2nd annual Easter potluck AND Steve's 4th birthday

Easter Sunday was a very grand and celebratory event here at our home!

This was our second annual Easter potluck here in Burkina and we had about 80 people grace our home this year! It was kind of a big undertaking, hosting this many people only five days after bringing a new child home....but we managed with the help of some great people. We had friends come over early to help set up one hundred chairs and make one hundred meat patties while Isaak cooked the burgers. And while everyone was helping get ready for the potluck party, I was busy getting ready for another party set to happen afterwards....

We all had a great time! There was plenty of swimming to combat the extreme heat....

There was plenty of great food to eat.....there was lots of talking and fellowshipping and connecting...

There was a grand easter egg hunt around the yard with hundreds of eggs for the kids to find and collect! Me and my mom stayed up late Saturday night stuffing said eggs (and alternating eating the candy we put in them, of course) while we watched a movie and laughed and talked. I mean, if you're gonna lose sleep to stuff easter eggs, who better to lose it with than your mom while you watch The Devil Wears Prada?! Easter classic right there!

Back to the hunt...after helping Steven find the first egg he had no trouble catching on and figuring out what to do and before I knew it he was running all over the yard filling up his basket.

Marvelly and Sydaleigh made out with quite the loot themselves. This was about the only time they came out of the pool the whole day.

First Easter together......

Steven with his new buddy Elijah. His friend is 3 1/2 yrs....and today just happened to be Steven's 4th birthday!! (he's just a teenie beenie little guy!) Talk about a great day to celebrate redemption!

After everyone went home following the party, we had a quiet little gathering in the house with Seth and Rebecca, and the second closest people in Steven's life...Mike and Amy. Fortunately they were in town from Yako preparing to leave for the US the next day, so we were able to celebrate his birthday with them before they left, which was such a gift!

Before the potluck I was busy trying to make a Curious George cake, and had the face almost outlined and then my piping bag broke and I had to finish drawing it with a toothpick....which didn't look so good! Being the semi-perfectionist that I am, I couldn't live with a weird monkey face on his cake, so I ended up scrapping the monkey idea and smearing the black frosting all over the top in hopes that it would blend into the white (ummm, not sure why I thought that would work) but it just turned blackish grey....so I made it a race track instead. Voila. It works.

Birthday boy!! We won't miss another milestone in his life....so happy he was able to be home with us to celebrate his birthday. Glory!! Our boy turned FOUR!

We had Christmas presents saved that family sent before the holidays that he was finally able to open.

The girls made sure how to show him how to rip open a present. He even got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie...which I have BIG plans to watch that with him when he's a wee bit older. I remember watching that in the movie theater when I was just a little older than Sydaleigh. 

A very great and full day. A joy to celebrate the resurrection of our risen Savior with so many friends, and then celebrate that redemption and grace in its fullest way with the celebration of Steven's birthday in our home. 

He came to save. To heal. To mend. To redeem. To make all things new....

....and I can testify to the truth of that. He as saved, healed, mended, redeemed, and made all things new in my life in more ways than I can say. 

I can testify to the truth of that. He came to offer redemption. Jesus came to make all things new in Him. He is the very reason that we celebrate. He is worthy of more praise than my lips could ever speak. 

And I will live my life celebrating Him and testifying to the truth of His love for us....

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor. 5:17-20

A very happy Easter day.

Leaving the orphanage and coming home: Our first 48 hours

We arrived in Yako mid morning on Monday and as soon as we arrived I heard a familiar cry coming from the kids play area. I walked over, and sure enough, there was Steven crying in the arms of one of his tantes. As soon as he saw me he stretched out his arms, ready to be whisked away and carried off with us. It became quickly apparent that that boy was not about to spend even one extra minute there without us if he didn't have to! The workers did such a great job of preparing him for our arrival. God bless those women....they take such good care of the children here and do what they can to prepare their hearts for their new families. We will be forever grateful for the care they took of Steve!

We spent Monday just hanging out around the orphanage. It was pretty chill and laid back, just spending time together for the first few hours in his familiar environment.

The girls....already teaching him to do the wrong stuff....like climbing on the outer edge of the elevated play area. Gotta love siblings! Whoops!

Steven fits in small places. So it's easy for him to play hide n' seek in little boxes....

Isaak, being Isaak, and now the dad of a son and seeing an opportunity...decided to pick up Steven and push him down the slide...while he was in the box! Gotta love dads....

 shake it off buddy, shake it off!! He was okay..... =)

 This was a day of many firsts.....it was the first time we shared a lunch together.....

 Marvelly and Steven discovered their mutual love for salami.

 First car ride with us and then first bath, or spray down, with daddy.

First time on a bunk bed! We let him climb to the top where the girls were hanging out but made him sleep on the bottom. He's used to sleeping in a crib so I stayed in with him while he napped to make sure he didn't fall off.

 Isaak introduced him to the goodness of chips and salsa.....which he devoured.

watching Madagascar 3 on Mike's computer.

We decided it would be best to spend the night in Yako at Mike and Amy's house in the event that Steven had a problem we would be close by to speak to a worker who knew his routine. But he did so great, he didn't have any problems staying with us at all. 

a unsuccessful attempt at a family photo! Ha ha! 

The next morning me and Isaak had a meeting at Social Action to finalize our custody...and wow, I gotta say, I am really really impressed that anything happens in this country! That was the most unorganized place! If they had a system I wasn't seein' it, so thank the Lord Almighty again that we even got this far!

Our dear friends Seth and Rebecca drove to Yako Tuesday morning to help us drive back since we now have a full load in our car with no extra seats for essential people like my mom....so she road back with them. Bless their hearts for their willingness to help meet our need in that area so my mom could be with us these days in Yako.

Before we left we joined all the kids in the dining hall so Steven could eat one last meal with his friends. The tantes helped wash his hands one last time. They served him his food one last time. All the kids roared with laughter one last time as Steven made faces and acted goofy for everyone around him.

His last day here being served as an orphan....never again will he bear that title.

We brought some balloons and muffins for after lunch to celebrate Steve's departure....except one little boy was none too happy to see him go. His best friend, Gelilu, cried for two days after he left. They were the bestest of friends. It broke my heart to see him cry and Steve kiss his head as we prepared to drive away. It was comforting to know that in the not too distant future he has a family coming to bring him home too, and maybe someday they'll see each other again....but under entirely different circumstances. Praise God for adoption and redemption.

When we arrived home Steven was met by Amira, who he quickly took a liking to and treated with the utmost gentleness.

We took him swimming for the first time...and he LOVED it! We had a blast hanging out and swimming as a family.

What a dolly.

Isaak's little shadow. Where Isaak is Steven is never far behind!

No longer the youngest....but now a big sister herself! A role she is very proud of and takes ever so seriously.

This kid is a total goof ball. I don't think he'll have any trouble fitting in around here. =) I have no doubt God put him in just the right family, with just the right sisters, and just the right parents. And I have no doubt God gave us just the right son, and just the right brother for the girls.

We're in good company together.