Activity Book

I am currently researching some activity books for toddlers. I found this one on amazon. Has anyone heard of it or have it? Unfortunately I am a bit challenged in the creativity department and need some ideas. Love to hear from those of you reading my blog of any fun activities for 2 year olds. Anything is better than having her play with everything she shouldn't :)

New Hair Style

On Saturday I tried a new style - what do you think? I have been asked how long did it took and how did I get Maya to sit? Well...it took around 25 minutes and I needed help from Winnie the Pooh, juice, and fruit snacks.

Maya's Birthday Party

We celebrated Maya's 2 year birthday at our local YMCA with lots of friends.  Everyone appeared to have had a great time especially the kids.  I don't think Maya realized this party was for her but that's okay.  Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate!

My co-worker made this fabulous cake!  The bottom layer was chocolate chocolate chip and the top layer was white.  YUMMY!

1, Almost 2, 2...Happy Birthday Maya!

Maya will answer 1 then almost 2 then 2 when asked how old she is.  We are still working on getting her to understand that today marks her 2nd birthday!  We can not believe that our little girl is now 2.  I guess that means the terrible 2's are officially here as well.  Actually, they have been here for awhile :) 

Today Maya had a birthday celebration at daycare.  Daddy delivered a Winnie the Pooh decorated chocolate chip cookie to class.  What a hit! 
 
The kids all sang to her and she got to wear a princess crown!  What a very lucky little girl.  On Friday we are having a kids celebration party at the local YMCA.  Should be a lot of fun!  Can't wait to share photos.

A Cute Story...

Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of  a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted.

A little girl said, "I know all about adoption, I was adopted."

"What does it mean to be adopted?", asked another child

"It means", said the girl, "that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!"

Thanks Pastor Kris for sharing this with me today. Hope you all enjoy this story as much as I did.

Changing a Life, Changing a Community - Connecting a Church with an Orphanage in Ethiopia

Wow, what an amazing day. This morning the president of Children’s HopeChest and a team of volunteers at Olivet Lutheran Church kicked off a long-terms relationship with an orphanage of boys in Ethiopia. 

Kolfe Boys Orphanage in Ethiopia is made up all boys aging from as young as 10 to over 20. This is a very special group of boys that defies the stereotypes that you would think would be the case when you group 100+ teenage boys together in a situation such as theirs. But these are a unique bunch and I am looking forward to making the connection as a congregation to this orphanage - having an immediate and life changing impact on their life, as well as being able to learn from them - to have a transformation of our own.

Thank you to all of the volunteers over the past few months for your hard work and dedication, and thank you in advance for the hard work to come :)

Below is a picture of Tom Davis, President Children's HopeChest, and a picture of Nicole and Betty who have been instrumental in this project.

Below the photos is an article from today's local newspaper!

God Bless. David

Church launching effort to help boys in Ethiopian orphanage

Theresa and David Held returned from Ethiopia with a beautiful baby girl, an admiration for her countrymen’s scrappy spirit and awareness that Western adoptions help only a tiny fraction of the country’s 6 million orphans.

By: Mila Koumpilova

Olivet Lutheran Church pastor Kris Gorden, clockwise from left, Nicole and Abram Anderson, Maya, David and Theresa Held, Bethlehm Gronneberg and Solomon Anderson are involved in an initiative to help orphans from Ethiopia. The Andersons and Helds both adopted their children from Ethiopia.
Jay Pickthorn / The Forum

Theresa and David Held returned from Ethiopia with a beautiful baby girl, an admiration for her countrymen’s scrappy spirit and awareness that Western adoptions help only a tiny fraction of the country’s

6 million orphans.

It was summer 2007, and the Fargo couple resolved to do more.

They soon found out two other families at their church, Fargo’s Olivet Lutheran, had recently adopted infants from Ethiopia. Earlier this year, the three couples spearheaded a project to help an entire orphanage in the east African nation. The ramshackle all-boys facility is a very different place from the inviting, Western-funded care center where the Helds picked up their daughter, Maya.

Today, the church is launching its long-distance “adoption” of 130 boys and young men at Kolfe Youth Orphanage. Church members are calling it Connection Day.

“Sponsorship just sounded so sterile,” said the rev. Kris Gorden. “Connection holds more of what we want to be about.”

Just as the Helds, Nicole Anderson and her husband, Jared, traveled to Africa to start a family. They found themselves profoundly transformed by its residents’ warmth and hopefulness in the face of abject poverty.

