Horses, Sophia, Fairs, Video

I thought I would finally post some of our pictures from the end of the summer. Life has been so hectic lately. It is amazing how little time there is! We had our company party a few weeks ago. The boys got to ride Terry's horses and loved it! They did tell me they rode the "HEE-HAW" in Wolaita. He means the donkeys.








Even Sophia rode the horse.

Caleb was in love from the beginning.














This is taken at the fair. The boys love the rides and are always smiles.















A gift from one of the booths. They didn't like how it tickled. :)















I know, I know. George says she looks like Laura Ingles. I think she was adorable!












On a friend's blog, www.nosmallfeat.typepad.com she talks about her "perfect child". We too suffer from this. Everyone tells us how happy she is. But in the secrets of our home, this is common. :)






Finally, I want you to visit another blog. http://brehane.blogspot.com/ Em has posted video of her trip to Soddo, Wolaita. This is the area of Ethiopia where our children are from. It shows what the country looks like everywhere. I am also reading a book "There is no me without you" by Melissa Fay Greene. It portrays life in Ethiopia. I must warn you, bring the kleenex. Even after visiting, I still weep when I watch this country and how much they suffer. There is so much more to life than what I have here. I know God has something special planned for us, and I can't wait to help out more. Soon I will post about my meeting with some missionaries who are from here and travel to Soddo frequently.

Well, miss Sophia is in need of some teething tablets (aka happy pills). She has one little guy trying to break through.

I love and miss you all. Thanks for reading!

It's a bird, It's a Plane ...

You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry of mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. Psalm 86:5-7



It's Superman! Here our the boys jumping off our couch and flying through the air onto the cushions. Yes they have capes and muscles. Good thing we were never about "new" items. Our couches are pretty trashed, but at least all the kids have fun.

So, I survived the first week of work. It was a lot harder than I thought. Thank goodness my boss is AWESOME! I think I had the hardest time knowing my baby was being cared by someone else. I just wanted to hold her and love her. It was a little difficult having the boys at home, but I am hoping to get a routine in eventually.

They are still thriving at school. I am wondering if we need to bump Giovanni up, though. He is definitely older than the kindergartners and I don't want him to be out of place. Please pray for God's guidance.

We had our family photos done this weekend. George's friend is a photographer and he was taking Nick's senior pics so we asked if he could add some in. I can't wait to see them! It was pretty cool to see this huge family getting pictures taken. I can't wait till we get even bigger.

Malcom hear his leave date is November 28th. So we have some more time with him. I am still trying to figure out how to explain to the boys they won't see Malcom for a while.

Sophia has been sick over the weekend. I received my first projectile vomit last night. Mmmm, sweet potatoes and carrots. She is still icky today, so a little needy. But hey, I get my cuddle time!

Giovanni amazes us more and more with his high pain tolerance. He was climbing the bunk bed this weekend when he slipped and fell backwards into the dresser. He received a HUGE bump with a nice cut and of course - blood. The amazing thing is Caleb told us about it. He never ONCE cried!

Caleb still is our happy la-da-da boy. He really is always happy! His laugh is contagious and so is his smile.

I love what our adoption has done at our church. There are so many families thinking about adoption after seeing the kids. God is so awesome for pulling at their heartstrings. I must say, we are preparing our hearts for our next adoption. We are just waiting on God's timing and help financially. It truly is an addiction. These kids are amazing at what they can go through and still smile, hug, and laugh. I wonder what they believe as true and as fake. Do they really think Superman flies, or creatures really look the ones on Star Wars (ok, so they were a little young and scared), or what about the halloween stuff that makes Gio bolt out of the store. I can't wait till their english gets better so they can explain more of their American experiences. Their eating improves everyday. Corndogs, hotdogs, mac and cheese, ice cream, cheese, they are all "yummy" now. We haven't had any breakdowns for the last couple of weeks on food. They love church and are dissappointed we aren't going tonight. They also learned the importance of "NO CUTTING" in the slide line during recess.

