Moving to Africa

As if having four kids five and under isn’t adventurous enough, we will soon begin a new journey that will test us like never before. Our hearts have always been heavy for the orphaned children of Africa. This led our family to adopt Addis Zachary Yeabsera Kennedy this past year from the nation of Ethiopia. Yet, the burden did not go away. It only grew stronger, leading us to our next big adventure.

This August, we will move our family to the country of Malawi, Africa to become the interim directors of the recently opened Esther’s House Orphanage in the small town of Ncheu. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. With a population of 11 million people, one million children are orphans. The aids pandemic has reduced the life expectancy to 37 years. For two months we will immerse ourselves in the culture of the Malawian people.

While in country, we will work on completing the structure of Esther’s House, accept the first children, hire staff, and develop curriculum. Here is a picture of our home.


All along our journey, a television camera will document every moment. In fact, shooting has already begun, and much more will be shot before we even get on an airplane. At the end of our time in Africa, the footage will be edited into a reality television series to be aired in the Spring of 2010. It is our goal to produce a television program that will stir hearts and encourage the involvement of the television audience. We want to tell the story for those who can't speak up for themselves.

Thanks to the incredible vision of First Baptist Church of Springdale and The Church at Pinnacle Hills along with the support of Bigger Than Life Foundation, all of our travel, living, and production expenses are covered. This was a major investment in a project that we all believe has great potential.

We would love for you to be a part of this project. Since all of our expenses are covered, we are in the process of raising money that will go 100% to the orphans of Malawi. Due to the unexpected increase in construction costs, many projects at Esther’s House were left unfinished. The money you donate will go to purchase beds, cooking equipment, school uniforms and fees, furnishings, food, as well as cover the general operating expense of the orphanage.

It is our goal to raise $15,000 before we leave for Malawi on August 23rd. All gifts are tax deductible.

Just click the yellow donate button on the left hand side of the page and enter a donation of any amount. Again, all gifts are tax deductible.

While donations are important, the most valuable thing you can contribute is prayer. It is is our first line of defense against any hardship that may come our way. There will no doubt be tough times during our stay, and your prayer and encouragement will sustain us. 


Please pray specifically for:

• Safety in travel with four kids
• Protection from illness
• Favor with local authorities
• The children of Esther’s House
• The success of the television program

In conjunction with donations, we have also created a line of T-shirts that can be purchased online. All of the proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go to Esther’s House orphanage.

And to the blog world. Please consider posting about our project or putting the t-shirt information on your blog. We know the strength of this community and the impact that you can make.

Here is a picture of the first two children that were recently brought to Esther's House. They are 5-year-old twin boys.

A New T-Shirt Design

I created a new T-Shirt design this week for Esther's House Orphanage. It is in Malawi Africa, a country with over 1 million orphaned children. All of the profits from the shirt go to Esther's House. Buy yours here and pass it along to your friends.

Sophia turns 3

Here she is, sporting her birthday presents.

First T-Ball Game

We had our first T-Ball game yesterday. It was crazy hot, but Easton really seemed to dig it. He played catcher, which in T-Ball, means you get to stand closest to the dugout while you kick the dirt around. He is the smallest dude on the team, but he makes up for it with his attitude.

He was also last in the batting order, so that meant all the other team had to do to get him out was put the ball on the tee. That didn't stop him from running all the bases EVERY time he got up to bat though. Rarely was there any one left on the field when he crossed home plate. Three illegitimate in-the-park home runs makes a dad proud. He had the biggest smile every time he came home, which made sitting in the sun worth it.



Here he is coming into home. Notice that no one is left in the field and the ball is sitting squarely on the tee. He ran hard all the way to the end.

And... the smile.

Court Finally

We finally got on the ball and got the final documentation for Addis today. Well, mostly all of it. We still have to wait on a birth certificate and social security number, but we are very close. I freaked everyone out on Facebook by saying that we had to "readopt" Addis. It has a much more technical term, but I didn't feel like sending out all the details with twitter. You only get 140 characters.

