Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from the Strawns!

Here's a little "year in review" on our family:

Chuck: Still mourning the loss of the “sweater vest” but reveling in the early Christmas gift that Santa brought to the Ohio State University. (If that made absolutely no sense to you, feel free check out the OSU blog that Chuck writes for when he’s not directing fun at APU or at home: http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/)

Carrie: Turned 40. Actually likes it. Has been doing some writing for World Vision when not chauffeuring kids to activities or organizing play dates at the park. Every once in a while updates this blog.

Zinash: Learned to ride a bike. Got 100% on the 5th grade states and capitals test. Has gone from beginning English language learner to intermediate in one year. Enjoys ballet, art, and watching movies. Graceful, smart, and kind.

Mihret: Wants to be a musketeer when she grows up. Practices kicks, forward rolls, cartwheels, and “en gardes” every day in our living room. Loves preschool and her new found ability to draw rainbows and write sweet, mostly legible notes (I LUV U). Energetic, strong, and loving.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout 2012!

Unabashed Bragging

Zinash enjoying some hot chocolate

This past week we got some great news from Zinash's teacher. The school had given Zinash a test to determine the progress she has made in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Last year she was given the test at the beginning of the school year and scored a 1 out of 5 which meant that she was a very beginning English learner. That wasn't a surprise! At the end of the school year, she was re-tested and also scored a 1. Based on the descriptions given of each level, I thought she was more accurately a 2, but it didn't show up on the test. This fall they re-tested her again and she scored a 3! She has been working hard at school and at home on her homework. We are so proud of her!!

We also found out this past week that Zinash was being recognized for some artwork she submitted in a bookmark contest which is sponsored by the library. We went to a ceremony today to celebrate the contest winners and she was awarded 2nd place for the grade 3-5 division for our city!

Zinash with her award and her bookmark

A closer look at her bookmark

I am proud of her hard work at school and love her artwork, but the thing that made me most proud of her today was something that she did this evening. As she has gotten older, playing and running around with her little sister has lost some of its luster. Tonight we were at an APU football game and a bunch of kids were playing and running around in a grassy area behind one of the endzones. My social little Mihret really wanted to play with the kids and tried several times to get into their game, but she was younger than the other kids and they didn't seem interested in including a little kid. She came back over to us feeling sad and then went back over to try again. I looked over and saw her standing around watching the other kids play. Before I knew it, Zinash called Mihret over and said, "Hey Mihret! Wanna play tag?" Zinash spent the rest of the evening running around playing with her little sister. Mihret went from sad panda to utter joy.

Utter Joy

Gotcha!

Zinash had a lot of fun too, but I knew that her decision to play tag with her sister was motivated by her love for her sister rather than a personal desire to play tag. It was a precious moment and absolutely filled my heart with joy.

Zinash continues to amaze us. She is a remarkable girl and we are so blessed to have her as our daughter!

Halloween Fun (on film)

Last Saturday we took the girls to an "LA Pumpkin Patch" (i.e. an empty gravel lot transformed into a pumpkin selling station and bounce house area). Unfortunately, the pumpkin patch we visited was charging $10-17 for a normal-size carving pumpkin and $2 for 5-7 minutes in one bouncer. Ugh...good old capitalism... We offered the girls the choice between 5 minutes in one of the bouncers or a movie rental of their choice from Blockbuster. Zinash chose a movie; Mihret chose the crocodile bouncer/slide.

Brave Mihret entering the mouth of the crocodile bouncer/slide.

Zinash and Chuck waiting patiently for the little jumper.

Posing for a free picture with overpriced pumpkins.

We ended up at the grocery store choosing $3 pumpkins from a cardboard box. I always felt sorry for kids who had to get their pumpkins from a cardboard box at the grocery store rather than off the vine at the pumpkin patch, but honestly, the girls were thrilled with their grocery store pumpkins.



On Sunday we had a great time carving pumpkins (results seen here), and on Monday we went to a Harvest Festival at Mihret's preschool and then trick-or-treating at one of the residence halls at Azusa Pacific University.

The Jellyfish and the Princess

Mihret dressed up as a "Princess Rapunzel Unicorn Fairy who likes fashion" (I was soooo glad when Halloween actually came because her costume got more complicated by the day...)

Zinash dressed up as a jellyfish. We found the costume idea online at Disney's Family Fun website.

Chuck dressed up as himself (aka "a Buckeye fan") and our friend Matt dressed up as Michigan's coach, Brady Hoke. Our families actually hung out and trick-or-treated together at APU that evening. It was a Halloween reconciliation miracle. :)

I dressed up as a mom from a decade ago - you know, the type that carries a film camera. I can't tell you how many times I looked at the back of the camera to check the picture only to find a black plastic camera back. Oh well... (On a happier camera note, my new digital camera arrived! Hooray!)

