It had been a while since we had been out for Ethiopian food, and it had been a while since we spent time with Randy’s parents. So, along with one of Daniel’s teachers and her husband (who wanted to experience Ethiopian food), we went to Lalibela for lunch. It is our favorite of the Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle and we enjoyed good food and good company. As usual, we ate too much and brought home left-overs (which the boys will devour in short order tomorrow). We took a few pictures to commemorate the occasion.
Category Archives: Photos
(Not) Just Another Day in the Park
On Saturday, we got together with friends who had recently returned from Ethiopia following their adoption of a sibling group (2 boys and 1 girl). These kids came from the same orphanage in Adama that Daniel and David lived in. They had seen pictures and video of our boys, but they did not meet in Ethiopia.
Sary-Jo began praying for these kids as soon as they appeared on the “waiting children” list. Logically, it was unlikely that they would be adopted. We are so grateful that God’s plans are so much greater than our logic! Not only did he find a home for these beautiful children, but he also gave them a home fairly near ours so that we could experience the joy of meeting them in person. A while back, we met with the family and became instant friends. They had contacted us because of their adoption-in-process, and they were seeking advice regarding school, learning English, etc. What an awesome experience to spend a few hours in the park with these same kids.
The boys are about the same age as our boys, and they became immediate friends. They spent hours kicking around a soccer ball. We learned that all four of these boys have incredible skills (and endurance) for their age. Our boys learned that they can still communicate in Amharic when they need to, even though much of their conversation was in English. And the parents had a great time just talking about our early experiences.
What a day!
Click the picture above to see more. Watch the video below.
Yardwork
Our house on Memorial Day
One of the things we enjoy in Spring is fixing up the house and yard. Last year, we never really got it the way we wanted, which meant that this year’s effort would be that much larger. We moved plants, added plants, pulled weeds (and more weeds, and more weeds), fertilized, and spread 5 yards of mulch. Considering our lot is not very large, we spent a lot of time in it. So, we thought we’d share some pictures of the results.
Mothers Day
Mothers Day was rather quiet this year. After church, we went to Van Lierops to see the flowers, but they were mostly gone. It was still a beautiful day so we bought a few cut flowers. We also went to brunch, eating outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Lauren’s Prom
Before her Senior Prom, our niece Lauren and her friends gathered at Pioneer Park for pictures. The weather was perfect and the students looked great in their fancy clothes. We took a handful of pictures and offer them for your enjoyment here.
David’s Perfect Pitching
On May 10, David had his first experience pitching this season. His coach had him scheduled to pitch the first two innings, thinking that, like most kids in the league, he’d face a lot of batters and be tired at that time. At that age, control is a serious issue and the games tend to involve a lot of walks and a few hits. David was on! He faced only six batters and struck each of them out. Above is an excerpt from the score card. For those who don’t normally read them, a “K” indicates strikeout – “KC” means it was a called third strike; “KS” means the batter swung at strike 3.
David’s Field Trips
Karshner Museum
Pioneer Farm
David’s class took a field trip to the Karshner Museum, which is a facility within the Puyallup School District. He learned about Native American life, especially how they used the buffalo. They also went to Pioneer Farm, where they saw how things were done in the “old days.” He took his camera to Pioneer Farm. He had a great time learning on both field trips.
Spring Fair
We all look forward to the Fair. The Spring Fair is quite a bit smaller, but still fun. Daniel and David enjoyed the rides (of course), and the food was great. Here are just a few pictures (click the one shown) and a little bit of video of the boys on a couple rides.
Easter 2012
On Easter, we went to Van Lierop’s bulb farm for pictures (tradition!). The boys also had an egg hunt in the house, in which all the plastic eggs had coins in them. They made a haul, of course. Later, Joany, Lauren and Alyssa came over for an early dinner and playing with the Wii. The boys also taught the girls a bit of juggling. It was a beautiful day to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Check out the photos and the video as the kids had a great time together.
St. Patrick’s Day Run
Waiting for the start
Daniel signed up to run a 5K – his first – on St. Patrick’s Day in Tacoma. He had never run that far (3.2 miles), but trained for a couple weeks and was confident he could make it. David did not sign up because he had a soccer tournament scheduled. When the tournament was canceled at the last minute, he signed up to run the 1K “Fun Run.”
The 5K start was an incredible mass of people. There were 1,691 people of all ages and body types running the race. Fortunately, Daniel was able to start up near the front with the other fast runners. The weather was cold and wet, with rain and snow mixed – not exactly running weather. The course started out downhill toward the waterfront so the runners had to finish by coming back up the hill. We really didn’t know what to expect from Daniel, but his track coach figured he’d finish with a time near 20 minutes (an excellent time, especially for a kid). Daniel finished in 19:43, which put him first in the 14-and-under age group (out of 45 runners) and 19th overall (out of 1,691). Amazing!
David then lined up for the fun run and looked a bit out of place. All the other runners were smaller kids, but he just kept a smile on his face and set about to run as well as he could. The 1K was not timed, but he ran hard and enjoyed himself. Next time (June 9), he’ll be running the 5K with Daniel.
On the video, we wanted to show the entire starting group of the 5K, but it just kept going and going and… well, let’s just say it got a bit boring so we cut it very short. The finish was exciting, as he passed a couple people near the end of the race. To see more pictures, click the one above. We picked through them to reduce the number.