2013 top ten

The important things that happened in our family this year included. . .

Dave's top ten
10.  Grew an awesome beard
9.  Survived first full year as a manager
8.  Went golfing a handful of times
7.  Saved and saved and paid for our adoption completely without debt
6.  Made a will and trust
5.  Got new glasses
4.  Found the best pizza ever, in Ethiopia
3.  Fed wild monkeys
2.  Went to his first manager's conference, in San Diego
1.Became the luckiest Daddy to two awesome daughters

Mindy's top ten
10. Survived two trips to Africa without throwing up
9.  Learned that I love Ethiopian food
8.  Got frisked by a stout German woman and an Ethiopian military man with machine gun
7.  Passed over 270 levels in Candy Crush
6.  Wrote in my journal every day
5.  Bought a bike
4.  Read 25 books, and 1000 kid's books
3. Killed no plants
2.  Cried every day for eight weeks
1.  Became a very blessed Mom of two little girls

Miley's top ten
10.  Graduated pre-school as a valedictorian, and had a solo performance
9.  Made a ginger bread house (she gave me these suggestions)
8.  Learned to read, and read very well
7.Became a fish and learned some swimming
6.  Learned to play tennis
5.  Started Kindergarten
4.  Was spoiled rotten by Grammy and Tiff while Mom and Dad were in Africa
3.  First dance recital
2.  Played on a soccer team
1.  Met her baby sister, and gained a minion for life

Jovey's top ten
10.  Met her Mom and Dad
9.  Learned to sit up, crawl, and walk
8.  Ate real food and fell in love with Cafe Rio
7.  Flew on an airplane(s)
6.Wore shoes
5.  Got a new name
4.  Celebrated her first birthday, and a lot of other holidays for the first time
3.  Grew some hair
2.  Found a best friend forever in Miley
1.  Got her very own room, in her very own home, with her very own forever family


It was a very good year, the roller coaster kind, but we threw our hands up and survived it with smiles.  Happy 2014, tomorrow!

The end of the countdown

Merry Christmas. . .

. . . to all and to all a good night!

let it snow. . . no more

Our desert home was hit by a freak storm this month.  Eight inches in one day.  I guess that we haven't had this much snow since long before I was even born.  Lucky us.  They cancelled church for the whole area the next day and all sorts of warnings were posted not to drive anywhere unless you had to.  We are not prepared for snow here.  Lots of stupid drivers too.

Miley was thrilled with the white stuff.  She's sure that if she was a fairy she would be a winter fairy.  (I would be a tinker fairy, Dave a dust keeper fairy, and Jo would be a water fairy. . . which only makes sense if you watch the Tinker Bell movies).

So I cringed and had horrible flashbacks to life in Idaho and one nasty winter in Reno, while it kept falling innocently to the ground all day long.  Our plants were also not amused.  I could finally breath easy once it stopped that night.  I didn't realize I had acquired such an intolerance to snow.

This is when it was a nice light dusting, our once a year expectation.

And then it wouldn't stop. . .

Jovey was not a fan of the cold.  The first time I had her touch the snow she started whining.  The second time she was more tolerant, but still mostly unimpressed.

 Our snowman leftovers.  All the snow that is in the sun in this picture is now gone, but the snow in the shaded area lingers.  I had a dream that Dave was outside using a broom to push it into the sun to melt.  Dave had a dream at the same time that he was using a blow torch to melt it as well.  We may be tired of it.  ;)

The melting is causing a lot of icicles.  My poor plants.

 But also a pretty nice view.  Kinda surreal.

And now my girlies in their Christmas dresses.  Yes, before Christmas.  I didn't expect such a chilly season, so I bought sleeveless dresses.  ;)  And then went and bought them sweaters to go with them.

No, Jo was not crying before I took these pics, her eyes water when it's cold. . . and she had a little head cold.  Everyone makes a big deal about her eyes watering, I don't know why.  Calm yourself, it's fine.

