Baseball, baseball & more baseball

Yesterday Andy had his end of season baseball tournament. The team has improved so much since the beginning of June & they all have had so much fun! Andy is a natural and has found his position at first base.


Today I took Ana to a salon to get her hair braided for the first time. It was like a spa day for her - she got her hair done, her finger nails and toe nails painted, and was given a lip gloss & sucker when she was all done. I knew (well we all new) she has lots of hair, but wowza when the stylist was separating it into sections to braid it reminded me just of how much hair she does have!! One lady asked if she had extensions! It took a little over an hour. She did well up until the last 20 minutes. Then she gave Ruthie some attitude. Funny though, once she was given her lip gloss & sucker she was all smiles and even gave Ruthie a big hug.

I LOVE IT!!

I've been wanting a necklace that is shaped like Africa with a cut-out heart. I've seen them on the internet, but just didn't want to shell out $75. Many of you know that I have a "dog tag" necklace with my childrens names on them - I get sooo many comments on that necklace - it is one of my favorites!! So anyway, I was at the flea market near DL and I ran into the gal who made my name necklace so I asked her if she thought she could make something similar. She immediately was up to the challenge and within a few days she had it in the mail to me. And the best part, it DIDN'T cost me $75!! If you'd like to check out her line of jewelry go to this site: www.funkdujourdesigns.com. She's got some pretty cool stuff!!

Summer Fun

Summer is going by so fast - soon it will all be a blur! Finally the weather is cooperating and we've been able to have some really nice lake days!! Hope you and your families are enjoying the nice weather and making some wonderful memories of the Summer of 2009!

Matt and Andy have been keeping us busy 3-4 nights a week with baseball games. They both love to play and enjoy being with their friends. Feels like we're constantly washing uniforms, filling water bottles, and eating our meals out of concession stands! But let me tell you Ana is becoming quite the sunflower seed spitter - she can crack em and spit out the shell all by herself, but make sure you're not standing too close to her or you'll for sure get some spit on you. We need to work on that part I guess.

Ana's first fish!! Can you see it in the picture?? Look closely or you might miss it. She was pretty proud of herself! She is going to keep Grandpa quite busy with stringing her line & putting the worm on her hook!

The kids are enjoying the new tube - Matt likes to get it rocking and eventually to flip over - Andy doesn't like to ride with Matt - Tina did get on the tube, but was pulled by Dad behind the paddle boat which is just her speed - and Ana LOVES to tube behind the boat!! And she LOVES to go FAST!! This little girl has NO FEAR!! I'm not sure if that is good or bad...

Ana had a wonderful birthday party! Actually she had TWO wonderful birthday parties! The only problem is she now thinks she is five - at her party on the 19th she was 4 and loved to hold up 4 fingers and tell everyone she is now 4 yrs old - at her party on the 21st she confidently held up 5 fingers and told Grandma she was now 5. Smarty pants, she had two birthdays so of course she should be 5!!

Ana's 4 Year Pictures

We celebrated Ana's birthday on June 19th. A special day for our family for two reasons - 1) our little Ana turned 4 years old and we are thankful each and everyday that God chose our family for her to bless and 2) June 19th was my Dad's birthday. Dad has been gone now for 6 years and we miss him a bunch, but giving Ana his birthday has given us an opportunity to honor him & to celebrate his life through his Granddaughter. It was a very special day celebrating both of their lives!!
I will include pictures from Ana's party soon, but here are just a few of the beautiful pictures my friend Andrea took of Ana. Andrea has a passion for photography and I just know God is going to do BIG things with her gift! Thanks Andrea for capturing Ana's beauty both inside & out!!

Summer is here...I think

We spent last weekend at the lake with Grandma & Grandpa. It was windy as usual, so the temperature didn't feel very warm and certainly the water wasn't warm. But that didn't stop the kids from trying out the new lake toy!
Even Ana gave it a try. She loved it and every time we asked her if she wanted off she would say no. I finally had Kyle pull her off after about 20 minutes of playing and laying in the water. She was shivering like crazy, but still didn't want to get out.

Grandpa got the camp fire going that night & Ana got to experience her first smore! Her reaction was "icky" - I don't think she knew what the ooey gooey marshmallow was. Once I told her there was chocolate inside, she gave it a try. I think in the end she just ate the chocolate & fed the rest to the neighbors dog.















I'm sure there will be many more campfires before the summer is over!

Ana also got her first bike thanks to Grandma & Grandpa. She chose a pretty pink one of course! I can't believe how she rides that bike - her little legs just go, go, go!!


Tina had some exciting news last week - she lost her first tooth!! We knew it was loose, but I thought for sure she would just leave it be until it fell out on its own - she is a tad sensitive to pain. Instead she came out from the bathroom one morning and held out her tooth. She said that she kept wiggling it and gave it a pull and it came out. Don't mention Tina losing a tooth to Andy though - he hasn't lost any teeth yet!

Other than playing at the lake & losing teeth, we've been going to baseball practice, baseball games, & washing baseball uniforms. The boys are in heaven playing & the girls get fed lots of snacks during practices & ball games.

The Family Photos

I can't believe how fast the month of May is passing us by!! Matt & Andy have 8 days of school left - Tina only has 1 day of preschool left - Ana, Tina and I have 1 day of BSF left - all of the school-year activities are coming to an end. BUT VERY SOON all the summer activities begin!! Matt will start basketball camp in Kindred the last week in May - golf camp will start for both boys beginning of June - Vacation Bible School is also first part of June - swimming lessons for all the kids are in the middle of June for 2 weeks - and baseball starts any day now. Whew! I'm tired already!! Before we know it it will be August - and then Matt starts football - can you believe Matt is old enough for football??