Yesterday we bought their halloween costumes. How do you explain to them we have to wait 35 more nite-nites until they get to wear them again? Today we all went to lunch with for my boss' birthday. We had Malcom watch the boys until I got home. I told George during lunch "What do you want to bet they have their costumes on when I get home?" Yup, Gio was sporting the Superman costume. I won't give away what Sophia is. You'll have to wait.

Well, time to make dinner. I leave you with these pictures. Always praying and loving our Ethiopian American family. Thanks for reading!






Our four boys. One generation of hockey passed on to the next. I think Giovanni will really like it and become a defenseman.















I love to see all of them playing together.












We are so cool in our costumes! As George said, this is the first black Superman! :)

Chosen

"Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan." Ephesians 1:4-11

This weekend our pastor discussed the topic Base Camp. Our church is starting a new journey of buying property to build an even bigger building. Visit reallifeministries.com for more info and to listen to his sermon from 9/10/06 (it is worth it). God is amazing at how these sermons manage to parallel my thoughts and feelings. While in Ethiopia my hubby and I really struggled being there and dealing with all the poverty, sickness, and culture shock. Since returning home we have really prayed and focused on what life and our purpose for being here is. There are two regrets I have from that trip. 1) Not enjoying our short time there and 2) Making ourselves travel to the Wolaita area to see where our boys grew up and try to search for their families. I plan on returning to Ethiopia, whether through adoption or just to visit and I hope the second trip I will be able to do these things. Everyday my heart breaks for my children for the life they had, the life they will have and the memories of their minds. Giovanni used to go to the market to buy potatoes, bread and sugar cane. I think these were their main staples. He used to pick coffee beans for food. We think Caleb was raised by his teenager/young adult brother and had to carry water far distances. And we know it was probably rare for them to have a full belly. I hope to post part two of our journey soon.

How wonderful that we have the lives we have here in America. We could have easily been born in a different country, with different lifestyles, a different income. I question everyday why I was chosen by God to live here. Why did He chose us to care for these precious babies? Because He loves us. He loves each of us. We are chosen to be in His Kingdom, to be blameless, holy, adopted, forgiven, and purchased for the highest price ever. Who has ever done anything this great for me before? NO ONE! My heart breaks knowing there are so many people out there that don't know the price Jesus paid for them. They worship their sins, other religions, women, drugs, sex, their jobs, their kids, their money rather than the one person that is the EASIEST to worship, God. There are no strings attached when we worship Him. He only wants us - not our wealth (it is His money anyway, right?), our beauty, our cars, our homes, our up-to-date hairstyles. He wants us to put away our idols and come to our knees before Him, humble and faithful. This is all it takes - our faith - to get to heaven. God doesn't give us rules to make life "hard" or boring, but to make our lives beautiful and full of joy. Only God can give us this unexplainable joy.

Our pastor explained to us what it might be like on the day of judgement. We will all be before the Lord, whether we worship Him or not, on the day of judgement. Sitting at the right hand of the Lord will be Jesus. In His hand is a ticket. This is the ticket to eternity in heaven. When you reach for this ticket, does Jesus give it to you joyfully because of your faith, or does he withhold from you because you didn't have faith. How sad would it be to have our Savior tell you "I don't have a ticket for you now. I offered you this ticket a hundred times, but you were to busy worshiping your idols to take it. I made it easy for you. Instead you wanted to follow your friends and your sins and not me. I cannot give you this ticket." It really is that easy to take the ticket. My life is so much better than it ever was before. When I face trials I know that the Lord is on MY side, protecting me. We are on earth only for a blink. This life is truly temporary. Shouldn't we live for the Lord? We hope to adopt again. We are just waiting on funding for our next journey. We want to fill our home and show these kids the love of the Lord. That is what He has called us to do. We are adopted into His family. So we, too, are to adopt children into ours.