And of course, Miley needed to twirl in her dress and she had to have a picture of it as well.  She wanted to do it outside in the snow, but I was sure she'd end up on her bottom and very cold.

ummm, sorry

Miley told me the other day that she told everyone in her Kindergarten class that Santa was not real.  Apparently they had just finished a book about Santa's workshop and were talking about it.  She has never made this proclamation before, so I was slightly stunned.  

She then said, "I broke all their dreams, Mom."

And then I couldn't help but laugh, so I'm not sure she took me seriously when I asked her not to do that again.

No worries, I will make sure she did so as not to break any more dreams.

I apologize for all of the breaking.

It still makes me laugh.  Man, I love that girl!

Picture Time

We're experiencing something of a cold spell around here. . . started just in time for pictures.  Thankfully we did it before the snow came though.  Anyway, it turns out that Jovey isn't a fan of being anywhere near cold. . .

So we got a couple of shots like these. . .

And then a couple more of Jovey giving us this face. . .

Followed closely by these beauties. . .

 And then Miley was cold too.  ;)

It's always an adventure.  Thank you Framed Photography (aka Brit) for putting up with our temperature sensitive children.  ;)

She even made us a video.  She's that cool!

Do you remember when. . .

 Jovey turned one and I didn't post the birthday pics.  Yeah.  Here is a happy birthday throwback from a few weeks ago. . .

J was thrilled with her little stroller. . .

 The part she didn't like was when Miley started ripping open her present for her.  I don't know what it was that upset her:  that Miley was doing it and not she, the sound, the act of destroying something pretty. . . it brought her to tears.  It's her birthday so she'll cry if she wants to. . . after the ripping she was much better.  We celebrated more than one day so the next time she experienced presents was less traumatic, no tears anymore.

 Who isn't excited for cake?

 My squishy little sunshine with Chunky Monkey. . .

 Jovey is our sunshine.  She has grown and learned so much.  She's walking, and feeling so confident in it (though premature) that she now doesn't watch where she is going.  Many a wall/corner/furniture collision.  She understands a lot of what we tell her but doesn't say much that we can understand.  It sounds like baby babble, but maybe it's rudimentary Amharic.  ;)  She loves to yell Da at her daddy and says hi, baba, and mama.  Mostly she laughs and yells at her sister, who is still the coolest person on the planet to her.

Jo gives kisses and good hugs with back pats.  She loves to cuddle and read LOTS of books.  Oh the books, constantly.  I dream about her following me endlessly with books and then wake up and live it each day.  Just like her sister.  She loves to sing and dance and will laugh at whatever Miley thinks is funny.

Jo does not like being cold and has a 5 minute attention span for any movie or show.  She wants to help do Miley's hair and comb her own hair as well.  She pets the dogs and gives them kisses, until I can stop her.

She is still a very good mimic and can make many obnoxious noises that her Daddy and sister taught her.  She can growl and roar like a lion.

She's stolen our hearts and has us all wrapped around her adorable little finger.  We're sooooooo happy here.  It may be more sweet because of the two year wait, but I think it's because she is just that amazing.  I actually think it's weird when people ask me how long she's been home, cause it feels like forever, like always.  She's my baby and I know my mind hasn't been any distance from her since January and I first saw her picture.

Now we have a ONE year old.  It's a good age.  It will be an eventful year I'm sure.

The truth about Santa

Mr. Claus is not a part of our Christmas.  That's right, we've told Miley the truth, a couple years ago actually.  She wasn't devastated.  Her imagination and love for life are alive and well.  She still loves Christmas and watches Christmas type movies.  She is not contagious and has not infected any other five-year-olds with non-believers syndrome. . . well, that I know of.  ;)

We get a lot of questions about why we did this. . . so I figured I would just answer them here and direct all further inquiries to this post.  Saving my breath, you see.  ;)

It's about gratitude -  Miley doesn't thank Santa when she opens a gift.  She knows where it came from and who deserves the appreciation.  She gives gifts as well, and gets the thanks.  We want her to know that everything comes from somewhere and nothing is free.  Grounded.  We want our girls to feel the love their parents and family have for them and that's why they get presents. . . not because they asked a magical entity for free stuff.

