Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

I really did forget how to do this!! Should I say life has been a little busy? Since the last time I posted we have made it through Halloween, Bailey's 16th Birthday, Thanksgiving and our first "American" Christmas.

Halloween was a lot of fun with our two little Power Rangers. We attended the Halloween party at daycare and talked the boys out of going into town for "trick or treat". We stayed home and carved another pumpkin and watched a scary movie.

Our little Bailey turned 16 on Nov 10th. No Way!! It has been nice to have another driver but another worry for a mamma. Thanksgiving was also a lot of fun and we had to have a refresher course in history. What about those pilgrims and indians and what year was it? Nothing escapes Nati and he asked the most intriguing questions. We did not make it to Yuma for the holiday and we did not have any visitors in Wyoming either. It was just the boys and Clint and I. I still made a traditional Thanksgiving meal and I have to say we all enjoyed it very much. Christmas soon followed it seemed like days in between. We also had our first visit with santa. Our Christmas plans for Mexico were put to the side when my father ended up in the hospital with an emergent aneurysm in his knee and a blood clot. We had planned on leaving for Mexico on the 20th of December with all of our family, 18 in all. The plan has been in the works for years for mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. We could not go without them!! Thank goodness for trip insurance, we just have all the paperwork to do now. The good news is that my dad is doing better even though he is back in the hospital as I write this for an infection in his incision. We pray that he will go home tomorrow. We had to go to "plan B", we just didn't know what it was. We made a quick trip to Yuma to visit my family there for a weekend. Aaron and Erica came for the week of Christmas and the girl's came back from Yuma for Christmas and the days following. Sierra is back in Yuma with her father for a few days and all the kid's go back to school on the 5th of January.
Aaron will return to Ithaca, NY, Erica will continue to work in Boulder until she hears about interviews for vet school in the spring. Sierra has a visit at the Aveda Institute in Denver on January 21st and Bailey continues to play Basketball and she is keeping her sights on track in the spring. Nati will start indoor soccer in January and Kidus just continues to be too cute for his own good.
We continue to feel so fortunate and blessed to have these two little boys in our life. We have had a few scares this fall with health concerns for both boys. Nati had surgery for an undescended testicle and really did well. He now is a "boxer" boy instead of briefs. HA! Poor kid! Kidus had a visit at Children's Hospital in Denver and we did have quite a scare. His Hepatitis has caused his liver enzymes to be elevated for several months now and Dr. Sundaram told us that if they remain elevated we would have to have liver biopsy and possibly start treatment for his Hepatitis. We repeated the labs and they were back to normal. It truly was an eye opener for us. We were that close to treatment? There are no great options for treatment and none of them are very effective and have bad side affects. We may have to tackle this at some time in his young life but we hope that we can put it off as long as possible.
Clint and I continue to be very busy at the clinic. We want to wish all our staff and couragious patients a blessed and hopeful new year.