So, I challenge all of you. What are you doing for the Lord? Are you in ministry in your church? Do you volunteer somewhere? Are you sharing the Good News? I know I fall short everyday to glorify God. How many times have people asked me about the adoption and I leave the main part of the story out - God. Sometimes "I just don't want to offend". I have learned it is more offensive to withhold God than it is to share Him. How sad that I may be one of the "hundreds of times" Jesus offers the ticket to someone and I don't share my faith with them. My Ethiopian New Years resolution (it was September 11th by the way) is to bring Jesus into what I do, what I am thinking, and what I say RIGHT NOW! I am working in God's time, not mine. Be a light to the world, it is truly a dark place. Understand that you ARE chosen by God to be more than a pawn for evil. We are all to be drawn to Him, to love and worship Him.

So, please pray for our family. We are having a hard time dealing with the emotions of the loss for our children. They miss Wolaita and their siblings a lot. They can't wait to return to see them. Please pray for Giovanni's little brother. That someday we can adopt him or at least meet him. Please pray for our little girl, Nafkot, that we sponsor at AHOPE - an HIV/AIDS orphanage in Ethiopia. Please pray for those who don't know the Lord.

Thank you all for reading and your prayers. We love you!

School! Loessee!

"The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand." Psalm 110:130

I pray everyday for wisdom on how to teach these children about the Lord. I admit I am nervous for them to go to public school where they won't be surrounded by learning about the Lord. I just have to have faith we will do it right and they will walk with the Lord. A lot goes into the first day of school. It is really scary to thing some strange lady is going to be with our children for 3 hours everyday. I was worried, I admit. I almost yanked them out and decided to homeschool. Then, I walked out into the next phase of our family. Once I saw them after school, I realized we did the right thing.

Well, today was the little boys first day of school. They were so excited! They finally got to wear their school clothes, shoes and backpack. In Giovanni fashion he picked out the Spiderman backpack and in Caleb fashion he picked out the big yellow backpack. I really think he was the only one in Kindergarten without a character backpack. Honestly, we really need to break them of wearing jeans. Poor Caleb was sweating so bad when I went to get them. They did well - at least no phone calls. Caleb looked scared but said he had fun. He had marker all over him, so I guess he did. I think I was a little more worried and of course cried. I don't know what I will do when I drop Sophia off to daycare for the first time.









This is right outside of the classroom. It really was chaos that first day. Their teacher, Mrs. Nord, is awesome!

Honestly, I don't what all they learned. I know they drew a house, sang some "Say hello" song, and brought home paperwork. I also know they had FUN! They are excited to go back.

This is with their cousin Sammy. They are in the same class.

Could life be any better?

"Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.5 This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands." 1 Peter 3:3-5

Over the last few days I have really focused on the meaning of my life as a woman, child of God, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. Through adoption so many of these have changed for the good and the bad. My hubby and I have faced good and bad times, funny and sad moments, and those times when you know life really is perfect. I have learned through God's Word, His promises, talking with my hubby and friends, that beauty that I have really is an inward thing. I don't need to worry about if my hair is perfect, or my clothes are too tight, or that I didn't get to shower that day. As a wonderful friend said, each time I feed the kids, or play with Sophia, or kiss a wound, or become a tickle monster, or even change a diaper I am worshiping the Lord. Isn't this really all that matters? I mean He has given me this beautiful and wonderful life filled with love, joy, happiness and trials. George and I have had our moments in the last 2 months along with me and the teenagers. Through God's grace we are starting to get into a good rhythym and we are starting to really become a whole family. Whether it is Nick playing the Ethiopian drum with Sophia, or Malcom playing horsey with Caleb, or Kevin farting on Giovanni (I mean what are big brothers for anyway?), we really have become a family. Our house is loud - sweet music to God. Our car stinks of hockey gear, formula, dirty diapers, stinky kid breath - a beautiful fragrance to God. Our days are busy full of meals, naptime, swimming, bikes, prayer, singing, dancing - full of God's love. I would never trade this life for anything else.

