Greenup Family Blog

Meeting Moses

2011-03-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick 1 minute video of 1st day meeting Moses while in Ethiopia. He is a sweet little guy and had a few smiles, lots of yawns, and a little crying. Looking forward to going back in a bit to bring him home for good.

Officially a family of Six!!!!!!!!

2011-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

We wanted to update our famiy blog to let everyone know that finally after 3 court appointments- Moses is officially our son! We have no idea as to when we'll get to pick him up at the US Embassy but the estimated time-line is about 8 weeks. Here are a few pictures of our time with him a few weeks ago.

New blog - Change Your World For One

2010-08-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

This site has been mostly devoted to posting of family pictures, updates, etc. If you follow this blog in any way, you'll know that we haven't updated recently.

In light of our current adoption, we have started new website and a new blog, http://www.changeyourworldforone.com/

We will be blogging, writing, updating there far more consistently than we ever have here.

Thanks,
Dustin and Heidi

Greenup Life Update, Camille's half birthday, and Adoption

2010-07-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our little Camille is 6 months old today. She is a sweet little bundle of joy and we are so blessed to have her in our family. She smiles, cuddles and screams. She came out with the most perplexing dark hair, but it is slowly getting lighter and lighter each and every day. She can now turn over very easily and is really trying to crawl. Probably only a few weeks away from that.

Camille lights up with smiles when Ezra and Olivia get up in the morning, full of smiles and excitement for the dayy ahead. Ezra and Olivia both love Camille, though there have been a few times Olivia has thought Camille was ready for the toy helicopter to fall on her head. Both kiddo's are ready for Camille to be able to crawl, walk, run and play.

* We celebrate our 5th anniversary on the 30th of July!

* Ezra turns 4 on September 1st.

* Heidi keeps the ship running. (This is Dustin writing). Heidi is a priceless jewel. Her life is consumingly wrapped up with little ones running around her, over her, under her, etc. and she is a faithful wife who loves the Lord, her needy husband and her children. Her longing is that her children would come to know the love and forgiveness found only in the Gospel desire to train up the children to love Jesus and others with all their heart and lives.

* Real Estate has taken a hit (which is no suprise), but we are thankful to the Lord that along with continuing to work in helping people buy and sell property, Dustin now also gets to help train the new real estate agents who come to work at Windermere. This has been a pretty signifiant year of change for Dustin in terms of eating habits and exercise. If interested, he blogs aout it over at a little website he made up at Average Dad Fitness. Down 30 lbs since January 1st, and feeling a lot better and has far more energy.

Adoption from Ethiopia

Now that Camille is 6 months old, we can jump into the adoption process from where we left off last July when we found out Heidi was pregnant. When we put the process on hold last year at this time we had just completed our dossier and sent it to our agency and to Ethiopia, which means that we are now in the 'actively waiting' for a referral of a boy under 3 years old. Although we don't have a referral yet, we are going to name our son Hudson.

We don't know how long it will take to get a referral, but we are thinking that it will be somewhere within 30 to 90 days. We wouldn't travel to Ethiopia until late late fall or winter or maybe even next spring.

Within the last year, some laws have changed and one of those laws that will be impacting us is that we now have to travel to Ethiopia 2 times before the process is completed. That might not sound like a big deal, but originally Dustin was going to be able to travel one time (approximate cost $2,000) and now both Dustin and Heidi will go one one trip ($4,000) and then Dustin will go on the 2nd trip (another $2,000).

Over the course of the next 8 to 10 weeks, we are praying, planning and working to raise the remainder of the approximately $8,000 to $9,000 needed to complete the adoption.

We are going to be having a HUGE community sale on August 21st. If you read this and have items that you'd like to contribute to the sale, wed gladly come pick it up. (Of course it'd have to be in Spokane).

Also, we are in the process of having home shirts designed that we'll make available for sale as a means of helping fund the adoption. We'll keep you posted.

Also, we're in the process of creating another website in which we will be using as the main means of communication about our adoption.

Adoption, Babies, Logic & 3 Year Old's!

2010-03-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

A few days ago a friend emailed us her conversation she had with her 3 year old.

Context

* Ezra & Ben are 3 years old and are in Sunday School together
* Ben's mommy is pregnant

--------------------------------------------

Subject: Ezra

Hi Heidi,
I wanted to share with you a fun conversation I had with Ben this morning. As we were cuddling on the couch and reading some books this morning, he pet my tummy and asked, "Momma, do you think the baby in your tummy is black?" I said, "no honey, the baby in my tummy is white like you and Jack are white." He thought for a couple of minutes and then said, 'well, momma, Jesus makes all kinds of babies..." I explained to him that because his mommy and daddy are white the baby will be white. Again, he thought for a minute and then he said, "well momma, my best friend Ezra is black and his momma and daddy are white...so I am thinking that maybe God will give us a black baby too!" Wow, I was out logic'ed by a 3 year old! I thought you would enjoy that! Katie

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Isn't it amazing how perceptive 3 year olds can be!

Our growin' girl

2010-02-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

Yeah for some smiles. She always smiles right after her feeding as if to say, "Thanks for doing that mom."

She looks a little like she just woke up suddenly

Mommy with her big girl

It's hard to believe that Camille is almost 6 weeks old now. She's really staring to smile and watch what is going on around her. It's funny because the pediatrician advised cutting down on the amount of stimulus she gets in the later hours because she gets colicky and I thought, "Hmmmm, now what could that stimulus be? Perhaps her brother and sister who like to touch her and yell constantly around her. " I don't think anyone could sleep around the amount of noise and laughing those two little people make. ;) Anyhow, these are some pictures of how big Camille is getting. She's now well over 9 lbs and her hair always sticks constantly up in the back. Too fun!

A Growing Family!

2010-01-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

So we are now officially a family of 5 with the addition of baby Camille. She is quite the little eater and loves to cuddle and sleep all day. Ezra and Olivia think she is very cute and like to give her kisses. The adjustment to having a new sister has been hardest for Olivia as she doesn't understand why this baby keeps getting all the attention. Now that we are into the 2nd week as a family of 5, we are all learning to adjust to a new 'normal'

Ezra likes his new baby sister a lot.

Ezra and Olivia's first time meeting Camille. They were pretty excited but I think Camille was a little overwhelmed.

Camille's first moments after birth. She started out sleeping and just hasn't stopped. Heidi was praying for a cuddle bug and we think she got one. Camille was born at 7 # 3 oz and after only 4 days she'd jumped up to 7#5.5 oz. Currently she's going 4 hours between feeds so Heidi is thankful for that. Life is just beginning to get back to this new normal and we're excited to see how Camille's personality shows itself.

A few things God taught me today

2010-01-18T19:23:00.000-08:00

Clicking here will take you to the page.

A surprise Birthday Party!

2009-11-30T19:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Mom was really surprised for her 60th Birthday. Dad arranged for us all to meet at Anthony's for a Sunday Brunch.
Julie and I comparing our belly's

A girls pic

Thanks Dan and Sue and Gary and Izzi for coming all the way to Spokane for the surprise. We all had a lot of fun!

The World's Children

2009-11-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

This photoblog shows pictures of just a few of the world's impoverished children. CLICK HERE.

