Densmore Family Adventures

Z is 3!!

2012-01-16T19:50:00.001-07:00

Yet another reason to celebrate the dream of MLK... my beautiful daughter's 3rd birthday! Happy birthday to my brilliant, beautiful Z. You are such an amazing blessing and I'm grateful for you everyday. I'm so thankful to be your mommy.

Here's how sweet Z has grown and changed (yes, it's the same "Birthday Girl" shirt)

Wonderful at 1!

Totally Cute at 2!

Beautiful Z at 3!

Gymnastics!! (and some new hair)

2012-01-08T06:12:00.005-07:00

Z started preschool gymnastics yesterday and had a fab time (after she stopped hugging my leg and squealing for Mommy). The class is at 8:15AM on Saturday mornings so the challenge is that HRH is not so diva-delightful early in the morning.

Since Mommy is headed out on travel all week, Z also got some new hair to help preserve Daddy's sanity during the single-parenting marathon. Check out her new parts and braids with clear beads. Love it.

Arkansas Holiday Adventures

2011-12-31T21:18:00.002-07:00

Just returned from our epic holiday road trip to Arkansas. Despite my major reservations about a 15+ hour drive, the kids were actually pretty good. Of course those Nintendo DSis that Santa delivered helped considerably. Santa is pretty dang smart. In the end, 4 days of driving was not awful but I'm not anxious to do it again soon.

I won't lie. Christmas this year was hard. Real hard. On Christmas Eve, I had a bit of an emotional breakdown over missing my Granny and Dad. I was a puddle of pitiful. In the end, I was glad to make the trip to Arkansas to see my family. I love them all dearly and I'm so glad my kids get to spend precious time with family and enjoy the great outdoors.

Opening presents at Grammy's house:

Grammy and Z in their matching Snow White costumes. Priceless.

Christmas at Morrison's:

Fabulous Morrison Girls. We're gonna go on tour someday :)

Holly and Cari gave Z makeup. She LOVED it! Aunt Courtney was kind enough to doll her up.

Holy Eyeshadow!

Boys got dinosaur kits with goggles and Nerf guns. Turns out the Nerf darts stick to the goggles nicely :)

One of the great things about being in Arkansas was the excellent weather and our great outdoor adventures. We had a great time playing in the creek, hiking, geocaching and hanging out at Uncle Mike's.

Throwing rocks in the creek.

Throwing rocks in the lake. I love this picture of my niece.

The lake was amazingly clear. Beautiful!

Grammy and her babies on the Island Trail at Lake DeGray State Park.

Z and Grammy discussing important matters while hiking.

Cutie cousins sitting on a very cool tree.

First geocache. Wasn't too hard but got us started.

Next geocache. I found it!!

Claiming geocache loot!

I love Lake DeGray.

Z re-hiding a micro cache.

Z posing with grass in her mouth like a regular country girl (with a little diva flair).

Golden eagle on Lake DeGray.

Trees and Sky. Beautiful.

Christmas with the Hughes clan:

Sunset at the Allen's new house.

Ever the doting Uncle Mike. Z loves her jewelry box.

More outdoor adventures at Uncle Mike's:

Ellie May the Mtn Dew drinking mule. Yes, you read that right.

Petting the deer.

Checking out Clyde the donkey.

An emu egg. I think it's beautiful!

Holy Zebra.

Fancy chickens.

Lemons, oranges, tangerines and kumquats in Uncle Mike's greenhouse.

King of the Mountain = King of the Woodpile in Arkansas

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T22:02:00.001-07:00

Santa did make a stop at our house even though the Densmore trio found their names on the "naughty" list some throughout the year. Z also received a pink present. She didn't care what was in it, she just wanted a pink present.

After gifts and breakfast, we headed east on our epic road trip. The whole trip was initiated by Daddy's desire to plan a road trip around a visit to the Big Texan in Amarillo. For real. I can't make this up. So where did we have Christmas dinner? Yes, folks. The Big Texan. Z contemplated doing the 72 oz steak challenge but decided that she really couldn't take on all the fixins. :) We all had our drinks in plastic boots and the kids got cowboy hats. The food was less than stellar but we got to play with armadillo bobble head toys. I think Christmas dinner at the Big Texan is on someone's "bucket list"... not mine but funny memories all the same.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T21:53:00.001-07:00

Great at 8!

2011-12-17T20:03:00.005-07:00

Eight years old. I could comprehend 6. I could wrap my head around 7. But 8? I don't know why it's so hard to believe the super J is 8. I guess when you're 8, you start to cross over some "little kid" threshold. And then again, I'm amazed with my ability to keep J fed and watered for 8 years.

At one point in my life, I never envisioned myself with kids. Really. I didn't think it was in the cards for me. Eight years ago, I became a mom. Thank you J for being that gift. You are an amazing, complex, gifted treasure.

My little powder junkie

Taking a break from a long day of shredding the slopes.

A year ago today...

2011-12-03T04:59:00.000-07:00

we passed court in Ethiopia. We sat before the judge, she reviewed our case and declared "he is yours." This child was legally my son.

And we had to leave him. Heart wrenching.

It would be 3 more long months before we were allowed to return to Ethiopia for our child.

A year ago today...

2011-12-02T16:54:00.003-07:00

we met our new son for the first time in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Magical Firsts

2011-11-26T18:12:00.011-07:00

Sweet Fikru has been with our family for just over 8 months. So, the holiday season is filled with many firsts for him and it brings a whole new level of magic to the season. Here are some great "firsts" from the past few days.

Tree decorating:

Kids' tree:

Mommy's tree:

FIVE stockings hung. He LOVES seeing his name on things.

Big brother reading Polar Express to the littles. We headed to Durango later that morning to ride the Polar Express Train at the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Road trip!! Trio at the Pagosa Springs Brewing Company.

Pictures from Polar Express Train Ride in Durango, CO:

This nice gentleman held Fikru up so he could see the Polar Express coming into the station.

Here comes the train!!

Cutie pie trio. So excited to be on the train in their matching jammies from Grammy!!

Brothers!!

Hear comes the hot chocolate!

Reading the Polar Express story.

Golden tickets!!

The Conductor punched their tickets with an "A."

Fikru looking out the window at the "North Pole."

Big brother showing Fikru the Christmas carol words. (check out their sweet reflection in the window :)

Mommy and her babies!!

SANTA!!! is. on. the. train.

Santa with boys. Z's head got cut off. She was screaming for her Daddy anyway.

Fikru dancing with his new friend the "snack lady."

For real reindeer.

Bell! Sweet! I hear it!

Brothers!!

Morning horse ride. I don't recall seeing a sign to keep kids off. There's probably one now :)

Look who's 6!

2011-11-20T07:46:00.005-07:00

Our sweet little Kembatta boy is 6 today! We had a little party with a few of his friends yesterday. Oh, the joy of giving him his first birthday party!

I wasn't there the day he was born. Whether that day is actually today or another day, I'm not really sure.

I wasn't there when he smiled the first time or took his first steps.

I wasn't there when he said his first word.

I wasn't there when he gave his first hug or kiss.

I wasn't there then. But I'm here now. And you know what? I'm damn lucky to have this kid.

I was there when he flew on an airplane for the first time.

I was there when he tasted ice cream for the first time.

I was there for his first day of preschool. I cried.

I was there for his first day of Kindergarten. I cried.

I was there to give him his first birthday party and remind him that HE was supposed to blow out the candles.

Happy Birthday Sweet, Sweet Boy! I'm grateful that we all stepped out on a leap of faith to love each other.

Boo-tastic cute stuff

2011-10-30T09:00:00.002-06:00

Fall Fun

2011-10-24T20:01:00.004-06:00

Nothing more fun than a pile o' leaves.

Kwage Mesa

2011-10-22T16:39:00.008-06:00

We rocked some afternoon hiking on Kwage Mesa... 4.5 miles, 3 kids, 1 mommy, 6 ant hills, 1 snake, 2 airplane sightings, 1 bum in cactus, 10 horses, lots of sunflowers, etc.

We're off!

Always taking the road less traveled.

Granola bars in the shade. Fikru got his bum in a cactus though!

Trio

Views from the mesa.

Chasing a snake! Yes, really. Jacob asked what kind of snake it was and Fikru responded, "It's a Cheetah snake!" (It had spots :)

Sunflowers!

Watching the horses.

Support CROP Hunger Walk!!!

2011-10-09T10:33:00.001-06:00

Why We're Walking

-CROP Hunger Walks help children and families worldwide -- and right here in the U.S. -- to have food for today, while building for a better tomorrow. Each year some two million CROP Walkers, volunteers, and sponsors put their hearts and soles in motion, raising over $16 million per year to help end hunger and poverty around the world -- and in their own communities. And you are part of it!

-As many of you know, 2 of our children were born in Ethiopia. We're very interested in supporting humanitarian efforts in Africa. The Los Alamos Crop Walk is our opportunity to participate as family in a fundraising effort that will impact our community and the world.

-Church World Service works with our local partners in Africa in ways as numerous as the needs and promises of that vast continent.

-Hunger, refugees, water scarcity, families affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS. CWS strives to provide immediate relief and comfort as well as long-term solutions--walking with some of the most vulnerable women, children, and men as they work to forge better lives for themselves and their communities. Combining work in emergency response, grassroots development, refugee assistance, and advocacy, Church World Service works with local community and faith partners across the continent.

To learn more about CWS and donate to our team, check out our page.

Balloon Fiesta!!

