Tulem Update

Tulem dressed up as a cowboy.

Tulem has been home a little under three months and continues to be a joy. Many children have tough transitions, but his has been very easy. He is starting to use more English words which really helps our communication.  He can say "stop it" to his siblings instead of biting them and he can better tell us what he wants to eat or what he wants to do. I am encouraging him to use words to ask for what he wants and repeat my words if he doesn't know the right words.

His birth certificate says he is four, but we believe he is just three.  The dentist today agreed that his teeth indicate he is closer to 36 months. Tulem was so good at the dentist and was very cooperative. His teeth look great! We will ask for his birth date to be changed when we readopt him in California.

We are all in love with Tulem and he plays well with all of the kids. Today Lana was asking if she could take him in for "sharing" to her classroom. Amy said she wants to take him to her class as well:) The kids are all so proud to introduce him to their friends.
Tulem is very affectionate with us, but is approprately shy around strangers. He loves to cuddle with Brad and I and he gives very sweet kisses.  We are so thankful for the excellent care he received in Adama, I am sure that has helped his transition into our family.

A Photo of all Eight Kids!

We finally got a picture of all eight children!  They are all in their "adopted" t-shirts, representing we are all adopted into God's family. 

A weekend of fun

Since the kids had Friday off, we went to the beach Thursday and Friday night.  The weather was rainy on Friday, but went to the beach at sunset on Thursday.  Tulem loved the ocean and beach.  He face showed delighted surprise when he first saw the ocean.  He quickly ran across the beach and got his feet wet with his sisters.

 Here is Tulem at the aquarium with Dad.

                 Amy and Kali pretending to be baby pengiuns.

Tulem has been to dozens of soccer games since all seven older siblings are playing soccer. Tulem is ready to play and even dribbled the ball into the middle of the kindergarten game on Saturday:)

Orphan Sunday pictures

I got the opportunity to share about how our familiy has grown through adoption at both church services today.  Our whole family wore shirts saying "adopted" based on the Third Day video "Children of God" .  We have been adopted as God's children.

Orphan Sunday November 6

On Orphan Sunday, November 6, Christians across America and beyond stand together as a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress.

I will be making  an announcement at our church we will have a slideshow during the offering and we will have tables after the services to share opportunities to sponsor a child through Vision Trust, help an orphanage in Mexicali, volunteer to help with foster children through Help One Child, and learn more about adoption and foster care. I am excited to see what God has planned!

Happy Birthday!

Jacob turned 13 yesterday.  He said he didn't want a party but on Saturday we ordered a inflatable obstacle course for the day.  It was just our family, but the kids had a blast.

 Tulem had a fabulous time playing with his siblings and bouncing through the course.

Lana said that Tulem got here just in time. If the Embassy had taken any longer he might have missed the party!

What a great kid!

Jacob and Tulem the day we picked him up.

Here is Tulem with several happy siblings.  He was actually happy too - you just can't see his face very well:)

Tulem is an awesome little boy. One week home and he is adjusting very well.  He sleeps through the night, he is not a picky eater, he is cuddly and affectionate.  In Ethiopia he prefered Jacob and wanted his brother to hold him.  Now that he is with me most of the time he wants mama to pick him up and hold him. His brothers are fun, but mommy is consistently there to feed him, love him and take care of him. He checks to make sure I am watching when he goes down the slide or scribbles on paper - so I can say, "Good job, Tulem!" He pushes the buttons for me as we load the washer, dryer and dishwasher - who knew applicances were so much fun.

He loves taking a bath and pouring water on his head. He likes riding in his carseat as we pick up and drop off siblings at school, soccer, swimming, and church. He also likes to get into everything and unroll the toliet paper, open and close doors, press any button, and turn lights on and off.

I most admit I am pretty tired, but I am just so pleased with our delightful little guy!

We are home!

Here Jacob and I are picking up Tulem.

Here is the first night home playing with his two oldest brothers. Luke is lifting him off Colin who was his pony.

Everyone played in the front yard and had a great time with their new brother. If you look closely you can see the beaming smiles on both girls' faces.

Sometime I will write about our wonderful trip. But right now I am just so thankful to have Tulem home. All nine of us are in love with him.  He sleeps through the night, eats well, is fun to play with, is affectionate, and is generally easy-going.  He is adorable and we are so glad he is part of our family!

Embassy Appointment!

We have an appointment on September 20 with the US Embassy in Ethiopia to get Tulem's visa! Praise the Lord! Jacob (12) and I are flying out tomorrow.
I am so excited and can't wait to see Tulem. The last few weeks have been stressful not knowing when I would be going. We passed court July 11 and were submitted to the Embassy Aug 10.

