We are back!

Sorry that we have been so absent in our blog. We are back now getting the new year started. Here are some pics of the kids over Christmas with our Christmas tree and their new kitchen they got for Christmas.

This was Fi's first Christmas and she loved it! Her favorite part was opening presents and would open other people's when we weren't looking.

Pic taken this fall

Just wanted to quickly share this beautiful picture taken this last Thanksgiving by a photographer friend. They are just so cute.

Bonding and Family Update

Well I wanted to give a quick update on our family. Fi has been home with us for almost 11 months! I can't believe that we are coming up on a year now. Bonding has been going great. 6 months was a big milestone for us. I never thought it would take that long, but with bonding it is all about the journey. I loved her the moment that I saw her referral picture and even more so the first time I held her, but the bonding takes time. I have found that it takes time to get to know your new child as well as you know your older biological child. Each month I thought I really knew her but every month I get to know her better. But, about 6 or 8 month in I really saw a huge difference. It really felt like she had always been here with us and I knew her just as well as T.

She and I are so cute together. Fi is just now starting to get old enough to play with T. They fight over toys like other siblings but love each other so much. They don't like being away from each other. Last month I looked back in the car and saw them holding hands in their car seats. It was so sweet. I know that T would be so bored with out a sister to play with.

Fi loves living so close to her grandparents and having Aunt Jessa at home. My sister has been feeling so much better now that radiation and chemo are over. Her hair is starting to grow back now too.

Christmas this year is going to be low key. We have all had a hard year and are just glad that Jessa is alive that that Fi is home with us. So we here in our house (my little family of four, my parents, and my siblings) are not really doing presents (except for the kids of course). There is nothing that we need and we are all broke, so we decided to spend no money. So I am actually really looking forward to this Christmas because it will be so chilled and laid back. Sounds nice.

Thanksgiving

We went to Tulsa, Oklahoma for Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We had a great time (except for the 15 hour car ride one way). Above is a picture of my cousin Jenny, me, Jillian, and my sister Jessa (and the kids of course)

A hayride with Uncle Jared, Bobba, and Gaga

I lost my camera on my Uncle Todd's farm (he lives right down the road from my grandparents' land) and here is the search party that helped find it. (from the left my dad, aunt nancy, cousin tara, her soon-to-be-hubby roni, and clark)

My brother Jared and Clark spent a whole day smoking a goat that had been killed by a wild dog. Not my idea of fun, but they thought it was great. I have found out that I don't like eating goat.

The hot tub on my grandparents farm. There is an amazing view of the fields.

Both my parents and I went to Oral Roberts University so my Dad and I got to walk around with my kids. It was great to walk with them in the place that I lived for four years and where my parents met so long ago.

the kids and I in front of my old dorm. when I was at college all I wanted to do was the get to have kids one day and adopt. It is great to go back and see how far I have come in 6 years.

My best friend (and college roommate) Jillian lives in Tulsa too so I got to see her some more.

Tobin's favorite thing to do was to ride on the gator at my uncle's land and see the cows.

Me and Fi looking at the cows at Uncle Todd's farm. they loved being out on the farm. one day clark and I want to move here so our kids will get to live in the country.

Hannah's Hope Pal

In November we got to hang out with Sunny, Travis, and Petros. Clark and I traveled with Sunny and Travis to Ethiopia to go and get our babies almost a year ago. Petros and Fi were in the orphanage together. We met up for dinner one night and then Sunny, the kids and I met up to play at an indoor playground.

Fi was in a mood and would not let me take any pictures of her at all. Every time I got the camera out she fussed about it and tried to hit it.

So the only good picture that of the two of them was them asleep on the way back to their hotel.

She was about to hit the camera when I took this one.

My kids had a lot of fun playing with Petros and T talked about him for a week or two after. I wished we lived closer to them because we had such a good time.

Big 3 Year Old

Back in November T turned 3 and we had a big cowboy party for him and his best little friend Destiny who also turned 3. Clark's parents and sister and her kids came for the weekend. It was a great weekend with lots of family and friends.

Addie and Maggie at the party

Fi swinging with Grandma Taltha

Grandpa and baby Lily

Daddy and Fi

Fi's favorite part was the cupcake of course.

Gaga and Bobba (my parents) gave Tobin a bouncy horse. Aunt Jessa liked getting on it too.

the cowboys captured Aunt Jessa and put her in handcuffs!

Our family western picture. I thought about sending this picture to Ethiopia for our yearly report but I think they would be confused with the hats and clothes (crazy Americans).

One of the games we played was a horse race with the adults as the horses and the kids as the cowboys. It was pretty fun!

Happy birthday big cowboy and cowgirl.

I always swore that I would not be one of those parents who do big birthday parties for their kids, but I did this time. Jessa wanted him to have a party since she was going to be home for his birthday this year and we all thought it would be fun to have a joint party. It was really a chance for all of us to hang out and have fun. T had a great time and talked about for the month before and after, but I still think huge parties for little kids are too much work.

Never Before Posted Referral Pics

The end of October was an anniversary of sorts for us since it was a year ago that we saw our Fi's face for the first time. Here are some of the referral pictures that I never posted because we couldn't until we had brought her home.

The one above was the first picture that I saw of her. It was the day that she was brought to Hannah's Hope around 6 months old. She was so happy in all of the pictures. I cried and cried when I saw her. She was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Here she is at 7 or 8 months old.

Here she is at 9 months old.

A wonderful family that was picking up their little girl took a picture for us about a month before we traveled to get her. She was about 11 months old.

A year later our little Fi is crazy, cute, and the light of our lives! Can't imagine life without her now.