2011-10-02T04:40:00.008-06:00

We often question our sanity as parents. Three kids at Balloon Fiesta? At night? A 100,000+ people? Let's do it!

The kiddos were GREAT and we all had a BLAST! The pictures don't quite do it justice.

Oh, the cuteness is overwhelming.

Destroyed previous clothing with cookies 'n' cream ice cream. Souvenir t-shirts pulled into the game.

Pretending to be the Statue of Liberty. ?? Don't ask. J's idea.

Tackle brother!!

Way cool NASA tent.

Layin' in the grass again.

Down the field we go!

The trio supervised the whole process of getting this balloon up.

More views from the Night Glow.

Mountain Madness

2011-09-25T06:42:00.002-06:00

Some day, I'll find energy to write more substance. Until then, I'll share pictures.

Recent adventure? We road the ski lift up the mountain. It was Fikru's first time on the lift and he did really well. HRH will be riding in her Daddy's lap next time :) She was too busy flirting with the mountain bikers in the chair behind us to be still. We hiked from 10,400 ft down to the lodge at 9,000 ft. The boys are rock star hikers. Yes, HRH hiked the whole way, too!

Fikru on the ski lift.

Trio at the top.

The littles with post-hike chocolate.

First Soccer Game of the Season

2011-09-10T12:22:00.004-06:00

Not sure who actually won, but J had a GREAT time and played AWESOME. So proud of him!

Bonkers for Bayo Canyon

2011-09-03T11:33:00.005-06:00

Mommy and kids went on an awesome Saturday morning hike in Bayo Canyon. All 3 kids were rigged up with Camelbaks and hats. All 3 kids hiked for 2 hours. Fikru saw a red pig. Zoe saw a giant purple caterpillar in a cave. Gotta love imagination. Jacob was on a mission to find a lizard so we spent a good deal of time hunting for the perfect (patient) baby lizard.

Cute hiking trio.

Check out our Camelbaks.

20lb trail crusher.

J and Z.

Fikru leading the way.

Super J.

Goin' on a lizard hunt.

Found! Jacob caught a cute baby lizard. It climbed into his Camelbak for a while and reappeared later down the trail. I told Jacob that we had to find a home for the lizard. Jacob suggested that we find a "3 story rock condo in the sun." I think he found something pretty close.

First Week of Soccer

2011-09-02T04:26:00.000-06:00

Both boys are in fall recreational league soccer. They are having a blast. Here's a few pictures from our first week.

READ, READ, READ!!

2011-08-24T09:22:00.002-06:00

Hi friends,

This is Shonda from http://www.godwilladd.com/">God Will Add. Crystal has kindly let me take over her blog to tell you about an awesome Baby Shower like none other. A couple of my friends have teamed up and we're trying to raise funds for an organization called FOVC. They help provide aid and hope to the immediate areas where our kiddos are from, an area that has been hit hard by this horrible famine.

Shameless plug: Will you hop on over to http://www.godwilladd.com/2011/08/shower-time.html">my shower? I promise I won't make you smell mystery diapers and no I won't let you wrap toilet paper around my abdomen.

For $13 FOVC can feed one starving child for one month. So far, this shower has raised $710. If you're amazing at math like myself, you know that 54 kids who didn't have food today, will have food tomorrow and for the next month because of the generosity of a select few. Wow! Can we make it 100 kids? Will you please help me spread the word?

Of all the great charities out there, why have I chose to rally behind FOVC? A few simple reasons:

1) There are a lot of other great charities that are working to fight this famine, and I (despite my cynicism of big organizations) have supported them. But FOVC is the only NGO working directly in the areas my boys are from, and where their first families still live. Even if I liked nothing else about FOVC, this one simple fact would make me want to support them. Thankfully, there are lots of other things I like about them:

2) They are a very small grassroots organization and very conservative with their money. All their workers are volunteers, and they do all their traveling on their own dime, which means all the money we give goes directly to feeding the kids and helping their community fight poverty with long-term goals in mind.

3) I have a close friend who has done aid work with them in Ethiopia (and is on her way back in a few weeks), knows many personal details about how they operate and spend their money. She's a Dave Ramsey fiscal conservative like myself, and she fully endorses them. They have an independent bookkeeper who verifies that over 96% of the funds go directly to Ethiopia.

4) Directly from the president of FOVC: "We have an amazing team of volunteers! Our board members and officers (if I do say so myself) are doing outstanding work! We spend a lot of time and effort educating ourselves on best practices of economic development (it's what my husband does!) and strive to implement every program using best practices. This means we empower, not enable. Every effort we undertake is aimed at offering long-term sustainability, success...and HOPE

Have I convinced you they're great?

http://www.fovc.org/feed-hope-donations.html">Click here and support them:

And then (this part is optional),http://www.godwilladd.com/2011/08/shower-time.html"> click here and tell MB how excited you are about his arrival into our family.

http://twitter.com/share">Tweet

God Will Add: Shower Time

2011-08-23T05:46:00.001-06:00

Help our friends celebrate meeting their new boy, MB, with a unique "shower"!! MB is one of Fikru's little buddies from Ethiopia. We're so delighted that he will be joining his new family soon. Check out:

God Will Add: Shower Time: Dear Captain Murdock, your blog has been hijacked and it’s “BABY” SHOWER TIME!!!!!!! We are so excited for the “A Team”, and that they are so close to being united with MB!!!! Will you join us in celebrating MB with a shower?

In lieu of gifts, Captain Murdock has asked that her friends and family (YOU) donate to a charity aiding the people affected by famine in the Horn of Africa. And, along with your donation, that you post a comment with prayers or excited wishes or whatever for MB joining their family. Captain Murdock will turn these prayers and well wishes into a great memory for MB in his "baby book" about how excited people were, and how they helped out his country at the same time. Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (FOVC) is an amazing grassroots organization that the “A team” supports. You can read more about their work here. They have a relief effort underway called Feed Hope that needs your support!

We are asking you to give to the Feed Hope campaign in celebration of MB. You can go to this secure website and donate in any amount. http://www.fovc.org/feed-hope-donations.html

First Day of School and Fishing

2011-08-20T15:25:00.008-06:00

We returned from Arkansas late Thursday night. The boys attended their first day of school on Friday. Their official first day would have been Monday, the 15th. Both boys had a great time and seemed happy to be at school. They both brought home a pile of paperwork and homework. They seem to be growing up so fast!

J man on his first day of SECOND grade.

Fikru on his first day of KINDERGARTEN.

Handsome boys ready for school.

Today we went fishing with friends from church. We didn't catch any fish but we had a good time.

Gettin' ready to catch some fish.

Jacob with his new Zebco.

Fikru with his new Zebco.

Daddy and HRH fishing with her princess pole.

Daddy and Fikru.

J baiting his hook with bright pink salmon eggs (or pink beads as Zoe calls them).

Zoe fighting hard to pull in her big... wad of grass.

Crowd builds around the fish. The kids then proceeded to shake the living daylights out of the poor fish.

Z showing off the princesses on her pole.

The littles cheesin' it up for the camera.

My Granny

2011-08-16T20:05:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love my Granny. I love my Granny big time. I swore that she had to live forever because I couldn't imagine living my life without her. I lost my Granny on Saturday, August 13th. The days since seem like a bad dream. I keep thinking I'll wake up and be able to call her and hear, "Hey Baby" on the other end. Thinking, hoping, wishing but I know I won't hear her say that again. One thing is for sure, I am so blessed to have had this amazing woman in my life for so long. She was my rock and I will miss her dearly.

A special thank you to all of the wonderful people who provided food for our family. Thank you to everyone that attended visitation, the funeral service and burial. My Granny was loved by so many. I am also incredibly blessed to have such an amazing family and to have grown up in such a wonderful community.

Shirley Jo Hughes

(March 5, 1935 - August 13, 2011)

Tennessee Vacation

2011-08-06T20:38:00.002-06:00

Just enjoyed a great visit to Tennessee to visit family and friends.

Pratt Museum at Fort Campbell

Densmore trio with cutie cousins.

Brothers lovin' some helicopters and airplanes.

Cutie cousin.

J man lookin' cool.

J thinking a lot about all the names on the wall.

Helicopter inside museum.

Zoe tried to climb the wall like this guy.

Zoe also tried to take on Uncle Sam.

Wearin' down the 4 wheeler.

A super special part of our trip was reuniting Fikru with one of his best buddies from Ethiopia. This little guy was adopted by a family near Nashville. It was so nice seeing the boys together and visiting their sweet family.

Another highlight of our trip was Zoe getting her ears pierced. She finally convinced her Daddy. Note how he is wrapped around her little finger in this picture:

Posing before.

Posing after. Very happy with pierced ears and a lollipop!

D for Done.

Z's routine inspection of all of Grammy's moles. Yep, they're still all there.

Crazy kids with Grammy.

Lollipops on the front porch... silly faces included.

Densmore trio lovin' some lollipops.

Z thinks that lollipops should be a food group.

Super Girl!

One year after our referral...

2011-08-02T19:33:00.005-06:00

One year ago today, we received our referral for our sweet, little guy Fikru. Here are some of the pictures we received then...

Here's that same little dude today... goofiness added.

Dear sweet Fikru,

What a blessing you are to our family. We love you forever!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Colorado Vacation - Day 1

2011-07-14T20:36:00.002-06:00

Day 1: Tuesday, July 5th

The smoke was thick in Los Alamos. LANL was still closed. Monts ago, we planned a vacation to Glenwood springs for July 6-10 with Jeff's family. We decided to flee the smoke and head north to Colorado a day early. We left early Tuesday morning. Fikru asked where we were going. I said, "Colorado." He said "Avocado? I like avocado." :)

By 9:30AM, we were at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. I love this place!! So very cool... or rather, so very hot in July. Still a very good time!!

