We got THE CALL!
10 years ago
Sharla hosted a get together at her house last night. I met a new friend, Justine. She adopted 2 little girls from Ethiopia about a year ago. I have followed her blog so it was fun to meet her in person and get to know her a little bit. Our kids really hit it off and nobody wanted the evening to end. Sharla and her husband recently received their referral for a boy and a girl from Ethiopia. They hope to travel in the fall to bring their kids home. Tracy and her husband Rob have been our friends for a long time and I am sad to say that their family is moving to Ontario. We are sad to see them go.....their 3 kids that they adopted from Ethiopia last year are excited about the move. They will get to see their grandparents all of the time now....so good for them!!
It is always fun for our kids to connect to other kids adopted from their country. Maya made a funny comment on the way to Sharla's...I had told her that we would be meeting some kids from Ethiopia and she then asked me if there was going to be any white people there. I told her yes....I'm white....she said I didn't count. Anyway it was great to meet new people and get to know their stories. We will do it again...maybe in August. 
Sharla, Tracy, Debbie(me) and Justine
New pals.....Denaye was having such a good time with Raine
Denaye and her friends having a blast.
New friends....Maya was quite taken with Cooper
Sam's favorite thing to do....bounce on the trampoline
Sam flipping out......
Some of the kids......Yes I am updating the look of my blog....I was getting tired of the old one. It will take me a couple of days to get everything up and running, but hopefully it will all run smoothly.....
Kyle's 6th birthday....gone are the days of childhood wonder.
Kyle loves pie.....so we had a birthday pie instead of cake.
Where have the years gone.....Kyle turned 16 years old. He is becoming a young man. He has changed so much in this last year. We've watched him grow about 6 inches in height over this last year.....it happens right before your eyes, but then one day you notice......you're taller then me now. He is such a gentle soul. He is very close to Denaye and she thinks her big brother is the best there is. My prayer for Kyle this year is that he grows closer to Jesus and lives a life full of discovering new things. May you experience life at it's best and live it like there's no tommorrow. Chase your dreams and follow the rainbows wherever they lead. Know that you are loved and blessed beyond measure.......Have a wonderful 16th birthday.......We love you Kyle.
Blessings
Denaye in her Little Mermaid costume that she picked out in Disneyland for her birthday.
Denaye is such a sweet, funny tender-hearted little girl. Last week Taylor (her older brother) and I were having a conversation about what area of engineering Taylor should specialize in. For those of you that are not familiar with Denaye....she needs to be part of every conversation. She talks nonstop....it's exhausting at times. Anyway so here we are discussing what Taylor should be when he grows up(he's already 21...but you know what I mean) and in the middle of our conversation Denaye pipes up and says.....I know what you should be Taylor......a coconut picker......well we laughed so hard, we cried.....Denaye is always saying funny things that she does not even know are funny...we have laughed so many times at the things she says. She had a lot of ideas that she was talking about yesterday and I told her she was very smart....her reply that's because I use my brain.
Well she also has such a tender heart...she melts when someone tells her that they love her. She always makes sure that I get my morning kiss and hug...so sweet. We were walking the other day and talking about Ethiopia. She has very few memories of her life there(or so I thought), but on this day I mentioned that one day we would like to go there and visit. Her response caught me off guard because she talks so little about her life there that I just assumed her memories had faded. Her response might not seem like much to many of you, but it was really quite life-changing for me. After I said that we would like to go and visit......her response......mama that's a great idea.....she hesitated and then added "when we go can we take them some food because they always have to look for it"
I was speechless, but quickly added of course. My eyes welled up with tears.....what a tender-heart she has. All I could think of is I wonder what has become of Denaye's birth family.....in North amercia we don't ever wonder where our food comes from. It must have seemed really strange to the girls when we ate meals 3 times a day here and in Ethiopia they were lucky if they had one. I was quietly reminded once again how lucky I am to be their mother. The conversation ended as innocently as it started and she was off playing with her friends. One day we will go back....and I will take them food.
Jesse and his pals
Our hotel was close enough that we could walk to Disneyland....I mean run!!!
It all started with a mouse
There was a lot of this going on the whole day....just pure excitement.
Sam and Denaye......such pals
Sleeping Beauty's castle.....you can walk throught it for a tour.