(HT: Challies.com)

How 'Where's Waldo' can help me understand the Bible

2009-11-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

My 3 year old son loves books & more specifically, ‘Where’s Waldo?’. He loves observing, searching, & looking for Waldo as if he was Sherlock Holmes in search of the missing clue to solve a mystery. There are countless people, doing countless things, with countless things occurring on each page. Ezra tells me, ‘Daddy, look. That man is throwing a baseball [not just a ball], she is holding a green purse [not just a purse], the boy is crying because he got hit [not just crying]. He observes with intense detail.

As a book lover myself, I am overjoyed in Ezra’s love for books. Yet, after reading “Agassiz and the Fish” I realized that my son observes Where’s Waldo? with greater inquiry, depth, and intensity than I often do when I open the very Word of God in search of His illumination, understanding, and God-given insight for the good of my soul.

At 3 years old, Ezra is learning how to observe pictures & words and eventually sentences, which are within in paragraphs with are in complete letters which fit into the whole of Scripture. I am grateful and exhorted with this privilege to help him learn to observe, read, and understand the Bible in the God-wrought hope that he would, by the grace of God, comprehend and have illumination of the ‘sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’ (2 Tim. 3:15).

What a privilege to have the Scriptures, and may I chew upon, dig into and study the Scriptures as my 3 year old son does with Where’s Waldo?!

Fall photos & Costumes

2009-10-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

Heidi took the kids to a fall festival party tonight. They gave the kids some cupcakes and lots of candy. Here is a pic of Olivia sharing her cupcake with Ezra once they got back home. Oh yea, she ate all of the frosting off and then wanted to share the cupcake with Ezra.

We picked up lots of leaves today. I put Ezra and Olivia in the garbage cans to help smash 'em down. They had lots of fun...Ezra thought he was Oscar the Grouch. (The house we recently moved into is in the background).

Ezra the Pumpkin and Olivia the Clown. They loved dressing up and having some fun together.

Smashing leaves down for daddy

Oh my the kids were so excited when they figured out if they worked together they could give mommy a ride in their wagon!!! Mommy was pretty excited about it also!

Need I say anything about this.

She absolutely loves her bath time

Ear to ear smiles!!!

A trip away from the chaos

2009-10-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

So a few days after moving into our new house we decided to get away from the chaos and make a trip over to Bothel to visit Nick and Julie's new place. (And to celebrate Heidi and Julie's birthday since they're so close together) We had a great time relaxing, catching up, seeing where Nick works as the new manager, and visiting Canyon Hills Community Church with them. We actually stayed with a Sawatzky family friend, Jeanne Ryan, because she had more room to house us. It's funny because Saturday we all took naps and watched college football. We didn't go out and visit any place, we just kicked back and relaxed indoors. It was just what we needed after having to pack up and move with one weeks notice. By the way, thanks to all the people who graciously helped us move!
Heidi and Julie with Jeanne. She used to babysit the girls when they were little and is now like another sister. We love you Jeanne!
Pictures of the new house to come soon. . . . . . . . . . .

'Do Lord, O Do Lord, O do remember Me'

2009-09-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ezra loves the sound 'Do Lord'. He was putting on a little concert for us. Sometimes he sings is very softly and it sounds great...and then other times he kind of 'screams' it...this is one of those screaming times. It is really fun to watch him like to sing so much!

Modern Day Foot-Washing

2009-09-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

Ethiopian Orphan Video

2009-08-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

2 years ago today & a prayer for our son

2009-08-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

2 years ago today was the day we first met our son, Ezra.

This was one of the first pictures we received from our adoption agency in December of 2006. Ezra was about 3 months old when this picture was taken.

Our first chance to hold our son
Tearful thankfulness of the Lord's goodness to us

Back at our hotel, Ezra was fast asleep and we were staring at him wondering, 'Is he always going to sleep like this? Is he always going to be this calm? What is his personality going to be like?' (2 years later: No, he will rarely sleep like this, he is rarely calm and he has a lively personality)

Heidi holding Ezra after he had woken up from his first nap with us.

Ezra first experience with Heidi's baked french toast

Ezra loves the sprinkler

Ezra's penetrating eyes

Ezra and Olivia during Christmas time in 2008.

This is a good picture that sums up Ezra's personality on most days.

A Prayer for our son:

2 years ago today the Lord graciously blessed us and placed you 'Abera' into our family. We renamed you Ezra and kept Abera (Amharic meaning for Abera: Lightning, and/or Shining) as your middle name. We named you Ezra because it is our prayer that you be a man of God who studies the Word of God, obeys the Word of God and teaches the Word of God in your pursuit of God. Ezra in the Old Testament was blessed by a close walk with the Living God of the Universe because 'the good hand of His God was on him'. (Ezra 7:9).

Ezra, our prayer for you is that you would become a man 'who is humble, contrite of spirit, and trembles at the Word of God.' (Is. 66:2) For, God will look upon you with favor and will reveal Himself to you if you cry out to God for humility, contriteness of spirit and an awe of the Word of God. We pray that you would be a man of God who flee's the tempations of this world and a man who delights in God Himself. God has given you an electrifying personality, a winsome smile, a vigor for life unmatched by but a few (your sister rivaling you in this area :) ). May the Lord bless you, keep you, and cause His face to shine upon you. May the Spirit of God dwell within you from a young age, even as the Spirit dwelt in John the Baptist from the womb. May you be drawn to Christ and may your life be spent living for, breathing for, and dying for our Great Redeemer Jesus.

2 years ago today was the beginning of our journey together. We pray you would be a boy and soon a man 'of whom the world is not worthy' (Heb. 11:38), a man who 'risks his life for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts 15:26), a man 'who turns the world upside down' (Acts 17:6) because of your undying alligence to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Savior Jesus. We are humbled God has made your our son and we pray we would be daily examples of treasuring Christ and living in a way that displays to you that Jesus is our highest joy, our greatest passion, our all-consuming zeal, and the purpose of why we live and die and that we would be able to look you in the eye and say, 'Ezra, follow us as we follow Christ.'

We love you, cherish you and are so thankful you are our son,

Dad and Mom

A little refreshment from the hot weather

2009-08-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Olivia grabbing for the camera
Popsicles for everyone! They were a "hot commodity" in 98 degree weather

Hmmmmmm. . . how does this work?! Every time the water turned off, she'd look around with her hands in the air asking who had done such a thing.

Ezra's getting more and more brave in the water. He's finally starting to catch up with his sister who is fearless.

A Rough Week for Olivia

2009-07-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday- Still getting over colds picked up on vacation

Monday- Found Olivia in crib time sucking on the blind string that pulls the drapes up. Noticed a metal piece missing from the tassle and haven't found it since. (I've checked every poopy diaper since and still no sign)

Tuesday- Olivia fell off Ezra's bed head-first. Thankfully, no broken bones. . . . yet.

Wednesday- Had to call poison control because I found Olivia feasting on a tub of Vasaline. Thankfully it's not poisonous, just causes vomiting or diarrhea because it's so greasy.

Thursday- Olivia fell down 3 stairs and ripped the gum part between her two front teeth. Lots of gushing blood:( Poor thing!

Friday- Fell off the tricycle at nanna's house today. Found by mom on her back still clinging to the bike handles up-side-down with bike on top.

Needless to say I'm I little worried about what will happen tomorrow, much less in the next 5 years. But if she makes it alive that long and perhaps without a broken bone, I'll be pleasantly surpised and know she must have a guardian angel. (Did I mention that her mom had 3 broken arms by the time she was ten?)