Trio at Great Sand Dunes

Sand! Everywhere!

HRH stylin' on the dunes

J makin' sand angels... or something

Jumpin'

HRH: "JACOB!!!! Pweez hold my hand!!!"

Sweet Fikru

Runnin' Fikru

Racin' down the dunes

Pic-a-nic at the dunes. Sandwiches and cheetos with a side of sand for digestive health.

See my cheetos!!

After AM adventures and lunch at the dunes, we headed north through Poncha Springs and Buena Vista to Leadville. After checking into our hotel, we went to the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. The museum was actually very nice. The boys loved it! I highly recommend it the next time you swing through Leadville, CO.

National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum

Gem Castle

Explosives! Cool.

Frost Mineral Gallery at Mining Museum

Hardrock Mine exhibit. Fikru wasn't too sure so he stayed close to Jacob.

Strikin' it rich!

HRH spinnin' the wheel to learn about minerals. Or just spinnin' the wheel so brothers can't.

This is how I found Zoe in the bathroom area of the Magic Room of Industrial Minerals. Guess she need to go potty. We found a real bathroom pronto and were thankful that the lid was sealed shut on the exhibit!

Catcing water drops in the Prospector's Cave. The Quartz Wall is from the Idarado Mine near Telluride, Colorado.

Arkansas quartz in the Crystal Room.

Colorado Vacation - Day 2

2011-07-14T20:35:00.003-06:00

Day 2: Monday, July 6th

View from our hotel in Leadville.

Downtown Leadville

Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad

The Matchless Mine Tour

Independence Pass - my kids were the only 3 people sprinting at 12,000+ ft.

Glenwood Springs, CO - the beautiful house we rented and enjoyed with Jeff's family

Colorado Vacation - Day 3

2011-07-14T20:34:00.000-06:00

Day 3: Thursday, July 6th

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park

Ridin' the tram to the top

Fort Where Am I Maze. LOTS of fun!

View of Glenwood Springs from the park

Trio with their cutie cousin!! A rambunctious quartet!!

Cave Tour at Adventure Park

Sweet Boys

Giant Canyon Swing at Adventure Park. Yes, Mommy rode this and it was AWESOME!

Bull Ridin'

Rock Climbin' - Jacob is at the top!

Z thoroughly enjoying a rock candy lollipop.

Colorado Vacation - Day 4

2011-07-14T20:33:00.001-06:00

Day 4: Friday, July 7th

Snowmass Village, CO - Snowmass Ice Age Discovery Center

Z and the lovely staff lady. I'm not sure who was educating who here.

Fikru and the viewmaster.

Love this face!

Jacob worked hard to complete a worksheet of questions. After he finished he was rewarded with a chocolate mammoth... or mastodon? Whatever, it was chocolate and he was happy!

Glenwood Railroad Museum

Trio watching the Amtrak train leave.

Colorado Vacation - Day 5

2011-07-14T20:31:00.000-06:00

Day 5: Saturday, July 8th

Glenwood Springs Recreational Center - forgot my camera but the place was super nice and we had lots of fun. Fikru also went rock climbing for the first time. Here's what the place looks like:

Colorado Vacation - Day 6

2011-07-14T20:30:00.000-06:00

Day 6: Sunday, July 9th

We left Glenwood Springs and traveled east on 70 through Eagle. At Vail, we headed south on 24. We stopped at all the mountain passes along the way. We had lunch at the Laughing Ladies Restaurant in Salida. We finally got home around 5PM. YAY! Our two-week nomadic adventure is finally over.

Tennessee Pass just north of Leadville, CO

Laughing Ladies Restaurant in Salida, CO

Poncha Pass just south of Salida, CO

Poncha Pass

Las Conchas Fire and Evacuation: Days 7 and 8

2011-07-04T20:27:00.004-06:00

Day 7: Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

The Las Conchas fire was approximately 114,000 acres.

On Saturday morning, we took the kids to the National Atomic Museum. The boys had a great time. Zoe whined incessantly. Guess there wasn’t enough pink and glitter for her taste. I really thought the shiny B61 would appease her need for bling but I was wrong. Mommy likes the B61. Zoe did love the talking Einstein display. She would push the buttons, run off and imitate Einstein by waving her hands in the air. The boys loved the electrolysis experiment that makes hydrogen and oxygen gas. The full size airplanes were also a big hit with the boys.

The National Atomic Museum

The National Atomic Museum - B61

The National Atomic Museum - B29

Big bro educating littles on B-29 bomb bay.

Electrolysis Experiment. POP goes the hydrogen and oxygen!!!

Zoe entertaining the Einstein puppet display. For some reason she says this is Dr. Ben (her pediatrician :)

Push button, run away, wave hands like Einstein (a.k.a. Dr. Ben)

After the museum, we had lunch at Saggio’s near UNM. Pretty good food with plenty of leftovers for dinner. Daddy has been giving UrbanSpoon.com a workout on this evacuation-vacation. In the afternoon, we made our way to Old Town. The boys enjoyed the Rattlesnake Museum while Zoe and I checked out some turtles and did some shopping at the Chile Shop and jewelry stores.

The Rattlesnake Museum

Zoe inspecting the turtle.

Old Town - San Felipe de Neri Church

The kids picked out matching wooden cross necklaces at the San Felipe church and then had ice cream next door at Crave.

We went back to the hotel for a bit. After some very brief rest, the trio decided that swimming was in order. These children truly have more energy than you can possibly imagine. So, off to 2+ hours of swimming. Saggio's leftovers for dinner. I talked to a sweet friend on Saturday night and made plans for Sunday afternoon.

The really spectacular news of the day was RAIN. We watched the news and saw rain in Los Alamos. What an unbelievably wonderful blessing!!! Albuquerque got a little bit of rain, too. Nothing like the smell of wet dirt!. I know that Los Alamos residents are anxious to get home. Everyone wants life to get back to normal. However, the constant complaining about being evacuated is highly annoying. Our homes are still standing. Praise!!! Just because our homes are still standing does not mean we are out of danger and the fire is out. The fire is far from contained, still massive and continues to threaten a lot of land. I really do trust that the best people are making the best decisions for our town. The team work between so many different groups has been absolutely amazing. So proud of the things people can do when they work together!

Day 8: Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

The fire continued to grow to over 120,000 acres.

On Sunday morning, we intended to attend church at St. Stephen's Methodist Church in Albuquerque. As I was getting clothes ready, my cell phone rang at 7AM. It was the "reverse 911" system recording notifying me that access to Los Alamos would be open at 8AM. Wonderful but kind of surprising. I made arrangements with the hotel to check out at 11AM. Jeff and I worked on packing and getting the kids dressed. Luckily we did not have to be in a huge hurry. We had breakfast at the hotel and chatted with others headed up the hill. While I was glad to be going home, there was a certain degree of anxiety shadowing everything. Was it safe? How bad would the smoke be? Will the kids be OK? Will the fire come back toward town? We left the hotel and stopped by Target (yet again, I know). We discovered that both Zoe and Fikru had grown out of their tennis shoes and needed new ones pronto. New shoes acquired. After Target, we headed over to a sweet friend's house to say hi. She had made a special "celebration" cake for us and we all enjoyed it together. Thank you!!! :)

The road north toward Santa Fe and Los Alamos gave us a view of the southern end of the Las Conchas fire near Cochiti. This fire really is a massive living beast!! The rain clouds began to build and we saw lightning in Santa Fe and it rained a bit. Ah, the sweet smell of rain and wet dirt! After a quick, late lunch, Jeff and Jacob headed up the hill to Los Alamos. Fikru, Zoe and I made a brief stop at Trader Joe's to grab a few groceries. TJ's was insanely crowded as usual. Fikru and Zoe were drawing their own crowd of admirers. I just wanted to get my stuff and get out and was not feeling very social. Yes, I know my kids are cute. Thank you. Yes, they are both mine. Now get your organic, gluten free, vegan bread and get out of my way. The TJ's cashier gave Fikru and Zoe a ton of stickers. They covered their faces with stickers and started drawing an even bigger crowd at the front of the very crowded store. Thank you children. You will not be going on the "road" with your little act. However, you may wear your stickers on your face in the car on the way home.

TJ's stickers

Off to Los Alamos. Finally.

There was no line of cars. No waiting. Very quiet. I was a little emotional remembering how I had left the town a full week before. I was so scared. I'll admit it. I had never seen any like this fire before. I was a bit sad coming back in town. Don't get me wrong. I was delighted that my house and town were still standing. Anyway, part of "coming home" for me is seeing the clear blue sky and mountains. I couldn't see anything coming into town. The smoke was thick. Very thick. I missed the blue sky and mountains. They're still there though. I took some pictures coming into town.

Los Alamos rock. Typically you can clearly see the Jemez Mountains in the distance behind the rock.

Helicopters and water tankers at the airport.

Headed west into town. Again, typically you can clearly see the Jemez Mountains but the view is completely gray with smoke.

Our neighborhood clouded in smoke.

HOME. Evidence that our house is still standing. Hubby is coming out the door to help me unload the car.

Sun going down through the incredibly thick smoke.

