Together at last!

Temesgen and Sabrina have spent, literally, hours on Sabrina's Gator.

One thing I did not predict was the sibling thing. They definitely "fight" like a brother and sister! And the language barrier makes things even more interesting.

Sabrina is not sure about sharing everything and Temesgen is interested in everything!

Presents from Ethiopia! Temesgen helped Sabrina and I wear our outfits properly.

Temesgen took this photo:)

One of Sabrina's favorite places to go is the Youth Pavilion. We go to story time most weeks. Temesgen had a great time exploring. He got a little distracted during the actual story, again with the language thing. But he did well on the craft. Aren't they cute?

Temesgen found some of Sabrina's stickers.

I thought it was funny because I have seen many photos of

kids in Ethiopia with stickers on their faces!

I was pretty proud of myself. I was getting a little stressed. And I just said no!!

So I pulled out the baby pool and the sprinkler and we all put on our swimsuits.

Then we had a picnic in the front yard. It was lots of fun!

Though our neighbors may have thought,

"Who is this crazy 44 year old woman doing cartwheels through the sprinkler?"

Temesgen is doing fantastic! But I can't imagine doing this without the resources that our loving Lord has put in place. We have become good friends with a couple from Ethiopia, thank you Daniel and Elizabeth! Daniel and his son, Nathan, even came to the airport with us. Their translations have been invaluable this week. And Elizabeth even brought us injera and the best wat! Yummy! Daniel and Elizabeth have also introduced us to a student at UNI who was also adopted at 11 and has maintained his language skills. Daniel and Tesfay intend to regularly mentor/tutor Temesgen as he makes this transition.

As for Temesgen's leg, our first appointment at the children's hospital in the Twin Cities is Wednesday, September 15th. We have seen an orthopedic doctor locally to work on some wound care. He has sent us to a wound care clinic, Tuesday. He said we are in for a long haul. This is another area where translation will be imperative. Temegen is very nervous of doctors. And we haven't had to do anything invasive yet. We have even put off repeating some tests until he is a little more comfortable. Please pray for every aspect of this...healing, doctor's wisdom and sensitivity, translation needs at the hospital, etc.

Sabrina begins preschool this week. Most likely Temesgen will also start a very shortened day. Sonrise Christian School where Jake and Noelle attended Kindergarten and 1st grade has a combined 4th/5th grade class. Temesgen will be attending the last two hours of the day. We are hoping that this will help with some additional English immersion. We so appreciate this opportunity. Daniel says it is obvious that Temesgen is very smart. He says that even though he has not attended school he is very good at math. So this first few months we will be concentrating on Temesgen's physical needs, English acquisition and eventually reading. If any of you experts out there have advice on those last two, I would love to receive it!!