So where are we at now? Brutus is doing well. He just had a swollen salivary gland (no wonder the dog slobbers like Beehtoven the dog). We start school in 2 days (Loessee in Wolaitan - oh and a yeah for me!). I start work in 2 weeks. Yuck! The hubby rearranged the living room. Sophia is crawling everywhere! The boys english is better and better everyday. Although they are NOT brothers. Their brothers are in Wolaita! Kevin starts school in a couple of weeks, and Malchi will be leaving for the Air Force in a couple of months.

Summer has flown by! I can't believe I have two children that are starting kindergarten. I know I will be the blubbering mom on the sidewalk. We will definitely have pictures of that one! Well, since I haven't posted a lot of pictures, here are so recent and not so recent pictures. I hope you all are enjoying these last days. Soon the snow will fall and it will be time to start the hibernating for the winter. I can't wait to see the looks on the boys faces when we get the first snowfall.

Thank you for reading and I pray you are all doing well!




Giovanni HAD to have his training wheels off. By the next afternoon he was riding like a pro!















Malcom playing with the two boys. They love to wrestle with him.













Sophia, Giovanni and Caleb riding on the lawn mower with their Daddy!


































Their first Spokane Indians baseball game. They had so much fun! There were fireworks at the end which of course was the highlight of the night! I have never seen Giovanni jump so far!











Uncle Bobby teaching the boys new swim moves.















Don't dogs need baths?














Yipee!














Oh yeah? I can too!













Wherever there is a camera, there are always two Ethiopian boys!














Sophia's first time in the "big" pool.















Great Grandma Mabel with baby Sophia.












Every year my father-in-law takes all his grandkids in school to get hair cuts and shoes for school. This has become a Labor Day tradition. It amazes me at the love he has for these children. Wait till you see the Christmas pictures!























Oh, and it wasn't long till the boys learned the Raskell tradition.














Such good big brothers!













Didn't I say they love Malcom!













Giovanni in his new car (beep-beep).

















Caleb wanted to be shipped back to Wolaita. :)












"Much love"














She is not always happy, but still cute!














OK, so we weren't going to spoil them, but how could you pass up a jumping fort for $100? It is awesome and they love it.









3 years ago I met a young girl at Middle school camp. She was one of my girls in my cabin. She is from St. Maries, Idaho. Later that summer she talked us into coming down for their Paul Bunyan Days. She said they had the most spectacular fireworks around. So we went. It was so fun! And yes, the fireworks are like none I have ever seen. You sit on the football field and watch a great groundshow and sky show. So as is are tradition now, we took the kids to their first Paul Bunyan Days. It was full of carnival rides, pizza, cotton candy (they did not like that!), popcorn, glow sticks and of course, fireworks. I will admit that Caleb actually fell asleep during the finale. Who knows why, it was awesome!



I tried to get Caleb to put his arm around his "American" brother, but that didn't work.










So the next few pictures are of the roller coaster, carousel and giant slide. They loved each time they went.
























Is she not the cutest cbaby in the world!













So this is what happens when you are trying to clean your desk. A boy finds a plastic bag and it becomes a superboy outfit!










So, hair dressers have them, car washes have them, car dealerships have them, and now, the Raskells have one! Yes, to much joy to my hubby, we are now the proud owners of a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. It all started when some person invested the big blow up balloons for advertising. You know, the ones of the big sunshine or gorilla. Well, my husband has always liked to imitate them. Then came a Simpsons episode where Homer thought the inflatable tube man was his friend. (I tried to find the clip to download - no luck. I also want to note I am not for or against the Simpsons. There are some funny episodes) That is all my husband talks about, "He was my only friend". Well last week he got a call from his oldest son wondering if he would like this inflatable tube man from the car wash he works at. Well, duh! So I give you pictures of two Ethiopian boys reactions to the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man.














When we arrived home my wonderful friends from my old work had decorated our front lawn with forks spelling Welcome Home and a pinata for the kids. It tooks us a few weeks to hit the pinata, but we finally did and the boys loved all the candy and toys. I love my friends!