our dozen beautiful feet

We've been in the US for nearly five months now.  It has been a wonderful time of rest and re-connecting with family, some friends, and American culture.  The kids have had so many great experiences while we've been here, and we've made some great family memories.  But we are ready to go "home."  At this point, Jaipur definitely feels like home to us.  The kids often say how much they miss certain things about life in Jaipur, their house there, their friends, their things.  But also how much they'll miss certain things about their life and experiences here.  It's hard to be always saying goodbye and moving from one place to another... One of the stresses we've faced while being home has been finalizing everything for Meryn's adoption and paperwork.  We arrived in the US and within a week were at the court house registering her adoption and applying for a US birth certificate.  We received that in about 3 weeks time, along with a legal name...

I think Kiryn holds the record for craziest birthday track record: 1st birthday: in Ajmer, India 2nd birthday: in Delhi india 3rd birthday: in Dubai, UAE 4th & 5th birthday: in Jaipur, India 6th birthday: in USA Almost a different city each year!  So crazy... This year, since we were in the US, and it's cold and snowy, we decided to have a winter-themed party!  We made cupcakes and coconut covered ice cream "snowballs."  We made snow globes, and decorated the cupcakes, had pizza, and went ice skating.  It was such a blast!  For her birthday, Kiryn got a giant doll house, two teddy bears, a few new Lego Friends sets, and... her ears pierced!  For her birthday meals, she requested donuts for breakfast, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for lunch, and lasagna for dinner. Here's pictures of my beautiful six year old on her special day! : )

I'm so excited that the Season 3 Premier of Downton Abbey is tonight!  I seriously have been looking forward to it for weeks.  In honor of the Downton Abbey premier, I decided we'd have French Onion Soup, Shepherds Pie, and scones for dinner.  So much fun!  Can't wait to catch up with Matthew, Mary, and Anna and Bates!  Paul has to remind me after every episode, "Megan, they're not real people..."  Oh,... but they are... : )

I know I haven't blogged in forever, and I WILL catch up one day.  But I just had to sit down and write this before I forget it. Because I don't want to forget it. : ) Since we've been back in the US, Luke has enjoyed playing with big boys his age.  This has been great, but also a challenge as it has introduced a host of new things into our life, like armpit farts, certain vocabulary and themes of discussion that we are not used to. : ) So recently, Luke and Kiryn were working on a school project together.  Kiryn got the answer before he did, and he said a swear word I KNOW he's never heard in our house.  My eyes must have bugged, because he immediately started apologizing.  I asked him where he heard it. He was a little evasive, but finally named the person he'd heard say it.  We had a long talk about what kind of speech that is (UNWHOLESOME!) and why we don't use words like that.  And how now that he knows that, if he uses it again, it will brin...

I first "met" Missy Roepnack  in August of 2011.  She and her husband, also Paul, were in the process of adopting through the same agency as us.  We both got our referrals on the same day, and through the family Yahoo group, I found her blog, and saw some sweet pictures of them seeing their referrals for the first time.  I kind of liked her immediately. Over the next six months, we found a friend in each other.  Things were not going well for either of us in the latter halves of our adoptions, and we bonded over woes with the agency.  I can't really explain it other than to say that God just blessed us with a deep friendship by constant email and Skype communication.  There's really no other explanation. I was excited to get the chance to meet Missy. I'd never done anything like this before: made a friend on the internet, and gone to meet them in real life.  What is she was crazy? Well, she is.  And I love her! : ) Our family made the lo...

Since we've been overseas since our oldest children were small babies, none of our kids have gotten to participate in the American halloween.  I grew up going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, I think I was even a witch one year.  I'm no worse for the wear.  I have such fond memories of dressing up and going and seeing all the neighbors that we knew, because back then we knew them all.  They were all eager to see what we were dressed as, and happy to give us candy, because they knew us. There may be many valid reasons not to participate in Halloween, but as a mom who has fond memories of it as a child, and who's children have never gotten the opportunity to have a costume, we were really excited for our kids to go trick-or-treating this year, or at least once in their life. We had so much fun planning and figuring out who would dress as what!  Levi is really into the Franklin cartoons, and so that was our biggest chore: putting together a homemade Fran...

Once upon a time, there were a bunch of college grads who wanted to have an adventure.  None of them knew each other, and they were from all over the United States, but somehow, they all ended up living in Burkina Faso, West Africa for two years in the prime of their life.  It was hard.  It was good. They were stretched, and they grew, and they bonded like only sleeping under the stars and "going to the hill" to poo, and drinking ground water can bond people. Thirteen years later, these young ones have gone forth and multiplied.  Many are married, and since most spouses had never been met, and eyes had never been laid on the plethora of children, it was time for a reunion. A cabin in the hills of Tennessee was rented (well, two cabins to be precise).  We drove and flew, again, from all over the United States to spend a blissful 48 hours together.  It was loud, and crazy, and there was mini-golf in the basement. There was African tea, stories of days ...