David & Daniel

On Saturday, Mike and Mary hosted a family gathering to celebrate Grammy’s birthday and also Nathan’s birthday. It was a great day for throwing baseballs, lazing around the lake, and fishing. It was the boys’ first fishing experience and Daniel caught a fish in the first few minutes!

We enjoyed time with family, and the food was great too.  We took lots of pictures and we’re just going to post all of them.  Click on the photo to see the rest.

Daniel at Pioneer Farm

Daniel’s third-grade class took a field trip to Pioneer Farm, in Orting. This farm teaches the kids about Pioneer life – Sarah and Janel used to enjoy trips there also. Many thanks to Stacey for taking pictures for us – they tell the story pretty well. Click the picture to see more.

As part of the last swimming lesson at level 1, the boys had the opportunity to go off the diving board.  They both did fantastic, as you can see on the video.  David goes first followed by Daniel.  Daniel goes straight in and actually tried to find the bottom of the pool.  We’ll try to post some other video and some photos from swimming – as with virtually every other new activity, they LOVE IT!!!  They would swim every day if they had the opportunity (we’ll probably join the YMCA).  I think they’re going to like Hawaii next month.

On Mothers Day, we went to the JC Penney Portrait Studio and had family photos taken.  We had a great time and the results speak for themselves.  We still don’t have the pictures hanging on the walls in the house, but we’re working on that.  Click on the photo shown to see the complete set.  At the risk of repeating myself – these kids are adorable!!!

The Averill Household

Daniel and David started swim lessons today (May 4).  They love the water and, as we established long ago, they love anything that involves athleticism.  They did a great job of paying attention to their teacher and we expect they’ll be progressing through the different levels of swim class and will be swimming soon.  We plan to travel to Hawaii this summer so any progress will be helpful.  Click the picture to see more.

Aren't they adorable?

On May 2, the Seattle Mariners featured Foster and Adoptive families in their “We Are Family” day.  We joined up with family and friends and had a fantastic time.  We took the train from Puyallup to Seattle, walked to the ballpark (stopping for a bit of shopping along the way) and then were treated to a superb pitching performance but, sadly, no offense for the home team.

Daniel and David experienced many new things, but seemed to take it all in stride.  There was a good crowd and it was fun to get a bit loud.  We met our good friends, the Butlers, at the ballpark and then rode home with them on the train.  The kids played with their trading cards at the table.

Also joining us were Margie & Ruli, Kyle & Sarah with Ilaria and Mason, David & Barbara and the Ashcrafts.  All told, we had 8 adopted kids with us (I think), including 6 from Ethiopia.  Four of the Ethiopian children were good friends before adoption.  How cool is that?!

Click on the picture to see more.

Outside Safeco Field

At Van Lierop’s

Daniel and David celebrated their first Easter in the US.  In addition to talking about the meaning of Christ’s resurrection, we colored Easter eggs, opened baskets, and went to look at flowers at Van Lierop’s bulb farm.  All in all, the boys did great and we had a wonderful celebration.  Click on the picture above to see more…

We also went to Julie and Cindy’s for an egg hunt, dinner and general family fun.  And – here’s a shocker – we took the camera with us.  Click on the picture of David to see more.

David - ready for the egg hunt!

Randy has accepted a position with the Puyallup School District and will start as Director of Technology on April 19!

God continues to lead us on an incredible journey.  We have seen Him provide for us in many unexpected ways and, true to form, this opportunity came up rather unexpectedly and suddenly.  I am so excited with this new position, and look forward to the challenges presented by it knowing that God will enable me.

I will wrap up my efforts at World Vision over the next couple weeks.  I don’t yet know if I will have an opportunity to work with my replacement.  I must say that my time there has given me new insight into the hearts and attitudes of the people there – and it has reinforced my positive opinion of the organization.  They are very good stewards of the resources they have.  I encourage each and every one of you to consider sponsoring a child through them.  Please contact Sarah (too much SPAM for me to list her email address – contact me and I’ll send it to you) if you want further information or would like to sponsor.  She is a World Vision Child Ambassador and can help you.

Please join us in praising God for this new job.

With Court Commissioner Dicke

The final legal step in our international adoption journey is called the Re Adopt. Our adoption was final when we passed court in Ethiopia last July 31 and the re adopt is a process that formally acknowledges that within the US court system. It is a fairly simple process and, upon conclusion, the court directs the State of Washington to issue birth certificates in the names of Daniel and David as if they had been born to us. In the future, we will be able to order certified copies of these birth certificates as needed (school, passports, marriage, etc.), which will be much easier to obtain from Washington than they would be from Ethiopia.

With Joy Casey

The court commissioner wanted to hear about our adoption and about Ethiopia, so we were blessed again with the opportunity to tell others what God is doing in our lives.

Daniel researched Polar Bears and presented his report to the third grade class.  He practiced at home and did a great job sharing his findings with his classmates.  Here’s the video.