YWAM’s Adoption Ministry sponsored a dinner for the families who have – or are in process of adopting – Ethiopian kids. We met at the Children’s Museum in Tacoma. There were lots of great families, a tremendous variety of great food, and much wonderful fellowship. We had a great time and we took a few pictures. Click on the one shown to see the rest.
Work Party
In May, a group of us from Lighthouse Christian Center spent a few hours at Adoption Ministry’s headquarters. We completed a few projects, got to know each other a little better, and generally just tried to glorify God with the time we had together. Sary-Jo, Daniel and David snapped photos and took some video, which will give you a quick overview. Click the photo to see more, and click on the video to play it. Enjoy.
Little League – 2011
This was quite a year for sports in our household, as Daniel and David each wanted to try just about everything. The challenge for us is that they seem to excel in every sport they try, now including baseball. Daniel proved to be quite a fielder, pitcher (left handed) and a hitter (right handed), while David is also extremely talented and a student of the game. Both teams finished in first place, and both boys made great friends, had fun and were among the best players in their leagues.
Click the picture above to see a few more (just a few, really). David has a grey uniform jersey (Volcanoes) and Daniel is in the red (Diamondbacks).
And we had to include one video. This one shows Daniel absolutely crushing the ball for a home run. You should understand that few balls were hit out of the infield in this league, making this hit all the more impressive. He hit this ball over the outfielder’s head and into the game on the next diamond. He is crossing home plate as the left fielder reaches the ball. Enjoy (suggestion: watch it full screen).
And here’s a quick video of David’s coach commenting on him after the last game. The audio is a little rough because of the wind, but you can make it out.
David & His Hat
David has wanted a cowboy hat for some time. At the Spring Fair, we went shopping! David spent quite a bit of time picking out just the right one and he definitely enjoys it. We’re not quite sure what triggered this in him (perhaps just because it annoys Sarah), but you can see his delight in these pictures.
Orting to South Prairie
On one of the few nice days of Spring (it was better than nice; it was beautiful), we met up with Mike and Mary and rode our bikes from Orting to South Prairie (about 25 miles round trip). Along the way, we stopped to throw rocks across the river (first, Daniel & David seemed impressed that Mike could do it; then Daniel ended up making it too!) and enjoy the scenery. We ended up at the coffee stand near the South Prairie Trail-head for a little refreshment. Beautiful day with good company. Click the picture to see more.
Cinco de Mayo
Saying Good-bye
Daniel & David never had an opportunity to say good-bye to their parents. There was no memorial (at least not one that the boys remember) for either parent. At our counselor’s recommendation, we got some nice landscape rocks, had the boys paint messages & scenes on them, and had a private memorial in our back yard. We can now “visit” these memorial stones as a way of helping tell each boy’s life story.
Click on the picture to see a few more.
Just an Ordinary Day
Here’s a bit of video that shows a bit of the neighborhood play that is typical around here. Kids of all ages tend to gather in front of our house, or one of the others, and play. This video shows some street hockey and baskbetball – there’s always something going on. In the street hockey portion, you can see Daniel and David on skates while the rest of the kids run. After this video was shot we added a second goal so they don’t use the cones now, but the scene plays out much the same. We enjoy just watching the interaction and innocent fun!
Phil’s Wedding Photos
Many of you will remember Phil, the Chinese teacher who stayed with us in the summer of 2009. We had been unable to reach him for a while, but we recently reconnected and are thrilled to be back in touch. Here’s a recent email we received, along with pictures he sent. Enjoy:
Hi?Randy?
These are the pictures I was going to send you. There are 6 packs in all. They are some of the best pictures that Juer and I took for our marriage after I came back from Seattle two years ago. Hope you’ll enjoy them. And you know, when I was with you, I loved so much about the pictures in your house and I was hoping that Juer and I would be part of them some day. So, we think that it would be our great honor if it is convenient for you to post some of them(which you think are good)on your family blog or somewhere around your house.
Well, I am not sure whether I have told you one more thing that we are going to be parents by the end of this month and we will have a baby boy. The whole family feel very excited and of course we are very busy going shopping and making all the preparations. It is getting extremely hot these days in Chongqing(about 99 ?F? and Juer is having a hard time sitting?walking and sleeping because of the increasing weight and because Sunday(his nickname by Juer) is moving constantly. I feel bad because it seems that I can do little to help. But anyway, the pregnancy is coming to an end and I hope she will feel well again soon. And I am sure we will have a lot to learn from you about parenting. Talk to you later.
Daniel’s Basketball 2011
Daniel enjoyed his first season of basketball. He was the leading scorer on his team and really grew a lot as an athlete and as a teammate. He now says that basketball is his number two sport – behind soccer, of course. We included a few action photos, as well as some photos from the team party. The video from the party, unfortunately, is not very good so we won’t post it.