Please Lord, protect this family

Family 'Vacation' and more news...(Heidi is pregnant)

2009-07-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

It has been too long since we posted, but we were suprised by the Lord a few weeks ago to find out that Heidi is pregnant! We were very shocked at first, but equally excited and in awe of God's plans and His workings. We talked to our adoption agency and they told us that we are going to indeed have to put the adoption on hold until after the birth of the baby. We were initially discouraged that our adoption from Ethiopia is going to have to go on hold, but we know the Lord is infinitely wise and His ways are always best. Below are some pictures from some of our time spent up at Loon Lake with extended family. Papa Greenup was able to rent a cabin and was gracious enough extend to us the opportunity to join them up at the lake.
Heidi's due date is: January 20th (or somewhere close to that date).

Woodland Park Zoo & Visiting relatives

2009-06-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a quick trip to the west side of WA and visited with some family and friends and visited the Zoo. The kids did great and loved seeing the animals...though most of them were lifeless because we got there right after lunch.

The kids loved having 'Uncle' Greg push them around in the wheel-barrow.

These next two pictures were taken 5 minutes after we left the zoo!

If you look closely at Ezra's hand...you'll see he is holding a sea shell he found earlier that day. He later dropped it on a tile floor and that was the end of that.

Greenup Family Prayer and Plea

2009-05-28T21:36:00.001-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Some of you know we have felt called and directed by God to adopt “fatherless” children into our family. We are adopting another child or children from Ethiopia sometime in the next 4 – 8 months!

You may be wondering what has prompted us to adopt again. Primarily, we’ve felt so clearly directed by God to adopt that we want to obey Him, and we also desire to give an orphan child a family that he probably won’t otherwise have. God desires for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into Christian families – ultimately so they can become saved, and be adopted into His eternal family through Jesus Christ! There are so many things God has used to prick our hearts and move us to adopt, here are a few:

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction… James 1:27

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will – Ephesians 1:5

The facts are staggering how many children are orphaned each day- we’re talking thousands! 43,000 children become orphans each day & nearly 11 million children die each year before their 5th birthday. Ezra Abera has been a joy to have as our child and we are wanting to live a life of faith and extend our home to more children who are in such desperate, life-threatening situations.

The biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is in finding the finances to make this happen. Thankfully we serve a Great and Mighty God who will supply everything we need to live the life of faith He calls us to. We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney fees, etc. to be between $22,000 - $26,000- that’s certainly money we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him. By God’s grace $10,500 of the total $22,000 to $26,000 has already been used to start this long journey of international adoption.

Honestly, it is difficult (because of our pride), to make our needs known to the Body of Christ around us, but we also know it’s very biblical to do so. We appreciate your love and friendship very much and would like you to pray & consider helping us by taking part in this adoption. There are two ways you can help:

1. Prayer – Please pray God would continue to encourage and exhort our hearts to live a life of faith and to be risk-takers for the glory of God. Also, please pray for our hearts to sacrificially love the child or children God graciously provides for us.

2. Financial support - Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $11,500 - $16,500 in adoption expenses, to bring our child(ren) home from Ethiopia?

If you would like to be a part of God bringing our child(ren) to Himself through our family, you can send your tax-deductible donation to our adoption agency. Christian World Adoption is a trusted organization administering the funds on our behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received. If you want to learn more about the organization we are using in our adoption, please visit their website @ www.cwa.org .

1. Please make checks payable to: Christian World Foundation. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “Greenup family Adoption” in the memo line of your check.
(*Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Christian World Foundation, which retains full discretion and control over its use.)

2. Mail checks to:
Christian World Foundation
Attn: Greenup family adoption
777 South Allen Road
Flat Rock, NC 28731

3. Online Donation: If you would prefer to give via the internet,
a. Click this link or type it into your browser https://www.cwa.org/DonationForm.aspx
b. Fill out ‘Donor Information’ Section
c. Under the ‘Specify Donation’ drop down menu, select ‘General Fund’
d. Next, under the ‘optional’ menu, select ‘CWA family’ and input the information below

Dustin & Heidi Greenup
2827 W. Sanson
Spokane WA 99205

If you have any follow up questions, please don’t hesitate to call us, email us, facebook us, text us!!!

Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – it will be an investment with an eternal return!

For the glory of Christ Jesus,

Dustin, Heidi, Ezra and Olivia

Watoto Children's Choir

2009-05-25T08:08:00.001-07:00

This past weekend our church hosted the Watoto Children's choir for a concert on Saturday night and Sunday morning at church. Both sides of our parents the privilege to host some of the choir members for a few nights. Yesterday, we went over to the Sawatzky's for a BBQ and to get some time with some Ugandan believers. It was a true joy to hear how God is working in Uganda and was fun to spend some time with them. Check out their website to see if they are going to be doing a concert in your area. Their concert is very Christ-centered and very African!!!

www.watoto.com

Auntie Linda, Uncle Alex, Ian & Dovin

Dovin loved playing with Olivia...and Olivia quickly warmed up to him
Ian was very gracious and played with Ezra and kept him busy

Aunt Amy Visit

2009-05-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since we posted last. Amy, Heidi's sister, came and visited from Portland a few weeks ago. We had lots of fun showing her around...Manito Park, pictures with the kids, etc.

Ezra getting his first bite of a Domini's sandwich

Aunt Amy reading story to Olivia
Ezra with Aunt Julie & Aunt Amy

Ezra is very happy with his first the chance to wear his mama's sunglasses

The kiddo's with Aunt Amy again

Easter Updates

2009-04-24T18:46:00.001-07:00

Ezra loves Papa Watzky's hat
Caption:"You talking ta me?"

You'd think as a mom, I'd think twice about putting a baby in white clothes and then wear white myself.

Ezra was so excited he got to wear new clothes. Thanks Nana 'watzky" for the Easter outfits!

Olivia loves hats and found Nana's at her home after church.

This is Ezra with his cousins Jackson, Andrew, and Ethan. They got all snazzed up for Cousin Anna's wedding in Boise.

Olivia liked wearing her dress too

So another update for the adoption: We just about have all the paperwork done. We're waiting for our notaries to be authenticated by the Secretary of State and then we are sending the Dossier, along with a big fat check, to our adoption agency. We are leaping out in faith and trusting that God will provide for our everyday needs. Thanks to all of you who've been praying. We can really tell and we've already seen glimpses of God's provision for us. We have sent two grant applications in so we'll just wait to hear back from them and we have yet to do two more in the next couple of weeks. For anyone who wants to give towards the adoption, you'll be able to get a tax deduction when you send it to 'Lifesong. ' If you have questions, just ask. Thanks again and we covet your prayers in the days to come.

Adoption Update

2009-03-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we updated everyone about the status of our adoption. So we thought we'd do a little update.

* We received our home study and are approved to adopt 1 or 2 children

* We filed our paperwork (and $$$) with USCIS (US immigration) to give us the approval to adopt. We have scheduled appointment to get fingerprinted in mid-April.

* We are on the last few steps of our filling out our dossier (set of paperwork that is about 6 to 8 inches thick full of everything about our family, everything!) Once we have all of this compiled, we have to send it to our adoption agency to have it approved, then it goes to the Ethiopian Embassy in D.C., then Ethiopia to be translated, etc.)

* After all this is completed we are put on a list of people waiting for 'referral(s)' of a child or children.

We don't really know who read this blog regularly, but whether we know you extremely well or have never talked to you in our life, we would covet your prayers in the following ways.

