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8 years ago
Kyle bought himself a really expensive camera a few months ago....I was not convinced it was a good idea. Anyway his camera is part of him and goes everywhere with him. He is really starting to show some talent. The picture above is of himself....I am not sure how he did it, but I think it looks great.....really artistic
Good job Kyle.......keep it up!!!
Where we live the city allows the public to swim in the fountains in the downtown area....kind of cool. We have been in a heat wave for about a week now. I am trying not to complain because our summers are so short, but it has been hot. The kids and I have been keeping cool by going to where there is water. There is nothing more satifying then watching your kids just enjoying themselves......click on the picture of Denaye to see the water drops from the fountain.....they were all so excited to get wet from the spray....it was a fun day.Maya, Sam and Denaye started Day-camps this week.....Denaye was so nervous. It is her first experince of being away from home for the entire day......I know she'll have fun!!
Saying good-bye.......
Gary and Carol and 2 of their kids and grand-kids......
Jamie and Maya and Denaye and Sam at Jamie's.My dad died 8 years ago and he was cremated......my dad had never specified what we had wanted done once he was gone. We as a family had come up with different ideas of what to do, but nothing ever seemed to fit until now. My dad's parents final resting place is in a cemetary in Calgary and so we asked permission if we could bury my dad's ashes with his parents......my dad's family was important to him and this felt like the right thing to do. So on the weekend we packed up and took Dad on one last road trip. Sam was only 14 months old when he died so there is not any memories of him and Maya and Denaye have never met him......only in picutres. Sam and Maya both felt they wanted to write a letter to their Grandpa and bury it with him. It felt right and good to bring closure to this journey....it took us some time to get here, but we made it.
We later went over to my brother Jamie and Heather's place for a family BBQ.
We laughed about the memories we had of our Dad and it brought a few tears to our eyes and it was a neat experience for the kids....it was not formal at all......we just simply said good-bye.
It appears that the Susan Hayhow the owner of Imagine Adoption has a lot answer for. Check out this news article in the Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bankrupt-adoption-agency-owed-money-to-400-families/article1221645/
The other day the Vriend family from the Lancombe area was coming to town. Their daughter, who they recently adopted from Ethiopia had a doctor's appointment in town. She stopped by for a visit before heading home. I always enjoy meeting my blogging buddies whose stories I have followed. Denaye and Maya really enjoyed their company and have since asked me if they can come back. I meant to take pictures and even pulled my camera out and I totally forgot. We will have to do it again sometime really soon. Thanks for stopping by......
Sharla is a friend of mine and they are adopting siblings from Ethiopia...a boy and a girl. They were in the last stages of the process when Imagine went bankrupt. They like many other families are looking for guidance as to what to do. Sharla will be on the radio doing an interview today July 16 at 5:10 p.m MST in Edmonton. The radio station is CBC and you can tune in at 740 AM or 93.9 FM. Please say a little prayer for her as she tries to get the message out there.
There is another way to help as well. Click on this link and help support the families in need. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SaveOurDreamofAdoptingInternatio/
Nicky, an adoptive mom I met a couple years ago, left for Ethiopia a couple of days ago and she has arrived safely. It looks like she will meet her kids tommorrow....how exciting for her, not exactly how she thought it would turn out, however still exciting. She has posted some information on her blog for parents who have referrals and kids waiting in Ethiopia. Check out her blog to get information and some direction.
Please continue to pray as this situation unfolds and information starts to come in as to what to do. The families involved are in turmoil and need direction.....and answers.