I am thankful that two other precious YWAM families will be there at the same time.

School starts and waiting for Embassy

Five kids started school yesterday.  It was Amy's first day of Kindergarten and Kali's first day of first grade.  Lana and Megan started 3rd grade and Jacob is in 8th grade.  Everyone had a great day. Colin starts his Sophomore year next week (this week he is volunteering at a camp for foster kids).  Luke has twice a day practices with the West Valley College soccer team and starts classes Aug 29.

We are still waiting for the US Embassy to clear us for travel.  Everyone is getting in their school routine and will soon be settled in, so I am ready to plan my trip to Ethiopia.

Megan is 9!

Megan turned 9 yesterday.  She was almost three when we brought her home from Russia. She is three months older than Lana and they have always been within 1/4 inch of each other in height. Megan often says Lana came home first, but I am the oldest girl.  Megan is a great swimmer and loves the water.  She is a good big sister and I am blessed to be her mom.

Introducing our new son!

Today in Ethiopia the MOWA letter arrived and the judge signed off the case.  We are now Tulem Porter's family and he is ours. Yesterday he had no known family. Today he has 2 parents, 4 sisters, 3 brothers, 3 sets of grandparents, 5 uncles, 3 aunts, 10 first cousins and extended family beyond that too numerous to count. We feel so blessed and we are all excited to be his family.

Isn't he handsome!

He liked being tickled by his new dad when we visited.

My baby is 5!

Amy turned 5 on Wednesday.  It is hard to believe.  We brought her home when she was just 4 months old and such a cute baby with big, chubby cheeks.  I am so blessed to be her mom.
(Lana is with Amy in the picture above.  It is hard to be in a picture alone - some sibling is always jumping in to the spotlight:) )

Little Miss In-Charge

Last night Colin told me that Kali had started a club and was president.  Colin added, "All seven of us are in it - not that we were given a choice." Kali told me that the club was about boys following rules.  While I was cooking dinner, all seven kids headed back to the girls' room for a meeting.  I heard some people muttering about a dictator under their breath. In the picture you can see Kali in her president's chair, her sisters not paying attention and her older brothers' feet. The meeting didn't last long - the boys were laughing and Kali sounded frustrated:)  Keep going  Kali - leadership is hard work!

Feeding the troops

I forgot what it is like feeding the kids lunch during the summer.  My seven, plus there is always at least one or two extra friends around.  I made grilled cheese and used the whole loaf of bread I bought this morning and all of the sliced cheese - they asked for more.  They finished up the watermelon, some apples, a can of chicken noodle soup and some enchilada soup. This was after the large popcorn and refill at the movie theatre. (It is $2 Tuesday for movie tickets.  We saw Rio and it was cute:)

Does anyone have some good large quantity lunch suggestions?!

Great first meeting with our new little guy

Last Saturday Brad and I met T. in Adama, Ethiopia.  He was scared of us at first, but we gave him some anaimal crackers and a new ball and he warmed up to us quickly:)  He is 3 years old and just adorable.  He loves kicking and passing balls - I think we have a eighth soccer player for our family.

The YWAM orphanage where he is, is holy ground. It is a widows and orphan home run by an amazing woman of Christ, Tezera. While we were visiting T. we heard singing.  I looked around and realized it was coming from the babies’ room.  I asked Tezera and she opened the door to the babies room where each nanny was holding a baby and singing and clapping.  Tezera explained it was shift change. She then lead them in prayer.  It was in Amharic but we recognized each babies name.  I believe they were praying over each child.

After the orphanages I have seen in Russia, the sweetness of this “shift change” brought tears to my eyes. It was wonderful t to see the widows and children living together under the precious care of Tezera and the nannies.

We attended court on Tuesday, but our case did not pass because the MOWA approval letter was not there. Hopefully, it will arrive in the next three weeks and the judge will pass the case. At any rate, our part is done and we do not need to appear in court again. Our job is again to wait:)

Another highlight of the trip was meeting three other YWAM families - I liked them immediately and hope we will see each other again sometime.

We stayed at the Ethio Comfort Guest House, where I stayed last year.  Seeing Tsebay, who runs the guest house, was like seeing a dear friend again.  I love her and it was great meeting her new husband when he came to pick her up to go to a Bible study.

Graduation

Luke graduated from high school yesterday.  It was a wonderful ceremony and we all cheered when he received his diploma!

Luke and his buddy, Tim.  They were co-MVP's of the varsity soccer team.