Everything at home was as we left it. Lizzie the cat was totally fine. In fact, she seemed a bit annoyed that we came home and especially annoyed that we brought the children back with us. She still had plenty of food and water so it seems as if she had a nice little relaxing vacation. The house smells like a smoke shack at a BBQ joint. Actually, I'm pretty sure that BBQ joints smell better since they don't use ponderosa pine. The smoke is extremely bad in town. We have to keep the house closed up so it's rather uncomfortable inside. We're all just happy to be home but the smoke is tough. Fikru started coughing within 5 minutes of getting home yesterday. Jacob and Zoe seem OK now. I'm cranky. My throat and eyes were already burning. I have even more respect for all the people that have stayed around town and worked so hard this past week! In light of the smoke, we will probably leave early for our planned vacation and head north to Colorado. We will likely stop at the Great Sand Dunes for a bit. Not sure of all the logistics, yet.

A HUGE thank you to all of those who have worked so hard fighting this massive wildfire. We are so grateful for your incredible efforts and amazing team work. God bless!

Las Conchas Fire and Evacuation: Days 5 and 6

2011-07-01T20:48:00.000-06:00

Day 5: Thursday, June 30th, 2011

We all slept very well on Wednesday night, Mommy included. Our new hotel had a wonderful breakfast buffet. I hope Jacob doesn't get used to waffles every morning. We saw more familiar faces from Los Alamos. We all agreed that the hotel scene with kids is getting old. After breakfast, Zoe and I laid down together. The boys watched some cartoons and Daddy went gun shopping. Zoe slept all morning. I think she was a tired little girl! The boys desperately wanted to go swimming.

We attempted to watch the noon press conference, amid kids screaming to go swimming. The fire is very close to Los Alamos (less than a mile from our house). No structures have burned in town or on lab property. The fire is moving north and unfortunately threatening Santa Clara pueblo land and sacred sites. Apparently there was a rumor that Los Alamos residents would be able to return on Friday or Saturday. The fire chief and police chief clearly stated that would NOT happen. The fire is still too active and they can't take the chance that the entire town would have to re-evacuate. I know that Los Alamos residents are anxious to get home and get back to our lives, however, it really is best that we all stay the hell out of town and let the incredible people (firefighters, national guard, lab and community leaders, county workers, etc.) do their jobs. The fire is huge and growing and set to become the biggest wildfire in New Mexico history. As of Thursday, the fire size is over 90,000 acres. Other wildfires are raging in New Mexico. The whole damn state is on fire.

So that was the report at noon.

After lunch, the kids and I went to the pool while Jeff did some work. He's not a fan of swimming. Booooo, Daddy! How does someone grow up in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" and not like swimming?? Anyway, the kids and I had a super wonderful time. The afternoon definitely felt a little less like evacuation and a little more like vacation. Mommy got a sunburn, too.

HRH with her graham crackers delivered by her faithful servant (Daddy).

The floatie master. Best $2 ever.

Tahlik Ahsah (or Big Fish).

HRH in her make-shift cabana (or ca-banana, as she calls it). She is less interested in the water but totally interested in lounging in her ca-banana with a cup of ice chips.

Brothers practicing holding their breath and making bubbles by blowing air out of their noses.

After baths, the kids munched on popcorn with Daddy. We had bar-b-que for dinner. Zoe spotted a bug on the floor at the restaurant, got out of her chair and stomped on the bug. Then she sat down on the floor and had a fit because she had gooey bug on the bottom of her shoe. Figures. The waitress complimented our three, quiet well-behaved kids. While Jeff and I appreciated her kind words, we truly thought she had the wrong table (I think she missed the bug stomping episode).

Back to the hotel for jammies, any fire news and bed.

Day 6: Friday, July 1st, 2011

The Las Conchas fire is now at approximately 104,000 acres and officially the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. There’s no estimate as to when we may go home. Again, “one day at a time” has new meaning.

The kids went nuts over Beyonce on Good Morning America. We had to strategically arrange our chairs at breakfast so they could watch her on TV. Zoe calls her "Boo-ahn-say." She's been saying, "I wanna watch Boo-ahn-say" all day. Jacob has been singing "All the Single Ladies" and Fikru just says, "I wike Bee-ahn-say." We worked on laundry today. We spent over 2 hours at ABQ Jump. It’s an indoor space with those bouncy, jumpy things my kids love. Very fun. We also saw familiar faces from Los Alamos. Just like us, they were hoping to wear their kids down a bit.

"I drivin' fast Momma!!"

"That's awesome!!"

"Yes, I know I was not supposed to go down face first on my stomach. IT WAS FUN THOUGH!"

Dreamin' of Dance, Dance Revolution

J hiding from brother and sister.

Lovin' some slidin'

We had a late lunch, enjoyed some down time in the hotel room and then headed off to the pool. We spent over 2 hours at the pool.

Hanging on to Mommy was "oh so yesterday." Now we're on to jumping off the side of the pool.

Poolside popcorn.

While we’re enjoying our time a bit more, the parent people are suffering from uncertainty-induced crankiness and lack of patience with each other and kid people. The kid people have their own crankies but mostly related to the utter unfairness of inadequate swimming time and the lack of an unending supply of chips and Capri Sun.

Las Conchas Fire and Evacuation: Days 3 and 4

2011-06-30T21:15:00.004-06:00

Day 3: Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

I know that the kids got some sleep on Monday night. By Tuesday morning, the fire had grown to 60,000 acres. We were still trying to find a reliable source of consistent, accurate news. I almost started screaming when Good Morning America opened with "NUCLEAR SCARE." In fact, I'm sure I would have screamed if the kids had been awake. The local news stations did not appear to be up-to-date. The most useful information was coming from Facebook and blogs.

I posted the following on my Facebook page:

"Los Alamos people -- what's your best source of up-to-date news regarding the fire? Share link in comments, please. Local news stations are not helpful!"

I did get some good responses and also started a bookmark list. Some sites are better than others:

http://www.losalamosnm.us/news/Pages/LasConchas-June28Update.aspx

http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23nmfire

http://nmfireinfo.wordpress.com/

http://wildfiretoday.com/

http://www.inciweb.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/losalamosnatlab/

http://helplosalamos.com/

http://www.koat.com/news/28376967/detail.html

http://www.geomac.gov/viewer/viewer.shtml

http://losalamoscountyviews.blogspot.com/

http://www.lanl.gov/news/releases/fire_updates.html

http://www.lamonitor.com/

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/firemap.jpg

After breakfast, we all went to Target to buy a few things. We also considered Target an "open space" so we could "run" the kids. Unfortunately, they took the "run" part literally. Unfortunately, we saw people we know. Oh well. We acquired some food, a laundry basket and water floaties for Fikru. In the afternoon, Jeff took the boys to a movie at the cheap theater. Zoe and I had some “quiet” time. And then the boys returned. Quiet time over.

Since it looked like we’d be staying in a hotel for a while longer, we started to weigh our options and considered going on down the road to Albuquerque. In addition, our kids were driving us crazy. CRAZY. Our kids are used to being outside many hours a day and have loads of energy. We really needed a place with some outdoor space and possibly a suite so we could ~~lock them in a room and ignore their screaming~~ have 2 rooms. Once again, I spent a lot of time trying to find other accommodations for our family. I called many places and finally located a hotel in Albuquerque offering discounts to evacuees and an available suite. Score! Unfortunately, we’d be moving hotels again on Wednesday but hopefully the new place would be better for us.

Also, good news on the cat front. We called the county about our cat, Lizzie. About an hour after calling the dispatch #, I got a call from one of the workers. They were able to enter our home. At that time, they were only doing a "welfare check" on animals. They verified that she was fine and had enough food and water for several days. They did not remove her because of limited resources but will return if the situation continues to worsen.

We went to dinner and saw some of our friends from Los Alamos. Again, great to see familiar faces. We took the kids swimming after dinner in an effort to wear them down. Partially successful. My patience as a mommy is just about gone. If the boys lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock, unlock the dead bolt on the room door again, I'm gonna...

On Tuesday evening, the Las Conchas fire crested the ski hill. Very scary and sad for us since we love that place. The fire was 3% contained. Gotta start somewhere.

Day 4: Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

I did not sleep well on Tuesday night and was up around 3:30AM on Wednesday morning. I took our laptop to the hotel lobby and watched the news. The fire had grown to about 70,000 acres. My anger with the news media reached epic proportions. I get so tired of news stories fueled by whack so-called-experts that know nothing about what they're talking about. However, because they're fairly articulate and throw in scary catch phrases, people listen. Headlines like, "FIRE SURROUNDING NUCLEAR LAB (RADIOACTIVE PLUME FEARED)" are not constructive but they get attention and people listen. Let's assess REAL hazards people, rather than those that are such an incredibly small risk. Let's consider the REAL hazards of wildfire smoke (NOT the radioactive, plutonium laced smoke that does NOT exist). So what really is in smoke??

"Composition of Smoke

Smoke is made up primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons and other organics, nitrogen oxides and trace minerals. The composition of smoke varies with fuel type: different wood and vegetation are composed of varying amounts of cellulose, lignin, tannins and other polyphenolics, oils, fats, resins, waxes and starches which produce different compounds when burned.

In general, particulate matter is the major pollutant of concern from wildfire smoke. Particulate is a general term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Particulate from smoke tends to be very small (less than one micron in diameter) and, as a result, is more of a health concern than the coarser particles that typically make up road dust. Particulate matter from wood smoke has a size range near the wavelength of visible light (0.4 – 0.7 micrometers). This makes the particles excellent scatterers of light and, therefore, excellent reducers of visibility.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas, produced as a product of incomplete combustion. It is produced in the largest amounts during the smoldering stages of the fire.