1. For complete and utter dependence upon the Lord as He shows Himself faithful to us in this step of faith.

2. For our faith to be stretched (implicit requirement when seeking to adopt) and our love and affection for our Savior Jesus to grow and be our all-consuming passion.

3. The financial aspect of this adoption seems very daunting right now. We are currently in the process of applying for 4 different financial grants to help cover some of the initial cost of the adoption, but due to the economic times, all of the agencies have made statements that there are not a lot of funds to go around...but we're praying God would provide in miraculous ways!

Olivia turns 1 year old!

2009-03-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, March 19th, Olivia turned 1 year old. It is absolutely amazing how fast this year has gone. Long gone are the days where she just laid on her blanket and whimpered & coo'd. At one year old, she has been walking since 10 1/2 months and last week started running around the house. She is sheer joy and full of spunk and life. She climbs on chairs, stools and small tables. If we turn away from her for more than 2.5 seconds, she is either climbing up the stairs without us knowing, running around the table or learning how to balance on a stool.

Olivia is a fan of chocolate cupcakes

The characteristic smile she gets when she gets on her stool and balances on her own. She is not content to just sit on a stool/chair...she wants to stand on top of it.

Two happy cousins who enjoy their picture being taken.

Olivia happy she is about to chow down her chocolate cupcake.
All the cousins together picture: If you look in the mirror in the back ground, you'll see that I am trying to entertain the kids to make them smile and look forward. (I failed)

Ezra's Happy Birthday tackle hug for Olivia

Olivia and Ezra playing their form of American Gladiator.

We had lunch with Mark and Amy Baker this weekend and here is a picture of Claire and Olivia with me.

Snowy March Day

2009-03-09T13:54:00.001-07:00

Olivia didn't look too happy but she lightened up as I towed them around the block in the two inches of snow. Ezra is the typical big brother and kept throwing snow at her ,which perhaps is why she's looking at me like "How long do I have to put up with this?!"

Mommy and Olivia

This was me after I got the kids back inside and all their snowy clothes off. So much work for only 30 minutes of play!

Ezra was so excited to get to go out and play in the snow! He kept wanting to make a snow man and to help mommy shovel. He's quite the little 'helper' these days.

I have to admit, I'm a little bitter that we're getting snow in March but it sure was pretty and I'm thankful for a warm house. Everything is a gift from God and I often have to remind myself or I'll start complaining. (And at least it covers up all that dirtiness on the road!)

Ezra modeling daddy

2009-02-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Below is a quick conversation that occurred between Ezra and Heidi after Dustin left for work yesterday morning. Ezra has started to pretend he was going to work like Daddy does each morning.

Ezra: 'Mama, I'm goin to work'

Heidi: 'Ok, Ezra. Have a good day. I love you'

Ezra: 'Love you. I need lunch'

Heidi: (Smiling) 'Ok Ezra, I'll get it for you.'

Ezra: 'See you later. Where my keys? Where my wallet?'

Heidi: Laugh, laugh, laugh

Every few days Ezra does something new that we realize we are doing. The picture with this post is of Ezra sitting down crossing his legs as he sits on the chair. He did this one day and we just laughed because we realize he watches us do this.

Heidi's 'Humbling Sports Story'

2009-02-13T13:36:00.001-08:00

Heidi's story posted today. Here is the LINK to read it.

The story begins, 'My most embarrassing moment...'

Enjoy!
Dustin

Heidi - The 'Humbling Sports Moment' contest winner

2009-02-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

Sovereign Grace Ministries was running a contest for the most humbling sports moment and Heidi was one of the 10 winners. We don't know exactly when the actual story will be posted...but we'll keep you posted. It is well worth the 2 minutes it will take to read it when it gets posted.

Olivia is having fun walking

2009-02-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

Fun Superbowl Sledding Day!

2009-02-01T20:33:00.001-08:00

We spent the afternoon at Nana and Papa Greenups house and they have a great sledding hill (as long as you put your feet down so you wouldn't go into the river). These are some pictures of our experience. It was Ezra's first time with his Daddy and it surprised us all how fast you can get going, as seen on Dustin's face:)

Dustin and Ezra before the big plunge.
Nana Greenup and Connie Naresh went tandem. They ended up going down most of the hill backwards and on the way down Donna's boots and socks came off.

Dustin had to help Ezra go down by himself. Ezra has a very intense look on his face.

Yogi and Connie Naresh have a business called Mt. Spokane Adventures and we got to use their ATV's to pull us back up the hill. (Click on the link to find out more details.) It made for a fun ride up and many more trips down.

Ezra and Papa riding on the ATV

We eventually did go inside to watch the game, but were sad for the Cardinals. Oh well, good game!

We are 'expecting' !.....from Ethiopia

2009-01-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that the Lord is leading us again down the road of adoption. We started the application process back in the first part of December but the paperwork process is what is in store for us for the next several (2 to 5 months).

Below are a list of some FAQ's that we thought we'd try to answer

When will you get your child?

- We don't know for a while (at least several months)

- We have countless amounts of paperwork, dossiers, home studies, USCIS certification, fingerprinting, background checks, etc. before the US & Ethiopia will give us the 'ok' to adopt.

What sex and age of child & how many are you considering?

- Another question we don't know the answer to.

- We have no specific preference to a girl over a boy or a boy over a girl.

- At least this time around, we will probably be adopting a child who is under 3. We are letting the Lord answer this for us when the referral comes

- Most likely 1, but if a situation came around with a young sibling group or twins, we'd have to pray hard and see how the Lord is directing us.

When will you get the referral and go to Ethiopia?

- If it is anything like our adoption with Ezra, there is no way to really know for sure...but if the adoption process goes 'smooth' (which they never do) probably sometime between June and December of '09

*We ask for your prayers: That God would prepare our hearts and family for the addition of another child. Also for the Lord to provide the finances in a time of economic recession. And lastly, for our faith to trust in Him as He does provide and to believe that His sovereign hand is over every detail of the adoption. Thank you!

A way overdue Christmas posting

2009-01-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

This is the view looking out the 2nd floor back of our house.

The kids in their Christmas outfits from Nana and Papa

I wish you could hear the giggle going on in this picture. It's infectious.

Livie taking a ride

The Naresh cousins. We all had fun at the Greenups' house Christmas morning.

Awwwwe, a Daddy-daughter moment

I think these are the faces of kiddos being tired after unwrapping all their Christmas presents

Cousin Ethan holding Livie

Ezra gets so excited when he gets to hold his little sister

He also likes flying like Superman

The New Year

2009-01-01T19:54:00.001-08:00

Welcome to 2009. Heidi and I were working through a list of some questions we have via Justin Taylor's blog to consider for the new year. They are very helpful and here are the questions and the link to the whole list.

http://www.biblicalspirituality.org/newyear.html

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/01/ten-questions-to-ask-at-start-of-new.html

Schuknecht's, Bath Time, and a wedding

2008-12-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Troy, Stevi, and Jude are in Spokane for a a few weeks visiting family and we were able to have them over tonight. We all had a great time...Ezra especially loved having another person who would look at books with him and Olivia loved having Jude around to climb on & play with. (Jude is 11 months old and Olivia is 9 months)

Olivia and Jude using the walker.

Olivia and Ezra LOVE bath time as you can see from this picture

Ezra gets a bit over-dramatic when we pour water on him.

We are blessed having a baby who loves her car seat. We know that is not always the case with every child, but we are thankful nevertheless.

Lisa Skaer and Logan Peabody were married a few weeks back...and Ezra got to dress up in a suit for the wedding.

