A Little Amharic

  

                                                     Kali turned eight last month!

When Kali joined our family almost two years ago she learned English so fast and stop speaking  Amharic so quickly that the little bit of Amharic the rest of learned was soon dropped.  Although Tulem speaks English pretty well for being here 5 months, somehow some Amharic lingers. I-deh-LEHM - No - is popular and kwahss - ball. Tulem's favorite Amharic word is bulicay - I have no idea how to actually spell it and we may be pronouncing it incorrectly since we are copying a three year old. A friend in Colin's Sophomore class is Ethiopian and she said it means bad person, but she has assured me it is not a cuss word. Tulem use to say it when he got upset with his siblings.  Now they all say it to taunt each other.
Earlier today Tulem was trying to get my 18 year old's attention, but Luke was on the computer and not paying attention.  Finally, Tulem yelled, "you bul-i-cay!" And shrieked with delight when Luke got up to chase him!

Cute and Funny

The girls as princesses dressed Tulem as a prince - big white shirt, forrest green pants, and boots.

The two oldest girls are selling Girl Scout cookies. I am keeping the boxes in my room for protection, but apparently that isn't enough.  Tulem was walking by with a an unaurthorized Thin Mint cookie and I asked him where he got it.  It said his sister gave it to him.  That sister denied opening a box and would not say where she put the box. An informant suggested looking under my bed.  I found an open box with half the cookies missing. My informant suggested I look in her sister's underwear drawer and not suprisingly, there were some Thin Mint cookies. The guilty party confessed.
Meanwhile, I found another opened box under my bed - this time Samoas.  I asked the girls who opened that box and no one admitted it.  Although the Thin Mint culprit said she doesn't like that kind of cookie.  I realized who does like Samoas and confronted that child, who then threw herself on the bed and started crying. Those Girl Scout cookies are just too much temptation.
I have since moved the cookies to a more secure location:)

Some December Highlights

We had a great holiday season!  The girls and I went to the Nutcracker. As it started, Amy asked me in a loud whisper why they weren't talking:)

On Christmas Eve we went to church.

 The guys...

The girls..

All eight kids!

After Christmas we drove to Northeastern Arizona, stayed at my Dad's vacation home and met up with a wonderful YWAM Ethiopia family, The Monahan's.  They took up to a great sledding spot!

Tulem and Kali enjoyed experiencing the snow for the first time.  You don't see much snow in Ethiopia:)

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.