Hazardous air pollutants are present in smoke, but in far less concentrations than particulate and carbon monoxide. The most common are acrolein, benezene and formaldehyde.

Health Effects of Smoke

The effects of smoke run from irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract to more serious disorders, including asthma, bronchitis, reduced lung function and premature death. Studies have found that fine particulate matter is linked (alone or with other pollutants) with a number of significant respiratory and cardiovascular-related effects, including increased mortality and aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease. In addition, airborne particles are respiratory irritants, and laboratory studies show that high concentrations of particulate matter cause persistent cough, phlegm, wheezing and physical discomfort in breathing. Particulate matter can also alter the body’s immune system and affect removal of foreign materials from the lung, like pollen and bacteria.

Carbon monoxide enters the bloodstream through the lungs and reduces oxygen delivery to the body’s organs and tissues. The health threat from lower levels of CO is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease. At higher levels, carbon monoxide exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, visual impairment, reduced work capacity, and reduced manual dexterity even in otherwise healthy individuals. At even higher levels (seldom associated solely with a fire), carbon monoxide can be deadly.

People exposed to toxic air pollutants at sufficient concentrations and durations may have an increased chance of getting cancer or experiencing other serious health problems. However, in general, it is believed that the long term risk from toxic air pollutants from forest fire smoke is very low. Some components of smoke, such as many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are carcinogenic. Probably the most carcinogenic is benzo-a-pyrene (BaP), which has been demonstrated to increase in toxicity when mixed with carbon particulate. Other components, such as the aldehydes, are acute irritants. Three air toxics are of most concern from wildfires:

1. Acrolein. An aldehyde with a piercing, choking odor. Even at low levels, acrolein can severely irritate the eyes and upper respiratory tract. Symptoms include stinging and tearing eyes, nausea and vomiting.

2. Formaldehyde. Low level exposure can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Higher levels cause irritation to spread to the lower respiratory tract. Long-term exposure is associated with nasal and nasopharyngeal cancer.

3. Benzene. Benzene causes headaches, dizziness, nausea and breathing difficulties, and is a very potent carcinogen. Benzene causes anemia, liver and kidney damage, and cancer." ( from "Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officers, July 10, 2001)

Does that concern you? Well, it should. The REAL risk of breathing wildfire smoke is significant. I know it's not near as sexy as throwing "nuclear" around, though. That's the response when you piss off a momma with a Ph.D. in chemistry.

OK, so that was all before 6AM on Wednesday.

The rest of the morning was filled with cleaning up our room and packing. Jeff took the boys to an area high school to try to get our mail. They couldn't find it and told him to consider it "on hold." No worries. I value their efforts. The boys returned and we had lunch and loaded the vehicles. At some point while we were loading, we managed to lock Zoe inside the hotel room. Jeff thought I had the key. I thought Jeff had the key. Both keys were in the room. Zoe was inside the room yelling and Jacob was in the hallway trying to explain to her how to open the door. From the hallway, we could hear clanging and banging on the other side of the door. What was that girl doing?? The door opened! Zoe had pulled her little potty chair from the bathroom, stood on it, and opened the door!! She was so proud of herself! Jacob kept calling her "my little genius." She's such an industrious little gal. Hope those same skills don't re-appear when she's trying to sneak out of the house at 16.

So, we headed down to Albuquerque to our new digs with a brief side excursion to Target again. The new place was so nice and we were delighted to have a suite. Right after we arrived in our room, the sales director called. She and my mom (Grammy) had been talking and she had some goodies for the kids. Customer service at it's finest. Grammy had called the hotel earlier in the day to inquire about a sending a gift basket from a local florist or gift shop. The sales director promptly returned her call and went above and beyond making sure that my kids had gift bags filled with fun things (a doll, water guns, bubbles, coloring books, colors, etc.). The sales director took care of all of this and personally delivered the gift bags to our room. Absolutely made their day (and ours, too!!)

Kids with their goodie bags.

We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. The kids wanted to swim after dinner. The sun had gone down behind the building so the water was COLD. We played in the whirlpool for a while and then headed off to bed. Everyone was zonked, Mommy included, around 8:30PM

According to evening reports, the fire size was approximately 70,000 acres.

Las Conchas Fire and Evacuation: Days 1 and 2

2011-06-29T05:14:00.018-06:00

Day 1: Sunday, June 26th, 2011

It was a beautiful morning. Daddy was still on travel for work. The kids and I were having a great weekend (see post from Saturday, June 25th).

The kids and I went to church and then drove down to Santa Fe. We had lunch and then did some shopping at Target. When we came out of Target, there was a tremendous plume of smoke covering Santa Fe. It was windy so I thought the winds had turned and brought smoke from the Pacheco fire (just north of Santa Fe) over the town. As we headed north to Los Alamos, it was very apparent that there was a huge, new smoke plume in the Jemez Mountains near Los Alamos. There was no sign of this particular fire when we left town a few hours earlier so clearly it came up FAST. We got back to our house a little after 4PM. I unloaded the car and got the kids in the house. The neighbors were outside playing basketball. I went outside to snap some pictures. Here's some of what I saw:

I came inside and tried to find any news. The news was quite limited but I did find out that the new fire started up in the Jemez near "Las Conchas" (hence, the name of the new fire). I wasn't sure what to do. The neighbors didn't seem to be worried, yet. I went about putting away Target stuff, cleaning the kitchen, making lunches for Monday, etc. all while doing a mental run-down of items I'd need to pack if we had to evacuate. Honestly, I had no idea how to even find out if I needed to evacuate.

The fire appeared quite close and I started to fell the urgency to prepare in some way. I made the kids dinner and they watched Scooby Doo as I scurried around gathering up a few things. I talked with Jeff's parents around 6PM. I talked to Jeff several times. I talked to my Mom, also. I pulled out all important documents and went room-to-room trying to identify things that were irreplaceable. The kids were singing the Scooby Doo theme song downstairs. Meanwhile, I was tearing through their closets trying to find the clothes Jacob came home from the hospital in and Zoe and Fikru's farewell ceremony outfits from Ethiopia. I found my handwritten pregnancy journal and dried grass from Ethiopia. Irreplaceable precious things.

My group leader called me at 8PM and told me that the lab would be closed on Monday. We discussed laboratory operations, emergency notifications, my team members, etc. He indicated that voluntary evacuations were encouraged and a full evacuation was quite possible. At that point, I shifted into an even higher gear. I was not willing to wait until the last minute for a mandatory evacuation. My kids were already coughing and wheezing. I managed to pull together every ounce of "Super Mommy" I had and calmly packed as many irreplaceable things as possible (documents, adoption stuff, travel journals, baby/kid keepsake stuff). I threw together a suitcase for the kids and a suitcase for Jeff and I. I asked Jacob to get some plastic sacks for me. I thought I was calm but I know he sensed my urgency and nervousness. He lost it and became hysterical... "our house is going to burn down, the lab is going to burn down, you won't have a job, we won't have a place to live, we'll never survive, this is the worst day of my life... etc." Meanwhile, Fikru kept saying, "mommy, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Zoe, however, added to my stress by covering herself in lipstick. Sweet Jacob and Fikru gathered up their baseball trophies. Jacob decided he needed to replace the batteries in his Lego man headlamp and was searching for a screwdriver and batteries. Seriously? I tried to remember how he was feeling and what he considered important... and then I told him to pack the damn Lego man headlamp and screwdriver. We'd buy batteries somewhere. I promise.

My priority was getting the kids calm and comfortable in a bed somewhere other than Los Alamos. Since Jeff wasn't at home to help, he called and made the kids and I reservations in Santa Fe. I got everything loaded as quickly as possible. Then I had to explain to Jacob that we were going to have to leave our cat Lizzie. Dear God. While packing the car, I realized there would be no room for her and her carrier. I was also afraid that the poor cat would have a heart attack if she had to ride in the car with the kids. I left food and water for her in the house and cleaned her litter box in hopes that we would be back in a few days. I know, I'm terrible but it is what it is.

We pulled out a little after 10PM. We left town via the lab route. As I was driving down Pajarito Rd, I could see the next canyon over (Bandelier) glowing with red smoke. I could also very clearly see the mountain ridge blazing with fire in the distance. I clearly saw that the fire really was 12 miles away as the news reported!! I knew I had made the right decision to get the hell out. I certainly didn't want to "wait it out" while single parenting 3 kids. As we headed out of town, it seemed that a lot of people had the same idea. The gas stations were full. Lots of cars were headed off the hill with us. Jacob wanted to pray so we prayed, and prayed and prayed. It certainly made me feel better and I know he felt better, too. When we finally got to Santa Fe, the hotel lobby was crowded with people checking in. I was certainly glad the hubby had made us reservations. The kids were worn out but kind of keyed up. They went to sleep after midnight (thanks to Super Mommy packing melatonin). I did not sleep much.

Day 2: Monday, June 27th, 2011

Since I wasn't sleeping, I sent an email to our family. I slept between 2:30-4:30AM. When I woke up, I tried to find another hotel for us since we only had the current place for one night. I wasn't sure if we should go to Albuquerque or stay in Santa Fe. The fire had grown to over 40,000 acres overnight. Oh my goodness. Jeff's flight was scheduled to arrive back in Albuquerque around noon. I talked to him around 6AM. The plan was for him to meet us in Santa Fe and then he would try to head up to Los Alamos and get our cat Lizzie. The kids woke up around 7:30AM and had some breakfast, hotel-style.