This picture was taken right after bath time. Two things Ezra loves...wearing hats (especially daddy's) and running around commando. So, it was especially funny when he ran out of the bathroom after we dried him off and the next second we saw him in the middle of the living room with daddy's hat on, saying 'cheese'.

(This picture is edited for good reason)

Snow, Snow, Snow

2008-12-18T09:05:00.001-08:00

In Spokane, it has snowed the past 24 hours continuously. Here are a few pictures of the snow around our house. Thus far, I think we have around 16-18 inches in the past 24 hours will more on the way.

That green object you see is our yard waste bin and all that snow on top of it is from the past 24 hours.

Underneath all that snow is my car, which isn't even a whole day of the snow.

Christmas Smiles

2008-12-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

Finch Arboretum, Fall, Frowns, and Family Fotos :)

2008-11-21T20:37:00.000-08:00

So, this year we braved trying to take a family photo with the kiddos. Needless to say, Ezra did not want to smile or be out in the fresh fall air and Olivia's pose kept with the 'deer in the headlights' look for much of the time. Thanks Robert and Megan Huggins for doing such a great job taking the photos.

Ezra loved all the leaves to play in.

Great Video - November is National Adoption Month

2008-11-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks Sanchez's for the link to this video

Fall and the Finch Arboretum

2008-10-29T21:34:00.001-07:00

Every year the Greenup family goes to the Finch Arboretum to have lunch and take pictures. It was a very fun day for all the cousins. Here's Nanna and Papa G.

Papa Greenup and Ezra walking up the hill.

We think Olivia's ready to start walking. She had to tolerate being strolled around that day.

An Evening Out

2008-10-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our good friends, the Armstrong's had extra tickets to the Phantom of the Opera so we unexpectantly got to go see it. It was our first time and it was wonderful! Now we know why everyone always raves about it.
Karie and I. We ate out at The Melting Pot which was a 3 hour experience with fondu. The food was amazing but because it went so long we had to take a rain check on dessert and leave to make the show. Who knew it would take so long?

All dressed up for the Opera House

Thoughts?

2008-10-14T20:31:00.001-07:00

Any suggestions on an appropriate caption?

Montana Trip

2008-10-13T19:21:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we went over to Montana to visit Grandma Emily (Papa Jim Greenup's mother) in Shelby, MT. We had a great time and we hope/think Grandma did also. Having 2 kids 2 years old and younger definately heightens the pace and activity level.

We stayed at John & Mary Righter's (Nana Greenup's sister & husband) on the way over and Ezra got to learn up close about horses.

The kids did exceptionally well in the car for the trip over to Montana and back. We didn't know what to expect, but our expectations of traveling were not that high to begin with. Overall, Ezra did way better than we could have hoped.

In this picture, he is holding his lamby, his bible, a giraffe, sippy cup, toy plier's, & his minature lion. He was so excited to travel in the car, but he wanted to make sure nothing got left behind.

Crawling Birthdays. . . . er, I mean Birthdays and Crawling

2008-10-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

It's official! Heidi is now 26 years old. Our friends made a special non-dairy chocolate cake for her at our bible study that night. Thanks Alison!

Wait a minute! 6 months and crawling? Olivia weighs 12#13.5 oz now and she's so strong. She does baby push-ups all the time- we think she's trying to buff up to keep up with older brother.
Olivia's response at being able to get around now. Yeah!

Baby Shower!

2008-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Julie White and the future Isaiah Owen pictured here

with Heidi at Julie's baby shower in Marysville, WA
It was fun the have some old friends back together again

Do they look like siblings or what? Olivia watches her big brother a lot and tries to copy him. Although with the bowl on the head, she doesn't look too sure this was a good idea.

Ezra turned 2...on Sept. 1st

2008-09-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

Ezra's classic smile...along with Papa Greenuyp's smile

Ezra got a new book for his birthday and he successfully had each person there him the whole story.

This bike was gift that he was pretty excited about...even though his feet don't touch the pedals...yet.
Ezra loves ice cream. The first time we gave him ice cream he turned his head away and didn't want to eat it...he is a quick learner.

Olivia Bouncing....

2008-09-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

The voice you hear laughing is Ezra...not Olivia.

One year ago...

2008-08-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today is an anniversary of sorts for Heidi and I. It was 1 year ago today, that by God's graciousness, Ezra Abera Greenup, was placed in our arms to love & care for as our son. As we look back over the course of this last year, we are humbled by how God has provided a huge measure of grace to our family. We love Ezra with all our heart and are so thankful he is in our family. It is hard to believe that it has only been 12 months since we were in Ethiopia picking him up.

Much has happened over the course of this last year, the biggest change being the arrival of his sister Olivia in March of this year. We don't know what the Lord has in store for us next, but we look forward to see how He will lead us.

Heidi and I looked through our pictures of our trip to Ethiopia as a reminder of that long week in Ethiopia a year ago, but in the end we are so humbled by God's goodness in our lives. We want to be faithful parents who live out the Gospel and point our children to the centrality of the Cross of Christ on a daily basis.

We also look back and have many thanks for so many people who prayed for us and financially helped us in this adoption process.

If any of you are considering adopting a child or children, we would wholeheartedly encourage you to take that step of faith and extend your life, family and home to one or more of the 143 million + orphans in the world. Adopting a child or children has many countless trials, but our Risen Savior provides the necessary faith and endurance to trust Him through it all.

A family picture
He hasn't worn that pink sleeper since he has been with us.
Learning to play and use his nuk

Ezra's first finger food meal

Family Vacation and rice cereal

2008-08-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had some family friends who for our wedding (3 years ago) gave us a few night stay at their home on Deer Lake. Wow! This was the most relaxing 3 full days we have had since our honeymoon. We were extremely blessed and thankful for the Kersul's generosity. It was just the four of us and it was a lot of playing in the water & relaxing.
Ezra was a little sheepish of lake water, but by day 3, he relaxed and enjoyed his time in the water.
Olivia loves to smile and loves her toes.
We started rice cereal for Olivia a few weeks ago, but she gets more on her than she does in her mouth. Mommy has a cute new haircut!
Olivia trying to figure out which she should try to eat...her fingers or rice cereal?
A work in process
The result of her rice cereal...a needed bath.
Olivia's favorite thing...chewing on her toes.

Greenup Family Update

2008-07-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a month or so. We got behind and realized we hadn't posted any pictures. Well, it is summer, but hopefully we'll try to post at least once every week or two. Oh well, life goes on. Here area a few pictures from the past month.

Olivia is really starting some fun movements. She is starting to grab for toys and can turn over from her stomach to her back, but not the other way as of yet. She's close though and with the way she kicks, she'll launch on over to the other side and wonder what happened.

Andrew and Ezra in our 'pool'. Ezra absolutely loves playing with his cousins. He loves to get rowdy with them and run and chase and play and take toys from each other. We are working on teaching him to share and not having a bad heart/attitude if someone else is playing with the toy he of course wants to play with.
Olivia with her little hat to keep the sun out of her eyes!

Wow, I'm pooped, mom.
Here's a better picture of Olivia. She has a wonderful smile. Heidi says, "My favorite time's with Olivia are early in the morning for her first feed and at night for her last feed. In the mornings, Olivia is usually awake by the time I come to feed her, sometime between 6:30 and 7:00am. Olivia gets a giant smile and kicks her feet in excitement because she knows it is breakfast time. At night, we wake her up about 9 or 9:15pm for her last feed, and picking her up from her basonet is wonderful. She is most always still sleeping and has the sweetest most innocent face. I just love how she has her eyes closed and she's just sucking away slowly but surely. It usually takes changing her diaper and burping her to wake her up, even though now I want her to go to bed."

Ezra's first time in a lake or any body of water bigger than a 3 ft. by 3 ft. pool which he has come to love and each day says, 'Wannano (WHAD -NA- NO)' which from our understanding refers to water he can play in. It is kind of confusing try to pick up on his phrases, but we are learning and he is picking things up we say very quickly. Ezra and Mama at 2nd Cousion's Pace's birthday.

Yeah for party hats.
Olivia loves being in Great Grandma's arms
Brother and sister together. It has been fun to watch how Ezra has really taken to a love for Olivia. When he gets up in the morning, he repeats all of the names of people he knows...mommy, daddy, papa, nana, Olivia (which he pronounces A-VI-VA-VA). He loves to get close to her and look into her eyes with his. We recently started to let him touch her toes and hands, but quickly learned that wasn't going to work for very long. One morning Heidi turned away for about 30 seconds only to find Ezra practically laying on top of her. He was giggling away and she started to cry. Even though she is growing, about 10 1/2 lbs currently...having a 27 lb. brother on top of your stomach doesn't feel too good.

The past few weeks...

2008-06-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Brother and sister in photo-op

The four of us on Father's Day
Ezra and Grandpa Sawatzky Who's driving this family bus anyway?
Ezra's "I'm too cool to smile" look
Olivia learning to drive

Olivia learning to stand
Olivia learning to eat her fist

Mama reading some Bible stories to Ezra
Wide-eyed Olivia
Ezra dancing in daddy's Harly T-shirt

San Juan Islands & Dave Quisenberry Wedding

2008-06-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

This was a beautiful sunset the evening of the rehearsal dinner. The San Juan Islands are great and the weather turned out to be just as nice also.

Us with Dave & Camillia
With Larry & Janie Stone
Mark Baker and I with Dave
Two dads with two baby girls. This was taken on the Ferry ride over to the island.

Spokane Falls on Memorial Day

2008-05-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

The 'thickness' of that water next to the concrete ledge is about 7 to 8 feet tall...a lot of water coming down every second.

Daddy: 'Ezra, shall we go swimming?'

Ezra: No words needed

Finally some warm weather

2008-05-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

Heid's Top 5

2008-05-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

(per Jessica Hoch's request)

Top 5 things I can't live without under $5
1) A hot bath before bed (I think that should cost less than $5)
2) Jamba Juice!
3) Vaseline
4) Cocoa butter (for Ezra's skin and my feet) it's wonderful
5) Cinnabon (only once in a blue moon, too many calories)

Top 5 favorite movies
1) Road to Avonlea Series(not the same as Anne of Avonlea)
2) Pride and Prejudice
3) Finding Neverland
4) While You Were Sleeping
5) Anne of Green Gables

Top 5 Baby names I love and might possibly use
1) Emily
2) Audrey
3) Hudson
4) Reagan (for a girl)
5) Naomi

Top 5 Songs
1) I will glory in my redeemer
2) As Time goes By (sung by Louis Armstrong, brings back memories of my Grandpa)
3) O Holy Night
4) It is Well with my Soul
5) Esengo (an African song sung by Selah)

Top 5 people that have influenced my life in a positive way
1) Dustin
2) Julie (my sister)
3) Julie White (the one married to Joe)
4) My mom
5) Terri Bade (Who wouldn't be inspired by a lady raising 10 kids!?)

Top 5 items in my purse at all times
1) diapers,one size 4 and one newborn
2) wipes (yeah, . . . . I'm definitely a mom)
3) debit card
4) check book
5) cell phone

Top 5 events that changed my life forever
1) Being saved
2) Marrying Dustin
3) Adopting Ezra
4) Giving birth to Olivia
5) can't think of another one . . . . . . .

Top 5 current obsessions
1) sleep, when I can get it
2) taking a walk, I'm lucky if I get one a week
3) Instructing and disciplining my son, not my favorite, but more out of necessity
4) Prayer, yeah it goes along with #3
5) Drinking all the water I can so I can feed Olivia

Top 5 places I'd like to go
1) Any place really warm
2) I'd go back to Africa to get another baby
3) India
4) Victoria Island
5) Home, I love my home

Top 5 people I'd like to see their top 5
1) Amy Baker
2) Alison Struska
3) Lisa Chun
4) Lizzi Hughes
5) Julie White

New smiles...

2008-05-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

What happened???

2008-04-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

A. Ezra gave Olivia some grape juice while we weren't looking

B. Heidi wanted to try a new style of lipstick on her daughter

C. Dustin wanted to see how long purple permanent marker would last

D. Olivia has thrush and we have to use Gentian Violet for 3 days to kill the yeast. The stain will be there for at least a week or so.

D is the correct answer

Olivia...three weeks old

2008-04-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Olivia's response to Memphis losing the NCAA championship

2008-04-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

"If Memphis would have only made 1 more free throw in the last 30 seconds they would have won"

Who does Olivia resemble???

2008-04-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

We have had people giving us ideas who Olivia resembles...but it is always someone different. Heidi, Dustin, Joy Sawatzky, Connie Naresh, Donna Greenup, Great Grandma Sawatzky who is not alive, Andrew Naresh have all made the list of who Olivia resembles. If you care to weigh in on your thoughts or ideas on who she looks like and why...we'd be interested. Post your comments below & take the poll on the right side of the page.

Ezra's reading

2008-03-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Lessons from haircutting

2008-03-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent lessons I have learned:
1. Don't ever quit my day job to be a world class hair-cut man
2. The blade covers that are included on a electric razor have a purpose
3. The razor oil is included also have a purpose
4. I as dad, should never cut his son's hair again
5. Black kids hair is really hard to cut
6. Worse comes to worse, you can always cut hair shorter.
7. It is always important to have a rescue plan available. In my case, Terri Bade was extremely helpful and helped correct my mistakes on Ezra's head. Thankfully he is too young to remember any of the trauma I took him through last night!

(In process of Ezra's hair...if that is what you can call it)

(Another sad picture of dad's bad haircut job)

(After Terri Bade remedied by sad excuse for a haircut)

(Ezra looking at Olivia as she was taking a nap)

(A bright-eyed picture of Olivia)

Our newest family member

2008-03-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Heidi began having labor contractions around 2:00 am Wednesday morning. Dustin was able to sleep until about 4 am!!! We ate some breakfast, took some showers, and by that time contractions were between 2 to 3 minutes apart. So, we thought it would be a good time to go to the hospital. We got to Sacred Heart a few minutes after 6 am to get checked in. When we arrived, Heidi was 4 cm dilated. Everything was good and fine. We walked around the triage area for 30 minutes or so and then came back to do more paperwork and checked her dilation. I needed to use the restroom, so I stepped out for a few minutes. She was doing fine, so there was no issue, but the nurse put the baby monitor back on Heidi's tummy and couldn't hear any heartbeat. After a minute or so was finally able to find the heartbeat, but it was only at 60. She then paged for help and instantly there were 5 nurses in the triage room being very direct with one another. This all happened so quickly and all occured while I stepped out for 2 minutes to use the restroom. Thus I walked back into the room to a very stressful situation. I am no brainiac or anything, but I could tell something was wrong. I asked the very profound question, ‘Is everything ok’, but what I meant was ‘what the heck is going on, what is happening, why are all of you (5 nurses) freaking out?” One of the nurses who has really trying to hold her composure said, ‘She absolutely has to have an emergency c-section immediately, the baby’s heart beat is way down and we have to get that baby out’. So they took me to the waiting room where I just waited and prayed…a lot and very fervently. I didn’t know what to expect, how long it would take to hear anything, etc.

