Back "home" in Langano!

On a 4-wheel-drive and a hike to a beautiful waterfall

Charlotte loves climbing these HUGE 2,000 year old fig trees!

Family portrait on our hike

Sharing a meal and coffee with friends

Charlotte loves chasing newborn baby sheep, and actually catches them!

This family had 4 tiny 3-week old kittens!

 

Charlotte and her best Langano friend Levi climbing trees in front of church.

One of the workers on the project here found two mousebirds with talons locked in battle and just picked them up and showed them to the girls, who were thrilled of course!

 We have loved our time in the US soaking up time and making new memories with family.  Now we feel as though we have come "home" again to Langano also and making special memories here too.

Oh, Happy Day!

Congratulations Dad and Margaret!

We are thrilled to travel back to the US to celebrate with Grandpa Randy and Grandma Margaret on the occasion of their wedding!  They have an amazing story of how God has brought them together to share their lives. Their love is sweet to see and their happy smiles are infectious :)

Home. Sweet. Family.

Soaking up some sweet family time with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. We have also been celebrating kids' birthdays and milestones recently past, and those soon to come. 

Back in the US for July!

Grandpa Randy and Grandma Margaret welcoming us at the airport

Down to Byron where we met up with Great-Grandma Lois, Lisa and the girls, and Aunt Lori and Carl

Next morning we went to "breakfast on the farm"!  We haven't missed for the last 5 years!  We certainly weren't going to let a little thing like living in Ethiopia stop us this year!

The amazing pancake machine

Yum!

Ride 'em cowgirls!

Then into Rochester for the famous dachshund-dash!

Campfire at Grandma and Grandpa's

Hot dogs!  (not Dachshunds)

Getting sticky-faced

Hi!

Mercy and Linnea are best friends, Mercy loves sitting on her lap and playing together

We shared a huge Blizzard on the way to the...

ZOO!!!

All 4 girls checking out the Grizzlies

No trip to the zoo is complete without riding on a praying mantis.  We have tone of these in Langano.  You can also see the colobus monkey in the background - another native of Langano.

Exploring a cave at the zoo

Running through the zoo fountain with Linnea!  We got drenched!

Liya and Charlotte seeing who can get wetter

Mercy explains to Grandpa how picking one's nose in public is socially acceptable in Ethiopia.

Drying out on the warm rock

Jump!

Mercy and Linnea exploring the fountains with Grandma and Grandpa.

We are back in the US for July to celebrate Grandpa Randy marrying Ms. Margaret, a wonderful woman whom we are very excited to welcome into the family.  We are also celebrating family in general and soaking up as much family time as we can before heading back home to  Ethiopia at the end of the month.

We'll keep new photos uploaded of our adventures, so stay tuned!

Busy Bee

Charlotte got a microscope for Christmas, and she and Daddy have had fun looking at lots of different things with it.  Here are some pictures of her looking at a giant bumble bee we found outside (dead already, of course).