Birthday, Wild Waves and Much More Fun

We did Wild Waves and wow was it fun. We ended hitting an over cast day so it was a little on the chilly side but not enough to stop us from having fun. Her cousin Yana and her host mom and sister met us there. (as a side note I just found out that they are distant cousins there Grandmas are sisters I thought it was there moms, either way they are good buddies).


Yes that is them right in the middle upside down.
Tim, Paige, Masha and Yana!



I called this the para sailing ride. I have to say for a kid ride it got me pretty good. I rode it with Nixon and lets just say I was ready to get off by the end. Dizzy!



Mid part of the day we hit the water!



We ended the day back in our nice warm clothes and rode more dry rides. The last one was one of Masha's favorite the Kangaroo ride. It really was fun I laughed so hard. It bounces you really hard.



We had Yana stay two nights and they played the Wii a lot. Masha actually got sick of playing it and Yana never wanted to stop. It was fun to hear the girls just chatting away in Russian.



Thank you Barb and Dave for the incredible birthday party that Masha will remember her entire life. For those of you who don't know our friend Barb she can really throw an awesome themed kid's party! Thank you for that party for Masha that is a gift that goes beyond words to thank you for.



She got a Mariners shirt which of course made Tim happy. It wasn't from us either FYI. She wouldn't let us take her to a game (we have been told most the kids actually don't like baseball) but she wore that shirt for 3 days straight and one night I know she slept in it. She knows that's Tim's favorite team.



Her friends from Belarus that came to the party. They were all so cute just giggly girls having fun.



She got a kick out of blowing out the candles on her cake.



The party was a carnival theme with 10 or more games for the kids to play and win prizes. Cotton candy, popcorn, corn dogs, hot dogs, pretzels, all kinds of good carnival food and fun!

I have some more pictures to post that I haven't downloaded yet, we squeezed in one last trip to Yakima last weekend. Please keep us in your prayers as Masha goes home this Sunday. It is going to be a very hard emotional time for us all. She wants to stay and of course we would love for her to stay but we also know she has a loving family at home that misses her. So we are hoping and praying that the Lord works it out so we can have her back next summer. She really is now a part of our family. Thanks again for all your help and prayers!

More Fun with Masha

In the last couple weeks we have gone to Yakima and celebrated the 4th of July and last weekend we went camping with our small group from church. Here are some fun pictures of both weekends. We are loving our time with Masha and sad to say it's past the half way point. But we still have some fun things planned for the last couple weeks. I must say it is going by way way too fast.


She got to meet my Dad and Pat.



And also Tim's parents, Mom and Larry


Ready to watch the fireworks with our cousins!



Family Picture on the 4th of July



Camping, just lounging in the tent for a bit.



Sitting around the main campfire.



A trip down to the beach (5 min. if that from our campsite).



Picture at Deception Pass under the bridge. (We camped at Deception Pass State Park)




What a perfect picture.



Masha and Tim taking down the tent after a fun weekend!



The Ferry ride home from camping.

Thanks for looking and check back soon. Upcoming we have a Carnival Themed birthday party for Masha, a trip to Wild Waves and more...

God is so good!

I have to share a quick story. I will also include some fun pics of things we have done with Masha so far. Okay here is the story. I have said it before but God really does care about the little details.

A week before Masha got here I looked at all the kids online to see if any other girls her age were coming from her village. I only found one. So I told myself I am sure they are friends it's a small village so make sure to make contact with that host family. (We have a list of all 80 families info). So at the airport we were waiting next to this other family (you can see where it's going) and they had two girls the same age as Nixon and Simon so they were all keeping each other entertained while we were waiting about and hour and a half to get our Belorussian kiddos. So we got talking and it's their first time hosting also and turns out yes you guessed it they are hosting Yana. The girl I found online. Oh the story gets so much better. Glory to God. So we have been talking and setting up dates to get the girls together. This last week they had Masha over for a sleepover with Yana (we missed her greatly) and they had an interpreter there for dinner that night and they were talking with the girls and it turns out they are cousins!!! How cool is that. Their Mom's are sisters. The interpreter also told us they were very concerned about Yana and Masha because on the bus they looked absolutely terrified and just hung on to each other and kind of stayed in the back and didn't' really talk to anyone. So they were concerned that the girls were going to have a tough time. Both girls are doing awesome. And both girls told the interpreter they love their host families. Yay. Yay God for taking care of these girls. The other host family are Christians also which is cool. Not all host families are. I just had to share that story. Isn't it just so awesome how He lays things all out even the tiny details to take care of us. I will never stopped being amazed by Him and thankful to Him.

Yana and Masha (they are very close)


Okay here are some fun pictures. We got some site seeing in last weekend.



Swimming at our community pool



We rode the monorail to the Space Needle






The view from the top of the Space Needle



A water fountain in downtown Seattle ( we couldn't get her to run in it)



We stopped at Kerry Park (I think that's how it's spelled)


This park is the best spot on a clear day to get a picture of the Space Needle and Mt. Rainer at the same time.



And we will end it with a shot of tonights water gun fight. I believe Tim may have initiated it and then disappeared to our bedroom and I was left with 4 kids shooting water all over the house while trying to make dinner. I finally got them outside and it was crazy. Nixon was soaked and they had a blast.
Thank you Christina for the water guns we will bring them camping!

Hope you all have a great 4th of July. Masha will get to meet our parents we are heading over there for the 4th. Check back in a week or so and there should be new updates on here!