Great day today with the children!  Very laid back.  We were supposed to go to Hope today to fill out paperwork but they called us yesterday afternoon while at the KVI orphanage and said we needed to meet with Rachel that evening.  So Eyob had his driver take us all the way back across town to get our paperwork from the guest house (we didn’t think we needed it until Tuesday).  Then he took us to a different side of town to the Hope House to meet with Rachel.  Then he took us back to KVI to get the children and then back to the guest house late yesterday.

We were hungry when we returned last night so we decided to order pizza from Danny next door.  Danny is an Ethiopian that has spent many years in the States and has just come back to open a restaurant.  He has only been open a week but has very good food and can speak both English and Amharic – invaluable for helping with ordering food and interacting with the kids.  Michelle and I had been ordering traditional Ethiopian fare from him because I hate the idea of coming all the way here to order a hamburger.  So, I thought pizza would be cool for our first meal alone with the kids – because what kid doesn’t love pizza…?

Well, to make a long story short, there is still pizza in the fridge and we have eaten three whole orders of shirro and ingera just today.  Danny is going to take me back into the kitchen tomorrow to show me some tips and fundamental ingredients in traditional Ethiopian food.  I’m kind of excited about that.

The day has been very relaxed and free from distraction so we could focus our attention on Bethlehem and Theodore.  Theodore woke up this morning and the first word out of his mouth was, “kwas.”  He was not upset but rather elated when saying the word.  I tried for 30 minutes to understand (with the help of Michelle, Bethlehem and our Amharic phrase book) with no success.  So I gave him paper to draw a picture but he wrote out the word in Amharic (which looks very similar to Arabic).  We took it with us on the way to eat breakfast and asked one of the girls at the desk what that word was.  She replied, “ball.”  Ball!  I thought he was missing something in his morning routine!  As a result, I was feeling like a pretty lousy father because I couldn’t produce the answer he was seeking.  He merely woke up and wanted to play ball with his father.  So we kicked the “football” (soccer ball) a lot today.

Bethlehem spent her time swinging on the swing set out back.  I think she, like her sister Autumn, could swing all day.  We had several showers today so in between them we’d come in a color.  Michelle had put a backpack together for each of them with coloring books, writing pads, crayons and pencils – oh, and pencil sharpeners.  Bethlehem thinks the sharpener is the coolest thing she’s ever seen.  She sharpens between each use.  Her pencils won’t last long at this rate…

Eli will be most tickled to hear about one of their favorite games: Thumb Wars!  They didn’t call it “thumb war” of course – and they count to ten instead of: “one, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!”  We played that a lot today too.  They are both quite strong actually.

We just put the kids down – they were very tired (as are we).  We played hard today and after our last round of shirro and ingera, they wanted to go to bed.  They are very well behaved.  Bethlehem showed some independent thought today but I think it is because she is used to being very well cared for by Theodore.  He helps her with everything.  He helps her put on and zip up her jacket.  He helps her pick up her crayons and pack everything back in her backpack.  He even helped her make her bed this morning.  Oh, and by the way, we never told them to do any of that.  When they got up, they made their bed.  When they were done coloring, they picked up all their stuff and packed it into their bags.  They have wonderful dispositions and everyone is guaranteed to fall in love with them. 

The more I watch them the more I see how God is bringing Eli the perfect playmate and Autumn the perfect little sister to help care for.  Bethlehem and Theodore will have much to learn but I am discerning that the best lessons are being prepared for Autumn, Eli, Michelle and me.

Enjoy the couple of pictures – I’ll try to do more later.  Video is impossible and pics difficult with the slow connection.  Love you all!!!