“Life as we knew it was over,” said Nicole, who has two sons from Ethiopia and one from South Africa.

For some time, David Held followed the work of a Christian-based nonprofit named Children’s HopeChest. Since the early 1990s, the group has worked with orphans in Russia, where studies say 70 percent of those from orphanages resort to crime or prostitution to survive.

The group enlisted some 100 churches across the United States to sponsor orphanages there and in Swaziland. When the organization expanded its work into Ethiopia last fall, the Helds had to get involved. Gorden and the other adoptive families promptly got on board.

Olivet picked Kolfe – a government-run orphanage and a one-time dumping ground – because its residents seemed to need help the most desperately. The boys there are older, so their chances of getting adopted are miniscule. There are no beds, no meat in their meager diet and no money for school.

But HopeChest President Tom Davis said the boys were nothing like he expected: “They were the most well-mannered, kind, gentle young men I met in my life. The thing I kept hearing over and over was how much they wanted to go to school.”

The Olivet group hopes help from their church will give the boys a better shot at an independent life as adults. On Connection Day, the church’s roughly 1,500 families will be able to “adopt” one of the boys. Their $34 monthly checks will go toward food, medicine, school, and college fees and supplies.

A group from Olivet will make an annual trip to the orphanage. Until then, sponsors commit to write to the boys monthly. Says David Helm, “You let this child know, ‘We’re here for you. We support you and believe in you. We’re the family you never had.’ ”

How to help:

- Nonmembers of Fargo’s Olivet Lutheran Church are welcome to help with sponsoring Kolfe Youth Orphanage. Call David Held at (701) 330-2478 or the Rev. Kris Gorden at (701) 235-6603.

An Award for Me?

                          
Nicole gave me an award a couple of days ago.  I am honored that she thought of me and gave me this prestige award.  Nicole is a mom to 3 wonderful boys, Owen, Abram, and Solomon, and a wife to her dear husband Jared.  We met them through adoption and have become good friends.  Our children love each other and enjoy spending time together. 

The rules of the "Your Blog is Fabulous" is to write 5 addictions and then give the award to 5 people. So here are my 5 things.

1. I am addicted to blogging.  I would much rather spend time updating my blog and reading other blogs than do anything else.  I feel lost if I miss just one day.  Check out my list of blogs on the left and you will soon be addicted too.
2. Candy - just love it.  I mostly love sugar candy over chocolate but I eat whatever as long as there isn't any coconut or peanut butter (not a big fan of either).  I usually eat candy each and every day.  The only thing that varies is the quantity. 
3. Movies - if time and money would allow, I would see a movie each and every weekend if not two a weekend.  Actually a couple of weeks ago I did see two movies in one night and watched 4 movies that weekend.  This is abnormal as I am lucky to get one movie in a week.
4. Not being alone - I hate it.  I am a person who loves to be surrounded by others.  I am okay if that person is in another room or occupied doing something just as long as I'm not alone.  I especially dislike it when Dave travels for work as I become extremely lonely and sad.
5. Shutterfly and taking pictures - love taking pictures, cropping pictures, and creating digital photo books online.  I love making cards, calendars, magnets, and anything else fun to make.  I even made a notepad with a picture of Maya.  I have a group of friends at work that also love it which makes it even more fun for me.  I am actually thinking of making a new book this weekend of all of Maya's artwork from school. 

Now I need to pass this award on to 5 friends:
Suzi - Suzie and Ronnie are friends we met through adoption.  They are two wonderful people who we are blessed to know.  They are currently in the process of adopting their domestic son Joseph. 

Kerry - Kerry and Tom we met at an adoption training long before we brought Maya home.  They adopted two beautiful twin boys and actually traveled one week after us.  We just love keeping up with them and their boys.

Jodi - I am fairly new to reading her blog but love it.  I especially love that she and her family live so close to us.  Their family is beautiful and it appears we have so much in common.

Danae - We were honored to have met Danae and her husband Steve in Ethiopia as we were in the same traveling group.  They adopted Eva who is going to break many hearts when she is older. 

Dave - My dear husband and best dad ever :)  He is so amazing and I am honored to be his wife.  I wouldn't be me if it wasn't for him.  I love that he has so much compassion and desire to help others and is launching a sponsorship to an orphanage in Ethiopia with our church.