Sunday Afternoon Fun

After a long and difficult week, we had some fun planned for Sunday afternoon.  Amy and the girls had tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at the Lexington Opera House, and Matt and AJ went to see the University of Kentucky soccer team play Florida Atlantic.

AJ is enjoying the match more than it looks like.  He was having trouble seeing with the bright sunshine.

The UK Athletics Photogs caught this great photo of a celebration after a goal by UK Freshman Xahne Reid.

And the Cats win, 3-0!

After the game, the Freshmen were available on the field for autographs.

 Amy & the Girls headed to downtown Lexington to see Beauty & the Beast LIVE

 Lexington Opera House

 Gaston

(Our seats were 2nd from the top row in the upper balcony so sorry for all the heads in the photos)

 Be Our Guest

 Tale as Old as Time

 Song as Old as Rhyme

 Beauty & the Beast

 Kill the Beast!

 In the end, love conquered all and the Beast was turned back into a Prince.

 And they lived happily ever after

More time with Cousins

Had to post some more clips from our fun weekend last week with the cousins visiting from Indiana.  Now that the twins and their cousin are a bit older, they enjoyed producing their own videos on their iPods.  These were too good not to post.

It's hard to believe it now that tonight's lows will be in the 40's, but last weekend, temps were in the 90's so we headed to the local aquatic center.

This little Philippina is a fish.  She played in the water the whole 3 hours we were at the park.  

She did not stop moving the whole time.   

Essie and Chloe Are 10!

Essie and Chloe turned 10 on Friday - no more single digits in our house.

The girls have been wanting larger bikes for a while now - they are getting so tall!

These are the faces of anticipation - what kind of birthday cake has Dad designed this year?

The girls are very into Legos right now, so we found a silicone Lego person cake mold online.  Of course, we had to make two.

Make a wish!

Mom got the head.  A little bit morbid.

New Sunday dresses from Aunt Buffy

And shirts from Grandma

The other thing the girls are really into now - duct tape.  They like to make flowers and wrap school binders in colorful duct tape.  This was the gift from their brother.  As you can see, they are getting a bit slap-happy at this point.

We go through headphones at this house like some people go through kleenexes.

Just what they wanted - a big box of Legos from all the grandparents.

On Saturday, some cousins from Indiana showed up, so we got to do the cake thing all over again.

Soccer balls from the cousins

And a flashback to the girls' first ever birthday party, six years ago.

Celebrating AJ - 5 Years Home

Five years ago today, a little boy who had hardly ridden in a car before got off an airplane in Kentucky to be with his forever family.  We are so proud of the young man he's becoming.  He has gone from a boy who could not sit still and who won the "loudest kid" competition at camp without knowing that it was a "loudest kid" competition, to a perfect gentleman.  He loves listening to music - particularly Johnny Cash and Kirk Franklin.  He's gone from a boy who hates to read to one that devours books in no time, particularly if they have sword fights and/or dragons.  He runs like a gazelle and is the fastest kid we've ever seen.  His biggest love is soccer, and he is an absolute phenomenon on the pitch, but he also enjoys and excels at basketball.  While he still loves Ethiopian food, Chinese food may be his favorite.  He is an artist with a lawnmower and a huge help to his mom around the "homestead".  He gets along well with his little sisters, as long as they stay out of his room.  We love him very, very much.

To celebrate AJ's anniversary in our family, watch how he's grown through these five short years:

We took this picture in March 2009 when we traveled to Kamashi, Ethiopia, way out on the Sudanese border, to adopt our girls.  We had no idea at the time that we would return just over a year later to bring little Amsalu home.

In August 2010, Matt traveled to Ethiopia to bring this little 8-year-old home.  This picture was taken on a sightseeing trip to the Jema River Gorge.

Meeting Mom for the first time, August 14, 2010, at Bluegrass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky.

Our first family photo shoot in November 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

August 14, 2015 - waiting for the bus to West Jessamine Middle School, our 13-year-old man-child of a 7th Grader.

First Day of School 2015

Yesterday was the first day of school for these three.  Essie and Chloe are in the 4th Grade, and AJ studied all summer so he could make up one of his missed years and skip to the 7th Grade.  (He was especially motivated to do this because 7th Graders are eligible to play on the High School Junior Varsity Soccer Team, which he is doing - and excelling.)  My, how they've grown!

To show how much they've grown, check out this picture from just three years ago:

A Difficult Goodbye

After only being in our family for about 5 months, sweet Opal had to be put down yesterday due to complete renal failure.  Since she is only 3 years old, it is assumed she ingested some toxin that caused her organs to shut down.  She was a good dog who had a very loyal following on Facebook.  We are all sad to have had to say goodbye too soon.