAwUVz83eTqkbeQ7fSuts9N77WbWAUTOlsEsVrz93g_Y6hdmdB21CqMJeFCs6kFJ3fz8zvTAHQGcNPS740tWP-cAmIUp6xISDUfm4tFCTzcZbupP8qCWfCl/s320/Fox1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344802280003696930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Monica spotted three of these little guys playing near our swing set a week ago. Yesterday Monica saw one of them again but that's all we've seen of them. Hopefully they can work on the rabbit population in our woods. We have more rabbits than we need hopping around our yard and in the woods.<br /><br />Someday I will post more about our trip...Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-2398285102140161202009-05-24T09:22:00.002-04:002009-05-24T09:24:54.826-04:00Home!We got home Saturday around 3:00. It's great to be home! More later...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpxnQb6lweL2WV1mY5nK_1RhyzDLWIL-wri4nEymao-q-ig9Ksy43u5fHr5wdizhoDp4C-l_N0m7wT9UmLefmONP6Dflm0zjVdTtDM7RQ1dVFGUoO7eUTLKVKv13lR4n6U4INX45GnB0f/s1600-h/100_3757.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpxnQb6lweL2WV1mY5nK_1RhyzDLWIL-wri4nEymao-q-ig9Ksy43u5fHr5wdizhoDp4C-l_N0m7wT9UmLefmONP6Dflm0zjVdTtDM7RQ1dVFGUoO7eUTLKVKv13lR4n6U4INX45GnB0f/s320/100_3757.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339380584075472594" border="0" /></a>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-33853975878142330252009-05-22T18:02:00.003-04:002009-05-22T18:12:03.044-04:00Almost HomeOnly one more flight to go to get home. We're overnighting in London right now. We fly out at 7:30 in the morning on a direct flight to Chicago. We're ready to get home. Monica and Jeremiah are asleep beside me on the bed. Tomorrow night we'll be in our own bed with all 3 of our boys in the same house!<br /><br />We left Addis Ababa around noon Ethiopian time. We got seats in the bulkhead row which meant we got one of the bassinets. That was great. Jeremiah continues to amaze us with his personality. He barely fussed the whole flight. Most of the time he was either sleeping or just hanging out checking out what was going on. <br /><br />Alright, I should get some sleep...sorry no pictures I'm too tired.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-7279803127700864772009-05-20T17:56:00.001-04:002009-05-20T17:56:45.035-04:00Still Here<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACt5WCqXiUxFVt0-IMZpiinOaqIljjdhM8RXY0CkSGq_x9YXKL8sV7UYAS7R-w1gwlCYajVCizMNEYvAckyl_YyrFbCJKioySvG2juxslrzy9OKzgpbX8paTghbLwfIQhYfrByBwiVMob/s1600-h/P1010764-705037.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACt5WCqXiUxFVt0-IMZpiinOaqIljjdhM8RXY0CkSGq_x9YXKL8sV7UYAS7R-w1gwlCYajVCizMNEYvAckyl_YyrFbCJKioySvG2juxslrzy9OKzgpbX8paTghbLwfIQhYfrByBwiVMob/s320/P1010764-705037.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338028473384759314" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4w32AVVGyaZXP3GBqmM8DBV_CtEl2WplUtKtGSkM9jSTjS94XG_8Y9dxV1J1UwJKmfNKSdatr9cAIbYCpE4MNjP-ylIAbxNlti8rL3vBMNlPqLapv32eN9D7xHj5rjl1C9LlMnKq7lOx/s1600-h/P1010779-705939.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4w32AVVGyaZXP3GBqmM8DBV_CtEl2WplUtKtGSkM9jSTjS94XG_8Y9dxV1J1UwJKmfNKSdatr9cAIbYCpE4MNjP-ylIAbxNlti8rL3vBMNlPqLapv32eN9D7xHj5rjl1C9LlMnKq7lOx/s320/P1010779-705939.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338028479496652066" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhsop_RBDazkTPmYF-LJt1-a-tjVGuBqcnAyNlCUelsXzG5VZJ0IJpv-GXdZI_C7WqYp1wSsop532UpShYu1ZNfAZo7kiDCvE1VOwpctvNhSoYhyTadk__8HLHYczzGg81Gv69bgs-l0d/s1600-h/P1010788-706212.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhsop_RBDazkTPmYF-LJt1-a-tjVGuBqcnAyNlCUelsXzG5VZJ0IJpv-GXdZI_C7WqYp1wSsop532UpShYu1ZNfAZo7kiDCvE1VOwpctvNhSoYhyTadk__8HLHYczzGg81Gv69bgs-l0d/s320/P1010788-706212.