Funny Story

I know I've kind of neglected this blog this last week, but since our devastating news last week, I haven't really felt up to it.

I just had a funny little story to share, and I just couldn't resist posting it!

Tonight I was doing a workout video (Jillian Michael's 30-Day-Shred.. soo HARD!! My muscles are burning!!) when Moses came over, and said "Me do movie too Rara!"

When I looked down, he was trying his very hardest to work out with me. He was wiggling his butt, shaking his hips, and kicking out his legs, in his own interpretation of what was happening. He even went and grabbed a pair of shoes to use as weights when it came to the strength section!

I was laughing so hard I could hardly follow the exercises properly!

I know this was very short, but I just had to share this quick story- and I have a ton of homework to finish! I wish I wasn't such a procrastinator! But this weekend is a 4 day weekend, so tomorrow's the last day of school for the week- soooo looking forward to 4 days off!!!

Here's a picture of Moses with his big brother Josh. I wish I had a picture of him 'working out' with me, but I'll definitely try to catch it next time!

Please Pray..

Today we had an emergency school assembly, and were told some shocking, tragic news. I'm still kind of in shock, and don't really know how to feel, or respond.

Nathan K, a guy in my grade, passed away in his sleep on Saturday night. We don't know any other details, other than he wasn't sick, and was perfectly healthy, and hanging out with his friends late Friday night. No one at school- and especially our grade, and his close friends- knows what to do right now, and school was all but shut down all day. The Auditorium was open all day for anyone to go in and just pray, or cry with friends; classes didn't really happen. Me and my friends were in the auditorium all morning, and then me and Carissa, one of my close friends just came home after lunch.

Please, please pray for his poor family.. I can't imagine what they're going through right now. And also for his closest friends, and those who really knew him well, and for our whole school; that we would all make it through this grieving time together, and that we'll be stronger, and closer after this horrible time. I didn't know him too well, but he seemed like a good guy. He could be a little annoying at times, but what high school guy isn't? He loved photography, and was amazing at it, and he always seemed so happy. I wish I had taken the time to know him better; the only good thing is that we know that he's happier than we could ever imagine right now, in Heaven with God.

We'll miss you Nathan, and won't ever, ever forget you.

I'm not going to post any pictures of him up, but here is a little sample of some of his photography.. as you can see, he was sooo talented:

Another cute video..

For those of you who read my mom's blog, feel free to skip over this post. But for those of you who don't, I just had to share this video! Its one of the funniest videos of Ayana and Moses ever. This was totally not posed at all, and they (or at least Ayana) weren't showing off for the camera at all.. this is just what they're like!! It was taken about a week before last Christmas, and Ayana and Moses were just enjoying watching the snow, with some beautiful background music.. so Ayana decided to express how she was feeling with some interpretive dance.. and Moses decided to copy her. Enjoy!

Pictures

Megan just downloaded a 30-day trial of Paint Shop Pro Photo Edition, and I've been hooked ever since! I've just been playing around with some pictures, and thought I'd share some of the cute ones I've come up with. (They're not all of Ayana and Moses, but there's some really nice ones of them.)

These are pictures from Crescent Beach (I think I may have posted some of the originals back in February- from the Flag Ceremony at our church)

This is one of the pictures from Christmas Eve last year, up on Grouse Mountain (don't really like the effects on this one, but I'll have to fix it up later)

Here's one from my trip to India.. me and my friends in the Arabian Sea! (I'm the second from the right)

This one is from my cousin's wedding about 6ish years ago.. Megan was a flower girl, Josh was a ring bearer, and I was a junior bridesmaid. I loooove this picture! :)

Hope you like them! :)

Cute Video

So I was just looking at some old pictures and videos from when we first brought Ayana and Moses home, and I found this adorable video from Ayana's 2nd birthday. Its really short, but its soo cute! Just thought I'd share it.. :)

Referral-iversary

Ok, I was trying to think of a way to combine "referral" and "anniversary" in some unique way, but the best I could come up with was "Referral-iversary". Not very creative, I know, but you'll just have to live with that. :P

Despite my rather lame title, its still a special day! It has been two years today that we recieved our very first pictures of Ayana and Moses. And how different they were too! Scared and confused at 3 months and 17 months, they looked so different from the energetic, mischevious 2 and 3 year olds they have become.

Moses is now talking up a storm, running around, and pretty much terrorizing everyone and everything he comes across, while Ayana is happy, communicating fairly well (she sometimes has trouble coming away from the baby talk.. ie: saying "I want a drink of water please" instead of "Ayana want water". She knows how to do it, but when she gets nervous or tired, or just can't be bothered, she lapses back into baby talk.) and is a beautiful little girl. She even goes to dance class, which she absolutely loves! (which just happens to be taught by my two best friends :P)

Here are a few pictures of them, so you can see how far they've come!

Ayana at referral, and 1 month after..

Moses at referral, and 1 month after...


Both of them at referral..

And today... matress sledding down the stairs!

Easter..

Grumpy Moses on Easter


Enjoying Easter chocolate!

Moses being dramatic with his chocolate racing car..

Mama, Ayana, and Calico, the "Easter Bunny"!! :)

Mama, Moses, and the Easter Bunny


Together in Seattle

India...

I don't have time to update this blog right now, but I just spent about 1 1/2 hours writing a post about my trip to India on my other blog, so feel free to go and check that out! (http://erin-livelaughandlove.blogspot.com/)

For now, here's a picture of me on my trip.. I'll update about Ayana and Moses another day. They're doing great! :D

Parade of Flags, and a Day at the Beach

Last Sunday was the first week of "Missions Month" at our church, so to mark the occasion they had the annual "Parade of Flags" service. Since we just started going to this church in January, I've never seen the Parade of Flags, and didn't know quite what to expect.

It was far beyond anything I'd could have imagined. They had different people carrying the different flags of countries from all over the world, all dressed up in national costumes. The choir was all dressed in a different countrie's traditional dress, and it looked so beautiful. They started singing (I'm not sure what the song was called, but it was so good, and talked about how all the nations, all the cities, and all the people of the world belong to God) and a few little kids slowly came in, and did a little dance at the front, all carrying the different provincial flags of Canada.

Then the song changed to "I am not Forgotten", with an African/Indian sounding twist, and the flag bearers began marching down the different aisles. My dad and Moses were carrying the flag of Kenya, and Josh and Ayana got to carry the Ethiopian flag, so it was especially cool to watch. There were so many flags, from all around the world, and the choir sounded beautiful.. there were many people crying. We only got a few pictures, and they're not all very good, but I'll put them on here to give you a taste of what it was like.

In Ethiopian/other African traditional costume!


The Choir

Not the nicest picture, but it was taken as they were walking down the aisle, and they weren't ready for a picture!







Ethiopian and Canadian!! Or.. "Opia and Ca-naw-da" (as Ayana would say it!)

After church we went to the beach with a family friend (Cathy- thanks for the pictures! :D), so here are some pictures of that too.

Haha... this wasn't posed at all! :P

Sisters!!

When Moses saw this, he promptly told me,
"Mama, DoyDoy-MEEEE!!!, Caffy, Callie! Picture!"


Family Pictures!


The day wouldn't be complete without icecream! (and a goofy face from Josh)