Moving On

Hello All! I almost forgot how to do this! So much has happened since the first week in September. Sierra is doing better since her accident. She was never physically hurt just emotionally. Sometimes that takes even longer to heal if ever. Life continues to be hectic and joyful all at once. All of our children are doing well.
Erica continues her job in Boulder and has now applied to CSU Vet School. We hope this will be her path in the future. We will see!
Aaron is still in Ithaca, NY and continues to train for track with the Cornell team. We miss him so much and wish he was closer.
Sierra is nearly half done with her senior year at Laramie High. She is still very focused on going to Cosmetology School. We have a visit at the Aveda Institute in Denver in September. She continues to look for a job here in Laramie after school but in a small college town a lot of the jobs are taken by the college students. I would love for her and Bailey to help out at the clinic a little more. We could use the help! She had her senior pics taken and the link is http://jimpowellphotography.com/JimPowellPhotographyWeb/
Then go to ONLINE PROOFING
go to SENIORS
go to SENIORS 2009
then SAXTON-LARAMIE,WY
We were very pleased and are going to have a hard time deciding. Overall, Sierra is doing well in school and her last high school year is going very fast!
Bailey is busy with basketball, even though the season hasn't officially started yet. The first practice will be on Nov 14th? I think. She is also training with the physical therapist at the hospital for track and just overall strength training. She is very motivated for track this year. Her 16th birthday is less than a month away and of course she is hoping for her own car.
Nati is busy being a seven year old. He likes school and has been playing soccer twice a week. He usually does very well scoring but also gets easily distracted by whatever else is going on. Typical seven year old!! He continues to become more loving as the days go by and learning those limits has gotten easier for him. He is looking forward to Halloween even though they really do not know what to expect. What is Halloween daddy?
Kidus is the loving funny boy. He will be a "red" power ranger for Halloween. Kidus also played soccer this fall and was in the "little kickers" league. He loves preschool and just had screening tests done at the school. He tested very "age appropriate" and I will meet with the developmental specialists this week. When I talked to them on the phone, she just said that we have nothing to worry about and that he is one of the funniest loving children they have been around!! I can't wait to see what they say when we meet!!
We have managed to go to a few Cowboy football games. We have season tickets and would have liked to have gone to a few more games, however the boys get a little bored and the way the cowboys have been playing, I don't blame them!
LHS Homecoming was a blast and the girls both looked gorgeous in their dresses. My friend Roberta and several other mothers helped feed the crew before the dance at Roberta's house.
We traveled to Yuma to see my family a few weekends ago and the boys got to go the field and see the sugar beet diggers and all the other big equipment. They picked corn and pumpkins. They also got to see my aunt Roberta that was visiting from Nebraska.
The rest of the month included an African Children's Choir perform at the Episcopal Church, soccer, school, work and home again to do it all over again. We also finalized our adoption and the boys now have their US Birth Certificates. So we have to get their US Passports now for our trip to Mexico in December. I think we are going to make it!!
The clinic is very busy and we have had to reorganize because of recent layoffs. So I am back VERY full time and actually more involved with the patient care. Which I really do enjoy!
Hoping you all have had a great fall, we are moving into winter here in Wyoming. It is snowing as we speak! I promise not to take so long in between posts next time!!
Bless you all!

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Reality Check

No cute video this time.

Sometimes our life takes a slight turn and we have to look back and thank our lucky stars!! Sierra was in an accident on Saturday and luckily she was not injured. She actually walked away with not even a scratch on her. We as parents have so many emotions when these things happen. First of all, RELIEVED that she is not hurt or even dead in this case. ANGRY that it happened and that she will not have a vehicle to drive. She fell asleep and I know it was an accident. Life goes on and we learn our lessons. Call it luck or an act of God that she is still with us today. We are just glad that we can look into those beautiful blue eyes and hear that laugh that we all love to hear. I will write more later, just had to reflect on our day and how lucky and blessed we feel at this moment! Love you all.....

Even Cowboys Take Their Boots Off For Bed...Don't They?

Nati and Kidus are totally into the whole cowboy thing!! It has been hilarious and after wearing their boots for several days they finally decided that they really are NOT that comfortable.

It has been a good month. School starts next week on the 25th and I really feel like summer is over. The girls have been home for a couple of weeks and seem to be settling back in and busy with friends and shopping for school.
The Yuma County Fair was such a blast and my camera battery was out of juice and I forgot to bring my charger. So this is the best picture that my sister happen to snap of Nati eating watermelon. So funny....

I entered it in the "Adoptive Families Photo Contest" along with one of Kidus that I had taken earlier this summer. These little boys are so precious!!

The girls are ready for school and have their class schedules all figured out. Sierra took Bailey for a tour of the school and showed her where all her classes are. I think they are both excited to be together at the high school this year.

We still have a bit of a dilemma with Nati and where he will end up this year. He did not get accepted at Indian Paintbrush this year. We had to fill out an application for "Boundary Exception" this year because we live in the country and Harmony Elementary is actually our school. We did not get accepted so now we are trying to figure out at the last hour which school has room in the 2nd grade and would be able to offer Nati all the resources he needs for reading and language development. He may end up changing schools several times before we get him where we want him. We will see...