We had a delicious lunch with family back at home.  Then last night they had an all night grad party at school.  I picked him up at 6am and now he is sleeping:)

Kindergarten Play

Kali was a bluebird in the kindergarten play this week.  She did a great job speaking clearly and confidently. I am so proud of her!

Another great teacher conference

I just met with Kali's kindergarten teacher and again it was a great conference. Kali is reading at a beginning first grade level.  Excellent, especially for only being in the US for 14 months and having never been to school before. She is right on grade level reading, math and writing.  Her teacher said she is sweet, gets along well with the other kids and is ready for 1st grade.

Here she is at Easter with her Easter basket and her new swimsuit (the Easter bunny always brings new swimsuits).

Faster!

This time of year I feel like I am on the twirl-a-whirl and someone yelled, "Faster!".  In two weeks our oldest graduates from high school.  Meanwhile he has prom, a bunch of soccer games, senior retreat and Junior Senior Banquet.
We also have 2 other soccer players, 4 baseball players, 1 swimmer and 3 girl scouts.  All of these activies have end-of-year events.  There is Spring Sing at the elementary school and summer activities to sign up for. It is all fun, but a bit crazy.
Meanwhile, my mind is planning our trip to Ethiopia for our court date. I sneak a peak at his picture once in a while and start to rethink where he will sleep, ride in the car (I guess I need to buy another car seat), and where his clothes will go!

Court Date!

We found out on Tuesday that we have a June 21st court date in Ethiopia!
It is hard to believe that it has finally been scheduled.  Brad and I will be going -  we haven't been away together for a long time:)

It will so exciting to meet our newest little guy.  It has also been a long time since we have had a 3 year old little boy around here! I am sure it will be an adventure.

College and Kindergarten

Yesterday on my dining room table I had an application for college and an application for Kindergarten.  We are trying to figure out where my oldest and youngest sweeties will go to school next year. Luke is considering going to West Valley Community College. He had a great meeting with the soccer coach there. It is hard to believe he is graduating from high school in about 6 weeks.
Amy will be 5 in Juy and we believe she is ready for Kindergarten.  Next year will be exciting for everyone!

Road Trip

I took the four girls to the beach for four days this last week during their spring break.  They referred to it as a road trip even though it was only an hour away. We enjoyed the beach, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and yummy food! There was a lot of laughter and fun.
I thought Kali's English was almost complete, but we stumbled across one word she didn't know.  As we were driving we entered a daylight safety zone. Lana read a sign aloud - Turn on your headlights.  Kali laughed and laughed.  Headlights - we don't have lights in our head! The two eight year olds explained what headlights are, but it was too late.  Kali laughed and laughed and then would say "headlights" again and laugh some more. 
After 10 minutes the giggling began to slow down.  But Lana called out, "Hey, look over there - purple portapotties!"  This time all four girls were hysterical. Purple portapotties became a tongue twister and they laughed until they could barely breath.

What a blessing to have sisters!

Our One Year Anniversary!

Kali has been here over a year now and is amazing! We thought helping a six year-old transition into our family and culture would be much more difficult than it has been. She quickly learned English and fit in with her new siblings. The girls have gotten along since day one.  Our youngest (4 years old) and Kali were jealous of my attention at the beginning.  They loved each other, but didn't really want to share mom.  So I often had two girls on my lap and fighting for my attention. That can still happen but not all that often.

I worked with Kali at home from last March through the summer getting her ready for Kindergarten.  I don't think she had used scissors before or had done much, if any, coloring.  So we worked on fine motor skills, learning letters, and letter sounds, I read aloud a lot of books (fair tales, classics, our family favorites, etc.). She did both Kumon and Get Ready for the Code workbooks. She attended Sunday School and Wed morning preschool (where I am the teacher) at church during the women's Bible study.  By mid-August she was very ready for Kindergarten and has done very well.

She sleeps well and the range of what she will eat continues to expand. She really likes meat, plain pasta, gogurts, and fruit. She loves pizza and ice cream! She has been very healthy. She is tiny, under 3% in height, but has gotten closer to the growth chart 3% line over the last year!

Overall, she has had very few issues, but she has had daily tantrums or meltdowns.  As an example, about a month ago, Brad and I drove separately to church and he went home first with a few of the kids.  Kali didn't notice they were leaving.  When they were gone she said she wanted to go with dad.  I told her he had already left and she sat down on the ground and refused to move. After about 10 minutes I ended up carrying her to the car while she cried and flailed. Fortunately, she is not very big so I can carry her.  In the last month the meltdowns and whining have been greatly reduced! Her maturity has taken a big leap in the last several weeks. She is usually pretty easy going now. She has always been truthful and considerate of other people's feelings. And she has been affectionate and cuddly since early in our relationship.

