The Creation Museum and Ark Encounter

Last week, we drove down to Kentucky and spent some time at the Creation Museum and newly-opened Ark Encounter. We had a great time!

It was interesting to read about Lucy at the Creation Museum, since we have seen the real Lucy in person at the National Museum in Ethiopia. 

Pieces of Our Lives...

Malia's goats had babies! We now have 3 cute little additions to our backyard.

I always have to throw in some cute baby pics...

 Malia wanted to celebrate our Ethiopian friend Wass's birthday...so she made him this card and balloon. We sent him this photo on his special day. 

 Last week, the kids had fun watching a crop-duster that was spraying the field beside our house.

 Other summer scenery:

Ashton recently had some tests, including a stress test, done on his heart, and we're thankful that everything continues to look ok. He still has a leaky valve, but it shouldn't hinder his activities. 

And here's some more cute baby pics. :)

Q likes to sit at my feet and beg for food. He's such an adorable little puppy dog.

5 Years Ago...

Five years ago today, we sat in a dim office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We were exhausted from our trip, and yet wide awake.  Excited, yet overwhelmed. Our hearts were basically leaping out of our chests in anticipation, although pain and nervousness hung thick in the air. And then...then, we heard the pitter-patter of little feet in the hallway outside, and soon two little faces appeared in the doorway. They stared blankly at us while we leaped forward to meet them. Two adorable little boys, clutching bread in their hands, trailing crumbs behind them. Quiet, but scared of these big white people who suddenly picked them up and squeezed them. Our sons... Our lives changed in a big way in that instant, and we are so thankful. These have been the best 5 years of our lives.

8 Months!

Mr. Quinn is 8 months old today! This happy little guy is starting to cut his bottom two teeth, waves at people, army crawls all over the place, gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, loves to giggle, says da-da-da-da all the time, and really enjoys eating. He is so much fun, and we are so in love with him!

7/25/2016

Quintin Bennett

Throwback

*I recently went through my old blog posts and discovered that I had never published this one. I have no idea when it occurred or how old Malia was at the time, but I thought it would be a cute addition to our scrapbook.

I was cleaning my bathroom the other day when Malia asked me if she could help. As I scrubbed the countertop, she got to work on the tub. Then the phone rang, I got sidetracked, and ended up downstairs doing other things. I sort of forgot that Malia was up there, and just figured that she was outside playing with the other kids. About 45 minutes later (45 minutes!), she came downstairs and said, "Mommy, I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes and come upstairs." I willingly followed (pretending to run into things since my eyes were closed, which caused hoots of laughter from her) as she guided me up to the bathroom. "Ok, you can open now!" she proclaimed excitedly. I opened my eyes to find that my bathroom was indeed very clean, everything put in its place and scrubbed to within an inch of its life. She then took me down the hall to the kids' bathroom, which she had meticulously cleaned as well. She worked so hard, and elicited huge hugs from one happy mama!

What a good little helper girl.