She is Absolutely, Positively... Officially Our Daughter!

Happily Introducing
Marguerite Rose Gieseke
"Rosie"
born April 16, 2008
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia


It's official... she is ours! We knew she was our daughter all along, but yesterday our attorney in Ethiopia was able to finally go to court and explain that to the judge and he agreed. We will find out our travel details over the next few days, but it will probably be mid September. My hope is to be able to update this blog and stay connected during our time in Ethiopia. Not sure how reliable the internet connection will be from our guest house, but I will do my best.

We are all completely over the moon with this happy news! There were many times when we weren't sure if it was actually going to happen, if we would ever be able to bring her home. Her adoption process was truly an emotional roller coaster ride, full of highs and lows...completely, utterly, exhausting. Now that we have been through court and know that she is legally ours and will be home soon is an enormous relief. We could not be more proud and excited to be the true parents of this amazing little girl. We love her so much and can't wait to meet her and bring her home...we count ourselves incredibly blessed to now have little Miss Rosie as a part of our family!
Hang on little one- we are coming to get you!

"I will be a grown up first..."

I happened to overhear this lovely exchange between brothers.

Jamie "I'm older then you, I was born first, I went to school first, I will learn to read first and I will be a grown up first..."
Henry "And you'll die first..."
Jamie "And then you will be all alone and sad without me..."
Henry "who will help me do stuff?"
Jamie "Nobody, because I will be dead."
Henry "that is sad."

Life as explained by the big brother.

Smiling turtle...not kidding.

Says Jamie..."I am totally not kidding and this giant turtle is looking at me and smiling."

He was totally not kidding...totally adorable turtle face.

Where the Wild Things Are

I saw a preview for a movie coming out in the fall based on the Maurice Sendak children's book Where the Wild Thing Are. In this photo Jamie reminds me so much of Max... King of the Wild Things..willing and capable of taming a wild beast or two.

Lily and Jamie absolutely loved going to nature day camp last week and I loved the fact that they could do it all without me. For the first week they roamed the woods and caught reptiles and for the second week it was all about insects. The idea was to catch as much wildlife as possible throughout the course of the week, study and observe the creepy crawlies and then release it all on the last day. On one of the days, Lily helped to catch an unusually large queen snake. Gulp. I am so glad that there are such people as fun young camp counselors who can celebrate the joy in finding an unusually large queen snake, because I am pretty sure that my reaction to such a beastie would be to run for the car and quickly roll up the windows.

Ponycart Rides

Together, Miss Mary and Prince the Wonderpony spent the afternoon giving pony cart rides. Her best buddy enjoyed a long ride around the farm and then her squirrely little brothers got to go for a much shorter but still fun trip with the cutest pony ever.
Ah, summertime... nothing like it!

Chickens!

I took Anna and the boys to visit my friends lovely little chicken operation. It was so cool! They have many gorgeous hens and one kind of bossy, but not too intimidating, little rooster dude. The kiddos had a great time admiring them and even better time throwing chicken feed for them to gobble up. We brought home 8 pretty eggs to try and hatch in our basement incubator. Once they hatch (if they hatch) we will take the little baby chickies back to their farm. They lady hens will have a bright future as layers... the guy chickens will most likely meet a different fate. I am hoping for a clutch of all girls.

It looks like an evil emperor from the death star battle station has invaded the entryway of our Rebel Base Command Center (nevermind that this evil emperor is wearing sporty tennis whites)... good thing we happened to have a young Jedi Knight on hand to battle the bad guys. After pausing briefly for a crossed light sabers photo opp... with some seriously tough guy Jedi faces... our hero moves on to bravely fight in a fierce saber duel and defeat the emperor. Hooray! We have been saved from the evil imperial forces and the fate of the galaxy and our entryway are secure. May the force be with you.