After Pump on Friday, my sister and I with the kids (Zach had a group out at Camp and wasn’t able to come) headed back to my parent’s house in Altoona to go to a wedding Saturday afternoon. Saturday morning we got up early to go to my cousin’s house (just over an hour away) to visit my new baby second cousin.

My cousins and I have been so close since we were little, I really hope all the second cousins will grow up knowing each other well too! It’s such a precious relationship to me.

My sister and baby Coyce.

Dailah rocking her pretend baby.

Dailah and my cousin, Katie.

Dailah and my second cousin, Izzy.

Baby Coyce.

The boys were there but so were legos so no pictures documenting their presence.

Friday night was Bodypump re-launch. As always, lots of fun. We had something like 40 sets of equipment and still had to turn quite a few people away, so the turnout was awesome.

Only bad part was while we were setting up for the big show one of the big stages fell on my foot. Though I probably needed stitches, I went for butterfly band aids instead so just had to put up with a little bit more bleeding than usual. Anyway, it’s still sore today but we’ll see how it heals!

Dudes dig scars on feet, right?

Some pics.

We have an ant “situation” at our house. By “situation” I mean “infestation” and by “infestation” I mean if someone would show a picture of our house you could probably watch, in real time, the ants take over the house.

It’s gross.

I’ve been begging Zach to call the pest person that comes out and takes care of the other pests out here. He came out today. Few things about ants I didn’t know.

–They like either: protein, sugar, salt or carbohydrates. It changes all the time. I suddenly related a little more to the little devils upon hearing that.

–When the ants started appearing they created what Zach and I dubbed “a superhighway” in our kitchen. There were always 2 lanes moving to and fro the tiniest of crumbs. We found out that when one ant finds a tasty treat it proceeds to go tell all the others. You can actually SEE the first ant bump into the second and on down the line. Fascinating.

–The pest control guy gave us some gel stuff and then sprayed something that will supposedly take out the whole colony. I’m skeptical but the pest guy was freakishly knowledgeable in all things ant so I’ll go with it.

In the end, I can’t wait to see them die. I was going to take a picture but didn’t want to gross you out (ok, I actually didn’t want you to see how nasty my kitchen is).

On another note, I cleaned the entire house. Did a good 7 loads of laundry and made dinner today. I even managed to take a shower and use the foot scrubber thingy.

These days of feeling like a good person have to hold me over for 2 weeks or so when I can manage it again.

Must go, dishes can’t last in the sink anymore or we will literally be overrun.

We had our Bodystep launch yesterday. Though most of you have no interest in this, I do have some fellow Les Mills instructors reading this so this is for you!

Our theme was 80’s rock party. (Hence the pink tights, leg warmer, side pony and sweet make up). When we decide on a theme I typically don’t just go halfway. I was relieved to see that Emily was up for anything too.

It went really well, good amount of people. The new music is awesome and the moves kicked my butt.

I think I sweated out 50% of the water in my body.

Anyway, it was great! Thanks to all of you who came out.

In action.

Emily and hotflawedmama.

A participant who got in the spirit.

Bodysteppers!

Today we were able to make it to church, which was great. It felt good to be there, as it does most Sundays.

After that we were able to meet the Klipschs out at the Outing Club in Davenport. Good times were had by all. And good pictures taken by all.

The cousins.

Trysten looks so big here.

The whole family

Dailah fixing Eli’s hair.

Some attempts at good pictures.

So in adoption there are many celebrations and I love it. You all know by now I’m a celebration type of person. Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of landing on US soil with our Tariku. The first time he walked into our house, met his brother and sister, met his extended family. It was a rather big day one year ago so I think it warrants a mention every year. It is, in essence, the day we became a family. This is what we looked like then.

Tariku did awesome the entire way home from Ethiopia. When he wasn’t sleeping he was checking out all of the new buttons throughout the airplane. He didn’t have an accident, didn’t cry with frustration at our incompetence; overall it was a great experience. Then we got to Minnesota. Our last leg. One 45 minute flight. I was so anxious to see Trysten and Dailah. To stop traveling and just hunker down for awhile. So, so excited. We got on the plane and saw the pilot tinker with things. Then he tells us something is broken and we would have to unboard until another flight landed so we could get on that. It wasn’t a big deal, he thought maybe an hour. But it was heartbreaking to me. I just sat and cried. I was just done with it all. Poor Tariku saw me crying and thought it said exactly what he wanted to say and started doing the same.

I realized then that there are a few universal things; in our short time together we had experienced laughing, hugs, kisses, dancing and now crying. In that moment I knew we understood each other. It was kind of one of those things where we had been holding onto a few things. Sure, I think you’re a cool person but are you going to be able to handle me? We had mutual conversations happening in our heads and then we cried together. And I thought, “Regardless of those thoughts, I am so ready for you.”

