Leaving soon for Ethiopia

 I will copy and paste the Em Wants More post over here or you can just go there yourself. Your pick. http://www.emwantsmore.blogspot.com/

Everything is starting to look more and more like we are leaving. Right now our huge counter is PACKED with diapers, toys, wipes, toys, batteries, waterbottles, and toys. Under the counter are suitcases! 7 or 8 suitcases! We are so thrilled to be leaving so soon. Today was our last Sunday at church before we leave. It's SO COOL!


Bob, Sports Dude, and Miss Bossy are at Papa and Nana's right now. Miss Bossy was so cute on the phone today. She asked Mom when we were leaving. Then she had to talk to me just to say bye and then she wouldn't hang up until I did.

Dad is planning on putting up the crib tonight and I think I might try to help him and/or clean the house. It's messy and you don't want to get stressed from the messes while you're packing! I don't know what Mom is planning on doing tonight. Probably more packing for Belly Boy.

Please pray for us. That we will get all our packing done, that the trip will go well, and that Belly Boy would bond to us quickly!

Today Mom and I were reading the blog of another family who is in Ethiopia right now. It was so cool to read the lady's view on the trip and know that we were going to experience that soon, too. Her posts were so easy to picture and they got me so excited to go.

I also spent the afternoon with my friend, Rache, who has been to Uganda on a mission's trip and had the most amazing time and plans on going back someday. Talking to her about her trip, looking at her pictures, and listening to her excitedly talk about our leaving so soon, has got me excited. I can't wait to go see another country, but most of all meet my brother who I already know is SO, SO CUTE!

Ana's hair

Boo, it's Ana's hair.

 Ana and her hair

 This is what it's like crazy afro style.

 Then we put her hair in braids

 Aint it pretty?

Now we put them in twists. They look like braids, but are roundy. My computer won't let me show a picture. Oh man. But they're cute.

Ana's Party

We just finished an early birthday party for Ana. We were so happy with how many girls actually were able to make it! It was great!

We began with games. First, they played pin the bow on Hello Kitty. Lucas has a skill for drawing the characters for the kids' parties. He's done two Thomas the tank engine ones and several others. Today he drew a big Hello Kitty and then cut out bows for the girls to tape on.

The next game they played was a dress up game where you have to race to get dressed in some dress up clothes. That went okay, but noone likes to lose so everyone was trying to help eachother get dressed! It was funny. We got some good pictures!

Then some of the girls tried to dress a doll as fast as they could. I was entertained by one girl who obviously had watched her mom dress her younger sister before. She kept doing little things that you do with a real baby, not a doll. Like lie the baby on her coat and pull her arms through. It was too cute.

Then we had supper. mmmm.. Hot dogs, potato chips, grapes, and carrots. As they ate, Luke made balloon animals, (mostly cats), and then as they ate Ana's cake, Ana opened her gifts.

Then the kids went off to scream and play and fly balloons at eachother.

 I think Ana had fun. She got an early birthday present of a dress that has a matching dress for her doll, so she loved that!

Here we come, Minte!!

Hello, Mintesinot Gabriel. So, guess what, Buddy? We are coming to get you! Mommy and Daddy thought it was aways away. But, it's not! We get to come get you in about two weeks! We are leaving here March 3rd so we will be where you are, Ethiopia, March 4th and then I think we get to meet you and hold you March 5th. Are you excited to see us and for us to bring you home? We are! We love you and will be there very soon. Be good! Love you, Buddy-boy!

Valentines Day

So how did our Valentines Day go? Well, it went like this...

We woke up to a breakfast of heart-shaped biscuits, strawberry (pink, get it??) applesauce, and strawberry jam. Yummy! It was a delicious breakfast!  All of us kids had three biscuits, all but Ethan who had FIVE!

Then we quickly ran around trying to get to church at nine. From church we came home and ate lunch, watched the olympics, played the wii, and Lucas did his HTML website thingy. For snack Ana and Ethan got big, heart-shaped rice krispie treats on a plate and decorated them with candy. The hearts were so big that they couldn't finish them!

Next Dad and Mom went out on a date while we ate sugar cereal, (cereal with more than 6 grams of sugar. P.S. If you find any spectacular, delicious cereal with 6 gram of sugar or less, let me know)! The kids watched a couple of videos after supper and then they went to bed while Luke and I made our own rice krispie hearts and watched Flicka.

Then Dad and Mom came home from going out to eat and going shopping to watch a movie, and we went to bed. So ended the day.

It was a fun, pink day!

Guess what? I'm back!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write. I haven't been in the mood to write. I know, it's bad..

What to write about... Well, we have a travel date. Click here to read more!

Ethan is eight, but I already wrote about that.

Hmmm, any pictures??..

Well,

Lucas made this cool creation when we went to a museum. It is an invention Leonardo DaVinci made and Lucas displayed.

Here's another view. It's harder than it looks. The little one below is the example to make, umm, Luke got a little carried away, I think.

Ana and Ethan, too, worked on some of their own inventions.

Anie, girl.

And I gave Ethan a lecture. I'm kidding, I don't know what I'm doing!

Ethan loved the bird display. Stuffed birds. Tons of birds he's always finding in the backyard. In case you didn't know, Ethan is a birdologist, or whatever they're called! Actually, the stuffed animals were pretty sweet, 'cause you could see all these wild animals in person, without being scared of them eating you. There were some huge windowlike cases with a wildlife scene. Trees, grass, even water. It was amazing! And so cool, oh.. AND educational, can't forget that on a field trip!

And Lucas took a picture of us eating. Not sure why. I guess because it was such an amazing lunch. maybe.

A Quiz for You. Take a deep breath. Pick up your pencils. You have 10 minutes. Begin now!

1. What is Ethan's favorite food?

a) pb and j  b)spaghetti  c)cornbread  d) bananas

2. What is my favorite food?

a) mac n cheese  b) casserole  c) pizza   d) cereal

3. What continent is Minte being adopted from?

no multiple choices

4. What is Ana's favorite thing to play?

a) kitchen  b) trains   c) house   d) puzzles

5. What team did Dad decide to follow when he was young?

a) Ravens  b) Saints  c) Vikings  d) Steelers

6. What does Lucas do in his spare time most of the time?

a) HTML b) read  c) scrapbooking  d) tearing apart electronics

7. What has Mom been sick with?

a) pneumonia  b) cold  c) bronchitis d) flu

AND FINALLY!
8. How many Vander Hart hands will be in Ethiopia in a few weeks?

a) 10   b) 8   c) 4  d) 6