I continued to work on trying to find us another hotel. We would need a bigger room once Jeff joined us and not knowing how long we'd be in a hotel, I didn't want to break the bank. I find an option and made reservations.

Jacob had a map of the hotel and wanted to take a tour and lead us around. So we set out, in our jammies, on a tour of the hotel. We tried to avoid the outdoor areas because it was literally raining ash. The kids were coughing a bit even after a few minutes. After Jacob gave us a tour, we went back to our room and got dressed. I went out to my car to get clothes. The ash swept into the back of my car. Uggh.

We had to be out at 11AM. We couldn't check in to the next hotel until 3PM. What to do?? I couldn't take the kids outside since the ash and smoke were so bad. So, off to the mall. We had lunch and I let the kids run around in the food court. We road the carousel. Zoe screamed because she couldn't stay on the carousel. Daddy called!! His plane landed in ABQ and he was headed to Santa Fe to meet up with us and then go to Los Alamos to get Lizzie. The kids and I continued to wander the mall. The kids raided the clearance racks at Children's Place. The boys picked out matching camo hats and aviator sunglasses. Zoe got a dress, of course. We hit the coin-operated, moving vehicles next. The helicopter and school bus were a hit. OK, this evacuation may break me if we stay at the mall. Daddy arrived!!

At this point, I was pretty darn thankful to be a family of 5 again. Jeff and I talked about what we were going to do. He was still planning on heading up to Los Alamos. We continued to let the kids play on the coin-operated vehicles while we checked our Blackberries for any news. Rumor was a full mandatory evacuation of Los Alamos was imminent. It seemed like all reliable information was coming through Facebook! The mandatory evacuation was ordered around 2PM. Yes, I found out through Facebook. Within a few minutes, I received the reverse 911 notification call on my Blackberry. This was real. Since the evacuation was underway, Jeff did not go to Los Alamos.

We headed to our new hotel and got settled in while trying to get any reliable news. The kids reverberated off the walls. I unpacked our clothes. We watched the news. We tried to find up-to-date websites. I was glad I left the night before. Where were all of our friends? Eventually we made it out for dinner. We walked across the parking lot to Applebee's. A brief rain shower was beautiful. How precious it was to feel a few raindrops. We danced in the rain as we walked. Unfortunately, the rain did not last long. After dinner, we tried to wear the kids out with swimming in the indoor pool at our hotel. It was Fikru's first time in a swimming pool!! He had such a good time. Zoe was a little concerned. Jacob swam like a fish. We saw some of friends at the pool!! It was so nice to see some familiar faces. After swimming, bedtime was in order.

Lizards, Ladders, Cave Dwellings... and Water Play, too.

2011-06-25T18:29:00.000-06:00

Daddy left this morning for a conference. YAY! Let the fun begin...

Today's installment of "how can I possibly wear my kids out" included a morning hike at the Tsankawi section of Bandelier National Monument. "At Tsankawi you take a 1.5 mile walk along a mesa viewing cavates (cave dwellings), petroglyphs and the Ancestral Pueblo village of Tsankawi. Ladders are a required part of this trail." (Ladders are also a required part of Densmore kid hiking fun... as long as they don't lead to the E.R.) The main loop trail is actually part of the same trail used by Ancestral Pueblo people. Very cool. The kids were fascinated by pottery shards along the trail and the remains of the village.

Big brother educating the littles on the trail.

And we're off!

Leapin' Lizards!!! The chase is on to find the poor lizard.

Big brother educating Fikru on ladder climbing.

Big brother is at the top!

Fikru made it up the ladder also and then the race was on down the trail again.

Many sections of the trail are worn several inches to a few feet into solid rock. See the pictures of Zoe below on the trail. "Throughout the Pajarito Plateau there is a network of similar trails, often connecting villages or leading to farming areas. They were cut and worn into the rock by generations of ancestral Pueblo people, barefooted or in sandals, passing back and forth from their mesa-top homes to the fields and to springs in the canyons below."

My little hiking superstars!

Shards of pottery found along the trail.

Inspecting the pottery on top of the mesa.

Heading down the trail to the ladder below.

Ancestral Pueblo cave dwelling.

Trio inside a cave dwelling along the trail. HRH was throwing dirt on her brothers. Nice.

Fikru in front of petroglyphs.

View of Pacheco Wildfire from Tsankawi. Rethink 4th of July fireworks, please.

After hiking, we had lunch and watched a bit of Scooby Doo. The trio got their "second wind" and we were off again. This time, outside for water play.

HRH was concerned about getting wet. Boo!

Boys dancing in the sprinkler gizmo.

I think they are tired now... maybe just a little.

Book Worm

2011-06-24T06:05:00.003-06:00

About 2 months ago, we celebrated Jacob reading the 28 book Magic Tree House series. I think he actually read the whole series about 3 times by the time we got around to "celebrating." Now he's moved on. He read over 200 pages of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" yesterday. Next month, I guess he moves on to Tolstoy's "War and Peace."

Now if we could just get him to tie his shoes, brush his teeth and comb his hair.

Butterflies, Fuzzies, Red Cows and other good stuff

2011-06-18T18:02:00.013-06:00

Today was spectacular. Absolutely beautiful! We hiked Cañada Bonita and had a wonderful time. The trail head starts at the base of the ski hill and opens up to a huge mountain meadow after about 1.5 miles. So it's approximately 3 miles at 9500 ft elevation. A darn good workout if you're 7, 5 and 2 years old. The boys were SUPER hiking rock stars. Z girl started out in the carrier but quickly decided she needed to chase her brothers. She hiked most of the way ON HER OWN! 2 1/2 years old and about 2 1/2 miles - way to go Z! She also learned to pee in the woods, a skill everyone should conquer.

Along the trail, Zoe's mission was to find "fuzzies" (dandelion puffs). We must have blown the seeds off of 30 fuzzies. Fikru and Jacob's mission was to lead the way, find caterpillars, chase butterflies and locate the perfect stick. The kids were ecstatic when we got to the meadow. The field was full of beautiful butterflies and "fuzzies." We took a break and had a little picnic. The kids climbed trees and rocks and the littles started chasing ~~terrorizing~~ butterflies. Zoe was convinced there was a cow in the field. "Look Daddy, there's a cow!! Quack Quack!!" There was not a cow but it was fun to pretend. According to Zoe, the cow was red and black with three legs. According to Jacob, it was a wild, man-eating cow. According to Fikru, we had to pet the pretend red and black, man-eating cow before we could leave the meadow. Very energetic and imaginative little kiddos.

On the return route, the kids' goal was to find the biggest stick. The parents' goal was to prevent pole vaulting and/or the stick becoming an impaling instrument. You know, basic hiking safety with 3 kids.

Zoe in the carrier... briefly

Caterpillar!! Fikru found it but made Jacob pick it up :)

Our sweet boys (with ski hill in the distance).

More of the sweet boys.

Zoe chasing her brothers. Wait for me!!!

Fuzzie found!!

Big brother must educate the littles on fuzzie blowing.

Little sister takes her lesson seriously... but spits on the fuzzie instead of blowing the seeds off.

Tree climbing!

The littles chasing butterflies. They were screaming "Hey Bira Biro (butterfly)!!"

The littles pointing toward the imaginary, wild, man-eating red cow. They then proceeded to go pet the imaginary cow and told him goodbye.

Goofy trio. Fikru has some new, weird arm movement for prime photo taking.

Hike complete. Back at the trail head. Showing off some muscles.

Zoe's Betasab Day

2011-06-12T16:02:00.004-06:00

Today is Zoe's Betasab Day.

Some might call today our "Gotcha Day" anniversary. Others call it Adoption Day, Family Day or Adoption Anniversary Day. In the Densmore house, today is known as "Betasab Day." "Betasab" is the Amharic word for family. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the first time we met and held our daughter Zoe. Although we loved her dearly long before we met her, today is the anniversary of her physical addition to our family. Betasab.

Summer Time! Sunglasses and Snow Cones!

Goofy Trio of Cuteness!

12 Weeks Home

2011-06-04T06:45:00.004-06:00

Today marks 12 weeks home with our sweet, Fikru. I could write so much. I don't know where to start. In 3 months, I have seen this child evolve and grow in amazing ways. I look at pictures of Jacob and Fikru in Ethiopia together and immediately think of how much both boys have grown in such a sort time. I also acknowledge how much my own heart has grown.

As I've said before, the process of adoption is not for the faint of heart. The reality of adding another child to your family stretches everything you know. The challenge, and reward, of building your role as a loving, forever parent is huge. The process reveals a lot. You learn about yourself as a person, a parent. You learn about your family and friends. You find out who understands. You discover who really cares.

The beauty of adoption is building family. Not only have we added to our own family, we have an amazing network of other adoptive families. We have waited through the process together. We have traveled together. We have shared the same unknowns. We have cried together. We have shared overwhelming joy together. We have shared heartache once our children came home. We have questioned our sanity together. I am so incredibly grateful for these families, these people we have come to know and love and think of often. Having said all this, I'd like to share that one family we traveled with for court in December 2010 was FINALLY cleared for travel to bring their daughter home. Six LONG months of waiting and heartache. They waited as the rest of us brought our children home. They celebrated with us. They demonstrated amazing faith amidst their incredible heartache. And now, thankfully, it is their turn. The rest of us haven't felt quite complete knowing that their child still waits. And now, thankfully, that child is coming home.

