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Yummmm....

Still Chillin'

The temps are still a bit cold, but are on the rise this weekend. It has been cold this week sitting in a classroom for 4-6 hours at 29 degrees, trying to learn a language! Scott is going to have to figure out how to stay warm in the classroom when December and January roll in! But we are encouraged as the forecast is for warmer temps this week.

Here are the girls just relaxing on the bed. Well, at least Emily is. Aubrey, not so much.


We're always glad to snuggle little Aubrey and keep a bit warmer!

Freezin

Today's temperature was 1 degree (Celsius). Snow in the forcast all week! We keep flipping the breaker as we try to run our space heaters simultaneously! Scott's classroom does not have heat! I'm glad I study at home.

PS - the post below is a video, not just a picture, in case you are one of the ones that missed it. :)

A day out and about

We had great weather on Friday and so we went out of town for the day to see what we could see in the countryside. The people were so warm and friendly with so many people inviting us to come and sit with them and eat with them. Emily was a big hit with everyone again, as they all wanted to pick her up and touch her hair. Emily is actually getting better with all the attention. Here are some pictures from the day out.

Emily Without Sugar

This is what happens to our sweet little girl after being stuck in an apartment for days with a cold.

Our hearts' desire

Before we were married, adoption was in our hearts. We've been lovingly adopted into HIS forever family, and know that adoption is in the heart of HIM who is love. With about 150 million orphans in the world, the vastness of the need is heart-wrenching.

Yes, the process is long, complicated, and expensive, but we are excited to enter into it by faith!

Please see the video below for some sweet clips of precious faces. It focuses on the country we are requesting a sibling set from. :)

Also, please think of us as we face much paperwork, many large fees (to the tune of $30,000), and months of waiting. We are trusting HIM to provide, and to equip us to be a wonderful home to some little ones who need a family!

Ethiopian Orphans

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.

Emily's favorite bucket which she uses for many things.... "cooking" rice in it for us, wearing it as a helmet, giving her babies a bath in it, and all sorts of other imaginative things.
Aubrey Mei, living the good life on mom and daddy's bed while mommy studies the language. She found her thumb awhile back.... a blessing and a curse. These days she lays on her tummy, sucks her right thumb, and plays with her hair with her left hand until she falls asleep. Right now she is suffering through her first cold. Poor stuffy baby.

ouch

Scott got hit by a motorcycle yesterday on his way to school. He seems to be okay, just sore. Please think of him, especially with his already problematic back issues. We are thankful it wasn't any worse, and also thankful he wasn't carrying one of the girls! He went ahead and went to class after it happened... what a trooper! I'm hoping today will be a less eventful day for him than the previous ones have been! He's at class from 8-4:30 today, so we'll see.....

Cool things your WalMart probably doesn't have

In not so comical news, Scott had his first pick-pocketing adventure today. (As the victim, not the perpetrator.) His mobile phone was in a zipped up pocket on the front of his jacket which was on his body! These people are good! And bad. We told a local friend about it, and in trying to have a good attitude, I said, "well, maybe he was hungry, and now he can buy some food". She told us, "on the contrary, it would almost certainly go towards someone's drug use, and if they used too much they could die." So much for the attempted optimistic spin. Scott is out now shopping for a very cheap phone.... maybe he'll run across his own... up for resale.

October already?

Emily had fun celebrating National Day with these flags the locals gave her. We had fun watching the city's firework show out our bedroom window. It went on and on for at least 30 minutes. Each part was as grandiose as a finale in the states would be! I guess since fireworks were invented here they had to make an impressive display of them. It was beautiful!
This place is right behind our apartment building. Our "backyard" of sorts. :) I'm not sure why it looks like I have a wooden pirate leg....?? arrrrgggg.

girls at play

Emily loves to take her baby cruising around in this shopping cart. Emily also loves to wear these yellow glasses when we are out and about, so she lets her doll sport them on their pretend adventures.

Aubrey is doing well these days... her eyes seem to be staying pretty blue. She loves to watch her sister play and listen to her chatter. Emily often looks at Aubrey and says, "cuuute" or "ah, sweeeet". Every once in awhile she asks to hold her in her "laa lap".

out and about

We enjoyed our time out in the countryside. The weather was nice and warm, as were the people!
Emily ran right up to these girls, and into the arms of the one holding her! They took her inside their house and gave her peanuts and sunflower seeds. Once they saw that she was eating the peanuts shells and all they shelled them for her and gave them to her. They invited us to stay for lunch. The girl holding Em here is 13!
This is rice harvesting season. We got to chat with them while they showed us their methods of smacking the bushels against the side of these wooden boxes.
Emily enjoyed seeing all the animals out there too.... lots of water buffalo, chickens, ducks, and even a pig, which she oinked at quite a bit.

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