The Olympics have been amazing to watch. We have enjoyed them and the boys have really gotten into it. The have been gymnasts, swimmers, boxers, divers and sprinters!! We have our nightly show along with "watch me mommy" or "watch this daddy" as they try the different sport highlighted that night. Hilarious!

Here is a video of the boys at the river in complete cowboy attire!!

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ENJOYING OUR SUMMER!!!!

Help! As we see our summer sarting to go by very fast! Remember here in Laramie our summer is not very long. I think the boys are actually ready for the "white stuff". SNOW is truly a four letter word at our house. It will come soon enough. Since my last post we have had our 3 month post adoption visit with our social worker. I think she is going to let us keep them!! Just kidding! Things are going really well with the boys and we are working on all those little discipline problems and things are getting better. Nati is becoming a very affectionate little guy and he is so funny!! What would we do without these little boys in our life? Congratulations to you Karen and Bill, they will be traveling to Ethiopia at the end of the month to bring home their two new sons! We are so excited for you! It brings back such great memories of Ethiopia and our travel. Best of luck to you!
We had a great time at Water World in Denver with Aunt Karla and most of the cousins and Bailey and Sierra. See photos..Luckily there were NO photos of the Wave Pool when we were in it with the boys. This is an inside joke for Karla and I..still laughing sister!! How is your knee?
We all attended Cheyenne Fronteir Days and went to see a great concert. Clint, Bailey, Sierra, Nati, Kidus, friend Krista and myself all went to see Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift. It was a fun concert and the girls enjoyed every minute of it. The boys were a little bored at times but really were very good! Nati and Kidus each got a cowboy hat and have hardly taken them off since. Thanks daddy! See photos..
The boys started swim lessons the next week and had such a good time. They finish today with 2 weeks of instruction and I think they are doing very well considering they had never been in a pool before. See photos...
I also have to share my picture of the young bull moose that I was able to capture a few quick pictures of through the telescope. They are not very clear but you can tell that it is a moose!! We don't get to see much wildlife other then antelope at the river, just a half mile from the house.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma Caley!! Virginia had her 79th birthday on the 23rd of July. We love you mom and grandma!! See photos...thanks David for sending them to us!!

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Happy July 2008!
Here comes August!!!

Honestly I tried to download a Rascal Flatts song to use on the video and I could not get it to work. Maybe next time!

July-Half over??

This month started out with our "Re-Adoption" court appointment on the first day of the month. It was really a very quick ceremony with Judge Donnell and our lawyer. He asked a few questions and signed some documents and that was it. Nati was more intrigued with the Big Horn Sheep on the judges office wall then anything else. When the judge asked if they understood what was happening, they both just said "NO". HA! It really is hard thing to understand. We still have a 6 month waiting period which will end in October and then we can apply for US Birth Certificates. We are hoping that will happen very fast because we need to apply for US Passports so we can travel to Mexico for Christmas for mom and dad's anniversary. We will keep our fingers crossed. Thank goodness for trip insurance!!
We then traveled to Yuma for the 4th of July weekend. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and went to Aunt Karla's house where we jumped on the tramp, ate a wonderful meal and met new friends and family. Uncle Bryan introduced us to a new family pet...the turtle. Thanks Uncle Bryan!!! The fireworks were in town later that night and Nati loved every minute of it. Kidus however...kept his head buried under the blanket and kept saying "too loud"!!!

The next morning Nati ran out to see if his turtle was still there and what?...there was another turtle in the box. Thanks Grandpa!!!! The boys each have one now! If you can tell there are a lot of turtles in farm country. They are now happy in the garage in Laramie Wyoming. Nati has really kept very good care of them. Kidus doesn't like them very much, he is still a little apprehensive about picking them up. Nati..not a care in the world! I am waiting for one of them to take a hold of his finger and not let go. He probably will not like them so much then!
We spent the 4th at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the boys enjoyed riding on all the tractors with grandpa. Grandpa let Nati steer the big tractor and they ended up in the ditch pretty quickly!! The big tire tracks were pretty telling! The neighbors will think Fred has really lost it!! We had wonderful food and company and fireworks after dark. It was really a great time. I think the best thing for me is seeing my family interact with the boys and how natural it really is. It seems like they have always been a part of our family and it warms my heart. Thank you family!!

