Marysville Strawberry Festival

This weekend we are attending our first annual Marysville Strawberry Festival. It kicked off today with a Carnival. We went so the kids could ride a few rides. It was Naomi's first time on any type of ride so we were not sure if she would like it but she loved them! The boys were great at making her feel comfortable and encouraging her to go on. Their first ride was a kids roller coaster. There were smiles all around!

Then Naomi took a ride on some cars by herself.

While the boys went on an obstacle course.

Then it was time for the swings. Jacob was so sweet helping Naomi get in the swing.

And their last ride was the spinning bears.

They had lots of booths and crafts to look at and all your typical carnival food. But the highlight was the Trike Races. Adults get in groups of 4 and then they race these big tricycles on a course. They have to do all kinds of crazy things. But the best is at then end when they had to jump in a huge tub of liquid jello! The boys said it was like watching Wipeout on trikes!

Tomorrow is Parade Day!

Cuba

About a week ago Darrick came home from work and said that we needed to talk. He said he is 1 of 2 guys who was chosen to go IA. IA in military terms stands for Individual Augmente. IA's are chosen from people on shore duty to fill a need the military has else where. A lot of IA's go to Iraq. But this IA is for Cuba to work at the prision-GTMO and it is for one year.

So we have been waiting to hear who will go. Today Darrick got the written orders that it is him.

I am heartbroken and taking it pretty hard. I think because it came out of the blue. At least when Darrick is stationed on a ship, we know he will be deploying often, it is the nature of being on a ship. But we are on shore duty for 3 years. Which will now only be 2 years because 1 year will be spent in Cuba.

My biggest question is why is this happening? I know God has a plan but I just don't see why this has to be. Do we need to learn something, is God sparing us from something, is there no reason for it and it just stinks that he got picked?

It also puts our adoption on hold.

I have done a lot of crying today. I feel like I can't do it, but what choice do I have? I feel like I am on the fence of being angry at God and trusting Him.

A year from now will it all make sense to me?

Memorial Day at Mt. Baker

One thing we like the best about our church, is how nice the people are. One family invited us to spend the weekend with them at their cabin at Mt. Baker. It took us about an hour and a half to get there and the scenery was great! The only bad thing was that Oliver got carsick and threw up 3 times! We were happy to finally arrive.

After we unpacked, we all went for a hike.

We get such a kick out of Naomi because she is so girly! This is how she hikes: sunglasses, boots, dress.

We hiked down to the water and the boys found some fossils.

The views were amazing!

I love this man!

Mr. Don was teaching the boys the fine art of throwing things in the water and watching them float away.

Jacob found some awesome treasures.

The boys explored all over and Oliver was right with them.

Naomi just had fun with a stick. She would hit the water with it and then laugh every time it splashed her.

For dinner we made our own kabobs-they were delish!

In the evening we made a fire.

Mr. Don showed the boys how to whittle a stick to cook our treats with.

Then they taught us to make wampoms. You wrap a biscuit on your stick and cook it. Then you dip it in butter and roll it in cinnamon and sugar.

After a great night sleep and a yummy breakfast we headed out to see the waterfall. When we got there, Oliver fell in love with another mini poodle named Juliet.

The waterfall was awesome. It is amazing how loud and powerful the water is.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. Naomi and I took a big nap, while the boys went on another hike to the water. On the way to the water, they saw their first snakes in the wild. They were very surprised at first but then enjoyed observing them.

We had such a good time and were sad to leave. On the way home Jacob started throwing up. So we had to made a few stops. I think he ate something that his tummy didn't like because it came on so suddenly and was gone just as quick.

Thank you Medema-Topham Family!

Long Hair, Short Hair

Hair has been the topic of conversation in our house lately. Some of us have too much and some of us have not enough.

In Naomi's case, she thinks she has not enough. I think it all started with Disney princesses. They always have such long beautiful flowing locks of luscious hair. Naomi started calling it "Down Hair" because it hangs down. She tried many different methods of making her own down hair. A shirt, a dress, blankets, curly ribbon.

So we brought this up at our weekly counseling at Bethany. We talked a lot about image and how she views herself. They suggested we buy her a wig.

So the other day we went to Sally Beauty Supply and looked at what they had. Naomi was overjoyed when she saw all the down hair. We decided on a clip on pony tail. The boys decided it was so gross to buy someone else's hair and put it on your own head. I explained to them that we were buying fake hair and not the real stuff, which was very expensive, and that eased their minds.

As soon as we got home, Naomi put on her hair.

She LOVED it! She kept looking in the mirror and spent time brushing it. We have a rule though: she cannot wear it out of the house because it doesn't exactly blend in with her hair. It just kind of sits there but it totally fulfills its purpose.

We all got a good laugh the other day when the boys took Naomi's hair and put it on Oliver. He came running into the room with it on and we all cracked up. Oh boys...

When we adopted Naomi, we could see that she had had her ears pierced. We were told that when she arrived at the orphanage her ears were all infected so they took the earrings out. They are were not placed well either, one is really high and one is really low. We recently got her ears pierced. They did not use the same holes because scar tissue had formed so they made new ones that were better centered. She is very proud of them.

Back to hair-Now in the case of Micah-he has way too much! It hangs in his eyes and people mistake him for a girl, so we got it cut. We love it and were so happy when he loved it too.