Anyone still reading?

Where do I start? Hmmm... I'm a bad blogger! No, in fact, I don't think I can call myself a blogger anymore. I didn't really intend to stop for so long, I really didn't. Initially I didn't feel like posting when a very good friend suddenly had to deal with some major road blocks in her adoption. I didn't feel like showing off our new additon and talking about how happy we were while she was hurting so badly. Then when I found some time, I started working on a slide show of our trip to E. but wasn't happy with the results.

We arrived home with Mimi in early November and after kicking the jet lag, getting and healing an ulcer and ridding myself of giardia, all was well. Thank goodness for my mom who helped out in those tough weeks when Thomas was back at work. Poor little Mimi had her own belly woes to deal with but she took it all in stride and we both got rid of all the intruders.

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of Ethiopia. The time we spent there with Mimi was so special to us. Meeting her for the first time and holding her in my arms was one of the most special moments of my life. Our quick trip went so well and was so filled with great memories but it was too short. I am connected to a country that I want to experience so much more of and I feel so strongly that I need to go back.

We all love Mimi so much and she is, without a doubt, the little girl we dreamed of since we started this process many years ago. She's happy and healthy and hilarious. She loves showers, the beach, the pool, being outside... and oh boy does she LOVE her brothers. If she could she'd go off to school with them and spend all day by their sides. She is very social and loves saying hi to people. She gets a lot of attention everywhere we go.

Just in case I don't post for a while to come, I want to say thanks to all the moms that shared their time with me. This dream of adopting might never have happened without the stories of others. The blogging community seemed small when I started this process and it has multiplied like crazy since then. So many of us have completed our adoptions but some are still waiting and it is these woman (and their families) who are never far from my thoughts. You know who you are and I hope you know how happy I will be when good news comes your way whether you are waiting for visas or waiting for referrals. I now know how difficult and long international adoption can be (we all know that) and it always feel so great to hear that someone has received some good news. I'm hanging on until all your kids are home.

Here are just a few photos of our trip to Addis along with a few photos of the family since arriving home. They are in reverse order. The first couple pics of Mimi were taken last week. For something to do, I stuck her on the toilet for a while but I got bored of sitting in the bathroom with her so I tried to coax her off. She wanted to stay right where she was and for good reason... She was as shocked as I was at first but you can tell from the photos that my reaction made her very happy. I don't expect this to be a regular occurrence any time soon but who knows.

I just had to add some photos of our trip to pick strawberries. I've been posting photos of the kids at the strawberry field on this blog every year since I started posting. It feels so good to have Mimi with us participating in activities we do on an annual basis. There's no more wondering when the call will come, no more wondering when the medical will be issued or when the visa will be ready. It's over, our family is complete and we are so happy to be getting on with life.

We did some amazing family trips since arriving home from E. and we kept busy skiing and skating (as usual) in the winter months. Mimi wasn't too sure about winter at first but she caught on quickly and that's when her love for the outdoors started to come through. She never wants to come inside.

When you haven't posted in a long time and when you are not sure if you will post agian, you can put a lot of pressure on yourself to compose something great but I finally had to tell myself to just put something out there, so here it is.