Pics

Nothing exciting to report. We had a good week of school. Carmen is figuring out how to take a long nap in the afternoon. We got to see some friends this week and weekend we haven't seen for awhile. That's about all that's exciting on our end. But I thought you would enjoy these pics. Carmen sits up by himself. The last pic is us cleaning up after a party we had here. He liked the party favors.

Adoption Finalization Day!!

Today was a BIG day. It's the day we went to court to finalize our adoption. We adopt in Ethiopia and America recognizes it but you have to "re-adopt" once you're back in the States. This means we can finally get them birth certificates, social security cards and passports! Hurrah!
So, we went to the court and the whole thing took about 10 minutes. We were dressed to the nines and waited with the lawyer. The judge came in, we were asked some very general questions and the judge said, "Well, congratulations. You girls will hence forth be known as Turism Tesfay Hanover, Bitsuanit Tesfay Hanover and Tihitina Tesfay Hanover." So fun. Tesfay was their old last name that we wanted to keep. They actually had no idea what it was.

Something fun that happened with all that: we have been spending the last couple of months trying to determine their actual ages. We've been working with their pediatrician for this. We submitted some documents with what we and the doctor agreed with to be their dates and the judge let the evidence through. So, Turi (formerly 9) is acutally 10. Bitsu (formerly 8) is actually 9. And Tihi (formerly 5) is acutally 5. Ha ha. So, we had a birthday party tonight for Turi and Bitsu to age them a year. Bitsu responded with, "Can I stay up later now?" and Tihi said, "You're one year closer to going to knowledge!" (what she thinks college is called).

He is SO active.

Carmen is SUCH a boy. The boy doesn't even crawl yet and this morning he wacked his head twice and chin once. Is it possible that we could pass down our adventurous spirit? He rocks himself back and forth, harder and harder until he hits something or whatever he's in falls over. Crazy. I can't believe I have to keep my eye on him already. Just yesterday, he was sitting in his booster seat at the table and he grabbed the table and pushed his chair back and tilted it up onto 2 legs. Who does that?
On another topic, we are getting 2 more ft. of snow. We thought it was almost done. The girls are thrilled.

Chores

Yes, we make Carmen help out around here too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day breakfast. So fun to see the 4 kids eating together!

Sorry the video is sideways...

Well, not much has changed here. But I thought I should give an update anyway.

We taught the girls how to ski. They LOVED it. They thought we were going to have to hike up the mountain, ski down and hike back up. How thrilled they were to learn that there was a thing called a chair lift. In fact, I'm not sure what they loved more, the chair lift or the skiing.

Turi and I both went to run a race nearby. She ran the 5K and came in 6th overall for kids from 8-18 yrs. old. Not bad! She ran it in 29 minutes. So funny. That's without practice and we told her to try to pace herself so she didn't start really running until the half-way point. I ran a full marathon and it might've been the worst idea I've ever had. It was all hills and I almost died and left Curt a widower.

We have had LOTS of snow, as you've seen from previous posts. The girls love it except Tihi is too short and the snow comes up to her waist and she hates not being able to move around.

School is going well. The girls are really in their groove. Tihi is easily doing 1st grade work. Bitsu is probably doing 2nd grade work. Turi should finish 4th grade work by the summer.

Speaking of summer, we will be helping out with a summer project in ME this summer. We will be driving there. Yes, we are insane. But that does mean we might be able to see a lot of you since we'll be driving across the country.

Lastly, Carmen. Not much to report on a baby. He usually sleeps 7-5, eats and goes back to sleep until 7. He is sitting up by himself, eating lots of peaches, pears, avocados, prunes, bananas and sweet potatoes, rolling over from stomach to back and visa versa and just being cute. He is super-easy so there is not much to write about. The cat loves jumping in his crib and sleeping on him, which wakes him. Cats.

Can You Believe How Big??

Neither can I. Sitting up in a chair already...??

Carmen laughing