Kidney Stones

Actually, just one, but it is fairly good sized. He has pain every few weeks for a couple hours....and the ultrasound shows it is higher up and not going anywhere. He is on some medicine now, and goes back next week for another ultrasound. Next, they will bring up some "tapping" machine from Portland....and try that method. The 3rd option is somewhat....ehem....evasive. I will leave out the details! Here is an article that recently came out on kids with kidney stones, but bottom line, Sami is not big on fluids....so I think that contributed to it. Another factor is black tea.....how much tea do you think he drank in Ethiopia? ;) I am so thankful for health insurance and being close to Children's Hopsital! They are amazing.

"Koro-Ko"

One afternoon we went to our friend's house in Addis. We were able to meet their uncle, who used to work for the U.N. in Addis. He had a very interesting life story, and his wife had worked in the Haile Selassie govt. Their house, which they had just completed, (that we were sitting in) was taken over by the Derg in the 70's and they finally got it back 20 years later. It was an amazing house, and had an outfoor garden in the middle. The gov't had let different gas company execs use it over that 20 year period. He said, each family from around the world (a 4 year stay) would completely redo the house to thier liking, so it was very will kept up!

As we were there, he remembered a song he was taught as a child by some Canadian school kids (in the 40's??) Anyway, Tsion ran with it, and always has so much respect for grandparents. It was so cute! He loved remembering it and reciting it with her. Here they are! :))

Ethiopia Take 1

I am not going to document the trip by day, but will chose a few different highlights of our trip. As usual, being in Africa, is was a fly by the seat of your pants trip! :) We visited Sami's family in the first couple days, anxious to see the new baby. Sami's step-mom made it perfectly clear by her body language, that I was not taking this baby to America! (phew!) I only held her a couple times. We were happy to see she appeared healthy and well fed.



As culturally conscious I am in Ethiopia, we "surprised" their family on our first visit. They knew we were coming at some point, just not that day. Just an FYI.....I do not think "surprises" are as fun there as they are in America. :) We scared their step-mom to death as she was doing laundry, and within 5 minutes, the extended family was there thanks to a phone call. Someone ran and got their cousin Helen from school, and she ran all the way home, thinking there was an emergency. Poor girl!





I was shocked to see Euyrus sleeping in this beautiful crib, with a mosquito net. It had been given to Sami and Tsion parents from an Israeli family that their Dad had worked for. I just realized, it must have originally been for Tsion.....we brought the dolls. :))

This cracks me up, their grandma hugging Tsion, she is searching for a way out! :)

Very proud gma, and all Sami's friends thought he was so FAT!!! Such a compliment there.

S and T's Dad's new baby. Helen raised Tsion after her Mom died, she is their 16 yo cousin.

Tsion LOVES LOVES LOVES Helen.

Step-Mom, Woolala (yes, how it sounds!), and baby Euyrus. Gotta love Mary in the background!

Baseball Season Kicks Off......

We were fortunate enough to get all 3 boys on one team. Makes life a bit easier in our house.....except everyone has to have their own pants, cups and socks ready....and no borrowing! I had to buy 3 pairs of baseball pants. It is almost like having triplets! They have the same pants, same size....but fits all 3 boys completly different. Sami, making sure his never get mixed up, had me label his with his name.

Tsion is also playing, due to a family member "cap" on cost. She plays for free! Cannot beat that. :)) This first game, she informed us that we were no cheering loud enough for her.....so we are working on that. The fact that she is one of the only kids who can actually run the bases is a plus. These Ethio kids have ta lot of athletic ability, they seem to excel at everything. And since I have no biological connection to their abiility, I do not feel bad bragging!
A couple pix from the first week.....

Has yet to pick any flowers in the outfield, she is always ready in her "athletic stance."

T.P.

This week we had the funniest thing happen (so far, funny....the problem has not been solved, it could turn not funny fast!)


The cardboard TP roll "somehow" was in the toilet and partially flushed. This is a larger problem at our house due the the septic system. (We cannot even used cheapER t.p. due to the septic.) Course, no one fessed up until late into the night, and it was Tsion. Accident you think?? No, she had no "soft" to wipe with so she used the cardboard!!! Nice.


Then, one of the boys said "Well, I just used the Lysol wipes cuz we were out of tp."


Really? Lysol wipes?


So Tsion, after being here for 2 years and 3 months, still keeps blanking on the word toilet paper. And my eldest really likes to rub it in. This is the conversation I witnessed today between a loving brother who rarely teases his sister.


Tsion: (hollering from the bathroom) "Zach, bring me a RAG!" So, being the helpful brother he is, he brought her a rag. "No, no, you know what I mean, "paper towels!'" So, Zach comes out, "Mom, throw me the paper towels". At this point I am about rolling on the floor laughing. Tsion is getting ticked...."you KNOW what I mean." Zach played it for while, and finally gave in. Poor girl. Things should get very interesting in the next 5-8 years around here! ;)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I found these Green bagels at the Market today! Yum :)

Yes, we are Alive!!

I promise, I did have good intentions on updating about our trip. I had frantically called my sweet sis-in-law from the airport, so I could post to wordpress from Addis. Even with a computer and internet in our guest house (Addis Kidane Guest House, it was great!) the snails pace dial up barely let us check our e-mail.

We had a great trip, and if you want to be facebook friends :) you can see a good portion of our photos. I will choose some highlights in the near future (haha!) and tell about a couple fun things we came across. And to be a bit honest, after spending 6 weeks in Addis in the last 2 years, I am pretty burned out by what I have experienced and seen....which is another reason I have not blogged. As I look back now, the frustrating experiences are fading and I am remembering the good things!

Since we have been back, we have:

*taken my ET son Sami from school
*Sami has a possible Kidney Stone? TBD at Children's Hospital next month.
*went to Silver Mtn. in Idaho on a YL ski trip, not to ski but to play at their amazing water park!! And btw, it is a gorgeous resort!
*3 kids in indoor soccer
*4 kids starting baseball, luckily 3 are on the same team!
*went from homeschooling 1 kid in the fall, to hsing 2.5 this spring.
*working my butt off at the gym, gone from running 1 mile to 7 miles in 2 months.
*Lance will be on reduced salary after this month (I know, join the club!) Pray for fundraising!
*I got "reading glasses" Guess that comes with being 38. I was told to wear them only when I was reading or on the computer "working" for an extended period of time. I asked if blogging and facebook counted?? ;)
*We will celebrate our 14th Anniversary this Wednesday.
*Leaving to visit family in SoCal on Saturday.

I will post some pics, and hopefully i will blogging poolside next week. :)