To be honest, we waited this long because we had no clue what we were supposed to do. If you don't live in Texas, Gladney doesn't have much for you. We found a great adoption lawyer in town for all of you NWA families that are in process. His name is Keith Morrison, and he was very helpful and has five adopted kids himself, so he knows the process first hand.

Here are all the kids waiting patiently in the hallway before our appointment.


Keith took Addis back to see Judge Mashburn first. Thankfully, Addis has never met a stranger so he was happy to go along.


Judge Mashburn has a picture with every adoptive family he has ever been able to approve in his career. He was a great man and was proud to be a part of our story.



As of today, he is officially Addis Zachary Yeabsera Kennedy.
(This morning, he was legally Yeabsera Zachary Kennedy.)

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!!

Ok, so my husband is completely annoyed with me for this post. I wanted to catch everyone up with pictures and in his opinion I picked a few too many for one post. I decided I like to look at other peoples pictures more than I like to read stuff so maybe you all will agree with me and enjoy the pictures! (This is for you Mo!)

This is Catherine's dance recital...She was so excited everyone came to watch her.



This is part of our trip to Hot Springs...

Can you believe my kids jump off of this? Sophie did it last year before she was even 2!





Rainy day...


Easton started T-ball and LOVES it!


This is swim lessons week. I love that our kids love the water!

For any of you who have read our blog before you have seen the Kennedy family water slide. They have so much fun on this thing!

I loved this picture...

And of course this one...

Waterslide Fun

A Hair Update

It is getting crazy long, though you would never know it. When it gets wet, his brothers and sisters say he has girl hair because it goes down his back.

The Deer

When Erin and I were newly married, we once saw a deer leap out on the interstate in broad daylight and proceed to go through the windshield of an unsuspecting Dodge Durango. It was crazy scary. Plus, deer parts in the air is very morbid and shouldn't be discussed.

On that day, we implemented the "deer drill." If I see a deer jump out, I yell deer and she ducks below the dash. We have never had an actual emergency situation in which to put our plan to work. Only drills.

Until last night.

I was driving home from a weekend in Hot Springs, cruising down the interstate talking to my old high school buddy on the phone. He must have thought it odd when I began to scream like a twelve year old girl, DEER! I actually think it came out something like DAHHH! Problem was, no one was in the car but me, and I thought it best to keep my head above the dash. The deer decided against her better judgment to try her chances with the bumper of my parents Jeep. The Jeep won. Sorta. If you consider that winning.

No human was injured. The bumper is dinged up a little though.

Addis has a new trick...

(It is a video Sara. Click "Read More.")

The Cake

So I thought the kids cakes were going to be really easy this year. I let them each pick exactly what they wanted. Easton wanted a cookie cake with a blue dinosaur on it. Super easy. They had one on display at the cookie place. Catherine wanted a cake with a pink flamingo on it. Also seemed pretty easy since Angela had one for her birthday. See below...


I called the same bakery that did her cake (which I will not mention) and said I wanted a pink flamingo cake. I explained that it was for a 5 year old girl and I wanted a lot of pink and very cutsie. This is what I saw when I arrived at said bakery to pick up the cake...


Seriously??!! What is this? A swan? In a boggy marsh? And I am not seeing the pink and cutsie that we had talked about. I politely said it was adorable and left with the cake. When I got home I realized this was not acceptable. I called the bakery back and explained that the cake was not quite what I had in mind. The nice lady on the phone said she remembered the cake and would be happy to make another one if I just brought the first one back. She said she would make sure it was very pink and very cutsie. So this is what we ended up with...


Still not anything like what I had in mind and a little like a baby shower cake with a stork on it. But much better than the swan. And Catherine loved it so I guess that is all that matters. All that to say it tasted great and next year I will bring a picture of EXACTLY what I want.

Happy Birthday Easton and Catherine

The twins turned five yesterday. Five seems way older than four. It still seems like yesterday that we saw two little jelly beans on the ultra sound. Easton is the best brother. He is full of energy, and he is very protective of Catherine. He knows how to brighten our day. Catherine is gentle and caring. Her teacher tells us that she regularly helps clean up without being asked, putting things away neatly and orderly. She is a mom to her brothers and sister, even changing diapers on occasion. She is a beautiful little girl.