We all had a great time and the girls came home with enough candy to last us for a year. Actually, we'll probably still have some left next Halloween... On a completed unrelated note, guess what you'll get if you come trick-or-treating at our house next Halloween?

The Bike

Zinash has wanted a bike pretty much since we brought her home from Ethiopia. Thanks to my sweet parents, we were able to give her a scooter, but a bike just wasn't in the budget. We said, "You can put it on your wish list for Christmas," so she did( along with a dollhouse and half the toy section at Target). She made it clear, though, that the bike was at the tip top of the list.

We spent Christmas in Illinois with Chuck's family and then spent some time after Christmas with my family in Nebraska so we didn't give the girls their "big gifts" from us until we got home on January 4th. Chuck created a little scavenger hunt for Zinash that led her to her helmet (which she already was using with her scooter) and a white envelope inside. She opened up the envelope and it had a picture of a bike. She looked at us kind of confused at first but once we explained that she could help pick out a bike for herself she screamed with joy and ran around the room saying, "This is the best Christmas EVER!" It took a few weeks for she and Chuck to find just the right bike but in the end she got her wish for a purple bike.

Of course, the next challenge was figuring out how to ride it. I'm so thankful that Chuck took the lead on that one because he did a fabulous job of teaching her.

The Purple Bike

One of the first things he said to her was, "You're going to fall today because everyone who is learning how to ride a bike falls, but it will be okay and you will be alright." She was not thrilled with that idea and almost tried to back out of the whole deal, but Chuck convinced her that it would be worth it. They started on the grass so that the falls would be cushioned. We saw one of her friends at the park and her friend said, "Don't you know it's easier to ride on the sidewalk?" True, but the grass is a much friendlier landing pad.

Phase One of Operation Bike Riding

After Zinash had developed some confidence and ability to balance, they moved over to the sidewalk. She did remarkably well for her first day of bike riding and only had one major spill where she couldn't figure out how to stop and crashed into a small tree and a bush. She only got a couple small scratches but it scared her and she wanted to stop after that. Chuck wisely told her that she needed to ride at least once more before we left the park. I'm so glad that he did because I'm not sure we would've gotten her back on the bike another day if she hadn't had a couple successful rides post-crash.

Phase Two of Operation Bike Riding

As I watched the second video later I realized that Mihret said to me, "My throat feels like it's going to throw up." My response? "Oh dear....Look at her go!" Think I was distracted? Oops...probably not my "Mom of the Year" moment. In the end, though, Mihret was fine (in spite of my response) and Zinash learned to ride a bike thanks to great effort on her part and wise instruction from her Dad.

White Christmas

Our girls experienced their first white Christmas this year while we were visiting Nana and Papa and the rest of the Strawn family.

It was the first time Zinash had been in the snow and she loved it!

Mihret, who remembered playing in the snow at Big Bear with Grandma and Grandpa last winter, showed Zinash how to throw snowballs.


She was a quick learner.


And then Dada got in the action and hilarity ensued.

It was a perfect way to spend a Christmas afternoon. We hope you had a joy-filled Christmas day as well!

Little Princesses

We have wonderful neighbors all around us. They are super kind to us and to our girls. One family absolutely blew us away last weekend, though, when they blessed our girls with these beautiful dresses, a fun play outfit each, and a bag of little goodies. I wish you could have seen the absolute delight on the girls' faces when they first saw the dresses!

They wore the dresses to church on Sunday morning. After they got dressed and twirled around in front of the mirror, they both said that they felt like princesses. Mihret said, "I'm a princess and Zinash is a princess and Dada is a king!" I said, "Oh, does that mean that I'm a queen?" She said, "No, you're a mama." Ah...good to know.

After that, she made her bed without being asked because according to the royalty expert, princesses make their beds and are kind and dance. I think I can handle having those kind of princesses as daughters even if I'm not a queen.

In any case, this mama is so thankful for neighbors who make my daughters feel like loved, precious, beautiful princesses.

We Are Family

Today was the court date for Zinash's re-adoption. The adoption process for international children includes two steps, and the first (Ethiopian court recognition) was completed in last year before we headed over to pick her up.

Interestingly enough, we had the same judge as when this process was finished for Mihret... and he was so kind and affirming to both girls and to us.


So now, we're official. On the way out of the courthouse, Carrie told Zinash "Well, now you're stuck with us". She giggled, but I'm pretty sure she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and muttered "Rats".

We celebrated the way we always do; going to the LA Zoo in the rain. You have your traditions, we have ours.

It's an end and a beginning... and we're so lucky to be here.

Happy New Year!

Today marks the Ethiopian New Year, called Enkukatash. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant, Tana, in Anaheim to celebrate and had a delicious meal of injera, doro wat, and tibs. Yum!

Melkam Addis Amet!

And She's Off!

Today is Zinash's first day of school! She woke up happy but nervous, and still had a smile on her face when we got to school.