Another Big First

2011-05-31T20:25:00.006-06:00

Today was a big day. Today was the first day that all 3 kids were in the same place - summer daycare at our church. Most importantly, it was Fikru's first day away from home without Mommy or Daddy since he's been in our family. For the past 3 months, Fikru was at home with Daddy during the day while Mommy worked, Jacob attended school and Zoe went to daycare. We've been nervous about today because we viewed it as test of our bonding process. We've made huge progress and seen lots of really positive signs of bonding and attachment. So we felt "good" about Fikru going to daycare now after 3 months. It helps that "daycare" is at church with familiar people and Jacob and Zoe are there, too. It's a good transition to Kindergarten in August. We've also been excited to have all 3 kids in ONE place for the summer and in a place they all know well. In addition, Daddy is ready to go back to work and that will be good, too. Nervous and excited at the same time.

Fikru was so excited to go to "school" and take his new Scooby Doo lunch box. He was singing the Scooby Doo theme song all morning and shaking his butt. Jeff and I took all the kids to daycare this morning and got them settled. We took Fikru to his class last. We've been preparing him for this for a while but it was still a little tough. At first, he whimpered and whined and said, "Mommy stay here", "Mommy go, Fikru go", and "Mommy no work, stay here." Then we did the Kissing Hand and got him settled with Legos. He was fine then and said good bye happily.

For the record, I was a wreck. Dropping off my 5 1/2 year old for the first time today was JUST AS HARD as dropping off my infant Jacob and my baby Zoe for the first time. My heart was racing, my stomach was in knots and I got all teary. Oh my goodness. Honestly, I thought I would be fine since I'm the parent that's been going to work everyday and leaving Fikru with Daddy. Not the case. I was a basket case.

So what happened at the end of the day? I walked out on the playground to find my sweet Fikru playing in the sandbox. When he spotted me, he leaped up with sand flying everywhere, sprinted over squealing "MOMMY!!" and jumped into my arms. Absolutely delightful.

Having said all this, what does it mean?? Well, it means that our bonding with Fikru is going really well and our hard work is paying off! Bonding is a two way street - his bonding to us and our bonding with him.

The trio (I have no idea why the boys are saluting)

Handsome boy on his first day of "school." Can't go wrong with a Scooby Doo lunchbox.

Daddy entering all THREE time cards with supervision and guidance provided by Fikru.

Memorial Day Hike

2011-05-30T21:38:00.000-06:00

Great Memorial Day hike with friends!!

Boys getting ready

Daddy snuggling with HRH

Studying the ladder

First climb for Fikru

Trail running with friends

HRH on her High Life chariot (aka Daddy)

Boys on bridge

Watching a deer just feet away. Poor deer.

J climbed to the ceremonial cave

Our sweet boys (pictures taken by our friend Carrie)

Last Day of 1st Grade!

2011-05-27T16:17:00.001-06:00

Today's the last day of school. Wow, where did the year go?

Trio watering the flowers.

J on the LAST day of 1st grade.

J on the FIRST day of 1st grade.

Picture Preview

2011-05-21T20:11:00.003-06:00

We had family pictures this morning thanks to the amazing skills (and unending patience) of Carrie at Shining Wave Photography. She is wonderful! The boys ran around like crazy. The girl was a super drama queen. You know, standard Densmore kid stuff. The parents needed adult beverages before 10AM and resorted to failed bribery countless times. You know, standard Densmore parent stuff.

Here's proof of Carrie's great work... and her ability to get our 3 kids to finally take a picture together!

TBall Funnies

2011-05-14T19:59:00.009-06:00

If you haven't been to a TBall game in a while, I highly recommend that you find one and enjoy a good laugh. If you need more laughs, find a little TBall player who has been in the US for 9 weeks, is learning English and bops around non-stop. Here are some hilarious videos Grammy took at Fikru's TBall game this morning.

Multi-Tasking:

3rd Base Hat Discussion:

Little Batter Dude (yes, it was very windy!):

Playing 1st base (or somewhere in the vicinity):

7 weeks and Opening Day

2011-04-30T15:46:00.006-06:00

Today marks 7 weeks home with Fikru. We have made tremendous strides in 7 weeks. Today also marks opening day ceremonies for baseball, Jacob's first game in AA minors and Fikru's first baseball game ever of T-ball. Jacob's game was at 9AM, opening ceremonies started at 12PM and Fikru's game was at 1PM. The start of many long days at the ball field. So fun!

Jacob's first bat. He got a hit!

Cold on first base.

Running to second.

Fikru waiting to run out on the field for the Opening Day Ceremony.

Fikru got to lead the team out on the field!!

Filling up the field with players.

Jacob getting ready to head out on the field for Opening Day.

Densmore boys!

Pre-game pep talk for Fikru's T-ball team. Fikru took #4 since the original #6 shirt was way too big.

Makin' friends and influencin' others.

Smashed the ball... and the T.

Fielding the ball... or something like that.

Happy Easter! Melkam Fasika!

2011-04-24T14:40:00.001-06:00

Happy Easter! Melkam Fasika! It's been one of those days. Despite the cute pictures, the two littles have been awful. Such is life when you have big attitudes. Zoe decided that if she purposely spilled candy everywhere then "clean up! clean up!" would allow her to sneak more candy. I finally caught on to her genius moves after she dumped out Reece's Pieces and jelly beans for a 3rd time. Yes, I'm slow to her antics! Fikru decided listening to Mommy was a mere suggestion so we left church early. Good times. On the upside, J man has been great. Very polite. Very well-behaved. Doesn't insist on being carried everywhere.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the triple threat.

Easter Baskets!

Trying to get a decent picture of the three cutie pies.

Brief adoration.

Our egg hunt was delayed due to rain so we had lunch and then turned the kids loose when the sun peeked out. Fikru figured out finding eggs lickety split. With 2 big brothers, Zoe didn't stand a chance when it came to filling her basket. She seemed happy throwing grass in the air. Jacob started hiding eggs, too. Most of the time, Jacob and I were hiding eggs as Fikru was hunting eggs. Jacob felt sorry for Zoe so he started rolling eggs toward her so she could "find them." Then he resorted to just throwing them toward her. Such a thoughtful big brother. Fikru swiped one of Zoe's eggs so Jacob started chasing him. Fikru fell and launched his basketfull of eggs across the yard. Fikru's sweatpants slid down when he fell on the ground. We quickly learned he wasn't wearing any underwear!! :) After egg hiding got boring, Jacob discovered the he could load Zoe's jacket hood with eggs. Fikru then found Jacob's new egg hiding place. Not good. Zoe was surrounded!! NEVER a dull moment in this house.

Zoe is successful!!

Fikru finds an egg... and the drip water line under the tree!!

Jacob hiding eggs.

Jacob hiding eggs in his sisters hood.

Fikru finding eggs in his sister's hood!!!

Eggs!

2011-04-23T18:35:00.005-06:00

I had a major moment of parental lunacy and took all 3 kids to the grocery store on Friday to pick out Easter egg decorating stuff. I think it says something when I lost count of the number of people that told me, "you've got your hands full!" I refrained from camping out in the liquor aisle. OK, back to those Easter eggs. Yep, we ended up with standard Disney Princess garb to appease H.R.H. We also ended up with an egg spinner gizmo. It was kinda cool but I had higher hopes. In the end, we survived our Egg decorating experience.

The trio ready to cause decorating havoc.

Dissolving some egg dye.

Trying to break the egg spinner right outta the box.

Silly boys.

Jacob instructing Fikru in the fine art of using the "egg getter thing."

Zoe broke an egg (one of many). I let her eat it. She was not a fan. How can you tell?

Z gettin' her pink egg dyein' on.

Trying to break the egg spinner part 2.

Fikru eating an egg (again, one of many broken). Jacob admiring his egg spinning creation.

Trying to break the egg spinner part 3.

Egg spinner officially broken. Fikru moves on to the egg dyeing now that he's been adequately educated on the fine art of using the "egg getter thing."

Ethiopia March 2011: Days 10 and 11

2011-04-17T13:45:00.000-06:00

Days 10 and 11: Friday, March 11th and Saturday, March 12th (HOME)

From Addis Ababa, we headed to Amsterdam. We had about 5 hours in Amsterdam. It was enough time to visit the Rijksmuseum branch in the airport, run the boys in the kids' play area, get something to eat, run the boys some more and then get our next flight.

Rijksmuseum Schipol

Jacob's favorite thing was the wooden model of the full size Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Boys being silly.

Watching cartoons in a giant teapot.

Playing, playing and more playing in the kids' area.

Totally exhausted. A few minutes after I took the picture below, Fikru came over and fell asleep on my lap. I had to carry him on the plane. He slept almost the entire flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta.

Fikru slept the whole flight. Jacob watched movies the whole flight.

Landing in Atlanta. Fikru was well-rested. Jacob was ready to pass out.

Unfortunately, we missed our next flight in Atlanta. We knew that might happen since we had a very short connection and nothing happens fast with customs, immigration, getting luggage and re-checking luggage. We spent the night in Atlanta and got a pretty good night of rest before flying home to New Mexico on Saturday.

Waiting for our flight on Saturday morning.

Arrived in New Mexico and waiting for our luggage.

Headed home from the airport.

Home! Fikru meeting and kissing Zoe.

First (awful) picture of our family of 5!

