Friends, Fellowship, & New Number

This past weekend we had the amazing blessing of having Paul & DeeDee Aarseth & their children, Jackson and Olivia, stay with us.  They are a beautiful family that we initially met through our adoption process with Silas because they used the same agency.  We were just one stop on their ‘homeless tour’ this summer as they have sold their home because they are moving to Ethiopia as missionaries at the end of the month.  It was quite amazing to hear about all of the training and preparations they have made as they answer God’s call for their lives.  I am blessed to see how they are ‘walking the walk’, and I will be excited to see how God uses them to make an eternal impact in Ethiopia.  Here are a few pictures from their visit:

Jackson posing for the camera

 

Sweet Olivia

 

Silas & Olivia holding hands at breakfast

 

I painted my toes so Olivia needed hers painted too.  I love the color contrast on her beautiful brown skin!

 

Silas giving Olivia a kiss(with no prompting from us….starting a little too young for me:) )

 

 

Olivia attempting to return the love but Silas wasn’t having it!

 

On Saturday night, Kristi and her husband Will hosted us for dinner.  They are the parents of Silas’ buddy, Lucy Lane who was also at Hannah’s Hope with Silas and Olivia.  It was fun to catch up and visit.  We also love to reunite Silas with his Hannah’s Hope buddies whenever we can.  We managed to get a couple of pictures from the night.

 

The kids table.

 

The newest addition to the Johnson Family, Wes.  Isn’t his smile just adorable? He is the 6th child in their family and Kristi and Will just take it all in stride.  He came forever home from Ethiopia this past Spring.

 

One attempt to get the three Hannah’s Hope buddies picture

 

Another attempt….unsuccessful but at least they are all in the same picture!

 

Paul and DeeDee had to head back to Texas on Sunday morning, but we managed to squeeze in a breakfast at Cracker Barrel with them.  Their family loves Cracker Barrel and apparently they don’t have an abundance of them in Texas like we do here.  They have even made a game out of who can spot Cracker Barrel signs first when they travel…too funny:) 

DeeDee & Silas

 

 

Success! Everyone is smiling and somewhat looking at the camera

 

Olivia and Silas testing out the rockers

 

The Aarseth Family.  I am so glad God brought our two familiies together. Thanks for stopping Paul and DeeDee.  We would love to have you back anytime!

Finally, I wanted to share our July numbers.  We are officially #:

What a blessing to see how many children have been matched with their forever families and how many steps closer we are to meeting our daughter!