Look who made AGCI ETHIOPIA Opening page...Gracie!!!

We had to submit 6 photos as one of our post adoption requirements and I remember long ago signing a waiver about photos but we had no idea she was on this page until I logged onto the sight recently. I keep telling John she should be modeling!!
Here is the photo.....I can't figure out how to drag the AGCI website to this.. will post it later. Those of you at AGCI it is under Ethiopia adoption of course.

Casey is the Best Goalie

Casey recently played in one of her 6 soccer tournaments this summer. She did an awesome job as goalie. She did get soaked by her friend after the game when they were squirting water on each other........and I did then find those soccer clothes in her zipped up soccer bag .........about a week later. P.U. Click on photo to see closer image.

Soleburner 2008

In memory of my mother we ran in the Soleburner the day before Mother's day. My mother, Mary, lost her battle with ovarian cancer when she was 44 years old. My life is in some ways a tribute to her... for all she has done for me. Wyatt and Owen did so well and were so excited to get the goody bag and the end of their 1k. Me...on the otherhand...well, I finished but I didn't feel the best. Of course that probably has nothing to do with the fact that I trained for about 2 weeks prior to the event. That's alright though. I was happy to have finished.

Casey in the Civil War re-enactment

She's the one with the "v" shaped yellow emblem.

Gracie with a Hat...Gracie with a Fro

Gracie does not have curly hair...she has wavy hair. John has been the only one able to get it real curly after her bath. It must be some special technique only he can do. I think she likes it.

Gracie's First Campfire

Considering the weather here in Wisconsin has not been real nice, (Why do we live here again???) we have not been outside a whole lot with the kids. Last weekend we were able to start a fire on our patio and make some smores.

Momma and Sweet Baby Gracie

Need I say more??

Casey and Mom Explore the Everglades!!

Well, actually we are in the inlet back in the mangroves at Grandma and Grandpas but we were pretending we were in the everglades.

Gracie is Baptized--April 6, 2008

Today was a very special day for our family. We all walked into church together, welcoming Gracie into our church community.
Of course I tried to put a cute white dress on her which we managed to do despite the 40 degree weather. She is truly a gift from God and we will always be grateful to be chosen to be her parents. Owen, as you can see is especially glad to be holding the candle.

To Grandma and Grandpa's we go---Florida

O.K. ----so we missed our flight going to see John's parents in Florida. How does that really happen? We live about 20 minutes from the airport and yet Marshall...family of 6 miss their flight. We went back for Gracie's amoxicillin which I guess was a mistake. I think it is all quite sad that it happened and it will never happen again. Luckily John's dad was able to pull some strings and we were able to make it the same day, only later. We all love to go visit Duff and Judy. The boys could fish all day long. Casey and I went for 2 kayak rides...pretending we were in the everglades...will post those pics later. It is just so good for the body and soul to travel to Florida as much as possible. Living in Wisconsin in the winter and spring is soooo depressing. I could count on one hand the number of times we were all outside this winter. Why is it we live here again??
I think living here must be like the delivery of a child. The pain is so horrible but we forget about it in just a few months. Now that it is just beginning to get nice out...I think we tend to forget how miserable the last 6 months were. How fortunate we are to be able to travel to Florida. John and the kids are getting ready to go again in May.

Easter 2008

We all had so much fun doing easter eggs this year. Gracie wanted to play in the dye and became quite angry when the water was taken away from her. We had standing room only at church which is not too unusual for us. We always seem to be late on the holiday masses despite how we try to get ready earlier.

Beautiful YOU!!

The Future of NASA

These are what we bought the boys as their souvenir from Africa. We really didn't find anything that we thought would be suitable for them in Africa but found these at the Smithsonian store at the Washington D.C. airport. They love them!!

Team Marshall

Are there any Ethiopian-American women in Hockey?? Owen has Gracie all set!!

The Wizard's bring home silver.

John and Bill's High School team took home silver this year in the state hockey tournament. Disappointing from last year but still an awesome accomplishment. At least 4 of the boys were sick with the stomach flu for the semi final game. Of course we then brought that home with us as Owen was up throwing up all night too.

Random Photos

Hello March !!

Back to the blog world again... sorry it's been awhile. As you can imagine we are kept busy with our 4 munchkins and Casey is the only one involved in things right now. I can hardly wait until summer when the boys and Casey will be in soccer and baseball!!. Owen turned 5 the end of January, John's b-day was in early February, Casey turned 11 early in March and I will be 37 this next week!! We have had so much to celebrate and to be thankful for.

My sweet baby Gracie

Our wonderful friend Jenny took these pics. Aren't they great? I bought the pink tapestry in Ethiopia. I love that picture. It's funny how she doesn't even look like the same baby anymore!! She is getting so big...too fast! We are so in love with her. She doesn't like us to put her down for more than a few minutes but is happy as can be in our arms or in her Baby Bjorn. The kids have been great and are so happy to have her here.

Gracie's Baby Shower

Here we are....waiting to eat some cake. My wonderful sister and sister- in- law had a shower for Gracie and I about 2 weeks after we arrived home. We planned on having one mid January as we had not planned on traveling until the end of January. It was wonderful....(just like my sister and sister-in-law) I would highly recommend the Fischer Price Jumperoo. It is a Johnny jump up and exersaucer in one. She loves it. We got so many nice things from so many nice people.