We all walked her to school today and Chuck got to meet Mrs. Mitchell. There were actually tons of parents at the school this morning- both moms and dads. I'm not sure why, but it really surprised me to see so many parents there. It was sweet to see, though!

Mrs. Mitchell introduced Zinash right away to the girl that she had chosen as her seatmate and she was off! As we walked away, Mihret said, "I'm going to miss my sister!" and she started to get a little sad, but then we talked about the fun things we would do today.

And so a new chapter begins...

Evening Update: Zinash had a great first day of school! The first thing she said when I saw her was, "I made TWO friends today!" I got to talk with her teacher for a few minutes and she said that they had a great first day as a class. She seems like a dynamic teacher who is not at all intimidated by having 35 kids in her class. Amazing! Anyway, Zinash told me all about her day on our walk home and seemed to really enjoy it. Thank You, God!

Mihret and I had a good day too! We both missed Zinash at points throughout the day but had fun doing some "Mama and Mihret" things. The day went much faster than I expected, and before I knew it, it was time to go get Zinash. All in all, a happy first day of school!

Next week, Mihret starts preschool! More on that later...

Jump In...The Water's Fine

The girls have been taking swimming lessons this summer through the City Parks & Recreation department. They have learned a lot and grown much more comfortable in the water. Best of all, they have loved taking swimming lessons in spite of the fact that it pushed both of them outside of their comfort zone regularly.

Mihret has gone from wanting to sit on the steps of the pool the entire session and screaming bloody murder any time the water touched her face to loving the water and not being afraid to put her head under water. Zinash has gone from not knowing anything about swimming to being able to swim on her own for short distances. Both girls have gone from needing to be "helped" off the diving board to jumping off themselves and enjoying it enough to do it multiple times!

Mihret being "helped" off the diving board a few weeks ago

Mihret jumping off the diving board on her own this past Thursday!

Zinash jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side

The last day of swimming lessons, Zinash even jumped off the high dive with the help of her swimming instructor. I was impressed! I've never done that myself.

I'm so proud of both of my girls for facing their fears and working hard. They've grown as swimmers over the past couple months, but more importantly, they've learned that they can do hard things.

Family, Family, and More Family

This summer Zinash has met many, many family members: grandparents; aunts; uncles; and lots and lots of cousins. The girl who had no connection with or knowledge of extended family in Ethiopia now has more family than she could possibly know what to do with. And she loves it! Absolutely loves it. (Phew...given that there is nothing we could do about it if she didn't like having all those relatives doting on her!)

In early May, my parents came to visit for Zinash's birthday.

Zinash and Grandpa
(By the way, this picture was taken during Zinash's first visit (ever!) to the ocean.)

Mihret, Grandma, and Zinash at breakfast on Zinash's birthday

In late May, we took a trip to Oklahoma where Chuck did some training at Southern Nazarene University where our friend, Michael, and Chuck's brother, Scott, work. Zinash got to meet her Uncle Scott, Aunt Cambra, and cousins, Will and Sam, in addition to our dear friends, the Houstons, who are like family to us.

Zinash and her youngest cousin, Sam, absolutely adored each other

Zinash and Mihret with cousin, Will, and the Houston boys

"Tackle hugs" with mama and the cousins

In mid-June we took a two week trip to the St. Louis area. We spent the first week with the Shike family, all of whom descended upon the St Louis area for our annual family reunion affectionately known as Shike-a-Palooza. Chuck's parents and one of his brothers live near St Louis, his nieces from Texas were up visiting their grandparents, and his brother from Oklahoma drove up for the week, so we got to spend the second week having a family reunion with the Strawn family (Strawn-a-Palooza?).

Shike-a-Palooza 2010

Zinash and Mihret both had a blast playing with their cousins!

Riding scooters in the backyard of the rental house

Painting glass stones

At the City Museum in St Louis
(AMAZING place, by the way - check out the link)

Zinash found a true friend in her cousin, Sophie. She keeps asking when she gets to see her again. When I say, "Next summer!" she gives me her sad face and says, "Soooo long time..."

Sophie and Zinash at the St Louis Zoo

Zinash and Sophie playing chase in the backyard of the rental house

After a full, fun week with the Shike family, we drove an hour or so to the Strawn abode. The girls were thrilled to spend time with Nana and Papa and even more cousins!

Nana, Papa, and a bunch of cousins

Zinash and Janae sitting in a replica of a chair that was made for Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man. He happened to be from Alton, Illinois, which is close to where Chuck's parents live.

Jordan taught Zinash how to play "Mary had a Little Lamb" on the piano.
Thanks, Jordan...

Zinash walking over the water pit at the City Museum
(We took the Strawn cousins back to the City Museum because we had so much fun the first time!)

Silly cousins on the way to the St Louis Science Museum

It has truly been a blessing to get to spend so much time with our family this spring and summer. We are thankful for the ways in which our extended family supports and embraces us and our girls. And we are grateful that our girls LOVE spending time with their family!

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families...
Psalm 68:5-6a