Three Beautiful Boys!

Soooo, wow! Obviously the biggest news is that we now are the proud parents of THREE BOYS, besides our two girls! They are adorable!

Let's see:Monday, we drove home from Awassa and stopped at a cool beach, where we could actually put our feet in the water--it was gorgeous--Doug was missing his boat and wakeboard!

Tuesday, we went to the Merkato (biggest open air market in Africa); TONS of people and lots of "shops"--mud, donkeys, vendors, beggars, lots of spices, and everything from car parts to plastic ware to souvenirs. Then we went to a little bit "safer" street (in the merkato, we actually had 2 "body guards" walking with us) to do some more "shopping" (buying gifts to bring home). At night we went to a traditional Ethiopian dinner and dance show at a restaurant--quite the experience! We were ready to be done with Ethiopian food, didn't enjoy the tej (honey wine), and the music was a little too much after 3 hours!!! (But we DO have some great pics of JOEL DANCING!) :)

Yesterday was the big day, as we went to tour the Holy Trinity Orthodox cathedral, then visit the lions at the lion zoo. At 2:30, we went to Enat Alem orphanage in the pouring rain. As we stood on the tiny office, the nannies brought our boys to us--Abraham ran and threw his arms around me and said "mommy"...and we just hugged and cried! Doug grabbed the twins (Abenezer was super snuggly with anyone and refused to look, play, get down; Yishak wanted nothing to do with any of us except the nannies and Abraham!) Pretty much the same all day...Abenezer is quite fine with holding on tight to anyone who will pick him up, and Yishak cries unless Abraham picks him up and carries him! We're working on it! :) This morning the twins woke up at 4:30 and didn't feel like sleeping again! But we did get to see Abenezer walk--yes, he's walking just fine!!!--and Yishak actually sat on my lap without crying to eat his cereal this morning, then practice walking while holding our hands. Both boys think it's pretty funny to wear shoes! :)

Doug says this is a novel, so I better finish! Twins are sleeping (finally down for a nap) and we are going to play UNO with Abraham and VanderKoddes. So far, Abraham's favorite thing is the camera and looking at people!

Love you all! Getting anxious to be in our own beds with our own schedule, American food, and seein' all your pretty faces!!