awwa ethiopia family dinner

there is something so sweet about meeting with people who are going through the process of adopting or have already adopted... the unspoken understanding is priceless!

at this gathering with our awaa friends we met the taylors.  they have adopted four precious children from ethiopia. 

we spent the evening eating (which included some new ethiopian dishes which were really yummy!), sharing experiences from trips to ethiopia, anticipating timelines for referrals, court dates, and embassy dates (hopefully soon) & imagining what our group will look like a year from now!!



this is erbeka, the taylor's youngest child.  evan LOVES babies and was COMPLETELY smitten with this sweet little girl.  he came in carrying her and said "i think we need one of these in addition to what we are already getting."




can't wait for this to be us with our little hun-nee... she was fun to be around!!





erbeka playing peek-a-boo with her mommmy





i think she liked evan too!



such a wonderful evening!!

white day after christmas

this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland!

checking out all the snow

first measurement was 9 inches

 here is the house on friday night

and sunday evening...

 we made it out to the store in morning to grab some food and then spent the day napping, watching movies & football, playing games and hanging out... 

 evan's friend chris even trudged through the snow to visit :)

it snowed all day long!  going to bed still snowing!

 

Christmas

 Christmas eve candlelight service

 steph brought home her kitten.... {i will admit the kitten is cute, but i HATE cats :P and there is already a cat here :P :P }

 shocked evan liked the kitten so much!!

 my mom gave me this hat to give to ed... love it on him!!  he's so cute!

time to open presents!

we opened gifts one at a time.  it took a loong time, but it was a lot of fun!

mini was ready

this is ed's nickname for me :)

  
ed got evan a pendleton board shirt... it is what they used for "wet suits" a long time ago

  

the snyder's "fancy camera" was handed down to les and she got a new lens to go with it... she was, speechless

  
marian's new vera bradley from the grandkids

last year evan's grandmother got us a Christmas tree that was similar to this

  evan kind of gave his grandmother a hard time about it... i think he learned his lesson when she punked him and bought him this

 it sings "rockin around the Christmas tree" and dances... it is obnoxious!!

this was PRICELESS!!!

susan and ed loved their "grandchildren" frame... 

picture to come soon, we hope!

 marian liked her great grandchild frame!

some gifts for zeke

{the gray blanket was a gift from ed... can never have enough blankets for when it gets "chally"}

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!