Here is a video of some of our favorite moments. Be sure and watch it full screen, as some of the pictures may be a little small.

Rudolph

Addis may be the most accident prone little guy ever. Thank goodness
he is also the toughest.

His brothers and sisters have been singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to him since his face plant on the concrete. Slightly cruel, but definitely funny.

Weekend of Craziness

We had a WILD weekend around our house. My brother and sister-in-law had to fly to Florida unexpectedly because her grandmother passed away. My mother was out of town with her sisters so they had no one to watch their three children. Our kids were very excited when we said we would keep them. SO, this is how we ended up the proud parents of 7 children this weekend.

SEVEN children ages 5 and under!

I took this picture just to prove to everyone that I got 7 children up and ready for church by 8:40 am with no help! Zach has to be to church by 6:30 so I was on my own. I have to say they all look pretty cute too!

Naps were also a little interesting, although it was my children that were causing the problems. This is what Sophie decided to do during her nap time. She actually had the door totally blocked off so I had to squeeze in to take the picture. She is becoming a little OCD. She washes her hands at least 30 times a day and every day at nap time she folds all of her blankets and lines up anything that is in her room. It is actually quite impressive.

Lastly, we have been needing a new table in our eating area for a while now. Ours only had 4 chairs so Sophie and Addis both have to sit in highchairs. Sophie is beginning to protest and since she is almost three we felt like it was time for her to join us at the table. So, we took a trip to SAM'S CLUB (Zach jokes that it is the only club he has ever been to) today and purchased a new table. I really love it and we got a great deal!


It is actually a lot darker in person, but the flash lightened it up a bit. It fits our family well, though Zach's mom wanted to know why there weren't seven chairs. She is still hoping for more grand babies!

Gladney Family Gathering

So, we haven't posted in a while. We really should be better about it, but I am still not really sure how to do this whole blogging thing. Zach always does it for me, and I pretend like it is from me. (Like right now, as I lie in bed and he sits at the computer typing what I say.)

This weekend, we traveled to the great state of Oklahoma for a Gladney Family Association gathering. We got to meet a few of the families we have been stalking on the internet through blogland. It is odd when people know your name and details about your life and you have never actually met in person.

We met the Bottomly crew. Addis and Silas were big buds. Actually, I am not sure they paid that much attention to each other, but they were really cute together. It was the referral pictures of Silas that first awakened the call in us to adopt, so it was really cool getting to see our sons together.


We also got to meet the Silvestri's and Winter's. Tara and Eric took pictures of Addis when they traveled to Ethiopia to pick up their son Malak, and we took pictures of Rebekah and Ben's son Eli when we traveled to pick up Addis. It was awesome to see all of our boys together. It made us very excited for all of the families in Northwest Arkansas to bring home their babies.

Andrea (who did our home study), Natalie (Gladney), Nikki, Tara, Amy, me, Corrie (a NWA mom on the wait list), and Mary (Gladney).


Thanks Bottomly's for letting us crash at your place. We hope to get together with all the Oklahoma families again soon. Maybe next time we will bring ALL the kids.

Generational Blessing

In the early 60's, a man came into my grandfather's veterinary clinic in Austin to ask about a sick deer at a youth camp. What started with a trip to take care of a deer turned into a lifelong love for Camp Peniel in the hill country of Texas.

When I was four, my dad loaded up my brother and I to make the 10 hour trip to Marble Falls for our first Father and Son Camp weekend. It became a tradition, and we only missed one year of camp until we graduated high school.

This past weekend, I loaded up my four year old son to continue the tradition. Four generations of Kennedy's rode 10 hours to the Texas Hill Country to spend a weekend together.


Easton was so excited that he woke up his great grandfather (papaw) at midnight saying, "Get up! It is time to go!" My brother brought his son, Mark, for the first time as well. They had the time of their lives. We rode horses, shot guns, arrows, and slingshots, slept in a cabin and stayed up way past bed time. It was the ultimate man weekend.



In a generation where good fathers are the exception to the rule, our family continues to be an exception. And I am better because of that.

And Easton, Addis, Catherine, and Sophia will be the beneficiaries as well.

Thank you papa. Thank you Dad.