New blogging address

We will be leaving to serve in Ethiopia in one week from today :)  So we had to change our blog to wadefamilyadventures.wordpress.com because we can not access blogspot in Ethiopia.  Thank you and come visit our new site.

Training in North Carolina

We are here in Charlotte, NC for some missionary training.  Before we left Caleb kept saying," I can't wait to go on our adventure," what a adventure it has been.  We arrived at the Spokane airport and received word that our flight was delayed leaving 1 1/2 hours because of severe weather in Minneapolis.  We arrived in Minneapolis 15 minutes after our connecting flight, so now what to do?  After about an hour of checking we finally found another flight with a different airline that will get us to Charlotte just 12 hours later than expected.  Because of the severe storm they were many (I mean many) flights that were missed, which means very difficult finding a room.  We finally found a room and got there at 11:30 and we were back up at 3am to get ready to go back to the airport by 4:15.  It was smooth flying from there, until it was time to pick up our luggage.  Yep, you guessed it no luggage for us.  And to top it off Deanna fell asleep on the last flight with her cell phone in her lap and when she woke up she must have dropped it without knowing and lost her phone on the plane.  So we arrived to training with no suitcases which inside was Deanna make-up and straightener and now no cell phone either.  But with all the complications, God was watching over us and gave everyone a lot of patience and stamina.  The kids were wonderful and did great the whole trip. 

Today (Sunday) we went to church then just relaxed. The kids played in the creek and on the playground, then they discovered frogs.  So the rest of the evening has been playing with frogs.  We have already met some amazing people and the kids have met quite a few kids their age to hang out with.  So tomorrow the training really starts with classes from 8am to 8pm. 

We appreciate your prayers while we are here adjusting to meeting people, going through the training and adjusting to new climate.

It's Official!

After months of waiting we have exciting news to share.  Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has extended an invitation for Leanne and me to join their staff.  I will serve as Youth Minister and Leanne will hold the campus nurse position.  Bingham is a K-12 international school in the capital of Ethiopia operated by SIM-Serving In Mission, and supported by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.  We hope to have our fund raising done by July so we can attend training in Charlotte before leaving in August.  We have agreed to a three year commitment and are looking forward to serving at Bingham and living in Addis. 

We hope that some of you will partner with us as we begin this adventure.  We need to create a support team that will pray for us as we prepare and while we are on the field in Ethiopia.  We also ask you to prayerfully consider joining our monthly financial support team. 

We will post further information about Bingham, specific prayer needs, and details about joining our support team in future posts.

Mission Trip to Ethiopia

Wow! 2 weeks from today we will be on our way to Ethiopia for our mission trip.  During our stay we will be working in orphanages in Addis Ababa and Awassa and a youth rehabilitation facility in Addis. At least that's the plan. We've been told that "Flexibility!" needs to be our motto, so we need to be open to last minute changes in plans.

We are very excited to see some people that we met when we adopted our son 2 years ago.  We will be staying at the same hotel we did 2 years ago, which is next door to Caleb's care center he was at when we  picked him up.  I think there are going to be a lot of good memories. 

We fell in love with the Ethiopian people when we were there the first time and we are looking  forward to going and seeing these beautiful people again and hearing their stories.  We would appreciate your prayers as we serve the orphans and children of these countries. Keep following for updates and prayer requests before we leave and during our trip.

Gymnastics

Kenzie and Alli are still involved in gymnastics and absolutely love it.  Here are some pictures of the annual gym show, they were both excited because Amee and Papa got to come and see them perform this year.  Kenzie had a stress fracture in her foot so she had to take it easy.  But she was happy that she still got to do the show.  Kenzie will be doing rec op this coming here so she will do some competition and Alli will be a level 3 this year.  They both did a great job and we are so proud of them.

Now for Allison

Both of the girls had the same coach this year, and she will be missed by both of them this year.

Kenzie, Alli and Alli's best friend Audrey.

Sixth Grade Graduation

Mckenzie graduated from 6th grade this year.  I can not believe that she is going to be in middle school next year.  She had a wonderful year and loved her teacher. 

Kenzie getting her certificate

                                            Kenzie and Hailey - Best Friends

                                                                        Friends

                                                              More Friends

                                            Hailey and Kenzie with their teacher

                                                               Congrats! Kenzie

Catch you up to speed

Wow! it has been a long time since I have posted. Sorry about that I will try and do better at keeping this blog updated.  Here are a few pictures to show what we have been up to lately.

Deanna in the parade for flag team.  She did awesome!

.                                          Kenzie playing the saxaphone at the Spokane arena with all the elementary  schools in our district.  Those music teachers are amazing how they work with all those kids, and the music was great!  Good Job Kenzie!

Kenzie playing her heart out!

Deanna and Kenzie playing minute to win it games at youth group

Deanna playing her bass at a JCA concert

An african drum concert that we hosted at our church.  It was a fundraiser for our mission trip to Ethiopia in November.

The following pictures are taken Memorial Day weekend at our yearly family reunion at my Aunt Carols house on the Columbia River.  It was a wonderful time of fishing, playing, baking, laughing, spending time with family and just having a great. I love my family and love spending time with everyone.

Noah playing a frisbe game

Cousins just hanging out together

My aunt's beautiful log home

Alli absolutely adores her cousin Kirsten

Kenzie and Caleb in a wrestling match

Caleb eating a smore

Eating smores

Being silly together

Hanging out with dad

Sisters!

Deanna and Papa

Getting ready to go rafting down the Columbia River

Caleb missed his cousin Corbin while he was gone at the river

Just hanging out together

My adorable nephew!

Kassidy and Deanna

Roasting marshmellows