Our Family

This has been a weekend full of activities. Friday night we went to the Gemini concert at the Creative Spirit Center. Saturday morning Elliot had his first basketball class at the community center. Saturday afternoon we sat on the front row of the sold out Jeff Corwin show at the Midland Center for the Arts. It was an enjoyable show, especially from our close vantage point. Lisa was smitten. Here are some photos and a video. The video is of some kids about to hold an alligator...and one of the kids was really shaking in his boots.

On my flight back from Texas today, one of the guys sitting beside me told me that, despite nearing retirement age, he and his wife are in the process of adopting their 5-year-old granddaughter because neither their son nor the girl's mom wanted the responsibility of taking care of a child. This reminded me of my flight from Amsterdam to Detroit last Sunday. I'll write much more about my trip to Belgium/the Netherlands later when I get around to it, but I want to go ahead and tell this story lest I forget to tell it later. On the flight from Amsterdam, there was a man across the isle to my left who was on his way back from Russia. He and his wife are in the process of adopting two Russian kids (ages 5 and 9, or something like that) and had been there visiting them and taking steps to complete the adoption. In the row in front of me was a dad and his teenage daughter. They were returning form Africa (Zambia?) with a little girl (maybe age 9) whom their family was adopting. The wife and the rest of the kids were going to meet them at the airport in Detroit. I thought it was kind of unusual to be sitting so close to two international adoption stories on that flight. In Detroit, as I was going through customs, I heard loud clapping and cheering coming from the area where people emerge from customs and greet the public. I quickly looked over, wondering what was happening. I couldn't see much, but I caught a glimpse of the dad who was returning from Africa. I realized that what I had heard and glimpsed was a bunch of people warmly and enthusiastically welcoming to America the little girl from Africa. It was beautiful!

Finn: "Deeeeelectable!" Lisa: "Dee What?" Finn: "Delectable!" Lisa: "What's that mean?" Finn: "Scrumptious." Lisa: "Where did you learn that word?" Finn: "Backyardigans."

After coming back to Michigan, we spent a few days at the Birdwells'. The Greshams and Bobos came over for dinner Thursday night. The boys got a karaoke machine for Christmas, so some Beatles songs were sung too. Here are some photos: