Merry Christmas!

Wow, it is hard to believe we have enjoyed our first Christmas with Isaac. The last 7 months have flown by so fast. When we first arrived home in May we had a slightly belated birthday party for Isaac, it was not a great celebration. Isaac did not know what to do with the presents or the cake and overall had zero interest in any of it, as we really expected. We have had a few birthdays around here since and he still didn't care much for the festivites. Christmas this last weekend was a different story all together. He really enjoyed it and we all loved spending the holiday all together. Isaac opened all his presents and enjoyed the new clothes and toys so much. We also enjoyed some birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday and he wholeheartedly dug in!

We had such a blessed time together and of course expressed our gratefulness this Christmas to have Isaac home. All the kids got some fun new toys, some clothes and a lot of fun spent together.

We pray you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Sheri

6 Months

It is so hard to believe, we met Isaac 6 months ago today! It seems forever ago sometimes, he has just always been a part of our family, but mostly it feels like just weeks since we were in Rwanda. Isaac is now 18 months old and we have been with him everyday for the last 6 months. On that day in May we had only seen his picture for the last 2 hours and had only barely figured out the way the dates are listed in Rwanda, to know he was 12 months old not 15 months. We had been so excited to find that he celebrated his first birthday that week, on the day we arrived in Rwanda! We were finally able to drive up to the blue gates and wait for the Sister to bring him up the steps for our first time to hold him. We had just spent 4 days working towards this moment. We had been to the Ministry for several meetings, we had been to the US Embassy for a notary and on that Friday we finally received our referral in the Secretary of the Minister's office. We were surrounded by our new friend, and power of attorney, and 2 very dear friends we had made on this journey. We all gathered into a tight circle to open the envelope and see Isaac's picture for the first time, I think all 4 of us were crying at this moment we had waited for. We cried together a couple long days later when we were privaleged to see their daughter's face for the first time as well. We are forever thankful for the wonderful trip to Africa. There were many hard times, so many amazing, beautiful, miraculous times, we are forever changed. Our happiness is beyond description at now having our 4 children gathered together in our home.

I remember all the months I would walk into Isaac's room and gaze at his empty crib, awaiting that day he would be sleeping in it. It was especially hard, as the months of waiting stacked up, when I would sneak one last peek at the kids sleeping and see the last bed empty.

But now, today, 6 months after we first saw him sleeping in our arms, he is sleeping so peacefully every day in that bed. We praise God for His abundant blessings in our lives, that He would allow us to know this special boy as our son.

Here is the first day we met

And Isaac today, getting in the Christmas spirit

We are so excited as we look ahead to the next 6 months and our family's future, being all together!

Sheri

Halloween

We had a great time last night. The kids loved their costumes, they loved getting candy and stopping to eat dinner in the warm indoors. It wasn't very cold really, just some wind sometimes. They didn't let things slow down enough to get chilly anyway. The big kids RAN from door to door while we pushed Isaac in the stroller behind them. Isaac didn't really know what to think but did watch all the many kids in costumes going by. I'm not even sure he really appreciated the candy, he only ate a couple m&m's and was done, crazy, I am sure it was the fatigue of last night, he will be all over that candy soon!

Jacob-Plo Koon (Jedi Master), Camryn-Padme Amidala (while she was Senator), Bailey-Ahsoka Tano (Jedi Padawan), Isaac-Yoda (Grand Master)

Happy Halloween!

Sheri

Pumpkin Carving

After the traditional Lichty family visit to the local corn maze, we look forward to our opportunity at artistic expression: pumpkin carving. Invariably the desire for a wonderful idea is replaced by the inability of the carver, me, to transfer said idea to a beautiful side of the pumpkin. However, we try every year and someday it will be wonderful.

Isaac had a great time drawing a face on his. Bailey really wanted a "smiley" jack o'lantern. Camryn spent time drawing numerous concepts, and she had a great time. Jacob drew his prototype, and then the sharp-toothed, six-eyed menace appeared. Nobody was injured, and the pumpkins look presentable. We had a great time as a family.

We look forward to taking the kiddos out on Monday night to trick or treat and bring home the goodies. It will be wondeful to see our Jedis (Jacob and Bailey), Padme Amadala (Camryn) and Yoda (Isaac) as they wander around having a great time. Fortunately the weather should be pretty nice.

Have a wonderful Halloween everyone!

On a related note, I cannot wait until next weekend when I can start putting up the Christmas decorations for my favorite time of the year.

Jeff

Passed Court - Again!

Today we passed court, for the second time! Though this time in court didn't drastical change our lives like the first time we still praise God for His blessing. In August we started the paperwork with our lawyer to file for readoption in Idaho. Today we appeared before the judge about our filing. Jeff and I both testified about the adoption in Rwanda and our responsibilities as parents. It was a quick 10 minute hearing and now we have legal adoption documents from the US as well as Rwanda. We also had his name legally changed to Isaac during this procedure, which we are so excited about. It will be nice to be able to go to the doctor visits without stating his Rwandan name which no one can pronouce. We are now waiting on his US birth certificate with his new name to follow today's ruling. One more thing completed in this adoption process. We are so excited to have him officially a Lichty in name too. We went out tonight to celebrate at Cold Stone with some yummy ice cream - thank you Aunt Joanie & Uncle Gary!

Sheri

Corn Maze

This weekend we enjoyed the beautiful weather and ran out for our annual trip to a local farm for their corn maze and as Camryn calls it the "corn festival". We had such a good time and enjoyed everything, though Isaac often looked at us like we were the strangest people he had ever set eyes on, we might be.

We went through the maze, the 3 oldest taking turns choosing our turns, it was a long walk :)

We played at all the activities. The huge rocking chair

The cow train

The corn box

The swings

The giant pillow

Waiting for the pig races to start

The petting zoo

The hayride to the pumpkin patch where each of the kids picked their pumpkin to carve

Isaac's favorite was the cow train, he kept waving to us from all around the field

We had a lot of fun.

We breaked for a snack after all the walking through the corn

and Isaac loved his first taste of funnel cake!

We are really enjoying these fun traditions with all our kids, after the last 2 years waiting for Isaac to be home with us. We hope you are enjoying fall as well.

Sheri

Homework

Another one of the adjustments this fall. We have been getting used to the new routine with Isaac home and the big kids going back to school. But homework, more adjusting. Jacob and Camryn have more homework this year, of course, and with the little kids at home increased in number and energy it is harder to get homework done. Yesterday went pretty good, but it is certainly clear why homeschooling is not right for our family :)

I did get them all seated at the table to get started. Went perfect. They were able to work and it was nice and quiet for concentrating. Hopefully we will get a good routine down.

Jacob had science and math assignments, spelling list practice and a social studies test to study for.

Camryn had a math assignment and some reading practice.

Bailey is practicing writing her name as preparation for Kindergarten next year.

And Isaac did some coloring :)

So cute and productive! This lasted for 5 minutes, then we were back to the 2 little ones yelling as they played (in fun) and the older 2 begging for quiet so they could finish their work. That was yesterday, we'll see how it goes tonight, after swimming lessons :)

Sheri

Labor Day Weekend Trip

I am a bit slow getting this on here but better now than never, right?

Over Labor Day Weekend we took a trip to Black Hills South Dakota. Jeff could not go as he has taken all his time off work for now, so I took the 4 kids and headed out on the road with my mom for the 18 hour drive. We left right after school on Thurs. It is way too long of a trip to go for just the usual weekend so we took a couple extra days off school. Travel is awesome for learning lots of things so we are comfortable with missing a little school here and there for a trip.

We drove all night long to arrive in Rapid City, SD on Friday morning. My sister and nephew had driven up from Denver as well and met us there. We had a great time all weekend. We were put up so wonderfully by my Uncle and Aunt in their beautiful new home in the mountains. The kids loved all the trees and eventually even the dogs :) We spent lots of time visiting with them as well as my grandparents and one cousin and family who all live in town.

We love visiting the Black Hills. There is just so much to do and see. This would be my 30+ trip and I never am bored spending a vacation there. There is so much to do that we usually pick a few things that we are interested in doing that trip as well as a few things we MUST do every time.

We always spend a few hours browsing thru the shops in Keystone, never buying much but we love looking. Each of the kids did get a new hoody though because it was so chilly that day and we had left their jackets back at the house. We also love to get an Old Time Photo done and we soon hit up our favorite shop for a cute "Gangster" photo of the 4 kids. The big kids have done this several times and just love having Isaac in one as well.

Then, of course, we headed to Mt Rushmore. How could we possibly not take Isaac for his first visit. And mainly the ice cream is just so great we can't skip, usually when Jeff is along we go back at least one more time. Here we are:

We decided to visit Jewel Cave because we are always looking for a National Park or Monument to visit and we had never been to this one before. We have several times visited Wind Cave so we decided to try something new. Not sure when we will be up to going back, whew that was a tiring tour. The Cave has about 1 million steps, no just 725 or so. Up and down and up and down, it is a crazy trip and a bit difficult for the 3 of us carrying babies throughout but fun too. We saw some interesting things and Isaac received his first injury. During a break in the tour he decided to walk around a bit then suddenly leaned over, tucked his hands between his legs, causing his head to tip him over and hit his face into the ground, which unfortunately was metal and a bit spikey due to the slick areas. He was a little upset, but not too much, so we were surprised at the number of bleeding scratches he had received when we got back into good light. We will certainly remember that trip. He is doing well though and about healed up from his scratches. Our favorite part was the "bacon", the dripping water or something has caused this crazy formation that looks like a strip of bacon and is about 25 feet long I think. The picture is not good at all, but it was cool.

Next we made a trip to Storybook Island

We had a very fun trip. It was very relaxing. I was especially thankful for the time to visit with my grandparents and other family. We broke up the drive home a bit so we didn't have to go back to school, work, life after straight 18 hours of driving. We instead drove to Billings, MT and got several hours of sleep and then only 12 hours of driving to get home.

I dropped the kids off to spend the evening with dad, while he got them bathed and settled in for a restful night, I went to Cub Scouts for our recruitment night. I barely made it but it too went well.

So, another fun family trip enjoyed and many more to look forward to experiencing with our great kids! I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend as well.

Sheri

1st Day of School

So we begin a new adjustment period, and we are looking forward to it. Yesterday Jacob and Camryn returned to school. Jacob in his final year in elementary school and Camryn in her first year of full, everyday schooling. It went very well, they so enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones, they love their new teachers and seeing familiar teachers when they head to specials (or whatever they call them these days). We all walked together to school to see them off, then Jeff went to work and the little kids and I started our day. They had a good day overall, full of stories upon returning home. Bailey really enjoyed the quieter house and she and Isaac played much differently on their own. Isaac wasn't so sure, really needed to stay right by me all day, but I think he understood they would return because today he was back to being comfortable playing more and "helping" me with a few less chores. He did sleep so well at naptime in the much quieter house, so we are enjoying that!

When Jeff got home from work we headed out for our 1st day of school tradition "backwards dinner". The kids choose Dairy Queen this year so we got some ice cream cones and Isaac's first strawberry sundae. Then we got their chicken strips for "dessert". The kids just love the novelty of eating their ice cream first and makes the first day of school so much fun to look forward to and a little less difficult to let go of summer.

It has been such a busy, constantly changing 3 months since we got home, we are excited for our family to settle into a regular routine with the school year. It will be so great for all the normalness to be back and to spend more one on one time with Isaac and Bailey and then the big kids with their homework as well. This fall should be interesting and different, but there are so many fun things we are enjoying seeing in our newest son and in how the bigger kids interact with him, it will be fun.

Oops, I forgot the camera when we got ice cream, but they sure looked cute with it all over their faces, you know they are enjoying it when half is on them.

Sheri

Camps

We are thoroughly blessed as a family to have a wonderful group of friends and family. It is wonderful to always have a great place to be, something to do and wonderful friends upon which to confide. After we returned from our vacation to California, it was not long before the large amount of support left us wanting to get away for a bit. Great timing in that we had Man Camp with the Crossroads Community guys up at Goose Lake near McCall, Idaho, and we also had a chance to go to Webelo Woods for Jacob's Cub Scout Pack. We also had a small window of time in which to take the fifth wheel (24 hours) up to Cascade, Idaho where we were all together in that nice community. Either way, the time was nice for us all to spend in new experiences and a little bit of solitde.

