Rebeka's First Snow

We all thought it was pretty cool that we spent 7 weeks of winter in the Ethiopian sunshine, and still got to play in the snow, before AND after our trip!  Before was over Thanksgiving when Joel took the kids up to his parents.  I was sick (and stressed), so I missed the fun.  But last week, shock of shocks, we went to bed with nothing and woke up to fluffy snow!  We definitely had some happy kids here!  (And adults!)

Rebeka was not so sure what to think abou the whole thing.  She was a pretty good sport, because she is such a mellow kid, but I could tell she wasn't a fan.  After we 'played' for a bit, and took pictures of The Bigs sledding, Rebeka and I walked to Safeway for Starbucks and French Toast supplies.  She fell asleep in the Ergo within 10 seconds of leaving our driveway.  It wasn't naptime.  Hello, Coping Mechanism, haven't seen you for a while.

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines Day has come and gone. We love V-day around here!

Carter was the only Gibson to make homemade cards this year!  (Sad!)

Poor Garrett was sick on Valentines Day (and all week), but Carter and Rebeka got into the spirit!

Had to get Rebeka all decked out for her first Valentines Day!

Valentines Day was a milestone for us, because it was the first time we left Rebeka for dinner!  She was with my mom, who she knows pretty well these days, and of course her siblings were there as well!  She did great- she's such an easy girl.  She was all smiles when we came to get her though.

Sick Garrett.  Poor boy- he's missed half of the school year, I think.  Even if you don't count Ethiopia!

Carter, the Heart Breaker.  "Mom, I'm not really a Heart Breaker!  It just says that on my shirt!"

Joel and I had a nice dinner in Carlton, and didn't worry about Miss Rebeka too much.  We agreed to not do presents or flowers- we're still reeling from Ethiopia, but we did get each other cards (that cost more than we spent for dinner and sodas for 5 of us in Addis) and enjoyed conversation.  We are used to having dates, but hadn't spent any time alone together since November, and it was so, SO nice.

Well, This is Awkward.

You know when you haven't talked to a friend for so long, and then it's kind of awkward?

That's how I feel about this blog!  Hopefully you've been following us over here, and you know about how our life has been turned upside down, inside out, and topsy turvy by Ethiopia and the newest Gibson.  If you haven't, well, you should, because I just don't even know where to start.

I'll probably be blogging over there still, now and then, when something adoption related or Ethiopia related comes up, but right now, we are a family.  Yes, we're an adoptive family.  And we're a multicultural family.  But we are a FAMILY and it feels so good.

Family Picture on Embassy Day:

And, how I've been spending my time recently:

This is Rebeka Elle.  She is incredible.   She turned 10 months old last week and she is HILARIOUS.  (And super smart.)  Her two top teeth popped through a week ago (9 days, actually), and she loves to play peekaboo (like the video shows), read books, (ditto), and throw her arms up to show how BIG she is.  She is wild about her family, and every day we marvel about how wildly blessed we are to be hers.

So, I'm back- kind of.  I still have some loose ends to tie up on Paths.  And I have things to get 'caught up' on around here too.  (Like Halloween!)  And, most importantly, I'm not sure what to do.  Our blog has been called "The Gibson Five" and while it's easy enough to change the title, our blog address is still that.  So, do I start fresh?  Do I just suck it up and continue on?  What would you do?

xoxoxo,

S