Disney Magical Moment - at least for Kenneth and me

Greetings -

A year ago I would never have believed what I saw happen at Disney's Animal Kingdom on Saturday Jan 14 2012!!  You see for all the sweet gushy times I write about Tariku I never have really written about the Tariku we have every day.  The every day Tariku has seen a whole lot in his short 6 years of life - a lot more than I know about I am sure.  He is a happy child, but he is also a very guarded child - a child that has seen famine, and family die, a child that has seen a lot of loss and has had to learn to take care of himself.  In the year and a half that we have had Tariku he has yet to initiate a hug or say I Love You, he has fallen and ripped his hand to shreds and when I try to help he says mama I am fine I am fine.  So imagine my surprise when at the Festival of the Lion King Show Tariku got up and went on stage and danced and danced and smiled and waved at the few 100 people there!!  Kenneth and I could not have been prouder or happier than at that very moment!  Because for those brief moments we saw Tariku the 6 year old ethiopian - learning to just be a 6yr old!

Wishing you a MAGICAL Day~
Courtney

Walt Disney World through the EYES of Teddy!

Greetings -

WHEW!  We did it - 5 days at Walt Disney World!  The boys had an amazing time and of course there are 2 million photos I could share with you (and probably will) but today is about something bigger.  It is about how GOD is with us even in the little moments, even when you wouldn't be thinking GOD - he is there!  As some of you know Kenneth and I both worked for the Walt Disney company for numerous years - and in that time neither Kenneth or I were ever approached or asked about sign language assistance. And believe me we both received numerous requests every day.  So imagine my surprise when we were walking through Liberty Square a little after 3 headed to Splash Mountain (read family on a mission for a ride) and out of the corner of my eye I caught the parade - and as I turned to look what did I see but 2 interpreters signing the parade.  Right there right in front of my family, right in front of my DEAF son on his first trip to Disney.  The tears were flowing from my eyes and my mother's you see we were not stopping for the parade we were on a plan and yet someone bigger then us thought we should stop and enjoy the moment!  A moment the WHOLE family would understand.  Teddy loved the parade and watched the interpreters with great intent! And as the parade came to an end they were gone - I looked up and they were no where to be seen.  There was no opportunity to thank them for what they had given our family, no opportunity to see who they worked for (Kenneth noticed they did not have Disney name tags on), so to those 2 amazing interpreters the Hammons Family says thank you!  Thank you for allowing our family a moment to be inclusive!

Wishing you a MAGICAL Day ~

Courtney

Gotcha Day!

So last year at this time Kenneth and Tariku were chillin in Tennessee and I was taking custody of Teddy in Ethiopia!!! Hard to believe it is a year since he has been in our care!!! And what a year it has been!! From referral to today!! We love you Tewdros Joshua Hammons and we are blessed and honored that GOD chose us to be your family!!

And it is OVER!

Greetings-
As the write this tonight - I can successfully say The Hammons House survived the holidays!!! The boys return to school tomorrow morning. There were so many incredible blessings that took place this 1st holiday season but I have to say I am ready for it to come to an end. The boys need their routine back and January is gearing up to be a busy month for us! So off to do some paperwork before hitting the bed! The alarm goes off quite early tomorrow!

Wishing you a MAGICAL Day-
Courtney

New Year - New Goal

Greetings -
Often times I find myself thinking - Gosh that would be so good to blog about, or wow I need to share the photos (which there are currently 900+ on my camera)  and somehow the time gets away and the moment passes and than I think well - I will just put a quick snip it on facebook and that will be good!  But the truth is that is not good enough!  I need and want to express this journey of life that Kenneth and I were chosen to experience.  So my goal for the year is one blog post a day - whether it is one thought, one photo, or a long drawn out story.  I want to chronicle all that 2012 is to our family!  I hope along the way I will find some revelations about me but mostly I hope that one day I will be able to look back and re-live 2012 like it was yesterday because I feel this is the year the Hammons Family was created for!

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney