I have been tagged!

Fun, I just read my friend Jessica's blog and realized that I have been tagged in a blogging game. This is my first time ever being tagged and am happy to join in on the chain. The rule is "You must post the 4th picture in your 4th folder". Fortunately I am at school and have some pictures on my network here... as our home computer's hard drive officially died yesterday (I do have ALL my photos backed up - thanks to the external hard drive from my parents).

So the 4th picture in my 4th personal picture folder is below. It is from a quick day trip to Chicago that Mehandis and I took when my Aunt Janet, Uncle Ted and cousin Branden were in town this past summer. You can see Lake Michigan and my cousin behind Mehandis and I. He was still pretty unsure of the swings at that time.


Okay, Erika Y. and Jill N. you are now tagged!

We are now number...

I just got a note from my mom, letting me know that by her "calculations" we are now #69 on the unofficial waiting list. The year of '69 is special to both of my parents since that is the year of their high school graduation. My mom had fun putting together a few fun facts from 1969. Perhaps she wore an outfit similar to the photo below?

Draft lottery was reinstated for the Vietnam War -- the first since WWII (my dad's # was 202 out of 366 -- lottery was based on the date of your birthday).

Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon and uttered the immortal words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The most famous music festival of modern times "WOODSTOCK" took place on a New York Farm on August 15th to August 17th with more than 400,000 avid music fans attending to see the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash and Young and others perform live.

Average new house cost $15,550
Gas cost 35 cents

Richard Nixon becomes President of the United States.

Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin , USA, becomes Prime Minister of Israel.

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Established
Sesame Street known for its Muppet characters, makes it's debut on PBS.

Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

First transplant of human eye

Seiko sells the first Quartz Watch

Internet USA invented by the US military ("Not Al Gore!", my mom jokes.)

Bell Bottom Jeans and tie-dye shirts become part of the teenage fashion scene (My mother proudly wore them both!!!)

Kick off your Sunday shoes

A new phrase has popped up in Mehandis's vocabulary... "Foot Loose". I actually don't know if this is really a compound word or phrase? Anyhow due to the fact that we still have our record player up and running, as well as a wide variety of records, we like to mix it up and throw on some "oldies". I picked out the Foot Loose sound track a few days ago and now Mehandis requests it by name. Below you can see Mehandis accessorized for the dance party and he then came over and asked "Foot Loose?".

The clap and cheer move -

Point your fingers and open your mouth move (this one he must get from me)-

Let's hear it for the boy (actually the name of the next song on the album)!

We will have to watch the movie soon to learn some more of Kevin's moves :)

No. Mine! My Turn?

Terrible twos? No, I still think 18 months is more "challenging" than 2 years old. But... our toddler is definitely becoming more vocal and determined to have anything else that looks interesting in the hands of another toddler. We very clearly saw this today during our morning visit with Tizu. Tizu, or Tizita, is actually just a few weeks younger than Mehandis and is the daughter of friends Courtney and Paul. We were excited to have the kids meet and also have a chance for the adults to get to know one another better.

The four adults got pretty creative in avoiding fall out over the kids not being able to both have the same toy. Case in point is illustrated below. Tizu is pretending to talk on the xylophone (I called it an 80's cell phone) after Mehandis took his phone from her.

Tizu loved riding the BMW and they did get pretty good at taking turns with this. Hope we aren't instilling expensive tastes in cars for her!

Playing music and dancing was something everyone could do at once. Tizu and Mehandis both joined in on my "special" dance move (sticking your pointer fingers out as you crouch down and touch the floor). Maybe they shouldn't encourage me.

Mehandis was pretty worn out after our play time together. I think he is missing Tizu in the picture below... and promising to try the sharing thing out again!

Thanks for the visit Courtney & Paul. We look forward to getting together again and are happy to have shared good conversation and a fun morning with you!

The Year of the Ox

We celebrated the eve of the Chinese New Year this past Sunday. Dara and George were our gracious hosts. What fun it was to learn more about the Chinese Zodiac, traditions and of course food! Dara and George went to China Town in Chicago to pick up some decorations and treats for the event. We had fun meeting their neighbors (pictured on the couch) and catching up with old ones.

Jeremy and Gisela proudly wore their red, which is a traditional color of good fortune (or at least something good).

I played dance party d.j. for the younger crowd!

It is fun having two new year's celebrations in a year... much less in a month. Part of the fun was having Dara and George read about the characteristics of our Chinese Zodiac, based on the year you are born. I am a Tiger, does the following sound like me?

A Tiger is magnetic, passionate and grand! When the Tiger does anything, it’s noticed! Indecisiveness and stubbornness can mar the sparkle of the Tiger personality. On the one hand generous, on the other hand a little mean, it’s sometimes hard to know where one stands with the Tiger. Flexible, honest and truly entertaining, one has a friend for life with a Tiger.

Too much time on my hands...

Mehandis is in bed and my husband has been out of the house for the past 3 hours for a late night meeting. And this is what happens -

I just Obamiconed my whole family.

A new President and new Residence

While I was unable to watch the Inauguration from school today... I did catch some "live feed" of the events in our IMC. Our family is very excited for our new President Obama. Mehandis continues to call out his name when he sees pictures of him on t.v. or in print. He also claps and says "Wow" when watching his speeches. And no... we aren't straight forward teaching this behavior, just lots of modeling I guess!

On a very different note, our adoption agency has recently sent out information regarding an upcoming move for the "children who are waiting for adoption" in Addis Ababa. So our second child will not be in the same building that Mehandis stayed in... but in a building about a half a mile away. The new care center is called "Mussie" and was previously a private residence. I have included some photos of the new residence.

This is the view from a balcony. The yellow building on the right is the previous care center. The same nannies will be in Mussie that worked at the center Mehandis stayed in.

One of many bedrooms is seen here... with an attached bathroom.

One of two kitchens is pictured above. A lot of Bebelec formula to be made here!

I thought it was interesting to see a map of the area we stayed at. When we were Ethiopia we walked from the Guest House to the Care Center and the Former CHSFS Administrative Office. Looks like the walk will be a little longer next time.