First off, Jacob and I roughed it in our fifth wheel with about 150 God-fearing guys from Crossroads Community and El Crucero. It was a wonderful time to fish, target shoot with bows and guns and just a great time to worship God with great guys. Not to mention that Jacob and I got some time to hang out as father and son. We even got a fun history lesson about black powder and newer rifles including seeing some large caliber rounds from a Sharps rifle (think Quigley Down Under). After breaking camp we met up with Sheri, Camryn, Bailey and Isaac in Cascade for the night. It was the first time this year for all of us in the fifth wheel.

Isaac had a wonderful time examing the two stairs in the fifth wheel and examining the spacious (read small) floor plan. The kiddos had a wonderful time enjoying our annual smores (some more than others). We had a nice time together for the day as Jacob and I prepared to go camp out in a tent at Webelo Woods.

Sheri and the other children stayed in Cascade for a few days while Jacob and I ventured back up to McCall, Idaho and what must have been a record hatch of mosquitoes. We had a great time with the other 6 boys and their parents learning about nature, swimming in a cool lake (61 degrees) and enjoying (a stretch) camp food. Everybody survived and seemed to have a good time. I did develop some wonderful blisters from the whittling done on my stave, my great grandfather would have been proud. After a couple days time we left the serenity of the woods and returned to our home in Nampa. Felt like we had been gone forever. We are still recoving from the plethora of mosquito bites through repellant and clothing.

We also then had a visit from Sheri's father and stepmom from Seattle. They got a chance to visit the children and meet Isaac for the first time. We only have one more part of the family to make sure that everyone gets to meet Isaac.

Amazing that this last few months has included 3 trips of length to Wyoming, California and McCall, ID. We have had 3 separate visits from multiple family members. We also have had activities on an almost daily basis. We know that there are times when God gives you quite a bit to handle, and there are other times when He wants us to be still and know Him. The hard part, at times, is to discern between these two or to carve out the time of serenity from the chaos. It has been wonderful to see all of our family and friends. It has been great to enjoy our full family in our home. Now, hopefully comes the daily/weekly routines. I know that our children would love to see happy/healthy/well-adjusted parents too.

Jacob casting out at Goose Lake.

Got to shoot this rifle, actually hit a target for once.

Kiddos around the campfire ready for smores.

Isaac did not appreciate the gooey treat, so I had to clean it up.

Jeff

First Word? And Vacation!

Hi! We've been super busy and not had time to post an update in awhile. We recently went on our first family, touristy, vacation. We have already been to Wyoming to visit Jeff's family, which was fun and relaxing. This last trip was more of the crazy variety. We drove 19 hours to San Diego California. Isaac seems to have learned his first English word during this time, he loves to see a camera and smile and say "cheese", it is so cute. Jeff may argue that "dada" is his first word, but since he uses that one for every person as well as many objects I just don't agree. He really understands the meaning behind "cheese" but "dada" will probably be his next since he says it constantly and we always show him who that is :) and yesterday he said the sounds of "mamama" so maybe soon.

So, back to vacation. We packed a lot into our 11 days on the road. My mom and dad drove down as well and we met up with 2 of my sisters and their families at the hotel. We missed the rest of the family, my youngest sister and my brother and their families, but next time will be a huge family reunion.

We began by visiting the Cabrillo National Monument. It is a beautiful old lighthouse, and in the most picture perfect location. We really enjoyed our time walking around, but unfortunately got to closing time and had to head out.

Then we spent several days going to the San Diego Zoo

Sea World

and the beach

Next, we all drove up to Anaheim to spend 3 days at Disneyland! The kids had such fun with their cousins on all the rides and seeing everything,

it wore them out so well :)

Meeting Mickey!!

We all loved it :)

Then we headed further north to San Fransisco. We spent a couple hours hitting the top spots on our list, Fisherman's Wharf, Peir 39, the Sea Lions, The Maritime Museum, Lombard Street, Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge and Chinatown. It was extremely fast and we sure wished we had more time but we got a glimpse of everything. It was a great trip and we are now rested up again from the long days and many hours driving, not too mention caught up on all the laundry.

And finally we got a family photo now that there are 6 of us!

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer too!

Sheri