Ezra's U.S.A. readoption

Yesterday, we were down at the court house for Ezra's official US Readoption. The jist of what this means is that Ezra can now get a US birth certificate and a Social Security Card as well.

With the judge

Family who were able to join us
with the adoption attorney

Nick & Papa Sawatzky's birthday

Their birthday's are about a week apart, so we all decided to celebrate at the same time

Nick's sister Stacy came up to Spokane for the weekend, in case you had any questions about why Nick has two ladies kissing his cheek.

First Haircut...

Brushing teeth...

When Ezra sees dad and mom brushing their teeth, he puts his finger in his mouth to show us that he would like his teeth brushed also

Ezra smiles with joy as we prepare his toothbrush and toothpaste
It is almost here!!!
In process
The end result
Jumping on the couch next to Daddy
Ezra just finished looking at a picture of himself on my computer

Pictures with friends

The Tobin's are in town for a few days and we were able to have them over for lunch.

Mark and Amy Baker and their kids came over for dinner
Caleb Baker and Ezra playing
Ezra and Liam
Trying to get a Christmas picture

Pregnant Mama...

This picture was taken a few days ago. Heidi is definately starting to show, she is past that stage where people don't want to ask if she's pregnant in fear of making a big mistake...in case she was just gaining some weight.

The past few weeks...

Ezra with Mama and sporting his Ethiopian hat

A few weeks ago we went to the Gresham area for an adoption banquet. We were only in the area for less then 24 hours. We stayed with the Justin and Amy Best. They were incredibly hospitable and opened their home to us and our new friendship was an encouragement and ministry to Heidi and I.
Ezra sleeping with/on his little lamb
Ezra with Papa Sawatzky
Daddy & Ezra's feet next to each other
We went to Portland area a 2nd time in 3 weeks. This time we went for the whole weekend. We stayed with some family friends. Here is a picture of Sue, Heidi and Ezra.

Our growing son...

Ezra hangs on to daddy's legs as daddy throws him up into the air off the ground

For some reason watching mom type emails is really fun for Ezra.
He loves being next to mama
He is quickly learning the peak-a-boo game with his books
His current favorite 'toy'? Turkey baster

Another version of peak-a-boo
Smiling with daddy during wrestle time

It's a girl!!!

We haven't decided on a name, so we are going to wait until she is born to choose.

We didn't feel like we needed to post the picture identifying the fact that she was a girl...take our word for it.

Finch Arboretum (R-bore-eat-um)

Each October, the Greenup family goes to the Finch Arboretum for a picnic lunch and a family picture. Here are some of the pictures.

Yogi with Andrew & Jackson. Andrew has a sucker in his mouth and you would have thought it was pure gold...there was no getting it from him.
Do you think Ethan was squeezing Ezra's hand a little too hard? Nope, Ezra is kind of in this 'I think the stoller is stupid' phase.
Andrew is ready to take on the world
Ethan and his curling tongue trick
Us

Carolina Hope Adoption Agency - Greenup interview

As many of you know, adoption is on our heart and a big part of our life. We recently did an interview with an adoption agency that is just beginning their adoption program from Ethiopia. Here is the link to the interview if you are interested in reading it. http://www.carolinahopeadoption.org/blog/ is the site of their blog, which by the way is probably the best Gospel-centered adoption blog I have come across.

Here is the link to the interview we did: http://www.carolinahopeadoption.org/blog/archives/120

Heidi's birthday is the 1st of October and Julie's is on the 4th...so it was a mutual celebration.

The two sisters!I highly recommend Baskin Robbins ice cream cakes!
Suprisingly, Ezra didn't like the high concentration of sugar, so most of the cake was uneaten. We celebrated all three of these birthdays at the same time, even though Ezra's is September 1st.
Compliments to Heidi for a nice birthday cake for Ezra!
Connie, Dustin's older sister, turned 30 on the 11th of October. Yogi organized a huge suprise party for her at the Spaghetti Factory. This isn't the greatest of pictures, but it was a fun celebration.