(Ezra with his sister. Aunt Julie holding Olivia)

(Grandma Greenup holding Olivia)

(The first real picture I was able to get with Olivia's eyes open)

About 20 minutes later, one of the nurses came out to me and told me that our baby girl had been born at 7:34 am and she and mama are doing great, though Heidi did have to go completely under with a general anesthetic. The nurse explained that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her little foot and her shoulder, which was cutting off the blood circulation. A few minutes after that, the nurse brought our daughter to me and we spend the first 30 minutes together then we were able to go see Heidi who was recovering.
(Thankful mom holding her daughter who loves to be held and cuddled)

We just left the hospital around noon today. We are thankful to be home, and thankful for our daughter! Ezra stayed with relatives throughout the few days. He has had a few occasions to see Olivia but his world is about to change completely now that there is another kid vying for dad and mom’s attention.
(our little daughter in her car seat)

Thank you all for your support and prayers. That 30 minutes on Wednesday morning was some of the scariest 30 minutes of my life, but our Father is faithful and cares deeply for us. Yet, after those 30 minutes were over, some of the sweetest and most joyful moments of our lives followed. We know in our heart and soul that whatever would have happened, our Father cares deeply for us and His will is perfect and without fault.

(Leaving the hospital with Olivia in her car seat and mama in her wheelchair)

Baby here!!! Olivia Joy Greenup

2008-03-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay of information and still no pictures. I haven't been able to figure out the Wireless internet at the hospital, so pictures will come later.
* Born 7:34 am, Wednesday, March 19th, via emergency C-section due to cord wrapped around shoulder and legs
* 6 lbs 7.5 oz
* 19 inces long

We should be able to come home from the hospital tomorrow sometime, so we'll post some pictures when we get home!

No baby yet...

2008-03-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...we have no new news to share as of yet. Heidi's due date was the past Saturday, but the major contractions and labor has not begun as of yet. Hopefully any day...we'll keep you posted.

Mark & Amy Baker's baby girl

2008-02-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday morning, Amy Baker gave birth to Claire...who weighed in a 6 lbs. (I forget the exact amount of ounces and height) I figured I would post some pictures because as of yet, I haven't been able to talk the Baker's into starting a blog.

Ethiopian Puffball in 13.7 + inces of snow

2008-01-29T11:20:00.001-08:00

The Piano Man

2008-01-29T11:16:00.000-08:00

Ezra's fun faces

2008-01-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

Growing belly, snow, Ezra and piano

2008-01-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we have turned into one of those 'post every two weeks' blog, along with some lame titles to the posts. Oh well. Sometimes taking pictures gets old and you feel like taking a break for a while. The pictures will probably start up again once our baby girl is born. Ezra keeps us busy though.

Heidi is 32 1/2 weeks...so we are under the 8 week until Heidi is due.

Due date: March 15th

This was taken back in early January. We got 8 inches of new snow in one day...which is not all that common for Spokanites.

Do you think this is the best way to teach a kid to walk? He is getting close to walking, but still is a little sheepish on actually balancing and taking steps without dad or mom holding one of his hands.
Between Christmas and savings, we got a piano...via Craigslist. You think I (Dustin) am going to be playing this? There is a greater liklihood that I would learn to high jump our van before I learned to play the piano. Heidi would have an easier time teaching Ezra to play the piano at 17 months old then she would me.
I am thinking about trying to learn the guitar though. For those who know me...if learning to play the guitar actually occurs for me, my grandfather might turn over in his grave.

Some pictures from the past few weeks

2008-01-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Ezra loves his Honeycombs

Leah and Mary Bade. Heidi and I had the joy of allowing Greg and Teri a night out together and we watched the kids for an evening

A family picture at the Sawatzky's over Christmas time

Ezra's U.S.A. readoption

2007-12-22T11:07:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-19T15:15:00.000-08:00

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...

2007-12-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

Brushing teeth...

2007-12-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

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...

2007-12-05T18:26:00.001-08:00

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...

2007-12-04T15:22:00.001-08:00

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...

2007-11-15T14:06:00.001-08:00

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!!!

2007-11-05T11:51:00.001-08:00

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)

2007-11-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Ezra and Mama

2007-10-03T14:34:00.001-07:00

Well, here is the update I told you I was going to post several weeks ago. Ezra is growing, and continues to reach milestones each week. (That is about as detailed as I am going to go.)

We needed to take some pictures of Ezra in his Ethiopian outfit before he outgrows it, which will probably be next week.

Ezra's favorite place is in his mama's arms
He is pulling himself up to the couch and walking alongside the couch. Probably only a few weeks until he trys to walk by himself.
There have been several occassions that Ezra crys for a while before he actually falls asleep during his nap time, but this is a favorite position of his...face plastered to the mattress sheet while he is perched up on his knees and his little bottom sticking staight into the air. We kind of think he is going through a growth spurt...he has been taking 2 1/2 hour naps, twice a day, and sleeping between 12-13 hours at night.

Ezra's favorite activity...

2007-09-18T15:38:00.001-07:00

Sometime in the next week or so, we will give a full update of how the first month has gone. This coming Saturday will be 4 weeks we have been home from Ethiopia. One thing we have definately learned...Ezra loves his bath time!

Heidi & Ezra's Baby Shower

2007-09-09T08:42:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we were blessed by many people who graciously helped us get started with this new life with a child...and another one on the way! (See blog post below) We were humbled by the care and generosity of so many people.

3 moms, 3 kids

Connie made this centerpiece for the shower. If you look closely, you can see that it is made from a bunch of diapers. We are learning that diapers are some of the best gifts for new parents!
Some of the ladies who were still at the shower after everyone else had left.
Papa Greenup with Ezra!

Yep, here comes another!!!

2007-09-08T07:13:00.002-07:00

Yep, that is a positive. Heidi is pregnant. This picture was taken back in the beginning of July, we were just waiting until the end of the 1st Trimester to tell people that she is going to have a baby! So as of yesterday, she is 13 weeks along.

Due Date: March 15th

This week: The Ordinary & Extraordinary

2007-08-30T16:54:00.001-07:00

Common and Ordinary

Uncommon and Extraordinary

We are home!!!

2007-08-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

It is soooooo good to be back home. After a long 36+ hour travel from Ethiopia to Spokane, we arrived late Saturday night. There were many people who came to the airport to welcome us at our late arrival. It was a very emotional time, but truly a blessing. We have been sleeping a lot and changing a lot of diapers...yes, I said 'we'. I have been changing some...though you might think this is hard to believe.

I'll try to post some more pictures later, but today begins our life back to normal...however normal it can be now that we have a son.

Day 6 in Ethiopia

2007-08-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ezra reading his Bible for the first time!

