We continued our Christmas celebration with a great day spent at Margie & Ruli’s home. The day included a breakfast feast, lots of gifts to open and enjoy, and great conversation. Then we took a break to focus on the Lord in a worship service at Lighthouse, followed by a trip to see the “Fantasy Lights” in Spanaway. After that, we returned for a dinner feast, more conversation, and opening of stockings. What a great day of fun and fellowship!
Category Archives: Family
December 23, 2011
On Friday, Janel & Ryan provided some music lessons to Daniel & David. Since each boy chose an instrument already played by one of the Coughrans, it was great to see them making music together.
Then, Randy joined the four of them on a trip to Gameworks in Seattle. We didn’t do this while waiting for Santa pictures as we had done the last couple years. Daniel & David always look forward to it, so we made an additional stop on the way to the family gathering at Julie & Cindy’s instead. Daniel & Janel jammed together on the drum games; David & Ryan played the guitar-themed video games. This was in keeping with the lessons that Ryan and Janel had given David & Daniel earlier. And, as always, we had fun with the rest of the games.
After Gameworks, we all gathered at Julie & Cindy’s house for Christmas with Randy’s family. We had a good turnout: Randy’s parents, all four of their kids, and almost all of their grand-kids and great-grand-kids. We also had exchange students past and present! We missed those who could not make it and we hope we catch them all next time. The boys behaved especially well, and they had a great time playing with their cousins – the house is really a great place to have a large gathering.
Click on the picture to see more.
Seattle at Christmastime
We really enjoy spending a day in Seattle – especially during the Christmas season. This time we went with Sarah, Sara, Janel, Ryan, Stefano, and Chiara. What a great day! The weather was beautiful. We started by putting in our name for Santa pictures at Nordstrom. While we waited for the call (about 4 hours), we walked around town, shopped a little, went to Pike Place Market, rode the carousel downtown, and took lots of pictures. After the Santa pictures we went to Lalibela for an Ethiopian dinner, then Janel & Ryan headed up to Donald’s pub to meet up with some friends. The rest of us stopped by DQ for some dessert on the way home.
Click on the picture to see more. We’ve got pictures from several cameras so there’s a lot to see. Enjoy.
Gingerbread House
Daniel, Sara, David
Sarah’s exchange student, Sara (aka “Little Sara”), helped the boys make a gingerbread house. The results look great – in fact, it looks so good that we don’t want to eat it just yet (well, Daniel does). Overall, the boys have done great in anticipation of Christmas. They seem to really understand the rhythm of the year now (although they don’t know which month is next), and are extremely excited about Christmas. They’ve re-memorized the Christmas story from Luke. They’re also excited about a fat guy fitting down our chimney.
Click on the picture to see a few more of the gingerbread house in progress.
David’s “Emphathy” Award
David was recognized at his school’s HEART Assembly for demonstrating empathy. This award is very appropriate for David. He is a very caring boy who goes out of his way to meet the needs of others. It reminds me of the first time we saw video of him – he was on the stoop in the orphanage helping a younger boy (adorable) with his sandals. Many of the other kids were already playing, but David was focused on Besufacad. We’re so proud of him.
Thanksgiving 2011
We hosted a small group of family for Thanksgiving. The meal was great, and the conversation even better. We have so much for which to be thankful. It’s been a year of tremendous growth in so many ways. We’ve grown as a family, the boys’ integration into our community has made major strides, they’ve just shot up physically… It’s amazing and we’re so grateful to God for all He has done for us.
After dinner, Aidan enjoyed watching Daniel’s newest helicopter (while David was manning the video camera). Enjoy the video. There are some very good pictures in here also. Within the picture slide show, you’ll find the boys’ lists of things for which they are thankful. Please enjoy.
The Best Thing About Being A Rocket
David wrote his soccer coach a thank you letter for her work with the
Rockets. Click on each page to see it larger; then use the back button
to return.
Soccer – Nov. 6
Daniel’s team, the Wolverines, played in a tournament called the Rec Cup, for recreational league teams. They won their first two games of the tournament, but then were eliminated by an excellent team from West Seattle. Daniel played hard, and the whole team played well, albeit in a losing effort. It was a beautiful day and the field was excellent, so we got some good pictures to share here.
Carving Pumpkins / Trick or Treat!
Daniel & David proved to be fully self-sufficient in the pumpkin carving department. Considering that I (Randy) really do not enjoy the carving (well, the messy part anyway), it was great to just supervise and watch the boys put their artistic talent to work. The pumpkins came out great and the boys cleaned up their mess completely! Great job, boys.
We also included a couple pictures from Halloween! Randy took the boys around the neighborhood while SJ stayed home and greeted the trick-or-treaters. Many of the Karshner kids come to our house and it’s so fun to see them! D & D had a great time, but no time to count the loot tonight as it’s a school night…. Note: We got the costumes three weekends ago and David had to literally squeeze into Iron Man!! We’re thinking another week and it won’t fit at all! He is growing like a weed!
Fright Fest @ Wild Waves
After the pumpkin patch, we put on our warm clothes and went to Wild Waves / Enchanted Village for Fright Fest, where the rides are open at night. Daniel & David spent a lot of time at Wild Waves this summer (with Sary-Jo), so they were good guides. We rode on all their favorite rides, including the Timberhawk roller coaster and the Ring of Fire. We had a blast! Click the picture to see more.