We have begun a second adoption from Ethiopia!  Hence, the lull in blog posts this month…every free moment I have had for computer time has been spent working on paperwork.

We were officially accepted back into America World Adoption’s Ethiopia program in late December and began our home study/dossier as soon as we returned home from our Christmas travels.  After only one month, we are now finished with most of our paperwork!  We had our final interviews with our social worker last weekend and he should have our home study report completed by late February.  Then we will send in our application for our USCIS approval, which will take a few months to process.  We are hoping to send our paperwork to Ethiopia in late Spring.

The total process is projected to take nearly three years, so Colton will probably be four when we bring home a sibling for him from Ethiopia.  We will be requesting a boy or girl who will be at least one year younger than Colton when they enter our family.  We are excited to be embarking on another adoption process and are looking forward to what God has planned for us along this journey.

In the Beartooth Mountains

This year we were with Derek’s side of the family in Billings, MT over Christmas Day.  We enjoyed a week of family visiting, game playing, movie watching, mall shopping, food eating, hill sledding, snow skiing, and memory making.

You can see some pics from our trip here. 

Warning: the pictures include Colton.   It was his first time in MT and first time meeting everyone, so many pictures were necessary.

We were blessed with the flexibility to spend two weeks with family this year.  So many friends and family in CA and MT had been eager to meet Colton, so we made a stop in both states in December.  We spend the first week in CA, so we could then be in Billings for Christmas Eve and Day.

Here is a link to some of the pictures from our week in CA.

Here are some pics of our Christmas in KY before we left on our travels…

Reading the Christmas audio books sent from Papa and Kiki

Colton helped me set up the tree. Fake trees are great for when you are out of town for Christmas.

Then Colton helped Derek put the star on the tree. This was a tradition in my house growing up.

"Christmas morning" breakfast. Just waiting for the Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls!

Opening a few gifts on "Christmas morning"

Colton has warmed up to the bubbles at his Gymboree class, so we gave him some bubbles of his own for Christmas.

We met at the Cincinnati Children's Museum which is located in Union Terminal (an old train station)

New friends Claire and Colton playing with blocks at the museum

Lunch Buddies

Hanging out in their strollers together.

Old friends of 30 years with our babies

Loved getting to see Claire again!

Loved Jessica getting to meet Colton!

Love this picture Jessica took!

It is such a blessing to live so close to Jessica.  We grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area together and now the Lord has us living three hours away from each other.  Looking forward to our next get together in the spring!

Chillin' in the living room

Happy baby elephant!

Ready for trick-or-treating

Out for a stroll on Halloween night

Watching a little Charlie Brown before bed

We had about 25 trick-or-treaters visit our front door this year, which sure beat the total of 5 we have had in our first 5 years of marriage combined.   Derek had fun answering the door and asking them all about their costumes!  Happy Halloween!

Taking a tour of the Southern Seminary campus

Taking a ride on Great Grampa's lap. Colton actually did fine, this was just too good of a picture of my grandpa to pass up.

Walking along the Ohio Riverfront in downtown Louisville with GG

GG helping Colton practice his soccer skills

I love playing cards with my grandma and so we couldn't let a visit pass without getting in a game.

We had about 24 hours to spend with my grandparents and we are so thankful they came.  I loved driving them around Louisville to show them the sights and it was a treat to go out to dinner with them.  We are looking forward to when we can see them again!

Lately, Derek has been…

Working hard at his PhD studies, cleaning windows as his business continues to being going strong with our beautiful fall weather, teaching a few times in our Bible Fellowship Group on Sunday mornings, playing drums during Sunday evening worship service, taking care of Colton’s bedtime routine, and keeping up with his swim, bike, run exercise routine.

Lately, I (Amy) have been…

Taking care of Colton which includes many subcategories , attending Thursday morning women’s Bible study at church, singing in the choir again after taking a break after we brought Colton home, and doing all the home duties of a full-time homemaker which I have been dreaming about for years.

Lately, Colton has been…

Trying to walk all by himself even though he still prefers holding onto our fingers for help, taking classes at Gymboree and going to Gymboree open gyms, drinking out of a “grown-up” cup with help, going to the park, going on walks in the stroller, babbling a lot and even trying to “talk” with expression, cutting four new teeth bringing the total to eight, pretending to talk on the grown-up phone when no one is looking and eating more and more table food.

Here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately (okay they are mostly of Colton and I will try to be more purposeful of taking pictures of us too) …

Swinging at our nearby park

Derek and Colton on an evening walk in the park

He's on the move...all the time.

On his way to Gymboree for the first time

Crawling through the "tunnel" at Gymboree

The Birthday Boy!

We were blessed to have both sets of grandparents in town for the occasion!  We celebrated with a small party at our house on Saturday night.  I loved planning and preparing for the event!  Here are some pictures from the weekend you can see by clicking here.