Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Hello from Charlotte!
We are currently having missionary training in Charlotte, NC and having a fabulous time reconnecting with all of our friends here. It has been an amazing week and it is only half way over! We are so excited to be able to share all the things we have learned this week with you very soon! Be on the look out because we will soon be changing this blog over to our ministry blog to Ethiopia! (Anyone have any creative titles?) I can not believe this time next year we will be on our way!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Family Day!!!
Ok so I know I said that I would post yesterday but the connection at Great Wolf Lodge was oh. so. slow. We were very blessed to be given this great weekend trip to Great Wolf to spend our very first family day and we really had a blast! (Most people call it Gotcha Day, as in the day we "got you" and while we like that, we really wanted to focus on how God has made our family special. We decided to celebrate on the 17th, the day we came home to Jackson rather than the 13th which was her 'Gotcha Day.' Got all that? Good.) So get ready for a ton of pictures:)
Our room was a Wolf Den suite which meant it had this cute little area for this kids to sleep on bunk beds and there own TV:)
Great Wolf Lodge has an enormous indoor water park which was so fun. These are just some of the pools...I was too busy dodging water spray guns to get pictures of all the slides and things......that and the humidity inside are probably why my photos are all a bit fuzzy now:(
no fear
Jackson went on some much bigger slides but I could not take any pictures because 1 parent had to escort him to the top to make sure he didn't cut in line and the other parent had to rescue him at the bottom all while holding on to Livi and trying to avoid the massive amount of water that fell from the giant bucket every five minutes.
Great Wolf also has this game called MagiQuest where you get special wands and run all over the hotel on different quests and challenges. The bigger kids seemed to love this but we felt it would be too hard for our kids. But the staff just programmed their wands to light up everything they waved it at so we didn't actually have to play the game, we just ran around opening chests, lighting up pictures on the walls, and making animals talk. They absolutely loved it.
"Abra Cadabra I wish for this chest to be full of candy!"
We also explored the Cub Club which had lots of fun games and crafts.
The arcade
Livi was insistent on us trying the Dance game.....we were terrible at it but it was fun:)
I have to say that the one thing I really didn't like about Great Wolf was the food. It was pretty bad and VERY expensive. I mean I wouldn't mind paying that much if it were actually good but nope. So instead we went out on the town for a yummy Italian dinner.
Every night they have bed time stories in front of the big clock tower.
Meeting Violet the mascot. Livi was excited to meet her until we got close but she didn't cry so we are improving since Disney.....although I think Violet's purple crocs really helped.
We had a little cake in our room to celebrate our Family Day!
Our first Family Day!
Our room was a Wolf Den suite which meant it had this cute little area for this kids to sleep on bunk beds and there own TV:)
Great Wolf Lodge has an enormous indoor water park which was so fun. These are just some of the pools...I was too busy dodging water spray guns to get pictures of all the slides and things......that and the humidity inside are probably why my photos are all a bit fuzzy now:(
no fear
Jackson went on some much bigger slides but I could not take any pictures because 1 parent had to escort him to the top to make sure he didn't cut in line and the other parent had to rescue him at the bottom all while holding on to Livi and trying to avoid the massive amount of water that fell from the giant bucket every five minutes.
Great Wolf also has this game called MagiQuest where you get special wands and run all over the hotel on different quests and challenges. The bigger kids seemed to love this but we felt it would be too hard for our kids. But the staff just programmed their wands to light up everything they waved it at so we didn't actually have to play the game, we just ran around opening chests, lighting up pictures on the walls, and making animals talk. They absolutely loved it.
"Abra Cadabra I wish for this chest to be full of candy!"
We also explored the Cub Club which had lots of fun games and crafts.
The arcade
Livi was insistent on us trying the Dance game.....we were terrible at it but it was fun:)
I have to say that the one thing I really didn't like about Great Wolf was the food. It was pretty bad and VERY expensive. I mean I wouldn't mind paying that much if it were actually good but nope. So instead we went out on the town for a yummy Italian dinner.
Every night they have bed time stories in front of the big clock tower.
Meeting Violet the mascot. Livi was excited to meet her until we got close but she didn't cry so we are improving since Disney.....although I think Violet's purple crocs really helped.
We had a little cake in our room to celebrate our Family Day!
Our first Family Day!Saturday, July 17, 2010
Ethiopian Dinner
I forgot to take a picture of the food because we were too busy digging in....most people don't really enjoy Ethiopian food but our whole family LOVES it. Good thing, huh? We are having a great celebration weekend and I will try and blog about our fun tonight and post it in the morning!!!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A year ago today.....
A year ago today we walked through these gates and our lives were changed.....
So much about last summer is a blur, but every moment was worth all the waiting, preparing, and aching to have her home. This summer, this little princess is still just that a total princess. Yep, she has gone from what Almaz (the orphanage director) called the princess of Hannah's Hope to the princess of our family!! I can't even describe her....she is so full of energy and spunk. She is constantly talking and everyone is always amazed at all she has to say! She knows how cute she is and that if mommy isn't around she can get away with anything. She always needs her accessories and wouldn't be caught dead without matching shoes!
We are going out for Ethiopian food tonight to celebrate but our real celebration day will be the 17th since that is the day we came home to Jackson and became a family. So check back to see all the fun we have planned for this weekend!
Oh and here is where I wrote about that day last year on our adoption blog.
So much about last summer is a blur, but every moment was worth all the waiting, preparing, and aching to have her home. This summer, this little princess is still just that a total princess. Yep, she has gone from what Almaz (the orphanage director) called the princess of Hannah's Hope to the princess of our family!! I can't even describe her....she is so full of energy and spunk. She is constantly talking and everyone is always amazed at all she has to say! She knows how cute she is and that if mommy isn't around she can get away with anything. She always needs her accessories and wouldn't be caught dead without matching shoes!
We are going out for Ethiopian food tonight to celebrate but our real celebration day will be the 17th since that is the day we came home to Jackson and became a family. So check back to see all the fun we have planned for this weekend!
Oh and here is where I wrote about that day last year on our adoption blog.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July
Jackson: Mom, why are we celebrating the end of July?
Me: Well, we are celebrating the 4th of July not the end of July.
Jackson: Oh........but why?
Me: It's America's birthday.
Jackson: Who's America?
Me: That's where we live.....in the United States of America.
Jackson: no, I live in Texas.
Spoken like a true Texan.
Jackson, Olivia and the cousins Jordan and Tanner
Olivia was enjoying mothering Jordan.....
best buddies
Happy 4th of July!!
Me: Well, we are celebrating the 4th of July not the end of July.
Jackson: Oh........but why?
Me: It's America's birthday.
Jackson: Who's America?
Me: That's where we live.....in the United States of America.
Jackson: no, I live in Texas.
Spoken like a true Texan.
Jackson, Olivia and the cousins Jordan and Tanner
Olivia was enjoying mothering Jordan.....
best buddies
Happy 4th of July!!
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