Our First Ethiopian Meal

Isaac took me to dinner at Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant on Wednesday night. This was our first experience dining on Ethiopian cuisine and we really enjoyed it. The inside of the restaurant had authentic decorations, and we heard a few people speaking in Amharic, the native language in Ethiopia. We almost felt like we were there...

This picture cracks me up...our poor kids are going to have such a dorky mom...but here I am, in front of the sign for the restaurant, documenting for posterity!

Appetizers: Beef Sambussa and Buticha with Injera
The Beef Sambussa tasted like a spicy beef wonton. The Buticha reminds me of hummus but more chunky and spicy. The Injera is crepe-like and tasteless; it is used to dip and scoop up the food to eat instead of using utensils.

Entree: Queen's Eight Meal Platter

Starting from the green stuff and clockwise: Gomen (Collard Greens), Atikilt Alecha (Potato & Carrot), Ye Misr Wot (Lentil), Lamb Tibs, Tibs Wot (Beef), Chicken Tibs, Ye Kik Alecha (Split-Pea), and Doro Wat (Chicken leg & Boiled Egg)

My itty-bitty cup of Ethiopian coffee-it was thick as syrup! I think I'll stick with my Cafe Americano!

Marco Island, FL Vacation

The last week of July we drove south to Marco Island for vacation and a few days of continuing education for Kyle. Our friends, Jason, Katie, Carly and Abby, joined us again this year on our trip. We stayed in a beach condo and enjoyed both the beach and the pool during our stay.

Isaac got right to the good eating...we consumed alot of crab legs on this trip!

Abby & Isaac- on our way home from Naples one night after a crab feast, Abby was not too happy to be in her carseat and was letting everyone in the car know it! Miraculously, she stopped crying as soon as we pulled in the parking garage but the car was still moving...why?...because Isaac had taken her out of her carseat! She was so happy in his arms and out of her restraints. Isaac got a lesson on child-safety right after that and was told (by his wife) to never do that again. He is such a softy.

The six of us ate dinner one night at the Marriott with a few pharm reps that know Katie and I. Carly and Abby wore the cutest matching dresses.

Carly wanted to join Isaac and I in our picture.

Carly was my buddy for the week...she nicknamed me "Kyle-Wyle"

View from our balcony

The beach was soooo wide...even though our condo was "on the beach", it was a really long walk with all of our gear for the day.

Artwork on the beach...the beach was loaded with beautiful shells.

Sunset during a walk on the beach

Isaac and I attended a luau at the Marriott that the conference I attended put on for all the conference guests...it wasn't the same as the Marriott Waikoloa luau we attended 3 years ago! We were missing the luau pork and lomi-lomi salmon at this one.

Luau man playing with fire

Sunset the last night from our balcony...a beautiful demonstration of God's creation and a nice ending to our week.

Thank You!

Today Isaac and I returned from our trip to Marco Island for a medical conference. While I was going through the mail, I came across a card with no return address. I opened it and inside was a donation towards our adoption. The card was signed 1 John 4:19 which reads, "We love, because He first loved us." We don't know who sent this donation, but we want to say "thank you". Thank you for loving Him and loving us and our children-to-be! God is glorified through you...whoever you are!

A friend pointed out to me today that this gift we received can be viewed as a sign from the Lord that He is still working even though we are growing more and more frustrated as we wait on Immigration and we feel like our plans are not working out. We appreciate His reminder that He has a plan and He is providing these little pick-me-ups to keep us going!