When we arrrived back in Fort Wayne, we found out there had just been an ice storm the day before. This was quite the contrast from having just been in sunny Ethiopia. Welcome back to Indiana!! :)
Christmas was just a few short days after we got home. What a great gift to be able to bring Meron home in time for Christmas and all be together again.
What a sweetie!
I'm not sure I understand all of this.
It was so good to be home with our kiddos for Christmas.
Bud must have been a good boy, Santa left him a little treat too.
Getting ready for bath time.
They're already teaching her those bad video game habits!!!
Meron's first time in the snow.
Buddy loves the snow just as much as the kids. In fact, I think he thought he was one of the kids!Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Buddy in February. He was such a huge part of our lives for fourteen years. He is missed so much. He was our first "kid", and a brother to Ty, Lane and Shelby. He brought so much joy to our family, as well as occasional frustration, like the time he ate an entire chocolate cake off the table, or when he would get wet in the pool run straight to the sand box and roll around then make a bee-line straight into the house to roll all over the carpet! Those were the days I wished we didn't have a dog, but what I remember him for the most is his love and loyalty. If he thought we were threatened, he was right there to protect us. If we were sick or sad, he was sitting right there beside us. If we were running around the back yard playing kick ball, he was running right along side us (usually tripping us up :) ) We love him and will miss him. There will never be another "Bud". He really was a great dog.
Brandt celebrated his ?? birthday. Bet you can't guess!
We celebrated Meron's baby dedication in February. This was a special day at church when we make a promise in front of family, friends and the congregation to raise Meron up to be a christian woman through our faith and through the help of the Lord's wisdom and guidance.
In March we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. The years have flown by!!
Lane turned 11 in March! Seems like just yesterday he was such a little guy.
Shelby's drawing of a vase was chosen to be in the Fort Wayne FAME Festival that celebrates the arts.
In April, we went to North Carolina's Outer Banks for Spring Break. They are a group of barrier islands that run along the coast of North Carolina. It was very beautiful there, but it was still a little chilly and very windy. There are five lighthouses that are on the different islands. Two of them are open for climbing late spring through early fall. They both opened the week after we left, so unfortunately we missed out, but they were still neat to see. They were each painted differently and their grounds were all a little different.
This was a sunset on the ferry ride back to one of the islands.
Hanging out during a lunch pit-stop.
This is on Jockey's ridge sand dune. It was crazy windy up there!
Take them on vacation and they still find time for video games!
Too cold for playing at the beach, but we still found some cool sea shells.
All dressed up for Easter Sunday.
Grandma brought over some fun bubbles for after the egg hunt.
Meron loves her cousin Audrey! We spent an afternoon at Foster Park enjoying their beautiful flowers. Every spring they have the most beautiful tulips and daffodils in bloom.
Cute monkeys hanging in a tree!
After the park we went to Zesto's and Meron had her first ice cream cone. She absolutely loved it! She ate it so fast I'm surprised she didn't get a brain freeze.
What do you mean the ice cream's all gone!!!!That's the last four months in a nutshell. After we got home from Ethiopia we kind of hit the ground running, as much as we would like to freeze time, life just takes hold and before we know it another day, week, month has flown by.
