Our family of 7 and our newly 20 yr old son!

finally a photo of all 7 of us and my oldest who turned 20, who i had 20 years ago, on octber 20th!

JOY

this child continues to amaze me, she is always joyful, unless it's bedtime or that new pink dress in the store i had to say no to, she is truly remarkable, and so resilent, i would never know she has had such a painful past, and her past makes her this incredible person, you can just tell she has experienced so much, when we pick apples or garden she knows what she is doing, she cleans and organizes like crazy and will start setting the table when i start cooking, she has so much pride in her, i marvel at all of this she is just plain fun to be around, now i am not saying i am not exausted, and best of all she loves any kind of food, the food you would never eat with your 4 yr old and of course reminds me to pray before every meal,she is teaching me about JOY, living each day and enjoying the little things, this is her favorite pink scarf that we got in Ethiopia that she loves to wear and sleep with, thanking God for my sweet daughter all the way from Africa

our new red dress

we are all still adjusting, quiet time is getting better, sleep? well she ends up in the hallway on the floor after visiting everyone all night long, english is amazing and she is eating more and more things, she loves lunch out and shopping, and anything sparkly, her attachment to us has been instant, thank you God, and she remains very very joyful!!!!