In Hawaii to complete citizenship process, and eat Taco Bell

In order to get Eliana and Zac their US citizenship, we had to get them on US soil within 6 months of when they were issued an immigrant visa. Hawaii is the fastest state at processing the papers. So they now have their certificates of citizenship and also their US passports! And I got to eat some Taco Bell! :)



Aubrey enjoying sun, sand and solitude. :)



Enjoying the Honolulu aquarium. Each "bubble" of this bubble coral is an individual living creature! Our Maker is amazing!

It's as beautiful as everyone says!
"You can't open your eyes in this universe without seeing a theater of divine revelation." ~R.C. Sproul



The Nafzigers came to Hawaii too while we were there! They were Scott's youth group leaders when he was in junior high. They've been wonderful friends ever since. Sandy (Sanford... below) married us! They got to meet our 3 kids who had never been to America. :)

Our 2 weeks in Hawaii

People keep telling us it's like we're running a toddler daycare. :) Word to the wise - don't take your whole toddler daycare on 30+ hour travels! 11 hour flight, then 5 hour layover, then 3 hour flight, then 1 hour bus ride. Add in customs, immigration, security, luggage, and potty training, and it is enough to make the whole gang have a meltdown. And the next day we kept on traveling to get back to our city. Then a flight was cancelled, then it took yet another day. We are so happy to be home!



Dustin, Jamie and Katie Hobbs came to visit us in Hawaii too! They were such a great encouragement to us, and it was wonderfully refreshing to be with them! We lived with them a few years ago when we were homeless (in our transition phase of moving overseas). Our kids had a lot of fun with their sweet Katie (2 years old). They also babysat for us and brought us lots of cool things from California... including a video our friends made for us of themselves. Very fun! Thanks friends!!




Dance party on the side patio. "If you're happy and you know it...."








It was such a blessing to hang out with my Grandma and my Great Aunt Jeannie in Hawaii. They watched the kids while we went out to eat, they helped feed and bathe the little people. They played outside with them in the grass too! Grass is a novelty for our kids.




You can never have too many rocks, sticks and leaves for your rock, stick, and leaf collection.

More Hawaii pics from last week

Enjoying time with Grandma Donna in Hawaii. You can see Great Grandma Buss and Great Aunt Jeannie in the mirror!! :)

Scott and Aubrey at Pearl Harbor

An island in the Pacific

Eliana's first birthday! We arrived in Hawaii just a few days before Eliana's first birthday. We are here to complete the immigration process for our Africans to become US citizens. After many piles of paperwork, and lots of appointments at Federal buildings here... they have their certificate of citizenship, and now their US passports. This will make traveling with them soooooo much easier. You'd be surprised how many countries do not allow Ethiopians to enter freely into them! Americans can come and go without visas though... very helpful!






Grandma Donna flew to Hawaii to visit us since it is her spring break! Zac's pretty excited about having Grandma Donna around. He's a quick learner, and knows that grandmas are one of life's best blessings!



We've only been down to the beach twice since we are here mostly on buisness, but in those 2 trips, we've seen that Emily likes the ocean a little bit, and the sand a LOT.



It's been 2 years since Emily has seen Grandma Donna (Scott's mom), so they have enjoyed catching up with each other and making lots of new memories together. Thanks to Skype, Emily knew exactly who she was the moment she saw her, and she didn't need any time to warm up to her.



Carey's Grandma Buss is with us here in Hawaii for a week too! Grandma and her sister (Great Aunt Jeannie) are helping us so much with the kids! They are babysitting tonight so we can go out to dinner -without 3 one year olds! Blessings! This was Aubrey's first time to meet her great grandma Buss. Well, this is also the first time Aubrey has ever been to America! She was in the womb when we moved to Asia.



A friend of a friend lent us 2 strollers to use while we are here. The kids decided this double stroller can actually hold more than 2.