And boy was I! We’ve come a long way in a year. This is mostly due to his irresistable cuteness, his capacity for love and forgiveness and our mutual tenacity for getting to the bottom of issues. I told Leslie about one of the recent nights he talked about his life in Ethiopia. It was a tough night. I’ll never be able to explain why things are the way they are in Ethiopia and it’s heartbreaking. But Leslie made the comment that it was so great he has always (the last 6 months for sure) told me about his time there. He’s held nothing back. If I start to feel like something is going on, I just ask him if he’s thinking about Ethiopia and he tells me exactly what’s on his mind. It’s a blessing, it really is. I hope he feels he can always be open and honest with me.

So to one year with this boy who landed in America as a somewhat stranger and has now become a son.

Here he was a year ago eating a cookie cake.

And here he is eating at the Ethiopian restaurant in Iowa City (David’s Place…if you live in Iowa/Illinois you need to go here, it’s fantastic!) where we celebrated family day. P.S. In his referral it said his favorite foods were Doro Wot and Injera. That still holds true. We tried to give him some tamed down tibs last night and he didn’t want that. “The spicy food, Daddy!” Love him.

The group who celebrated what it means to be in our family.

Dailah and my mom.

Dailah after the cake attack.

And one of my favorite pictures of all time. Tariku and his daddy.

Another post about Easter, but for now…pictures.

We went to Des Moines this weekend to celebrate my little brother’s birthday and, of course, Easter. So one of the first things we did upon entering the homeland was dye eggs. We don’t do it at our house, I’m a bad mommy. But my mom is a good grandma so we do it there. Since Zach, my brother and my dad were playing golf (I know, feel really bad for him) Marcus’s girlfriend, Lindsey helped.

The kiddos had lots of fun, which is no surprise.

Friday night Lindsey surprised my brother with a little party in his birthday honor. My parents got us a babysitter so we could come as well. It was lots of fun and since you guys know I have a super soft spot for my brother, it was lots of fun celebrating his life.

Saturday morning we woke up early to go easter egg hunting at my old high school (my mom’s place of employment). But before we did that, we did pictures.

Then commenced to the hunt. There are typically 1000 children in the race with 3-7 year olds and 100 eggs so of course I was proud when Trysten brought back 7 and Tariku brought back 5.

Doozie raked in too but, to be fair, she was the oldest and most athletic…kidding.

Afterwards we went to Wal Mart to get prints for my mom. Stopped quick to sit with the creepy Easter bunny.

Then finished off with a great barbecue lunch and a traditional cookie cake for my brother and Lindsey’s birthdays.

More later about our Family Day celebration but for now it’s time to eat because I just haven’t done enough of it lately.

Isn’t this supposed to come later in life? Trysten’s first phone number. A girl gave him his phone number.

Seriously.

And when did we stop putting stickers on numbers we pass on the sly to boys? That should never go out of style. Seriously, this was so convincing from a Kindergartner I wanted to call her.

in your sleep…do you do it?

I don’t, usually. My brother does. Always has. Most of our hilarious family stories start with something my brother said or did when he was sleeping. His girlfriend recently reported on him asking her to pick him up a McFlurry while she was out. Anything with “McFlurry” in it is spectacularly hilarious to me.

Last night I talked in my sleep.

Zach had went to his friends last night to watch something on cable. He returned home, which I vaguely remember. This was our conversation (according to him).

Me: What are you doing here?

Zach: Umm….I live here. (He turns on the TV and CSI: Miami is on)

Me: (Not looking at the TV) So you just needed your Horatio fix?

Now I don’t care who you are, that’s hilarious. I mentioned Horatio in my sleep.

So tell me, do you sleep talk/walk? Tell me funny stories. If they include “McFlurry” in them, then I’ll send you something special.

Before Ethiopia, Zach and I went through cars like it was our business. About every 2 years we would get a new one. After Ethiopia, MANY of our practices with money were revealed as being downright ridiculous and certainly the car situation was one of the first.

So we have a Honda Pilot. I LOVE it. Can’t imagine having any other car. Last year, during the winter, camp’s truck ran into the back end of the Pilot. So it was in the shop for a few weeks and I was able to get a rental. It was kind of nice, just like getting a new car but I didn’t have to pay any extra and I got my car back in tip top shape.

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago. My sister was in Mexico and I had taken her to the airport. So her car was at the bottom of our driveway. One day while talking to the kids, not paying any attention, I ran right into her car. And crashed the back end that was just fixed.

Tomorrow I take the Pilot in to get fixed again. And I get a rental.

So I’ve decided instead of paying for a new car every couple years I’ll just have a small accident, where no one gets hurt, and then get to test drive a new car for a few weeks while it’s getting fixed. Zach is less than enthused about my ingenuity.

And that, my friends, is sarcasm.