We are very blessed to have Kali in our family and love her dearly!

Sisters and Best Friends

Amy and Kali are best friends as well as sisters. They play together all day and have started dressing in matching outfits whenever they can.  They are so cute together. This picture was at Chuck E Cheese last summer for Amy's birthday.  It was Kali's half birthday and so we had a double birthday party. It was just our family and I think it was one of the most fun parties I have ever been to.  The two girls were so excited and cute. I am so blessed to be their mom.

Funny Stories

One of the best parts of having many children is that there is something pretty humorous everyday.  We also have at least one person cry and usually a couple of siblings arguing - but there is a lot to laugh about.

My friend, Crysta, reminded me of a couple of funny Kali stories:  Brad and I try to go out for dinner a couple times a month.  The two youngest girls don't really like us going without them.  One night Kali told Brad and I she didn't want us to go.  Brad told her it was important for us to go once in awhile.  Kali told him that he could out, but not mom. And she said, "find another mom to take out."  Brad thought that was funny, but I explained to her that he was not allowed to take another mom out to dinner:)

When we decided to adopt again, I asked the two youngest if they wanted another sibling.  Amy said in 4 year old fashion, "we is enough." Kali agreed.  Then I asked, what if it is another child from Ethiopia?  Kali's eyes lit up and she rubbed her hands together and said oh, yes! Then I said we were planning on adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. Kali looked disappointed and irritated.  "A boy??! Why would we want a boy?" Now they both seem to warming up to the idea and agree his pictures are cute.

Our oldest is getting ready to take his behind the wheel test to get his driver's license.  This has made driving and cars a hot topic at our house. Our almost 15 year old can hardly wait for his turn and is talking about saving up to buy Brad's car in a year. Yesterday he asked Amy, who will start Kindergarten next year, if she would like him to drive her to first grade.  She said, "No, I will have my own car." Expectations are apparently very high in our family!

We are so lucky in this country!

Yesterday, as I drove the girls home in the car, I told them that tomorrow night we are going to a dinner at the Christian high school.  Our oldest is a senior and his soccer team is having a dinner to honor the senior players. The girls were very excited, particularly since we don't go out for dinner very often.

Kali said, "We are so lucky in this country." I asked her why she thought so.  She said because we get to celebrate holidays and sometimes go out to dinner. So cute!  She has had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's day. This really warmed my heart. She is still in transition and frequently whines to me when she doesn't get her own way. I am trying to help all of the kids have grateful hearts and it is a blessing to hear Kali being thankful without prompting.

A really big family!

Many times people react with suprise when Brad or I say we have 7 children (soon to be eight).  In Silicon Valley families tend to be small, so we do stand out a bit.

But the Kayes family is a really big family - they have 19 children, 16 adopted internationally.  I was blessed and inspired by watching the video interview below with Joe and Nancy Kayes.  What an awesome couple - they are the kind of people I would like to be when I grow up:) I loved hearing about some of their fears as they adopted and how they learned to just take things one day at a time.  God has truly blessed them.
http://www.facinglife.tv/episode/season_3/episode_16/episode_316.html

Kali's birthday

Kali just turned 7 and had her first birthday party.  We invited all the little girls in the afternoon kindergarten.
Kali was so excited and had a great time!

All Kali's sisters (and one brother) had a great time too!

Russian and Ethiopian Christmas!

For the last 6 years we have celebrated Russian Orthodox Christmas on Jan 7.  Ethiopia also celebrates Christmas on Jan 7, so this year we had Russian and Ethiopian Christmas.  Our friends who also have a Russian son celebrate with us.  My mom and her husband and Brad's parents joined us. We had great food and a fun time!

Disneyland fun!

The week before Christmas we went to Disneyland for three days. It was K. first visit and she loved it.  She loved Thunder Mountain roller coaster and kept asking to go on rides that go fast. Here is a picture of the girls on Grizzly Falls.  K. loved it!

Meeting princesses was another highlight!

We all had fun but K. was not happy to stop (and waste time)  to take the picture below.

Our oldest tore the MCL in his knee and stayed at a friend's house to rest his knee for soccer.   All that walking at the Disneyland parks would not have helped his knee.  We stayed at a Marriott Residence Inn near the park.  Our room had two bedrooms - one with 2 queen size beds and one with bunk beds.  The living room had a sofa sleeper.  It is perfect for big families!