We did leave on Saturday to head back to Laramie. After all we needed to get the turtle condo set up and get those turtles out of that box! HA!

Monday came around quickly and back to the same old routine. Clint off to work, Nati to school and I worked on Monday and Wednesday and Bailey watched Kidus while Nati was at school. My birthday was on the 8th and we had a great celebration. It was more for the boys then it was for me. I would like to forget about my birthdays!!! I received some beautiful pottery, a beautiful necklace from Sierra, a candle from the boys and a platter that reads" The Roots of a Family Tree Begins with the Love of Two Hearts"! A real tear jerker, it doesn't take much for me to shed a few tears these days! Thanks Clinty, I Love You!
On Wednesday evening we took the boys and Bailey to the "Mr. T Extreme Bull Riding here in Laramie. The event is part of Laramie's Jubilee Days Celebration for the 4th. The boys went crazy!! The cotton candy and snow cones helped top off the evening. I will include pictures!
Bailey helped me stain the garage this week. That was a huge project. Now I know why those people charge so much! We did get it done and it looks great. While we were staining one day the boys were no where around and I walked up the hill to see if I could see them and they were up to the corner with a rope and Nati said "we were hunting antelope". I thought I was going to die laughing. They were both so serious!! Yesterday, the boys were clear down the ridge from our house "hunting antelope". It is so funny! I really needed a close up to show you their outfits. Picture this....Nati with a "welding mask" from Clint's workshop, garden gloves, basketball shorts and of course, the spiderman shoes and a rope! Kidus had his spiderman sunglasses and shoes , garden gloves and basketball shorts. Hilarious! I took a picture of them in the middle of our 40 acres. They spent hours "hunting antelope".

All the other kids are doing great. Aaron is on his way home from Oregon where he attended the Olympic trials the last few weeks. Erica is busy with her job in Boulder and Bailey is busy being a fifteen year old here in Laramie. She will be going back to Yuma with Sierra after the 19th of this month. Sierra still is in Yuma with her dad and I miss her very much. I know she needs to spend some time there with her dad and other friends, but I do miss her so!! To think she will be a senior this year and in less then a year she will be getting ready to go off to school and planning her future. Where does the time go?
The boys have been home three months on the 1st of July and we have our three month post adoption home study this next week. The boys finally were moved up on the waiting list at the daycare "Basic Beginnings". They will be going just two days a week. This will get our foot in the door for preschool in the fall for Kidus and afterschool care for Nati.
We are busy but really do not know how else to BE? We love our life with our children, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!!

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June..Basketball, Bugs, Warm Weather Finally!!!

The month of June was filled with basketball camps for the girls, a whole lot of mosquitos and finally some very warm weather.
We had a lot of rain and the river was very high and overflowing the banks the first part of June, so therefore we have MOSQUITOS!!! We have finally been in the 80's for the last few weeks, it feels really good to me!!

Kidus and I traveled to Lakewood for a camp for both Bailey and Sierra. We sat through 4 games for 3 days and Kidus was quite a trooper. He made a lot of friends on the BB team!! All the girls spoiled him rotten. Nati had to stay home and go to summer school and keep daddy company. He loves his time with daddy!!

Aaron arrived home from Ithaca on June 15th. It was a great Father's Day present for Clint. Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful fathers out there, including my own DADDY!! I love you so much!!

That next week I ended up in the hospital for two days with a terrible stomach virus? or infection? of some kind. I never want an NG tube again, I know that! Clint took great care of the boys with a little help from the kids. Not exactly how I wanted to take a few days off?! That weekend Erica came home so we had a full house with all 6 kids at home.