Day 6

We had another night of decent sleep and visited the National Museum today. It was ok, but we had the Orthodox church chanting incantations the whole day, and it nearly gave us a headache.
We are all fairly tired and if there was a flight leaving Addis on Thursday night, we would have taken it, but Luftansa has no flights leaving on Thursday, so our normal schedule it is.
We had a dinner with our adoption coordinator and the other families adopting from our agency. I have attached a few pictures of what we ate. It wasn't that bad, though it wouldn't be top on my list. The ladies (mom and Heidi) stayed home with Ezra, so I represented our family. The ladies went to sleep and Ezra got 12 hours of sleep…a record!!!
The highlight of the evening was having the opportunity to talk with Eyob (the head administrator for our adoption agency here in Ethiopia). I asked him some questions about our son and he opened up a great story to me...

He said that Abera (Ezra's Ethiopian name) came to the Addis Ababa care home early February of this year. After he got to the care home, he tested positive for HIV and everyone at the care home was brokenhearted because they had come to love this boy. Eyob said he remembers the day very specifically. Before Abera was taken to AHOPE, all of the care workers gathered and prayed 'that God would allow for the HIV to be taken away so that this boy Abera could get a home and be adopted.' Well, several months passed by and after a few months Abera was retested and tested negative. The care workers, staff, and Eyob were praising the Lord in thankfulness for His mighty work. Eyob said that CWA has had 250 children adopted from Ethiopia this year. I asked him how many children he has known who have tested positive and then tested negative? He said, "Abera has been the only one." It was really touching to hear him tell this story and I could see zeal upon his lips and tears of thankfulness filling his eyes. Just guess how I was responding?
We are hoping to visit AHOPE tomorrow sometime to see place they care for AIDS orphans. Ezra Abera spent a few months there, so we want to stop by and thank them and extend our greetings to them.
Our flight leaves Addis Ababa at 10:55 pm. Please pray for a smooth trip, espcially with Ezra and the long long flights.
This will probably be the last post until we arrive in Spokane Saturday evening at 7:55 pm if everything goes as scheduled.

Here's a meal in Injera. Any guesses as to what it is?

This man is collecting garbage from the muddy river...

Ethiopia Days 1-5

2007-08-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Day 1, Friday

Traveling, traveling, traveling, nothing more than this.

Day 2, Saturday

More travel, travel, travel.
Plane arrived in Addis Ababa at 9:00 pm.
Went directly to hotel

Day 3, Sunday

Went directly to Adoption care home and met the children.
They simply just handed him to us. It was crazy, to realize we had truley been entrusted to care for this child and they just let us have him.

Things we learned in the first 18 hours with our son:

He eats every two hours or so
He had only had formula from bottles in feeding
He is a big little boy…somewhere around 20 lbs
He has a good set of lungs
He has a very strong will and impatient temper...but we love him!
He talks to you with his eyes

Day 4, Monday

More of the same. It is hard to do very much here in Ethiopia with a baby. The other couples from our agency who have the same embassy appointment as we do all have older children, so they are able to go about doing a lot of things and all we really want to do is hang out in the room, sleep when Ezra naps, eat food and drink coffee.

Day 5, Tuesday

Thank you for praying, whoever has been praying. We had our best night of sleep thus far. Ezra only woke up twice and was asleep from 9:00 pm to 6 am.
Pray for poopie! Ezra has not poo'd since we got him on Sunday morning…so it has been 48 hours. We are going to go to the pharmacy looking for something to help…maybe a suppository or something like that. [this prayer request has been answered in a BIG way, 'nuff said].
I would write more about the city and people of Addis Ababa, but I have to say we haven't done very many things outside of normal care for a 10 month old baby.
We did go to a pizza restaurant last night…a good change of pace from some of the other food we have been eating, though we have liked what we've eaten.
It is Tuesday morning here and today we stand before the US embassy judge. It should only take about 10 minutes and then they declare us a family. Yeah! Yesterday we worked on our paperwork with the adoption agency so hopefully all will go smoothly.
Please continue to pray that we'll all stay healthy. So far so good but we all accidentally brushed our teeth with the tap water here.

Ezra and Ethiopia starting tomorrow!

2007-08-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we leave bright and early tomorrow morning. We will try to post every few days, though we don't know if we'll be able to post pictures or not. The Ghion Hotel has dial-up internet service, but Hi-Speed Internet is no where to be found in Ethiopia...from what we have heard. We are excited to share our son with you all and look forward to spending a week in Ethiopia. Below are some new pictures we received when the Bade's and McConnell's were able to see, hold and play with our son.

Embassy Date - August 21st!!!

2007-08-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

We just got the call and we are now trying to find flight(s) to and from Ethiopia!!!

McConnell & Bade Homecoming from Ethiopia

2007-08-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

As some of you might know, Patrick and Jennifer McConnell and Greg and Terri Bade have each been in the process of adopting 3 children each from Ethiopia. Well, both families have been in Ethiopia these past two weeks picking up their children. On Saturday night, the McConnell’s came in and on late Sunday night, 12:45 am, Greg and his oldest daughter Hannah returned with the Bade’s three new children. Each of these nights were filled with exuberant joy, tears of thankfulness, and a growth in understanding of God’s adoptive love for His children. For all those who were able to come welcome the weary travelers home…they were blessed to see such genuine love in both the children coming from Ethiopia and in the family and friends who have faithfully partnered in prayer, sacrificial financial giving and much much more.

As Heidi and I drove away from the airport each evening, we thanked the Lord for the opportunity to have come to the airport and welcome our friend’s home. When the McConnell’s arrived, the three boys eagerly hugged their new sisters and gave giant bear hugs to Jennifer’s parents. Smiles abounded and love displayed so wonderfully.

Sunday night, when the Bade’s arrived home, John Rocco, age 6 (or so), ran down the exit terminal and threw his arms around Terri (who didn’t travel to Ethiopia because she was a little busy caring for six of their other children) and gave her a big hug and kiss. It was truly soul-stirring.

Enjoy the pictures!

The McConnell Clan

The Bade Family

2nd year anniversary

2007-08-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

July 30th was our 2 year anniversary! I had just gotten back from the Sawatzky Men Camping Trip, but we rested at home and then went to a great dinner, etc. We stayed at the Oxford Suites, very nice and they left us a dozen roses in our room! The pictures are from the deck from our room.

Sawatzky Men's Camping Trip

2007-08-05T23:10:00.001-07:00

Each summer, a number of the guy relatives from Heidi's side of the family go camping for a long weekend at Potholes State Park. Lame name, great place. The weekend,back on the last weekend in July, was a great time, full of eating guy foods...milk duds, chips and salsa, steak, salmon, braut's, etc. Volleyball and watersports are also non-negotiable activities with a guy's camping trip.

One other yearly tradition is to build a 'house' from woodworking scraps. Thus, if you don't understand what the picture is with the wood and steak fat in it, you will just have to be satisfied by knowing it was a guy's camping trip, so things don't need explanations.

Mike and Greg lathering up Sunscreen. This picture is for the wives, so they know we were wearing sunscreen the whole weekend!

Our house we built, with leftover steak fat. This added fuel to the fire.

Camp fire! What other entertainment do guys need for a night?

Spike and Dig Volleyball Tourney

2007-08-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from this past weekend's volleyball tourney. The team I was playing on made it to the Semifinals, but we lost a nail biter! There were 2 teams from people within FBC, and one of the teams won their division

Introducing our son...Ezra

2007-07-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

This is the first picture of Ezra we received in December of 2006.

We received this picture in February of 2007 This picture was taken in June 2007. He looks like he's gained a few pounds now. We think he's about 10 months old.
Some friends of ours are currently in Ethiopia and promised to bring back more pictures after having seen Ezra. We'll hopefully have more to post then.