Nia's Homecoming

 Our dear friends, Matt and Shelly, adopted a baby from Guinea-Bissua and when Shelly brought their baby home, we got the opportunity to meet them at the airport. What a joyous occasion that was! We were so honored to share in that special moment! 

Here is my goofball excited about the walkway. Oh my! It moves you right along!!! This is the kids first time in an airport, so there was a lot of new and cool things to explore!

The welcoming committee!

Sweet friends taking a break from waiting!

The family, anxiously waiting to see their mama(who they haven't seen in over a week) and their baby sister. It didn't help that the TV display said that they had landed and loads of people were coming down the stairs, but no Shelly and Nia. 

And finally! Here they come from a different stairwell! Yes, quite an emotional moment. I don't know if I could have held it together quite as well. 

The big greeting! It must be so surreal for them to finally touch/see their sister that they have known and talked about so often.

Yay, together at last!

What a sweet family! I asked big brother how he felt to have his sister here and he shrugs his shoulders and says, I don't know. But I can see there's so much more there. At the very least, he has his mom home again! Big Sister S response was, "She's so cute! I just want to pinch her cheeks!" And O was just all smiles all the time. 

Welcome to your family Nia. Every time I see you, it's a reminder that God has a plan for all of us, that he answer prayers, that he knows what is best for us. You are very much an Earnshaw!

Side Note/Funny Story-on the way to the airport, I was busy coloring a sign that said, Welcome Home Nia. I figured I had a couple of hours before we get there to get it all nice and beautiful...well...someone who has never gotten car sick, except once when she was pregnant, got car sick! So Nia, I love you so much, but I just couldn't finish the sign or else...

Make Ahead Burrito

This is my first freezer meal cooking that I have done and let me tell you, jump on the bandwagon! This is such a time saver, a saver of everything really! Saves $ for not eating out, your brain from having to figure out what to eat, and freeing up your meal prep time the day of! Now that you have lots of time on your hand, pop yourself on the couch and watch some smut TV!!!

For this, we have refried beans mixed with pinto beans, spanish rice, shredded cheese, and obviously tortillas. I happen to have the time to make everything from scratch, but if you have to crack open a can or box, go for it! 

I heated the tortillas over the stove for a few mins just to soften it up. Then layered it up with beans, rice and cheese. Then wrapped and rolled. Place it on the baking sheet so you can freeze it. And that is it!!! Keep it in the freezer for a few hours, take it out and put it it a ziploc freezer bag. 

 Once you are ready to eat, you can either thaw it in the fridge overnight or take straight from the freezer and microwave this for a few mins. I find it helps to have it thawed out so the tortilla doesn't harden up. For best results, wrap it with foil and  bake it in the oven from frozen stage at 350 for an hour. Since the oven is doing the work, pop yourself back on the couch and watch another show, smut is optional!

A Little Christmas Helper

Oh, what a blessing it is to have a daughter! As she's gotten older, we're seeing little bits of her personality come out, but moreover, we're seeing her imitation of me. Sometimes it's overwhelming to think that I have that kind of impression on someone. Sometimes, I am so thankful that I get to experience this. That I get to hold myself accountable because a little someone is looking to the things that I am doing. 

With that said, I love to decorate our house for Christmas! It is my all time favorite season. There's probably 6 big storage containers in the garage labelled "Christmas". Maybe more, if you ask John...

So here is my beauty, emulating her mama!

The funny thing about this, she was quite particular which ball she would hang and where it needed to go. And of course, the shinier the better! 

Fall Ritual

Every year, we LOVE raking the leaves out in the front of the house. It seems sometimes, it's more like a battle of who gets to rake! Why is it so fun? I do not know, but it is! We use to have just one rake and that was quite frustrating. Magnus would want to use it and the rest of us would have to wait until he was done before we could really rake instead of mess around like he was. So finally, one year, I remembered to buy another rake and it is working much better. Now there's a play rake and a real rake! But now that Magnus is old enough, the job is really just his. We are ok with him wanting to do this. Growing these Grandbergs do have its perk!  

And when your kids look as happy as this when they are doing manual labor, why fight them?!?

Some Moments From Family Camp

As if I didn't share enough about Family Camp, here are some more pics from there!

 Soph is painting our boat that we raced on the last day.

 The boys while they were waiting for the other kids while they were wall climbing.

 It was so cold there! Since we didn't bring the right kind of clothing, I had to buy a few things from their store and and this beanie was claimed by Soph. This was so loved by Soph! Unfortunately, the straps fell off pretty quickly and there was a crying episode. She wanted me to fix it, but how was I going to do that??? We were in the middle of nowhere with no sewing/knitting supply. Hmm, perhaps I should pack that for next year?

 Deliriously tired Odin. That was his spot to rest whenever we came back to the cabin.

 Our boat racing! We did quite well. Almost won, but didn't. Magnus did a great job using his lungs to propel the boat.

 Soph was able to practice writing her name on sheets of ice breaker questions. I guess you never stop learning even when you go on vacation!

 Odin spent a good amount of time in the carrier. One afternoon he fell asleep in it for almost an hour! the next day as soon as he saw me pull it out, he was so excited. He was clamoring to get in and get some rest!

All pooped out! A very well deserved nap on the way home. She definitely played hard! So proud of her!!

Recreation Time

During free time at Family Camp, the kids had all sorts of activities that they can try their hand at.

 This was leap of faith. Magnus climbed the pole which was pretty high.

 Look how high up that is! At the top, Magnus was to jump off and grab onto a bar hanging a few feet away. He was quite hesitant. We all waited quite a while. Thankfully we were the only ones there. Finally, he let go. Literally let go. Didn't even try to jump for the bar. Man, that kid is awesome! I wouldn't even make it to the top.

Strapping on gear and heading for the zip line.

Weee! Here he comes!

And here is our friend Beniah.

Lots of new stuff for these kiddos. A big hit for them was Laser Tag. That Soph of ours did everything that Big Brother did. It was so great to see this new side of her. So capable! Did I mention Family Camp is fun?!?

Family Challenge

At Family Camp, the theme was Shipwrecked. To get an idea of  what happens with life on a ship, we had these challenges to work on as a family. 

 Balancing your eating utensils as the ship rocked proved to be quite frustrating. I'm sure glad we are on land!

 Prepping the ship and gathering supplies. Soph proved she is such a strong girl.

Look at her go! She is such a cutie! I think she was trying really hard to catch up with big brother. She wanted to do everything he did.

 Magnus trying to roll the barrel with his feet instead of his hands. Thankfully Dad was there to help!

 And look at them embracing as they are trying to find balance.

Odin did not like this challenge at all. So we step off and took some photos instead. Family Camp is so fun!

Potato Launcher

This was one of the kids favorite toy to play with at Family Camp. Who knew how much fun one could have with a PVC pipe, air compressor and some potatoes!

And of course, the Dads get to play with the big toys!

Have Dirt, Must Play

I don't know if other children do this also or if it is just our kids, but if there's dirt, it's an invitation to put their hands in it.

 On the first day of Family Camp, Soph was tempted while we were waiting for our event to start.

The next day, while we were waiting, Odin was tempted also.

I guess you can say, they are definitely siblings!