Maya and her cousin Olivia each had their own chair at the lake
We took the family to Zorbaz which is the place to be at the lake. They have the BEST macho nachos!
Olivia is such a cutie - here she is riding Maya's bike
Grandma Julie took both girls for a walk at the campground. Grandma loves to spend time with her girls.
Dave tried the rope swing at the lake yesterday. Here is a clip of how "not" to do it. I do give him credit for trying as I was to chicken. Check it out.
Here is how to actually do it...my brother Jon shows everyone how its done. Sorry Jon, but the girls after you really showed us how it was done. They were only 15 or so and skinny mini so of course they did awesome.
Who like books? Maya does! She will sit down and look at several books at a time. Maya also loves to sit down in our laps and have us read her books. Tonight she sat with daddy and they read several books together. Did I mention Maya likes to have the same books read to her over and over again???
It feels good to be home. We journeyed to Duluth, MN for a few days. We hadn't been there in awhile so it was fun to see the old sites again. Dave and I used to live there about 8 years ago. It is amazing how time flies. Maya had a great time and was such a good sport. We traveled quite a bit as we stayed north of Duluth. Here are a few pictures from our trip.
Maya got a new baby the day before we left. She loves feeding and burping it.
Okay we splurged. We only bought two things (besides food) and they were both for Maya. Here she is pushing her new stroller around Canal Park. Maya managed to put smiles on many faces as people stopped to watch her.
We spent one morning at Gooseberry Falls.
We neglected to bring a swimmers diaper with us to Gooseberry Falls. Maya loves to play in the water so we let her. Oh well (smile).
Maya got to taste her first Malt Shop malt. This place is along Lake Superior and has the best malts you will ever taste. They are to die for!
I realize this isn't the best picture of the 3 of us but we took it ourselves (I know hard to believe). We took it right before we left for home.
We found some cool kid T's that are in Amharic (Ethiopia's national language). Click here to view them. They are adorable and come in all kid sizes. The best part is that $5 of your purchase (through July) will go to AHOPE for a food fund.
To read about AHOPE click here. For cool AHOPE T's click here.
Happy Shopping!
Maya's class got some makeovers today at daycare. Her teachers put several ponytails in her hair. Cute.
Quite a statement, what does it trigger in your mind when you read the phrase, "Wrecked for the Ordinary?" There is a online magazine, of the same name in which a recent article by Sara Shelton highlighted observations of her time in Africa where she realized that it doesn't take a lot of 'stuff' to be content. I want to expand on this topic by detailing my own experience of being 'wrecked' and the impact that it continues to have on me today.
Before reading further on my experience, I would recommend that you read Sara's experience of visiting the largest slum in Nairobi. Much of her experience in Kenya was similar to mine in Ethiopia. While only there a week, I am changed as a person - and to be honest, I continue to change even more so the longer I have been away. It wasn't just the poverty that affected me, sure it played a large role, but more importantly it was the experience I had among the people who were living in this poverty. I have always used the phrase, "It isn't the cards that were dealt to you, but how you play the cards that define you as a person" when dealing with a problem in my life. I always figured you couldn't change the situation at hand, you could only go forward and deal it with and how you dealt with most often defined whether I was happy or not.
In Ethiopia, the people are happy - much happier as a community than we are here in the states. Sure, I have a beautiful house, cars, boat etc, but I felt jealous of the people I met while in Ethiopia. They were happy with who they were, with the few belongings they owned. This realization 'wrecked' me in Ethiopia and continues to this day. How can I ensure that I raise my Ethiopian daughter to have the same love and self acceptance that I saw in her birth country? How can I myself become more content with what I have in my life? How can I give back to those that have less than I? Should I continue to strive for climbing the corporate ladder, or shift my passions and direct them more to what I feel is a calling to serve? Should I just donate money to causes (charity) or look to become part of a long-term solution (justice) that seems to feel right to me? These are all questions that I have with me each day since my trip to Ethiopia. In many ways they are gaining strength, directing me to become more active in driving awareness of these issues and looking for others with similar goals to create a larger impact.
Have you been "wrecked" - would love to hear your comments and thoughts on how it has impacted your life.
David
As I checked my mailbox at work after the holidays I noticed a card from a vendor that I do business with. Not really paying attention I ripped it open and almost threw it in the garbage as it said "Thank You For Your Business" across the top. Figured it was just another thank you card. However, something caused me to pause and actually read it. Let me just say that I was glad I did - this company, ProjectLine, rather than give some sort of gift basket chose to instead donate to improve a school in Ethiopia. Let's just say that I was very happy I do business with this company.
I sent an email to them asking them more about it and this is what they said:
"Actually, or HR manager’s parents have been living and volunteering in Ethiopia for a couple of years and literally stumbled across this school. They were so inspired by the students’ dedication to education that they wanted to help improve the school. They sent an email to their network and when we got a hold of it, we were moved to make this our end of year gift. By purchasing 250 benches we were able to supply all of the missing seating, so other money raised has been diverted to books and other really good things. As soon as we have a picture of the bench, I’ll send it to you."
Hello everyone...hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. Our 4th started a day earlier by attending Maya's daycare 4th of July parade. All the kids dressed up in the red, white, and blue and walked around the block. After the parade the kids and parents enjoyed root beer floats.
On the actual 4th, we hung out with some friends at the lake. It was a fun day filled with good food, playing in the lake, and watching some amazing fireworks. Maya fell asleep before the fireworks began and slept right through them.
We spent the rest of the weekend at our lake. Maya is actually getting used to sleeping in the camper which is so great! She finally went to bed on Saturday night around her normal time.
Today after her nap we played in Maya's kid pool. She loved it!
Last Friday we traveled to Minneapolis, MN for a fun-filled weekend. On Friday we met some good friends at the Minnesota Zoo. We had a great time walking through the zoo and seeing the various animals. After the zoo we ate at our favorite pizza place, Punch, and then went to the hotel for some swimming. Maya loves the water and loves to drink the water!
On Saturday we attended our first ever Mehabar (picnic). Each summer our adoption agency, CHSFS, and EKC join forces to plan a picnic for all the adopted families with Ethiopian children. The day consisted of an African petting zoo, kids games, a charity walk, Ethiopian food, various booths, Ethiopian dancing, and lots of chit chat. We were lucky to see 4 other couples that we traveled with to Ethiopia. All of their children have grown so much and are extremely adorable. Maya really had a fun weekend and did really well despite not getting her "normal" naps.
What a fun weekend. We hope to make this trip each year.