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338028476774510402" /></a></p>We're still here! Sorry for not blogging more. I've heard rumors<br>that my sister is complaining about my lack of blogging. Keep in mind<br>that there's no wi-fi in our rooms here. You have to go to the<br>computer in the lobby and "hope" that they can actually get the<br>dial-up connection to go through. Even as I type this, I'm not sure<br>I'll actually be able to post this (It's working!)<p>Jeremiah Bemnet is doing great! He is such a good baby. He almost<br>never fusses and is usually very content. Not to mention the fact<br>that he is stinking cute. To keep the audience happy, I'll try to<br>include some pictures in the post.<p>Tomorrow we're going to try and tour the Fistula hospital as well as<br>possibly visit a government orphanage. In the evening, we'll get to<br>see the family who hosted us our first few days in Ethiopia. Tomorrow<br>is our last full day here. We called home today and got to talk to<br>the boys. We're ready to be home and have our family all together.<p>We heard that a few families back in the states got some great news<br>today. We are rejoicing with you in Ethiopia!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-27585656968866223092009-05-18T14:09:00.000-04:002009-05-18T14:29:55.878-04:00Today It Really Happened<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZNI4s8BVwoq5QI2J1eYcQ-B5Nk7mKngvGN6z_Ppz3vHzP1xkatTewIjJbINyQ4m7ZMSPpvfNLl3Ooy1bRjJMlCb4J1Fvk6qu0ir7yO8ddVQowIE4LCwXa_KD9ErYHZXewHpeLlhgF0NH/s1600-h/P1010634-795879.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZNI4s8BVwoq5QI2J1eYcQ-B5Nk7mKngvGN6z_Ppz3vHzP1xkatTewIjJbINyQ4m7ZMSPpvfNLl3Ooy1bRjJMlCb4J1Fvk6qu0ir7yO8ddVQowIE4LCwXa_KD9ErYHZXewHpeLlhgF0NH/s320/P1010634-795879.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337233001941424994" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ygfQOWhO9fEW9JNLlMQl3aDNB4ZRs7IFvGzJRwsBT5gshdV7hPSEpAsDAP9UfAhwiSIUlstmmWqRdiIIhOkLzA9PZC-nRQ5P6sz9vdoOBcVt6ao3VIYW7UDaX41H-WSBobqxzdqZPpAR/s1600-h/P1010682-796228.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ygfQOWhO9fEW9JNLlMQl3aDNB4ZRs7IFvGzJRwsBT5gshdV7hPSEpAsDAP9UfAhwiSIUlstmmWqRdiIIhOkLzA9PZC-nRQ5P6sz9vdoOBcVt6ao3VIYW7UDaX41H-WSBobqxzdqZPpAR/s320/P1010682-796228.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337233008860332946" /></a></p>I typed this a few hours ago but the internet wasn't working until now...<p>What an amazing day! OUR SON is sleeping on the bed right now. We<br>met the rest of our travel group this morning at breakfast and we all<br>anxiously awaited the arrival of Almaz. Once Almaz arrived we went<br>over some paperwork and then it was time to take "the walk". Because<br>we got to the hotel on Sunday afternoon, we had already taken a<br>practice walk the day before. Hannah's Hope really is very close to<br>the hotel. When we took our practice walk on Sunday we were able to<br>resist the temptation to knock on the gate. We just took a few<br>pictures, tossed back a ball that came over the wall, and went back to<br>the hotel.<p>Anyway, we took the real walk this morning with our group. We have 8<br>families in our travel group. Only one family was getting an older<br>child, the rest infants. We all got to see them meet their son who is<br>4 years old. It was a very special moment. He ran right to them and<br>was hugging them and was so excited to see them. If you didn't tear<br>up a bit watching that, something is wrong. The mom said later that<br>meeting him went better than she could have ever dreamed.