The girls left for Yuma on Monday the 23rd. They will be there until this week and Bailey will be home for a few days until we go back to Yuma for 4th of July. The boys have not been to "mommy's home" yet. It should be a thrill for them to see all the big tractors and trucks on the farm. Everyone will be busy in wheat harvest when we are there. There will be a lot of things to see, including fireworks for the first time. We are anxious to see all of my family!!

This weekend Clint and I took the boys to the Denver Zoo, Ocean's Journey and an Ethiopian Restaurant. We had a great time!! The weather was beautiful and the boys were so good!

I will post pictures of the boys swimming at the local rec center, our backyard and our weekend in Denver! Enjoy the pictures!

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Where Did May Go?

Where did May go and April for that matter? May was a whirlwind month for us here at the Merrill household. The last time that I posted we had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Caley and from there we kept very busy. I think everyone has been concerned that something is wrong or the boys are not adjusting very well. Just the opposite!! The boys have continued to adjust very well.
Nati finished first grade this last week. He was a student at Indian Paintbrush Elementary. It brought back memories of when the girls went there. Some of the same great teachers and a few new ones too. Although I have to admit I felt really old when I went to a Writer's Workshop Awards Ceremony for the first grade class and all the mothers were so much younger then I was. It actually was funny to see the looks on some of the faces. Nati really did do well in school. He will participate in summer school which starts this next Monday. Basically just to help with his English development. He was proficient in all other areas and socially did very well also. We feel so lucky!! He is such a good boy too. We have had some times that "pouty boy" comes out and we do not always know how to handle those behaviors. He is never aggressive but almost always withdraws when discipline is needed. I think it is getting better. He has really given his older sisters some struggles when mom and dad are gone. That has been good for them and him to know that he won't get away with everything he tries. The other concern is his "little white lies" or "liaring" as Nati would say! He tries to get us to believe things that we know are probably not true. We usually ask and he will admit to his "liaring". They are not big hurtful lies just little things. We are trying to not make too much of it but let him know that we are not going to believe everything. Overall, Nati is a fun loving, curious, smart little boy and we absolutely love him!!


Kidus has gone to daycare at Beth's house. He really loves going to "school". Beth has quickly gotten attached to him, which is not hard to do. Kidus spends a lot of time with me when Nati has been at school. I am working a couple of half days a week to stay caught up at the office. I still bring a lot work home and it usually sits here and stares at me until the next time I go back to the office!! HA! Kidus has become a mama's boy and is helping me develop my biceps again. (He likes to be held and carried!!) His health for now seems to be stable. We just finished his medication for Giardia (intestinal parasite) and treated Nati as well, since they were drinking from the same water supply.

Both boys are growing like crazy!! Nati has gained 8 pounds and has grown taller. We question whether the original data we got before the boys got home was accurate. According to that, Nati has grown 2 inches!! Kidus has gained 3 pounds and has not gotten any taller. I think he will always be a pee wee.

They have put a million miles on their bikes and enjoy trips to the river. They really are happy little boys!

On May 8, 9 and 10th, Nati traveled with his daddy and sister Erica to Connecticut to watch Aaron compete in the Outdoor Heptagonal Track meet at Yale University. The highlight of the meet was Nati finally meeting his big brother, Aaron. Aaron was injured and did not compete in the meet but was nice to have family there to support him. That same weekend Kidus and I went to Regional track meet in Cheyenne WY to watch Bailey compete. Aunt Karla, Brittnee and Jenner came to cheer her on and keep us company. Bailey performed exceptionally well for a freshman and ended up qualifying for State Track meet in 4 different events. We were very proud. It was snowing and about 37 degrees. Great Wyoming track weather!!

The next weekend we traveled to Casper WY to watch Bailey compete in her first State Track Meet. She did very well and the weather was much better. She placed 7th in the open 400 meters, 3rd in the 100 meter relay and 5th in the 400 meter relay. Quite a performance for a freshman. We were very proud!!!
Go Bailey!!

