August Happenings

Hello, all! Life has been a 'little' busy around the Grant house lately. The last few weeks have been chock full of exciting activities and making memories...



We had so much fun spending time with our cousins from Washington, and we all had a blast swimming, making T-shirts, eating Italian Icees, laughing, dressing up, and partaking of sweets. :o) We girl cousins made special memories when our grandma gave us free rein to try on old dresses, including her wedding dress. We spent two evenings in the dresses we've seen our grandma and moms wearing in photo albums...fun times!

Having fun with our annual dress-up!

Our friends' parents sold their house and kindly invited the Grant Clan to come have one last swim day before they moved out. We had a blast in their pool, swimming and splashing with our friends, pushing people in, and generally just having a good time!

The way Grants do most things in life-full of chaos and fun.

  We also fit in a day down in Chico at "Camelot Equestrian Park" for a hunter-jumper show. Although Maggie, our Thoroughbred mare, had something akin to a mental breakdown at the thought of having to jump a lattice fence (Gasp! It might eat me!), and no ribbons came home, it was still a fun day to ride, look at beautiful horses, and jump half the course! :o)

Pretty horse, small brain...

   Then came an amazing time watching some friends' kids while their parents went to Monterrey for a well-deserved weekend getaway. All told, there were 13 of us kids, which probably short-circuits most people's brains. But Mom and Dad handled us amazingly (as they always do) and since we're used to this group size, we had a blast.

Yes, we do fill a fifteen-passenger van.

 
Well, that's about it! We're loving being a family of 8, through all the great times and challenges. The boys are such a blessing to our family and we are constantly amazed at God's goodness. We hope you all are having a great summer!!!

Trip to the Lake...

The Grant family recently had the pleasure of using a spare day off to take a day trip to Whiskeytown Lake, near Brandy Creek. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (praise God!)- in the low-eighties! Usual July temperatures in Redding will reach highs of 110-114! Despite an extremely belated start due to trying to find a missing shot record needed for a doctor visit the next day (found, thank goodness!), we arrived in high spirits with a car full of snacks, floaties, swimsuits, sunscreen, and eager kids. The drive afforded some funnies: As the lake came into view, Levi was bouncing up and down in his seat crying "Ooo! Big! Big!" until some hill or brush caused the lake to pass out of sight. Then, as soon as he saw it again, the squeals and shouts would begin again. "Daddy! Big! Very big!"  We enthusiastically pointed out a large trout jumping out of the water to Ethan, and tried to explain to him the concept of fishing. It didn't work so well, as he began to cry and finally was able to explain to us that he thought the fish was going to eat him. :o) Wow, those ferocious seven inch trout!

The view was amazing, as exemplified by the picture below.

Enlarge to see a better view!

It was the boys' first ever time to see and swim in a lake, and their excitement was cute to watch. We finally got everyone dressed, sun-screened and into the water, only to have a general mutiny due to hunger- so out everyone sloshed to come and eat some doughnuts and crackers with salami and cheese.
That was Levi's favorite part of the day!

 

If you look closely at this picture, you can see the crumbs all over his mouth!

 With their hunger thus satisfied, back into the water they went...
  

 ...only to declare within minutes that the water was WAY too cold, and they needed to come lie in the sun to warm up. :o)

The older generation, between doling out snacks, applying sun-screen, running back and forth to the water to help little kids, and laying out towels for shivering little ones to lay on, tried to relax and read a few good books and magazines, or explore a little ways down Brandy Creek.

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 Victoria and I enjoyed having some free time (what a foreign concept!) and experimented with taking some pictures of each other, as well as photographing the beautiful nature around us. As the family photographer who never gets photographed, it was fun to be able to have my picture taken for a change- see, I do exist!

Isn't God great? How beautiful is that?

   

Victoria (17)

Savannah (me!) 15

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Levi was reaching "Grumpy" stage due to a swollen diaper (he filled his only swim diaper early in the day, and so he was stuck with a regular one!) and a late nap-time. For laughs, just note the size of his diaper in the picture. It was swollen to three times the normal size! :o) We all decided to call it a day. We packed up the car, the kids, and the snacks, and we headed home. It was a wonderful, fun-filled afternoon and we hope to enjoy more like it in the future!

Hmm. Not so happy.

In closing, we feel so blessed to be able to share these wonderful memories with these two little boys that we have been gifted with. It's amazing, how after an entire two years of working through the adoption process, and feeling like it will never ever end, that I am sitting here right now, posting pictures of MY two little brothers! That they are sleeping safely in their beds- and that I can go in and peek at them to make sure they're sleeping soundly, and get them a glass of water when they're thirsty, and pick them up to kiss them goodnight- what an enormous blessing! Adoption is such a miracle, even through the hard times, and God truly is good. 

Savannah for the Grants

Brandy Creek- it was gorgeous!

Ethan's first prayer

On Monday evening, July 4, Ethan decided he wanted to pray aloud for the first time. He chose to speak in English (he rarely speaks any Amharic or his native Sidama language), and he prayed simply, "Thank you come to America, home." How amazing and wonderful is THAT?!?

"Jesus I love"

It has been a blessing to all our hearts to see Ethan's excitement about Jesus. Since he first arrived home he perks up anytime he hears the name "Jesus"and he likes to look at pictures and ask, "That Jesus?" When we showed him a drawing of Jesus from a book he got excited and asked for one in his room. When he saw a picture of Aragorn from a Lord of the Rings website that Savannah was looking at he questioned, "That Jesus?" Now, granted, Aragorn is awesome, but not nearly as awesome as our Lord and Savior!