It's about being honest -  I don't feel comfortable telling my kids to believe me when I've spent time trying to convince them of a lie.  Do I think it's a horrible lie to tell?  No, but for me I just can't tell it, any of it.  I don't know if it's just me or if it has to do with adoption, but I am really concerned with my girls knowing the whole truth, always.  Miley knows she is adopted, she knows I will tell her the truth if she asks me something, and even if she doesn't ask.  I don't want to compromise that with white lies or stories.  I want to spend my time talking about true things, real things about Christmas.

It's about Santa being freaky - Seriously who thought this story was a great idea?  A strange rotund hermit breaks into your house in the night and leaves stuff. . . magically.  Sorry, before Miley even knew anything about the truth she thought Santa was scary, still does.  I tend to agree with that one.  Not that this is the driving factor behind our decision, but if you think about it. . . (shivers).

It's about being the parent - We don't like tattle-telling.  Santa is not in charge here.  I want my kids to see me as their parent and the one they can count on in all things.  I don't give any of that responsibility away to Santa by threatening the girls that he's watching/judging.  I want my girls to feel safe and secure and having parents who are the leaders of the household helps immensely.  I cringe when I hear kids say things like 'if you won't buy it for me then I'll ask Santa to'.  Ugh.  I am management here, no going over my head.  ;)

It's about perspective - Our trips to Ethiopia changed us.  Our perspective of things shifted.  It's hard to put into words.  Being in the midst of the orphans of all ages who just wanted to be loved by someone, well it's hard to think of Santa and all the hoopla that goes on here at this time of year as important.  We met some families who were bringing home older children and while talking, the Santa issue came up.  You can't introduce the idea of Santa to a child who has known Christmases without. . . anything.  If we didn't already feel that Santa was unnecessary, well we surely would have now.  Yes, they celebrate Christmas in Ethiopia, just not the same time we do.

It's about the REAL reason - Christmas can be way too materialistic.  Santa has turned into the epitome of that for me.  I don't see his redeeming qualities.  He is a fun story and that's how we celebrate him.  I'd like to tell my girls where the real Saint Nick started, but that's still just a good story and not the reason we celebrate either.  I want my girls to think of Christ first, and not after Santa.  Santa takes up too much time as it is, and I don't think he needs another spotlight from me.  For us this is how we make our holiday about Christ.  We took Santa out of it.  He is not our holiday.  Our girls believing in Santa will not help them, so we are focusing on things that will.

Does it bother me that other people have Santa in their Christmas?  No way.  I don't think there is one way to parent.  We feel our way is the right way for us.

Don't worry Dave and I won't spill the beans to your kids.  Unless they are reading this over your shoulder right now, then oops, sorry.

So now you know why Miley may give you a weird look if you ask her what she asked Santa for this year.  Adults that don't know the truth confuse her a little.  ;)

We don't do the Easter bunny stuff either.  I know, our house is devoid of joy.  ;)

red leaves

I may have complained about our landscaper previously, but I didn't go check to link to it here.  I may have been slightly disappointed when I asked for a tree with red fall leaves and I didn't get it for the first few years.  Yes, multiple years of leaves turning purple and then dropping.  No red.  Grrrrrrr.  I LOVE red leaves.  Weird?  Well maybe.

This year however, I was thrilled to see my beautiful tree going from purple to RED!

Well, they've all fallen off now, but I'm glad I got a picture just in case it never happens again.

thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

Feeling very blessed this year.  I hope you are as well.  Miley drew these pictures for me and I think she summed up the top of my thankful list perfectly. . . you know, her dad in a dress, our dog moehoe, and a family of curly heads.  Perfection.  ;)  Love them all!

Much love to you too, from all of us!  But especially from me, for following along with our crazy life here and reading my endless nonsense as well.  Thank you for your comments and encouragement.  It kept me coming back to add more to this blog, and as I look back at all I've done here, I am so grateful that I stuck with it and have it all to remember.  Sometimes more fondly than others, but so priceless either way.  Thank you for reading along with my life, and helping me document it.

Now go eat some pie!  

(Miley's teacher asked her what we eat for Thanksgiving dinner and she said, "DESSERT, and some other stuff", that's my girl!)