Bailey placing seventh overall-400 mBailey 4x400 team placing 5th Bailey 4x100 Team placing 3rd

The next weekend we traveled to Ithaca NY for Aaron's graduation from Cornell University. It was great to see Aaron and he finally gets to meet his youngest brother, Kidus. The weather was great and we had a great time overall. It is very difficult traveling with 7 people, 2 of them being 7 and 3. Poor Nati had 4 mothers the whole trip and I know he was very glad to get home. Congrats Aaron!! Proud Papa!!All Six Kids!!Nati-Future Cornell Graduate!

My grown up kids!The WHOLE Family!

The next weekend, Clint and I left for Tallahassee Florida for the NCAA Regional Meet. Aaron competed but was still nursing an injury. Needless to say, it was a very disappointing meet for all of us. We felt so sorry for Aaron that his college track career had to end on an injury. I guess things like that make you focus on the bigger picture and what your future plans are after track!? Grandma and Grandpa Frihauf came and brought Brittnee and Abby to help out with the boys. The boys loved having them here and got a lot of special attention from Gr and Gr and those girl cousins!!

I will put together some photos of the month of May for you all!!

June finally arrives and the girls are involved in Basketball Camps all month. We leave on Thursday to go to Lakewood CO for a 3 day camp.
I will try to keep up through the summer for all you blog fans!! Thanks for following us on this incredible journey!

A Week in the Life of Nati and Kidus

Clint, Nati, Grandma Caley and Kidus

Grandma and grandpa Caley were here for a few days to meet their new grandsons. We had a wonderful time getting aquainted just when they had to go. Erica and Dan were here also for a night. This last week was busy with school and a trip to Denver, CO to see a physician at Children's Hospital for Kidus. She specializes in Hepatitis or liver disorders. We really liked her and so did Kidus, after awhile?! He did not want to see another doctor. He kept saying "no doctor". He had to have blood drawn and a liver US and was such a brave boy. They poked him three times before they got a blood sample. It was hard to see little Kidus go through that, but we knew it was neccesary. We recieved a call from the doctor this week to go over the lab and x-ray results. We already knew that he was Hep B positive. The blood tests will show us what stage he is at. The blood tests showed that he is a chronic carrier of the virus and has a significant viral load. He will not need treatment right now but will need close monitoring. We will repeat his lab studies in three months and will go to Denver again in 6 months. In the meantime, Clint will continue to research the disease so that we can better understand what the prognosis will be. He is such a fun loving baby boy, it is hard to understand that he is even sick at all. So time will tell....

Grandpa Caley, Nati and Kidus on the bridge!


Nati continues to do well in school. He has made friends very easily and all the teachers love him. He has been a little aggressive at recess and has had a few warnings, so we will work on keeping our hands to ourselves. The big highlight of Grandma and Grandpa Caley's visit was when we walked up above the train yard on the bridge. Just in time for a train to come zooming by!!!! The bridge shook and what a rush!! Nati was so excited and every time we go over the train yard we look for trains zooming by!! What a thrill! Nati then went on a trip with his daddy this weekend. He got to meet his big brother, Aaron! Clint, Nati and Erica all traveled to New Haven, Conneticut to Yale University. Aaron would be competing in his last Heptagonal Championship. We received a call from Aaron on Wednesday and knew right away it must be bad news by the sound of his voice. He pulled his hamstring in practice and would not be able to compete this weekend. What a heartbreaker!! Clint, Nati and Erica all went to support Aaron anyway. We love him and are so proud. He has done better then any of us ever imagined. I have talked to Nati on the phone several times and he sounds great. He is thrilled with his new brother and has been a real hit among Aaron's friends also. Clint said that Nati was being a very good boy! It was probably good for Nati and Clint to have some time together.

Riding bikes in Washington Park

Kidus, Sierra and I went to Bailey's regional track meet in Cheyenne this weekend. The weather was horrible. It snowed. the wind blew so hard and it was only 37 degrees. Not a great track day!! Despite the weather, Bailey performed so well! She will be going to the state track meet in 4 events. She ran the 200 meter, 400 meter, 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay. She is only a freshman and to go in 4 events is really an amazing accomplishment. We are so proud.