<p>After that we went inside the building where the babies were. We<br>waited while a few other families met their babies. Then Almaz took<br>us to where Bemnet was. He was sleeping in his crib so we just looked<br>at him for a bit. After a while one of the special moms came and woke<br>him up and handed him to Monica.<p>Ever since we got him, he has been AMAZING!!! He could not have<br>possibly been any better so far. He's been happy and content the<br>entire time we've had him. If he's half this content and happy<br>normally we are going to be sitting pretty. Earlier I got a video of<br>Monica showing him Brennan and Sawyer's picture and saying their<br>names. Each time she would say "Brennan and Sawyer" or "brothers" and<br>point at their pictures, he would get all giggly.<p>It has been an amazing day! We are so incredibly blessed. Thank you<br>for all your prayers and support.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-3516754926614100792009-05-16T16:34:00.001-04:002009-05-16T16:34:47.409-04:00Saturday<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloysABx9GkJp4Okyat9JEFW9NAWuyW7Ks0Q_rdaCo0C3_tEnIq9Y2iP5_DrZ87LsYuQ8Zm9yZE-fYe3u6daFbgnhiFo9ESVCvTWrxAs4ralf7CM24IBXMoL0GYbUdJSY-8Zs2ie0pXGl1/s1600-h/Kera+Bridge-787410.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloysABx9GkJp4Okyat9JEFW9NAWuyW7Ks0Q_rdaCo0C3_tEnIq9Y2iP5_DrZ87LsYuQ8Zm9yZE-fYe3u6daFbgnhiFo9ESVCvTWrxAs4ralf7CM24IBXMoL0GYbUdJSY-8Zs2ie0pXGl1/s320/Kera+Bridge-787410.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336523010609793778" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlX6F0P-jMv3dm4l6z7iVRXaUPpeBG3-4WOId4BrxJiqE8V20FhR07jFvvj6xr98N-x9mutmPV3rwQND0bxhuv3xD0csQDDwoKrV_GrTcUzHZwQ18C9opzvhZi8mnDa9q6gvHzYmaTEq7b/s1600-h/Food-787989.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlX6F0P-jMv3dm4l6z7iVRXaUPpeBG3-4WOId4BrxJiqE8V20FhR07jFvvj6xr98N-x9mutmPV3rwQND0bxhuv3xD0csQDDwoKrV_GrTcUzHZwQ18C9opzvhZi8mnDa9q6gvHzYmaTEq7b/s320/Food-787989.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336523015407967426" /></a></p>We had a good day today (Saturday) in Addis. After getting about 10<br>hours of sleep and some breakfast, we headed out with our hosts to<br>find the Union Hotel so we'd know where to go Sunday. We found that<br>pretty easily. It was a little crazy knowing that our son was only a<br>few blocks away. I had actually seen the sign pointing towards All<br>God's Children so I knew we were close before I spotted the Union<br>hotel. I think we even saw the famous path that families take on "the<br>walk" to go to Hannah's Hope to meet their children. After we had<br>spotted the Union, we went to find a spot that's very meaningful to<br>Jeremiah's story. We found the spot pretty easily and spent a little<br>time there.<p>From that point, we went to a restaurant for lunch. They served<br>mostly American and Mexican food. After lunch we went shopping. It<br>was a little overwhelming trying to figure out what to purchase.<br>After walking in and out of many shops we started buying some stuff.<br>We got clothing for each of the boys and for ourselves as well as some<br>coffee mugs and a few various other items. We'll get another chance<br>to shop with our travel group later so we can figure out what we still<br>need to purchase.<p>After a short stop at a grocery store, where I was able to get a<br>macchiato (#2 for the day), we went back to the house to drop things<br>off before heading to supper. We decided to go to a traditional<br>Ethiopian restaurant for supper. I loved it! The food was great,<br>especially the dora wat. After we finished eating we had a cup of<br>coffee. On the way back we drove past the Sheraton hotel. It is<br>huge. We were going to go in and see it but security wasn't letting<br>anyone in. So, we headed back to relax for the rest of the evening.