Happy Birthday Matt!!!

Today is Matt's birthday!! We had a fun family day of celebrating. It was low key just like Matt likes it. We went to the park and played for awhile. Matt got to grill for supper. One of his favorite things to do!!

Started the morning with a birthday donut hole!! It even had a candle in it!!

We opened presents later in the day!!

Matt is an awesome daddy, an amazing husband, and my very best friend!! I LOVE living life with him. It's not dull or boring and an adventure is always right around the corner!!

Happy Birthday Mattie!! We love you so much!!

Durant's 1st Friend Party!

Okay making up for some lost time. My computer was getting fixed (again) and now it's back!!!

Durant had his very first friend birthday party last month! He was super excited. It was a Lightning McQueen theme. This is actually the only theme he has ever chosen for his birthday. So year 3 of Lightning!

We had a lot of fun at his party. We made necklaces, ate donuts and pizza rolls, and played some games.

Winter Fun!!

Our family is NOT a winter type of family. I honestly think all seven of us were created to live in a climate more like Southern California, but until God calls us there Wisconsin it is!!!

So every once and while Matt and I think it's probably a good idea to expose our children to things like sledding!!! The kids had a blast! Matt and I did too!

Happy 5th Birthday Durant!!!

Today is our baby boy's 5th birthday!! So hard to believe how quickly the years have gone by. Three years ago today Matt and I got to look at our boy for the first time!
As we were talking about it and telling Durant and the others the story, Matt and I realized that the boy Durant was when we first saw a picture of him is a testimony in itself of what adoption is about. He was a very frail malnourished little boy who we were told rarely smiled and was serious. His arms and legs were so thin they looked like they could brake if squeezed too tight. His belly stretched so tight from the parasites living in there. The day I met Durant he was wearing a size 3-6m shirt - he was over 2 years old.

Now to look at Durant you would never guess it. He's healthy and full of energy and his smile and laugh can light up a room!
Durant is our special gift! He's the little boy that God placed on my heart at just a young girl of 10 years old.

It's hard to believe that this little guy was once described as serious cause just thinking about him brings a huge smile to our faces. He is truly a joy and Matt and I are so blessed to able to be his parents.

We love you so much Nati!

New Family Pictures.

I'm a little behind with this post, but back in December we had family pictures taken. I was little worried about getting 7 people to all smile and look good all at once but I think it turned out pretty good. Our photographer, Sarah, did a great job!

6 Months Home!!

On February 2nd we celebrated 6 months of being a family of 7!! Some days it feels like we've been a family of 7 for 10 years and other times it feels like the boys just got home! Hitting the 6 month mark was a milestone I was looking forward to. Everyone is more secure with their place in the family and we all know each other a lot better now. We are still learning a lot each day but it has been a great transition overall.

We took the kids out to eat at Red Robin to celebrate and then to the Jabali Afrika concert, Kenya's Afro-fusion music group. It was a lot of fun! The kids really enjoyed it and even 4 out of the 5 ended up dancing up on stage!!

Clifford joined us because of a school project

These guys are a lot of fun. We went last year and really enjoyed it.

There's some of our kids up on stage dancing!

We saw several friends at the concert too. Here's Durant, Clifford, and our friend Brihan.

We're still around!

We are still here!! It's been awhile since a post but things are going well. We are staying busy with basketball, soccer, and continuing to learn how to be a family of seven!!

We just had conferences for Ezra, Carter, and Jackson. They went really well. The kids are really loving school and their teachers. The teachers are really loving our boys!! That is such a great feeling to have all three teacher truly liking having our boys in their class. Durant and Ana's conferences are next week.

Here are some pictures of some things we've done lately.

Had some friends over and made cupcakes (thanks Paula for sending all the supplies).

Jackson had his very good friend Nahom over to play.

Since we went through a very cold weather stretch, we found other ways to use up all the energy!