Christmas 2011

This year we had an amazing Christmas! I am so very blessed. We were able to spend the week before Christmas with my parents. On Christmas Eve, we spent several hours with good friends eating a Mexican breakfast (kids were in pajamas) and decorating cookies. We also spent a few hours with Adam's parents and grandma as we do each year.

As soon as Wes lost his top two teeth,

I purchased this shirt for him. Perfect timing!

Alemitu pushing cousin Chloe around. Even though it
doesn't look like it, Chloe was having a blast.

At the zoo with grandma and grandpa!

Going down the polar slide at the zoo. Grandma and grandpa paid for
them to go a few times. The boys were yelling that it was the
best day ever after they finished riding. Grandma even went too!

On Christmas morning, the boys woke us up at 8:15 and they ran out to see that Santa had brought them new bikes and Ghostbuster toys. The boys love anything Ghostbusters since we bought them some used Ghostbuster toys on Ebay this summer. Alemitu got a cozy coupe, a little horse, and some other toys. She didn't care about unwrapping any gifts, but she stayed in her cozy coupe and pretended to drive all morning. My sister and her family came over for a few hours, and it was wonderful. After they left, our house was quiet. Alemitu was napping and the boys were playing in their room. I remember how my mom used to say that Christmas afternoons were so quiet as we played with our toys. It was such a beautiful and calm day, and we even went on a few bike rides. The boys haven't stopped playing with their toys, and we even had to ask them to go to bed around 1 a.m. last night. It has been a wonderful Christmas, and we are so very blessed.

Calvin riding his new bike with his Ghostbuster costume on.

When Alemitu saw these horses at the store, she would scream her head off.
She was terrified of the noise. I kept taking her to the store and letting her get
used to the "nice horsey". She loved her horse when she saw it under the tree.

She loves to sit in her cozy coupe. So far, she can go backwards in it.

My new bike!!!! My old bike broke a few months ago, and so I've been riding
Adam's. I am so happy I got a new one for Christmas! Alemitu and I always
ride to the park and the grocery store during the week.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Jones got Alemitu this slide. She has
no fear and slides down it so fast -- over and over and over again.

Normally for Christmas we pick a family with my sister and provide them with gifts. This year, we did something different. We are helping a family in Korah (the dump and leprosy colony we visited in Ethiopia). These people really touched our hearts, and so we are providing for a single mother to have her children in day care while she works. This provides two meals for the family, education for the children, medical care, etc. You can watch a video below regarding this program. Because of the support they have received in the past 6 months, they are waiting to get approval to add more families to this program. That is wonderful!

I hope you and your families had a great holiday as well. We love you all!

Alemitu's Hair

After 9 months, I have started to feel like I finally understand how to take care of Alemitu's hair. This week I decided to do something a little more advanced. My goal was to complete the style within 3 hours. NOT including any breaks, it took me over 5 1/2 hours. Including breaks and two trips to the beauty store for more hair extensions, it took 9 hours.

Alemi did great. She has learned to just lay on the floor and rest her head on my legs -- all while watching Care Bears. Today I saw Care Bears over and over and over again. Allie even fell asleep at one point. While I am so sore to the point I want to cry, two good things came out of this. Allie got a great style, and I learned that she is ready to fly on an airplane again. If she can sit all day and get her hair done, I think she is finally old enough to sit still on a plane.

Step 1: Remove last week's style and brush out her hair.


Step 2: Shampoo her hair, and comb it out again. After shampooing, put it in loose braids so it doesn't tangle up overnight.


Step 3: Set up hair braiding station. Fully equipped with 3 types of hair extensions; 4 different products; beads; clips; scissors; combs; bands -- and Care Bears.


Step 4: Start the clock and start the braiding.


Step 5: Take lots of Advil and hope that this style lasts at least 10 days.