Jesse and Kyle in toon town
Meeting Mickey Mouse....Maya gave him a huge kiss....it was cute.
The parade
Getting their faces painted at the princess store...it was sheer delight for the girls
Finally meeting the princess's........we met 3 of them altogether.
Getting an autograph from Pooh
Sleeping Beauty's castle....all of the kids were so excited....all dayOur day started off very early. We had breakfast at the hotel(it was included) and then we walked or I mean ran to disneyland. Our hotel was 3 blocks from the entrance so we choose to walk. The day was full of excited kids and there was so much to see that I think it overwhelmed Maya a bit. She is usually jumping and bouncing nonstop when she is excited, but when we walked through the gate she was so calm it was weird.....overwelmed I think. Our first ride was StarWars....Denaye loved it...well they all did. We went on it 2 times in a row before the crowds got bad. The girls really started to enjoy the rides...even the big ones. Maya's favorite ride was Space Mountain.....a reall contrast from her first roller coaster a few days earlier...she cried on it. she 's a pro now!!
I waited in line for 2 hours with the girls to meet the princess's. The only reason we did this is because it was what they were waiting for. They got their faces painted in the princess store and Denaye picked out a Mermaid costume for her birthday present. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of her in her costume. I will have to post one later. While we were in line, Sam, Jesse and Kyle went on some other rides to pass the time...this is where we lost Jesse for about an hour. We are used to this as we always lose Jesse....it's just what he does.
We had an awesome day filled with magical moments as only disney can do. It was a long day....we started at 9:00 am and left at around 11:00 pm....we were all tired, but we had such a great day. We saw and did the things that we wanted to do and we went on lots of rides. Thunder Mountain railway was a favorite...there are so many that it's hard to just pick one.
We did have a bit of a scare during the fireworks....we lost Sam for about 15 minutes. It was the scariest 15 minutes of my life. The security in Disney is fantastic and within less then 5 minutes the whole park was aware of this lost little boy. They found him and took him to the lost kids centre. It took the wind out of our sails for a few minutes after that, but I decided this was not how we wanted to remember Disney....so we went on Raider's of the Lost Ark after that....and had a blast.
We had a grand time and the kids would really like to go back and visit again....Rod's says he's themed parked out. We have been to Disney World in Orlando a few times and he's not a big ride fan. He can do 1 rollercoaster per visit and then he's done.....so I guess we'll see. I think the kids will get their way....Disneyland is such a magical place....it makes even big kids turn into little kids...at least for awhile.
Just before wew went into the California Adventure
I love this picture of Sam...his eyes are so blue.
We celebrated Denaye's birthday at the Rain Forest Cafe. The staff brought the cake and then sang happy birthday to Denaye...she grinned the entire time.
Denaye got picked to be a dancer in the High School musical show...she was loving it.
The High School Musical production...the kids loved it
The boys just before they went on Tower of Terror
Maya and Denaye picked out Mickey ears....they wore them nonstop. I was a little surprised that Maya's ears didn't include a crown, but it did say princess on it. I guess her tastes are changing.
We went to California Adventure before the Magic Kingdom. It's not as big of a park, but it had some great rides and some fantastic shows that we all enjoyed. High School Musical was one of the main things that Maya wanted to see. We were in the front row and they all had an awesome time singing along to all of the songs. Denaye got picked out of the crowd to dance along with them...she did so great and you could see she felt special. It was her birthday so that made it even more fun for her. Sam rode Tower of Terror and lived to tell about it.....he did say that he loved it, but not interested in going on it again...I think he was terrified and didn't want to admit it. We went and saw the Aladdin musical in the theatre....it was amazing....Disney really knows how to put on a show....everything they do is magical. The weather was a perfect 24 degrees...not to hot, but hot enough that the water rides were a blast. I loved the raft ride......Maya hates getting wet so this was not her favorite. Denaye was a trooper...going on all of the rides and annoucing after almost every ride that she loved it. I think she tolerated most of them.....she did love the star wars ride and we went on it twice.