Here is Nicky's link http://rowanfamilytree.com/
Blessings
Debbie
I know International Adoption is not for the faint of heart, but this is over the top. There are rumors going around that the transition home where the kids live right now in Ethiopia has only 3 days worth of supplies left. Right now what these families need are answers to some pretty big questions. I have friends who are flying over there to try and get custody of their kids.....this is a nightmare.....now they have to try and complete their own adoption. Please continue to remember the 400 families who are affected by this tragedy. Please pray that some good will come of this....I know right now that is really hard to do, but somehow these kids need to be united with their Canadian families. Here are some links to some of the news coverage. I know that there will be news stories on TV tonight about it as well.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/adoption-agencys-bankruptcy-devastates-families/article1217223/
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090714/adoption_bankrupt_090714/20090714/?hub=TorontoNewHome
I just learned today that an Adoption Agency in Canada has gone bankrupt today. They facilitate International adoptions....most of them from Ethiopia. There are 400 families grieving today who do not know what the future holds for them or their kids. Many of them were just waiting for Visa's to be approved so they could go and pick up their kids, some had just received their referral and other's were still waiting for a referral. Many hearts are broken tonight.....words can't begin to express how sad this is. These families are scared and I think also of the workers who are right now caring for the kids over in Ethiopia and how terrifed they all must be. Please pray for these families and pray for the children over in Ethiopia who have already had their lives disrupted and now it appears it may happen again. Please pray...these families are hurting tonight...many of them feel their dreams have been taken from them.....please pray!!!!!!!!!
This is Rod my mom and my brother-in-law Mike...notice the belt buckles!!!
I bought the DVD Mama Mia the other day. I saw it in theatre last summer when it came out and I loved it. Pierce can not sing at all, but I think it just adds to the charm of the movie. Anyway I watched it with the kids and now Maya and Denaye are hooked on all of the old ABBA songs. They go around the house singing and dancing. Last summer my brother got married and my sister and I were asked to welcome Shauna and her kids into our family.....well it's just too boring to get up and talk....well it is for us anyway. So we put together a video based on the Dancing Queen....this was my brother's favorite band back in the day. We had a lot of fun putting it together and my husband and my sister's husband were a bit reluctant. It required costumes and they just were not completely sold on the idea. My mom was fantastic in the video and she was the ultimate Dancing Queen. It was so much fun and watching the Mama Mia DVD brought back memories of our video adventure. I will try and post it, but my husband told me that he would just take it down.....it's really funny!!.
Summer is here and I look forward to the lack of routine that comes with it. It is sometimes a challenge to come up with exciting things for the kids to do when they are so used to structure. Rod is only taking a week off this summer and we are heading to Coeur D Alene once again, but that's not till August.
The kids started swimming lessons today and this always has the kids excited. I think I may have put Sam in the wrong class......he was in a split class last year (3/4) and so I put him in the level that I thought suitable......level 4......I think I was wrong. I sat on the chair and watched Sam struggle while treading water for the required 1 minute....it appeared at times that the only thing I could see were his nose and mouth....it was quite funny to watch When I asked him afterwards how he think he did...his response was I think I did awesome!! We'll see we might have to move him down a level tomorrow. Maya loves the water, but she spends the entire class dunking her head under the water and popping back up. I don't think she actually learned anything today. I will have to tell her she needs to listen. Denaye is still so cautious, but she thought she had arrived when she was allowed to use arm floats to help her stay above the water.
This past year has been a challenging one for Maya as far as school goes. She loves to learn and has the most amazing attitude about it. She is a people pleaser though and what I have learned over this past year is that just because I am her mother doesn't mean that there is trust.......true trust takes time. It was a little humbling for me to say the least....however lesson learned. I became aware that Maya was not able to read as good as we all thought she could. What I discovered is that she was afraid to admit that she didn't know the word/letters etc......so what she did was completely memorize books. She could recite them by heart.....to me this took way more talent then actually learning the sounds that letters make. What she struggled with was trusting that it was o.k. that she didn't know the words and that it was safe to say that. When I finally figured it out I told her it was o.k. that she didn't know the words, but she needed to tell us so we could help her learn it. This then led to many tears and Maya finally admitting that she in fact did not know how to read. Since then we have made huge progress. She had an aid that helped her and she has come a long way. This was not about her not being able to read, it was about trust and I needed to recognize that so she would feel safe in letting us in on her secret. I personally think it is amazing that less then 2 years ago she couldn't speak a word of English and now she can read and write at a grade 1 level. This has been a year of learning that when adopting older children, attachment and trust are something that happens over time. This was huge for Maya and since then I have seen a big difference in how she interacts with other kids and adults. She sticks up for herself now...whereas before she was way to scared to say anything. It seems that when the dam breaks water flows....in this case it was all about trust. Good for you Maya!!
