hosting: day 11, 12 & 13

The hosting doesn't really feel like "hosting" anymore. Once we hit week two, {name} has seemed even more comfortable around our home, helping himself to things, doing dishes, making beds, helping with the little kids, teaching us Amharic words, and yes - even washing neighbors cars! He really has an eye for detail too!

Our weekend wasn't filled with activities like so many in the past have been. Aside from attending church and Sunday School with Abbie, we've had a few pretty relaxed days.

{name} has enjoyed what seem to be his favorites: playing soccer, riding on the scooter and eating chicken! :-) I also learned that he is excellent at puzzles and can figure them out quickly, even without a picture of what it is supposed to look like. This is not an easy task, especially when Jayda likes to take apart the puzzle as it is being put together. "JAY-DA! JA-DA!" I hear him yell from the other room...

Two highlights include our family trip to Annie's Playground and watching parts of Rocky 3 with him and then watching him box afterwards.

At Annie's Playground, Stephen spent almost his entire time trying to find and catch {name} which was hilarious to watch. {name} jumped from high places that are meant to be jumped from and always got away from my son - if even just by a hair. I had a blast watching but it reminded me of the Coyote and Roadrunner. I remember as a kid sort of feeling bad for the Coyote because he never won. Well...let's just say that {name} was definitely the Roadrunner! No one could catch him - NO ONE.

Matt is unashamedly a huge Rocky fan and once he learned that {name} likes wrestling, he decided that he need to show him portions of Rocky III where Rocky fights wrestler Hulk Hogan. There were lots of giggles from {name} and I don't know if that's because even he could see the weakness in the acting (my theory) or because people were getting punched so hard they were falling down (Matt's theory).

I know, Matt was probably right. It's a boy thing.

After the movie, Abbie ran downstairs and grabbed her (don't ask) boxing gloves and gave them to {name}. The rest was history. He was dancing around, punching our hands and again - we saw how naturally athletic he is!

It's hard to believe that he'll be boarding a plane back to Ethiopia in 13 days. The time has gone by so quickly and as a family we are learning so many great lessons about life and what's really important.