The picture that confused Ethan :o) 

The best comment, though, came when I was reading a devotion to the family. When I read the name "Jesus", Ethan perked up and exclaimed, "Jesus? Jesus I love!". If that doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will! We thank Jesus for the blessing of adopted children, and for those who have taught our son to love our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fourth of July!

Greetings to all and Happy Independence Day, America! We had the opportunity to join some dear friends at their house for their annual "Fourth of July Breakfast" - here in our "neck of the woods" it is too hot to have a barbecue in the afternoon or evening! We ate a wonderful pancake breakfast (kudos to Mrs. Goff for her selection of chocolate chips, syrup, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries!), talked and laughed, and the kiddos decorated their bikes with streamers, ribbons and flags for our own little "bike parade". It was a fun morning, and we thank the Lord for the opportunity to live in America, the land of the free and home of the brave. God bless America!!!

Laramie (8) is fully decorated and ready to go!

Beautiful little Elaine

Ethan and Samuel enjoyed riding around on their bikes

 

How cute are they? Olivia and Naomi, Ethiopian beauties!

The "I'll smile, but please take a picture really fast before I fall and kill myself" face!

Lots of cute, hot, sweaty, little kids!

Fully protected and ready to roll!

Playing outside + 100 degree temperature = Lots of sunscreen applications

Is he not too cute? We love this little guy!

Fun and good food create lots of smiles

Lots of girls with flip-flops!

Ashlyn (10) had a great time decorating her bike and playing with her friends

The Goff chickens provided lots of entertainment! 

Lots of smiles and laughter with wonderful friends!

No better way to relax then an iced coffee, some shade, and good friends!

It's next to impossible to get a good family picture with this many faces, but we gave it our best shot! :o)

 

We hope you enjoyed seeing what our Fourth of July was like, and we pray you had a wonderful day celebrating America's birthday. Happy Independence Day! 

Savannah for the Grants

Hello to all from the Grant Family! It's hard to believe that we have been a family of eight for three weeks now, and it's also amazing how quickly the boys have begun adjusting to American life in such a short time. Here are some highlights from the last week...

The biggest thing us stay-at-homes accomplished was to take the boys to go see Dad's work- the CHP office at Benton airport, which included a tour of the helicopter, police car, and a look at the airplane. The boys  enjoyed pointing at and trying to push every possible button on the control panel. They liked the loud siren on the police car and Ethan is now a Jr. Cadet with a siren on his bicycle at home. While we were there one of Dad's co-workers drove up in his Corvette. I guess all boys love of sports cars is universal because, when the man drove away, Ethan proclaimed in an admiring voice, "Car go fast!"

Here are some pictures of the visit...

One happy little five-year-old!

Levi loved pointing out the airplanes coming up or down the runway

Future pilot in the making?

Like father, like son!

'

First "family of eight" photo op by the helicopter

Ethan, who has particular clothing ideas, was very eager to wear a tie he saw in his dresser drawer. After Mom bought him a dress shirt, both Ethan and Dad decided to dress up for church this week. Ethan seemed quite pleased to match his daddy.

The real 'Grant' coming out!

Our new 'normal' family! The boys love being outside, but the heat wave this week might make them reconsider. 106 degrees today!

Levi Yishak is a stubborn little stinker sometimes, but GOLLY is he cute! Today I handed him a cup of water, which he immediately dumped all over the recliner, ottoman, and wall. I told Levi in a serious voice, "Levi, you know better!" He responded by looking at me with a charming grin, threw his hands around my neck and gave me a wet kiss on my cheek (For the record, be careful when this one smooches you. His kisses are a mile wide and twice as slobbery!).  As the picture below exemplifies, he takes his punishments with a grin and a happy-go-lucky attitude. Not very penitent looking, is he?

Levi on his 'time out' mat

Mom snapped this because she said Levi looked like Ray Charles

So far the Grants are doing better with every passing week. Please continue to pray for good sleep, as the entire family has been lacking in that area, and thank you so much to all who have been praying for us! We appreciate all who have supported us in so many ways during this adoption!

Thanks again to everybody...

Savannah for the Grants

What we take for granted

Levi

Ethan modeling his new swim wear

The last two and a half weeks have been full of moments where I watch the boys experience something fun and new as they get used to their new life here in America. As I see their reaction to these things,  I am reminded how blessed my life has been and reminded of the "privileged" upbringing our girls have had... as just about everyone in America has been privileged to enjoy also. We take for granted that our kids will be involved in swim lessons, music lessons, have the opportunity to play on safe playground equipment, etc. These are all luxuries our new boys have not had in their lives thus far. Yesterday we were able to introduce the boys to a pool... a small inflatable pool for Levi (until we make sure he has no intestinal issues to pass along), and an above-ground pool for Ethan. Both boys took to the water like fish, joyfully putting their faces in, rolling around,blowing bubbles and giggling with delight over the entire experience. Watching their delight made me realize that I take so many blessings for granted. I desire to continually go through my life with an attitude of thankfulness, but that attitude is so easily lost in the details that make up our days. Today I am particularly thankful for: clean water, abundant access to healthy and delicious food, a clean and safe home, air conditioning on a hot day, a husband who has a job which provides for all our needs, four happy children who have not had to experience tragedy and grief, two new boys who have had to experience tragedy and grief and yet continue to press on courageously, laughter, the never-ending mercies and blessings of God.

With a thankful heart, Alison