It's hard to believe that it's been over a month since we returned home with Ana!! Ana has fit into her "little sister" role in our family with no problems! The boys adore her (most of the time) and she drives her older sister, Tina, crazy most of the time.

We accomplished the task of taking the "family photo" a few weeks ago. I don't think you peeps know how difficult it is to get 6 people (4 of them being children) to smile on que!! Matt actually had a pained look on his face in some of the pictures. I think I over-smiled for the lack of smiles from the rest of my family...lets just say I was sweating by the time our photo session was over!




Ana's English is coming along so remarkably!! She is talking all the time! And she even knows how and when to use her words appropriately - what a little sponge she is! We are sad that she is slowly forgetting her native language. We've tried to use the few words that we know, but she will correct us with the English word. For example I'll say, "Do you need to go shint?" And Ana will say, "No I need to pee Mom." But we have had her continue to say her meal-time prayer each day and I still get all teary eyed when she's done. So sweet!

We are very excited that our friends from Fargo will be bringing home their 2 children from Ethiopia in June!! They are adopting a 4 yr old girl and her 2 yr old brother!! We can't wait to meet them and I just know that Ana and Sarah will be best of friends!!

Ana is home!!

After much prompting, I guess it's time I sit down and update our blog. As many of you know, the week we were to leave for Ethiopia the Red River began to rise and flood many nearby homes and neighborhoods. Our city of Oxbow was one of those who was forced to fight the flood waters. Early in the week we were thinking that the water would not reach our house as we are almost 2 blocks away and at a higher elevation. But by Wednesday morning we were proven wrong - we watched the water move into our streets and up into our yard. At this point leaving for Ethiopia was NOT what was occupying our minds!! We put a few calls out and family and friends came to help us tighten up our drain plugs and move all of our belongings out of our basement. Many thanks to all who helped!!


The kids and I left the house Wednesday night as the water in the street was rising and it wouldn't be long and we'd be trapped. So my father-in-law packed his bag and came to stay at the house with Kyle, while the kids and I went to stay at the lake with Grandma. I'm sure I'm going to owe him a few meals to make up for staying in a house surrounded by water with no use of a toilet. Thanks Grandpa! Friday, March 27th was the day we were to leave for Ethiopia. I kissed the kids goodbye and left them safe and sound at the lake with Grandma. Kyle's brother, Toby, came for the weekend to take Kyle's place at the house so we could leave. It was tough leaving with all the flooding happening, but we could rest easier knowing that Tom and Toby were watching our house. I had to park my car along Hwy 81 and call Kyle to let him know I was there. Then he had to walk down the street wearing his chest waders.


We left Fargo at 6pm on Friday, March 27th. We flew from Fargo to Chicago to Istanbul, Turkey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We arrive in Addis at 3:30am Sunday, March 29th. We stayed at an old villa which has been converted into a guest house. It is owned by a wonderful woman named Jerusalem who made us feel right at home.



We tried to get some sleep once we arrived at the guest house that early morning, but the Orthodox Church and the Muslim Church broadcast their services over load speaker AT THE SAME TIME and it was difficult to ignore. Then once the services stopped the neighborhood dogs decided it was too quiet and that they should all bark! And I'm not talking about 1 or 2 dogs - it was like 101 Dalmations and I'm not kidding!! Once we were up and showered, I gave Emily a call (Emily is an American gal who is doing some missionary work at the transition house owned by our agency) and made arrangements for her and Ana's nanny, Hiwot to bring Ana to our guest house. They arrived just before lunch and I think we both fell in love with Ana all over again!! I couldn't believe she was standing in front of me - it was very surreal!!



Ana was very comfortable with us right from the start!! Emily and Hiwot had done a wonderful job of preparing her for our arrivale. We had fun watching her and listening to her and holding her and just FINALLY being with her!! We were able to ask Emily and Hiwot questions about her personality, her routine, and her likes and dislikes. They also taught us a few keys words in Amharic - like pee and poop! And over the next couple of days we quickly picked up words like gum, chocolate, and pop. We also discovered that Ana is a clothes hound!! She was so excited to look through her suitcase full of clothes!! Below are just a few pictures of her in her new wardrobe...



We had a wonderful time in Ethiopia! We were able to do some sight-seeing about 1 1/2 hours north of Addis and it was beautiful!! We took in some sights within Addis as well - the museum, some beautiful old churches, some yummy restaurants, and playing with the children who lived next door to our guest house. The Ethiopian people are wonderful!!

The night/early morning that we left Addis was bitter sweet. I was so excited to be going home to see Matt, Andy, and Tina and to introduce Ana to everyone, but it was also very sad that we were leaving and taking Ana from everything she knows and is used to. Ana did very well on the airplane - she didn't like the seat belt, but that was just a matter of take off and landing. She was was entertained by the movies, toys I had brought, and the snacks I had packed. But she did eventually hit a wall - she fell asleep about 30 minutes outside of Chicago and she slept through our landing in Chicago - all the way through customs - through immigration - through the entire 4 hour layover - and through the entire flight from Chicago to Fargo. And guess who forgot to pack an umbrella stroller?? Needless to say, Kyle and I were exhausted after carrying her through the airport!!
When we landed at the airport in Fargo, we were greeted by Grandma Carole, Auntie Karleen, Grandma and Grandpa Freier, Matt, Andy, and Tina, and my friend Dawn. They had signs welcoming Ana home and they also gave her a teddy bear - very sweet. She took to them right away! Ana is adjusting well and is melting the hearts of everyone she meets!

Well, that's all for now. More to come...