Daniel turned 10 years old on his second birthday, having not celebrated birthdays in Ethiopia (nor knowing when his birthday is, actually). He told us that he didn’t understand what we meant when we told him about his birthday last year, but that he was very excited in anticipation of the big day this year. There was no school that day so he didn’t have to rush through the opening of gifts. That evening we celebrated with dinner at Red Robin.
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This post is a bit late… 
We celebrated one year in America on September 18. Since we seem to be in full American mode now, it seemed only appropriate that the day was quite busy. David had a soccer game, their friend Aliyah had a birthday party, and then we had a quiet, “just the four of us” bit of celebrating. At the Supermall, Daniel and David tried rock climbing. Daniel amazed us by heading straight up the wall without a moment’s hesitation. He rang the bell while showing his huge smile. Then he went up the more difficult route, but it didn’t seem difficult to him as he again ascended without problem. David tried hard, but could not quite make it to the top.
After that, we went to Red Robin (what could be more American?) and had a great dinner. Red Robin quickly became one of the boys’ favorite places to eat, so it seemed appropriate to celebrate there. Click the picture to see more.
Ryan & Janel
It’s been a while since Janel & Ryan married (July 31) and we mentioned how much fun we had, but we didn’t include a lot of pictures from the reception. Well, now we’ll post some of these pictures. We had an amazing time at this reception. And by “we” I think it’s safe to say we mean all in attendance. For those of you who were there, these pictures will bring back memories of a great time. For those unable to make it, here’s a glimpse of what you missed. Click the picture to see more.
Ryan & Janel Coughran
It’s taken us a while to sort through and whittle down the photos, but here is a pretty good set to look at. Clicking the photo will take you to the “gallery” where you can page through (24 pages, I think) and look at any of the pictures. We’ve included about 10% of the pictures we have and we think they represent this wonderful wedding well.
The boys had their first games on Saturday. Both boys got plenty of playing time and enjoyed themselves. David’s game was first and his team lost. Daniel’s team played a tense game and ultimately played to a 4-4 draw. They almost scored a winning goal as time expired. You have to pay attention to the pictures since the team uniforms match and each of our kids is number 8 on his respective team. Click the picture for more. Be sure to find the pictures of Daniel’s assist!
We recently remembered that we bought this house with the intention of being empty nesters for quite a while. The house has been perfect! It’s just that the empty nest condition turned out to be temporary – how would we have anticipated that??? Daniel and David need some space to run, play and make huge amounts of noise. Mind you, they’re doing all these things now – but there really isn’t the space for it. So, we just put the house on the market and we’ll see what timing God has in mind for it to sell. We plan to stay in Puyallup, but have not narrowed it down much more than that. Check out the listing. Many of you know this house and you might also know somebody who would like to live in it. Please feel free to refer them to this link: Click Here
School started on September 2 this year. David is in second grade and Daniel is in fourth grade – wow! They got off to a great start with their new teachers and they quickly reacquainted themselves with the school and the other kids. Note that Daniel is shown with two teachers because he switches midday (as do all fourth graders at Karshner). Click the picture to see just a few more…
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.
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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.
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.