Ethiopia March 2011: Days 8 and 9

2011-04-17T13:37:00.002-06:00

Days 8 and 9: Wednesday, March 9th and Thursday, March 10th

Wednesday was filled with more soccer, playing sneak attack on the guards. Miruk came by around 5PM and gave us Fikru's visa, passport, and a CD and DVD from Holt. That night we had the infamous DVD melt down. On Thursday, we finished packing and said goodbye to all of our wonderful new friends. Our flight was scheduled to leave late Thursday night.

Sneak attack on the guard

Boys with our new (patient, understanding, kind) friend.

Daddy and Fikru.

Mommy packing (Photographer = Fikru)

Mr. Cool

We left the Jemimah around 7:30PM on Thursday night. Fikru's face lit up when he saw the airport. I could also feel his heart racing. What a moment for this sweet boy! We had to go through security, wait in line to check in, wait in line to check our passports and visas. It was a lot of waiting. We had some snacks and Mommy had a much needed Diet Coke. We waited some more and finally boarded our plane around midnight.

Snack time at the airport.

Goofy boys waiting to board.

Finally on the plane. So excited... and SO tired!

Holy remote control!

Ethiopia March 2011: Days 6 and 7

2011-04-17T12:35:00.000-06:00

Days 6 and 7: Monday, March 7th (US Embassy) and Tuesday, March 8th

We had our appointment at the US Embassy on Monday morning so we woke, got spiffed up and had breakfast. I'm not sure why we didn't get a family picture. No, I do remember. We were busy trying to keep the boys somewhat clean before heading to the embassy. We couldn't take pictures at the embassy, either. In short, all went well. We survived the brief embassy interview and were told that we'd receive Fikru's visa on Wednesday the 9th.

After we took custody of Fikru, we couldn't leave the Jemimah with him so our days were filled with lots, and lots, and lots of soccer, homework, reading, bubbles, coloring, coffee (for parents not boys) etc.

Bubbles, bubbles, more bubbles.

Soccer, soccer, more soccer.

Exploring the traditional hut being built behind the Jemimah Guest House.

Soccer, soccer, more soccer. The boys laid claim to the entire courtyard.

Homework! Jacob had work to do and Fikru enjoyed joining in.

Fikru also enjoyed sorting all the crayons and colored pencils.

Coffee ceremony at the Jemimah Guest House.

Ethiopia March 2011: Day 5 Farewell Ceremony

2011-04-17T06:38:00.000-06:00

Day 5: Sunday, March 6th - Farewell Ceremony at Care Center 3.

After arriving back in Addis on Sunday afternoon, we got a bit of rest and headed to the care center. Some of the kids were gathered for Fikru's farewell ceremony. Fikru came in dressed in his traditional outfit and an Ethiopian scarf. He led the prayer. He prayed and he prayed...

and prayed some more...

Lots of kisses from friends.

Addis Betasab = New Family

Cuttin' the cake. Yummo!

Saying our goodbyes. We got to see Fikru's bed and say goodbye again to one of his buddies (now also home in America!!)

Saying our goodbyes. More sweet friends (some are headed home soon to America!!)

In the van leaving the care center. A quiet moment...

Brother smiles in the van.

First dinner together at the Jemimah Guest House (toy machina included).

After dinner, the boys had baths and got their new jammies on. They nearly flooded the bathroom during their bath. Needless to say, I was soaked from head to toe as well.

Jammie Time (and sunglasses of course!)

And we all slept well...

Ethiopia March 2011: Day 5

2011-04-17T05:17:00.003-06:00

Day 5: Sunday, March 6th

On Sunday, we woke up in Hawassa, had breakfast and walked around the neighborhood. Hawassa is known for amazing bird watching. I'm not a bird watcher but we saw some darn beautiful birds! We also enjoyed a few minutes of music at the Winners Chapel International church across the street from the Tadesse Enjory Hotel. Such a great way to start the day!

Lots of birds' nests in this tree (Photographer = Jacob)

The little donkeys were cute but the bright blue bird was amazing! (Photographer = Jacob)

Great music at this little church!

We left our hotel and did a bit of sightseeing around Hawassa. Our first stop was at the Lewi Resort on the shore of Lake Awassa. It was a beautiful place but our favorite part was seeing monkeys playing around the hotel. We also enjoyed watching fishermen in traditional reed boats. Jacob also got a kick out of the little boy statues peeing water into the swimming pool (think Mannekin Pis in Brussels). Actually, I thought it was hysterical, too.

Lewi Resort, Hawassa Ethiopia

Lake Awassa from Lewi Resort.

Fisherman in traditional reed boat.

Monkey plotting monkey-style antics at Lewi Resort.

After the Lewi Resort, we visited Haile Gabrselassie's new resort also on Lake Awassa. Haile Gabrselassie is world famous Ethiopian runner. His resort is absolutely amazing. The front lobby was beautiful and the views of Lake Awassa were stunning. The best part? We were waiting in the lobby and Haile Gabrselassie walked by and tickled Jacob. Jacob was clueless but the rest of us were excited (once we figured out who the stranger was!!).

Haile Gabrselassie Resort

Back patio of Haile Gabrselassie Resort.

View of Lake Awassa from back patio.

Huge, amazing tree at resort.

After seeing some amazing sights, we headed north to Addis through Shashemene, Ziway and Debre Zeyit. We saw very different terrain and scenery compared to our route the previous day. We also got to see camels!

After arriving in Addis, we rested for a bit at the Jemimah Guest House and then headed off to the care center for Fikru's farewell ceremony.

Ethiopia March 2011: Day 4

2011-04-16T16:30:00.001-06:00

Day 4: Saturday, March 5th

On Saturday, we left Addis and headed south to Durame. We took the same route we took in June of 2009 and went through Butajira and Hosanna.

On the road.

Country side along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley.

South of Hosanna, we turned off the main road and headed east toward Shinshicho and Durame. At Shinshicho, we got to tour Holt's work on the new Mother Child Health Care Center. The lead project engineer was traveling with us so we got an amazing overview of the construction, progress and integration and employment of families in Holt's Family Preservation program.

Mother Child Heath Center project in Shinshicho

We stopped at the Mesala Hotel in Durame for lunch. We stayed at the Mesala for a night in 2009. The area around Durame is beautiful. The mountains remind me a bit of New Mexico.

View of the mountains around Durame (from the front steps of the Mesala Hotel).

After the Mesala, we met with birth families at the Holt offices. It was an emotional experience but I would not trade it for the world. We also got a chance to tour the care center in Durame. It's changed somewhat since we were there in June of 2009.

Care Center in Durame

Fikru's bed at the Durame care center.

We left Durame and headed east toward Shashemene. The road was rough. I though my teeth were going to rattle out of my head. From Shashemene, we headed south to Hawassa. We spent Saturday night at the Tadesse Enjory Hotel.

Tadesse Enjory Hotel in Hawassa.

Jacob exploring Hawassa.

Main road near our hotel in Hawassa.

Ethiopia March 2011: Day 3

2011-04-16T05:41:00.000-06:00

Day 3: Friday, March 4th (Happy Birthday to Mommy!! It was a great day)

Jemimah Guest House

Round 1 (of MANY) of soccer with the wonderful Jemimah staff and guards.

Following orientation at the Holt offices, we had a very nice, leisurely lunch at the Top View Restaurant on the north east side of Addis Ababa.

Top View Restaurant

Amazing view of Addis Ababa from the Top View Restaurant (Photographer = Jacob)

After lunch, we went to Care Center 3 to see Fikru. He ran in and gave me a big hug. Jacob got to meet his new brother for the first time.

Mommy with her sweet boys. Best birthday present a gal could wish for!

The boys were playing phone. Jeff is using a shoe :)

After our afternoon with Fikru at the CC3, we had a bit of rest at the Jemimah and then headed out to a cultural dinner at the Yod Abyssinia. We got there a bit early so we let Jacob explore and take pictures.

Giant jabena (traditional coffee pot) at Yod Absynnia (Photographer = Jacob)

Our little photographer capturing the musicians

Lots of beautiful traditional coffee cups. We have some of these at home.

(Photographer = Jacob)

The show begins! The food, music and dancing were wonderful!

Sweet Jacob is "D for DONE." He was so tired he fell asleep during all of the loud music and dancing!

Ethiopia March 2011: Days 1 and 2

2011-04-15T18:04:00.008-06:00

I'm certainly overdue posting pictures from our trip to Ethiopia in March. Needless to say, we've been a little busy :) The next series of posts will be a photo diary of our travels. Enjoy!

Day 1: Wednesday, March 2nd

Our standard first airport picture. Jeff is studying Amharic. Jacob is journaling. We're caffeinated and not crusty at this point.

Headed to Atlanta! The first of 3 flights.

Oh, wow. That seemed fast. We're in the ATL waiting for our flight to Amsterdam.

The big bird that will fly us across the big pond.

Amsterdam bound!! Boy Wonder's first international flight. The kid acts like he flies to Africa everyday. Piece o' cake!

Ah, the remote control that Jacob (and later Fikru) came to know and love. This is the kinda picture you take when you're a 7 yr old boy (Photographer = Jacob).

Day 2: Wednesday, March 3rd

Rock on!! We arrived in Amsterdam.

Tulips in Amsterdam airport (Photographer = Jacob)

We are bound for Ethiopia!!

Islands of Greece (Photographer = Jacob)

North coast of Africa (Photographer = Jacob)

We arrived safely at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All of our luggage, including many bags of donations, arrived with us!

My Little Climber!

2011-04-13T20:25:00.003-06:00

Go J man! You rock... for real!