Rehearsal Dinner

Randy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:38:21 +0000

Janel & Ryan

We’re working our way through the pictures from our trip to California for Janel and Ryan’s wedding. We’ll post pictures as we get them ready to show. This first set is from the rehearsal dinner, which was fantastic! We were blessed with good company and great food. Janel and Ryan have a great group of friends. We also enjoyed spending some time (although not enough) with Ryan’s parents.

Click the picture to see more.

Daniel’s Cast is Off!!!

Randy — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:25:23 +0000

After only three weeks, Daniel’s cast came off and his arm was declared healed. He’ll still need to be careful for a few more weeks to ensure he does not re-injure it, but we’re grateful that he no longer needs the cast. Here are some pictures from the doctor’s office. Click the picture shown to see more.

Averill Family Reunion

Randy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 14:31:47 +0000

Sylvia Lake

Mike and Mary hosted the Averill Family Reunion at Sylvia Lake this weekend. The setting was beautiful and we all had a great time, although the weather could have been a bit better (I don’t know how many times I heard, “this’ll burn off in a few minutes and the sun will come out”). Family members enjoyed canoeing on the lake, swimming and fishing. And, as with most family reunions, there was no shortage of great food.

We didn’t take as many pictures as we typically do, but we got a few good ones. Click on the one shown to see more.

Below is a short video of David’s fish.

Wedding Trip

Randy — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:23:26 +0000

We’ll be posting more about Janel and Ryan’s wedding after we’ve had some time to sort through the pictures and video, but we thought we should say a couple things here.
To start… it was FABULOUS!!! Janel and Ryan did a terrific job of planning it out. Their friends and supporters were amazing in all their help. Virtually everyone involved, including photographer, pastor, hairstylist, cake maker, etc., etc., was a friend of the bride and groom. Janel was a beautiful bride and the entire wedding party looked great. The reception was one of the best parties around and the food was delicious.
Our trip was great and the boys were fantastic. They enjoyed the reunion with Tyler and Tanner, as well as meeting Jake & Brady, Sary-Jo’s mom, and many others. We had been concerned about how they would react to the chaos that is inevitable, but they handled it with tremendous grace. They were poised for photos and well-behaved the entire time.
As stated above, we’ll post more later.

Daniel’s Broken Arm

Randy — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:06:45 +0000

We knew that life with boys would be different than life with girls. In fact, last year we discussed the likelihood that we would become familiar with the ER and, more specifically, broken bones. We realize that girls do this also (Sarah had broken her nose and a thumb on separate occasions), but it never seems to be a surprise when an active boy breaks a limb.

: Daniel with his cast

Well, on the 25th of July (2 days prior to traveling for Janel’s wedding!), Daniel put his bicycle and helmet away and then came in the house to get some attention to several new scrapes he acquired by crashing his bike. As he was showing us the scrapes, he remarked, “I think I broke my arm.” Of course he couldn’t have broken his arm because he wasn’t crying or really showing that he was in severe pain. But after a while he started doing things out of character for him (like lying down in bed at 3:00 in the afternoon) so Randy took him to the ER. X-Rays confirmed a broken arm and he got a splint. We were able to get him in to the orthopedic specialist for a cast on Tuesday and make the flight to California Wednesday morning.

Here is the video of him telling the story:

CHI Picnic

Randy — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:48:41 +0000

CHI, which was our international agency (not the one that did the homestudy) held its annual picnic in Bellingham, Washington. We had an opportunity to see our in-country representative, Abdissa, for the first time since we returned from Ethiopia last September. Abdissa runs the CHI organization in Ethiopia and he is a wonderful man of God. He was quite amazed at how much the boys have grown and we all (especially the boys) were thrilled to see him again.

Click on the picture to see a few more.

Fireworks!

Randy — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:22:49 +0000

Daniel and David enjoyed their first Independence Day celebration. As in many previous years, we went to Don & Kathleen Olson’s home to enjoy the huge fireworks show at Lake Tapps. However, because we had arrived home late on the 3rd from Hawaii, we spent only a couple hours there. After the show, we came home to light off a few fireworks of our own. The boys behaved perfectly and we had a great time. Click the photo to see more.

Mom and boys

Hawaii with Jankel & Family

Randy — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:29:18 +0000

We were pleased to be able to return to Hawaii – this time joined by Jankel, Venita, Tyler and Tanner. The cousins were excited to meet each other and quickly bonded. All eight, but especially the four boys, basically lived in the water and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Randy and Jankel were able to get in a couple rounds of golf while the moms pulled kid duty.

Daniel and David demonstrated tremendous growth as they were able to see good family behavior modeled day in and day out. By the end, we think our boys showed more progress than they had in the previous several months. Their understanding of cultural and family norms leaped forward in ways we could not have expected. What a blessing!

Also, the parents enjoyed themselves. We don’t get together often enough, but when we do it seems as if we had never been separated.

In the evenings, we held a Mexican Train tournament with the kids edging out the parents for bragging rights. We will get them next time!!!

Click the picture to see more (lots more). We’ll work on getting some video posted, but for now all we have ready are the photos.

Holly’s Visit

Randy — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:33:56 +0000

: Holly with Daniel and David

Holly taught at Karshner last year (2008-09) and quickly endeared herself to the staff and to our family. After school ended last year, she took an opportunity to travel the world by teaching in Thailand for two years. She recently returned for a quick visit and came by to meet the boys. Sary-Jo, Holly, Daniel and David went to the Point Defiance Zoo and had a great time. It was fantastic to catch up with Holly and the boys quickly attached to her. Click the photo to see more.

Field Day

Randy — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:17:09 +0000

June 9 was one of the rainiest days in Puyallup. It was also the date selected as Field Day for the Karshner Tigers. Despite the downpour, the kids had a great time playing. Here are a few pictures of the boys enjoying themselves. Click on the picture shown to see the others.