<p>Tomorrow we'll go to a MKC church service, eat lunch with our hosts,<br>and then sometime in the afternoon/evening we'll head over and<br>check-in at the Union Hotel. Maybe we'll take a practice walk up the<br>path...<p>For all the coffee lovers out there, the stuff over here is awesome!<p>That's all for nowMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-22433399531414978532009-05-15T02:43:00.001-04:002009-05-15T02:43:26.697-04:00We're in Ethiopia!We're in Ethiopia! We got in this morning at 8:00. Everything on our<br>flights and went well. We didn't get much sleep on our way to London<br>so by yesterday afternoon we were hitting the wall. We pushed our way<br>through and didn't sleep until we got on the plane last night. I<br>slept most of the way to Ethiopia. We got through the visa line and<br>security just fine. Our hosts were there ready for us and we're<br>relaxing in their living room right now. I'll write/post more later<br>but just wanted to send a quick update.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-67246439370419267802009-05-13T11:48:00.003-04:002009-05-13T11:52:05.368-04:00It's Time!First of all, we got some great news yesterday. JB & Carla <span style="font-weight: bold;">finally</span> have a court date (June 4th).<br /><br />In a few minutes we'll be leaving for the airport. I think we've got everything packed. I discovered that you shouldn't trust your bathroom scales when weighing your luggage. I'll try to post as much as I can during the trip.<br /><br />London & Addis Ababa, here we come!Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-31404789821063471932009-05-11T14:15:00.002-04:002009-05-11T14:17:33.243-04:00Test with picture<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwtNomd_LtifMUQT6dqIoeqbP6v_qt5nKNzJqPlcs1YTVVEcdmxYldUrFUhnwv2EmeH7xMo41Nes8qUPFxCgaFzJkqLNfghyphenhyphenIxfIwEGuWmbTgZ52bPQ9vmr-MODRfS9MYki7N-Y5Lx6Hp/s1600-h/02-01-05+010-725188.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZwtNomd_LtifMUQT6dqIoeqbP6v_qt5nKNzJqPlcs1YTVVEcdmxYldUrFUhnwv2EmeH7xMo41Nes8qUPFxCgaFzJkqLNfghyphenhyphenIxfIwEGuWmbTgZ52bPQ9vmr-MODRfS9MYki7N-Y5Lx6Hp/s320/02-01-05+010-725188.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334631668860981858" border="0" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo">Just testing out my ability to post pictures to the blog via email. This is Brennan when he was a "little" guy. He was a chubby little guy.</p><p class="mobile-photo"><br /></p>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-88932366602243731072009-05-08T22:48:00.003-04:002009-05-08T23:03:04.782-04:00Free up baby room....Check!Tonight Brennan and Sawyer are sleeping in the same room. We've been needing to get Sawyer moved into Brennan's room so Jeremiah can have the baby room when we get back. We setup the bunk/loft on Wednesday and Brennan has been enjoying sleeping on the top. Sawyer is too young to use the bottom bunk so we borrowed a crib (thank you JB & Carla) and put it under the top bunk. Sawyer went to bed in his "new" crib without any problems. The night is still young but so far the transition seems to be a success.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzOWxlcCyKS5M9A1JrTMeDS5GB5TvQod2g2NI1sp0fre-pIr9suAsM6_H46eHglQOYNqc1v1VTJUtdme19S0LXsU9NjeToGQRqlLNiqZj3HUhp97VHWfq8TMRJSoVboJpOFvbBwDVO_H3/s1600-h/P1010418.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzOWxlcCyKS5M9A1JrTMeDS5GB5TvQod2g2NI1sp0fre-pIr9suAsM6_H46eHglQOYNqc1v1VTJUtdme19S0LXsU9NjeToGQRqlLNiqZj3HUhp97VHWfq8TMRJSoVboJpOFvbBwDVO_H3/s320/P1010418.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333651134865632946" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfeUGcSjjShijMYbJMy8MtuKKNP4hAx1rIj-SkJIfx90g1peWikb3NiCe9mXj2L7ojvDZr8t5hh7al-wwQNGYH8H9E2BEqpHeQ8VeNSURyBpcsVvih56wNTCkhsRwtrjO8WneU1DbD2uz/s1600-h/P1010416.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfeUGcSjjShijMYbJMy8MtuKKNP4hAx1rIj-SkJIfx90g1peWikb3NiCe9mXj2L7ojvDZr8t5hh7al-wwQNGYH8H9E2BEqpHeQ8VeNSURyBpcsVvih56wNTCkhsRwtrjO8WneU1DbD2uz/s320/P1010416.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333651131000281778" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSjjPs8KQtjIOm9x-WFEDHf1HAeWANY_n2IvrLSjgqG5RInsBI0uOWkNIWp_6wWe96x7tYNpg0h8Bttygg-JZpfWAXN3OKkwBt_-xZDCtOHyMTIhiGUwhHL-kZC7VUoKZ7RQDuZxhHNE_/s1600-h/P1010423.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSjjPs8KQtjIOm9x-WFEDHf1HAeWANY_n2IvrLSjgqG5RInsBI0uOWkNIWp_6wWe96x7tYNpg0h8Bttygg-JZpfWAXN3OKkwBt_-xZDCtOHyMTIhiGUwhHL-kZC7VUoKZ7RQDuZxhHNE_/s320/P1010423.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333651132859770674" border="0" /></a>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-7609604563539272522009-05-04T13:02:00.006-04:002009-05-04T13:42:35.027-04:00Purchase Tickets....Check!All right, the tickets have been purchased! We're leaving on Wednesday evening out of Chicago and flying to London. We get into London in the morning and we have about a 12 hour layover so we're going to take the tube into town and see Big Ben and Parliament (hopefully not as many times as Chevy Chase did).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4urpY6fLqCxBL9lFozpEGAAw8k6GxreakYtrAtY0hgvmkH4KDef9vBpKRvf1SHBuo8wp7dKealGoa33qNBt_pKAiBrhXqPp0EaFWHiA378YDRFur72D5rxDsFOM3uwG_PSIQYwjycV-f/s1600-h/london_bigBen.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4urpY6fLqCxBL9lFozpEGAAw8k6GxreakYtrAtY0hgvmkH4KDef9vBpKRvf1SHBuo8wp7dKealGoa33qNBt_pKAiBrhXqPp0EaFWHiA378YDRFur72D5rxDsFOM3uwG_PSIQYwjycV-f/s320/london_bigBen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332017012631171426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After a day in London we'll catch a 9:00 PM flight on Ethiopian Airlines that will make a brief stop in Rome and then head on to Addis Ababa. I think we get in around 8:00 AM on Friday.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6447XzjUW7FkhM5-qmePRz84ONfMQTu7MRT-yVqmwbXu47U9Mcxfz6bb_d44BK1CxKO6Id8FSyjinUu0oSY2SzufZxXB7R8SZjXq6WFyH3qhpw9oTlJAywc0Kk5ws2ZoMdvn9yJOmclS/s1600-h/ethiopian-airlines-plane.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6447XzjUW7FkhM5-qmePRz84ONfMQTu7MRT-yVqmwbXu47U9Mcxfz6bb_d44BK1CxKO6Id8FSyjinUu0oSY2SzufZxXB7R8SZjXq6WFyH3qhpw9oTlJAywc0Kk5ws2ZoMdvn9yJOmclS/s320/ethiopian-airlines-plane.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332017014760864594" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We'll spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday experiencing Ethiopia with an amazingly generous family from Pennsylvania that is living in Addis right now. Using some connections at church, we've managed to <a href="http://www.mennoniteyourway.com/Myw/">Mennonite Our Way</a> all the way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We're very excited for the opportunity to spend a few days seeing Addis before we meet Jeremiah. Hopefully we'll get somewhat adjusted to the time change too before we start taking care of an infant.