How Hot Is It?

It's just June and we are having record setting heat. 106 yesterday in Waco. I really hate hot weather and Abate and Fantu aren't all that impressed with it either. We are now spending most of our time indoors watching movies. Yesterday was that Box-office blockbuster, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Talking Dogs are always good for a laugh, oh I can't believe the movies I'm watching now. Netflix is going to wonder what happened to me!
The kids have now been here for a month - Tuesday! I still can't believe how well they have settled in and just blended so seamlessly into our family. It just gets better each week. This week has been fairly quiet, no big outings or adventures. They are looking forward to the weekly trip to HEB tomorrow to buy groceries - seems to be the highlight of their week, they love to go there. Walmart is fairly high on the list too, we go there on Saturdays. We are going to try to make it to the cinema next week to see Night at the Museum 2. They were supposed to see it with the Boys and Girls club on Tuesday but they missed the trip as it was scheduled earlier than we thought. It will be fun to take them as they've never been to a cinema before. Caleb still calls it a really big TV.
Well I'll write more later providing we don't burn up in this heat. Autumn where are you?

Warm Welcome - Texas Style!

Friends gathering in the shade.Party was at Todd and Drew Paige's Ranch on Dodds Creek just outside Gatesville.

Tire Swings, trees to climb, a bouncy castle and a water slide!

Father Robert was there of course, Great picture of him with his two future godchildren and Caleb!

Hotdogs, Hamburgers, watermelon and a chocolate cake were enjoyed by all.

What a fun afternoon, and a great way to spend a hot Texas afternoon. So many people turned out and it was such a great day for Abate and Fantu. What a great welcome for them not just to Our Lady of Lourdes but to Gatesville and Texas! They had so much fun and were completely worn out at the end of the day. Abate had a chance to play soccer with a few teenage boys and he showed them a few things. He made quite the impression. The water slide was quite the hit with Fantu, she played on it for hours!

A big Texas Thank you to everyone that came and worked to make this party a huge success!

A quiet evening at the Doghouse

dad holding darby, abate, and fantu holding bonnie

abate and schindler

abate, fantu and bonnie

ditto....

and again - yes i know this ones blurry.

mom , kids and schindler

dad and kids - oh yeah!

Oh yeah - it's quiet - kids have gone to neighbours to make s'mores. It was getting pretty wild prior to that. Evenings have been a laugh a minute around here lately. Abate and Fantu become little comedians after dinner. Never a boring night. We have had a great week! They are settling into a routine now, and communication is improving. It was never much of an issue with Abate, and Fantu has come a long way in just 3 short weeks. These kids just continue to amaze us. They just fit so seamlessly into our family. I wanted laughter to fill this house - it has overflowed!

These are some of the latest pictures taken earlier this evening. Enjoy!

Beauty in All

Cats asleep on rooftop

Looking out behind KM.

Looking east from KM

Looking NW - new road construction going up hill.

View behind church

New Church at KM

Here are some of the photos from our trip. I can't post any photos with children in them - except our 2. So I will limit most of these photos to the scenery and buildings in and around Addis Ababa. Most pictures were taken from the windows at Kindane Meheret. Most Ethiopians are uncomfortable having strangers take pictures of them so I really didn't take my camera out with us. Will add more as I sort through them.