It was a lot of fun to watch the kids enjoying themselves so much and experiencing things that we all take for granted. Maya kept asking me if the characters were real...she was so fascinated with seeing all of the disney characters come to life and walking around. She hugged them all and kissed them all too. We had a wonderful time at the park and we ended our day at the Rain Forest Cafe in downtown disney to celebrate Denaye's birthday. The restaurant is quite an experience.....you feel like you are in a jungle with the sounds of animals and the rain all around you. It is very loud, but the kids enjoyed it. We walked back to our hotel after that and went to bed because the next day we were going to the Magic Kingdom.......everyone was excited about that....even the big kids.
Maya spent the entire time we were there playing in the ocean....she loved it!!
Sam jumping waves.....he did this all afternoon.
Kyle and Sam
Denaye spent most of her time playing beside the ocean and getting her feet wet, but to her she was swimming.
Enjoying the view from the Pier
Jesse and Kyle
We had perfect weather the day we went to the beach. The sand was like silk and the sky was blue and there was very little wind. What a beautiful place it was. The kids enjoyed jumping waves, building sandcastles and being buried in the sand. We had a great day on the beach. Maya is a natural in the water. She spent her entire time in the water only coming out for lunch. She made friends with a little girl there and they played together all afternoon. Denaye was a little cautious of the big waves. She did not like the feeling of the sand disppearing from beneath her feet as she stood in the water. She spent most of her time playing beside the ocean, but if you were to ask her she was swimming. One of the waves was so powerful it knocked her over....I think this is why she was a little scared, but she did loved it. Sam spent his time jumping waves and he had a blast. He did end up with a really bad sunburn though and the rest of the time we spent outside he had to wear a shirt. Kyle spent ALL of his time taking pictures....he came home with 1000 pictures from our trip to California. He loves his camera. Jesse spent his time wandering around and enjoying the beauty of the ocean. He is such a nature person and so he loved all of the plants etc. When we got back to Edmonton he called the city and told them they needed to plant more trees...their response was...go ahead..... if you can get volunteers and buy the trees yourself feel free to plant as many as you want. We had such a great holiday...it was nice to not really have a schedule. We did spend a couple of days at Disneyland of course....this is what the kids were looking forward to the most. I will post about those another day.....
In the Aquarium they had a bubble in the centre that kids could pop their heads in and it made them look like there were in the water.
A family made of lego....can you tell which kids are mine??
Full size Darth Vader completely made of lego......and he breaths too
Washington D.C. The presidential Inauguration....not sure which one, but the detail is incredible. We arrived in beautiful Los Angeles to weather that was fantastic. The entire week was in the mid 80's. We arrived in the morning so we checked into our hotel and then headed to downtown Disney for a look around. The girls were so excited.....they didn't know what to expect so they just went with it.
The next morning Jesse and Kyle went to Knott's Berry Farm and Rod and I and the younger kids went to Legoland. It was a bit of a drive, but the park is fantastic and we were glad we went. Everything is either made of lego or made to look like it was made of lego....like the rides for example. This park is geared towards kids up to age 12 or 13. We loved it there and so did the kids. This was the girls first experience with big rides. Our first ride was a roller coaster.....let's just say that Denaye decided that if all of the rides were like that she wasn't going on them. Maya didn't like the big rides at first, but as she went on more rides she got more brave and by the end of the trip she was a pro!! Her favorite ride was Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom...she even went on it twice. Legoland was full of all kinds of things to look at and all kinds of rides. They had built a minature city and we were amazed at the detail. We had a great first day there and were looking forward to the rest of the week.
This is one of the official trailers for the movie......
This movie is set to release this christmas. We just got back from Disney so I was hoping to get a glimpse at Princess Tiana....no such luck. We are all looking forward to seeing the movie though. It's the story of the Frog Prince with a bit of a twist.
Denaye in her new clothes....she wore this on the airplane to Disney....she thought she looked like a Diva.
Our children.....at least 5 of them and cousin Jonah.
Grandma Anderson, Denaye and Grandpa Kurtz
We celebrated Denaye's birthday 2 days before we left for Disneyland. Grandpa Kurtz was still here so he got in on the action. Denaye is growing up so fast. She will start school in the fall...she is a little nervous about that. She doesn't like change very much, but I am sure once she makes a few friends that she will be fine. She is such a funny little girl with a great sense of humor. She is always trying to make us a laugh with her quirky dances and silly things she does. She is always saying and doing funny things without even trying. She has grown from shy timid little girl to a funny beautiful girl with a great smile. We love you Denaye and Happy Birthday!!!!!
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