<br /><br />On Sunday afternoon/evening we'll check into the Union hotel where AGCI has families stay. I believe there are at least 5 families in our travel group. Monday will be the big day when we meet Jeremiah for the first time and have our embassy appoinment. There will be other activities like shopping and a cultural dinner during the week. I think most families will head for home Thursday evening but we'll be leaving Friday at noon and flying to London. We have an overnight layover in London and then fly out in the morning to Chicago.<br /><br />That's the gameplan. We're leaving in NINE days! Wow we have a lot to do. On Saturday Monica helped Target get off to a strong start for May sales. We've got a little more stimulating to do to the economy between now and when we leave.<br /><br />Since we have three bedrooms and will soon have three boys, we've known that we needed to do some combining of rooms so Jeremiah had a place to sleep. The plan has been to put Sawyer and Brennan in the same room. We've known this for awhile but it took some time to figure out what we were going to do for beds. We decided to go with bunk beds and I would make them. It needs to be more of a loft at the beginning so we can just put Sawyer's crib underneath until he's ready for a big boy bed. So this past Saturday, with the help of my father and father in-law, the project took finally got off the ground. Here are some less than stellar shots I took with my cell phone. We're one light sanding and a final coat of poly away from it being done!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BhYM96v8jOHbtgnOP8ychhYlkjwkVfVGHtGgY3rNSiZTlkgVFfAlcZLlQ0oEfN-VomFBvzf9JYkjt-Z-vuWnE_zFA0Wi1R9Hg5D4ZakAqRPb2NfPtuZNs6KIazWI6FLH0NxpRwIwyUfN/s1600-h/bunk+bed2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BhYM96v8jOHbtgnOP8ychhYlkjwkVfVGHtGgY3rNSiZTlkgVFfAlcZLlQ0oEfN-VomFBvzf9JYkjt-Z-vuWnE_zFA0Wi1R9Hg5D4ZakAqRPb2NfPtuZNs6KIazWI6FLH0NxpRwIwyUfN/s320/bunk+bed2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332025286675595698" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtBHwmXzYafdaLx30RShk89LtBKV1BCaBO214QHWi1EluWo_K23QyDA38fDWT6mkHwnsX2FNsJc41gSLe-e-zXV7zRs33IrAqZwXUWJSdDT0AwLHkuyFyOmtso_fZAx756Hw7SV91DrDd/s1600-h/bunk+bed1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtBHwmXzYafdaLx30RShk89LtBKV1BCaBO214QHWi1EluWo_K23QyDA38fDWT6mkHwnsX2FNsJc41gSLe-e-zXV7zRs33IrAqZwXUWJSdDT0AwLHkuyFyOmtso_fZAx756Hw7SV91DrDd/s320/bunk+bed1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332025287236054978" border="0" /></a>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3805364858096665661.post-68811375363904291942009-04-29T16:35:00.001-04:002009-04-29T16:35:08.435-04:00Tentative Travel DatesWe got our tentative travel dates today! AGCI wants us there by Sunday, May 17th. We're tentatively planning to go a few days early so we'll tentatively be leaving on May 13th or May 14th. That means we're leaving in 2 weeks (tentatively of course)! Wow! Tentatively we will get home on May 22nd or 23rd. One thing that is definite is that Monday, May 25th is Memorial Day which means I'll have an extra day to recover before going back to work. Sweet! I'll post more definite travel dates once we get our tickets booked.<br> <br>I'm using this post to test out my ability to post to our blog via email, which would allow me to post while we're in Ethiopia (I guess you can't access blogger in Ethiopia). A few families that traveled recently did this so hopefully I can figure it out too. They even managed to get pictures on their posts. I'll tackle that later. Baby steps.<br> <br>Two weeks people!!!<br> Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06258903150796484491noreply@blogger.com10