Sierra, friend Ashley, and Bailey at Regional Track

Tomorrow is Mother's day! I first want to say "Thank You" to my mother. You are truly the best mother anyone could ever have. I love you so much! To moms everywhere...Happy Mother's Day!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

So sorry for the long time between posts. It has been a little busy! This last week we went to the doctor for physicals and the dentist. Both of the boys were so brave and did so well being put through all the poking and prodding. What sweet boys!! The doctors appointments went well. Both boys received several vaccinations and blood tests. Kidus is Hep B positive as we already knew but wanted to confirm. We are waiting to go to Children's Hospital in Denver to see what kind of treatment he will need . We also had an x-ray done to help determine his age and the x-ray shows that he is only 3 years old. We knew he was tiny we just were not sure if it was do to malnutrition or if his birth date was wrong.
Nati is very healthy and also checked out better than expected at the dentist. He only had two cavities and Kidus had four. We do have to go back to get the cavities filled under conscious sedation. The dentist we chose is a pediatric dentist in Denver and we really liked her and her staff all fell in love with the boys and were fighting over who was going to take care of them. Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Karla met us in Denver to help us at the Dentist's office. It was so great to have them there!!
We also met Nati's teacher this last week and he attended his first day of school this Monday. He will finish 1st grade. He is actually very upset that he is in 1st grade. He keeps telling us "I am in 2nd grade". By birth date he should be in 1st and I hope that he is advanced and we can accelerate him in math and other areas that he is doing so well in. I will post some adorable pictures of the boys.

Bailey continues to do well in track. She also had her 9th grade dance this last weekend. She was adorable and Sierra did her hair and makeup. The girls are doing well in school and seem to be all caught up since the trip to Africa. They get along really well with the boys and have such fun with them. It warms my heart.

Grandma Frihauf has been here since last Thursday. The boys are falling in love with their grandma and vice versa. It will be hard to see her go. We had a great time and we even were able to make an Ethiopian meal including Injera and Doro Wat. Ethiopian flat bread and chicken stew. The boys loved it and thanked me for attempting and I guess, being so successful at our first Ethiopian meal. It was fun and it was great to see the boys gobble it up!!
Grandma also made each of the boys amazing quilts with vibrant African prints!!
It was very hard seeing my mother go. It was amazing how fast the boys became attached and Kidus especially had a difficult time seeing grandma go. He had a grip on her jacket that I had a hard time prying off. It was heart wrenching and very difficult for everyone. You wonder what is going through those little minds when things like that happen. All the goodbyes they have experienced in their short lives!!
Nati is loving school and is doing really well. He had his ESL assesment today and I am anxious to see how that went for him. His English is very good and getting better everyday.
We are waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Caley to come this weekend and see their new grandsons. Also Erica and Dan. We will be gone all day Sat for Bailey's track meet and then home to a full house. Should be a great weekend and then we start all over again on Monday.

I will post pictures and try to do better keeping up on posts.

Love you all!!

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More Snow!! :(

Ok, I would like to write about fun in the sun instead! More snow today. We are in the middle of a blizzard actually. Nati went out for a short time this morning until the wind picked up and now you cannot see past the driveway. Here is a great video of Nati, THE SNOW BOY!! I also posted some of the pictures of this week and of course that video of Kidus!

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Boys in the Snow!

Her are my THREE boys. Especially the BIG one loves the snow. Actually Nati did not want to come inside. They really have tolerated the cold pretty well. I guess that is a good thing! Nati did ask if "Mom, you can turn it off?". There are days I wish I could!! The boys are really doing well!! I have a great video of Kidus dancing to "SHREK MOVIE". I will try to post that soon. It is hilarious!!

Photos from Ethiopia!!

Kidus in the middle "throne"!
Kidus being silly!
Wave.....
Kidus with our card!



Natinael with his card!

My friend has returned from her trip to pick up Beti, their eleven year old daughter. Her and her husband took pictures and also took our cards for the boys! Here are the pictures they took of the boys getting their cards! Mommy, daddy and your sisters are coming soon......