The guys who are the giraffes are on stilts.
Raffiki was an amazing singer in the opening seen...Circle of Life......Timon and Pumba were so funny in this show....amazing how they made the animals come to life.
Presenting Simba...
Last night Sam and I went and saw The Lion King musical at the jubilee. It was spectacular......the costumes, the music...everything about it was amazing. I can't even put into words how fantastic of a show it was. I am sad to say that Sam has never actually seen the movie The Lion King.....it was before his time. We used to own it, but that was way back when and it was in VHS format....so it is long gone. I will have to buy it when Disney releases it again. Anyway back to the show. The opening scene when Simba's birth is celebrated was so elaborate it took my breath away. If you are considering going to see it I highly recommend it. Young children under the age of 8 might be a little frightened.....there is just something real about live performance that can freak young kids out. I absolutely loved it and I would go again in a heartbeat. Disney really knows how to put on a show....so worth the money. Rod had received 2 tickets from Disney...media comp tickets......I wish we could have gotten more. Maya would have loved it, but Denaye would have been so freaked out. Since I took Maya to a Ballet last fall it was Sam's turn...next time a show comes up it will be Denaye's turn. I may consider buying tickets and take my mom to see the show.....she would love it. My brother Jamie has been interested in photography for years....maybe that's where my son Kyle gets it from. Anyway he has an excellent eye for the beauty of all things nature. In the past he has had some interest from tourist companies in using his stuff. Just recently he has made his work available for sale to the public. He is very talented and it would be worth your while to take a peek at his work. The prices are fantastic......here is the link. I will also post a link on the side of my blog. The company he is selling his artwork through is called Imagekind.
http://www.imagekind.com/MemberProfileGalleries.aspx?MID=9f89ba00-1c6a-4ee6-9e46-a335f62e8298
Can you believe it's July......
July 1st has come and gone already. We had a great time celebrating Canada's birthday with friends and family. The day started off with Maya determined to master her bike riding skills without training wheels...mission accomplished. She was so excited to finally be able to ride and keep up with Sam.
Everyone headed over to our house at around 5:00 p.m. Rod did the cooking on the BBQ while the rest of us drooled over the fabulous salads that everyone brought. We had lots of food and great conversation and the kids had a lot of fun getting to know their new friends....and of course old friends are like precious gems.....always appreciated.
After we filled our bellies we headed off down to the park for the fireworks display. The kids had fun eating popcorn...thanks for that Cindy.....and rolling down the hills and playing with their glow sticks. The fireworks display was awesome and then just like that the day was over for another year. I enjoy Canada Day and all that it represents and it was sure fun to spend it with family and friends.....loved it !!!!
Dessert
Some of the kids...most of them anyway. Alaina, Sam, Maya, Jaden, Alisha with baby Benton, Tatianna, Keira, Denaye, Andrew and Zack.....what an awesome bunch of kids.
Sam, Denaye and Maya waiting for the guests to arrive.
Sweet Denaye
Sam's big bike ramp......love the look on his face.
Maya learning to ride without training wheels
Mission accomplished.....
Waiting for the firworks to begin....
Maya and Alaina being patriaotic
Denaye and Tatianna waving their Canadian flags
Sam just happy to be here....
The fireworks....it was a great display...lasted about 15 minutes.
Hanging out.......so much fun.
Last year at this time the girls had just received their Canadian citizenship. They are so excited to start the day.....we are having a party....we will post pictures later.
Happy Canada Day everyone!!!!
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