Haley Graduated Today!

Today's was Haley's last day of High School.  We are very happy for her!

Here are Haley's senior pictures.

Christmas Pageant

Today was the Christmas Pageant where we go to church.  Here are a few pictures.

This is the kids singing Away in the Manger.

Zach also got to play a shepherd after he was an angel.

Footprints from Africa

We received the most special gift in the mail today. A set of traced footprints of our future sons. It is so special to see something that outlines thier foot. It makes it more real some how.

Susan

Welcome Maverick!

A few months ago, our daughter's boyfriend needed a home for his dog, a puppy named Maverick.

He was a nice puppy, but he was not house trained and it seemed like a lot of work that we did not want to go through....however, after a few months, he is now house trained, and he is a nice dog.

All of our kids like him a lot, so welcome Maverick to our little zoo!

amazing video

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.

Welcome Gizmo!

This is Gizmo.  We found her wandering around the streets outside of our house the other day.  We brought her home and the owners never claimed her.  She is a good cat, and we've decided to keep her.

Funny questions as our family grows.

1. How do you do it all by yourself?................ We don't, we have help, 4 children and 2 parents.

2. Aren't you exausted? .......Sometimes yes. Who wouldn't be!

3. Aren't you overwhelmed with housework ? ...............sometimes but generally not. All family members have daily jobs they must do. Heck, if there is a visitor here they get a job during chore time too!

4. How do you do all that laundry?..........I don't. The older ones do thier own laundry, rare exceptions I will do it for them. If they have no clean clothes they go out in dirty ones. No clean underware? They go underwareless. Younger kids help with laundry, putting it in wash, switching, folding or putting away.

5. How can you afford it?.... We are very blessed and my husband is an amazing motivator to use money wisely without feeling deprived. Also Dave Ramsey's class gave us the tools to use.

6.  Why more children, don't you have enough? ....... We really really enjoy our childrens growth. Its like asking "have you taken enough vacations from work?" Or have you had enough presents for a life time. Or don't you have enough friends? Have you had enough cookouts, camping trips, ice cream or cookies? We don't have children out of an obligation to God or community, although this is a large part of our family values. We enjoy our family.

7. How do you and Scott find individual time for each child and each other.......We plan it, seize the time, rarely put off dates or opportunities for time alone together or one on one time with a child. Even a trip to the store with only one child can be a bonding experience/individual time. We are almost daily running to the store for one or two items so this happens often.

8. Did you know the children from Ethiopia are black? ( the country we are adopting from).......yes, we heard that!!!

9. Why not the help/adopt the kids in the US first? .............. He sees all children as his own as do we. Is a child from Russia or Ethiopia less worthy of a home because he was born in poverty and not in the US? Also we are involved in our community deeply and have adopted from the US.

10. Aren't you afraid of discrimination toward your family/children.......We are not afraid but aware. We are already aware of how not diverse many communities are. We hope to educate our children and community about our family.
      We will know when we have "enough". We are mature adults, good parents, our children are well behaved ( generally), well fed, we have a strong marriage. Have faith in our decisions.

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent our Thanksgiving Holiday in Morgantown, KY with Susan's Parents.  We were blessed with warm, sunny weather during most of the trip.

There was a great turnout with over 20 people at Sharon and Larry's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Here are Danny, Sharon, Hope, Glen, and Muggs

Charles, Linda, Haley, and Bradley

While the Turkey was cooking, Scott helped the kids blow and rake the leaves. 

After Dinner, the boys played football and had a great time.  Meanwhile, Lydia took a nap:

And Haley, Zachary, Ethan, and Norman played the trumpet

When all was said and done Haley helped do some of the dishes

The next day, we took a trip through Mammoth cave.  Everyone had a great time.

Our Dog Coda has gone to Doggie Heaven

Today is a sad day in our family.  Coda, one of our dogs for the past two years got sick and she had to be put to sleep today.  Coda was a great dog.  She was the first dog we have ever had who came back to us when we called her without training.    It was always fun to watch Coda and other dogs.  She enjoyed running and chasing with other dogs a lot.  She always greeted us with a rapidly wagging tail and her big eyes.  Below are a few pictures of her from the past year.  Rest in Peace Coda.

Zach and Coda

Haeli and Coda

Pip and Coda on the Couch

Halloween 2009

Halloween for us is always a busy time.  We have two birthdays (Susan and Ethan) and Halloween itself that all fall within 5 days of each other.

In addition to that this year, Scott's parents came to visit for a few days, adding to the excitement!

Here are a few snapshots of the events this year.

Pumpkin Carving this year

Lydia and Haley's Costumes

Ethan's Birthday where he got Constructicon Devastator...quite possible the coolest transformer ever!

During a break from all the festivities, we spent some time walking through Shoal Creek Falls

Lydia was Adopted today

Today we had the joy and honor of adopting Lydia into our family.  As most people know, she has lived with us for the past year and we finalized the adoption process today.