Snow day!

We are currently in the midst of a heck of a snow storm! We've had a couple of days off school so far (and I've not been able to work) so we're snuggled in tight and having a good time of it.

A couple of weeks ago we had another good snow storm (and days off of school) and so the girls got to really go out and play in the snow for the first time. It had been snowing for part of the afternoon and as I took the littles to pick up Eldana after school it just kept coming and coming down. As we drove home I called Matt and told him to get the snow boots ready! I was so excited to take the kids out to play RIGHT THEN. They had a great time - so much fun! My favorite part was that when we opened the front door the snow was really coming down and Abigia started giggling. Just giggling the cutest canyoubelieveit'sreallysnowing kind of giggle. The sweetest.

This was right before we went inside. That is Eldana's sad little snowman. She was desperate to build a snowman, but it wasn't good packing snow, so she settled for a little pile of smiling snow.

I love this blurry action shot of a snowball battle.

Eldana helping Eliana up for the 200th time.
Poor Eliana was just like Ralphie's little brother in A Christmas Story. She kept falling down in her snowsuit and couldn't get back up no matter what she did. I, being the good mother that I am, laughed out loud each and every time.

How cute are these two girls!?

2 years!

Sunday was Eliana's 2nd Family Day with us! Here are some pictures of our pick-up trip in 2007:








To celebrate, we went to a Nicaraguan restaurant in Pittsburgh called Rivas Restaurant. It was great! We all really enjoyed it and will definitely be going back again soon.

Here are some more recent pics of our littlest girl:

H0tel f0r d0gs (spoiler alert!)

Tonight Mom and I took all 3 kids to the movie theater for the first time. They did great!
Eldana loved it, of course.
The little girls were amazingly good. They didn't get restless until about the last 15-20 minutes, and even then it was only irritating me, not obnoxious enough for the other patrons to be disturbed.
Mom wanted to see Despereaux but it's last day was yesterday at our theater. The kids were so psyched to see a movie that we blindly went to see H0tel f0r D0gs.
Surprise! The kids in the movie are in foster care and have no parents!
Surprise! At one point they are split up and are very sad!
Surprise! At the end they are adopted!
Some adoptive parents really super-screen movies first so that their kids don't see movies that involve themes of loss, grief, etc. I don't do that, but do wish I would have known that this was part of the story. We'll see what questions Eldana has about it tonight. So far, her main topic of conversation after the movie was that when she is grown up she will stop the police from killing dogs. In case you are wondering, when she grows up she will also teach people not to hit their children, be a teacher, be a policewoman, be a singer, be an occupational therapist, be a respiratory therapist, be a mom, not have kids, be a wife, not get married, live with us forever, buy the house in front of our house and buy a great big house so we can move in with her. Oh the possibilities!

**update ** No more questions about the movie. In the past she hasn't been too bothered by orphan/adoption themed movies, but I always wonder if it will spark something.

Putting Eliana asleep last night, I lie down beside her in our bed and she snuggles her face up against mine. I say, "I love you, sweet girl" and she says "I yuv you Mama." I say "I'm so glad." She pauses and says "No, I'm so glad!" We joke back and forth, arguing "No, I'M so glad" several times each. I try to seriously say to her "Honey, I don't think you even know what glad means, it means that I'm so happy that you love your mama." She puts her lookhowsweetIamface on and snuggles up against me for a minute.. Then she pulls back and smiles, saying "No, I'M so happy!"
Holy moly. Does it get any sweeter than that?

Inauguration day

Overheard :

at 8:04 this morning from Eliana "Barack Obama.... hip, hip, hooray!"

and about 5 minutes after I told Abigia that today would be the inauguration and was Barack Obama's first day as president she announced, "today is Barack Obama's day."

Family photo outtakes

Baal Lidet

Last night we celebrated Ghenna (Ethiopian Christmas)! A good time was had by all!!









Jenny made the traditional Ghenna dish Doro Wat, she also made Misir Alicha. It was her first time making Doro Wat and she did a really good job. It was great!! We ordered Injera from a new place and it was excellent as well.





The dining room was decorated.



The table was set.


The food was prepared...



...while everyone anxiously waited.


Finally dinner was ready. It was a really nice dinner. Jenny did a great job and everyone really enjoyed themselves.



After dinner the girls played while Jenny and I cleaned up a bit.

chae färäsi (go horsey)



some random pics...



In Ethiopia after the Christmas meal it is traditional to play ganna (everything in Ethiopia seems to have many different spellings especially when translated into English). Ganna is somewhat like hockey played with a curved stick and a round wooden ball. Since it was cold and dark outside we decided to play Hungry Hungry Hippos, Connect Four, and checkers instead.





After the games we had a little King Cake left over from the previous night. We also had bunna (coffee), and shai (tea).

The celebration ended with dancing. We all had a really, really good time. I can't think of a better way to end the Christmas season. We can't wait till next year.



Melkam Yelidet Beaal (merry Christmas) everyone